GOLEM

1 - Revenge

Creeping through the shadows of the castle keep, he coasted quickly across the dark throne room like a silent mist. Hiding in the shadows of the few flickering candles left alit for the night watch, he leapt against the cold stone wall with his right foot, throwing himself upwards within reach of one of the beams that stuck out of the stone wall.  Levering himself up in a swinging motion, he leaped up on the next beam continuing along the perimeter of the room until he found himself above two unsuspecting guards standing next to an overly indulged wooden door with carvings of what appeared to be the story of a great boar hunt. Confused at why so many men would be required to take on a single boar, he shook his head focusing his attention back on the men below.

The shine from their highly polished helmets and chest armor showed more as a decoration than protection, as the back of the men only showed the leather bindings holding the chest plate in place, over top a blue smock with the kingdoms coat of arms. Each guard held a spear with the same shine in each metallic point. In a single motion he dropped as he withdrew two daggers from fur lined sheaths that would never give an indication of their departing occupants.

Coming down with all his weight and pinpoint accuracy, he let his daggers enter his victims just below their helmets along the centre of their spines. The daggers slide into the back of their heads with the front of the daggers protruding out the front through their throat. As the men collapsed he redirected their backs together withdrawing his daggers, so they slumped neatly against each other seated on the floor. With a gurgle of blood pouring out of their mouths followed with their last breath, the two guards lie below as he gazed upon his handiwork. Cleaning one edge of his dagger on the arms of the fallen guards, then diagonally the other side leaving an 'X' of blood, marking his clan's handiwork. With a smile of content in his work, he turned towards the great wooden door reaching for the lever that unbarred the door. With a quiet clink of the bar lifting on the other side, he shrugged with a sarcastic smile whispering under his breath, 'should-a locked your door your majesty.'

Entering the dark room his eyes adjusted to the change of light coming from the crescent moon through the glass window on the far side of the bed. The outline of a larger man that was snoring loudly next to a small figure that was almost lost in the massive blankets. Refocusing on the large man sleeping, the thousands of scenarios played through his mind as he examined all the potential outcomes. Smiling copiously, he cleared his throat loud enough that it would stir anyone in a slumber followed with a "Your Majesty."

Waking suddenly the king looked up at the shadow before him, while noticing the small figure next to him curl up defensively as close to the edge of the massive bed as she could. Her long blonde hair braided tightly wrapped around her like a scarf in her sudden movement.

In frustration of being woken in the middle of the night the king barked in response, "What the hell are you waking me for?"

Calmly he responded in the most professional sounding tone he could muster, "Sorry your Majesty, but I hate to inform you that over two dozen men have been assassinated tonight."

"What! What kind of crap do you try to feed me? I heard no alarms sound." The King barked back. Launching himself upright, he threw his legs off the bed onto the floor turning towards his bedside table. Using the flint left on the table he struck it so the sparks would shoot off into a bowl of oil. As one of the sparks enter the metallic bowl it burst into a bright flame that lit the room brightly. A gasp from the small figure in the bed caused the King to turn sharply. In front of him stood a man wrapped in a loin cloth with a simple leather rope wrapping around his waist. Attached to the rope on either side was a leather sheath with fur protruding where handles of two daggers met the sheaths. A simple black fabric cloak with a hood was fastened by a small black leather strands that fed on both sides into a dark metallic skull. The leather strands fed into the skulls ears and out through the nose before returning through the mouth and concluding through the bottom of the skull. The hood of the cloak shadowed his face from clear sight, yet one could still see a strong jaw which matched his lean muscular physique that was covered in dark tattoos that blended in with the dark. An exposing sight that left only his manhood a mystery. "Why in all the kingdoms would a man dress like a goblin?" The king stated in a disgusted tone.

Confused by the statement he tilted his head to the side, "A man? No..." He said shaking his head "I am Golem the Goblin Giant, sent in retribution of you murdering and pillaging a goblin clan... my clan..."

Laughing in his own amusement the King looked at the small frightened figure next to him. "Look woman! This wretched excuse for a man thinks he's a goblin!" His belly bounced up and down underneath his sleeping gown as he stood up to face the cloaked figure in the room.

Golem looked over at the small figure to see her not showing any sense of amusement, but a concerned look in her eyes as her eyes bounced back and forth between the two men. In a new sense of amusement, he continued to stare at the woman. She looks quite different from the goblin women he was raised with he thought. Her skin was an olive colour instead of the greenish grey of most goblins. His was covered in tattoos from an early age, but based on his skin around his manhood, his would be similar to hers. Focusing back on the King as he moved towards him, he noticed how pale and white he was in comparison to the woman. The King matched the pale white men that he was familiar with when he was out scouting the lands outside the caves and gullies that the Goblin clans called home.

The King reached towards him with a spiteful look, and with a calm but sarcastic tone stated, "Let me guess, you are the one that assassinated my men, and you..." the King said while pointing a finger into his chest, "have come to assassinate me as well?" He finished the statement with a sarcastic chuckle. "I am supposed to be intimidated by... you?" As the King went to poke him in the chest again, he released his right dagger from its sheath in spin of the wrist that severed the Kings pointer finger at his first knuckle.

Blood shot from the severed finger onto his chest dripping down his body. The warmth of the blood dripping down his almost naked body excited him knowing that his task was soon to come to a conclusion. It bewildered him that bringing death stimulated such life in him. What was that word he thought as frowned and tilted his head while looking at the startled King? Smiling upon remembering the word spoken to him by his dying mentor, he calmly told the King as if he was the one who asked, "Revenge."

With one fell swoop his raised both daggers upwards diagonally away from each other so they would carve an 'X' across the Kings chest. Not deep enough to cause more than excruciating pain the King stumbled back in shock. "How dare you do such a thing to royal blood!"

"Royal blood?" he responded bringing up one of his daggers to inspect the red sheen dripping off the blade. "Looks no different than any other blood I've spilled here tonight." Bringing the blade closer to his mouth, he reached out his tongue to clean off the tip of his blade. "Tastes no different than my own."

The loss of blood started to wear on the King's strength causing him to fall to his knees. Finally sensing his mortality starting to slip away, the King went to call for help. Before he made it half way through screaming "Guar...", the point of a dagger seared into the Kings vocal cords, filling them with blood.

Amused with his work, he smiled as the King choked on his own blood with a sense of panic. The King clutched his throat in a pointless attempt to stop the bleeding. Moments later as the two stared at each other, the King's eyes glazed over as life finally left him. He fell over on his side leaving silence of the night to fill the room. A small whimper from the woman still hiding under the security of the blankets brought him back into reality. Staring into her deep blue eyes reflecting the flame of the nearby burning oil, a bruise and a cut on her far cheek match those on her shoulders and arms. Golem wondered how many other bruises were hidden under the blankets she clung to. He could see her fear, but still she made no sound. The silence and anticipation became too much for her, so she broke the silence. "Please kill me quickly. Don't make me suffer." She pleaded with a single tear running down her face.

"Kill you?" he asked with a confused smile. "Looks like the King has been trying to do that to you for some time and hasn't succeeded."

She let out a single laugh with her breathe before looking at Golem with a sense of relief. "So you're not going to kill me?"

"Looks like we both got our revenge this night." Golem stated with certainty, "You know it's goblin custom to claim a possession of those they kill... Is there something here worth taking more than you?"

Silently and in shock of the crossroads that lay before her in the moment, she looked into Golem's Greenish greys eyes that offered her a warmth that she hadn't felt since before she was arranged into her current marriage. Nervous excitement filled her with a courage she thought she had lost.

"No... Just me..."