The Shadow of the Throne: Eternal Forest Saga - Book 2

Chapter 25

Tranquility was already experiencing a great deal of commotion before Heeska and his hunters arrived. Those that fled the turmoil in the Acolyte Village reached the doors of the Temple long before they'd even set out. What's more, they were dragging with them a very reluctant goblin prisoner. The journey through the trees was so slow that Temple leadership was already hot with fury by the time they arrived.

Heeska emerged at the lakeshore to see Grand Seryan Silvermist herself standing before the doors of the Lady's house of worship. Seryans Moonbeam and Galdaren stood to either side of her. About the bridge and surrounding woods, students of the Temple consoled in one another. The ordeal they'd faced was as terrifying as it was sudden, and this was the second attack in recent days. He wasn't listening in on the conversations happening around him, but he heard more than one student's trembling voice say they were too afraid to ever go home again.

"You!" shouted Moonbeam once Heeska was visible. Her hand shot out, pointing an accusing finger towards him.

Heeska did his best to ignore her, instead keeping his focus on Grand Seryan Silvermist. His hunters were with him, dragging with them their goblin prisoner. The bulbous little creature did nothing to make the journey easy. It kept its feet planted firmly in place, forcing the balisekts to drag its knees across the dirt with each step. Its wrists were bound with rope with another tied around its midsection. Behind the captured savage walked a few students from the village. Among them was Tellwyn, the centaur who'd aided them in stopping the attack.

With Moonbeam leading the charge, the high-ranking trio descended from the bridge. They reached the base a moment before Heeska and those with him arrived. The elven seryan's rage was hot enough to ignite dry leaves, and the other two didn't look much happier. As the two parties drew closer, Moonbeam's eyes were diverted to their small prisoner.

"Why have you brought that abomination onto holy ground?!" she demanded.

"Was bringing your skirmish with the savages to our borders not enough?" Galdaren snapped.

"Let me explain," Heeska pleaded. He was expecting this, though he knew of no way to quell their anger other than explain quickly and hope for the best. "This creature is here to help us bring an end to these attacks."

"And just how is that?" Silvermist asked. Her temper was different from that of the other seryans. Heeska found it odd. She was angry, but there was a cautiousness behind it. It was as if he'd caught her off guard and she was trying to appear un-rattled. This observation puzzled him but didn't change what he needed to do.

"These attacks are not random. They're being orchestrated by an outside force," Heeska explained. He gave a tug on the rope, sending the bound goblin to its bony, bloodied knees and dragging it through the dirt. "This one can tell us who's behind all this."

"Tell you?" Moonbeam questioned. She glared at him smugly. "Certainly you cannot be so foolish."

"This one can speak our language," Heeska said.

"Preposterous," Galdaren scoffed. "Next you'll say you can speak with squirrels."

"Goblin...not...animal," the goblin muttered. A chorus of gasps followed its words.

"By the Lady's grace!" Moonbeam said.

"How can it be so?" Galdaren questioned.

Heeska glared at the trio of seryans. "I don't see how this can be so surprising. It wasn't so long ago you thought my race incapable of speech. Of course, speech amongst the goblins is quite rare."

Silvermist stepped forward, moving between her two underlings. Her eyes were fixated on the little goblin. Her thumb and index finger stroked her chin as she looked the prisoner over. "Just how well can it talk?" she asked. "How fluent is it?"