Chapter 2

The long afternoon shadows worked to amplify the jagged mess that was the Warren. Off to the west the higher spires of shingled roofs and the tips of tall trees of the main city could be seen reaching over the inner walls of Khoma. But the Warren had little of that. The poor had harvested most of the trees here years ago. Now coal rations substituted instead. So much so that, in winter and most evenings, the Warren smelled like a smoldering coal fire.

Unlike Khoma proper, where the humans cohabited with the civilized races, the Warren was a conflation of the uncivilized breeds. In addition to goblins and their ilk, there were orcs, ogres, and renegade dwarves, even a few cast-out elves. As Voem worked his way back home through the crowds he could hear dialects from all over the Outer Rimmer. Most spoke in the human’s tongue when needed, but the Tadarjii goblin language was the choice in the Warren. However, since most residents of the Warren couldn’t read, the signs were all in pictures. The lower halves of the walls were spotted with painted pictures, symbols and even wares hanging outside the doors of the various shops. Moreover, every corner was marked with clan symbols. For Voem, home was under the painted mark of the Blue Hand.

South of the center of the Warren, the old temples district from centuries back was the base of the Hands. Said to be cursed, the goblins initially set up their dens around it. However over the centuries, bold looters had stripped all the standing temples of their intimidating stone for use in other structures, until nothing more than series of small crags made of granite bases and hollow pits remained of the old temples.

The area immediately became a popular hiding place for those who needed one. Fugitives, clanless and exiled goblins soon made it their home. A web of reconstructed buildings and tunnel-riddled mounds grew from the temple foundations, all full of goblins. Over time, the gangs who controlled the area became the confederacy of subclans known as the Hands.

As their size grew the Hands fostered several subclans scattered around the Warren. Each sub clan of the Hands had a different-colored hand symbol. The Red and Blue Hands were the largest and growing thanks to their taking in of outcasts. The mix of members helped them to stay on good terms with the other clans. Most of the Temple District belonged to the Blue Hand leading them to be mocked as the helping hand of the Temple.

Voem worked his way towards the building that was his home. Unlike most of the Warren, buildings in the Temple District often had private rooms available. It was a haven for outcasts, though several families also lived in the area. One such family of outcasts lived on the floor below Voem, though they started out as only a few, the outcasts tended to grow and thrive anyway. It was the nature of goblins.

As he neared the base of his apartment building, Voem was greeted by the sight of his neighbor’s four littlest children taking turns trying to sneak up on Yurgii, the ogre. Yurgii seemed out of place in the Warren. He dressed smartly, like a human servant, but his bulk looked comical in his custom-made shirt and pants. Voem had no idea where an ogre could find shoes, but Yurgii even had a nice pair of boots. His one Warren-like trait was the large sword he carried at his side constantly, though to him it was little more than a dagger.

“Home early today, Voem?” The ogre called out as Voem approached.

Voem shrugged.

“I still see crime. You should head back out.” Yurgii smiled at Voem with teeth bigger than a goblin’s knuckles.

“I’m heading out early tonight. I have to catch the murderer from the Library. Big money to be had in catching him, I am sure.”

“What murder?” The ogre asked.

“Didn’t you hear?” Voem said. “Someone took a bite out of the chief librarian and some of the staff. The Greys are going to be patrolling the Warren too. Yurgii you have to get more if you want know what is going on in the Warren.” At that moment, one of the kids managed to sneak close enough to get a thump Yurgii with a small stick. The ogre hardly even seemed to notice. He smiled at Voem and motioned for him to pause.

“Argg! I will eat you all!” Yurgii yelled at the children, then took two quick stomping steps at them, kicking up as much dust as he could. The children bolted up the hill and around the side immediately. The ogre chuckled menacingly after them and turned to Voem. “Ha, ha! Come have a drink with me, Voem. I must hear this story from the source.”

Voem shrugged. He had a few hours before duty called him back, so he followed the ogre up the hill towards the apartments. Partway up the ogre turned.

“Let’s go to the Amori Temple. I am low on whiskey. Besides there is a storm coming.” He said pointing to the gathering clouds coming from the west, out over the ocean, past the spires of Khoma. “A warm mead would be better on a night like this.”

Together the two wandered toward the temple-turned-bar. The noise of the rowdy patrons could be heard half a block away from the temple even in the daytime. As the two approached, the smells of sweat, smoke, and beer filled the air.

There was one particular gobi that had caught Voem’s fancy, and she happened to be one of the servers at the Amori Temple, so he was always willing to go there for a drink. Because it was early the place was comparatively empty, and they only had to pay a copper to get in. As a Watchman, Voem didn’t have to check his weapons at the door, but he left most of them there anyway, taking only his warhammer inside.

The band, only a drum line at this time of day, was increasing their rhythm, slowly progressing the beat to work up the urges of the crowd and as a summons to bring in others. For now, there was only one dancer on the stage doing a slow strip to the rhythm. By nightfall the place would be packed with young goblins come to give up their money. Many more dancers would be ready to dance to earn their keep for the elder wives, too.

A near platoon of eunuchs would also be there tonight to guard the clan’s prized future wives as well. Though it was a sexualized show, elder wives kept a strict watch on everything. The future of the clan was born in the goings-on here.

Yurgii and Voem ended up at a table off to the side of the stage, where the ceiling was high enough to allow the ogre to sit comfortably. The dancing gobi on stage ignored them and continued to dance to the customers gathered toward the center. Voem took off his helmet and set it off to the side of the table. In the dimly lit innards of the Temple, he no longer needed the dim of the visor to protect his eyes.

“Gobi! Some mead and stew for me and the Watchman,” Yurgii shouted. Voem winced at the announcement of his presence. Some he would not like a Watchman among them. Unconcerned, Yurgii turned to Voem and asked, “Now what is this about a murder at the Library?”

“Just that. Somebody killed the guard and then snuck in and butchered the librarian and a bunch of other wizards.”

“What do you mean butchered?” Yurgii held up a hand for Voem to wait as the gobi waitress brought them their drinks and stew. As soon as she left, he motioned for Voem to continue as he casually began scooping into his stew.

“Whoever it was knew enough to get in past the wards.”

“You mean the gargoyles and such? Ha. They have been turned off for months.” The ogre smiled with potato mash still in his teeth.

“Well, they’re back on now. This person got through the defenses, so they had to be a wizard of some kind. They killed everyone without much struggle and tore their brains out.”

“What do you mean they tore their brains out? Osmiso?” Yurgii had a very surprised look on his face. The comment unfortunately came out loud enough that some of those watching the dancer were looking over at them now instead of the gobi gyrating in front of them.

“Their skulls were pried open and their brains were gone,” said Voem in a hushed voice.

“All of them?”

“At least two that I saw. I don’t know about the rest,” explained Voem. “I didn’t get there ‘til later.”

“Was it Osmiso?” The ogre looked very stunned. Over his shoulder, Voem could see one of the other goblin patrons had heard that word too.

“No. Nothing like it. He was still alive when they started. With torture like that you’d expect to see his face a contorted in pain, but this guy’s face was all calm and unconcerned. Like he was catatonic.”

“Heh, where’d you learn a word like that?” The ogre smirked drawing an insulting hand gesture from Voem.

“And they split his face open from the front.” When Voem tried to picture the man’s face again, something odd occurred to him. “You know, the weird thing is I didn’t see any cut marks. You’d have to have a very sharp ax or knife or whatever. But this wizard’s face didn’t have any cuts on it like that. The skin was torn apart. It was like someone just stuck their fingers in his nose and broke his face open.”

“Really?” Yurgii seemed lost in thought for a while. Ogres were not known for being deep thinkers, but Yurgii was an exception. Voem had seen him sit like this for hours in contemplation. It took him a while but no possible outcome of a puzzle was unconsidered by his mind.

While Yurgii considered things, Voem watched over his shoulder for a sight of Helle. She was the gobi he had had his eye on for a while now. She was young enough that she had not been set aside for a marriage yet. Nevertheless, Voem was getting older and the likelihood of him making enough money to afford a wife was slipping away. His best hope was one that liked him. Helle was someone he had been close to for a while now.

Unfortunately, the elder wives disapproved. Helle was still growing into her beauty and they meant to use her to tease a greater bride price out of some young warrior. A Watchman was not what they had in mind for her. Voem feared that they were convincing Helle of that too.

Searching the crowd over Yurgii’s shoulder Voem couldn’t tell for sure if he saw her there or not. She was a skinny gobi and slightly taller than the other gobii. He tried to identify her in the crowd of younger gobii working in the kitchen, which was not easy.

At last, he thought he could make her out in the back cutting up food for the night’s meals. Her pale gray skin and long black hair, tied back in knots, were familiar to him. To see her smiling and chatting in the back with the other gobii made his heart flutter. He had only gotten to talk to her a few times here. The other girls also pushed her towards richer, stronger goblins and away from Voem.

Voem had made a few excursions to the Amori temple after his shifts to see her, together they had had long talks while she finished emptying the pots and garbage out back. But always they were watched over by the eunuchs. He cherished those times, but they were few and now several days past. If only the Greys weren’t out tonight he could have returned and had a chance to see her again.

Voem pushed the romantic notions from his mind. No point dwelling on it tonight.

Yurgii seemed to have finally concluded his thoughts, too. With a loud humph, he cleared his mind and then cleared his cup before his focus came back to Voem. At last he spoke. “You are going back out tonight?”

“Yeah, to shadow the Greys. It should be pretty quiet.” Voem finished his stew and turned his attention to the dancing girl on stage.

“Hmm. Don’t bet on it,” Yurgii warned.

“What do you mean?” Voem kept his eyes on the dancer as she rubbed her four breasts, smiling at Voem, glad to have finally caught his attention. He wished Helle would be that happy to see him.

“Come by tomorrow, I may have some information for you,” Yurgii said as he stood up, far-off look still in his eyes. He thumped his head lightly on one of the rafters, causing some of the drummers to skip a beat.

“What did you say?” Voem asked, distracted by the drummers stuttering and the dancer stopping in frustration. His attention returned back to his friend. “You’re going? Don’t forget your whiskey.”

Yurgii gave a thankful snort and walked over to the bar to buy his jug. Then he left giving Voem a wave as he went. Voem finished his drink quietly.

As he waited, he tried to get another look at Helle. This time he got a glance up in his direction and he thought, maybe the hint of a smile. But there were several people between the two of them and he couldn’t be certain that it was meant for him. Kicking his chair back Voem got up and left. He had tortured himself enough with gobii beyond his reach today. Instead, he headed home to get some rest before the night patrol.

Next Chapter: Chapter 3