CHAPTER ELEVEN
“FLOOR!”
I hear the command from Simon and drop to the ground, flattening myself out face-down. To my right, I see Calgonnel do the same thing. I grab the spellshooter at my hip with my right hand and remove the clip that holds it to my belt. Looking past Calgonnel, I scan the area to my right for movement and threats. I see Calgonnel looking past me to see the area to my left.
A dwarf carrying a battle-axe and wearing chain mail comes into my vision from behind a stack of boxes. He’s at least five meters away but using the cover in the storeroom to sneak closer. He goes behind a taller stack of boxes, then comes back out and ducks low behind a table. He’s gained about a meter.
If I can’t see him behind the table, he can’t see me. I raise my spellshooter and point it at the table over Calgonnel’s back. The dwarf’s head appears at the far right edge of the table, and I think he’s going to move to that other stack of boxes. I adjust my aim just as he pops out from behind the table and goes right where I’m expecting him to. I pull the trigger.
A small flash of light appears in front of the spellshooter, and a small green pebble flies out of the flash of light at a speed of a few meters per second. It’s fast enough to catch the dwarf in the back while he’s in the open, and I hear him grunt as he drops to his knees.
Just then, I hear a grunt behind me. I don’t know if that was Simon killing an enemy, or an enemy killing Simon. I need to check. First I look at Calgonnel’s face. He doesn’t seem to be tracking any enemies to my left, so I should be safe to roll over. I roll on my left shoulder so my spellshooter stays free and rotates upwards as I go.
Now on my back, I can see two goblins in chain mail going after Simon, with another two goblins lying killed on the floor. Simon raises his pole axe sideways to deflect a blow from the battle axe on his left, pushes with his weapon to shove the goblin back, then swings to the right to stop the advance of the other goblin. I take that second to aim and pull the trigger again, and another pebble shoots out and hits the goblin on the left. That goblin grunts and drops to the floor, leaving only one, and Simon has him.
I turn and look at the area to my right, which I hadn’t looked at yet because Calgonnel was watching it. I see an elf in the far corner with a spellshooter, and another with a short sword. I don’t know if Calgonnel just didn't see them or what, but I can deal with them.
I get to my feet. As I do, the elf with the spellshooter leans out from behind cover to shoot at me. I dive quickly behind a table and look at the nearby cover. There’s a few stacks of boxes between me and the elves, and I jump out from behind the table to run for one of them. Right as I do, I feel the impact as a small stone hits me in the center of the back. Dragons be damned. I drop to the floor, killed.
“WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?!?” Lada’s yell fills the room and everyone stops. I stand and walk back to Calgonnel and Simon. The ‘attackers’ reset themselves on the far side of the training room.
I look around at the three officers. “Who got me in the back? I was going after the two elves, and I thought the other side was clear after I dropped the dwarf. Did that other goblin get by Simon?”
Simon gives me a look that feels like he’s trying to melt me where I stand, but doesn’t respond. Lada responds by smacking me hard in the left shoulder with a training sword. “Simon had his side just fine, even the one you took the liberty of killing.”
Another look of death from Simon. He’s really upset with me for taking out one of his enemies. “Sorry, Simon. I was in the moment. I heard a noise and flipped over to cover the front because I thought you were gone. When I had an opening, I took it, then moved on to the far side. I saw the two elves where Calgonnel couldn’t see them, so I went for them.”
Lada smacks me with the training sword again and nods. “So who was watching the other side?”
Calgonnel sighs. “I wasn’t fast enough. I was trying to see someone on the side I was covering, and before I knew it, Rylae was over there. I had just realized I was supposed to switch sides when she got shot.”
Lada pokes Calgonnel in the gut with the training sword, a lot more gently than she hit me with it. That doesn’t seem fair at all. But he is older, so I guess it’s fair in its own way. “Elf, I know you’re ancient, but you gotta pay more attention to your surroundings. Once you saw the girl start moving, you should’ve turned yer head because she wasn’t watching that side anymore. I know yer used to talkin’ for days at a time, but you gotta move as well.”
She turns back to me. “And you…” Lada hands the training sword to Simon, who smacks me in the left shoulder. He hands it back to Lada, who smacks me again as well. “First, I didn’t hear you say you had contact on either side. If I didn’t hear you, then Calgonnel didn’t hear you, so he didn’t know where to look! Second, keep yer shots away from yer betters. If that had been a fireball shooter, Simon would have been toasty.”
My arm is really starting to hurt now. “Got it. Sorry, Calgonnel. I’ll warn you next time. And, sorry again, Simon. It won’t happen again unless you’re on the ground.”
Simon nods. “If I’m on the ground, shoot me too. Area effect is the best way to get rid of the hundreds of troops that it took to knock me over.”
Lada swings the sword above her head and whistles. “ALRIGHT! SET UP AGAIN!”
Calgonnel, Simon and I go back behind the two stacks of boxes that are representing the door to the Overseer’s office. The whole training room is set up to best approximate what a goblin overseer’s office should look like, with sideways tables as counters, boxes stacked up as walls, chairs and desks, and a boxy set of holding cells in the back. The scenario that Lada and Simon set up is that the assassination attempts are sanctioned by the Overseer, so taking us out inside his office would be the easiest place to hide it.
We line up, with Simon going in first, Calgonnel in the center, and I’m in the back. We give Lada’s enemy team a few minutes to reset to a new configuration. We’ll have to set up an appointment with the Overseer, so if we are going to be attacked there, they’ll know when we’re coming and be prepared for us. We have to give the training scenario the same consideration.
Eventually, Lada steps around the door boxes. “The Overseer will see you now.” She says, then grins and steps off to the side of the room.
Simon pushes the stack of boxes to the side, creating an opening for us to walk through. He takes a step inside and yells in anger.
At the same time as his yell, I hear a sound behind us. I spin around just in time to get a spray of red fluid all over me. I also yell in anger, then drop to the floor.
Calgonnel drops to the floor, which was exactly the wrong thing to do in the situation. The two goblins on either side of our group walk past my and Simon’s dead bodies, aim their spellshooters at Calgonnel, and pull the triggers. A double-spray of red liquid covers him, and the goblins laugh hysterically.
“END!” Lada yells, and steps out to us from behind the boxes.
I stand up, and Lada smacks me with that dragons-be-damned training sword in my dragons-be-damned left shoulder again. “Hey! How is this my fault?”
Lada grins. “Simon had a door in front of him. He had no chance. You weren’t watching the back. You should have been able to take out the goblin with the acid shooter before he sprayed you. So yes, it’s yer fault that you and the ancient elf ended up covered in tomato sauce.” She smacks me with the sword again – that’s really hurting now – then starts laughing as she wipes the wooden blade off on her leg. “I really love those acid training shooters. Tomato sauce. So funny!”
Simon stamps his foot on the ground and takes off at a run towards Lada. Lada turns and runs away from him into the showers, yelling “Training Dismissed!” and laughing. At her command, the “enemy troops” we borrowed from the battalion go into the showers themselves.
Calgonnel and I are left standing there, covered
in tomato sauce. I rub my left shoulder, which makes my white uniform shoulder turn a bright pink. We look at each other and start laughing. Lada’s right – it is pretty funny. And it could be worse. Uniforms are easier to clean than battle armor. Our uniforms are much easier to clean, since we don’t have to clean them personally. The senior officers share a seamstress who tailors and cleans our uniforms for us. It’s a nice benefit.
“We should probably get these uniforms to Halder so he can clean them before the red spots stain.”
I get a nod in reply. “He’d probably appreciate that.” We walk to the door. Calgonnel glances at me. “Sorry for getting you shot that time.”
I shrug. “Sorry for getting you melted by acid that time.”
We laugh again and enter the hallway. A pair of young elves in battle armor sees us and starts to laugh, then realizes who we are and quickly cover their mouths with their hands, stand to the side of the hallway to let us pass, and salute. Once we’re past, they run down the hall as quick as their legs can carry them. That just makes us laugh harder, and we continue laughing the entire way from level 3 to level 6. We get to Calgonnel’s quarters, and I half-salute as he goes in and I keep walking to mine.
Changing my uniform hurts. Getting my left arm out of that sleeve isn’t fun. Putting it in a sleeve of a clean uniform is less fun. Lada really hits hard with that training sword. I don’t want to seem like a baby who can’t handle a little pain, but I think I’m going to go down to the hospital ward and get something to relieve the major ache that my shoulder is now in. Halder’s seamstress room is also on the 4th level anyway, so I’ll just pretend it’s because it was convenient.
I go down to level 4 and drop my uniform off, then walk farther down and enter the hospital ward. There are twenty beds with curtains between them, and ten chairs in a triage area. Three members of the caregiver staff are treating folk every shift, three shifts per day, and Sen comes in to work the more difficult cases when they present themselves. Anyone who was still considered a difficult case when we docked was transferred to the Academy, so the ward is mostly empty right now. Three folk are currently in beds, probably with injuries from falls or battalion practices.
Sen is sitting at her desk in the far corner of the room and sees me walk in. She stands and starts to walk across the room towards me, brushing her long brown hair back over her shoulder with one hand. An elf caregiver tech also sees me and darts over to get to me first. He crosses Sen’s path a little too closely, and the goblin throws her left arm out, catching the elf in the throat and knocking him flat on his back. He groans on the floor, and Sen chuckles as she keeps walking towards me.
I look at the elf, then at Sen, then back at the elf. Sen shrugs. “He should’ve stayed out of the way. We’re not so busy that he had to rush right out. Besides, he knows that I handle the important folk. Last thing I need is a lieutenant burning off a captain’s limb or something. The paperwork’s a pain in the ass. Killing the lieutenant never helps with the paperwork, but I always try.” She looks back at the elf on the floor and smiles a huge, evil smile. The elf climbs back to his feet and runs to a storage area to find something better to do.
I shrug, wincing in pain. Sen sees my wince and walks closer. “Which limb needs to be removed?”
I chuckle. “You can’t remove it. Training injury from Lada’s sword. Left shoulder. Just hurts like hell to move it. Got anything for the pain?”
Without a word or any other warning, Sen rips open my uniform and pushes it down off my shoulders. My breasts are now out for everyone to see, but no one’s looking. None of Sen’s staff wants to watch her work, in case they’re called to a court to testify. She looks over the area, making small noises to herself. Every so often she pokes me in the arm and appears to take note of whenever I wince in pain.
Finally, she nods and starts to walk to the supply area. I’m not just going to stand here half-naked and wait for her, so I cover myself with my hands and follow. I can’t tell if she’s enjoying this or not. It’s really hard to tell with Sen. She finds humor in other folks’ discomfort. It’s an odd trait for a caregiver, but she is a goblin, so… yeah.
Getting to the supply area, she pulls out a tub of ointment and opens it. She takes a huge glob in her long green fingers and sets the tub down. Without hesitation, she turns and slaps the ointment on my shoulder. Dragons be damned, that hurts! She rubs the glob of stuff that smells remarkably like orange jam until it covers most of my upper arm and shoulder, then wipes her hands off on her uniform.
“Better?” she asks, looking me over.
Rather quickly, the pain starts to disappear, and my shoulder starts to get tingly. A warm feeling spreads across the area. I attempt moving my arm, and it definitely doesn’t hurt anymore. “Thanks, Sen. That’s much better. I appreciate it.”
I start to pull my uniform back on, and Sen slaps my hands. “Can’t. Takes about twenty minutes before it’s fully absorbed. If you cover up now, you’ll lose most of it inside the uniform. You have to leave it out for awhile.” She looks in my eyes and smiles that huge goblin smile of hers. It’s like she does this kind of thing on purpose just to satisfy her own sense of humor.
I sigh. “Fine. But give me a towel or something, please, and I’ll go sit in one of the chairs. I’m not going to hold myself the entire time.”
Sen winks. “Lieutenant Bellas will bring you one. Lindlir!” The elf boy she knocked on the floor jumps and turns to her. “Bring a towel to Commander Westiel, and help her cover herself with it. If it’s not long enough to tie in the back, you’ll have to stand there and hold it for her.” The Lieutenant’s face turns a bright red, but he runs for the towels.
Sen turns to me, and I smile as big as I can. “I will get you back for this.” I turn and walk towards the chairs, and Sen chuckles behind me.