Goblin Queen: Katrina Baker Novel 03 Read online

  Goblin Queen

  A Katrina Baker novel 03

  Author: D. L. Harrison

  Copyright 2017. This is a work of fiction. Names, Characters, Places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without permission.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Epilogue

  Afterword:

  About the Author

  Other books by D. L. Harrison:

  Book Description

  Chapter One

  The inn bustled around me, it was very busy and active with merchants and visitors to Magehaven. The scents of the meats and vegetables piled high on my plate were heavenly. It’d been only five days since I’d eaten meat, which for me was apparently far too long. I took in a long sniff before I started to shovel the food into my mouth, doing my best to ignore the fragrant man that walked past our table.

  Edea sat across from me, her own plate filled with a salad and mixed vegetables. I was amused at the look on her face, as I devoured my meal. It wasn’t how fast I was eating, or how much, she was used to my appetite by now. I’d been sharing meals with her the last week after all. It was just that she looked slightly nauseous watching me eat meat.

  Elves…

  It was something she’d have to get over if she was going to be around humans.

  We were finally done with the shopping, and after lunch I planned to take her to Southwater, where she would go meet her teacher, and I would track down Gerard. To say I was excited would be an understatement, I really wanted to connect with him, on all levels. My stint in the elven kingdom of Gwienidd had been technically successful, but I’d also left a mess behind.

  Through no fault of my own maybe, but it had still been hard on me.

  Edea sighed and said, “How can you possibly eat that.”

  I laughed, “How can you eat that salad, with such good and freshly slaughtered beef cooked to perfection available.”

  I thought I might have gone too far when her face turned a bit green at my description, but then she mock glared, and stared at her own plate for a moment. Then she started eating, as if determined to show me just how good it was.

  Our friendship was tentative, but I had a good feeling about it. I also knew that we wouldn’t see all that much of each other, at least in the short term. She would have Stephanie, her witch master teaching her magic, and I was sure my goddess would be keeping me quite busy. Hopefully, there’d be time to finally get around to that marriage Gerard and I were supposed to have last week.

  A part of my mind, from my upbringing, rebelled against getting married at eighteen. But it was just a tiny voice in the back of my mind, most of my intellect knew Gerard was perfect for me, and my heart definitely agreed.

  Of course, Gerard was on assignment down there for the king, which is why I was going to him. He’d followed me, protected me, and had been there for me when I first arrived and had no one. Now it was my turn to return the favor, hopefully. Arella hadn’t sent me any more visions, and I hoped that wouldn’t happen again for a while. I’d do what I had to, but I didn’t like being separated from Gerard.

  In a way, the short separation of five days was healthy. There was a part of me that had been concerned I’d latched onto the first man I’d met for security, and that’s why I’d fell for him so fast, instead of because he was an amazing man. But, after an absence I knew for sure that wasn’t it, my feelings had grown over the last week, not faded. I missed him terribly.

  Being a paladin was a tremendous responsibility and commitment that I’d taken on, something I never would have done before coming to this world and getting a dose of reality, and learning what true evil was. This world was magical, and extremely dangerous, but perversely it was also a generally happier place. The people I mean, were generally happier. I don’t know why that was, but it was also true. Maybe the simpler living, and everyone putting in a hard day’s work, but that sounded hokey.

  There was some truth to it though, no sedentary jobs or processed high calorie and fat foods meant most people were in good shape. Healthy body, healthy mind, happier people. Truthfully, even though I missed my parents very much, I thought I was happier here too. I could be who I was, and not apologize for it.

  Still, meeting the goddess in person had solidified for me who I wanted to be, I’d always wanted to be a hero but it was more a nebulous impossible wish on my old world given what my parents were.

  Supervillains.

  So far, I’d stopped an undead lich from wiping out the humans on this world, or at least the humans on the continent I was on, and had done it before he’d even really gotten started thanks to Arella’s vision. I’d also saved Gwienidd from a cursed and poisonous plant, and I’d only been here less than three weeks. I was due for some boredom for sure, and I had several books I still needed to read to get to know my world. It would be nice to support Gerard’s mission instead of having the world hanging in the balance of my actions.

  I thought guiltily of the Chilik book sitting on my shelf. If I was going to help Gerard with whatever was happening at the southern border, I really should find some time to read it. History tended to repeat itself, and it would be good to see what happened in that evil land in the past. Not to mention the book on Trelin itself, my host kingdom. But… I wasn’t going to put off going south any longer than it took me to consume my four helpings of food.

  Which really, wasn’t very long at all.

  Supers needed far more calories, and had cast iron stomachs. But we weren’t quite ready yet, Edea was still eating down her salad and veggies. I was fairly sure that the elves being vegetarians was a racial consideration, and not a moral one. Mostly because Edea didn’t look at all offended by my meal, simply disgusted.

  Edea asked uncertainly, “Did you really like our food?”

  I smiled, “Yes, I did. But for a human it isn’t a balanced diet. Well, for me.”

  I supposed some humans could live off Elven food just fine. My super metabolism was another story.

  “Are you doing okay?”

  She had been banished from Gwienidd, but she seemed okay to my emphatic sense.

  Edea replied, “Oh yes. I love my mother, it was the only reason I put up with the way the elves treated me. It knew I wouldn’t be welcomed with open arms, but it was still a shock when we got there three months ago. I do miss my mother, but I’m excited about finally being able to learn about and use my magic, and I’ll see her again. It’s actually a relief to get out of there, even if I’m a bit nervous about how humans will react to me.”

  I smiled, even though it hurt. I’d never see mine again. As for her latter concern, she’d discover soon enough there would be no stigma for what she was. Not to say it would be all good, she’d have to face good and bad just like the rest of us. But… they wouldn’t all instantly dislike her like the elves did.

  She was dressed in leather riding clothes, as was I. I could have changed after the
ride, but it seemed prudent to stay as I was until I knew the situation down in Southwater. I’d also already had a conversation about her elven dresses, she couldn’t wear them in the human kingdom. Well she could, but men might get the wrong idea, they were very revealing.

  “You ready to go meet your teacher?”

  She nodded after taking her last bite, and we headed out to the stables to collect our horses. I pictured the courtyard behind the inn in the southernmost village, and teleported us there. I’d considered leaving my horse behind at the palace or something, but what if I needed her?

  Edea shivered, “I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to that.”

  “It can be disorienting. Huh, that’s odd.”

  I looked around and the stables were deserted, no stable master. Then I heard some shouting, and the sounds of steel and bows. Was the village under siege? I wanted to race away and find out, but we quickly put our horses in stalls.

  I said, “Let’s get you into the inn, and I’ll go see what’s going on. If the city is under siege you won’t be able to leave it yet.”

  Edea frowned, “I could help?”

  Then I heard it, the whining sound thrummed through the air, a sound that could only be one thing, the sound of a jet pack, followed by a cackling evil laugh that drained the blood from my face, and my mind and body froze. My whole world spun, and everything seemed blurry as tears collected in my eyes.

  Edea said faintly, or at least it seemed so at the time, “Katrina? Breathe!”

  Mom!?

  The world went dark…

  Chapter Two

  I groaned as I opened my eyes, and looked up into Edea’s concerned face. I was lying in the dirt. Had I fainted? I’d heard… oh goddess. How? Was dad here too? Oh crap, was my mother leading an army of evil? I could still hear the battle, although not my mother’s jet pack anymore. Those were definitely goblin screams of pain and battle cries.

  Edea asked, “What is it?”

  I bit my lip, and had no idea how to explain. I hadn’t even told her I’m from another world, or that my parents had died at a very old age just minutes after I’d arrived. Or… apparently not.

  “Edea, it’s a long story. Let me shorten it. I’m from another world, and my mother who I thought was long dead because of a time dilation thing because the multi-verse is an onion, isn’t really dead, but here. At the head of a goblin army. I think. So… family issues.”

  I was also a bit panicked because she probably didn’t know if she was caught they’d just kill her, instead of locking her up for a few days before she could escape. Oh goddess, this was complicated.

  Edea’s eyes widened, “Maybe you should tell me the long version.”

  I laughed, a bit hysterically. I supposed my explanation had been rather disjointed.

  “When we have all day, and a bottle of good wine, suffice it to say my world is very different. We don’t have evil races, or the other good ones for that matter, just humans. I need to go, before Gerard kills my mother, or worse, she kills him.”

  I’d never speak to her again. I was a bit giddy, but also terrified. My mother wasn’t truly evil, but she was a supervillain down to her toes. This was bad, why did she have a goblin army anyway? Couldn’t she have just looked for me like a normal person? Maybe I was just jumping to conclusions, and it was just a coincidence she showed up during a siege.

  Right… fat chance.

  Edea sighed, “Go, I’ll make my way to the walls and try to help. But you owe me a long explanation, you’re from another world? Is that why your magic is so different?”

  I nodded, “Technically it’s not magic, which is why I was able to become a paladin. Remember, the gods aren’t allowed to choose those with other magic?”

  Before I could ask how she’d help, she was untying the bow from her saddle, and claimed the quiver of arrows as well. She looked intimidating with her hood up, and I knew from last night she was a fierce fighter. I nodded, and then took off into the sky, and headed toward the gate sending my mental scans with telepathy, empathy, and the new telekinetic one ahead of me.

  Now that I could do that, maybe I’d never get surprised by a mage again, unless I was asleep. I wouldn’t forget to pick up that enchantment in two days. There were several guards on the walls, a mage I was assuming to be the mayor, and two paladins. Gerard and Cynthia. I pushed down the irrational surge of jealousy, he wouldn’t cheat on me, he wasn’t that kind of man. But I was annoyed he hadn’t told me, I’d assumed he was sent alone.

  There was a sea of several hundred goblins out there, and behind them was a large metal ship, just floating about ten feet off the ground. There were no jets at all, and I wondered what was holding it up. Sitting on top of the ship, on a garish throne, was my mother, with my father beside her.

  I almost fell out of the sky, but recovered. She looked beautiful as always, red hair, brown eyes, smooth complexion, but she looked closer to thirty than the twenty-five I remembered her looking. With the way supers age, I estimated it had taken her close to forty years to join me on this world. That thought made me tear up again, they hadn’t given up on me, they’d prepared for years, found the right world, and had come to find me.

  They’d just come out in a different spot, if I had to guess, much further south. Or I would have met up with her three weeks ago, possibly even before I woke up from my injuries. I’d say it was a good guess, since she’d apparently enslaved a whole army full of goblins. I didn’t know much about Chilik, but I knew there had to be at least five different goblin tribes down there.

  She was in a light tan dress, and had gadgets around her wrists and on the harness she wore with the backpack jet. She also had on a set of goggles, and held a strange looking gun. I knew what her freeze ray and disintegration gun looked like, so it must be something new. I wanted to fly right to her, but I was frozen in indecision.

  If it had been anyone else, I’d already be killing goblins, on my way to remove an evil threat. At home it was different, but here she was leading evil races to invade? But she was my mother, and she’d come here to this world, for me. There had to be more to it though, some thought process of my mother’s that no one here would ever understand.

  I had no doubt she knew it was a one-way trip, why else would she have prepared for forty years. I suspected the ship was using anti-gravity, and no doubt held a fully decked out laboratory for a mad scientist. Except, she hadn’t cracked anti-gravity when I’d left, but… that was forty years ago for her.

  It gave me a headache to think about. The mage shot a fireball at my mother which made me flinch, but I needn’t have worried, it splashed harmlessly against a force field. She hadn’t seen me yet, and I decided I should talk to Gerard first, so I dropped down to the wall next to him.

  “Hi, how’s it going?” I asked cheerfully.

  Gerard did a double take, and then gripped and squeezed my hand. I could see in his eyes he wanted to do a lot more than that, but kissing on the battlements was a good way to get killed.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked as Cynthia said, “Katrina!”

  I replied, “Hi Cynthia,” then I turned back to Gerard, “Things went well enough with the elves, thought I’d come help you. Umm, what’s going on?”

  Gerard snorted, “I’m glad you’re here, I missed you. The goblin queen over there invaded yesterday. We’ve been fighting ever since. It’s strange though, we can’t even get near her or that bizarre magical device she rides on. She hasn’t killed any of us, but she’s killed four goblins so far with the strange weapon she’s holding, who tried to turn on her. It doesn’t make sense.”

  “Has she made demands?”

  Supervillains always make demands, either that or they monologue.

  Gerard nodded, “She’s looking for her daughter. Claimed she would destroy us all if we didn’t deliver by sundown. We’re holding our own, but we’re just fending off the goblins right now. I’m pretty sure she can take down the gates.”

  We lo
oked up at a piercing shriek, and I watched as a goblin mage’s body was deformed, it rippled like water in a pond with a stone dropped in it, from its stomach outward in a circle, as it was thrown back. When its body landed, its eyes were glassy, and he was clearly dead. I looked up and saw my mother muttering under her breath as she lowered the gun.

  Sonic weapon? That was kind of brilliant. I bet magical shields could stop her freeze and disintegrate ray, so she’d made the new one, because as far as I knew they didn’t stop sound at all. Well, no one on my world ever accused Havoc of being stupid. I also wondered if the problem was that goblins were an evil race, maybe her normal mind control gases, implants, or liquids weren’t working on them as well as they did on humans if they were fighting it.

  “I love you Gerard. Umm, do you think she looks at all familiar?”

  My mother’s hair was a darker red, and didn’t have the blonde mixed in that I got from dad, but the brown eyes and skin were identical, not to mention the facial features were very obviously close to mine.

  Cynthia caught on first, as she looked back and forth between my mother and I with narrowed eyes.

  Gerard smiled, “I love you too. I suppose she does look a little like… wait, is your last name Baker? She was asking for a Kat Baker.”

  I’d never told him my last name, since most people here didn’t have one. I imagine that plus my mom using my nickname had thrown him off the obvious conclusion. That, and the fact I’d never lead an army of goblins.

  I nodded, “Yup, my mom is the goblin queen.”

  Cynthia laughed, which drew both of us to look her way.

  She said, “Well Gerard, go say hi to your future mother in law.”

  He growled, “You’re not helping Cyn.”

  I was suddenly worried he’d want to call it off.

  She snorted, “I know, this isn’t funny at all. But its either joke or cry my friend. You totally scored out of your range, so this is the payment.”

  Gerard glared at Cynthia and then sighed and turned to me, “Explain.”

  I shrugged, “I’m guessing she followed me here after accidentally banishing me, but ended up farther south in Chilik. As for how this happened,” I waved my arm at the goblin army, “I’ll go ask her.”