Prologue
Morkak sat in his
makeshift mobile laboratory. Laboratory…that
was a joke. The tired old Goblin spat on
the dusty floor. This was no lab, it was
a refuse pile. His own little hovel had
been better equipped. He limped back and
forth on twisted legs, stirring a pot here, poking a fire there, and always
taking time to threaten the living creatures that cringed in their cages that
were scattered across the dimly lit room.
The
air hung heavy and still in his darkened room.
Morkak dreamed of the days before all this, the days before the Empire,
the days before they broke his legs, the days before, well the other things
they did were even worse. He missed his
home, but he did like causing a little mischief from time to time, and the
Empire seemed to enjoy his particular brand of mischief.
Morkak
lit a greasy candle and hung a small beaker over it. He added ingredients from dingy half-marked
bottles, a pinch of this, a dash of that, the concoction turned a putrid pale
green and caused the Goblin to gag.
Perfect, the brew was ready for a volunteer. Morkak hopped off his stool and cackled
wildly.
“Here kitty,
kitty.” He called with a voice like a zombie toad. That reminded him, he should check on his
other experiment soon.
His
concentration was once again abruptly interrupted as yet another unwanted guest
entered his lab. Alurial looked around
in disgust. Filth covered the floors,
tables, and workbenches. Smashed glass
vials and bottles littered the floor; piles of refuse had been pushed aside and
crammed into corners to make way for what Alurial could only assume would be
more filth and crap.
Morkak
stormed, as best he could on his twisted legs, across his lab and confronted
the tall, impossibly leggy, Alurial.
“What are you
doing in my lab!?” he demanded in a shrill voice. “I told the guards I was not to be
disturbed! What do you want? Never mind, just get out! Out!
Out! Out I say!”
Morkak moved
forward in an attempt to dislodge Alurial from his precious lab before she
upset one of his experiments or worse, tried to talk to him! The scantily clad woman was not impressed and
remained where she was while the Goblin spent his tantrum.
Alurial
stepped forward and after kicking some trash and what might have been a dead marmot
out of the way put her right foot on one of the short benches and leaned
forward. This provocative move was
designed to get her closer to the Goblin and gain his undivided attention. Her dress was slit to just above her hip bone
and gave Morkak a breathtaking view of all she had to offer. The Goblin bounced away cackling madly.
“Heee
heee! That won’t work on me missy! Your feminine wiles have no place here!” Morkak pulled up his filthy tunic and
revealed his mutilated nether regions.
“See, you have nothing for me! Ha
ha! Now be gone!”
Alurial had
already determined another course of action if her first didn’t work. In a move only slightly slower than a
lightning strike, she snatched up the hapless being by his throat and slammed
him into the wall. Morkak hit with a
thud and a cloud of dust.
“Now
you understand me creature! I don’t give
two humps in hell about you! I would
just as soon grind you under my boot heel as have to endure your incessant
being!”
She dropped Morkak
in a heap and the Goblin decided it best just to lay there and listen.
“However, it
happens that we need each other.” Morkak
looked up questioningly.
“How, what could
you possibly want from me, and what do you think I need from you?”
His
quizzical side had triumphed briefly over his cautious side and he was rewarded
with a sharp kick to the ribs that sent him tumbling across the room. Alurial waited for his coughing and wheezing
to subside before she continued.
“Now worm, come
over here and perhaps we can continue this discussion in a more friendly
manner, or do you enjoy this way better?”
Alurial’s horned mask held one side of her visage in a permanent grin,
quite unsettling. Morkak dusted himself
off and moved over to sit at Alurial’s feet.
“That’s
better. Now, I’ll help you with your
Dragon’s Fire potion so our armies can burn that dreadful forest to the
ground.” The expression on the Goblin’s
face told all.
“How did you…?” he
suddenly ducked as he prepared to be slapped when his new Mistress moved her
hand.
“Fear not
Morkak.” She took his grease smeared
chin in her hand and held him still as she removed her mask. “First, you will help me with this.” Morkak tried not to scream, he really did.
