The middle-aged wizard emitted a grunt which sounded like 'good answer', although with the man it was difficult to tell. It could also be 'your funeral' or something like that. Unlike the rest of the German wizards, the English group and the French one, Heinrich Sturmwald's expressions were hard to read. To say the truth, if Sturmwald said she had to go now, she would obey. Unlike the leaders of the French contingent Léon De La Rousseraie and Louis De Male Foi (which with his blonde hair was probably a male cousin of the Malfoy family ), the man had not the so familiar pure-blood arrogance and was obviously not passing a quarter of his day grooming his hair, his nails and spend a fortune in cosmetics.
Alexandra was at that state of her thoughts when Warfist, the commander-in-chief of the expedition himself, marched through the ranks of his warriors to reach the gates. One look at the massive goblin was enough to know why he was the commander and the rest were obeying him. Alexandra had grown in height this last year, but Warfist was still taller than her and had a musculature which would have shamed an Olympic athlete. His armor was silver and gold, with a lot of runes shining in the sun of the afternoon. In his right hand, lied a massive warhammer decorated in gold. From her position fifty meters away, Alexandra felt the power emanating from the tool of destruction. The runes and the red sparks at its surface affirmed loud and clear how badass (to use a word in Dudley's vocabulary) this hammer was.
"They call it the Judgement." Said Sturmwald on her right, having noticed the object of her attention.
"Lovely." The black-haired witch answered.
"In ancient times, the goblins used weapons like this one to defeat the ancient giants."
"And it worked?"
"There are no more ancient giants to say no." Replied in an amused tone her interlocutor.
BBBBBBBBBBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGG!
The whispers ceased instantly, as one of the goblins following Warfist had stricken a massive gong in metal, in what was obviously a military signal.
As one man, pardon one goblin, the army in front of her eyes advanced one step and struck their armour with their right fist. The voice of Warfist then roared in the valley.
"WARRIORS! PROUD SONS OF GURGLAG!" The goblin general bellowed, a feat extraordinary there was no megaphone or anything to boost the sound of his voice. "THE SECULAR ENEMY SHOWS AGAIN ITS UGLY HEAD! LIKE A COWARD AND A TRAITOR, HE ACTS IN THE SHADOWS, UNWILLING TO FACE US ON THE BATTLEFIELD! NO MATTER! THIS NIGHT WE WILL DRINK OUR VODKAZOR IN HIS SKULL! TO ARMS MY WARRIORS!"
And in a furious roar which shook the mountain to its foundations the goblins shouted their defiance.
"RRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!"
Alexandra gulped at this manifestation of hate. Note to self, she thought, be far away when the goblins find the enemy. The French and English curse-breakers, who had by now taken position near the gates, seemed to share the same opinion, judging from their livid faces and shaking hands.
Then, having taken the exhortations of their leader to heart, the close formation of the goblin expeditionary force disappeared one rank after another in the entrails of their fortress. To war. Warfist was of course leading them.
"Follow me, girlie." The voice of Sturmwald stopped her to contemplate more this shining example of martial strength.
Walking besides the German wizard, Alexandra noticed all the humans were taking positions at regular intervals in the rear of the goblin force. First the French, then the Germans and finally the English. Thurgood and Selwyn watched her take her place next to Sturmwald with what looked to be hate on their face and in their eyes.
She didn't look at her compatriots more than an instant, however. Soon, every human was forced to enter the mountain and adapt to the implacable rhythm of march imposed by the small race of smiths and warriors.
On the inside, her first look at Brise-Roc gave her the picture of a magnificent citadel, one which the goblins had in all probability taken years to excavate when the time came to build the large pillars, columns and all the other stone gravures. It was like the goblins had read Tolkien and mixed Erebor and the Moria.
Alas, the silent citadel they were currently marching inside was also sharing the deadly silence of the imaginary dwarf mines and strongholds. In spite of the goblins singing something which was a funeral march by the tone of it, nothing could make her forget the lack of inhabitants. There were a lot of torches disposed in great halls the size of football stadiums (if not bigger), but the dark and the feeling of abandon was oppressing. The goblin army being unable to fill some of these places by its simple presence was also not boosting everyone's spirits.
The goblins and the humans passed three more huge halls (which would have made any king acceptable throne rooms), before engaging in narrower corridors. The space being not available, the goblins formed a narrower formation of three ranks large. The torches on the wall became scarcer, forcing her and several wizards to use Lumos (she supposed that the mountain was far off-range of the Ministry). They were descending, slowly but surely after an interminable amount of time. Her feet were in pain, but no pause was declared.
No one among the humans was talking. The goblins had ceased to sing too, and now there were only the noise of two species clashing their foot on the stone floor to hear. The profile of the travel then changed abruptly.
In a single file, hundreds of warriors began to descend by a long series of stairs carved in stone. By moment, ropes had to be used as they passed over large gaps and holes where trolls and Cerberus could have disappeared without a trace. It was progressively becoming hotter and more humid. Now positioned behind Heinrich Sturmwald but before Thurgood, Alexandra whispered a song she had learnt in the Lord of the Rings by heart when she was nine to give herself courage:
✨ Want to read the next chapters early?
Unlock 20+ advance chapters and get exclusive perks by joining my Patreon!
🔗Join here: Patreon.com/Makimafic
---
💎 Patreon Tiers
🥉 Tier 1 — $10
📖 Access to 20 advance chapters
🥈 Tier 2 — $20
📚 Access to 30 advance chapters
🎁 Extra exclusive benefits
---
🔥 Patreon Benefits
📚 Read 40+ advance chapters early
👥 Join a private fan community
📝 Access exclusive unreleased novels
[ ] 🚫 Enjoy a 100% ad-free reading experience