The Goblin's Scavenger Hunt

The goblin shot Morel a frown and said, "Do you have a magical cure for a hang over?"

The wizard laughed and patted the goblin's back. "Unfortunately, time is the only cure for excessive drink."

Sanibel mumbled, "A competent wizard would know how to cure a hangover."

Morel said, "Where have you been? You disappeared, leaving Bradson to tend the tavern by himself."

Sanibel raised his head. "Do you remember the beautiful redhead last night?"

Morel downed the rest of his drink with one swallow. "Everybody noticed her. We all tried to get her attention."

Sanibel smiled, showing off the sharp tips of his teeth. "I was with her last night."

The wizard laughed. "And you, Sanibel, tell the biggest fibs."

"I'm not a fibber." Sanibel slapped the bar with his pudgy hand.

Morel motioned in Bradson's direction with his mug. "Hey Bradson, look who showed up!"

Bradson said, "Where were you last night?"

Sanibel tumbled off the barstool. "The redhead fell victim to my charms. Need I say more?"

Bradson threw a dirty towel on the bar. "She was a witch. You should have left her alone."

Sanibel gulped. "What's this about a witch?"

Bradson said, "She flew on a broom last night. I thought everyone knew she was a witch."

Morel's eyes twinkled. "A flying broom is a sure sign of a witch."

Bradson looked concern. "Nothing good can come from a passionate night with a witch."

Morel said, "Perhaps spending a night with a fat goblin was an item on her bucket list."

Sanibel frowned. "I hope it was on her bucket list because her corpse is in the stable."

Bradson was speechless and looked at Morel.

Morel said, "There's a dead witch out there?"

Sanibel frowned. "She died while in the throes of passion."

Bradson handed Sanibel a dirty mug. "Go back in the kitchen and wash the dishes. Morel and I will figure out what to do."

Sanibel smiled and headed to the kitchen. "Thanks Bradson. You are always looking out for me."

Bradson refilled Morel's mug. "You have more knowledge of witches and things that go bump in the night. What will come of this?"

Before Morel could respond, the front door crashed open. A tall figure stood in the doorway.

"Good morning Stranger," Bradson called out. The stranger nodded to Bradson.

Morel held his mug up. "Share a drink with us."

The stranger sat at the end of the bar and rudely said, "I have traveled far today. Bring me a bowl of stew."

Bradson nodded and yelled, "Sanibel, we need a bowl of stew."

Sanibel placed a bowl of steaming stew and a mug of ale in front of the stranger.

The stranger plunged his spoon into the bowl. After taking a mouthful, he grimaced and his hands went to his neck. His face splashed into the bowl. Potatoes flew onto the table as the head slowly sunk into the depths of the stew.

Sanibel pulled the head out of the bowl. A small potato was lodged in one of the nostrils. Clots of stew were tangled in the hair but sadly, the man was not breathing.

Morel prodded him with his wand. The stranger's arm fell lifeless. The spoon it held bounced off the floor.

Bradson slowly approached. "What did you do to him, Sanibel?"

Morel put a comforting hand on Sanibel's shoulder. "It was not Sanibel's fault. One of the larger pieces of meat or potato got lodged in his throat."

Bradson said, "Something is going on with Sanibel. For the past week, customers have been dropping like flies around him. If this keeps up, I won't have any customers left."

The goblin's grip slipped from the stranger's greasy hair. The stranger's head dropped into the bowl again splashing stew on the goblin's hand. Sanibel looked at his hand with dismay. "I have to clean my ring again!"

Bradson noticed the ring on Sanibel. "You can't afford a gold ring with the wages I pay you. Where did you get that?"

Sanibel held his hand up. "Remember the dwarf who died last week tunneling under the outhouse? I grabbed the ring from his corpse."

Morel jumped off the barstool. "Take that ring off now!"

Sanibel jumped back. "Take it easy Morel. I will take it off now."

While Sanibel struggled with the ring Bradson said, "Morel, what's going on?"

Morel frowned. "The ring could be magical. It's possible that all the death around here have been caused by a cursed ring."

Sanibel smothered his hand in lard and pulled at the ring. "It's no use. The ring is stuck. It's squeezing against my finger."

A dagger appeared in Morel's hand.

Sanibel held his hand up. "Look the ring is gone. No need to cut off any fingers!"

Bradson said, "The ring is on your other hand."

Morel calmly said, "Don't be foolish. I am not going to cut your finger off yet. This is a magical dagger. It will gauge how much magic is in your ring. Place your hand on the bar."

Sanibel slowly placed his hand on the bar. His voice trembled. "Do what you have to do to."

Morel lowered the dagger and scraped the ring. To everyone's surprise, the knife bounced out of Morel's hand.

Sanibel slowly withdrew his hand from the bar and said nothing.

Bradson said, "What happened?"

Morel studied his damaged dagger, "I have never seen such a powerful ring."

Sanibel yanked fruitlessly at the ring, "Now what?"

Morel said, "Tell me everything you know about the dwarf."

Sanibel ran out of the room. Everyone jumped when he hopped back. Tightly clutched in his hands was a small burlap bag. "Look! This was the dwarf's bag" He chattered. Sanibel held the bag wide open.

Morel poked into the bag and withdrew a tattered book. "Excellent!"

Bradson said, "How will an old book help us?"

Morel smiled and sat back in a chair. "This is the dwarf's diary. Let me peruse this for a bit and we should have some answers."

Sanibel and Bradson sat next to the wizard. Sanibel looked over Morel's shoulder waiting for him to finish.

A few minutes later the wizard yelled, "Eureka! It's unbelievable! He stole a demon's Death Ring. The demon was searching for it so the dwarf hid in the most desolate and depressing place he knew of."

Bradson yelled, "My tavern is not depressing and desolate!"

Morel said, "Regardless of what the dwarf thought of your tavern our immediate concern is that a demon is hunting for the ring. Another concern is that whoever is near the ring is bound to die."

Bradson said, "What's a death ring?"

Morel frowned. "It's a ring that holds the souls of all the demon's victims. It's quite deadly for humans to be near it."

Bradson slammed his fist on the bar. "That's why everyone is dying around here. That damn ring is toxic!"

Morel said, "It is pure luck that both of us have not succumbed to the ring's power."

Bradson nodded. "Yes, we have been lucky."

Sanibel jerked his hand from Bradson. "If I stay here then you are all at risk!"

Bradson said, "We are your friends. We will not desert you."

Sanibel ran out of the tavern. "That's the reason I have to leave. I don't want to hurt you."

Morel held Bradson's arm. "Let him go. We can't be near him without risking our lives. This problem Sanibel will have to fix alone."

Sanibel fell, scraping his hands on rocks. Gasping for breath he sat up and wiped sweat from his brow. How far had he run? Was Bradson chasing him?

He stared at the setting sun and rolled onto his back. The pine needles of the forest felt cold and damp beneath his head. Raising his head he spied a small graveyard. Regaining his breath he crawled to the graveyard. Realization crept in that he could never see his friends again until the ring was gone. With that sobering thought he fell asleep next to a gravestone.

A branch snapped in the distance and birds screamed in unison. A tall, hooded man emerged from the trees. He rested his hand on a gravestone.

Sanibel woke up and rubbed his eyes. "Are you the Demon?"

The man stared at the goblin. "Huh! Where's the demon? Which way did he go?"

Sanibel stepped forward. "I have a feeling that you never got past the first grade."

The man lashed out and kicked the goblin. "I am not stupid. I am a vampire."

Sanibel's head snapped back. He rolled into an old gravestone. Grinning, the vampire lifted its boot and placed it heavily upon the goblin. "You have a pretty ring," it hissed. "Give it to me."

"It's stuck to my finger," Sanibel gasped with great effort.

The vampire's boot pressed harder, threatening to burst his belly. The vampire screamed with anger and lifted its foot with the intent of killing the poor goblin.

Sanibel saw his chance. He rolled to his right as the vampire's boot came thundering down.

Moving with a speed he did not know he had, Sanibel was up on his feet. His screams filled the air as he fled into the moonlit graveyard. He saw a person near a giant tombstone and ran in that direction. Sanibel stopped when he was yards away. Pieces of shattered coffin were distributed around the hole. Leaning against the gravestone stood a man dressed in a red suit, licking a red substance from his fingers. A dead rat lay at the base of the headstone. Its neck was ripped open. Sanibel uttered one word "No!"

Dark eyes smoldered with hate as it grabbed Sanibel's arm. It spoke with bloodstained lips, "You have a shiny ring. I want it!"

Sanibel whimpered, "Just my luck another vampire who likes shiny objects!"

The vampire scanned the graveyard. "There is another vampire?"

As in response to his question, the first vampire emerged from the shadows and grabbed the goblin's other arm.

Sanibel's arms burned as both vampires pulled at him. During the vicious tug of war both vampires screamed, "He's mine, let go!"

Sanibel shouted, "Stop it! Put me down. I have a solution."

Both vampires stopped tugging but refused to let go of Sanibel. One of the vampires said, "What do you propose?"

Sanibel said, "Put me down, and I will explain it to both of you."

In unison, both vampires dropped Sanibel. The goblin bounced off the ground and slammed into a giant rock.

Sanibel rubbed his shoulder. "Both of you want to kill me and claim this cursed ring, but only one of you can have me."

Sanibel paused to let his words sink in and continued. "First of all, I need to know your names. I don't want to call you Vampire 1 and Vampire 2."

The vampire in the red suit raised his hand. "My name is Steve."

The other vampire pointed to himself. "I am Wilbur."

Sanibel leaned against a weatherworn stone. "Ok, Steve and Wilbur, I am thinking of a contest and the winner can claim me."

Steve raised his hand and pointed at Wilbur. "Why don't we fight? I bet I could take him."

Sanibel placed his face in his hands. "Really, Steve! After fighting the victor would be bloodied and probably missing a limb."

Wilbur chuckled. "Steve is such a stupid vampire."

Sanibel thought for a moment and sat down. "A scavenger hunt is in order. The winner can kill me and claim the ring."

Steve said, "Why do we have to hunt scavengers?"

Wilbur sighed. "It's a contest. Whoever finds the most items can have the goblin and his shiny ring."

Sanibel said, "Correct. The items you must find are a dragon egg, a wizard staff, pixie wings, a witch's black cat, and a rusty sword."

Steve yelled, "I know where to find a dragon egg."

Not to be outdone, Wilbur exclaimed, "Well, I know where I can find a rusty sword!"

Sanibel smacked his hands together. "Go! Go and win the contest."

The two vampires waved to Sanibel and took off.

Sanibel muttered to himself. "While both of you are running around in the woods I will be long gone from here."

Wilbur's and Steve stopped running and both of their heads swiveled in Sanibel's direction.

Sanibel sighed. "Did both of you hear me say that?"

Moments later Sanibel was tied securely to a gravestone. Steve loomed over him. "This will keep you here. I will win and have your ring."

Wilbur huffed. "No, I will win and you will get lost in the woods."

Sanibel struggled in vain with his ropes as the vampires and their taunts disappeared into the woods.

An hour later Wilbur appeared with a triumphant smile. He dropped a dragon egg at Sanibel's feet. "I did it! I found a dragon egg."

Since Sanibel was tied up, he could only motion with his head. "You are even with Steve. He brought in a sword a few minutes ago."

Wilbur saw the sword sticking in the ground and swore. He quickly ran back into the woods.

For the next few hours, both Steve and Wilbur dumped their scavenger items around Sanibel.

As the night waned, Wilbur limped into the graveyard. He dropped a wizard's staff onto the pile of items. "I win, I found more items than Steve."

Sanibel said, "Steve may find some more items."

Wilbur shook his head. "A witch burned Steve to a crisp while he was stealing her cat."

Sanibel said, "You win, Wilbur. You can kill me. Before you do that, do you see your shadow and what does that mean?"

Wilbur pointed his nose up. "Do you smell something cooking?"

Sanibel smiled. "The shadow means the sun is out and you are cooking."

The sun illuminated the vampire. The vampire screamed and cursed. Skin smoked and peeled away from his body. Bone exposed, he tried to move, but the light immobilized and ate at him. Within moments, a pile of dust was all that was left.

***

Sanibel muttered, "That worked out well. Now I just have to get out of these ropes."

Sanibel struggled with his ropes when thudding footsteps made him look up. A demon towered over him. The odor of rotting corpses surrounded the demon.

"Do you need help with those ropes?" the creature hissed. It smiled and Sanibel looked away.

The demon's claws ripped thru the ropes. The demon grabbed Sanibel's hand. The ring slid off his finger.

Sanibel eyes widened. "How did you do that? The ring was stuck."

The demon smiled. "It's my ring, it obeys me."

Sanibel gulped. "Are you going to kill me?"

The demon helped Sanibel up and pointed to the vampire's ashes. "Probably not. You kept my ring from the vampire. I think I am in your debt."

The demon eyed all the items that the vampires had found in their scavenger hunt. "Where did you find all of this fantastic treasure?"

Sanibel told the demon about the vampires and how he kept them busy until the sun had risen.

The demon chuckled. "A very entertaining story, goblin. I will pay you a bag of gold for all these items."

Sanibel shook the demon's hand. "It's a deal!"

Sanibel hefted his new bag of gold and trekked back to the tavern. He could not wait to tell Bradson and Morel of his adventure with the vampires and the demon.

THE END

Bio: Mr. Bob Griffin's work has been published in Aphelion, Silver Blade Magazine, Orion's Child, Kalkion Magazine, Sorcerous Signals, and Mystic Signals. He lives in New Hampshire testing software during the day and writing at night. Our author index says his last Aphelion appearance was The Goblin's Whistle in our December, 2010 issue.

E-mail: Bob Griffin

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