Chapter 28: The Nobleman and the Goblins

The scientists and the politicians had made their decision. They built a research facility around the sleeping Dragon and started siphoning energy from it. I even heard that continuing to drain energy from the Dragon would prevent it from waking up. On the few occasions that I was able to catch glimpses of the sleeping titan, I got the feeling that it was watching me even as it slept.

Lord Jefferson Gregory, wealthy count, senator, and businessman, stood at the top of his penthouse balcony high above the buzzing streets of Tarrus below. The building was so tall that it almost reached past the troposphere. On the side of the building were the grand letters of Gregory Industries, emblazoned in red and glowing dramatically over the streets of Tarrus.

The building served as both Lord Gregory’s main headquarters for his weapons manufacturing company and his personal fortress. And in the distance thousands of miles away, with the aid of satellite imaging installed on his window, the dome-shaped installation of the Ministry of Fire stood out in stark contrast to the urban industry that surrounded it. Just being on the same planet as such a stain on humanity made Lord Gregory’s blood boil.

No matter! If all goes according to plan, this is a sight that will quickly be expunged. I will no longer have to suffer those animals, or that insolent wretch, Eramar Razor! Lord Gregory still remembered with rage the temerity of that Elemental when he challenged him in front of his own guards. Where does that bastard get the gall to treat me that way, his superior? What does he think he is? Human? As far as I’m concerned, Elementals are no more human than the alien trash that they call their allies.

A few years ago, things seemed to be going to hell, what with that fool of an Emperor, Voelair Hamashe, granting more rights to aliens and Elementals alike. It almost seemed like the man actually intended to put them on an equal footing with the Pureskins. Luckily, the Emperor disappeared and Chissler had started to put things back into order.

However, the Ministry of Fire in particular still remained a thorn in the side of the Emperor and Lord Gregory himself. And what’s more, the current Emperor wasn’t as hard on the nonhumans as he should’ve been. Even going so far as to let them into the Empire in droves. Convenient political pawns for him to use, perhaps?

Though his campaigns suggested that he loved nonhumans more than his own kind, Gregory knew that Chissler had only love for himself and his own power, and that the aliens were nothing to him but tools to exploit. This made Chissler a wise leader, one that Gregory would be all too happy to surpass and depose when the time came. And the first step to achieving that was to accomplish something that not even the Emperor could do on his own; namely, eradicating the Elementals.

Lord Gregory had done the best he could to undermine the Ministry legally, but they somehow always managed to slither away and continued to defile the human race. If it was up to him, he’d blow their Ministry off the face of the planet. But despite the Emperor’s best efforts, the Senate still felt that Elementals were needed to safeguard the human race, and so they were left alone.

It seemed to be irrelevant to those fools in the Senate that their very existence was a blight on humanity. It seemed to be irrelevant that time and time again, those filthy Elementals had refused to give Lord Gregory the respect and honor that he deserved, the respect and honor that his fellow Pureskins and alien slaves accorded to him, and rightfully so.

For Jefferson Gregory was no mere man, he was a nobleman, descended from a pure line of wealthy merchants and influential politicians. Lord Gregory wasn’t entirely sure why he had neglected to put this plan into action sooner. The idea just came to him, almost like a dream.

At first, Gregory had qualms about the legal repercussions. As powerful as he was, should he be discovered, it would mean the end of his considerable financial empire that he had inherited and improved upon. Not even the Emperor had dared to do what Lord Gregory now planned; deliberately starting a war between the Ministries of Fire and Water.

For weeks, Lord Gregory cringed and suffered just thinking about the consequences should this plan go awry. The Elemental filth would be set against him legally, and there would be nothing he could do to stop them, nor any of his allies in the Imperial Senate. As much as he hated the Elementals, Lord Gregory knew not to underestimate them. His father found that lesson out the hard way when he tried to steal their strange, mystical weapons and sell them on the black market.

It had been burned into Lord Gregory’s memories how the Elementals strode into their home, dispatched their guards like flies, and took his father without so much as a word. His father had been imprisoned for more than twenty years, and when they finally released him, he was never the same again.

That was the day that Lord Gregory knew that their menace must be ended. Who were they to deny his father access to their precious weapons? His father was just doing what any businessman would to increase his standing. The anger stayed with Lord Gregory for many years after that incident, but the fear even more so.

After days of debating whether or not to act on this newfound urge, Lord Gregory finally found the resolve to see it through. After all, he was of noble blood, and no noble would be bullied by any supernatural freaks, no matter how powerful.

After he had set his plans into motion, a sort of serenity came over him, almost like his father’s spirit stood by his side, giving him strength. Not only would he avenge his father’s fate, but he would make so much profit off the civil war that he might become powerful enough to challenge the Emperor himself.

He had already made a fortune from the skirmishes between the Ministries of Earth and Air, who conveniently began their conflict shortly after his epiphany, almost like the fates had meant them to be an inspiration to him. Lord Gregory smiled as he thought of how slyly he had supplied food, medical supplies, and occasionally weapons to both Ministries from the northern and southern districts of Tarrus.

Of course, no one knew of his efforts, not even the Emperor, but Lord Gregory saw it as the best way to prolong the conflict, and therefore, hasten the destruction of both Ministries. And soon, the Fire and the Water would share their fate.

“Lord Gregory, sir. You summoned me,” interrupted the sneaky voice of the Goblin, Galzar Slithe, Lord Gregory’s personal assassin.

Lord Gregory almost jumped out of his skin. The voice had come from just behind him, and of course, the sneaky alien bastard had crept up on him without warning. Lord Gregory turned on the slave and backhanded him across his ugly face before pulling out a handkerchief and wiping the slime from his knuckles.

“Galzar Slithe, you insolent worm! I told you not to do that again. Next time, it’ll mean another flogging, for both you and that little bitch of yours.” Actually, Lord Gregory thought of flogging the both of them anyway, just for the fun of hearing them beg for mercy.

“My apologies, sir. Old habits die hard,” replied Galzar, his quiet, inhuman voice barely above a whisper.

Goblins were among some of the most grotesque aliens that Lord Gregory had ever had the displeasure of dealing with. Galzar Slithe had a hunched back and stood shorter than most humans. His ears were longer than an Elf’s and more bat-like, and his hair was a long, black, tangled, and smelly mess. His skin was slimy and dark green with black splotches much like freckles, only larger. His face was scrunched up and twisted, like someone had taken a hammer to it several times. He had a long, crooked nose, and glistening teeth sharp as knives. His eyes were a mix of yellow and green, much like a cat’s as they darted back and forth, as if seeking their next prey to devour.

The Goblin wore tattered, gray robes and combat boots. Despite his disheveled appearance, underneath those robes hid almost an entire armory that the little monster was quite adept at using.

The Goblin rubbed his slimy, clawed hands together nervously as he contemplated enduring another flogging with the electric whip. This pleased Lord Gregory. As much as he despised all aliens almost as much as Elementals, Lord Gregory had found the two assassins to be quite useful. He found them many years ago during a business transaction on Gackbar, where Galzar and his daughter, Silvia, stood trial for the murder of one of their own.

Lord Gregory ‘saved’ their lives for their employment. They’d been totally devoted to him ever since. He graciously supplied all their needs in return for services: the quiet assassination of business rivals, espionage, and blackmail against adversaries in the Senate. Their existence was a complete secret from everyone, even from Lord Gregory’s most trusted associates within his company. They were his secret weapons and his most powerful assets.

They had their uses in other ways, giving Lord Gregory a necessary outlet for his frustration and rage. Lord Gregory found no end of mirth seeing the two creatures squirm under his heel. They still performed their jobs without fail, so Lord Gregory felt no need to change his treatment of them. He would occasionally go too far and need medical assistance for the younger and more fragile of the two.

The female Goblin wasn’t quite as hideous and smelly as her father, and even possessed some features that could be considered desirable among human men, but Lord Gregory would never sully his hands by possessing an alien like that. The idea made him gag. Besides, he had plenty of ways to gain human companionship should the need ever arise. So instead, the Goblin brat pleased him in other ways by letting him see her writhe when he cracked his electric whip across her back.

Grinning slightly at the idea of another little ‘therapy session’ with the Goblin whelpling, Lord Gregory turned his full attention to Galzar Slithe. “So, I assume you’re here because either Hamma Steel has finished his quota of capturing Elemental candidates ... or he’s dead. Either way, he was instructed to carefully implicate the Ministry of Water, so the war should be underway, yes.”

Galzar Slithe cringed timidly, as if he were afraid to say what happened. “Yes and no, sir. Yes, Hamma Steel the Mystic is dead, and yes, he did implicate the Ministry of Water in his attack. However, the war is not underway yet, sir.”

Growling in displeasure, Lord Gregory scowled at Galzar venomously and spoke in a strained voice. “Care to elaborate on that, my little Goblin salaud?”

Galzar Slithe swallowed nervously and made a strange clicking noise that sounded like a cricket. “Well, suspicions are high on both sides. The Ministry of Water has been preparing for an attack from the Fire because of the blueprints we sent them that were supposedly from Saria Kaves.”

Lord Gregory backhanded the Goblin again, pulled out another handkerchief to clean his hands, and sniffed impatiently. “Yes, yes, yes. The blueprints for a weapon that will vaporize the water boundary and make them practically defenseless. We had Hamma send it from the Ministry of Fire to an underground unit of theirs and then tipped off the Water that they should intercept the package. But why haven’t they attacked by now.”

“The Ministry of Water is suspicious by nature, but they are also very cautious. They won’t attack unless they themselves are attacked or if they have a key strategic advantage over their enemy,” replied Galzar, as if he needed to explain the plan to the man who came up with the plan. “That’s why we tried forcing the Ministry of Fire to strike by kidnapping their future initiates and staging an attack by Hamma Steel within the Ministry itself.”

“So why isn’t it working like you said it would, slave?” asked Lord Gregory, his anger rising.

“I’m afraid that it is partly due to the Emperor’s interference. He has forbidden the Ministry of Fire from attacking the Water,” replied Galzar, backing away slightly.

“Merde!” Lord Gregory cursed. “That alien-leaning fool. Of all the times, why does the Emperor choose now to interfere? He may have a bit of a soft spot for your kind, but he hates the Elementals as much as I do.”

“I think he was hoping to both tie down the Fire’s hands and entice the Water to attack after seeing a sign of weakness. However, it backfired. The Minister of Fire has opened negotiations with the Minister of Water. Hephaestus Sorric is sending an ambassador to find a peaceful resolution. If that happens, he will find out that the Fire Ministry never made the blueprints, and Kaves will find out that the assassin wasn’t sent by the Water. Worst case scenario, they could trace it back to you based on your connections with weapons companies to create blueprints for a weapon that looks genuine.”