By Little Kitetail
Copyright 2023 by Little Kitetail all rights reserved
* * * * *Tales of Eudoria: The Goblins and the Heroine
Summary: A traditional Eudorian celebration turns into an experience that three boys will not soon forget.
This
is an entry in the Tales of Eudoria Anthology. It is recommended that
you read "The Advancement Counselor" first for an introduction to the
world in which the stories takes place. Other stories in the series are
designed to stand alone and can be read in any order. Feel free to
email me with any questions, comments, or suggestions. I hope you enjoy
it.
"Do you think that the story of Bingina could have really
happened?" asked Ellen as she lined up yet another fearsome mask
decoration onto the walls of the school hallway.
"No,"
answered Marie shortly, handing Ellen a jagged curved sword ornament to
hang up, "There's no historical evidence for any of it."
"But it happened during the Lost Era," objected Ellen as she carefully positioned the sword on the wall. "We know lots of stuff happened back then that was never recorded. Like the adoption of advancement centers or the founding of Eudoria."
Marie shrugged, "Sure… but, I mean, there's no such thing as boy-eating
goblins. And gunpowder was invented before the Lost Era, so they
wouldn't have used weapons like these…"
"I'm not saying it happened exactly
like the storybook, "retorted Ellen in an exasperated voice, "Maybe the
goblins were like, an enemy tribe. And maybe they did use gunpowder, or
maybe they lost their technology… it's happened to isolated societies
before, even in the Averian Age."
"Well… I guess you have a
point," conceded Marie finally as she handed Ellen a manacle with a
skeletal hand caught in it from her cart, "There's no way to know what
happened in the Lost Era. That's what makes it lost. But my guess is
some Eudorian lady made the whole thing up to teach kids not to
question the matriarchy."
Ellen sighed. She had been friends with Marie for a long time, but after Marie's latest advancement, she had grown so… cynical.
It was considered normal and healthy for people in her age group to
question and push back against the morals of society, but if it meant
you couldn't enjoy a simple festival, Ellen wasn't sure she wanted any
part of it.
"You've always loved Au Bingina," Ellen reminded her, "You begged me to let you play the Goblin Queen this year."
Marie grinned. "I'm not saying I don't like the Festival. I mean… it is
a bit old-fashioned, but I don't have to believe in the story to love
dressing up and scaring kids. Could do without so many decorations to
put up though…"
Ellen stuck out her tongue. "We had a deal. I
pick you as the Goblin Queen, and you help me decorate. The kids aren't
going to be scared without the right ambiance, you know."
"Well, I hope we're almost done," answered Marie, "I told the girl you
picked to be Bingina that I'd meet her later to go over our sword fight
choreography again. It's going to be awesome."
—
Peppermint could barely sit still. He was so excited for his first time
taking part in the Au Bingina. His teacher was reading yet another
version of the story of Bingina, and soon, he knew he would get to
experience it for himself. In the weeks before the day of the Festival,
the teachers had worked very hard to tell all the kids his age exactly
what to expect and reminded them that it was all just pretend and would
have a happy ending, just like the story. But Peppermint wasn't afraid.
He was a big boy now, and he was eager to show that he was ready.
Aside from the grotesque goblin decor strewn all over the campus, the
day had begun like any other. Peppermint had dodged many sharpened
cardboard stakes on his way to the classroom. As he stepped into the
classroom, his teacher whispered into his ear, asking if he remembered
his line, which he acknowledged with a nod and smile.
The
minutes ticked by slowly. It was impossible to focus on the lesson, to
pretend this was a day like any other. Peppermint's teacher must have
known this because she didn't try to teach anything too new or
challenging. Finally, however, she excused herself, ostensibly, to
retrieve the materials they needed for the next part of their lesson
from her office. This was it; the Festival was starting.
The
tension in the air was palpable as the kids waited in silence.
Suddenly, the lights flickered and turned off, and the class erupted in
screams of terror. Peppermint wished they wouldn't. He knew it was part
of the fun, and that was fine for the kids who had been his physio age
longer than him and gone through the Festival a few times, but as far
as he was concerned, things were tense enough without it. He could
already hear the goblins out in the hall, banging on walls and giving
their maniacal shouts and jeers.
The door to the classroom
flung open, and Peppermint could see the silhouette of a goblin in the
shadows. Of course, he knew in the back of his mind that it was a girl
from the upper classes dressed as a goblin, but in the dark shadows, it
was hard to see that. He took a deep breath and clasped the side of his
chair, knowing that it would be time for his line soon.
"We've
come to your village once again to collect our due!" snarled the
goblin, "It's time for our annual feast! Eudorians, turn over those
scrumptious boys or we will destroy your village and send you back to
Ishgara as the slaves you once were!"
That was the cue for the
girls in the class. Alicia was the first to stand up and run to the
door, which was enough to remind most of the other girls in their class
to do the same. Zoe, however, was so spaced out that she needed to be
nudged into joining, and Ivy was trembling and pale-faced and had to be
practically dragged along with the others. Regardless, the girls were
soon standing in a quarter-circle blocking off the corner of the room
where the door was.
"Oh, fearsome goblin," intoned Alicia,
"You may not have these boys, for they are entrusted to our protection.
We beg you to leave this village in peace!"
Without a word,
the girl playing the goblin mimed running Alicia through with her
fearsome-looking spear. That was Peppermint's cue. He pushed his chair
back from his desk and stood up.
"Please stop!" he recited,
"The women of this village are brave, but you are no match for the
goblins. We will go to be their feast that the village may live."
With that, the boys stood from their desks and followed Peppermint and
the goblin out to the hall. It was even darker in the halls than in the
classroom, but Peppermint could hear the low murmuring of all the boys
from the other classrooms in the same hall who had been marched out in
a similar fashion. The girls playing the goblins worked quickly to bind
the assembled boys by the light of headlamps that gave them an eerie
glow. It occurred to Peppermint that if this was real, he could easily
slip away in the darkness without anyone noticing. But, of course, he
had no intention of spoiling the Festival like that.
Peppermint could feel his arms forced behind him and bound tightly with
soft rope. He tried to move his arms to test his bonds and realized he
was tied securely. The goblins knew what they were doing. The remaining
length of rope was run down between his legs and attached to the boy
behind him. Finally, a knotted strip of cloth was forced into his mouth
and tied behind his head.
Even knowing it wasn't real, the
feeling of being so helpless and vulnerable was overwhelming.
Peppermint's stomach twisted when he thought of what it must have been
like for the boys in the story. They didn't know they would be rescued…
and what about the ones who weren't? The story said the sacrifice was
annual… "Mrf!" Peppermint suddenly realized he had outpaced the boy
behind him, driving the rope connecting them into his crotch and
leading to a chain reaction that led to many muffled squeals across the
line of boys until the goblins managed to sort it out.
Before
long, they arrived at the dimly lit auditorium that was to serve as
their dungeon. Once safely inside, the goblins untethered them from
each other and tied their ankles. The girl playing the Goblin Queen
took her place, seated atop a throne adorned with spikes and skulls as
she directed her minions, doing her best to stay in character as she
tried to arrange her prisoners so there was enough room for everyone.
"There's still some space behind.. the ceremonial goblin bleachers!"
she cried; Peppermint felt a pair of strong arms pick him up and bring
him to a remote corner of the room, where he was set between another
boy named Hopscotch and a boy from the class across the hall named
Hummingbird.
For a time, nothing happened. For a really long
time. The Queen momentarily broke character to warn the boys, "Better
get comfortable. The part where Bingina rallies the villagers takes
ages in a school this big." The goblins slowly broke into small groups
whispering among themselves, while the boys, still muffled by the
knotted gags, couldn't even talk among themselves to pass the time.
Peppermint tried to entertain himself by trying to figure out who was
who among the older girls he had seen on campus, but he soon grew
exhausted in the dim light and gave up.
"…not even allowed to
tour here! How dumb is that?" asked one of the goblins. Peppermint
could see a pair of them, meandering towards the dark corner where he
and the other two boys were left. "We'd have to go all the way to
Menorius just to hear them play. As if letting three guys in would ruin
our way of life! If our leaders think we're that weak and gullible,
they're the real misogynists."
"We should move to Silberwacht
when we finish with school," answered the other goblin in the pair,
"Can you imagine what it'd be like to be around handsome, mature men
like the ones in Vutoq all the time instead of these pudgy babies?"
Peppermint and the goblin must have caught eyes for a moment because
she seemed to have read something in his expression. "Aw, don't look at
me like that, I know it's not your fault. We're your allies, you know.
We fully support changing the law to let you age up into total hotties."
Peppermint tensed up. There was something unsettling about these girls,
and it wasn't their horrifying masks or gruesome-looking weapons.
"Hey…" whispered one of them to the other, "Doesn't that boy look a lot
like Dynamo? Like, if you advanced him a few more years, I bet he'd
look pretty similar."
"You're right… hey kid, you know Dynamo?
He's one of the singers of Vutoq… that's a really awesome band from
Silberwacht. And you…" she said, pointing at Hopscotch, "Have hair just
like Sweet Talk." The goblin girl then turned to Hummingbird. "I guess
that makes you Enigma… yeah, I could see it, if you grew out your hair
and gained a little weight."
Peppermint wasn't sure what was
happening, but he was pretty sure it wasn't part of the Festival.
Especially not the part where one of the girls pulled up his shirt.
"Mrf!" he protested, hoping to draw the attention of some of the other
goblins.
"Settle down, Dynamo," one of the girls urged, "You
don't know how long I've wanted to do this." Peppermint could feel her
hot breath on his face. Before he could do anything, she kissed him
over the gag.
"Come on, kid, don't be ashamed," whispered the
other, "Eudorian society teaches you to act so innocent and repressed,
but we know males enjoy sex just as much as girls and women…." She
turned her attention to Hopscotch and clasped the edge of his shorts.
"Let's try to give them erections… practice for when we're living in
Silberwacht."
A moment later, all three boys had their shirts
pulled up and their pants around their ankles. Between the gags and
their own fear, none of them could make a noise louder than a soft
whimper as their bodies were exposed and played with. Peppermint had
never felt so helpless as he felt a warm tongue on his nipples and
slender fingers around his balls and shaft. It was too much for him,
and to the girls' excited whispers, he felt himself go hard.
To Peppermint's relief, the cruel game was suddenly interrupted by the
sound of trumpets. The two goblins quickly retreated and took their
place just as the lights in the auditorium were coming on. The heroine
of the story, clad in shining armor, had made her entrance. Peppermint
watched the confrontation and sword fight with the Goblin Queen through
a haze of dissociation. He finally recognized the girl playing Bingina
as someone he knew, an older girl he had often seen helping out at the
after-school program for younger kids. The role traditionally went to
someone with a protective and nurturing nature, and she was a fitting
choice.
By now, the goblins had made their exit, and Bingina
went about untying the boys. It was quick work. The girls playing the
goblins knew what they were doing, and the bonds were secure yet easy
to release. "You're free… the goblins are defeated… you're going home…"
she murmured as she released the captive boys.
Finally, she
arrived in the dark area behind the bleachers where Peppermint,
Hopscotch, and Hummingbird sat. She quietly gasped when she saw them
naked, with a terrified look in their eyes. Peppermint's cheeks burned
with humiliation at having a girl he knew to see him like this. "You're
safe now. You don't have to be afraid anymore," she said softly, so
sincerely that Peppermint desperately wanted to believe it. She quickly
pulled up all of their pants as she untied them and kept a close eye on
them as they lined up by the door for the next part of the ceremony.
Bingina led the freed boys in a procession past their cheering
classmates. Their destination was the cafeteria. As challenging as the
role of a captive in the Au Bingina could be, there was one perk to it.
The captives, along with Bingina, were the first to the feast and got
first choice for all the food that had been prepared for the occasion,
before the girls, before the boys who were too young or old, and even
before the teachers. By the time Peppermint had finished piling his
plate with all his favorite treats, he was feeling much better. He was
only half-listening as Bingina finished up her speech.
"…and Eudoria will endure forever!"