Silvertongue, Chapter 6

Thirty minutes later, down at the docks, huddled masses of goblin families gathered at the main pier, approaching riot levels as Gallywix's former mansion guards found themselves as drafted police. The wealthy businessmen, politicians, corporate presidents, and aristocrats had already paid their way onto Gallywix's yacht, the last standing vessel in Bilgewater Port. It was prodigious compared to the other private yachts; the largest Kezan had ever seen, largely because it was formerly a cargo vessel. Gallywix bought it to convert it for his own personal use not a few years ago to host mansion-sized parties out at sea. Never did he imagine it would turn into such an investment as his personal army of accountants tallied Gallywix's newfound macaroons, which exceeded well beyond the hundreds of billions. The Trade Prince giggled with devilish glee as he sucked every ounce of worth left out of his devastated city.
"Let us in!" A goblin commoner shouted over the crowd, "Are you just going to let us die out here?"
"You know the rules!" Gallywix shouted from the edge of the pier, "No money, no ticket!"
An army of guards were mounted on the ship and around the docks, preventing unruly mobs from fighting their way aboard. Soot, embers, ash, and the horrible smell of brimstone polluted the air as people yelled, screamed, and begged Gallywix for salvation. Children and baby goblins screamed and broke into tears from the unruly crowd and the horrible air they were forced to breath. The bolder of the destitute goblins hurled rocks and trash at the ship and Trade Prince, but the guards easily deflected all of it. Warning shots were fired from the armed goblins aboard the ship directly into the crowd, only inciting even more chaos, screaming, and panic.
"Screw the rules!" A goblin shouted, "Let us on! That ship isn't even half-full!"
"Shut up scum!" Gallywix shouted back, "It's not my fault you can't afford a seat on board!"
"Yes it is!" Someone shouted, as the crowd roared up again.
"Look at the people on the ship!" Gallywix yelled back, "They had to give up everything, and I mean everything, to get on! Even the clothing… the beautiful, silky, fine clothing… off their backs just to afford it! It is my job to ensure that the best of the best of our people survive this apocalypse."
"Monster!" Another goblin shouted, "Monster!" Goblin after goblin took up the chanting, all screaming it at the Trade Prince.
"Monster! Monster! Monster!" The crowd chanted.
Gallywix, particularly offended at that word, scowled and turned to Commander Flagg, "Get your men aboard the ship. We're leaving."
With a heavy-hearted sigh, the commander muttered, "Yes sir."
Gallywix turned about and walked up the boarding plank to the ship, but suddenly a familiar voice amongst the countless unfamiliar ones of the mob stopped him in his tracks. The Trade Prince turned to look out at the crowd. His eyes scanned around for the voices' source, but saw nothing. Angrily, the Trade Prince turned and took another step towards the ship when the voice caught his ear again.
"Gallywix!" It screamed.
He turned back to the crowd again and muttered, "No… it couldn't."
"Gallywix you rat where are you?!" The voice thundered over the crowd. The mob of goblins began to fall silent one row at a time as suddenly someone made their way through the crowd – someone particularly tall.
"No!" Gallywix yelled in his mind, "No god damn it NO!"
The sea of goblins parted in awe and respect for the two goblins making their way through. They fell silent and watched on with scared, desperate eyes as the good and just Baron Fizwitz Silvertongue and his daughter Mida Silvertongue approached the docks with massive burlap sacks filled with gold.
Gallywix's face turned red again, where it wasn't still purple and bloody, and he shouted, "You two are supposed to be in jail!"
"Yeah, real classy move there." Mida said sarcastically. "Locking us in prison for us to burn to death."
The Baron let go of Mida's back, grabbed his cane and quickly walked towards the Trade Prince.
"Good evening Trade Prince!" He quickly shouted, "It would appear we're in a bit of a tight spot."
"Shut up!" Gallywix barked, "You want a seat on the ship? Fine. You have more than enough money for two tickets, why'd you have to bring the rest and rub it in these poor people's faces?"
"I'm not." The Baron barked. He signaled Mida, who immediately hoisted up the massive bag of gold. She unfurled the tie to reveal monetary coinage in sums of trillions of gold. Gallywix gasped, but also recoiled as he came to a realization. He knew exactly what the Baron was going to do in his endless, sickening kindness.
The Baron stared down the Trade Prince with a more threatening look than he had ever been given and shouted, "I'm paying for the tickets for every citizens of Bilgewater Port not yet aboard your ship. Every last one."
Had Gallywix been holding something, it would have dropped to the floor along with his jaw.
Asteroids fired from Mount Kajaro like rockets. Lava began consuming the buildings nearer the center of the city, including the prison, as its roaring lava streams burst and gurgled all the way out to the open ocean. The survivors were now trapped by mighty rivers of lava that had consumed all the roads around the docks. It was either to the ship, or to their deaths.
Baron Silvertongue stepped aside quickly and motioned for the other goblins to come through. At first they were hesitant and shocked, just as Gallywix, but then one family of goblins stepped forward.
"Thank you, sir." The father said, shaking his hand. Baron Silvertongue only nodded.
"Once again, Bilgewater Port saved by the endless kindness of the Silvertongues." The mother said, hoisting her baby up into her arms. Fizwitz smiled at her, and down at the baby, who had finally stopped crying. Three young children all came running to the Baron and Mida and hugged them as tightly as they could before running up the ramp to the ship.
"It's not a trick." Baron Silvertongue yelled to the crowd, "Everyone, come aboard, quickly!"
Like the unblocking of a dam, goblins came pouring through the reluctant guards. Countless goblins; men, women, children, old, young, healthy, sick, happy, angry, grieving… goblins of all types flowed through faster than the lava now pouring into the open sea.
"Count them!" Gallywix shouted, snapping out of his daze, "Count every last head! Don't let anyone of those mooches on board that we don't have to!"
"Gallywix," The Baron said. The Trade Prince turned to him as swarms of goblins ran past them. Despite the chaos, Baron Silvertongue's old, yet stern voice bellowed over all of it. "I may not be a religious man, dear Trade Prince, but I do certainly hope there's a special place in Hell for you."
Gallywix haughtily gasped at the improper words spoken to him – spoken by Baron Silvertongue! Goblins still flowed past them, but now in fewer numbers. The guards and accountants were busying counting heads and gold, making sure that the Baron's fortunes did in fact match up. The goblins slowed to a trickle as the last two, an elder man and woman, slowly climbed aboard.
"Thank you Baron, thank you." The man said, stepping onto the ship. Once on, they were escorted to the lower levels, where all the passengers had gone. The deck was filled only with Gallywix's armed guards with goblin shotguns aimed at where the crowd had been standing. The tiny slice of Bilgewater Port not yet destroyed was now deserted as papers and advertisements blew in the wind like tumbleweeds between the empty buildings.
Gallywix and his cronies were madly scribbling on papers and punching numbers into adding machines as they tallied the people.
"That's all of them." The Baron said, "Mida, let's get on."
Gallywix, panicked, threw together the last calculations, not caring for complete accuracy any more. Baron Silvertongue slowly walked to the boarding plank with his daughter Mida by his steady side. Just as they reached the plank, still surrounded by red-armored guards, Gallywix stopped calculating. With a short gasp, he screamed "STOP!"
The guards slammed their spears together right in front of Mida and the Baron, blocking the entrance to the ship.
Mida growled, "Now what do you want? You got the entire Silvertongue fortune, isn't that enough?"
"Not hardly!" Gallywix shouted arrogantly, "I just crunched the numbers. Tallying the gold and the passengers, it looks like you are still TWO tickets short!" Gallywix cackled evilly, pointing at the two Silvertongues. Mida scowled as Gallywix gloated. "It looks like I'll have my revenge after all!"
"Don't make me kick your ass again!" Mida threatened. She did a fake lurch forward, but Gallywix didn't flinch. He rose a swift hand and the guards on the ship all immediately cocked their guns and aimed for Mida.
"Not so fast, my dear girl!" Gallywix shouted, "I've taken extra precautions in case some ignorant goblin decided to threaten violence."
"You… I… but!" Mida stammered. She scanned her mind for some sort of logic, some law, some ethical standard, she could get by on, but there was nothing.
Gallywix gloated in his victory as more and more lava poured into the town.
Baron Silvertongued sighed, and desperately asked, "What do you want Gallywix?"
"Dad!" Mida shouted.
"Let me handle this." The Baron said, "Surely there must be something. Something we could sell you?"
Gallywix looked up and down at the two, rubbing his chin. Mida had on some decent clothing, but nothing compared to the cost of at ticket. He then looked back down to the Baron and slyly grinned.
The words hissed out of Gallywix's mouth cruelly, "The cane."
Both of them gasped.
"It should pay for… ONE ticket, I'd say."
Mida and Fizwitz couldn't believe their ears. It was the last thing the Baron had of his late wife, he needed it to walk, and most of all, giving it up would only secure them a single ticket. Gallywix was the epitome of a cruel goblin, holding out his hand expectantly as he marched towards the Baron. Fizwitz tried to think of more negotiations, but the mountain erupted yet again. There wasn't enough time. Baron Silvertongue knew what he had to do.
"You can't do that!" Mida yelled, "It's just so wrong and…"
"Mida…" Fizwitz spoke, comforting his daughter by patting her hand. He stepped towards the Trade Prince, hobbling on his cane, and struggled to balance himself as he slowly lifted it up.
The good Baron was taking too long for Gallywix's liking, however, and quickly swiped the cane out from under the old man. Immediately, he fell to the ground as Gallywix admired his new trophy.
"Dad!" Mida yelled, running to his side.
"I'm alright, dear." He said, pushing himself up.
"Well, well, looks like you have it your way, Baron." Gallywix said, "One of you is welcome to board the ship."
Mida looked down at her father, garbed in an old brown robe, crawling on the splinter-filled wood of the pier, forced to gravel at the feet of Trade Prince Gallywix. He looked up at his daughter and quietly said, "Mida, get on the ship."
"I'm not going anywhere without you!" She screamed over the volcano.
Gallywix cackled, "Well that makes it all the more easy for me if you choose to stay behind."
Her eyes dripped a tear each and she shouted, "You're a monster!"
"Yeah, yeah," Gallywix said dismissively, "Like I haven't heard that before."
"Gallywix…" Mida scowled, teeth grinding and fists clinched. She wanted to retaliate, she wanted to do something, but knew she couldn't. The rage and contempt she felt for Gallywix would have to wait for another day; one she knew would come eventually. But for now, she could only mutter "You are truly disgusting."
"Mida" The Baron's voice called. She turned to see that her father was leaning on a nearby barrel next to one of the dock posts. "Come here."
Mida rushed to her father's side, "What is it?"
"Stand right in front of me." He asked.
Mida did so without question, just as she did when she was a little girl.
Fizwitz sighed before looking her right in the eye, "I'll ask you once more, please get on the ship."
Mida shook her head as the tears began to crawl down her cheeks.
The Baron nodded, "I figured as much. As stubborn as your mother." The Baron, desperately clutching the dock post, scratched it in a specific pattern with his longest nail. He drew four unique markings on it and suddenly the top of the post unscrewed and fell off into the boiling water beneath them. With the top gone, a secret mechanical switchboard was reveled. It must have been one of the secrets built into Bilgewater Port long ago like the one Mida had shown Pompwhig in the alley.
"What's that?" Mida asked, "You didn't show me this one."
"I put it in when the docks were added." Fizwitz said, "Defense mechanism was what this one's for. I placed giant spring beneath specific boards on the docks, you see, to launch invaders, criminals or banned individuals back onto their ships before even reaching the land of the town."
Mida nodded, "Okay…" She took a moment to digest what that meant, but her father reached up and threw the blue switch on the control panel as she shouted, "Wait, what?"
It was too late. The spring below uncoiled and sprang up, launching the plank up into the air on which Mida had been standing, sending her flying and crashing down onto the yacht. The wobbling noise of the spring echoed around as it swayed back and forth in the air before the wooden plank attached to the top of the spring dragged it down like a wilting flower. There was a loud collision from the boat as Mida smashed her head into the forward deck of the ship.
"Well what do you know." The Baron said, "My calculations were perfect." Fizwitz hoisted himself up onto the barrel next to the control panel and sat down, leaning on the post in exhaustion.
Gallywix glared at him, "You know you still can't come."
With his head resting on the pole, Fizwitz nodded, "I know. I'm a man of my word, Gallywix. I paid for her way, and you will allow her to stay. That's all I ask. Fair service for fair pay."
Gallywix was perplexed. Never in his life had he witnessed such a selfless sacrifice. He gulped as, for just a tiny fraction of a second, for the first time in his life, Gallywix felt a shred of guilt. It was quickly interrupted as Mount Kajaro exploded yet again, sending the last bits of the mountain's peak flying into the sky. Quickly, massive boulders and lava came raining from the heavens like hail. Gallywix stared in terror at it as his guards clamored onto the ship.
"You've a boat to catch." The Baron said.
Gallywix looked back to the Baron, said nothing, and scrambled aboard the boat. Once he was on, the guards kicked the boarding plank into the water. They quickly hid Gallywix from the falling sky and tried to rush him to a safer level of the ship. Flagg rushed to the engine room as the ship began to shove off from the dock.
"Ensign!" Flagg shouted, "Get that emergency goblin engine ready, we've got to shove out of here as fast as possible!"
"Yes sir!" An engineer shouted. He ran to the steam-filled engine room and activated the experimental machine. The guards on the top deck quickly took control of the helm as the ship picked up speed. Once they were a moderately safe ten yards from the crumbling pier, the goblin jet engine was activated.
Mida pulled herself up, rubbing her aching head, trying to compose herself. Two seconds later, she jumped up, ran to the edge of the ship and shouted "Dad!"
Sitting peacefully on the dock, now shrinking in the distance, was Baron Fizwitz Silvertongue, smiling back at his distraught daughter. He shouted, "Good bye, Mida."
"Dad!" Mida yelled a second time, running to the other end of the ship to get closer to him. She began crying. Her thoughts grew distorted. She yelled out, "Get… get on the ship!"
The thundering noises of Kezan's destruction and the revving of the engine as it steadily charged deafened the goblins aboard, but the Baron's softened voice cut through it all. He would finally finished his thought from back in the prison, shouting, "I'm so proud of you Mida."
"Don't think you're acquitted of assault charges!" Gallywix shouted at Mida, just before going below deck, "Guards! Arrest that woman!"
"Dad!" Mida shouted again, running to the farthest edge of the ship's stern. Guards quickly charged and tackled her. She gracefully leapt out of the way, running to the edge of the ship just to be nearer her father. Guards grabbed her by the arms and legs; two hung off each arm, and one around each leg, but Mida kept running. Another leapt onto her back to bring her down, but still she staggered on with slow, heavy steps. She reached the back of the boat just as the goblin engine fired, roaring over all other noise as the ship prepared for sea-faring speed. Eyes filled with tears, Mida shouted one last time to the tiny spot in the distance, "Daddy!"
"I'll tell your mother you love her." The Baron shouted.
The engines erupted. The ship took off. A guard swung a blunt object and hit Mida in the back of the head. She blacked out as guards cuffed her hands and feet.
Gallywix quickly crawled back out onto the dock to see his fallen nemesis. He came to stand over the fallen Silvertongue; to tower over Her Tallest.
"Take her to the brig." Gallywix muttered, "and see to it she doesn't get out!"
"Aye sir." A guard said, carrying her off.
Gallywix growled, "Silvertongue trash."
Back on the docks, Kezan crumbled. With a sigh, Baron Fizwitz Silvertongue turned from watching the ship shrink into the distance to the great display of the earth's strength now surrounding him. Unable to walk or run, he laid back on the post, one he had constructed years ago, and watched the awesome power of nature. Mount Kajaro exploded again, shattering the earth around the center of the island. A massive sink-hole grew at the base of the mountain, opening up to reveal the lava-flooded underground kingdom-turned-tomb of Undermine. The boiling water quickly receded far out into the ocean, leaving countless fish flopping on the drained earth. As the sink hole expanded, more and more boulders of flame flew down from the sky, destroying everything. A massive rock crashed through the windows of the Trade Prince's mansion, shattering windows and leaning the mansion dangerously to one side. The sink hole grew more and more, swallowing entire villages, towns, cities, plants, animals, surviving goblins, and corpses of fallen ones. A giant tsunami washed over the western shore, flooding the sink hole and washing that which hadn't fallen in already into the giant maw of the earth. The hole expanded further, consuming the farthest edge of Bilgewater Port, and the Baron watched on. He watched his own mansion sink into the molten abyss, and soon following it the entire town he had built from the ground up. The meteor that had struck Gallywix's mansion had already sent it teetering, but as the sink hole expanded, the tower shifted, and began to fall backwards. With a massive groaning of metal and glass, the colossal tower leaned, fell, and toppled into the massive, gaping wound.
"It's about time." Fizwitz muttered, "hideous looking thing."
The symphonies of blazing and burning, toppling and destroying, flooding and crushing, falling and dying continued, and the Baron laid back to absorb the shear power that surrounded him. The island on which he had dwelt his entire life would soon be no more, and the Baron knew his fate had always been tied to it. The orchestra of nature climaxed as he heard the roaring of a massive tidal wave growing behind him, bound for the shores of Bilgewater Port. This was it. He clung to the barrel, closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. The tsunami came crashing into Bilgewater Port, sweeping everything and everyone left into rubble of the sinking island. Baron Silvertongue was no more.
In a single day and night of misfortune, Kezan sank to the bottom of the sea.