Final Episode: Warden Appo and the Clever Ram

Warden Appo was now watching the meadow with a completely indifferent gaze, as the rats kept running across it in search of fish, or perhaps goblins. He no longer had an army, no casket, nothing left of what he had brought with him here. Only a few carts remained. So they wouldn’t slow the army’s movement through the forest, the Warden had sent them along the Road of the Four Clans. He had been certain he would quickly capture the goblinum, and the carts would catch up there afterward. Now, though, they no longer mattered at all. So it made no difference to him where they were.
Suddenly, he noticed movement to his left. Several riding rams with riders flashed by among the trees. They were drawing closer, and before long the Warden recognized them.
“Oh, no you don’t. You won’t take me,” he hissed through his teeth, turned his ram around, and bolted into the forest.
The riders were Mor, Vuk, Nuk, and Brakha. After Vuk and Nuk had held off the Hermit, they had made it safely back to the goblinum. It hadn’t taken much effort, though. When the Hermit ran up to them, his leg had started bleeding even more, and the pain had grown worse. What’s more, the Bignoses no longer had the casket on them by then. So he had chosen to fall back and tend to his wound instead. That’s how the goblins had simply gone their separate ways, and Vuk and Nuk had hurried home.
Seeing Warden Appo fleeing, the goblins were taken aback, since they had expected a goblinum Warden to behave with more dignity. They chased him for a long time but couldn’t manage to close the distance. At one point he pulled away entirely and vanished among the trees.
Vuk and Nuk suspected that the Warden had given his ram the Ant Power. But Mor quickly grasped the real reason. Their rams had spent two days carrying warriors who’d taken part in the battle. The animals were exhausted and could no longer keep pace with the Warden’s fresh ram. Before long, the last of their strength began to fail them.
Mor didn’t want to torment the animals, so he let them go. From there, the goblins ran on their own. Mor, however, was beginning to have doubts about whether to keep up the chase. They couldn’t see anyone ahead, and the Warden might turn off to the side at any moment. But the goblins decided to keep running and not turn off anywhere.
Meanwhile, Warden Appo, like a madman, drove his ram on and didn’t even consider turning off anywhere. He had only one wish — to reach his own clan’s lands as quickly as possible and make for the nearest goblinum. After all, he still remained the supreme ruler of the Hermits, which meant they were obligated to take him in and protect him.
Ahead, a clearing appeared, with what looked like either a small lake or an enormous puddle. Bursting out of the forest, the ram stopped short right at the water’s edge, as though an impassable wall had sprung up in front of it. Warden Appo nearly went flying forward from the suddenness of it.
“Come on! Why are you stopping?!”
He kept pressing the ram’s sides and beating its back, but it wouldn’t move.
Appo looked around. The lake turned out to be long and narrow. Riding around it would take time. It would be much faster to cross straight through. But for some reason the ram stubbornly refused to go into the water.
Maybe it’s deep here? Then again, how deep could this puddle be? he thought.
He didn’t want to wait. So he jumped down, let the ram go, and gave it one last hard blow. The frightened animal ran along the shore, but soon stopped and looked back at its former master, who had done such a vile thing to it.
The Warden waded into the water, intending to reach the other side in just a few bounds. At first, walking was easy. Only the mud underfoot got a little in his way. But when the water rose almost to his knees, his feet began to sink. He managed to pull one foot out with difficulty, while the other kept sinking. He still couldn’t feel any firm footing beneath it.
He had to lower the raised foot again, hoping to finally feel the bottom. But after a while, the water covered his knees, and his feet still hadn’t reached the bottom. Only then did the Warden realize he had walked into a bog.
Of course, there was no one around. He even regretted having pulled so far ahead of his pursuers. Just in case, he called out loudly for help several times. No one answered, and by now his body had sunk into the mire up to his waist.
Nearby, a bleating sound was heard. It was the ram, having come back to the spot where it had been struck and driven off. It stopped and looked closely at the goblin it had carried on its back for so long.
“What are you staring at me for? It’s because of you that I’m here, you stupid animal! Get out of here!” the Warden shouted.
Only his head and arms remained above the water. He began waving his arms furiously, determined to drive the ram away no matter what. But the animal didn’t move an inch. Instead, with every move the goblin made, he was pulled into the bog faster and faster.
So it turns out he was smarter than me, not going in here. Good thing no one’s seeing this, Warden Appo just managed to think.
A moment later, his head disappeared beneath the water.
For a while longer, his arms flailed about above the surface, like branches in the wind. It seemed they were still trying to frighten the ram. But the animal showed no reaction at all, only watched calmly. Before long, the arms went slack and disappeared into the mire as well.
The ram gave a soft bleat, as though surprised by such magic. Then it walked closer to the forest and began cropping the grass with great appetite.
Brakha recognized both the clearing and the bog from a distance. Running out of the forest, the goblins saw the ram. It wasn’t frightened in the least — quite the opposite, it nodded its head happily when it spotted Brakha. After all, this was the kind two-legged creature that took care of it.
“Well, well…” Vuk drawled. “And where’s our main villain? Where did he go?”
“Look around carefully. He might have gone completely mad, and could attack us now for revenge,” Mor warned.
“Just don’t go into the water. What looks like a lake is actually a bog,” Brakha shouted.
“We’ve heard about this treacherous bog. It’s on our land, after all,” Mor answered.
“Warden Appo probably ran off. Left his tired ram behind and kept running. That ram was bound to get tired sometime. Well, shall we keep running?” Nuk was already about to go around the bog, but Brakha stopped him:
“The Warden’s ram doesn’t look tired. Trust me, I know about these things.”
Suddenly, a dull, drawn-out sound came from the bog, and at that very moment bubbles appeared on the surface. Then more, and more.
The ram looked at them and let out a loud bleat, as if it were saying to all the two-legged creatures:
“Yes, yes. That’s exactly the spot where he disappeared.”
Seeing the bubbles, Brakha immediately thought of Uruk.
“Warden Appo is most likely in the bog. When Uruk drowned, the exact same bubbles appeared in that spot.”
After bubbling a little more, the bog settled down and turned back into a strange, narrow lake that, at first glance, seemed perfectly safe.
The goblins stared at the water for a long time, unable to believe in such a foolish death for someone who had been about to become the ruler of the entire Goblin Forest.
“Well, that’s that. It’s finally over. Which means it’s time for us to go home. To our own potato field. Even though it’s been well trampled, I think we can still bring in a decent harvest. After all, there are four of us now,” Mor looked at the goblins and smiled sadly.
The Bignoses turned and hurried toward their goblinum, and riding beside them on Warden Appo’s ram was Brakha.