At least it didn’t seem like they’d really lost much time by traveling to the Dhu World. It was still deep fall, the leaves were falling from the broad leaf trees, but there were definitely less of them in this part of Ludus. Towering pine trees framed the path they walked, some of the tallest had massive, jagged looking pine cones unlike anything Henry had ever seen on Earth.
A few of the more squat pine trees had short, wide needles and dense branches. Most of the bushes lining their path had already lost their leaves. Henry figured it might feel a little chilly if he wasn’t walking with armor on. Then again, now that he thought about it, he hadn’t really been all that cold or hot on Ludus since he’d been ‘Bonded. Maybe it was a side perk.
The nasty tasting Ludus vegetables were still everywhere, though. Henry knew what to look for, and he saw them from time to time. He’d never starve on Ludus, but if he ever had to eat those fucking things again, he’d almost rather be dead.
Henry let his senses ghost out ahead through the earth. He was using power to map the surrounding terrain for maximum coverage. It didn’t take him much magic power to do it, and he was not going to be caught unaware again. He was cycling through his enhanced senses too, but mostly focusing on hearing. He was able to hear Rekkla muttering or chanting to herself at the rear of their group, presumably doing whatever was keeping the monsters away. Then again, she might have been hanging back just to keep checking out Tony.
The goblin girl wasn’t exactly being subtle with her interest, something that Henry had not been expecting at all. Tony was a big deal now with the Gobskull tribe, so it wasn’t necessarily that crazy. Henry heard footsteps approaching before Trask appeared at his side and began keeping pace with him.
“Demigod, we should probably make camp earlier today than you might normally do. It will take time for Rekkla to prepare for the night.”
“To keep the monsters away?”
“Yes.”
“How does that work anyway?”
“I am not sure. I know it is because the Gobskulls have lived in this area for a long time. The shamans speak to the land. Surrounding monsters can’t see us. They do not know we are here with a Gobskulls-trained shaman as a guide.”
“Wait,” said Henry. “You said monsters could’t see us. Aren’t goblins monsters too?”
Trask’s long, pointed nose twitched, and his nostrils flared. For the first time since Henry had known the young goblin, his eyes narrowed, and his mood shifted. Trask growled and said, “Gob-folk are not monsters. We are thinking beings with civilization. How dare you say these things, Demigod.”
Henry didn’t back down. “Oh really? My first day on Ludus, my friend and I killed some goblins. They’d killed a little boy and were butchering him to eat.”
Trask immediately deflated. “Well, not all gob-folks are—”
“Do your people eat humans, I mean Terrans?” Henry looked Trask directly in the eyes, but the young goblin turned his head.
“We sometimes will eat others for strength, to worship Memory. I haven’t. I can’t after learning Luda and knowing them. But we are traded prisoners and bad people by other city races...mostly.”
“Oh really? So you never do anything to your prisoners but kill and eat them?”
“What else would we do?” asked Trask uncertainly.
“When I killed those goblins with my friend, a few of them had been busy tearing my future wife’s clothes off.”
Trask’s ears laid back and his entire posture changed, instantly looking dangerous, even in his crude attempt at fancy clothes. He growled deep in his chest, all previous uncertainty gone. His lips pulled back from sharp teeth, and his eyes glowed. “You killed them all, yes?” he asked.
“Yes, Jason and I killed them all. They were in a dirty, nasty cave with totems out front.”
“What did the totems look like?”
Henry told him, and Trask’s normal, genial personality was completely gone. “That is a related tribe of the Gobskulls. Every race on Ludus, even gob-folk, give death for rape. When I tell Shaman Hask she will build a war band to wipe out the Mountainskulls. We will destroy them all, or they will become our slaves.”
Henry wasn’t sure that this logic made sense, but he decided to keep his mouth shut about it for the time being. Trask was all kinds of worked up and looked like he was about to pop a blood vessel. He said, “Yeah we killed them. Going back would take a while, though. I don’t know where ‘here’ even is, but here is definitely not there, if you know what I mean.”
Trask’s eyes were still flinty, but he calmed himself with an obvious effort of will. “Yes,” he said. “I will need to tell Shaman Hask. Then it will be her responsibility. I am sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry, just be glad Shaman Hask wanted to play nice. It wouldn’t have hurt my feelings to kill your entire tribe. You still eat people, and Tony and I didn’t get the warmest welcome.”
“You killed many gob-folk, Demigod. Your kind kill even more gob-folk. You kill many more of us than we kill of yours.” It was Trask’s turn to stare Henry down. “We eat meat, meat that is available. We eat what we kill. Terrans just kill and leave gob-folk bodies for the animals."
Trask straightened his button-up shirt with a bit of force and continued, “Are gob-folk worse than Terrans or Areva or Mo’hali or Adom? Especially Adom. Have Terrans never eaten other Terrans?”
Henry shrugged. “Well, yeah I guess. Some cultures on Earth. But every race has bad apples, right?”
Trask shook his head. “No. Only Terrans, ‘monsters,’ Fideli, and Adom...and all are feared. Terrans have cities. If you had caves, you could be like gob-folk to other races."
That thought struck a nerve with Henry. He remembered the insurgents living in caves in the desert, coming out at night to attack other humans; arguments over religion that led to bloodshed and destroyed entire countries. These memories led to other, darker thoughts, and he was lost in contemplation until the group found a good place to camp.
***
Aodh woke the next morning with the strangest feeling of danger he’d ever had. He was an experienced enough adventurer now that he didn’t lose his calm or immediately try to get up. He mentally ran through reasons his senses could be screaming at him. Was it the spirit stone he’d taken the night before? No, he didn’t actually feel any different. He definitely didn’t feel sick, either.
He couldn’t hear any commotion. In fact, Henry should be on watch with Trask. The men and goblins didn’t entirely trust each other yet, so Aodh and Rekkla had taken first watch together, and Henry took the last watch with Trask. The situation wasn’t ideal, but they did the best they could. The goblins had both understood and agreed.
Thinking of his mysterious dagger assured Aodh that it was in its sheath at his side right where he’d left it, ready to be deployed. The bedroll the goblins had given him had done a surprisingly good job of keeping the cold ground at bay during the night, so the feeling of danger was at odds with Aodh’s overall feeling of comfort. In fact, he felt strangely warm.
He slowly searched the camp with his eyes and finally located Henry and Trask. Trask was pointedly not looking in his direction. On the other hand, Henry was obviously amused and grinned widely when his eyes met Aodh’s.
What the… Aodh scrunched his brow and moved to roll over, but something was wrong. There was weight on his arm. His sleep addled brain tried to catch up with his instincts as he reached over with his other arm under his blanket. His hand encountered something soft.
Aodh frowned and squeezed. Whatever was on his arm was soft and warm. Suddenly, he felt teeth on his hand, similar to a tunnel cat’s nibble if they got a belly rub. These teeth were bigger, way bigger.
With a screech, Aodh shot off his blankets, revealing a very sleepy, very naked Reekla on his bedroll. The young adventurer could hear Henry trying to stifle laughter.
Aodh stood with his hands on his head, breathing heavily, trying to make sense of the situation. From his bed,
Rekkla blinked owlishly and glanced around before looking directly at Aodh. The goblin girl asked, “What is wrong, Voice?” Then she yawned, showing her mouth full of sharp teeth and a long, pointed tongue.
“What the holy hell are you doing?” he shouted.
Rekkla frowned at him, not self-conscious of her nudity in the slightest. “I am making it known that I am your mate if you want me, Voice. I am not sure how I can be clearer.”
In the background, Henry said in a strangled voice, “I think she likes you, kid.” Then the man finally began laughing so hard he started choking, Trask still kept looking the opposite direction. The fussy young goblin’s back was straight, his arms crossed. He sniffed.
“Go put on some clothes!” Aodh wheezed. He pointed at Henry to prove his point and said, “Everyone can see you!”
“Oh, I do not understand city races. So you do not wish Demigod or others to see my body? I will remember.” The young goblin woman turned on her heel, swaying her green bum as she moved towards her own bedroll. Aodh turned to look away, knowing Rekkla would probably bend over again like she had the day before.
Goblins...goblin girls are nuts!
***
Aodh trudged along at the front of their formation; the group was getting close to the edge of the forest. Henry had taken the second to last position so he could move up to the front or drop to the rear if they were attacked. The gruff man looked much better now, almost back to normal. His healing ability was amazing.
Meanwhile, Aodh didn’t have any powerful healing or endurance abilities, he just got stomach pains. He held his gut and grimaced. The young adventurer had gotten a feeling he should use his magic, so he had been, but he was paying the price for it.
He could feel Rekkla staring at him. Aodh knew if he glanced back quickly enough he’d find the young Gobskull shaman’s strange orange eyes on him. The feeling was disconcerting and wasn’t getting any better.
I really need to do something about that girl… Aodh thought. He had to admit he didn’t have a clue what to do, though. He didn’t have a lot of experience with Terran girls, much less monster girls...or Adom, he amended.
He wondered how Trask was doing at the rear of the formation. The particular young goblin appeared entirely out of his element out with an adventuring party, and seemed even more confused than Aodh was about Rekkla’s recent behavior.
Aodh cringed when he thought about what it’d be like to watch a sister throw herself at a boy. He didn’t have a sister, but he suddenly imagined Vitaliya being interested in a man. It wasn’t the same, though. In that situation, he’d just feel pity. That poor, poor bastard…
He suddenly realized that one day, Vitaliya and Rekkla might meet each other. Oh no, oh no, oh no! Rekkla was making him a bit uncomfortable, but she seemed honest, sincere, and was actually kind of cute, which was bizarre to think about a goblin girl. The fact she might have eaten people before was extremely disturbing, but he’d heard about how the Gobskulls only killed and ate bad people. They had religious rules for how bodies were prepared, too.
That was all horrible, but a lot of girls had rough spots, right? Vitaliya had killed people before. Oh no, Vitaliya! She wouldn’t possibly kill Rekkla, would she?
Aodh was lost in thought as he broke out of the tree line into a meadow. He wasn’t paying attention to his surroundings like he should have been, so he was intensely startled when a scream tore through the otherwise quiet evening.
He felt a twinge in his stomach and realized he’d stopped using magic a few minutes before, but immediately had a feeling he needed to push it now, HARD. Aodh’s stomach churned as he embraced his magic and simultaneously looked up.
A beautiful girl was running over a distant hill, her blonde tresses flowing behind her. The image seemed too slow for Aodh. The girl was alluring, Terran, and about his age. She wore a pretty blue dress tailored for travel, and had flowers in her hair. Her delicate features mesmerized Aodh and the moment seemed to last forever. The spell was broken when a group of orks crested the hill behind her, hot in pursuit.
Orks...Aodh remembered the terrible kitchen in Yanbei Cavern and felt sick to his stomach, even more so than he already felt while using his magic. Then he focused again, on the terrified expression of the beautiful girl, her eyes swimming in fear, her helpless, willowy movements, on the snarling faces of the orks behind her...
Something welled up inside of the young adventurer, something dark. Aodh savagely pushed his magic, ignoring the pain in his abdomen. He sprinted forward, long grass slapping against his legs. His spear was leveled, his teeth bared.
He distantly heard Henry shouting behind him, then sounds of someone falling down. Aodh ignored all of it. His vision was focused on the beautiful fleeing girl. He couldn’t do anything about the people in that terrible kitchen in Yanbei Cavern. The same thing would not happen to this girl, though.
No, not ever. Not if he could help it.
Vampire Stabber
Henry had been rotating his enhance senses. His sense of smell had been enhanced, not hearing, so he hadn’t noticed anything amiss until he had heard a scream.
His head snapped up, and he immediately knew in his gut that the girl before him had to be one of the fiercest people he had seen on Ludus so far. She appeared about Tony’s age and was almost as tall as Jason. However, where Jason was kind of a slim guy, this girl looked like a volleyball player. She was all corded muscle, visible even under her utilitarian dress as she ran.
The scene was surreal to Henry. They’d had a relatively peaceful two days while traveling out of the dangerous forest from the goblin village, well, other than Rekkla sexually harassing Tony. Then out of nowhere was a random human girl in mortal danger.
The girl was fast, even in clothing not suited for running, but the orks were so damn big they were still catching up to her. The blonde girl whirled and snarled, holding out a palm and launching a jet of flame into an ork’s face. The leather-armored, tusked warrior howled, holding his eyes, and the girl hit him in the head, hard, with a stick she snatched off the ground, screaming in rage and frustration. Then she turned and bolted again.
Henry’s jaw dropped. The girl’s expression had been cold and flinty, and she had been smiling slightly! Who the hell does that? Henry wondered. He had no idea where she was running to, but the orks were starting to catch up again
About that time, Tony took off like a bat out of hell. “Tony, get back here!” Henry yelled. Of course, the focused adventurer ignored him. Henry shook his head and sprinted after the spear-wielding young man. In mid stride, somehow, his foot slipped.
He went down hard. Henry got up, cursing, but Tony seemed to be running even faster, already much closer to the orks. “Tony, get back here!” Henry yelled again. The kid was still completely ignoring him.
The purple badger creature from the Gobskulls caves had been following Henry at a distance all this time, and as he got up, he noticed her watching him with beady eyes. Everyone’s a damn comedian, even the magic animal-thing.
“God dammit!” Henry seethed. Finally up, he took another couple steps and somehow fell yet again. “What the fucking fuck?” he snarled. His employee, his friend, was tearing off alone towards a group of like ten orks, and he couldn’t even chase the fucking idiot!
He pushed himself to get up and his foot somehow slipped on nothing. To add insult to injury, we was pretty sure he’d landed in some animal’s droppings. He’d worry about that later, though. Tony needed his help...but the fucking universe seemed hell bent on keeping him from actually doing anything.
Trask and Rekkla both pounded up together and helped Henry to his feet. He took a few experimental steps and didn’t eat dirt again, which was an improvement. However, the badly outnumbered Tony had already reached the orks. Henry started running again to catch up, but knew that the whole way there, he’d have to watch helplessly as the kid fought all on his own.
***
Aodh was halfway to the orks when he realize
d he didn’t have a plan and was running towards a group of hulking, muscular, inhuman warriors on his own. His heart leapt into his throat, but after one faltering step, he focused on the girl’s face again, her obviously sweet, innocent demeanor screwed up in fear and despair. Aodh felt his resolve harden.
The orks had almost caught up with the girl again, and the gorgeous creature generated another weak fire magic attack like she had before. Aodh admired her spirit, fighting back even while so frightened. Unfortunately, while she was a much stronger mage than he was, she was no Vitaliya.
If Vitaliya had been there, Aodh would feel sorry for the orks. But thankfully for the creatures, his cousin wasn’t there. A sweet, delicate girl needed help, and he had to answer the call.
Aodh snarled, pumping his adventure-hardened legs and shot forward even faster, all hesitation dismissed. He drew deeply on his magic, hoping that whatever it did would be enough to save the girl. He’d find out in a few seconds.
Before he knew it, time was up. Panting, he completely blindsided the closest ork, ramming his spear into the mottled warrior’s side, the blade managing to deftly penetrate a gap in the enemy’s armor. Aodh didn’t expect what happened next.
The ork screamed, convulsing madly as the spear punctured his heart, and fell limply to the ground. However, Aodh felt a warm, sticky-feeling rush of energy. He’d been out of breath from sprinting before, but now his pulse was only slightly elevated and he wasn’t breathing hard anymore. In fact, he felt great.
The young man’s eyes widened in shock, but he didn’t have any time to otherwise react. Now the other orks knew he was there.
He quickly counted nine remaining enemies, and all of them had turned around, heading straight for him. Aodh relaxed a bit. He’d probably be overwhelmed now, but at least the girl would get away. He could die happy.
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