Chương 20: Overwhelming Presence

I made a second Stingtail Nettle Tea and poured it down Madam Moolisa's throat. As before, it took a few moments, but eventually, her large brown eyes opened, and she stood, wobbled, and then sat again, giving off a soft moo of thanks.

"Vaelith, how are you feeling?" I asked. She was standing, her blue skin illuminating oddly beneath the moonlight. She stretched as she said, "Better now. Damn those goblins."

"How did it happen?" She frowned.

"Pip heard 'em surrounding us. Told me to play dead, no matter what. I protested, but I was in no condition to fight, and when they came, I couldn't move at all. Pip felled a few before being bludgeoned on the head. They carried him off. Surprised they didn't take us, dead or not. Seems like they were in a hurry." I grumbled to myself. We could just leave the man… but I couldn't live with myself if we did. Pip had been an honest man, and despite his short stature, he had stood tall on principles.

"We're going to save him," I said. Vaelith smiled.

"But of course. A future ruler of a demon house can't owe favors to any rabble. And besides… it's a good opportunity to earn myself another subject."

"Maybe he'll be your second," I replied, smiling. She held up three fingers.

"Third. Madam Moolisa, and—""I'm not your subject," I cut in.

"Oh?" Vaelith replied, feigning surprise.

"Might want to check again." I suddenly felt a pull between Vaelith and me. A bond of sorts. She had saved Madam Moolisa. She had been willing to give up her life. I did feel a certain sense of loyalty now that hadn't been there before.

"What did you do to me?"

"Nothing," she replied.

"You've finally come to your senses and decided to follow me all on your own. Don't worry, I'll be a worthy leader of one such as yourself—if you can help me make it that far."

"Well, our paths align… for now. So, should we come up with some sort of plan to save Pip?" Vaelith lifted her axe.

"I figured I'd just split some heads and call it a day." She looked up at the moon.

"Perhaps I'll call it a night." While I was some sort of hybrid fighting class, my true skills came in the helping of others. However, given my current ingredients, I had nothing to offer. Then an idea popped into my head. I walked to each goblin and kicked them. They didn't move. I put a hand to each neck to check for a pulse… nothing. Damn… it would have been easy if one were alive.

"If we're going to fight a bunch of goblins, we should kill one first. And by we, I mean me." Vaelith looked at me curiously. Then it dawned.

"Ah, you have some sort of recipe, don't you?" I smiled.

"Something like that. Now tell Madam Moolisa to go home, or at least wait for us near the road where it is safe. And which way did those goblins go?"

Vaelith had suggested that Madam Moolisa go back toward town and wait for us. She was happy enough to leave the waters of the swamp behind, her brown eyes darting at every shadow as if it were another stingtail. The demon-princess led the way through the reeds. It was rough going and wet. More than once, I sank in; the muck going up to my waist. The marsh seemed determined to swallow every step, sucking at my legs and filling the air with wet, rotten smells.

Frogs croaked somewhere out in the dark, and insects whined around my ears in tiny, maddening clouds. Somehow, the woman was surprisingly adept at traversal, and she had no such problem. Luckily, in the early hours, we found a single goblin cursing and calling for help. Nobody came. We stalked in the shadows of the reeds. I could see that the monster's ankle had been caught in a trap. Pip's trap. It had broken the bone, and part of it stuck out, bleeding. The goblin appeared weak, barely able to stand.

Its breath came in ragged little snarls, and its hands clawed uselessly at the trap's metal teeth. Vaelith nudged me forward. With little fanfare, I launched from the reeds, knife held, and drove it into the monster's throat. There was surprise in those eyes for only a moment before they clouded over. I pulled the knife and drove it back into the goblin's heart for good measure. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

As before, I simply removed the eyes, leaving the rest for the buzzards and flies. As quickly as I could, I prepared the Goblin-Eye Soup. We had just enough water left. I finished, and, as before, a magical glow accompanied a change in the consistency and smell of the concoction.

"That smells incredible," Vaelith said at once.

"We can each have one eye. As far as I can tell, the core ingredient is what grants the buffs. Without that part, it won't happen." I looked at Darwin.

"Sorry, not this time." Darwin silently sulked. We ate, and I could feel the buff and the additional stats: System Goblin-Eye Soup… Level up. Goblin-Eye Soup +2 Effects: +10 LCK, +4 DEX, +2 STR. Lasts 3 hours. Negative effect removed… Green skin By the time it was done, the sun had just begun to rise. Pale light crept through the reeds, turning the fog silver and the water a dull gray. The marsh smelled no better in the morning. Vaelith tested her limbs.

"I take it back—what I said about your class. A pain it may be… but damn useful."

"I'm glad you approve," I replied.

"So, do you think it'll help?"

"Help?" Vaelith laughed.

"With this, I feel like I can take on a dozen or so. So yeah… it'll help." We continued on until we found the goblin camp in the heart of the marsh. Surrounded on all sides by reeds, we'd have never found it if the damn monsters weren't so loud. Their voices carried through the swamp in harsh, chattering bursts. There were scattered reeds on the ground, strewn around like little beds. Stones had been placed atop a mass of reeds and wood. Pip was laid out and bound.

It almost seemed like some sort of ritual sacrifice. Around the camp, there were about ten or so goblins. Vaelith was about to find out if what she had boasted was true.

"Alright," I said, "let's come up with a plan. I'll sneak around the back and—" Vaelith stood, swung her axe, and felled a bushel of reeds. Every goblin turned to face her. I slapped myself on the forehead, stood, drew my knife, and held it close. Vaelith held her weapon forward.

"You monsters have taken what is mine. The half-foot known as Pipshur is my subject, and I will be taking him back." She readied herself to fight, going low, her muscles taut with anticipation.

"None will stop me." A goblin nearby laughed… but he was a little too close. With one wide sweep of Vaelith's axe, the goblin's head simply rolled off its shoulders into the muck, letting out a loud splat that signaled the start of the battle. At least I thought it would be the start. Vaelith stood tall, and I could feel a sort of overwhelming presence threatening to overwhelm me. It was heavy, like a blanket being thrown over me and then more and more weights being stacked on top. The air itself seemed to thicken.

Even the reeds stopped rustling for a moment, as if the marsh itself feared her. The goblins froze in place, all staring at Vaelith. She seemed to be concentrating, sweat pouring down her brow.

"What's… happening…" I asked. Even talking was hard.

"Overwhelming Presence," Vaelith replied.

"One of my skills. I can't move during it, so if you would be so kind as to carve out their hearts, that would be wonderful." Walking was difficult, but I managed. Each step was labored, at least ten times over, and as I approached the first goblin, knife in hand, its eyes flickered as if it was trying to look at me, but it couldn't take its eyes off Vaelith. I slid the knife against the goblin's throat. Blood poured out, and it collapsed soon after. I had no problem killing goblins, but this felt… wrong.

Still, it was us or them, and I killed three more in a similar fashion. Six remained, and as I approached another, I saw Vaelith let out a sigh and waver. The goblin nearest me snapped to attention and lunged at me, grabbing my knife.

"Shit, shit, shit," I said as I fell back. As I did, the knife plunged into the goblin's gut, or, more like, the goblin fell on top of the knife. I rolled out from underneath the goblin and stood as quickly as I could. The presence was gone, yet now a few angry goblins charged at me, screaming as they did and wielding simple bladed weapons attached with rope to sticks. Before I could even blink, two goblins were cut in half ahead of me. Vaelith blocked me from the remaining three.

Of the ones left, there were two small ones, holding little daggers, and a larger one, up to my chest in height, muscular, holding a two-handed sword that looked far too big for it. The smaller ones charged, and Vaelith swiped once, cleaving them in two. The larger one smiled.

"You think yer hot shit, don't'cha? But you've gone and fucked with the wrong tribe, eh. I'm gonna cut you in half and feed ya' to the dragon—" Before he could even finish, Vaelith had closed the distance, and her axe tasted the dirt underneath the goblin. Slowly, both sides of him, cut vertically, fell away from each other with a wet splat. It was disgusting… but it was over.

"Grab the half-foot," Vaelith said.

"I'll kill any stranglers." Doing as she said, I rushed to Pip. The man was conscious, a little roughed up, but not too badly. Mud streaked one side of his face and dried blood darkened his hair near the place he'd been struck. I cut his bindings free.

"Oh, thank Seler," Pip said.

"I take it that your tea worked?" I smiled.

"That it did, but let's talk later. We should get out of here—" My voice was cut off as something shook the air. It was soft at first, but it rapidly became louder. The reeds trembled. Ripples spread across the pools of black water around us. Birds exploded from the distant trees in a flurry of panicked wings. Another crashing vibration rang out. It sounded like… a roar.