[Vicious] Chapter 5 (FINAL)
When night fell, Hadyn returned covered in mud and smelling of dried blood. For a second, Rys wondered where he had been and how he had followed after them when he clearly had not taken the path through the tall grass with giant green cats in it, but then he decided that it simply didn't matter. The outside world was more bizarre and strange than he had expected and he was tired enough that at that point, he just didn't care.
Instead he fell asleep and resolved to deal with it in the morning.
By the time morning arrived and he had finished mutilating his cloak for the third time in a row, he went with his thoughts of the night before and determined that the world was a bigger place than he could imagine and he was just going to ignore any strange happenings. Rys had no problem to simply deny what he didn't understand. It was something his mother often used to do when she was mad at people, deny to the last second that she could be wrong. From what he knew of his siblings, they had picked up that habit form her as their father was often away going on travels to acquire any and every book ever written. Sometimes, Rys thought the stoic man loved his books more than his mother. Rys had never really approved of this way of blinding yourself but decided, in light of the recent events, that he was perfectly entitled to act however he wanted.
Rys had been exiled from the only home he had ever known, if he wanted to be cynical and unreasonable, than he was damn well going to be.
He swore under his breath as he hit his foot on a rock and kept going. They were, once again, following Tif and her memorized map. If Tif was to be believed, they should be at the goblin caves by nightfall, as they had made much better time than she expected.
His mind went blissfully numb from all the walking, to the point where he didn't notice Tif stopping until he walked into her and almost pushed her off her feet. He gave a soundless snarl as his patience wore thin and he had to stop himself from leaving her there and keep going by himself. It wouldn't do anyone any good. Instead, he took a step back and a deep breath, ignored the soul piercing gaze of Hadyn at his back and apologized to Tif for almost running her over.
A distracted "It's fine." was all he got in response.
He frowned and bit at his bottom lip, ignoring the prick from his canine that almost drew blood. "Are you sure? You sound insincere."
She gave him that look that meant she thought he was stupid. "We've already walked here. Look," she pointed towards footprints in the moss on the forest floor. "those are ours.”
"Oh." he said in lack of anything else.
The thought that they had been walking in a circle when Tif was actually very good at remembering which way to go was unsettling and not something he wanted to experience when they were so close to getting out of the forest that, despite being sunnier and warmer, was still eerie enough that he knew he never would have entered if he had been in his right mind.
Rys narrowed his eyes in thought. "You said that the forest don't want me to leave." he stated.
Tif nodded and confirmed. "Yes, it likes you."
"How much would you be willing to bet that no matter which way we go, we'll never get anywhere?" Rys asked.
In response, Tif fell silent in deep thought.
Rys swore again, this time loud enough for Tif and Hadyn to hear him and demanded, "Then how the hell are we going to leave this blasted overgrown forest?!”
Tif shrugged halfheartedly and offered no answer. When he turned around to glare at Hadyn, the wolf looked away and if he didn't know any better, he would say it looked guilty. Another swearword tore itself from his throat as his complete and utter feeling of just being done with this whole thing overwhelmed him. Rys was not the kind of person to enjoy adventures and exploring deep dark forests, he was the kind of person that liked to occasionally read about it and the rest of the time spend trying to work out how he was going to have enough money for payments and food. There was nothing to enjoy about being banished from his home and he was just so done with it.
"You know what? Fine, fine! Have it your way, stupid forest! If I'm not back within a year, use whatever magic shit you want to drag me back! Because if you let me and my friends leave, I promise you that I'll come back!" he shouted out in absolute fury, his eyes glaring with anger. He was mad enough that he didn't even think about the fact that he was yelling at a forest he didn't believe was sentient, or the fact that he had called Tif and Hadyn his friends or the fact that he promised he would come back. He just wanted out.
With a snarl and a growl in his throat he turned around from where he had been shouting at trees and hurried past a stunned Tif in order to keep going. He dismissed the thought that he never would have lost his temper like that in Light Valley and instead concentrated on trying to find whatever path there was that Tif insisted she could see. This was nowhere even near where he had wanted his life to go. He hissed at imaginary enemies and bared his teeth at trees as he passed them as he continued walking in a decidedly swift pace. If he didn't get out of this forest today, then he was going to burn whatever was left of that old fortress to the ground, angry powerful spirited be damned.
By the time he calmed down enough to remember that Tif saw the path from a very old map, he had already been walking for well over an hour. Enough time to get completely lost.
Rys stopped walking and stared at the unfamiliar surroundings around him and let his face fall into his hands with a loud groan. He grimaced at the pain coming form his left arm and disregarded the clear fact that he had no idea where he was. For a moment, he wanted to swear and rage at the world but then the fury left him as if it had never been there. Rys sagged and slouched back against the bark of a tall tree as the energy his rage had given him left. He leaned his head back and let his arms fall uselessly at his sides as he stared up at the blue sky. His dark green eyes blinked sluggishly as he tried to think of a reason he'd lose his temper like that.
Rys didn't have much of a temper, it took a lot to make him mad enough to yell at people, even if he was angry. The fact that he had shouted at a forest just made him wonder if he was going insane.
Just as he was wondering if he should try to find his way back to where he had left Tif and Hadyn behind, a low voice spoke up at his feet.
"I thought you said that you didn't believe the forest was sentient."
Rys twitched in surprise as he abruptly looked down. At his feet, looking as creepily innocent as always, Tif stood looking up at him with her big eyes full of curiosity. He scowled at her and snapped out, "That was before it made us walk in circles so we couldn't leave.”
She hummed. "Anyway, you're going in the wrong direction."
He growled in frustration and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. Lead the way."
She nodded and veered off to the right as she skipped away. Rys mumbled something about heartless goblins under his breath s he hurried to follow her before he ended up stuck in this forest for eternity entirely due to his own inability to read a map, old or not.
They walked off, following the old map of Tif's that he still didn't know where it came from. He had no idea what she did with it when they weren't walking, but he also had the feeling it was something he did not want to know. So he ignored the strangeness of it and followed behind her, giving Hadyn a small, tired smile when he started following along as well.
Hours passed as the sun moved in the sky as they walked. Instead of stopping for rest and food as they had the previous days, this time they kept going. Both Rys and Tif were of the opinion that the sooner they got to the goblin caves, the better. Rys didn't know if the forest was truly sentient and had taken his offer or not, but they no longer walked in circles. Their pace was fast, Hadyn snarling at random bushes and tree from time to time which Rys resolutely ignored and dismissed from his thoughts. He was already busy wondering if he should come back to the forest within a year just to be safe or not.
Eventually, they came to a stop in front of a rickety old bridge hanging over a rushing river that he thought was the same one they usually drank water from. It seemed to have magnified in the last day or so they had been walking.
Rys' face was completely devoid of an expression as he walked across the bride and stepped over the clearly rotten pieces of wood. He heard Tif gasping dramatically behind him every time the bridge swayed and he rolled his eyes at her need to make it more dramatic then it was. In no time at all, he was over the bridge and on the other side of the river. When he turned around to watch Tif cross it, he saw Hadyn standing in the middle of it, radiating smugness. He had the urge to laugh at the comic picture the large wolf made, but he was more scared that the flimsy bridge wouldn't be able to hold his weight and so instead he called out for Hadyn to go faster.
Hadyn crossed the bridge, this time with Rys and Tif both twitching as it swayed and creaked ominously under his weight. When he finally crossed, Rys gave in to his urge and let out a short laugh that he quickly smothered behind his hands as he turned away from a smug Hadyn standing beside him. Tif easily made it across the bridge, showing that she had indeed done it before and then they kept on walking, this time on a clear path.
Tif no longer mentioned the map as they followed along the road that was easy to see and as the sun fell farther in the sky ad evening was coming closer, they continued to walk as the ground rose slightly higher and higher. As predicted, once night started to fall, they made into a wide clearing and where Tif excitedly babbled out that the entrance to the goblin caves was.
The darkness of the oncoming night made it harder to see but when Tif pointed out the crack in the stone of the mountain, it was obvious.
With a shrug, he followed Tif through it.
— —
It didn't take long for the cave to become wider, although it was still low enough that Rys had to duck when he walked to avoid hitting his head on the ceiling. Behind him, Hadyn was trailing after them, seeming to be completely fearless at the fact that they had essentially left the forest (technically they were still in it, but they weren't far from the edge of it) and Tif was walking in front of him.
From time to time, a low torch would light up the dark tunnel and Rys could see ahead.
After gradually walking lower and lower as the ground turned and changed, several meters since the entrance to the tunnel, Rys could see a light at the end of it. He let a small smile grace his face as he picked up speed in response to Tif hurrying ahead. As they neared the exit to the light, Rys stopped and put his good hand on the cave wall as he slowly walked closer. If it was a trap, though he didn't think it was, he didn't want to run right into it. At the very end of the tunnel, Rys stopped again and looked out at the world that unfolded before him.
It was staggering.
He looked out as he took a step into the faint light from torches and looked down from the platform they stood on. The cave was wide and down the walls followed stairs and bridges connected to one another that formed a complicated web that went lower and lower. He couldn't see the bottom of it. When he looked up, he could see more bridges and stairs rising with the walls and from the ceiling he could faintly make out hanging lights. Despite the fact that it was nothing like Light Valley, Rys thought it was one of the most breathtaking sights that he had ever seen.
Goblins were everywhere. By the walls, crossing bridges, they were everywhere. Somehow, he had imagined that there wasn't many goblins left but as he looked at the grey goblins, he could easily see thousands of them, all within a cave that really should have a more grand name.
"This is where you're from?" he asked Tif in a slightly breathless voice. Perhaps the sight wouldn't mean much to someone that had seen more of the world than him, but to Rys, it was the first time he saw anything like it.
Tif only nodded in response as she walked off the platform to a hanging bridge, walking with sure steps that said she had done it a hundred times before. Rys got the slight urge to laugh hysterically as he thought about Hadyn actually walking on it. He couldn't imagine it and although he tried to deny it, the thought that Hadyn would be to heavy and a bridge would break under his weight and he'd fall to his death was worrying.
Rys turned around to look at Hadyn that was standing behind him, curiosity shining in his demonic eyes and said, "You don't have to follow us anymore. I'm sure you have other things that you want to do."
The giant wolf let out a growl in response and Rys wondered for a moment if he'd said something he shouldn't have, if Hadyn was finally going to kill him. But after a moment, the wolf let out what sounded almost like a huff, stared at the hanging bridges and rolled its red eyes at it turned around and re-entered the tunnel. Rys breathed a sigh of relief, the very of being killed almost having paralyzed him before he turned back to the bridge Tif had almost entirely crossed and hurried after her.
"Ah, I'm sorry for having you wait on me." he said in apology to her as he finally crossed the bridge as well.
She only nodded in response and started walking again.
It didn't take long for Rys to be completely lost. The web of bridges and stairs were practically a maze that they navigated, going both up and down in equal turns and no matter how much he concentrated, he couldn't find a pattern to it. As they passed them, the goblins stopped and stared and while they nodded to Tif and greeted her, when they saw Rys all they did was stare at him with their big eyes wide enough to take up half their faces. Some of the goblins were tall enough to pass his waist but most were up to around his knees. Thankfully, this didn't seem to affect the size of the bridges, most likely because of the sheer number of goblins that used them.
Eventually they stopped in front of a tunnel in the mountain, several ways down then then they had entered through. Tif turned around and stared up at him with her big eyes serious as she stated, "This is the entrance to the Hall of the Elders. Be sure to be polite when you speak to them, they hold grudges like nothing else. If they don't like you, they might even put a bounty on your head.”
Rys swallowed and nodded in acceptance. He'd come this far, farther then he'd ever been before, and he wasn't going to stop now.
They entered the tunnel, the ceiling being significantly higher so he didn't need to bend his head and torches were close enough on the wall to each other that the light filled the entire tunnel. From top to bottom the walls were decorated with cravings and sketches of things that had long since passed, telling a story long lost. If he'd had the time, he would have stopped to stare at it for hours as the fascinating images past them by. Intercepted with it were words, written in a language he couldn't understand, but similar enough to the Old Runes that he thought he could decipher it if given enough time.
For the first time since he had been cast out by his own people, his eyes were alive as he fought to take in everything around him and memorize it. He could be kind and polite to the Goblin Elders just for the chance to study this.
He'd never seen anything like it before.
Tif stopped in front of a pair of double doors at the end of the tunnel, after they had already past two other much more simple doors. The doors were unnecessarily big considering the size of the average goblin but Rys wasn't going to complain. Instead he stood silently in front of them and waited for Tif to speak the goblin standing at attention next to the doors. This goblin was the largest he had seen thus far, coming up above his waist and it was dressed in heavy dark armor with a battle ax in its hand. Its horns were larger then Tifs, apparently signifying that this goblin was of the female gender and Rys had the urge to shiver in fear when its eyes glared a hole in his head in response to something Tif had apparently said.
He had the insane urge to run and hide from the battle hardened goblin that continued glaring at him even as she started to push the doors open.
When the doors were fully opened, Tif gave a smile to the scary goblin guarding the doors and resumed walking. Rys shook off his unease and trailed after her with his head held high as he crossed the threshold and entered a room with an entirely different atmosphere.
A tingle passed through him, presumably in response to some sort of magic in the room and as he looked out at the stone table in the middle of the candlelit room, what he found was eleven stone chairs surrounding an oval shaped table, where the oldest goblins he had ever seen were sitting and staring at him with indecipherable expressions on their faces.
Rys gulped and let out a nervous sounding hello in a shaky voice.
Somehow, this group of goblins were scarier then even an angry Hadyn.
The goblin closest to him, with horns that twisted and curved and formed some sort of bone crown around the goblins head, frowned at him and gave a look that simultaneously told him to shut up and questioned his intelligence. It reminded him so strongly of Tif that for a second he had to look down to make sure she was still standing next to him.
He clamped his mouth shut and gave a small bow instead, hoping he hadn't made too bad of a first impression. He saw a brief flash of approval in the same goblins eyes before it was hidden and an expressionless face once again stared back at him. A voice clearing and a small cough made him turn his eyes away from the goblin closest to him and instead look at the once farthest from him. This one was presumably male, as it didn't have any horns and its eyes looked at him with obvious disapproval.
More over, it was old.
What little hair it had was stark white, with a white beard flowing down from its face, at least half a meter long. Its face was wrinkled enough that just making out its eyes were difficult as they were narrowed in that way that signified bad vision, but he wore no glasses. Even from this distance, he could make out that the fancy blue clothes he wore were made of silk and they were littered with golden tribal markings, probably somehow significant to the goblins culture. While Rys didn't know what standing this goblin had amongst its people, Tif straightening up and standing shock still let him know he was important enough that he probably shouldn't do anything to potentially offend him.
He had a feeling this was the goblin that would put a bounty on his head if it didn't like him.
"Now that we're all present, why don't you deliver your report, Apprentice Tif?" a low gravely voice came from the same goblin.
Tif took a step forwards, as she cleared her voice and stopped walking. "Of course, Elder Jinya." she proceeded to recount everything that had happened in the Forest of Dorlan as Rys tuned her out, already knowing all of it.
Once she was finished, she stopped speaking and just stared at the group of elders collected by the table, all of them wearing thoughtful expressions.
A third goblin, that sat to the left of the old male goblin at the edge of the table, hummed thoughtfully and said, "Your name is Rys, correct?" Rys nodded in response to the question that was stated rather than asked.
"You promised the Forest that you would be back within a year and that it could use whatever means necessary to drag you back if you aren't. This is a problem. Not only is the forest completely self-aware, it has an excellent memory and the magical powers to get you back in an instant. I imagine the only reason you were able to get out in the first place was due to this promise." the goblin explained musingly.
Rys only nodded again to show he understood. He was very much aware that he would need to go back to the forest within a year, but he had never said anything about staying once he was back. He had a world to see and he intended to do so. Over a very long time, because time was something he had very much of and he wasn't fond of adventures. Regardless, there was things he had only ever read about that he wanted to see now that he had the chance too. Seeing the goblin caves had only cemented the thought that there was more to the world than he knew.
Another goblin spoke up. "Nonetheless, it is the problem of the fortress we are here to discuss, Argus. Don't forget your priorities."
"Yes, yes." the goblin said, an expression on his face indicating that this was a reoccurring conversation.
"So," another goblin, this one at the middle of the table and dressed in elaborate blue robes, began. "there is definite magical presences at the old Fortress?"
Tif nodded. "Yes, Rys said he could feel multiple ones. He says the only way to get rid of them would be to hire an master magician."
"Hmm," the goblin closest to them that Tif resembled commented. "so should we pool our resources and hire one or should we wait for someone else to take action, is the question. We cannot have been the only one to notice and if I know anything about the outside world, I believe a quest shall be issued to banish this dark presence soon enough. Can we afford to leave it to them? Further the more, does the presences even need to be banished in the first place?"
"What?! Or course they need to be, they are the darkest things I've felt in decades!" the male goblin furthest away shouted objection.
The goblin he was starting to suspect was related to Tif spoke up in response. "Yes, it is a dark thing indeed, but does anyone ever go there? Have it done anything even remotely malicious? Both Tif and Rys entered the castle and even slept there and have come to no harm. As I see it, if we leave it alone, I believe it will do us the same courtesy. But if magicians start poking around there, who knows how it will react. Not to mention that Rys stated this was the most powerful magic he had ever sensed, who is to say any magician they cough up will even be strong enough to banish them. No, I believe it would be in out best interest to leave it alone."
Some of the goblins were starting to nod along. "Further the more," she continued. "I can feel it even this far down in the mountain, it is a fearsome thing indeed. Pissing it off would only lead to our doom, something we have strived to avoid for centuries. We should think about this rationally and come up with a solution that won't endanger out race." her voice was raspy at the end and when she stopped speaking, she leaned back against the back of her chair, as if it had taken a huge amount of energy to speak.
The other goblins that had nodded along spoke up and before he knew it, an entire debate about what was to be done started up and Rys stopped following it when he no longer understood the language they spoke.
— —
The meeting dragged on for hours.
Rys was worried enough about offending them that he didn't ask to leave, and instead waited until they finished to be dismissed. Tif stayed beside him next to the wall that he had started leaning against when his legs had gotten tired of just standing. After a while, the pain in his arm had started to get his attention more then the goblins around the table, as it pounded in his head and could no longer be ignored.
It was Tif that noticed first. "Are you alright, Rys? Do you need to go to the infirmary?"
He contemplated about saying no, but with the way it hurt and the fact that he had absolutely no healing knowledge besides how to keep it from getting infected, he thought better of it. "Ah, I think that would be best."
"Ehm," Tif took a step forwards and caught the attention of goblins closest to them. "Rys' wounds needs looking after, so we'll be going to the infirmary now."
They looked stunned for a moment before the one closest to them that had previously spoken let out a sigh and nodded in confirmation. "Ah, of course. You have told us what we wanted to know, you're free to leave."
Tif smiled and Rys bowed in thanks as the left the room with the old goblins behind. A guard in the room opened the door for them again and when they stepped out, the same goblin that had guarded it when they entered several hours earlier was still there. Again, the goblin glared at Rys the entire time he was within its line of sight and Rys shivered in fear again. Goblins really were scary creatures.
They exited the tunnel the same way they came and started making their way up along the walls. They crossed bridges and walked up and down stairs in a pattern that only Tif could see as they made their way to another tunnel several meters above where the meeting room was. Once they found it, they entered it and it turned out to be a much shorter entrance, only about a meter long before it was blocked by a door. Tif pushed the door open and Rys had to bend his head in order to cross under it.
Behind the door was an open space that was obviously an infirmary, with the many beds that stood in row upon row. Between them hang sheets that could be moved to make it more private in the event of serious and embarrassing injuries. The beds weren't large enough for him to lay down on them so he found an unoccupied one and sat down on it.
It only took a couple of minutes before a goblin, again with the horns signifying its female gender, arrived and started asking Tif questions in the goblins language. After they were answered, she instructed him to remove his shirt and makeshift bandages so she could get a good look at the wounds.
She hummed in thought as she poked and prodded the three deep scratches in his left forearm. "Hmm, I don't see any signs of infection so it shouldn't be life threatening. Regardless, all of them will require stitches and they will undoubtedly scar.”
"That's alright." Rys said absentmindedly, his gaze fixed on a point of the wall opposite him.
The next hour was filled with pain and numbness as a needle repeatedly went through his skin in order to stitch up his wounds. The healer was very good at her job, her stitches fast and effective, all very neat. He didn't think it would be very terrible scars, not like some of what he'd seen when a non-healer had attempted to stitch someone up in emergency situations. Often, those stitches and wounds ended up infected and gruesome, a mark of failure to be born for all eternity. However, it was obvious that this healer knew what she was doing and despite the pain and the unsettling sensation of feeling a needle go into his skin, it wasn't that bad. She had used a salve to numb the area around it and although it only really took the edge of it, it did make it much more bearable.
Like she said, she stitched up all three wounds and then bound them tightly in new white bandages that she said she would redo twice a day for a few days forwards. Rys was about to argue that he could do it himself but thought better of it when he saw the way she then started to push another bed over to him. Soon after, another goblin ran in with an armful of rope.
"Ah, good work Ran, now help me tie them together." the healer ordered the much younger male goblin.
Rys watched, a little incredulous, as they pushed the other bed right up next to the foot of his and started to tie the rope around the legs of the beds, securing them together. His green eyes were full of amusement as he watched them run to and fro with the heavy rope. Once they had fastened them, the healer let out a huge sigh and said,
"This is why I didn't become a warrior. It's too much work."
"Listen," the healer continued in a strict voice. "you'll be staying here where I can keep an eye on you for the next two days, do you hear me?"
"Of course." he promised.
The healer nodded, satisfied, and left to go tend to the other patients. As she did, Tif walked forwards from where she had been leading against a wall, waiting for them to be finished.
"I need to go take care of some business, will you be alright on your own?" she asked.
Rys gave her a smile meant to reassure her of his ability to take care of himself. "I'll be fine, don't let me stop you."
Tif nodded in response and with a no-nonsense face left the infirmary. Rys was kind of sorry for whoever it was she had business with, he had the feeling it wasn't going to go however it was they wanted it to. Tif had the same face as the first time she met him and Hadyn, one of determination. He huffed slightly before he scooted down and laid down on the temporary bed that thankfully fit him now. After a while, at which point he was nearly asleep, he felt someone pull a warm blanket over him and with the thought that for the first time in weeks, he would be sleeping in a bed, he smiled softly.
He didn't dream that night.
— —
The next morning, Rys woke up feeling more refreshed then he had in weeks. Although the mattress he was sleeping on was thin and he didn't have a lot of space to maneuver on, it was far more comfortable than the cold ground he had been sleeping on for weeks.
He blinked his green eyes open and looked at the white sheet hanging not far from his bed, the only privacy that was available in the infirmary.
Rys pushed the blanket that was thankfully still covering him down and sat up carefully to avoid aggravating his injuries. He made sure he leaned back on his uninjured arm and let the one with three rows of stitches lay on his lap while he waited for his sleep to completely leave him. Some time during the night, his hair had fallen loose and pooled down on the bed behind him, the strands of hair a paler grey than his skin.
He let out a small yawn and blinked his eyes as he felt himself becoming more and more aware. He dragged his hand through his hair to push it behind his ears as it was falling in front of his eyes and was slightly annoyed that his shorter bands framing his face fell everywhere. A chuckle interrupted his inwards ranting at his hair for all the trouble it caused and when he looked back up, he saw the healer that had sewed him up standing next to him. It was abrupt enough that he couldn't quite stop himself from twitching with surprise.
"I assume you had a good sleep?" the healer asked with a smile tilting their lips.
Rys stared at her for a moment, still shocked by how easily she had sneaked up on him. "Ah, yes. It was fine."
The healer let out a low laugh, as terrifying as it was disturbing and said. "I believe Apprentice Tif will be visiting you soon, so I won't take up much of your time. You are free to leave the infirmary and explore, but I want you back here tonight to sleep again so I can keep an eye on you. The slightest twinge from the wounds and you come back here right away, understood?"
Her face was serious and she suddenly looked far more frightening then a healer had a right to be. Rys was starting to think that goblins were just a frightening race period. He nodded to her in response and her expression lighted and she smiled at him, disturbingly gentle and left to presumably go check on her other patients.
Rys let out a breath he hadn't been aware he was holding when he could no longer see her and he laid back down on the bed. He supposed he would wait for Tif if she was coming like the healer said and then go eat with her. He was hungry but he didn't know what they served in goblin infirmaries, if they served anything at all and figured it would probably be safer to just wait for Tif to arrive. While he could eat pretty much anything, he had seen the weird faces Tif had sometimes made when they ate, like it wasn't to her tastes, and the last thing he wanted was food poisoning on top of everything else.
While he waited for her, he wondered how Hadyn was doing, a little horrified to find that he actually missed the beast.