Goblin Bound: The First of Many

Chapter 12: Resilient II

If Kenny once thought he had felt the worst of pain he was proven wrong - very wrong - when the mob descended on him. Blows thundered from every angle and his already battered body was wrecked once more - even worse than before. Even being mauled by a bear probably wouldn’t hurt this much.

Kenny had long blacked out from the pain and he only somewhat survived due to the far from timely interference of one of the goblins - according to what the girls told him. The mob had reluctantly dispersed, leaving him a bloodied heap. A heap the girls had to tend to once more and with far greater care.

He didn’t know how long he passed out this time and didn’t want to ask - couldn’t ask. Every part of him felt like it had been flattened by a vengeful elephant. The simplest of movements sent sharp jolts of pain coursing to his brain and that jolt made him shudder and then the shudder caused even more pain and so the cycle continued till he spasmed for minutes on end till he blacked out again.

Kenny regained a semblance of consciousness when he felt the bitter taste of moss squirming into his mouth. He couldn’t move - didn’t dare to - and could only stay still, reluctantly swallowing the moss while wondering about the worm pushing it into his mouth.

Slowly but surely clarity returned to him and his thoughts turned coherent. He carefully blinked his eyes open, grateful for whatever semblance of night-vision this body granted him.

“Are…are…you…girls…okay?” He said with the little ounce of strength he could muster. Rya shuffled closer, her hands feeling gently for his face and that’s when he first had the thought she probably couldn’t see as well as he could in the dark.

“You shouldn’t speak, save your strength.” Rya said softly, tears glistening in her eyes at his suffering. He might have been male but he was no different from the captives in this cell and they felt for him just as much - perhaps even more.

“Did…did…they…hurt…you?”

“No. No they didn’t. They haven’t come back since then.” Rya said, wiping her tears as best she could.

“G…good…then.” Kenny sighed, feeling his strength leave him. He closed his eyes, mentally groping around the pain running the entire lengths of his body. It might have been his imagination but some parts were beginning to hurt less than the last time he remembered, but it was easy for his mind to play tricks on him in his current state.

“What…what was…her name…again?” He managed to say.

“What?” Rya whispered, moving her ear closer to him.

“Remind me… her… name.”

Rya blinked her eyes in confusion. “Orora?”

“Orora…yes that was…it. Thank you…I…didn’t…want to…forget.” Kenny said, feeling the strain of such simple words.

The other girls shuffled closer seeing him stir, they probably thought him cold as they moved as close as they could without hurting him. Grateful for the warmth, he mumbled his thanks - at least thought he did- before he felt his consciousness fade.

He awoke to a much less aching body, this time he couldn’t dispel it as mere illusion. Moving his fingers didn’t feel as strenuous and he felt he would probably be able to sit given a short time and it wouldn’t be much longer before he could stand again.

Unable to tell how much time had passed, it was hard to judge if this was simply incredible regeneration or he’d been asleep for far longer than he thought. Regardless of which it was, the dulling pain was much welcome.

Lightly stretching his fingers and toes, he maintained his consciousness somewhat but it still threatened to slip him. It seemed this body of his much preferred to sleep when recuperating, a sleep unbothered by time or the danger that could spring up at any moment.

One of the girls moved closer to his head, her face in the opposite direction as his. She studied him with a curious gaze, seemingly trying to see more of his face in the dark.

“You should sleep, I heard your kind heal better when they sleep.” The girl said. She had unusual yellow eyes that reminded him of a dim flame and her hair resembled the fading light of dusk.

He was quite distracted by her features when he finally registered what she said. “My kind?”

“Hmm mmm” The girl hummed in response, as if not understanding his words were infact a question. She retreated a bit to give him space and the dreadful sleep he was evading had managed to creep up on him again and so for the umpteenth time Kenny fell into a deep sleep.

His eyes sprung open as if he had just closed them for a bit, but his body told him time had passed indeed. Flexing his fingers and feeling no pain, he strained to raise himself and the little resistance edged him on. Relying on his arms, he raised himself to sit and laid his back on the wall.

Sighing in relief and contentment, he gingerly flexed his legs and received only a minor sting in return. Putting strength into his legs and arms on the floor, he slowly raised himself up. Crouching as first but his body quickly adapted as his back straightened - his entire body giving off popping sounds - and with that he let out a deep exhale of relief. It had felt like he would never be able to move again at some point.

Glancing around he saw all the girls were fast asleep, resting so close together it would be impossible for one of them to disappear without stirring another - no doubt an instinct they’d learned here.

He looked toward the cell’s gate and saw no sign of goblins, much to his relief. Carefully lowering himself, he rested against the wall with heavy breaths. He could stand now but it wasn’t effortless, his legs still strained to carry his weight.

Whatever pain left must have been minor for he didn’t feel that crippling need to sleep, though he felt tired. He laid his head against the wall and let his mind wander. How did he get here? And how was he supposed to get out? Was there even a getting out?

He had answers to none of these questions and the decaying smell from the mound of bones was like a constant blow to whatever drive he tried to muster. Recalling his earlier attempt instilled even less confidence, that dreadfully powerful goblin was something he wouldn’t be able to face anytime soon - if ever. It’s choking pressure had nearly made him drop his sword and run, it was like staring a wild bloodthirsty beast in the face.

His thoughts shifted to why they left him alive. He didn’t want to think of it too much, most of his conclusions led to him being food and that was far from comforting. Recalling the earlier beating, he wondered if it was for revenge or they wanted to beat their food to tender softness.

He stayed that way - lost in thought - for what he felt was several hours before he felt the first of the girls awaken and like a domino effect, the rest soon followed along. Rya was pleasantly surprised to find him sitting, the relief evident on her face.

“I was honestly beginning to worry if you’d make it, it feels like weeks ago now when they stormed in here.’ Rya said, inching closer to check his temperature.

“Guess I’m tougher than I look.” Kenny chuckled, more in mockery than pride.

“Not tough enough.” A girl scoffed and it struck him how awfully familiar the voice was. He turned his eyes in search but even his heightened senses did nothing to help him point her out.

“How do you feel?” Rya asked.

“Alive. Obviously not fine, but alive is good enough.”

“Hmm alive is…good enough.” Rya said, her voice echoing of deep sadness.

Kenny mentally slapped himself for being so thick-headed and insensitive but he could hardly think of words to ease her situation. He didn’t have to, something else worsened it.

Yiyayiya! Yiyaiyaya!

The words sounded like intelligible screeches to him, but then again any language would probably sound like that when scores were trying to talk all at once. He couldn’t make out anything coherent but judging from the now fading sound he could tell they weren’t coming here.

“It’s fine, they aren’t coming…” Kenny paused his words, his face turning ugly. Beneath the fading rumble of their screeches, he could pick out a lone pair of footsteps heading closer and he had little doubt it wasn’t coming here. “Dammit!”

The steps drew closer and he could do nothing but stare at the cell gates, as if staring hard enough would make it go away. It did nothing, the steps sounded deafening to him, like the deep soft call of a siren. Fear bloomed in his heart, fear of the pain he could sense would descend upon him soon.

He retreated deeper into the shadows just as a goblin appeared outside the cell, peeking intently in search. It grumbled in what felt like annoyance as it yanked the gate open and strode in without care, treating the inhabitants as mere cattle stripped of their horns, strength, and will.

It clutched tightly the stone dagger in its hand, now advancing closer toward where the human male should have been but Kenny had used the bone mound as cover to elude its sight till he was now behind it. The girls had shuffled away to a corner of the wall, their expressions frozen in fright.

The goblin snarled as it searched near the wall for the body but saw nothing. It turned its dark gaze toward the girls huddling in the corner and a small grin spread on its ugly face. Brandishing its dagger, it inched closer with malice. It didn’t sense only faintly heard the air swish as Kenny pounced on it from behind.

Kenny tackled the small goblin that was no taller than an average ten year old child to the floor. It let out a small yelp as its face grazed the hard ground but that was all the sound it ever made - its last.

Kenny whipped it around and locked its throat in a tight grip. They locked eyes for a moment and all he could see in its dark eyes was fear and malice. He didn’t hesitate like he once did and decisively put all his weight on his arms. The goblin’s yell died in its throat as its neck snapped like a twig, its dark eyes turning glassy.

Kenny stared hard at the dead goblin beneath him, his breaths deep and heavy. His hand trembled as he released his hold on its throat, more from awe at his resolve than the weight of taking its life.

He locked eyes with the girls before him, but what he saw made him feel cold inside. The girls stared at him in horror and apprehension, like he had not just killed something profane but divine.

“You kill! Human kill!!!”

Kenny whipped his head around fast, locking eyes with a goblin screaming in rage outside the cell. “Dammit!’