Goblin Bound: The First of Many

Chapter 10: Oppressed

A heavy unmatched aura permeated the cave like thick smoke. Human and goblin alike felt deeply uncomfortable and suppressed by the powerful aura; one reeking deeply of blood, death and madness.

“I will not ask again worm”

A threatening voice echoed once again in the small cave, spreading like ripples in a pond. The wave thrummed with dense killing intent, rousing all from their temporary stasis.

Kenny found himself involuntarily frozen, crippled with fear. The presence of the goblin before him radiated immense strength and power, far stronger than he vaguely perceived from the captain. Every fiber of his being -the ones not yet paralyzed by poison and fear- was screaming at him to escape the monstrosity before him.

His mouth trembled with promise of words but his hand on his sword clenched involuntarily, his only flicker of hope. His eyes clouded majorly by fear flickered with defiance, a strong unwillingness to simply die like mere fodder.

The huge goblin gazed coldly at the pitiful human before it, bruised and bleeding in several places. It’s heavy breathing suggested it was already poisoned, and the multiple wounds across its body only made it look even pitiful but yet its eyes…its eyes flickered with something akin to hope…no, it felt more like defiance.

The look in the human’s eyes stirred something in it but it wasn’t there just yet. The blurry emotion quickly gave way to anger moments later, causing his patience to run out. With a loud snort, his figure blurred for a moment and abruptly vanished.

Kenny’s eyes widened, he couldn’t see its movement at all. The wind beside him stirred and the goblin appeared just as its after image began to fade, the huge club in its hand already tearing through the air with destructive ferocity.

BOOM!

A figure was sent crashing into the wall, deep cracks spreading haphazardly from the point of impact. A human hung embedded into the wall, the momentum of the hit kept him momentarily stuck.

*******

Kenny only felt the wind beside him stir and in the same moment he felt a heavy weight slam into him with the force of a car, nearly knocking him out. His consciousness wavered from the impact, he could feel himself flying though the air but not much else. The impact with the wall felt like colliding into a sack of cotton but the response from his body and bones suggested otherwise.

His consciousness already on the edge, flickering like a candle in the wind, abruptly snuffed out from the impact. His eyes rolled to the back of his head, the cold darkness accompanying him with delight.

*******

The human slowly unstuck and crumbled to the ground, unmoving, blood leaking from a wound on his head and from his several older ones. Silence returned to the cave and the huge goblin shifted his eyes to the frightened smaller goblins frozen at the cave’s entrance.

“What is this worm doing here?” The goblin spoke in its tongue, the fire in its tone evident.

The archer goblin in the lead, covered deeply in sweat, slowly stepped forward. It’s eyes glaring hatefully at the human a short distance away. “Human worm kill Aie’ed and Aio’er, ” It pointed a finger at the unmoving human. “We go fetch food for captain, he attack”

“Hmmm! And who is your captain?” Cold emotionless eyes slid lower to gaze at the smaller goblin. The goblin snorted, a finger caressing the curve of its club. “So he was your catch and you failed to contain him and even let him get this far” Short step by step it inched closer, the huge club resting easily on its shoulder. Its actions in itself was simple but the mounting pressure increased with each step.

The other goblins shivered in fright, slowly inching back. The archer goblin couldn’t move even if it wanted to, the air around it felt as heavy as lead and it stood there frozen, unwillingly.

Red glowing eyes shone at the frozen goblin, gazing disdainfully at its small frame. Standing nearly seven feet tall, the four foot goblin looked pathetically small and it made no effort to hide its disdain.

The smaller goblin clenched its tiny fist feeling the huge goblin’s disdainful gaze boring through its head. It didn’t dare look up due to fear and the terrible pressure permeating the space, but intense hate was beginning to bubble in its eyes.

“Look at me cretin” Its voice echoed sharply, shocking all green-skins to their core.

The archer goblin slowly raised its head, locking eyes with the much bigger goblin. Several emotions flickered in its small yellow eyes, but it was unable to hide the bubbling hate in its eyes.

The huge goblin smirked slightly seeing the look in the smaller goblin’s eyes. Its blood seethed in excitement but it knew the goblin before it had no potential to become a worthy opponent. Its eyes shifted to the human unconscious a distance away. “That look of yours. I want to see it in his eyes” Its eyes moved back to the small goblin before it. “Dump him back to where he came. Let him have as many tries as he wants…but I want to see that look in his eyes the next time we meet.”

The archer goblin clenched its fist hard, its body trembling in rage. “Madness! He kill us more!” It yelled without concern at the huge goblin heading back to its table.

“I don’t care how many of you it takes.” It coldly responded without deigning to spare another glance. “Should he die, then I’ll simply play with you instead however boring it would be.”

Its final words sent a shiver running to the tiny goblin’s deepest core. It wasn’t unfamiliar with the fierce goblin’s reputation within the horde. If there weren’t blinded by the chase, nothing would ever have made them step anywhere near this mad goblin’s territory

“Leave”

The tone of the huge goblin brooked no argument and despite the chaotic feelings in the other green-skins present, they could only lower their heads and quietly carry the crumpled human out of the cave.

The cave returned to absolute stillness, the mob dispersing quietly with bated breaths. The huge goblin sat silently in its lonesome, its eyes shining with promise of something intriguing. A malicious smirk flashed on its face, its eyes shifting to his cave’s entrance as if already expecting the silhoutte of the human ready for battle.

*******

The ladies huddled close in their cell, their eyes - although dull - stared expectantly at the gate. Despite knowing his chance of success was abysmal at best and he was most likely dead- buried beneath the blades of a hundred goblins- they still clutched onto the illusory sense of hope. After staying in such a dark place and in such a depressing state for such a long time, any form of hope was worth holding onto.

Yiyayiya! Yiayiyia!! Yiyaiyiya!!!

A cacophony of shrieks suddenly echoed from outside the cage sending shivers of fear down their hearts. From how erratic the chatters were, one could easily guess there were a lot of goblins approaching and approaching fast.

Rya’s eye shone with coldness, a contemplative look in her eyes, but even she couldn’t have expected what happened next given all she’d seen in this dark place.

Dozens of goblins crowded around the cage entrance, yelling angrily in annoying squeal and shrieks. Their eyes burned with unsatiated lust for blood and murder but to the girls’ surprise they could only forcefully restrain themselves.

The cage’s gate was violently swung open by several angry goblins, their crimson eyes radiating malice. They hung outside the gate, shrieking madly for some reason unbeknownst to the girls.

The goblins, despite their raging madness, gave way to a small group dragging a crumpled body. Several goblins roughly dragged the body into the cage and unceremoniously and rather intentionally tossed him raggedly into the bone pile.

*Thud*

The body sailed shortly through the air and collided with a thud, the force of the impact evident but the body showed no response, laying unmoving as it crumpled to the floor.

A small goblin bleeding from its thigh glared hatefully at the crumpled human, its fist clenched in resignation. Its eyes shifted to the girls huddled in the corner and its hate burned brighter but the threat from earlier sent chills down its nerves.

Yiyayiya! Yiyaiyaya!

It let out hateful squeals, its finger pointed at the crumpled human then the shivering girls, and then back and forth as if trying to convey a message. The goblin noticed the confusion in the girls’ eyes and it couldn’t help but become frustrated.

Slowly pulling out its dagger, it pointed at the crumpled human then moved the blade to its throat mimicking a slicing motion. It then pointed at the girls and repeated the same motion. Seeing them nodding in understanding, it snorted in satisfaction. Sheating its dagger, it glared once more at the crumpled human and unwillingly limped out of the cage.

The gate slammed shut and the goblins retreated amidst loud squeals and noises, leaving the girls terribly perplexed.

*********************************

Rya’s eyes widened seeing so many goblins shrieking outside their cell and she couldn’t help but subconsciously shuffle forward to protect those behind her

The goblins she expected to stream into the cave to dish out hell unexpectedly lounged outside the cell, shrieking pointlessly. She soon sort of understood why seeing them make way for a small group roughly dragging in a body in a bloody trail. She couldn’t tell who it was at first but her eyes soon widened recognizing the man beneath the bloody visage. A short squeak of recognition echoed from her throat just as the goblins harshly threw the body against the bone pile.

She subconsciously winced from the impact, only able to imagine how painful it must have been, but her face slowly changed seeing him unresponsive even still. She nearly inched forward out of instinct but the sharp shriek of a goblin made her stop and flinch.

A small goblin stepped out of the mob, a small trail of blood following it. She could glimpse a gash in its thigh and she didn’t have to guess where it came from seeing the hate oozing from its eyes.

It glared hatefully at the man for a while before its gaze shifted to her, unwittingly making her flinch. It yelled in its own weird tongue, its finger alternating between them and the man. She vaguely understood what it was trying to imply but at the same time it could still be interpreted in a number of ways.

Visibly huffing in exasperation at their confusion, the goblin slowly pulled out a knife. Rya’s blood turned cold, her fists clenching instinctively but to her surprise the knife wasn’t meant for them.

The goblin pointed at the man and made a throat-slicing gesture, pointed at them and repeated the same thing. Unwilling to antagonize the unhinged goblin any longer, Rya nodded in mock understanding. The girls swiftly copied her, nodding along as well.

Their actions seemed to satisfy the goblin and it soon sheathed its blade. Sparing one last hateful glance at the unconscious man, the goblin limped out the cave. The mob soon followed after and silence, eerie silence, returned to the cell.

Rya let out a breath of air she didn’t know how long was stuck in her lungs. She’d expected the worst seeing so many goblins, and angry ones to note, outside their cell. Her eyes widened and she hurried toward the crumpled figure beside the pile of bones.