Chapter 19

William’s sigh was deep and heavy. The sky looked as if it had been painted as black as tar, limiting his vision. A torrential downpour had inexplicably started the second he left the min. He was now soaked. His clothes had been thoroughly soaked and were now weighted down to his skin. To make matters even worse a cold front had moved in, leaving William hunched over, now clasping his hands together in a vain attempt for warmth.

"This is terrible," he huffed out, almost silently.

William heard some rustling behind him as something approached him. Beads of sweat formed quickly on the back of his neck as he thought of what may have been coming for him. His body shook, but he was unsure if it was from the cold or from remembering what had been following him. He quickly attempted to compose himself and straightened out his posture.

"Father?" asked a multitude of voices in unison. Their voices rang through his ears in what was almost a harmonious melody. He could not help but let out a chuckle at the sight of such monstrous beings with voices like that. If its form could be hidden, the beast would easily pass off as a choir for the church. William had learned from the goblin named Dimwit that the Shiny God had suggested that William's… child learned to sing to compliment his own acting skills.

"If only the Shiny God’s subordinates could have stayed as small and pure goblins." William whispered to himself. William brought his hand to his face and began laughing. Months ago he would never have thought a world could have existed in which he'd prefer goblins to any other creatures.

"Father, we have arrived." Spoke the voice once again however this time it had felt much closer to William.

"Ah. Y-yes good job." Said William as he attempted to hide his chattering teeth. He paused for a moment and peeked back over his shoulder. Even though the jet-black darkness and rain clouded his vision he could still feel the countless eyes that were looking back at him.

William’s body seized and as quickly as he could he turned away from the creature once again, not wanting to meet its eyes.

"When the Shiny God said he wanted us to spend time together, this is not what I thought he meant." said William while he folded his arms in front of him.

"Yes, is it not wonderful, Father? We will spill the blood of these inferior creatures for the Shiny One together."

William felt his anger boiling beneath his skin, "You do know I'm one of those inferior creatures you’re speaking of?" he asked, and he regretted it immediately. He never loses his composure like that. William was always a coward, but he had lost what little confidence he had left after meeting the Shiny God.

"You are different father, you have been chosen by the Shiny One!" Shouted the many voices behind him. William was surprised at the anger in their voices. It was almost as if the mass of flesh behind him cared about him. William quickly shook off the feeling, even if that were the case, he would never let himself be their father.

William brought his thumb to his lip and began to chew at his nail.

He once again turned his head backwards catching a glance at the goblin warsphere behind him.

"Yes, I may be chosen but I am still an inferior human aren't I?" William asked with a smug smile.

He wasn't sure why he felt a need to prod at them, but he felt some relief in doing so. William managed to make out a few of the faces of the creature in the darkness. His eyes had most likely adjusted to the darkness. The monster's faces seemed to have grown sullen at his statement.

The warsphere’s expressions along its many faces suddenly changed and became serious. Its many eyes looked up and stared at William making him feel his anxiety increase even further.

"Don't worry Father, I'm sure this is just another one of God's tests. The Shiny One will grant you a new glorious form soon. I’m sure of it!”

Tears ran down William’s eyes as he paused in fear. He quickly turned his head away from the mass of flesh once again realizing he can't show weakness in front of it.

"Please, anything but that." William whispered as tears mixed with the rain and streamed down his face.

"Father is so happy to serve the shiny one that he cried..." William heard the monster say in utter awe.

Many arms began to surround William and he tried to pull away. The warsphere was too quick and managed to subdue him easily. William flailed in a vain attempt to escape, but the monster's grasp only tightened.

'Did I do something wrong? Am I finally going to die?' William wondered to himself.

Seconds that soon turned into minutes passed, but the creature appeared to only wish to hold him in place.

"Just what are we doing?" asked William, not bothering to attempt to hide any sense of fear in his voice.

"We are hugging Father." said the warsphere.

"Right, of course we are." said William with a nervous chuckle.

William chewed on his lip as he tried to figure out how to end this hug. He was doing his best to keep calm, but he was unsure of how much time had passed while he was being embraced by this terrifying ball of flesh. His thoughts were soon interrupted by the faint sound of wings flapping nearby. As the sound grew closer William felt some relief that this “hug” would soon be ending. The beating of the wings grew closer and suddenly ended, as quickly as they came. To Williams' surprise a large crash happened nearby and it had sounded like someone dropped a boulder from the sky.

"Enemy siege equipment? Do they have a catapult?" shouted William.

"Sorry, Harold fell. Harold is not so good with landing." said the man that approached them from the darkness as he flexed his wings.

"Hello Harold." said the warsphere. Harold returned its greeting with a nod.

"Yes hello Harold. I'm assuming you're done with your scouting report?" asked William as he squirmed in his child's grasp.

Harold paused as if deep in thought while staring at William.

After a few moments passed William asked once again. "Harold?"

“What are you guys doing?" asked Harold abruptly.

"What?" asked William in surprise.

"What are you doing?" asked Harold again.

"This is the human custom of hugging. We have been informed this would make Father happy by Miss Clara." Answered the warsphere.

"Clara said to do this?" William attempted to ask.

Harold nodded and ran up to William.

"What are you doing?" asked William as Harold wrapped his arms around them as best as he could.

"Hugging." Said Harold as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Might have been better to die." said William in unconstrained agony.

It was not too long after that William felt a surge of relief as he sat on a nearby stump. Joy filled his heart now that the embrace that seemed that it would never end was finally over.

"So Harold, give me your report." Said William. Harold looked at William with confusion.

William sighed. "You were supposed to scout out the enemy forces." William allowed his frustration to show once more, losing his composure.

"Oh! Harold did that!" Harold near uncontrollably gesticulated to himself in excitement. The warsphere started to clap at the scene, only serving to grow Harold’s enthusiasm.

"So how many were there? What kind of equipment do they have?" asked William with an agitated tone, tapping a finger on his knee in unrest. Harold's expression grew serious as he began counting on his fingers. William began tapping his foot on the ground as both his annoyance and impatience grew in equal measure.

Harold smiled and raised a single finger into the air in front of him.

"Just one?" asked William with a puzzled look.

"Only one was strong." said Harold in triumph, his grin near consuming the rest of his facial features.

"But how many were there in total?" asked William again in confusion.

"Only one was strong. Rest were weak like William." said Harold while pouting.

The warsphere looked over at its father who was burying his face in his hands. All of its faces turned crimson with rage. "Father is not weak."

Harold shrugged at the suggestion. "Harold is not good with counting. Can't waste numbers on weaklings." said Harold as he picked his nose with a claw.

"Harold!” William shouted, before quickly calming himself. "Sorry,” he sighed, “Look, we need to know how many enemies there are all together, even the weak ones, before we engage them." explained William, as calmly as he could.

"Oh! Master Alvin is good with counting. Once we rescue him, he can count for Harold." He said while flicking a booger onto the ground.

"Shall we try to scout them Father?" asked the warsphere.

"No, it's too risky. We are going to need to rely on a hit and run strategy until we get a better idea of their numbers. Luckily the darkness and rain should help us." Said William.

"Thats dumb. Harold can just smash them." Harold lifted his mace, accentuating his claim.

"Father is correct. We need to maximize terror to teach these heathens a lesson." said the warsphere.

William stroked his beard as he thought for a few moments while Harold and the warsphere argued. "No, that should work fine.” William started to map out his plan, “Harold, you can distract the strong one. If you attack from the air in this darkness confusion will set in quickly. They may even accidently attack each other."

"See! Harold is right." Said Harold as he stuck his tongue out at the warsphere.

The warsphere ignored the dragon man and pointed towards the trees with its many hands. "We shall ambush them from the above as well, and work to create chaos amongst their ranks."

"Alright sounds good. Remember, we just need to keep them occupied long enough for Sluggo to return with our forces. Don't go dying." said William.

The warsphere and Harold both nodded at William. Harold quickly but awkwardly took flight as he quickly disappeared into the rain filled night sky.

"Be careful as well father." said the warsphere before it moved towards the nearby forest. It quickly climbed up a tree and disappeared from William’s sight.

"Great. Now what the hell am I supposed to do. What can I even do against enemy forces? Why did the dungeon core ask me to fight them?" William asked himself before sighing. "Apparently the Shiny God had the brilliant idea of sendIng us out to delay the enemy forces." William said before a grin stretched across his face. "Well maybe I could get them to rescue me."