Chapter 13: Rescue(Conclusion)

Among the consuming darkness, far from the raging fire that never dared approach the east, walked several malnourished and injured goblins who smelled of sweat, urine, and feces. After being freed, they were led towards a cave in the far distance, different from the one Scitus had found days earlier.

Robin and Teal stood at the forefront of this carven of ex-slaves and on their mighty shoulders, they held an old man with broken ribs and a goblin with a repugnant odor that marked him as one of the corrupted. Although there was no desire to save him, at the behest of his lovely lover who tearfully begged Robin to save him, no one could say a word when robin lifted him on his back.

Alongside the weakened goblins were the human women who had also been freed that night. They stood at the back of the carven as a few of the stronger goblins aided them up the sudden hills and dips. The women despised it but could not resist their strong arms from lifting them back up again. Beside the women were three goblins, the ones that had freed them, they spoke in incomprehensible utterances and motions that although frightening, the women felt was a reassurance of some kind.

With a grunt and flick of his head, Robin asks Teal to check on the humans who he feared may attempt to run and put themselves in further danger. He knew the humans were wary of their new-found freedom, for all they knew they were simply changing owners.

Teal approached a particularly tall woman who wore a fierce expression. Unlike the women behind her, she appeared to be composed and had been voted as the representative for her fellow humans. She eyed the goblin, forcing a mean glare despite the pain she felt every time she took a step.

Teal looked at her grimy dark brown that reached just below her shoulders and then to her deathly white skin that appeared as fragile as paper. He though her beautiful despite having a complexion many humans would pity. She wore cracked lips and several small scars that decorated her once beautiful face, but even so, teal thought her beautiful.

Although the reason was unknown, all intelligent beings with few exceptions, thought humanlike species as beautiful. The beast kin, the elves, the merkin, the humans, were such examples. For the mortal species, beauty was seen as a divine gift to be admired, but for monsters, it was a poison coated in honey.

"can any of yous stand?" The woman asks the three women who had to be carried by goblins who were in the same situation as them. Although she was hopeful, just by looking at their poor states she knew that escape was impossible. She turns back to glare at Teal who was examining her from top to bottom. His eyes made her uncomfortable but suddenly, his eyes glared back at her as if to accuse her of some great sin. The glare stung far more than she thought it would, perhaps it was the fact that he held a have dead goblin on his shoulder or the fact that was ungrateful of her rescue, or perhaps what made it sting the most was what happened next.

Teal turned to the injured women and then back to the tall women. He tightened his fists before calling over Bison, who held the duffle bag. He reached inside and retrieved the fruits they brought with them and then some that had been stolen from the corrupted goblins. He handed much of it to the humans before grunting and turning back to the front of the caravan.

The tall women greedily ate the fruit she was given, never once wondering if it was poisoned. When she had finished, her stomach begged for more but than great guilt hit her. She looked to the goblins walking in front of her, they too were hungry. Some with similarly skeletal bodies and yet they persevered without complaint. "why?" she asked herself. It defined common sense, why were the goblins prioritizing their wellbeing above their own. She turned to the goblin who walked beside her. It was Arisa, who tried to wear a happy expression and occasionally lifted women back up when they fell. The tall woman couldn't comprehend what was happening.

After what felt like an endless journey, their destination presented itself in the form of a cave. Once inside the goblins realized that it was not very deep, only enough room for all of them to rest comfortably at the back of the cave. Although small, it was leagues above their previous residence. Robin placed the corrupted goblin several feet from the mouth of the cave. The mouth of the cave was small which then slowly spread out into a larger system. The humans felt uncomfortable for they were tired of darkness, while the goblins felt more at ease with their dark vision which some had already obtained.

As the mass of goblins huddled at the end of the cave, a young goblin whimpered as she watched over her lover.S when he cried as she screamed to herself why he had to leave her when they were so close to freedom. She reached out for his limp hand as she begged for the world to bring him back to her. She had lost everything, her mother, her father, and even her tribe. When she had nothing left, he appeared and helped her see the moon again after so many days locked inside that tent. He greedily wormed his way into her heart and now he was gone, shattering what was left of her heart into pieces.

Suddenly she fell quite as her eyes shifted to something in the corner of her eyes. The sudden silence worried the goblins but before they could react a sudden figure emerged from the mouth of the cave proclaiming, "I have returned." The goblins suddenly felt their blood run cold but the mourning lover didn't notice, her thoughts were preoccupied with the sharp stone beside her. She greedily snatches it off the ground, startling the goblins, teal and Robin are about to interfere but they were too far, the stone blade traveled quickly aiming her own stomach but the pain never arrives. Something had stopped her. She opened her tearful eyes and saw the figure of a young human man. startled. she goblin tumbled backwards, releasing the stone blade.

In a soft voice, in a foreign language, he whispered, "don't be so hasty Juliet." Her body shook from fright as Scitus tossed the stone blade behind him revealing a trail of blood that started from his palms and leaked down to his wrist before creating a low eerie drip that resonated within the hearts of everyone present.

All the goblins present couldn't speak, their limbs wouldn't move. They didn't know if it was from his sudden speech in the goblin tongue or if it was the sudden speed that had allowed him to travel thirty feet in an instant to stop the mourning goblins blade. It was an inhuman feat never before seen even by his fellow subjects and yet they knew he did not hide this ability from them. He himself hadn't realized what he had just done.

Even more startled were the human women closet to the entrance of the cave. The human had brushed past them speaking the goblin tongue not even acknowledging their existence and then suddenly in an instant he disappeared and reappeared in front of the mourning goblin. Only the tall women heard his whispered words and although clearly foreign she felt a sense of similarity. It was as if she understood what he said and then as if she had gone mad, she didn't.

"hastey?" the tall woman muttered to herself as she looked at the young man's seemingly impossibly large back. She felt genuine fear for the first time, she felt that he could kill all of them with a flick of his finger without so much as batting an eye. Even though he was human, even though she should have found some comfort in that fact, she couldn't shake that lingering fear. He then spoke those odd words again.

"if you want to kill yourself do it when I'm not in front of you." His words were solemn with a tinge of compassion. Scitus lowered himself to check the goblins pulse, the lover suddenly charged but was quickly restrained by Teal who had run over to save the goblin from herself. "Trust god." He muttered as Robin brushed past them holding the old goblin on his shoulder. He laid him down next to the corrupted goblin. Scitus checked the other goblins pulse, his eyes widened for a moment before returning to its ordinary glare.

He stood up and walked to the still trembling goblin and placed both hands on her shoulders, “alive. We save.” He reassured her. Hearing this, she fell to her knees weeping all the while, even if it came from a human she wanted to believe his words and she did.

"both of them are alive, miraculously. Perhaps Monsters are more resilient than other species. " Scitus thought to himself as he eyed the two goblins who should have been long dead from their heavy injuries. Although alive, Scitus knew they would not live long in their state, he first needed to provide them with herbal medicine to prolong their life. He knew that without an actual doctor, they would die even with the medicine; though, as he had already learned, he didn't need to cure them, he only needed them to stay alive long enough for his healing abilities to take effect. Unfortunately, his superior healing only applied in his territory.

Scitus looked to his subjects, ever since he left his territory he felt himself growing weaker as if he was becoming mortal again. His territory had become like an organ to him that he only noticed it gone when he lost it but somehow Scitus felt relief in his diminishing power.

He turns to the tall women and points outside of the cave. Her height was incredible and Scitus estimated that she stood at six feet, he himself was only five foot six. The other women were two inches shorter than he was, further accentuating her stature. The woman turns and sees a familiar figure. A woman clad in armor and behind her several men. She was elated to see them, wondering if her allies had even bothered to send a rescue party knowing that their numbers were thin lately.

Scitus found them with his divine sight searching the area. Scitus approached them, they had glared at him suspiciously but with some time he somehow managed to explain where the women were, which he assumed they were looking for. Their language was a mixture of several languages that he was familiar with and some that he wasn't, and so he came off as mentally deficient to the party. This worked in his favor as the group dropped their guard and followed him.

The leader returned a bright at the tall women but it quickly turned grim when she noticed the many goblins present.

The men in her group quickly armed a stance as did the assassin knights in the back. Teal and Robin quickly laid the injured back down and lowered their stance. The men in front of them were disheveled and already injured from some other force. Ordinarily, they would be incapable of even touching those men but in their weakened states, they stood a firm chance at victory.

Scitus took this into account when bringing them but he also had hostages in the form of the weakened women before him.

The two men ran forward past the women and towards the goblins with their mighty blades and quickly met resistance in the form of Robin and Teal. The two blades were quickly redirected as Arisa and Bison threw their daggers at the two men. The men saw this coming however, one ducked while the other used his gauntlet to block the attack. Nell and Yuki took that moment to use their daggers to attack their exposed necks. The two goblins, like agile monkeys, clung to the two men's backs and held the blade close to their neck.

Scitus turned to look at the other goblins, they were in awe. Never once had they thought competing with humans in a fight was possible, but here before them were six fellow goblins capable of standing up against them and towards those monstrous humans that live in the Oasis no less.

The leader was about to send the rest of her men when suddenly a firm shout stopped her. "STOP!!!!!" Scitus shouted as he forced the giantess to her knees. In his right hand, a blade made of flint was to her throat. The leader's face contorted with rage before calmly returning to normal.

She hadn’t expected the goblins to put so much resistance, although they were injured from the wyvern, she didn’t expect any of her men capable of losing to goblins. But those goblins were abnormal, they were silent and calm, with calculated attacks and near perfect coordination, the kind of coordination only those who worship a god have.

Her eyes widen and turn to the human. Her friend was being firmly held by her hair as a stone blade was firmly placed against her neck. Ordinarily, she could easily resist the attack and kill the man that dared threaten her but after fighting the wyvern, she was weakened, and after being captured by the goblins she had weakened even further.

"These are my subjects. Go away." He points to the captured women and with a flick of his finger, he instructs them to move to the soldier's side. The women fumbled towards the soldiers who quickly hid them behind their armor.

All but one women entered the protection of the soldiers. The leader pointed to the giantess, her eyes filled with agitation and anger. Scitus smiled and answered, "NO…" The women turned to her allies than to her friend and finally to the goblins. In their state, protecting the women and fighting the goblin wouldn't be easy but she couldn't abandon her friend.

"GO!!!" the giantess screamed as tears fell down her cheeks. She was mentally exhausted and just as her freedom was dangled in front of her, it was taken away. She wanted to scream an shout but couldn't allow her friend to make a mistake due to her selfishness.

Her face was red hot as anger still overwhelmed her fear and misery. The leader tightened her fist, holding her own tears in and nodded. Yuki and Nell release their captives allowing them to return to there allies. The leader raised her head high and pointed towards Scitus. She spoke incomprehensible words that when Scitus thought about them, he figured she meant she would come to kill him one day.

The small group of soldiers slowly back away from the cave with the women. At the front was the leader, "What about Kaya?" one soldier asked. The leader tightens her fists as he looked to the soldier and then to the women"those goblins are too strong for us to fight without casualties, if that man is smart, he'll keep her alive long enough for us to rescue her another time when we recover from our wounds." She said trying to believe her own words.

"but the elders…" before he could finish his sentence, the leader's face contorted with a sharp rage that forced the soldier to swallow his words. "even they can't overlook those goblins," she growled. Ordinarily, goblins were of the weakest class, their power came from their numbers, often ranging from thirty to a hundred. Though in severe cases, it could be thousands. The oasis had such a terrible place known as the horde lands. There lived the weakest of all monsters with numbers so great that the other monsters rarely provoked those that dwelled there.

The goblins she had just met were of a different caliber altogether. When she was still a knight for a certain kingdom she was trained to kill monsters of all types and she was taught to be the wariest of monsters that brought with them repugnant odors. Those repugnant goblins where the ones of a higher caliber, not ordinary green goblins without a hint of stench.

“if they are that strong now…” she thought, fearing their potential.

Within the cave were several goblins busily getting ready to leave, making sure to stretch their legs and sing happy songs. Near the front of the goblins was a weeping woman and besides her was Arisa, keeping guard of her. Scitus approached her. "we… won't… turt, you" he tried calming her, making sure to speak the right words hoping they were the correct ones. The women took a deep breath and smashed her fist against the stone floor. Her knuckles made an audible crack and soon bled.

“HA!!!” she shouted pointing her bloodied fist at Scitus. Scitus smiled knowing he didn’t understand the true weight of the gesture.

"Protect her from the others Arisa," Scitus asked Arisa telepathically as he moved back to the weakened goblins.

Scitus was sure the goblins had no animosity towards the woman, but he would have to treat her more delicately in the coming days which would cause jealousy among some of the goblins. Arisa was a countermeasure against that.