Chapter 8 - Stolen Innocence
Surface of the Wild Mountains.
Day One, minutes before the Evening Bunny would be born.
Viola motioned for Luger to stop.
“What's wrong?” Luger asked.
“The Night Lights are about rise. When they do, the yeti children we're carrying will wake. You've never experienced the energy of a frightened yeti child. You'll probably want to be sitting down for it,” Viola said. Both of them found a rock and got comfortable. The Night Lights began to rise, and the rogues rested. Viola closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the rock. Luger watched and began estimating the number of Night Lights rising.
“Viola, are there a lot more Night Lights here then there should be?” Luger asked.
“What are you on about?” Viola said, opening her eyes and finally seeing what he was referring to.
“It’s too many, right?” Luger pushed.
“It is way too many. I've hunted here for a long time, this is way too many Night Lights. It’s going to be as bright here as it is in any capital city. This whole valley is going to change. Just one more thing we have to inform our king about,” Viola said. Luger held his extended belly with both hands and grunted. His face contorted in pain as he doubled over.
“Yep, they are waking up. Don't worry, as you know, yeti children are only awake for an hour a day. It's no different when they're in this form. In an hour, their energy won't be quite so excited, and we will be able to continue. Toughen up, little apprentice. This isn't nearly as bad as labor, not that you could handle that.”
Under the Wild Mountains.
Day One, minutes before the Evening Bunny would be born.
Joe felt like he was is some weird monster movie. His two companions were now completely covered in a gray moss, only their eyes were truly visible. Inside of himself, though, Joe felt the GONG. Joe smiled to himself. Even though he was an unknown distance from his castle, he could still feel the Gong. Joe noticed he had a message, and mind-clicked it.
The Abiogenesis Bunny Generator has made the Evening Bunny.
“An evening bunny? I've been in these tunnels for almost 6 hours. Come on, mummy one and mummy two, we have to get to the surface,” Joe said. At that moment, the walls which had been slightly glowing since Joe had ended up in the caverns started to dim. Then, right in front of Joe's face, a Night Light moved off from the wall and continued up through ceiling. The surprise and speed of the living light made Joe stumble back, falling on his backside. Regaining his feet, Joe focused his attention on the walls, going so far has to put his face against one, watching the glow fade. Before the glow of the walls could fully disappear, Grork and Bork had small torches out and lit.
“Where are we? Help, father! Help! Mother, help!” a silent child screamed echoes in Joe's head. Coming to full attention, Joe tried to figure out the direction of the cry. Being unable to hear the screams, neither Grork nor Bork understood Joe's sudden agitation.
“Someone close has taken children. Even if it wasn't my responsibility, I will hunt them down. But, for some reason, I feel that it truly is my responsibility. Almost as if those were my children. I will free them! I need my body, and I need it now! I don't have time for this silly spell. Body! Come here, now! Spooky, wherever you are, I need my body, enough role-playing!” Joe commanded with all the will that he possessed. Joe began running forward, Bork and Grork kept pace behind him. He no longer needed them to give him directions for he now knew the general direction he was going. When he came to a turn that led him where he wanted to go, he followed it. When he didn't, he just continued forward down whatever tunnel he was following. In a surprisingly short time, he made it to the surface. He instantly wondered if his companions had been taking turns away from the surface purposely. Joe didn't have time to attempt to ask, especially with the language gap. It was much brighter on the surface now then when he had descended. Trying to get his bearings, Joe took stock of the mountains around him. He couldn't see his valley, but that didn't mean it wasn't close. For now, he didn't need to know where his castle was. He could still hear the children. Running across the uneven terrain, Joe and his companions made their way horizontally across the mountain.
***
Viola got up and prepared to get them on their way. Luger looked at her questioningly, the hour was not up.
“Your tummy still upset, little baby? You need to get a move on, somebody's coming,” Viola said.
At that, Luger heard the distant feet. He got up and followed Viola. The professional that she was, she began taking random turns, so as to make them more difficult to follow. Always best to be safe, just in case those sounds were following them. It didn't take long for her to realize that even with her turns, the sounds we're homing in on them. Turning to face her pursuers, she prepared the few defensive and offensive spells she could use in the Spirit Walker form. When Joe crested the ridge with his two mummified goblins behind him, Viola relaxed. She could see they were no threat. The way the two goblins were looking around, it was clear they couldn't even see her. The man, however, was staring at her with death in his eyes. Viola called out to them.
“What are two goblins covered in fire weed and an insubstantial spirit of a man doing following me? You better have a good answer, or I just may materialize, so that I can fry all three of you. Do you want to die?” Viola asked, threatening with her very posture.
“It's appointed unto man once to die, but right now it's not time for my judgment. It's time for yours. Release the children you've imprisoned in your big fat bellies! I won't even consider any kind of mercy until you've willingly released them,” Joe said, standing high on the ridge looking down on the rogues.
“Release them willingly? As if you could force me to release them unwillingly. And how dare you talk about a lady's figure, back off vapor!” Viola said, raising her right hand. Palm facing Joe, she subvocalized a spell. Silver light burst from her palm, and she cast General Distress. This was an area effect spell that hit multiple targets and brought wounds to the surface. Joe, Grork, and Bork were made to remember a significant time each of them had been wounded in spirit. Writhing in agony on the ground, they experienced the distress all over again.
“Let’s leave them to their memories,” Viola said as she quickly left the area.
The wounds that each of them were experiencing were all very different from each other. Grork’s wound was the least painful of the three. He was remembering a time only hours before. It was the moment after the goblin chief had sentenced him to death, to be carried out immediately. He was frozen in the moment of realization that his favorite person would soon be dead, himself.
Though Bork had also been sentenced to death that was not the wound he was currently experiencing. The wound Bork was reliving was one that had never fully healed, even though it had had plenty of time to do so. He was a child. He knew he wasn't like his brothers, and sisters, but that didn't stop him from caring about them. It also didn't stop him from fearing the things that they did. His older sister had found a baby lizard, only to pull off its tail just to watch it re-grow. Unbeknownst to his sister, Bork had stolen the lizard in order to free it from torment. He thought his theft and kindness had gone unnoticed, but his mother was always watching him. Before the wounded lizard could scurry away, his mother had caught it up in her hand. She looked at the child goblin, knowing what he'd been trying to do. Kneeling before him, so that they were eye to eye, she began speaking.
“Bork, you soft, but holy book very clear. I eat you, I die. So, I no eat you! But I wish you dead,” Bork’s mother said. She stood, then turned, and began walking away still holding the lizard in her hand. With tears in his eyes, Bork watched his mother walk away.
“I forgive you,” the young Bork said. She paused, without turning around. Bork heard a squishy sound, followed by the sound of tiny bones breaking. Relaxing her hands, she dropped the corpse on the floor. Without turning around, she continued her walk away from her
son. On the floor, where she had been standing, was her broken and bloody answer to his forgiveness.
Joe’s wound was the worst. Not because his pain was more valid than the broken heart of the child goblin. It was because of the form he was in. The spell attacked the spirit, and right now, that's all that Joe was. He didn't have a physical form to distract him from the horrible pain that he was experiencing. Joe’s pain was not unique. In many respects, it was commonplace. After all, the death of a loved one happens to almost everyone eventually. Although, this is perhaps only true for those who choose to love. Not that Joe had any choice when he met her. There are some decisions that are made for you. From the moment he had seen her, he simply had to acknowledge that the reality of the decision that was out of his hands. And then, she had to go and die first. That was what he was experiencing. His moment of loss.
Chapter 9 - Finger Guns
Curled in a ball, suspended from three ropes held by flying statues, Moes had never felt so vulnerable. That was saying a lot. After all, a halfling who grew up around men was rarely safe. Even with the furry fabric that clothed him, Moes’ face was feeling the bitter wind. Out of nowhere, he saw a beautifully textured afro right in front of his face. Holding on to the basket was Spooky staring right at him. He was too scared to even ask her what she wanted. She didn't wait for him to ask.
“Joe's body is taking a straight course now. Wherever his spirit is, it must be on a direct line from here. I'm going to have the angels continue to fly over Joe’s body. Since I can move so much faster, I'm going to scout ahead. Don't go anywhere,” Spooky said. Moes did not laugh at her poorly timed joke. It was obviously too soon. Spooky zipped ahead, looking for anything out of the ordinary. After some distance, she began to wonder if it was a good idea for her to scout ahead. That's when she saw two goblins squatting on the ground, looking at something between them. With no thought of safety for herself, she flew right up to the goblins, and discovered Joe, in obvious pain, writhing on the ground.
Grork saw Spooky, hovering directly over Joe, and did what most goblins would do. He raised his big meaty right hand and swatted the fairy away as hard as he could. He succeeded in knocking her away, but had underestimated how dense Spooky was. She flew maybe ten feet, and Grork felt that he had pulled a muscle in his shoulder, getting even that distance.
Before Grork could take in the threat he had awakened, Spooky had pulled out her mithril knife and engaged. Spooky wanted to check on Joe as fast as possible, so she took the first opportunity presented to her. As she moved toward Grork, he opened his mouth in shock. The tongue and soft palate were generally not places anyone would want a knife to be pressed. Grork had scrambled back, as fast as he could, to get the knife out of his mouth, but Spooky followed him down to the ground. When the back of his head was against the ground and the knife was still pressed against the roof of his mouth, he again felt that he was about to die. Spooky held the knife like it was a two-handed sword. Looking at Grork right in the eye, she pressed the knife just hard enough to break the skin and allow Grork to swallow his own blood. Feeling accomplished, she left him alive lying on the ground, stunned, and tasting salty goblin blood.
New Fact
103- Quick violent action coupled with restraint provides high possibility of submission.
Joe was mumbling on the ground when she came over to him.
“She is gone. What am I without her?” Joe mumbled. Spooky flew right in front of his eyes to get his attention. It worked, but not in the way Spooky would have thought. When Joe saw her, the pain in his eye disappeared. It was replaced by a look that Spooky had never seen.
“My love, you have come back to me,” Joe said. Once again, Spooky experienced another new emotion. Only this time the new emotion quickly led to another feeling. She felt like a thief.
“Joe, knock it off. It's me, Spooky,” Spooky said.
“It is you. And I will agree sometimes you are a little bit spooky. I'm so glad you're alive, I knew the doctors were wrong. I'm so tired, let me sleep, love,” Joe said and then closed his eyes. It didn't seem like there was anything Spooky could do, so she just hovered over him. She ignored the goblins, and they ignored her, all of them looking down at Joe.
Before Joe's body got there, Spooky realized she might need to take precautions. Using her knife to help motivate the goblins, she moved them out of the path Joe's body would take. Grork looked like he wanted to protest, but Bork said something to him that seemed to calm him. After that, the goblins backed away and sat down. Bork seemed excited, like he knew something.
They saw the angels carrying a basket first. Grork thought they looked like the little knife-wielding fairy. Instead of small and ebony, they were big and pale. Grork licked the cut on the roof of his mouth, and looked over at Spooky. She was already staring directly at him, while she slowly polished her oversized dagger. The expression on her face was neutral and unchanging. Grork looked away first, and shuttered. He was the third on this Moon to have a fear of the angels, but not the last. As they flew closer, Bork and Grork saw the body of Joe heading straight for Joe’s spirit. The body did not look like its spirit representation. Joe had the spirit of a man, but this body looked at least half yeti. As the body got closer to the spirit, the spirit began to lose cohesion. What had once seemed firm, visually appeared as if it was liquefying. But, instead of creating a puddle on the ground, it looked as if it was flowing down a drain, horizontally toward the body. When the first drop of spirit reached the body, the body's arms extended wide as if on a cross. Only his body was not in pain, rather it was receiving relief. As the spirit continued to flow in the body, it took a deep breath. Its huge chest expanding wide as air began filling its lungs. The tension and pain from the metamorphosis had eased and lessened as the last of the spirit filled his body. With arms still spread wide, and eyes closed, his body fell backward like a freshly cut old-growth tree. No one moved to catch him. None of them were fast enough or big enough to break his fall. When the colossal ramrod straight body hit, the ground rumbled.
Joe felt his body hit the ground hard. The impact completely knocked the wind out of him. He opened his eyes and put his hands on his chest, gasping. When the wind is truly knocked out of someone, it takes a moment before they're able to inflate their lungs. That moment of flatness, when their lungs are like a deflated balloon, is truly terrifying. Even in that painful, terrifying second, Joe began to feel his hunger. Finally, air began to flow, and Joe stretched his hands out and looked at the new, larger-sized and stone-like, texture. Spooky flew up to the sitting Joe.
“Are you okay, Joe?” Spooky asked.
“Define okay,” Joe said, holding his ravenous stomach.
“The root word of okay…” Spooky began.
“Stop. I'm okay,” Joe said.
“Sorry. Defining words was one of the first things my predecessors did. It's kind of hard coded into my DNA,” Spooky explained.
“Predecessors? Are you finally breaking character?” Joe asked.
“Breaking character? What are you talking about, Joe? A girl can't talk about her ancestors without people getting weird?” Spooky fired back.
“My bad. Where am I? What happened?” Joe asked. Looking around, he saw Moes’ basket hitting the ground softly. Moes did not get out immediately, but instead lifted his head, and peeked over the edge. Seeing the ground so close, he rolled out of the basket and hugged the lovely cold snow-sprinkled dirt. Then Moes saw the two goblins sitting on the nearby ground. As quickly as he could, he scrambled to his feet and faced the goblins. He raised his right hand, preparing his most powerful attack spell. Joe’s new eyes allowed him to see the magic forming and quickly react with a command.
“Moes, stop,” Joe thundered. The silver light already extending from Moes’ hand extinguished. Moes’ hand pulled back like it had been burned.
“Ouch! It stings to stop once you started. Joe, those are goblins, very dangerous, why are we not fighting them?” Moes asked.
“I'm not entirely sure. It's extremely hazy, but I think they're my friends,” Joe said, still controlling his hunger.
“Goblins don't have friends. They're not even friends of each other,” Moes said.
“Maybe that's true, maybe it's not. One thing I know to be true, though, is that I've always liked being friends with the friendless. That's not going to change now. They're still going to have to follow the same rules as everyone else. I, however, will not judge before I know as a king, they deserve condemnation,” Joe said, as he reached up to feel the iron crown that was still there. The crown now looked more like a tattoo, as his head had grown.
Moes was uncomfortable and worried about the goblins, but there was nothing he could do. So, he kept the goblins in his line of sight, and waited. For a moment, Moes thought he saw writing above the goblins’ heads.
NPC, Goblin
Slave of Joe
Then the writing was gone. It had been a quick flicker, just fast enough to read. Moes rubbed his eyes, worrying that the flight had done something to his head.
“What do you remember, Joe?” Spooky asked with hint of worry in her voice.
“It's like when you wake up, and you know you were dreaming. It's all still there, but you can't quite see everything that happened. Those two goblins, they were definitely there. I think I know their names. The big one, your name is Grork. Yes, that is it,” Joe said.
You're Not Allowed to Die (The Twenty-Sided Eye Series Book 1) Page 19