Chereads / A Goblin's story / Chapter 17 - the song's call

Chapter 17 - the song's call

This Dragonjaw talked for a while about the port he came from, Arndail. How there were many happy people and many travelers that ask him to be their guide through the mountain and back. So he's a regular travel guide for the poor and lost. Right now he himself is stuck because of the commotion from this alley and he has been having trouble going back to the port. He didn't know the reason everyone flipped out when they saw him last time. He's been here a long while away from home with nothing to change into and no way to clean up like he usually would but he didn't seem to mind.

I decided to ask him a strange question. "How long has it been since you were born?"

"... Hmm~... This be about seventy years and ten moons since I be living. How bout yoself, miss?"

"... Compared to you I seem like a child. I'm only eighteen."

"Wha~ ya be real young. Ya have a name too?"

"Tessa Greenwood."

"... A self named? Not a normal occurrence, but good on ya, miss."

"Yeah. That makes sense."

"What be ya story? Now I've done told ya mine."

"... I don't really have one. I found myself in the woods just outside the city with absolutely nothing and decided to find the closest place to civilization. Since then things got me by surprise one after another and I choose to live my life the way I wanted... I stayed with a noble family for a while and went to get an adventurers licence so I can travel. Then they chose to adopt me. But still here I am still confused and lost as to what I should do."

"But ya be here for a reason, yeah? I be sure the gods have ya here for a reason. You got good blessings after all."

"Yeah..."

"What be ya blessings? Mine be pure white."

"...dark blue, dark green, and off white."

"... What about this one?" He points at my chest. The place of the black mark.

"... I don't know this one. The orbs that showed it broke and no one told me what it was."

"... I can tell ya. Ya be chosen by the god of balance. As a missionary."

"A what?"

"A rare blessing that allows ya to have the power to change fate of sorts. Ya see things most can't gather nor fathom as reality. But I know they be there. I been seeing this cloud here for the time I been here and it only be growing."

"You see it too!?"

"Aye. We all see. Those like us."

"There are more like us...? ... Like you?"

"Ya be right the first time, miss. We dragonjaw be made of soil and bone by the earth like germs like the first of every creature. We be a pretty recent generation of goblins, but we be plenty round the world. You make yourself be female already. Ya be a lucky one to know what ya want and have a name. But we all be faral too. So we be careful not to roudy others."

"... I see."

"Don't be looking down about it. We all be here for reasons. We just need to find it, is all."

"I wanted to ask. Why did you sing that song earlier?"

"It not be a good song, I know. But I sing it to help the passing go on since I can do nothing more. It be the only song I hear anyhow. Been passed by me from devils passing the ports ya see."

"Oh. That explains a lot then. I have a lot of songs if you want to hear them."

"... How?"

"... I have memories of a past life. It's not much of a good life lived, but the songs I remember kept me going."

"... That be pretty news have I heard such a tail. Let's hear one then."

I chose to sing one that was a bit sad. A song from a show I watched once. It was a bit difficult without an instrument but I managed to sing it with ease. It felt good singing this one. It calmed down the sadness in me. I still questioned why I was here though.

I finished the song and see him looking at me as expressionless as before. "That be very sad. Ya be holding a lot of pain from your life then."

"... Yeah."

"And being a goblin don't make it much nicer for ya, do it?"

"No. Not really. But I'm getting over it a step at a time. I decided to go with the benefits of being a goblin and use the skills I know to my advantage."

"That be a real good way to see it. The benefits of a goblin eh? That be a nice view to see. Ya be sure to show me some of that another time. I best be getting gone soon fore the crowd builds."

"Wait! Can you help me clear this cloud? I know how to fix it and I want to use these songs I know to do it."

"I'm sorry to say I ain't much help to ya, miss. I be a chaotic Goblin after All. Though a force to help create balance, I only be causing ya more problems."

"Too much of one thing isn't good as it is. But if there is a level of stability between two, then it will cancel out and balance the scale."

"... A scale eh? I see what ya be wanting then. What you be planning to use?"

A chaotic being. A being meant to collide with any opposing force of peace. That's why they chased him out. He's a chaotic neutral being. His existence on its own is a threat to everyone around him. But he keeps it hidden by being a neutral figure all together. Which means his nature isn't chaotic. I thought I could do this myself but the more I got to know this goblin, the more I understood what he was capable of. Now I know what song to use. A very old song from my old life.

I sing it to him and finish and see his smile grow to match what he was. It was terrifying but I got his attention. He liked it a little too much. "That indeed be an ideal one to hear. Why you be asking me for this though knowing my nature?"

"It's not like you intended to stay here to make things worse, right?"

"Ya speak the truth there. Then let us be singing to our hearts content."

He's not a bad person he just loves to sing. I start singing the song again and my voice is louder than before. He starts to sing after the second chores and we sync. I immediately feel the pressure from the both of us pushing on me. He starts walking closer to me still all the while smiling as we sang. I feel like panicking but I'm not backing down. This feeling excites me and I can't help but smile back.

The more we sang the more I noticed the cloud collecting into a thick ball but it was only a chunk of the cloud. I start to walk out the alley and into the road and he follows me. We walk through the entire place singing this song on repeat. As the cloud cleared the entirety of the alley residence started watching us and some started following us as if entranced. The cloud was following too and growing denser. We make it to the end of the alley finally and just on time we turn to sing to the crowd that stood around us now. The cloud hovering between us and them continued to grow thicker.

I see the dragonjaw's marks start glowing the denser the cloud got. I assumed mine was doing the same now that the cloud was coming closer to us. The cloud is now surrounding me. I'm scared but I don't dare to stop as I let it fill my chest. I can feel it pressing inside me like the first time with the orbs. Like hands holding me tight. My body absorbs the cloud and everything becomes clear again. We finish the song and stop singing finally. I'm out of breath and I drop down to relax. I look to the other dragonjaw and he was staring at me. I assumed he was worried so I smile at him to show I'm okay. His ears twitch in response and he kneels down with me.

After a few minutes of rest while everyone was watching us confused and curious, I see Rolba and Starling make their way through the crowd to us. Starling still had a dark cloud on her but not as heavy as before. It felt like she was holding on to it on purpose for some reason.

"... Starling." I call to her. "Are you okay enough to hear me?"

She looked a bit distant when I spoke to her and I noticed her hand in a fist. I think she's still doesn't like me. And worse, the other was next to me watching her just as consciously. That wasn't a good thing.

"Starling?" I call again.

"... Why would you come back?" She asks. "I have no need to hear you shake my heart like that one did with his twisted words of death."

"I have more that aren't like that one." I tell her as I stand again. "Many more. Far more peaceful and happy. Ones that can lift a spirit when down. Ones that understand a pain haunting someone. Ones that can make one feel sad when they need to be. I have so many more with me. But I need you to listen to them. You have a choice. Listen and be free from the one that is currently haunting your thoughts or have a new one that lifts your day. Which would you prefer to hear more?"

"... Why use these words to curse me?" She asks. "They are like spells that control the mind and I have been suppressing them without the need of you and that one adding to that feeling. You should leave here."

"... Rolba. What do you want her to do?"

"... Listen. Tessa sing one you give me. Starling not hear me when tried."

"What need is there to listen to such unnatural things?"

"It's completely natural, Starling." I tell her. "There is nothing wrong with the words we give you. Its how you perceive the words you hear that makes you feel that way. I gave Rolba a song to let you hear from his mouth thinking you would at least listen to your husbands feelings but I guess you don't want to hear his love for you anymore." Rolba looks at me in shock hearing me say something so out of character. I'm sorry Rolba. But I have to test her and make her shake a bit. "If you can't listen to even him then what is he to you other than a competition to control the relationship you have? As far as I can see it, you don't belong together despite all his effort to be your equal. You won't even try to set an equal boundary with him. Your acting selfish, stuck up and being an all around bitch."

As soon as I ended my sentence, a fire blast was sent my way and I dodge it. Starlings hand was glowing a bright red and her marks were showing and she was as furious as the fire in her hand.