The reason I didn't show any mercy to Stella was because it was a conflict of interest. She had clearly said she wanted me to take responsibility and reduce her to a slab of quivering meat who was incapable of processing any difficult unwanted thoughts I had forced her to deal with due to my violating her. She might be pissed off at me when she finally comes around, but I did exactly as she instructed.
Women can be interesting creatures at times with their desires. While human women conceal and beguile to achieve theirs, conversely, goblins are completely upfront. Whether Human or Goblin though, one thing they do share in common is the honesty of their bodies. Lying next to me on the right is the somewhat immobile form of a female goblin who was nearly chosen last among her peers, and in a desperate bid to hold anything but the last rank in the goblin hierarchy of who had been chosen to receive my seed, had granted me an incredibly desirable item I thought long gone. On my left was the immobile form of a human who was uneducated, had unrealistic ambitions, and who, like me, was nothing more than a pawn in some bigger scheme of things that neither of us could see from our dark cavern prison.
The only things those two shared right now was a slit between their legs, a peaceful smile on their faces, and a belly full of my little swimmers.
I turned on my side and stroked the cheeks of the finder goblin who had brought me the magic lantern. She began to stir, turning her head to look at me.
"Welcome back, Crow."
"Crow?"
"Crow. You are Crow."
"Me… Crow?"
"I had a little trouble settling on a name for you, but I think this one is a good fit."
"Crow… like name. Knees to milkies sore. Crow belly is full-full."
I rolled her onto her side and pulled her right up against me, holding her snugly in place.
"Just relax and keep warm with me."
"Okay."
I put my hand on her belly.
"If you feel like you want more big seed, just say so. I will give you all you want tonight."
"More seed now!?"
"If you want."
"Later. Now sleepy. Husband warm."
"Then you can go back to sleep, I won't go anywhere."
"Crow… will have big strong ones."
No sooner than she said that, I found that we were being visited by a goblin that I wasn't on the best of terms with. The Old One was standing over Crow and I, but staring right at me.
"Human. Come, now."
"Do you need something?"
"No time for putting on ropes, you must come with me, now!"
I gently rubbed Crow's limp arm and sighed.
"I'll be right back, okay?"
"Husband go. Not make Old One angry."
I wondered what the Old One wanted, because she seemed to be in quite a hurry. Eschewing underwear in lieu of haste, I followed her out of the breeding room and we walked towards the entrance of goblin-home. When we passed beyond Jewel's room, I became concerned.
"I can't go further than this without ropes." I told her.
"Be quiet and follow, human."
I sighed. Was the Old One trying to set me up? As it turns out, she wasn't, but I only understood why she had dragged me out of my room once I stepped food out of the cave. Lying on the ground in front of the fire pit was the body of the final goblin I had yet to impregnate… was, being the operative word. There were deep gashes from several claw marks all over her bloody body, and it didn't look like she was still breathing.
"What's going on, Old One?"
"I don't know, exactly. Guardian found her in the forest. The claw marks look like they came from the Black-claw tribe. I do not possess the magic which can restore her, but perhaps you have human magic which can?"
In the hand of the Old One was my quartz focus orb. It wouldn't do any good, however. Healing magic is outside of the domain of arcane magic. It's divine in origin.
"I can't use healing magic, Old One. But, I will see what I can do for her."
I dropped to my knees and put my ear to her chest, listening for anything like a heartbeat. But there wasn't one. Her body was already cold, and not from the temperature outside. I wasn't a practitioner of necromancy, and light magic is not healing magic. There was nothing I could do for this one short of making a shovel and digging a hole. I had taken a course in cardio-pulminary resuscitation in my previous life, so I put my hands on her chest and tried giving her some compressions in the hopes that maybe it would work. It didn't, but at least I tried something.
"She's dead, Old One. I… can't bring the dead back to life. If she had even a little breath in her, or if her heart still beat even a little, maybe… I could have done something for her."
"I know of the human ones who wear white rags…"
"Saints." I answered her, "They use the gods' blessings to heal, It's… different from the magic I can use."
"What of the other human?
"She is good with a bow, and not much else, I'm afraid…"
Old One's face looked like she was prepared for that answer already. I think I was just the last holdout of hope until the Great Protector arrived. The Old One had already summoned it.
"I'm… sorry I can't do anything for her."
"It is the way of goblins." She looked stoic as she said it, but I know enough about goblins now to know she must have felt a great sadness seeing one of her tribe dead. "Strong ones live, weak ones die."
"Beast-talker was the only one I hadn't given big seed to. I was going to choose her tomorrow…" I added.
The Old One slowly lowered her head to confirm.
"Here." She lobbed my quartz focus orb at me, which I caught carefully.
"Why are you giving this to me…?"
The answer came in an unexpected manner.
"Husband hunt with me."
I didn't need to turn my head to know the voice of my eldest daughter who stood behind me.
"Diana Artemis track. Find Prima, make sure safe. Husband adventurer. Together strong. We hunt, protect tribe."
Diana was armed only with her long knife, tucked away in her loincloth. My daughter had a look of determination on her face.
"You want us both to go out there at night?"
I groaned.
"Human. The Great Protector has charged us with hunting only until the black trees, the big rock, and the stream. Do not go past those boundaries, no matter the cost."
"Are you telling me to go… with Diana and with my focus orb?"
"Old One not tell Husband. Diana Artemis tell Husband. Tell Old One bring, give shiny stone."
"Diana, I can't go past the trees. Prima said–"
"Diana next guardian! Prima not here, danger. Diana say Husband go!"
I cast my gaze at the Old One.
"I have lost most of my tribe once before. Tonight, I might lose many more of my tribe again. While I do not trust you, Human, your child, Huntress, does. She believes your human magic and her ability as a hunter will be enough to rescue the others. She has resolved herself to fight the Black-claws alone if necessary, even if it means she may die. Do you have the same resolve to return her trust in you?"
Old One sat down and placed her hand on the body of the dead goblin.
I could only sigh at how fucked shit sounded right now.
"Jewel, Doll, Prima all hunt Black-claw hunt Beast-talker."
"Then why are we going?" I asked Diana. "If it's those three already hunting, why are we even talking about going out into the forest at night?"
"Black-claw many. Hunt together, big-strong. More Black-claw than goblin. Diana Artemis know Husband strong. Come, we go."
Fuck. I am completely naked and all I have is my quartz focus orb in hand. I am not at all prepared to go traipsing through a goddamn forest late at night. But I sure as hell won't be letting my little drop goblin go out into the equivalent of Jurassic Park by her lonesome. I'd never be able to live with myself, or ever be able to face Berry for as long as I live.
"Fuck!"
Using the force magic through my personally attuned focus orb, I raised up the land around my feet, up to my ankles and compressed the dirt into form-fitting stone shoes. At least with shoes on I won't be dragging blood around from stepping on an unseen sharp branch or plant and becoming more of a liability than I already am.
I squatted down.
"Diana, climb on my back."
She did so at once without question.
"Baby, you can see way better in the dark than I can. I want you to point the safest way as fast as you can. Tell me to stop if you need to hop off and check anything. We're going to be moving fast with daddy's wind magic."
"Diana Artemis ready."
My daughter firmly attached herself onto my back. Acting as my navigator, her legs wrapped around my chest and one tiny clawed hand gripped my shoulder tightly. She pointed due south from the cave opening. Holding the quartz focus orb tight in my hand, I channeled the magic of the wind element and activated a hasting spell over my body.
We took off like a spooked deer on the run, and my eldest daughter was like a compass needle pointing steady towards the direction we needed to go. Even though I was moving fast and my steps were light, the stone shoes I had made still crunched loudly on dried leaves and thin fallen branches. I had been running long enough to feel the burn in my calves, and twice Diana had called for me to stop in order to check a few things that between the two of us, only she could see properly.
Before long, we came to a final stop near a clearing with a large tree.
"Husband, quiet. Walk quiet, no talk. Black-claw here, hunt."
Got it, this was their territory or they at least held the advantage. I did my best not to make noise, but I couldn't hope to beat my barefoot daughter who moved like a silent shadow, signaling me with special hunting signs I didn't know, to move at certain times where she directed.
"AAARRROOOOOOOO!!!"
There were about ten large black wolves howling and circling a tree a bit of a distance away. We were thankfully behind enough foliage not to be detected easily. From what I could make out, there was a spear lodged in the ground near to the tree, and there was a single arrow sticking out from one of the hind legs of the large black wolves.
Diana pointed up at the tree.
She didn't say anything, and my vision wasn't good enough to see what she was pointing at, so I had to assume Prima and the others were up there. Diana drew a rectangle on the ground with a tree at the center and used her finger to poke holes in the ground in the same areas where the black wolves were all occupying.
Did she want me to make a pitfall trap?
I shook my head. I couldn't do it from this far away and make it deep enough in time for them not to be able to jump out of it easily, or dodge it completely, putting them on alert for us.
I pointed to her and then to me, and drew what I felt was a relative distance around where we were in proximity to them, showing her the range of my magic. If it was a wind shot or a fireball, I could shoot it further and maybe contact one of them. She might have had some faith in me, but I was only a second-circle mage. I'm not some cheat character blessed by the gods. It took a lot of effort on my part over the years to even reach the second circle. Can't even call yourself a real mage in this world until breaking through the first circle to the second.