Otto’s Goblin Adventure Pt. 5

I looked at the creatures, they vaguely looked like dogs, but rather peculiarly I noticed that they smelled horrible. They'd only been dead a few minutes and I could smell the telltale signs of rotten meat. I fought myself not to vomit on the corpses and desecrate them further. We all wordlessly hopped back into the cart and found ourselves on the road once again. I was amazed as I stared at the cart, not a cracked timber on the thing. I marveled at how the wood was miraculously healed due to liberal use of the mending spell. Bondrewd moved quickly, but the canyon walls were unstable with more boulders coming down on us. Some of them hit him but the magnificent beast shrugged them off one after another. I gripped the sides of the cart tightly as I feared becoming buried like the wurm. As we crawled out of that wretched hole the sounds of the forest returned. I realized that the entire time the canyon was quiet as a funeral house at night. I shook my head, shaking the bells as I cleared the thought from my mind. The sun began to sink below the trees as the air began to cool with the lengthening of the shadows. I watched the birds return to their nests as I realized the woods were almost black as pitch. I felt a feeling that this wasn't natural for this part of the world.

"I see that these woods are getting much darker than most of us can see unaided, I think it's best to stop here for the night." The others agreed as we pulled off the road, unhitched Bondrewd and set up camp. The rations consisted of hardtack, cheese, and dried fruit. I drank a lot of water to get the hardtack down. It was as bland as it was hard. Syafitri approached me and asked me to help him train. I agreed as I grabbed the Staff of Fortunes. I beat him mercilessly until he cried out. I stopped and he went to bed. I approached Bondrewd and began to speak with him, I regaled him with speeches from leaders of Sembia. I didn't do well, consistently forgetting what came next. The embarassment continued for the four hours that I'd agreed to stay awake for.

I slept deeply on my bedroll. I was considerably lucky since it wasn't raining, I had to make a note to stop by a store and buy one. My dreams were vivid. I found myself inside my childhood home in Sembia. The house was a large cottage surrounded by the Faladur Vineyard. I felt the wind on my skin, the sun shining down on me. My father stood in front speaking to one of the servants.

"I told you, you need to leave it in the casket longer. Otherwise it's not getting that deep red color that Faladur wine is known for. Are you trying to bankrupt me?" He yelled. His face was red with anger as he threw the offending bottle into the vineyard. I turned away from him and toward the stables. Butternut was still standing in her stall, she shook her head as I approached and backed away. I looked to my right and saw Wilhelm. His long blonde hair trailed down his back, fine features of his face framed by his beautiful hair. His face was a mask of anger as he approached me. He was younger, but he was already much taller than me. I ran from him as fast as I could. He didn't need to run fast and caught me by my shoulders. His eyes were gems of black obsidian on his pale face, still twisted in anger. He opened his mouth and it was like the void was calling me. His scream was like the screams of the damned as I felt the coldness of his hatred. I woke up with a start, mouth dry and covered in sweat. When I awoke, the sun was cresting over the trees.

I quickly redressed and gathered my things. The wind blew gently with the trees rattling their leaves. The songbirds now sang us a good morning song. Bondrewd was rehitched with no issues. Rather the horse seemed excited to get back on the trail. We set off on the trail, the cart bumping along the path that's little more than a dirt trail. I stared up and looked into the canopy of the forest. It was so thick that sunlight barely passed through. I didn't notice in the night that the forest floor didn't have any plantlife. Not so much as a berry bush or weed.

"I don't want to alarm you all, but there's something following us. I didn't get a glimpse of it, but I think it's bipedal. It's also keeping pace with us without a problem."

I looked around and didn't see anything, but I did get the feeling that something was following us. Huasir handed me a grenade with two notes. He pointed to the one in my right hand that said "Chucklenuts".

"This one activates the grenade." He said with a hushed voice. The note in my left hand said "Chuck". I examined the grenade, it was a rough object. A small metal sphere with a button on top. I could guess that this may be another trigger for it. I silently put the device into my pack. Zane looked around and then disappeared. The cart kept plodding along the path.

There was a loud explosion that rocked the forest as the cart stopped. We all jumped from the cart and into the forest towards the source of the sound. As we closed the distance, I could hear the sound of screams and confusion, as well as Zane's unmistakeable cackle.

"I guess that's the signal." Syafitri said.

We ran into a clearing filled with burned trees and 9 burned corpses. Zane waved his hands and another fireball appeared from his hands. He bathed everyone but the acolyte and the bandit leader in the hellish fireball. As the fireball flew out, Zane put his fingers to his temple and the man in tattered and bloody robes was pushed out of the way of the oncoming fireball. The fire encompassed all the bandits save for the leader and burned them all to ash. I waved my hands at the man as he regarded me disdainfully. I tried to cast fast friends, but he shrugged it off. I couldn't believe my eyes as I began to wave my hands again. I casted Bane on the man as he was now surrounded by a purple aura. He screamed loudly and charged towards Zane. His battle axe was hefted high into the air and came down with a wet sound as Zane's blood sprayed into the air.

Huasir stepped up, flicking his pistol into its musket form. He took aim and shot the bandit leader in the knee. He howled like a wounded wolf and stared daggers at Huasir. I could see chunks of bone on the dirt.

Corvo stepped up and slapped the Bandit leader with his sword whip. It wrapped around the Bandit leader and immobilized him. He swung again and struck the bandit leader, blood now thoroughly coating the man's thick beard. Fulgur ran to the bandit leader and started to bite his ankles. He brought him down and started to bite his calves. Syafitri ran toward the bound barbarian with his scythe. He sliced quickly and cleanly. He cut everything from the joint onward. The blood spray that came from the bandit was almost surreal as it coated nearly every surface in a 10 foot circle. I saw the sword whip slip down as the man's body fell to pieces like a glass figurine. I looked over to the old man on the ground and ran over. He was splayed out against a tree. As I got closer, I could hear him weeping, one eye was almost completely swollen shut. One ankle was absolutely shattered. I looked at the man and felt pity. His hands and feet were both bound in thick chains. They glowed with a magical sheen, something arcane struck me about the manacles. I put that out of my mind as I put my hands on him. His whole body was covered in a thin yellow aura as his bones reset.

"Who are you?" The man asked, his eyes filled with worry.

"My name is Otto, and my friends are adventurers. We were travelling and your...party... was following us. We're not fond of hangers on, so we had to dispose the others. Mostly with fire, the other guy as you can see here was cut to bits." The man stood up. He was two inches shorter than me at five-six.

"Thank you, for everything. They beat me perpetually." He said with a bit of stuttering.

"Who are you?" I asked him.

"My name is Alexander." He said to me.

I nodded my head and called to Zane across the clearing.

"Come take a look at these manacles. I think this is up your alley."

Zane strolled over to look at the manacles.

"These cuffs are anti-magic cuffs. Why did they put them on you?" Corvo asked the captured acolyte.

"I'm not the biggest man, they wanted me to track you. We'd been doing so for the last three days." I turned my head and looked over to Syafitri as he ruffled through the Bandit's armor. He retrieved a key from the dead man's ruined armor. He fitted the key into the manacle. There was a slight click as the manacles fell away. The man touched his wrists and then pushed his hood off. Instead of being an old man, he was rather quite young. He had a shock of well kept bleach blonde hair, fair skin, and bright blue eyes. It shocked me more than I'd anticipated.

"What did you do before you were captured?" I asked him. He looked me in the eye as he answered.

"I'm an apothecary. I specialize in medicinal herbs, magical healing, and a few other things." I nodded my head as Zane abruptly spoke up.

"Do you know Call Lightning?" The apothecary nodded his head. I could see his eager smile pierce through the gloom of the forest.

"Do you also know Conjure Animals?" The wizard asked as well. The weary apothecary nodded his head.

"Come on, Zane. The man's obviously tired, let's just let him go already." Zane put his hand up to me as the apothecary showed him Conjure Animals.

I looked at the small man.

"I think we should all give him a ration. That way he doesn't starve to death on his way home." The rest of the party agreed.

"Where do you live, and do you have a business card?" Syafitri asked.

"I don't live in a town on the map. It's a small town named Bright Flower." It took us a minute as we all thought and remembered that the village was named Bright Flower.

"That's quite the coincidence. We just came from there, we're headed to the capital now." I said with delight. Alex looked over to Kazimir and the dead man and spat on the corpse.

"I wanted to see him suffer, I'm glad he did."

Corvo approached Alexander and asked if he'd seen any dragons. The druid shook his head and Corvo turned away. I grabbed him by his shoulder.

"Wait a minute, let's give him a ration each that way he doesn't starve to death." The small druid laughed and produced ten golden berries. I dug into my pockets and retrieved 10 silver pieces, putting them into the druid's free hand before I took a berry.

It was delicious. Tasting like salted roasted meats and father's Faladur wine. I still don't understand how they tasted like that. He looked at me, then at the rest of us.

"Thank you for your kindness. Come visit me at my shop, you're certainly worthy of a discount." I gave a flourishing bow and saw him turn into a dire wolf. He started to walk in a direction other than the path.

"He's going in the wrong direction." Corvo said.

"He's probably going the way the crow flies. Get there quicker." I replied. We all turned to the dismembered corpse.

"Why were you following us?"

"You looked strong. I thought you might have some good gear." The dead head groaned.

"He's telling the truth," Corvo said.

"Do you have a camp?" Zane asked, authority in his voice.

"Yes." The head answered reluctantly.

"Where is it?" Zane asked.

The head gritted its teeth as it tried to hold its tongue.

"10 miles...west." I looked at Zane as he thought of another question.

"Who do you serve?" The head's milky eyes looked up at him.

"Not the King. He doesn't do anything for the poverty."

"How many men are still at the camp?"

"30." The head answered, promptly returning to lifelessness.

"What should we do with this head?" Corvo asked.

"I think it's best we let Bondrewd eat the body." I add.

"I can feed it to him, like I'm giving a treat." Korus added.

"NO, I wouldn't advise that. Just put it on the pile and let Bondrewd eat it." I said as I physically pulled him back. I turned around to see Bondrewd behind us, ears fully perked up and lips salivating as it descended upon the pile. I turned around to avoid seeing Bondrewd devour. Most of us headed back to the cart except for Zane and Corvo. I don't know what Bondrewd did, but both Corvo and Zane were pale. Corvo said something to the horse, and with the sound of cracking bone and muscle I saw a dreadful expression from Bondrewd as if neighed something back to Corvo, leaving his face completely devoid of color.

"I think it's best as Bondrewd's master, that I should tell you-"

"NO!" The rest of us resoundingly responded.

"I don't want to know, and if you tell me, I'm going to hit you with a fireball." Zane said.

"If you tell me, I'm going to leave you for dead on the side of the road." I said to the man towering above me.

"Just don't." Corvo said.

Korus stared at all of us before climbing onto the cart. We continued onward in silence until we reached another clearing in the forest. The sun had dipped down below the trees again, leaving the forest in a pitch blackness. I volunteered for first watch again. I beat Syafitri for an hour to help him train his toughness. It continued and he walked away limping and cursing. I approached Bondrewd and started reciting the speeches again. I don't know if it was the feeling of being watched, or if it was the thought of what we were going to do that bothered me more. I tripped on my words and stumbled over the rhythm of the speech. Another hour passed and I was relieved by Korus. I laid in my bedroll and went to sleep. It was a fitful sleep without dreams.