I could not believe what I was seeing. The Valar had suffered its first and greatest defeat, and the consequences were horrific. Half the army was in the ground. The Queen? Abducted. Mago had fallen, and the situation in the east stood as a massive question mark.
Hundreds of goblins drifted through White Stone City like shattered ghosts in a graveyard. Funeral candles burned, professional mourners wailed, and old crones, wives, daughters, and the youngest children asked about the fates of those who had been left behind on the gray lands. Many cursed the local deities, while others hurled threats at the eastern goblins — including those who had remained loyal. From the army's center and the groups of Isai and Barga, dozens returned, perhaps over a hundred in total.
"Vile spawn! Your Kasho sold us out. Half the army fell! It's because of them!"
An old shaman, who had recently joined the newly formed Blue Stripes tribe — which until yesterday had been led by Mago — grabbed one of the eastern warriors by the collar and argued with him in a total frenzy, until Banyak himself had to intervene and disperse them both.
Sigh, they had barely unified and now they already had to choose a new chieftain… A goblin's life was indeed short in this world. Gege stayed close to Isai, who was now being patched up by the herbalists and medics of the Yellow Grass Tribe. The kid had apparently done a fantastic job; it was good that at least he was all right… Godo's daughter too, for that matter. The old man would have been proud of her. Not anyone so young would be so brave, that's for sure.
"They say one of Mago's sons will take over the chieftainship once he comes of age; no one else is making a play for power…" Doirak explained to me, while I wanted nothing more than to sleep and eat.
The sun had already risen an hour ago. Valeria was gone, and nowhere — absolutely nowhere — could I sense her aura. I devoured about a hundred kilos of weeds and drank around nine buckets of water before my stomach stopped rumbling and my throat stopped feeling parched. I felt terrible that I was eating, that I was alive, while she had been abducted by some monstrosity; no one knew where and no one knew for what purpose.
Vay lay unconscious in the grand shaman hut, and only now was I realizing how useful it was to have received Zod's blessing, which had so thoroughly enhanced my body's base traits and regeneration… The hydra body itself also did a massive amount of the heavy lifting… Had I possessed one of those miserable goblin bodies, I certainly would not have survived such injuries…
"Argos is calling us all to a secret meeting at the Queen's place…" Doirak said, and I could sense shame inside his mind. What right did he have to feel ashamed? He? The one who withstood the pressure and refused to let the army collapse in the moment of trial, the one who fought to the end and kept watch over the rear even when everyone else was fighting each other just to step onto the passageway!? If he feels ashamed, then what am I supposed to do!? Fuck!!!
"I'll be right there… First, I must… I must speak with Vay. I still don't know how he's doing, what he intends to do, or who that woman was who abducted Valeria… I have so many questions for him."
The hobgoblin nodded. He had hardened. He was now a veteran of two great battles fought on the side of our kingdom. Besides, he was the one who had led the rebellion that ended in Hakku's death and our ploy — the one that elevated Valeria to the position of Queen and made me someone important to them, to all these creatures, someone they wanted to rely on. I felt guilty; I felt like I had let them down. That because of me, the Valar was on the brink of collapse.
Holy shit, how could everything have gone so terribly wrong!? We were still just beginners without experience; we hadn't even taken into account that there might be traitors among us, or that the neutral tribes would quickly enter an alliance with the other grays… Pathetic!
I paced forward slowly; my leg still hurt, though the bone had knit back together and I could walk now, even run. The regeneration of hydras is incredible, and with the blessing of the Monster King — renowned for his might of thousands of berserkers combined — well… it was even more amazing.
I passed abandoned huts; upon hearing news of the defeat, many goblins had rushed as quickly as possible to the smaller settlements and villages, fearing retaliation from the grays. The powerful reptile-woman was gone, and along with her, nothing stood in the way of them burning this place to the ground and slaughtering us.
My second head scanned the surroundings nervously, while the third nibbled on weeds by the wall like a starved goat. I stood before the large doors behind which Vay lay, and I was afraid to enter. I was just like my elementary school self, who was terrified of carrying his grade book to the staff room — cowardly, wretched… No! I am no longer that… that piece of trash!
"I'm coming in!"
I pushed the door open with my own head. Two shamans bolted upright, and a medic dozing in a chair woke up with a massive start. He shot up like a spring and bowed, looking back and forth between me and the others before saying:
"It is not looking good for Lord Vay, Great Devourer… He may not survive the night. His spirit is fading, his eyes are growing pale… Please don't eat us, we are doing what we can… Sigh… Well… Y'know… There is simply not much we can do… That strange substance has wrought terrible devastation and refuses to leave the skin of the Queen's esteemed brother… Sigh… Well… Forgive us, powerful lizard! We are useless!"
"Calm down. I don't blame you. These tricks are a mystery even to me. Leave us."
"Ye… Yes! Yes! Right away! We are leaving! Yes! Right away! Yes!"
If his healing skills were just as magnificent as his speaking skills, it was no wonder the vampire was in such a bad state… Someone so powerful, reduced to this…
"Is that you, Artax?" he asked quietly, and I could feel how much he was suffering. His skin was steaming, and the green substance looked like some strange, vaporizing glue. "What about my sister… what about her… does anyone know anything? Tell me without lies…"
"We know nothing," I said in as confident a tone as possible, though on the inside I was shaking completely.
"That woman… Sigh… I think it might have been… Sigh… No… No… It's impossible…"
"Say what you wanted to say. I am here, we all care about your sister, we will do… no… I will do everything in my power to save her! We won't abandon her to death and torment!"
"That monster… It might have been a wyvern… a wyvern Demon Lord… Indra Ridens."
My three hearts wanted to leap straight through my chest. Before my eyes, I envisioned that terrifying aura and a figure who, with a single decision, could slaughter thousands of lives. The Flying Terror is what some goblins called this monster. A wyvern? That's something akin to a dragon; in this world, probably just as powerful. I think…
"You won't defeat her… I don't know what… what she could want with Valeria… But if she wants to kill her… there is nothing you can do… We can't manage this alone…"
In that moment, I realized our weakness. I realized the consequences and the terror of this place. Powerful entities that can show up whenever they want and from wherever they want, so long as we are weak enough to allow them to do so… If only we hadn't founded this kingdom, but had fled somewhere far from here and become travelers, perhaps the poor thing wouldn't have ended up in the talons of a Demon Lord… At the mere thought that someone like that had even looked at me and had been a single thought away from executing me… a shadow of terror passed down my spine…
"Artax!" Vay spoke louder, groaning in pain. "I may not be around here much longer… not much longer in this world… I will meet my father… I don't know my mother… perhaps I will get to know her…" The sadness on his face spread to me as well. "Please… Promise me… Promise me that you will save my sister… I have heard stories about the sadist from the Wyvern Island… Death is better…"
I nodded with one of my heads, while the others stared at him with respect? No! With recognition; they could feel his power, even now in his death throes. He was someone overwhelmingly powerful. His aura, though currently dormant, was like lava — cold on the surface, yet hot inside, impossible to extinguish.
"Promise!!!" he screamed and spat blood, sending a sudden jolt of panic through me.
"I promise!" I replied, overwhelmed.
I didn't know how to go about this. I only knew that Valeria had been abducted by some powerful Demon Lord from the Wyvern Island. Where that island was, how to get there, and whether Valeria would survive until I arrived… that much I did not know yet.
Dark clouds were gathering in the sky, and the rumble of thunder from the distance was like a battle horn heralding something evil. Goblins rushed to their huts to shield themselves from the rain, while others fought to finish their ceremonies and prayers.
The shamans returned to the hut when I called them, and the medic ran back with some bucket full of a strange ointment, with which he began to anoint the suffering Vay. I couldn't bear to look at it; the skin was peeling off, steam was erupting from the green substance… He didn't deserve this.
I ventured outside and headed to the meeting place. Everyone who truly mattered in the Valar was already waiting there. The time for difficult decisions had arrived.
The promise I had made — I wanted to fulfill it at all costs. It consumed my mind, and it was what I wanted to discuss with everyone. What we would do, I did not know yet…