IDWTBTHQ Chapter 98 - Slugfest

The goblin army reached Millglade at sunset.

The red light of the setting sun shone on the metal of their weapons and armor, making them look as if they were on fire, while the very ground trembled with their steps and a cloud of dust rose behind them. The human-hobs were at the front, marching in tight formation, followed by the less disciplined but still formidable orc-hobs, who advanced without forming ranks but still in relatively good order. After them, there were some miscellaneous groups of goblinoids, from gargoyles to chitin-covered Vex-hobs, and at the end of the column a group of carts trailed slowly on the road, filled to the brim with supplies.

As impressive as it was, this army paled in comparison to the Vex that were awaiting for them.

More than forty thousand drones were quietly standing just outside the village, so motionless that they could be mistaken for part of the landscape. They kinda looked like a lake of dark chitin, with the biggest specimen standing out like waves, but at the same time the purple glow of their eyes made them seem like a star-filled alien sky. Not even a sound came from any of them, and that eerie silence felt more unnerving than any kind of bestial roar they could have made.

Marquis Eisen, who was standing right between the two forces, had the unpleasant feeling of being trapped between a rock and a hard place. On one side he didn't fully trust the goblins yet and watching such a host of them approaching him made him feel justifiably nervous, but on the other side the Vex, despite having proven trustworthy, somehow felt creepier than ever. And even worse meeting with their Queen hadn’t reassured him, but rather had made him even more nervous.

Marcus, who was now standing a few meters behind him, not only had the same overwhelming aura as always, but was also accompanied by four exceptionally intimidating drones, which she had called Destroyers. Having lived pretty much his whole life on the border of Caligare Forest, Eisen considered himself to be used to the sight of scary-looking beasts, but these Destroyers still managed to send a shiver down his spine. If he had to pin down the reason, it was probably because of the eerie grace with which they moved, which felt absolutely wrong for something of their size and made the nobleman feel as if he was a small mouse surrounded by huge, hungry cats.

Still, it would be hard to imagine more intimidating and effective bodyguards, so he had already decided that the protection they would provide both to him and the Vex Queen was well worth his discomfort.

And it seemed that this trade-off was indeed a good one, as the goblin delegation who approached him looked far too intimidated by those creatures to try and do anything even remotely close to betrayal. Hell, even the members of the Order of the Rose that accompanied them seemed a tad nervous.

“Would you look at those things?” Whispered one of them, the short-haired girl called Nemi. “Guess that little bug girl has one more thing in common with Sarah, besides her face. She also liked them big.”

“Hush!” Belinda, the leader of the group, shot her a stern gaze, but from her posture it was clear that she also was on her guard.

Unsurprisingly, the only one who seemed completely unperturbed by the Destroyers was the Goblin General, who kept the same calm expression as always as he rode towards the marquis. He then dismounted a few meters away from the man, left his horse to an attendant and walked right in front of the nobleman.

“Greetings, lord Eisen.” He said, while performing an elegant bow. “And greetings, sir Marcus.”

“Greetings, Trakk.” The marquis replied, returning the salute with a slight nod. “Thank you for joining us so quickly and with such short notice. However, since we're hard pressed for time, I'd appreciate it if we'd get straight to business. I've got some refreshment ready for you in the village, so we could have dinner while discussing the current situation there.”

“It's quite fine, milord.” The General said. “I also agree that time is of the utmost importance right now.”

“Very good.” The nobleman nodded, and turned to Belinda and the rest of the Order of the Rose. “You and your companions are also welcome to join us, lady Belinda.”

“We will, milord.” The old woman said.

“And naturally, I'd like for you and your friends to be present as well, Sir Marcus.” Eisen said, turning to the Vex Queen.

“Of course, lord Eisen.” She replied with a smile. “I know better than to turn down a free meal!”

“Then I hope you'll enjoy the food, even with your peculiar tastes.” The marquis smiled back. “Millglade is quite renowned for its cuisine!”

Sitting at a very large table which had been prepared in the house of the mayor of Millglade, Marcus looked suspiciously at the content of his plate. The dish looked like some sort of slug boiled and served with vegetables, but to his knowledge, slugs weren't the size of a full grown chicken, nor they had multiple human-like eyes.

Considering his dietary habits ever since he had become a Vex that shouldn't really have made him squeamish, but for some weird reason it did anyway. This was probably due to the context: it was one thing to eat bugs in a cave while he was starving to death, but having something so weird served on a plate during a fine dinner was something else entirely.

He poked at the food with his fork a few times and shuddered when the slug-thing wobbled like jelly, before turning to Klara, who was sitting next to him, and asked her under his breath:

“Uh... Klara, could you tell me what this thing is?”

“It's called a limac.” The girl replied. “It's some sort of slug that lives in small ponds and marshes. It's kind of hard to find because it usually hides in the mud, but it tastes really good.”

“Do... we have to eat the eyes as well?” The Vex Queen asked, a hint of queasiness in his voice.

“Why yes, they're the best part.” Klara confirmed with a smile. “They're a bit hard to chew, but they are incredibly tasty” She paused and then shot Marcus a puzzled look. “Why are you asking, by the way? Does this dish bother you somehow?”

“Not really.” The monster girl replied. “It's just... I'm not used to eating things like these. We didn't have anything like this where I came from.” He paused and then added: “Well, actually we did, but only weird people like the French eat them.”

“Wait a moment, are you being picky?” Klara asked, raising an eyebrow in disbelief. “You? I've seen you eat things that would make a goat sick, including a five hundred year old tentacle of a Zaru. Why are you squeamish about a limac?”

“I ate those things for the information they contained, not because I was hungry!” Marcus protested. “It's different!”

The girl looked at him for another moment and then shrugged.

“Well, you do you, I guess.” She said, “There is nothing forcing you to eat it if you don't want to. It'd be a shame though. It's a delicacy, and the mayor's wife is a very good cook.”

She promptly demonstrated the point by taking an eye from the slug with her fork and eating it whole.

Marcus stared at her for a moment, before turning his attention back to the plate.

“Well, it can't be worse than the things the French eat.” He thought, and he carefully took an eye and put it into his mouth. As Klara said, it was a tad hard to chew, but that was nothing for his sharp teeth and jaw power. The taste however was nothing to write home about, at least for him. As it always happened with cooked food he found it a bit bland. It wasn't bad or anything but he would have definitely enjoyed it more if it was raw, since that way he'd have managed to absorb more of its DNA.

“That's fan-frigging-tastic.” He thought with chagrin. “Can’t enjoy anything without being reminded of my condition. I’d die for a plate of fried chicken and a pizza, but as I am right now I’d probably find them flavorless or something. ”

Then, just as he finished that thought, he suddenly became aware of a change of atmosphere in the room. The worried but still jovial mood had turned into confusion and uneasiness, and the conversations that could be heard before had gone completely silent. He raised his head and saw that almost everyone in the room was staring at him with wide eyes.

“Ehr... is there something wrong?” He asked in a confused tone.

“Not really.” Marquis Eisen replied with a hint of hesitation. “It's just that for a moment I… Well, I felt that you were disappointed and angry with your food, sir Marcus. I think that we all felt that.”

Some of the others nodded in agreement, causing Marcus to remember that his thoughts weren’t exactly private anymore.

“Oh.” Marcus murmured in a mortified voice, blushing heavily. For some reason, the fact that what happened in his mind had been broadcasted to anyone in the vicinity made him feel very, very uncomfortable. Kind of like suddenly being naked in the middle of a public place.

“I am very sorry.” He apologized, his voice panicky. “I... I must have gotten lost in my thoughts for a moment. I'll try to be more careful.”

“Don't worry, it's not as if you've caused any harm.” The nobleman reassured him. “Anyway, if the current dish is not to your liking, we could easily get you something else.”

“No, no!” The Vex Queen shook his head. “This dish is actually good. I was just getting frustrated by the fact that I can't enjoy it properly because my sense of taste is weird.”

“We could get you something else to eat if you wish.”

“That's not necessary, thank you.” Marcus replied. “I didn't want to complain or anything. I... just slipped for a moment, that's all. I've still got a lot of work to do before I learn how to control my aura.”

“I think the fact that you're managing to exert any sort of control over your aura is already a huge improvement, sir Marcus.” Eisen replied with an encouraging smile. “Isn't that so, Mr Hoggs? You were his teacher in the past few months, so you should know.”

“Right you are, milord.” The telemancer replied from the other side of the table. “Sir Marcus's control over her powers had improved considerably in the past few months, especially considering the substantial increase of her aura.” He also smiled in Marcus's direction. “She worked very hard and diligently to achieve this control, and she can’t be faulted for slipping from time to time.”

The Vex Queen grimaced, feeling a tad embarrassed by those praises, which instead of calming him down made him even more uncomfortable.

“Well, anyway I’ll try to be more careful from now on. Now can we talk about strategy and stuff like that?” He replied, trying to change the subject. “I think that’s the point of this dinner, after all.”

“Of course.” The marquis nodded. “Though I think that the most qualified to do that is Trakk. He is the one that came up with the plan, after all.”

“You flatter me, marquis.”The General replied, before turning to the Vex Queen with an interested expression on his face. “However, before we start, I’d have a question for sir Marcus, if she doesn’t mind.”

“Ask away.” Marcus replied.

“From what I gathered from your conversation, it seems that your powers have increased.” The goblin said. “ And if that's the case, does it mean that the range within which you can control your drones has increased as well?”

The Vex Queen remained silent for a second, pondering whether or not he should answer that question, but then he internally shrugged and decided to do it. After all, the goblin really needed to know in order to plan the defense of Brettholz.

“Yes, it has.” He said. “Right now, it should be around thirty kilometers, probably even more. I haven't tested it in a while, so I can't say for sure.”

“Interesting.” The goblin nodded. “That's really good to know, and it will make the strategy we have devised even more effective.”

“What strategy is it?” Marcus asked.

Trakk looked at the marquis, who nodded in response, and then snapped his fingers. Two hobgoblins immediately arrived carrying a big rolled piece of parchment with them. When opened it, it showed a map of the Brettholz province, and the Goblin General took a stick and started pointing at it.

“Right now, the enemy forces we have sighted are divided into many small warbands, approaching us from the south along all the border of the Caligare Forest.” He drew a line over the southern edge of the map. “In order to stop them before they could reach the southernmost villages we’d have to scatter our forces as well, but doing so would leave us extremely vulnerable to a subsequent larger assault concentrated in a single area.”

“Wait!” Marcus said, his eyes growing wide. “So that's why the orcs have scattered their forces all over the forest? To make us do the same?”

“That's most likely.” The goblin replied. “Doing so offers them two advantages. The first one, as you pointed out, is that we are forced to divide our own forces in order to protect our holds. And the second one is that they have forced our scouts to retreat, effectively blinding us to what is happening to the south.”

A lot of people started murmuring quietly after this, expressing their opinions and thoughts to each other, but Klara suddenly raised her voice to be heard over that chatter.

“I’m sorry, but if the orcs have done this, doesn’t it mean that they know we are expecting them?”

“Yes.” The General nodded, looking at the girl with approval. “That's exactly what their current tactic seems to imply.” He paused for a moment, and then added: “Naturally, this is all speculation on our part, and we could be wrong. But it is the most logical explanation.”

Following this explanation the chatter grew even louder, and Marcus could feel a sense of discomfort and worry rising from the people around him. It was enough to make him feel uneasy, so he forced himself to ignore it and instead focused exclusively on Trakk.

“Alright.” He said, narrowing his eyes. “How are we going to deal with it then? What exactly is your plan?”

“It's rather simple.” The goblin explained. “We are going to evacuate the villages closer to the forest, and make a few detachments that will hunt down the orc warbands in this area.” He made a circle around the southern portion of the Brettholz province on the map. “It is going to take a while to kill them all, but this way we’ll keep the bulk of our forces together, and ready to respond to the appearance of an actual orc army. And this is where your powers come into play, sir Marcus.” He pointed at the south-central part of the province, near the village of Oakfell. “From here your telepathy should cover the most ground, allowing your flying drones to scout out the forest and warn us if the orc army makes an appearance.”

“Yeah, that should work.” The Vex Queen nodded. “So I’d stay there and send out my drones in these hunting teams to kill the orcs, all while I’m also keeping watch for the orc army. Right?”

“Actually, it’d be better if you use your drones only for scouting, while keeping your fighting drones with the rest of our army.” Trakk replied.

“What? Why?”

“A couple of reasons.” Trakk said. “First, your army is by far the fastest at our disposal, so it's the perfect choice to intercept the main orc army when it'll show up. And second,  it's possible that the orcs don't know about the true magnitude of the Vex forces, since even we were unaware of it until a few weeks ago, and we didn't exactly make it public knowledge afterwards. If that's the case, you would also have the element of surprise when first engaging the orcs, and it'd be a shame to waste it on these preliminary engagements.”

Marcus stared at the goblin for a few seconds, slowly processing this explanation, before finally nodding.

“That makes sense.” He said. “Very well, I'll stay behind in Oakfell then. Klara has a house there, so I could stay at her place while we wait for the orc army to show up.” He turned to the girl. “Of course, if that’s all right for you.”

“Sure.” The girl nodded. “My place is a little bare right now, as I still have to get most of the furniture back, but the beds are still there at least. And sleeping with a roof over your head is better than staying in a tent, at least.”

“Yeah, that’d be greatly appreciated.” Marcus said with a smile. “We can keep living together as we have for the past month. You, me, Felix and Hoggs.”

“Ehm.” Felix suddenly chimed in, rising from his chair. “Actually, I’d like to join the detachments that will hunt down the orcs.”

“What?” Klara cried. “You can’t do that!”

“I can.” The apprentice sorcerer replied in an adamant tone. “I’ve trained all winter for this. Now it’s the time to put my powers to the test.”

“That’s a valiant offer, young man.” The marquis said. “And sure, those detachments will need all the help they can.” He turned to Hoggs. “You oversaw this man’s training as well, didn’t you Hoggs? What is your opinion about the help he could provide?”

“Young Felix is probably one of the most powerful battlecasters I’ve ever seen in my entire life.” The old telemancer promptly replied. “Maybe he’s still a bit rough around the edges, but his raw power more than compensates for that. In a battle scenario, he’s going to be the equivalent of one hundred soldiers, if not more.”

Klara, her face absolutely livid, turned to Marcus and whispered to him angrily.

“Marcus, tell him he can't go. Since we're both sworn to serve you for the time being, he won't be able to go if you say that he can't!”

“Sorry, but I won't.” The Vex Queen replied under his breath, trying to not let the fear and anger radiating from the girl influence him. “That's up to him to decide.” He paused for a second and then added, trying to calm her down: “However, I will keep an eye of him through my drones, and I'll stop him from doing anything stupid.”

Klara gave him a defeated look, which quickly turned defiant.

“Fine.” She said, her voice cold. “If it's like this, I won't argue any further. However...” She narrowed her eyes and looked at Felix. “If something happens to Felix, I'll hold you partially responsible for it!”

Marcus swallowed nervously, a bit shaken by the girl’s attitude. On one hand, he could see her point, as he too felt reluctant to let Felix risk his life pointlessly. But on the other hand, he sympathized with the boy’s need to show his worth. Being —or at least having been— a man himself, he knew what the young sorcerer was going through, and behaving foolishly was part of the process of growing up.

Besides, it wasn’t as if the risks were too big right now.

“Don't worry Klara.” He whispered. “The warbands that the hunting teams will hunt are small and made up only of orcs. Better to let him go at them now than later, when they’re going to be many more and led by ogres and the oni.”

The girl remained silent for a moment, considering the Vex Queen’s words, and he could feel her emotions calming down a bit.

“Maybe you’re right.” She replied. “But I’m still worried. Even normal orcs are extremely dangerous, and there are so many things that could go wrong.”

“That’s normal.” Marcus said. “But accidents can always happen, even while you’re sitting in your house. I mean, Felix could very well survive the battle only to choke on a fishbone. And besides, he has gotten very strong with his magic, so I doubt that an orc would be much of a threat to him.”

The girl nodded but remained silent, and the Vex Queen could clearly feel that her worries, while less strong, had not been entirely placated.

Trakk and the others kept talking, but Marcus also started doing his own thinking, mostly trying to come up with a plan to keep Felix safe without him realizing it.

After all, he really didn’t want to have to tell Klara that something had happened to their friend. He’d have rather fought the dragon from the hills alone and armed only with a stick.