Chapter 94 - 92: Reunion and Downtime
I have officially transformed from tamed beast to pillow.
Kasz’s arms drape over me as I lie on the grass near the pond. His pointed chin digs into my back as he rests on top of me. Although still faintly rank, he doesn’t smell as unpleasant as before. Also, he seems content to scratch behind my ears.
Lightning is glued to my side, and occasionally he sprawls over onto her back, his arms and legs having a mind of their own and zero regard for personal space. Astonishingly, Lightning does not seem to mind. After hearing his tragic backstory, she is giving him a level of grace that I have never seen with an adversary.
If only we could communicate with him. If only he had Telepathy. That is the only flaw in this unexpectedly cozy scene.
"Raar has a good mate," he says for the tenth time. "Raar’s mate is kind and protective."
Lightning mock grumbles. [He could use my name.]
[Oh, you don’t like being called my mate?]
She grumbles again. [Well, if you are Raar, I should be Raar too.]
[Raara?]
I brace myself for a thump to the head, but she purrs. [I am Raara to him. Tell him.]
I growl to Kasz, "Raara." I point to Lightning with a jerk of my head. Lightning echoes, "Raara."
Kasz’ laughter vibrates against my fur. "Raara! Raara is smart. Raara is the one who knows. Listen to Raara."
Lightning puffs out her chest. He couldn’t give her a bigger compliment than to tell her that she is the smart one of the two of us. "Raara," she purrs.
Kasz laughs and scratches her fur. "I like Raara. Almost better than Raar."
At that, I roar, pretending to be annoyed. Lightning flashes me a supremely smug smile.
Kasz continues. "Raara came to fight for you, Raar. Humans, elves, bears, all very scary. But Raara fought for her mate. I will have a mate one day."
He sounds wistful but also matter-of-fact.
Lightning lifts her head, incredulous. [He’s a goblin chief and yet he doesn’t have a mate? Whyever not?]
I shrug. [Your guess is as good as mine. There are goblin females.]
Lightning is in matchmaking mode. [It wouldn’t have to be a goblin. It could be a halfling like Niall or a dwarf or a Fae. Or anything, really.]
Oh no. Lightning, or Raara, must be stopped when she matchmakes. What’s next, Dag and Gussie? Never happen. I’m just being silly.
Kasz sighs, sprawling across us both. "Raar, I see now why you wanted to escape. You have a good home. Good mate."
Lightning swoons. [He better repeat that constantly.]
Warming up in his soliloquy, Kasz rhapsodizes. "If you stayed with us, we would lose our home to trolls. Master Lamant asked if there was any way to take our caves back. No. Humans don’t understand. The caves are cursed. Trolls probably cursed them. They bring darkness."
Troll curses? Is that a thing, System?
[Yes. It is. Trolls are not just hulking oafs in this world.]
I know. They’re absolute barbarians in the most frightening sense. But trolls curse people?
[Yes. The tribe of trolls that took over the goblin caverns laid a curse on them when Kasz was just a wee goblin. The curse guaranteed that they would come back.]
WAIT. Niall can break curses, can’t he?
[Not this one, I’m afraid. It’s so dark and pervasive that it’s in the rocks now. Even if you got rid of the trolls, you couldn’t get rid of the curse. Kasz is correct.]
Kasz picks up on System’s thought without realizing it, but then, he is a character in the game, and knows the story even without knowing what he knows. "The Halfling Master Niall says that the curse could be broken now, but in his words, ’we would have to destroy the caves and the land around them for a thousand years.’ Niall is a funny halfling with strange hair, but he knows beasts and curses."
I growl in agreement. Niall knows what he’s talking about. And he is an odd halfling with hair that perpetually looks like no brush has touched it, but he is right.
Lightning licks my face, washing me. [Master Niall is the one to listen to. Interesting how he has befriended the goblins so that they can have these long conversations.]
[As he said, Niall is strange.]
With a "mrrrp," Lightning agrees.
Kasz rubs her ears. "Raara knows. Raara knows that we are home. We should have left the caves when the trolls came before. That rock-headed old goblin chief liked his treasure too much. He liked the caves too much."
[See?] Lightning revels in his praise. [You should listen to me.]
[Yes, Raara.]
A warm glow spreads through me. In other points in my life, I would grumble every time someone got more attention than I. Naturally, being immature, I would be jealous. However, having a super awesome mate changes your perspective. It tickles me that Kasz now prefers Lightning to me.
Demos’ musky bear scent wafts in, and Lobo’s fresh running-wild scent mingles with it. Our friends spend more time in our tiger den than they do with Vedette and Hans., but it seems to be where the action is. Especially now that it has a semi-permanent goblin.
[He should just move in.] That’s Demos’ incisive comment, biting like his jaws. [He’s here whenever we’re here. He has claimed you. Blaze, I hope you haven’t switched tamers.]
In response, I flick my ear lazily. No need to rise to such obvious baiting by my bear pal. [You missed some good gossip. Apparently, Niall and Kasz are friends.]
[Unsurprising, he collects oddball friends.] Lobo has a quick wit too. [First Maartenwitz, now Kasz. At least Kasz is close to his size.]
Kasz rubs my ears. "I was wrong to try to take you from this. From your friends. Your mate."
Well, color me stunned. I didn’t think Kasz would admit fault out loud. He certainly didn’t own up to anything after my rescue party invaded the goblin stronghold. But sorrow might be the best teacher, as harsh as that sounds.
Lightning offers a startled "mrrrp". [I fear that he is convincing. Too convincing.]
[Clearly. You have him using you as a bed.]
Her jaws snap at me, just to make a point. [I am allowing him to. I am being generous with him. To ensure that he never again becomes an enemy.]
[Well, mission accomplished. He is practically melting into you.]
She makes the most adorable feisty "mrrrp" I’ve heard yet. [Ugh! You are being ridiculous.]
And that is my mate! She’s tamed a goblin. I guess I have, too.
Kasz tugs at my ears. "Raar? Are you listening to me?"
Ugh, this goblin! Bossy. Demanding.
Demos can’t bear this indignity, and so he lunges for Kasz. Lobo pounces, and Kasz’s old habits rear their ugly goblin head. He starts trying to pummel the beasts, and they attack back.
It is utter chaos now. Everyone is attacking, play fighting, with laughter, roars, growls, and goblin yells. Gussie and Dag try to help, or not as the case may be. Honestly, the two of them seem like natural-born enemies who will never stop pecking at each other. Sunny but bossy Gussie and Dag, who only has a vague idea of the sun, are hardly the likeliest of friends, but then, the same could be said about Lobo and me.
Eventually, the fighting dies down and all the beasts flop onto the grass, or onto our tiger-nest pillows. Kasz flops down, staring up while lying on his back.
"That was a fun fight," he says. "Like goblin wrestling. I can teach all of you goblin fighting. No one will ever take Raar, Raara, or their cubs again."
Demos yawned. [Who knew that goblins could brawl like beasts? But ugh, they are so exhausting. I need a nap.]
Gussie and Dag perch on one of the trees, at opposite ends, their backs to each other.
"You annoy," Dag caws.
"You have terrible manners," Gussie grouches.
"Only ones I know," Dag replies.
For a long moment, Gussie wrestles with that simple truth. Finally, she huffs and fluffs out her feathers. "I will teach you different manners. You can learn."
"No need," Dag says, but it sounds less than convincing.
Lobo and Demos stretch out, lying where they’ve fallen as if blown there by a violent windstorm.
This is the life. Unexpected, madcap, a thrill a minute, and now we get to relax all over again. My friends and my mate are sleepy and content around me.
Yawning, I sleep beside my pregnant mate. My sleep gets disturbed when Kasz bumps up against me and refuses to move. His big goblin nose pokes me, and he sighs into my fur.
He will teach us goblin fighting when we wake up. In the meantime, I’m going to sleep beside my mate and with Kasz permanently glued to me.
No sooner have I fallen asleep than something jolts me awake...