1.36 The Tumorous Aftermath
Vicktor began to tie up the goblins hands, their bindings positioned in front of their chests so that no one could hide their hand movements. He started with the ones that were only tier one chosen. His mind specifically tried to ignore the more detailed part of his lesson with Master Zert.
Looking over to where the three strongest goblins were grouped. Master Tosk still had his scaled fist around the strongest one's throat, the goblin's green skin had shifted towards a blueish black, getting darker around the male goblin's neck. The nearly lifeless goblin, Xethrai the fourth sub-chief, didn't seem particularly capable of doing anything besides small shallow breaths as he hung in the iron grip.
The goblins did not speak as they were bound, they did not try to introduce slack in the rope in order to try for a risky escape.
'I wonder what I would do in their shoes if Master Tosk was clutched in a giant's hand. Probably about the same level of stunned silence. Maybe an even more embarrassing display.'
Thankfully, there were no smells that Vicktor could detect, although Alar and Nora seemed to be a surprising distance from their captives, so perhaps there was something.
As Vicktor restrained the seven goblins, he noted that they were roughly equal in terms of sex. They had even less physical sexual dimorphism compared to mundane humans. It was difficult to detect differences under their leathers. None had beards or signs of stubble. The only way Vicktor could only guess at their gender was from the decoration that adorned their hair.
All seemed to keep their hair long. The more masculine adorned their hair with beads and nonmetal trinkets, while the more feminine seemed to dye their hair with the whole spectrum of light.
Some, Vicktor noticed, decorated their hair with beads, trinkets, and dyes. It didn't seem like the time to figure out their cultural norms, societal expectations, and gender roles. There would be time for that soon.
Both had black growths from where their armor had been burned away, they looked unhappy to be alive. One of the two must've been the healer but perhaps they didn't they they were skilled enough to treat their tumors.
Vicktor started towards the tier two chosen trying to not look into their wrinkled and pitted greenish yellow flesh. The healing potion had repaired some of the damage to their face, but it had done nothing for their eye sockets, only a thin layer of shriveled skin covered what used to be their eyes.
As he moved closer to the two, Master Tosk dropped the goblin in his fist and waved him off with the same hand, small crystals shining in the sunlight. The goblins leader fell to the ground, catching himself with shaky hands. The goblin leaned back on his knees and began to massage his black throat, coughing roughly.
Master Tosk waited patiently for a few moments, the lizardkin seeming to almost grow in stature, there was a certain forcefulness in his eyes that Vicktor had not seen before, it wasn't the rage of drunkards or disfavor of parents. Perhaps it was closest to a time that he'd seen a teacher at the academy catch a fellow student cheating on an exam. A combination of disdain, disappointment, and a hint of weary pity.
"Good afternoon, Xethrai of Clan Toa-Ti, and his party. We are a diplomatic envoy from humanity, we seek to discuss a previous trade agreement, could you please let Chief Re'at know that we will arrive in Tao-Ti-Cua tomorrow afternoon." The words were calm and cold, nothing of his original joviality remained from before the fight.
The man's once gravelly voice had been reduced to the sound of two pieces of granite sliding past each other, "We will, Mage. What about our weapons?"
Master Tosk shook his head, "Xethrai, we both know you can kill just about anything in this forest with your fists, that's why you decided to attack us. The ten of you are prisoners until our arrival, do not remove the bindings of these seven or perform the Ritual of the Vanquished until our arrival. I will perform the rite myself."
The granite voice goblin started, "But that's only for intra–"
Master Tosk, raised a hand, the crystals melting down his palm, the force surrounding him seemed to increase intensity. It almost reminded Vicktor of Princep Talia and Princep Tolly, "Re'at and I have a history, he will approve of it, he has in the past."
That silenced Xethrai for a few moments, before he asked in a defeated tone, "What of the blind? They cannot avoid the trees."
"You will carry them." Master Tosk then spoke to the assembled prisoners," I will return each of your weapons as part of the rite. Now go, if you start now, you'll make it just before sunset."
The goblins waited a moment, looking at each other and then finally to Xethrai. The goblin got to his feet, grabbed his two companions by the waist and whistled. The paraplegic woman was picked up by two goblins and they departed as one, following after their leader. They soon vanished beyond a giant trunk.
Vicktor tried to extend his earthsense, feeling for the sound of seven sets of footfalls. Eventually the sound became undetectable from his perception and he turned to Master Tosk who was still watching in the direction they had departed. His face did not move for several minutes, his slitted yellow eyes didn't even blink.
Eventually, his master relaxed a fraction and sighed, "let's go, we've already stayed in one place too long."
Alar collected his turrets, placing them into his bag. Nora reshouldered her bow and stretched her arms, finally letting them return to their normal size. Vicktor surveyed the battleground, wondering if it was worth fixing, but he decided against asking. It would have been good practice, but there was a lot to adjust, nature would take care of it eventually.
Wordlessly, the apprentices and their master began to trek behind the set of seven prints, one seeming to sink far deeper into the soil.
They walked for several more hours, periodically stopping as Master Tosk held up a hand. They did not speak for the rest of their walk. All of them seem trapped in their own heads. Eventually the sun fell too far from its zenith and they stopped for the night, exceptionally weary. They had travelled more than any day before.
They dropped their packs and pulled out their rations. Nora was the first to break the silence. Her voice almost cracked as she asked, "Hey Alar?"
"Yeah Nora?", the avian seemed distracted.
"Can I have those crickets? I'm not in the mood to taste smoked meat right now. Those tier two chosen smelled far too much like food."
"Sure, there's a reason I had them out instead of my jerky, help yourself", Alar offered the bag, "Vicktor, now would be the time if you want to try one?"
Vicktor had similarly been put off by eating his jerked auroch, it hadn't been the smell, but instead it had been the sight. The healing potions effects on the burns had not been pretty and even a few hours after, his stomach hadn't fully settled. "I'm going to be annoyed if these insects taste bad."
Alar chuckled, "crickets, not bees, mostly bland, slightly nutty and a little salty."
Nora placed hers in her mouth, behind sharp canines and gave the small morsel a crunch with her molars. Her eyes didn't fly wide in disgust, the catkin continued chewing before swallowing.
"Not bad, could use a sauce or something, it is a bit dry." She was clearly the bag for another bite.
Vicktor plucked a dried one up and held it between two fingers, feeling the hard exterior looking at the small legs.
"Nutty and salty, of course you two would like it," Vicktor grinned before taking a bite. The two apprentices raised their eyebrows at him. He chewed, feeling the little spiky bits of the cricket poke at him before swallowing.
"Definitely an acquired taste, could use some spice, flavor and maybe some sugar. You know, it's a shame we didn't bring any alliums, that might've gone great with some garlic and onion powder..."
"You're an acquired taste", Alar mocked between handfuls of the crickets.
"They really do seem to be," Master Tosk said, maintaining a perfectly straight face, "but they're also very useful so let's keep 'em around. Vicktor, lad, let's get a shelter up. Let's make it deeper than we did last time, we will need to disguise this better. Let's put the entrance right next to a tree. Maybe some hardened ladder rungs."
Vicktor did as he was asked, while the others ate their crickets. This work was definitely more constraining than before. He had to work around the roots more, so there was less room than before. He even made a disguised hatch to cover the entrance and prevent rain from getting in at all. Some breathing holes were needed, so some channels were placed in order to prevent the rain clogging them or getting into the shelter.
It took a couple of minutes, but Vicktor felt like he was getting the hang of it, when there was less need for his mana, he would need to experiment with different living situations.
'Maybe something like a cot so I don't have to stand up?'
He gave Selia an update, feeling the device sap even more energy than it had before. It was a struggle to do anything as the device drained him and his eyelids felt heavy.
"...we should arrive in Tao-Ti-Cua tomorrow, hopefully this Re'at person and goblin society in general are nicer than the ones we met today. Some even seemed sorry, maybe..., but not all... I like you, goodnight."