Almost immediately after beginning to stump off, Dug had turned around to fetch the corpse of the creature he had slain. It had an uncanny resemblance to the creatures known as gnolls from his home plane. While he had no desire for Obu to recreate those horrid creatures he couldn’t help but admit that they were terrifying fighters and his daughter needed every defender she could get.
Whether or not she chose to raise this hyena-gorilla hybrid to sapience was up to her but he had a feeling she would. She was there for most of his encounters with the gnolls and her inherited memories ran deep. Even if she did not choose to use the beast it would still be a powerful creature to face.
The reason he was now dragging the corpse through the forest was because his daughter was deep in thought. He didn’t want to interrupt her thinking session so he would take care to preserve the beast until she was ready to claim it.
He and his tagalong moved swiftly through the forest, even with the addition of the big beastie. After all, it wasn’t hard for Dug to infuse his musculature and bones with Waag which made the dragging of the corpse a simple prospect. They made good time, though the tagalong’s inquisitiveness made the journey anything but peaceful for the old goblin.
“Hey old timer, I don’t mean to interrupt your silent brooding but could you explain why you have the Sun Core that looks like it's been dunked in poison? And could you possibly explain why we are headed away from my companions and leaving them TO DIE?!”
Dug grunted. It hadn’t taken long for the young man to lose his sense of awe and respect. His voice was tinged with anger and the last was yelled loud enough to scare birds from the trees nearby. Stopping and turning Dug looked up into the red face of the panting and angry two-legs.
“Yousa’s panions beez gone, not dedded. Isa will take care of dem. Now shut youz trap an follow Dug.” He turned back and continued on his way, leaving the young man to follow or not as he wished. It didn’t take long for the man’s longer strides to catch back up and he settled into sullen silence. But it didn’t last for long.
“And the Sun Core? Last time I checked it was in the chest of Toliaro, the Son of Sunlight. Why do you have it and not him?”
Dug stopped again and again looked up into the man’s face. There was apprehension there that let Dug know he suspected the outcome of Dug’s meeting with Toliaro. Dug turned and once again began stumping off.
“Isa came to dis world by axeedent. Met dis man uze speak of hunting someting. Told him tah leave but den he attack. Didn’t know Dug also uze dah great Ever-fire. Took what he threw an threw it back. Notta much left when he hit dah ground. Took dah shiny from him aftah. Had no need fah it anymore aftah all.”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“You…you killed him?” The tagalong’s voice was tinted with horror and there was a pause before he spoke again and this time the horror was mixed with understanding. “You’re one of them.” The venom in the last word made Dug sigh. He turned to find the man’s eyes filled with equal parts anger and despair.
“Yes-yes, isa not part of dah sysitem dat youz are. Notta need it and isa will be chained by nuttink.” He said the last part firmly and his eyes ignited at the fervor of his spirit. The man sucked in a breath and froze at the sight. Dug just snorted and began walking again.
After a time he heard the lad’s footfalls sound behind him and he readied himself for a verbal confrontation that never happened. The tagalong remained silent for the remainder of the journey which didn’t end up being that much longer.
Before long they had broken into a more open expanse of ground and they were greeted by the sight of Talpi and Muskeera working industriously around the cliff face that housed his home. The little creatures froze at the sight of Dug but squeaked in terror at the sight of the human and fled in all directions.
Dug sighed at the cacophony before bringing his hands together in a great clap, manipulating the Aether in the air to carry the sound. The little beasts froze, some midrun which caused them to sprawl face down in the dirt as their momentum carried them forward.
“Dis here beez my guest so youz gotta nottink tah fear. Be about youz day. Go on, git!” Those final few words he said with a bit of umph and the creatures found their feet worked quite well. They were no longer running around in a panic but they still shot fearful glances at his tall tagalong.
Turning to the human, Dug found him staring at the little beasts with what looked like awe.
“What are they?” He asked, looking to Dug when he didn’t answer right away.
Dug sighed, looking at the hustle and bustle around him. “Dey’s beez my daughtah’s pets. Notta very smartish, notta yet, but deys gettink der. Maybees be notta pets sooner den later. Kept demselves real dumb-dumb wid fightin and such but dey all peaceful-like now.”
He motioned for the young human to follow him and he began dragging the hyena-like beast to the cliff face. Only waiting for the human to catch up, the old goblin flooded the earth around them with Aether before lifting a large section of the rock.
Connected to the side of the cliff face they rose into the air like one of the magical platforms he had seen once in a dwarven city. That had been an adventure but he had gained all sorts of interesting ideas on how to use Aether and magic.
Still hadn’t been much fun being chased around by burly little men and their magical repeating bolt throwers.
When they reached the top, he made immediately for the cave entrance set into the mountain. It was only once he had gotten there that he realized he hadn’t heard the human’s footsteps following him. He turned to see him kneeling in front of the shining man’s corpse.
There was a kind of agony on the man’s face, akin to that of a man seeing a source of salvation only to realize it was a false hope. Dug sighed and continued into his home. The man would either hate him or recognize the fallacy of doing so. Either way, Dug had much bigger concerns at the moment. He needed to prepare for war.