Several days passed in a similar fashion to the first. With some reluctance, I did join my brothers in feeding from Sha’ree, but from time to time my mother would pluck me from my harness and nurse me humming and looking deep in thought. Little by little she grew stronger and eventually, she stopped using the wolf head cane altogether. Her hair, which had been wild and unkempt, began to look well-tended to as she styled half of it in intricate braids that clung tightly to her head.
The rest was left to fall in long waves, the whole of it dotted with beautifully crafted metal hair beads. Her clothing was no longer the plane thick and somewhat soiled robes, she now wore a hid dress tied at the front, blood red in color and trimmed with fur along with a heavy black leather apron. She also wore a work belt on her hips adorned with tools I didn’t recognize, accompanied by a roomy satchel attached to each thigh. Sometimes our mother would bundle me tightly in a fur blanket and carry me, and on occasion one or two of my brothers, around our home with her. This allowed me to get a better look at where we were living.
It was constructed of three yurts, large circular rooms with walls made of wooden lattices covered in animal hides. The hides extended to the ceiling covering the wood beams that created their domed roofs, at the top of which was a circular opening you could see the sky through; it also allowed fresh air to circulate and smoke from the fires to escape. They were decorated with a variety of wood furnishings all made from red-tinted wood and the flooring was a patchwork of furs.
We were kept in what looked to be the main yurt, containing a cooking pit, several red clay jars that I assumed contained preserved foodstuffs, a tall weaving loom, countless nick knacks, tools, and our mother's bed piled high with furs and pillows. Tucked near her bed was a pile of furs where Sha’ree would lie while nursing us. The yurt also had three doorways that formed a triangle, one led to our mother’s forge, where she would spend most of her time when not preoccupied with us.
The other two doors had thick hide “doorways” that were rarely opened. My best guess was the door closest to the forge was some sort of storeroom, the other seemed to lead to the exit of the house, judging by the sounds I could hear coming from it. We never went outside, Sha’ree would often leave and come back several hours later caring freshly killed game, but our mother never left and no one ever visited. From time to time she would pass through the front entrance and return moments later, carrying various items, sometimes tools or even a sword or an axe. She would then take them to the forge where she would do, what looked to be repaired. There always seemed to be a package of some kind waiting for her.
One day we awoke to the sound of a thundering crash, followed by banging. It seemed to be coming from the frontmost yurt, the one leading outside. I squirmed and wiggled, flexing my sad little baby muscles, and rolling to my stomach. While I still couldn’t walk yet, or even crawl, I was able to wiggle around enough that I could aim myself toward the door. Thankfully we were spending more and more time out of the feeding harness, otherwise, I would have been even more helpless unable to see anything at all. I listened, it sounded like yelling or maybe an argument. The uncertainty bared down on me like a tangible weight, crushing me.
‘Please be safe Mother,’ I pleaded in my mind. In the short time, I had been alive I’d grown attached to my new mother. It was more than just the instinctual draw of a child to its parent. I could feel her love for me when she held me close when she’d hummed and sang ancient hymns to help me fall asleep. It eased the deep ache inside me and made me miss a life I couldn’t remember a little less.
Everything had gone eerily silent. I waited for several minutes before activating my ability.
Ability Toggled: Summon Mother
I began to cry and several of my brothers joined in the sad chorus. Hearing footsteps followed by the pattering of large heavy feet I became mute in fear. From the doorway emerged a massive fur-covered figure and I instantly relaxed. It looked like I had summoned Sha’ree, but she wasn’t my mother. Where was she? I started crying again, my voice growing louder and shriller as the fear in my stomach grew with each passing second.
A sound like water dripping made its way to my small ears, seaming to echo through the yurt. Then a harsh smell, like iron, accosted my nose overwhelming my senses and silencing me and my brothers. A figure appeared next to Sha’ree. Mother. Her leather apron was covered in blood and viscera. She held a long kitchen knife in one hand and a corpse in the other. Or what was left of one. The body looked to have a similar yellowish skin tone to our mother but with a wider frame, thicker muscles and was clad in studded leather armor. I focused on the body, trying to see if I could glean any more information from it. A red window appeared before me.
Inspection Inquiry: Failed
You are not a high enough tier to inspect.
With my inspection failed I was left clueless. I looked back at my mother’s beautiful face, now covered in blood. Her eyes seemed to glow with what looked to be fire, I could feel the room growing warmer and the ensuing pressure made me feel like I was choking. The unbearable silence was suddenly broken by one of my brothers crying out. Immediately the pressure in the room evaporated and my mother’s body seemed to relax. The fire burning in her eyes was now extinguished. She looked at Sha’ree, seaming to communicate with her silently, the giant wolf turned and walked back to the entrance laying in front of the door.
Though her position seemed relaxed her head was up, ears twitching and alert. For the rest of the night, I could hear mother working, dragging bodies from the entrance to the yurt opposite her forge. I realized there was another exit out of our home, one leading from the other yurt. She worked at a steady pace, never slowing as she moved from one end of our home to the other. I lost count of the bodies, but noticed that while some looked like the first, others were so massive she had to use two hands and visible effort to drag them to the back. All the while Sha’ree lay at the entrance still as a statue, body tense and waiting.
I watched the morbid scene unfold till my eyes grew heavy and sleep took me. The next morning, I awoke to find some of my brothers much larger than the night before. They must have achieved their first milestone. I saw a red popup in the corner of my vision and ignored it. It was probably the notification to view my information, the same one I got every morning, I didn’t feel the need to check it as my stats had yet to change.
The inside of the yurt was permeated with an intoxicatingly sweet smell and underneath it the scent of iron still hung heavy in the air. I spotted my mother on the floor, attempting to scrub blood from some of the furs. Others seemed to be deemed a lost cause as they were rolled up and set aside. She glared down at her work looking upset. I desperately wanted to go to her. I reached out my hand and saw that my arm was now larger.
I realized that I felt stronger as well. I decided to test my newfound strength, rolling to my belly and moving my pudgy limbs in a crawling motion. Nothing happened as I squirmed in place on the ground. It looked like crawling was still off the table. I formed a new plan; I would use my summon ability to get her attention and try to be as cute as possible. She seemed to enjoy it when I babbled at her and reached out my chubby hands to touch her face. Maybe that would do the trick. I opened my mouth to cry but another sound came instead.
“M-Mawmaw,” a tiny broken voice made its way out of my throat. I had just spoken my first word. Wait, shouldn’t crawling be first? I felt like you were supposed to crawl before you begin to talk. My thoughts were interrupted as a red window filled my vision.
Pre-tier Milestone Achieved!
Gain the ability to speak.
Congratulations!
You have completed the Second Pre-tier Milestone!
You are awarded 10% Growth. You are now at 23% growth.
The time needed to reach adulthood is reduced by 10% of the total requirement. Your attributes and size will be finished adjusting within 10 seconds.
I felt my body tingle as my stubby arms grew slightly longer and pudgier.
My surprise was quickly quashed when my attention was drawn to something scurrying past me in the corner of my eye. It was my brother Malkadian. His limbs flailed dumbly as he scurried toward our mother appeared to have grown larger than the day before. He looked back at me and flashed the smuggest grin I had ever seen on a baby.
‘Cheeky bastard,’ I thought to myself as a shrill giggle erupted from my throat.
Our Mother’s eyes grew wide with astonishment then quickly softened as she smiled and let out a laugh. She stood and walked over to Malkadian, who hadn’t even made it halfway to her, and she picked him up hoisting him into the air. Hands still covered in blood.
“You chose to crawl while your sister chose to speak. Action and words, a good pairing in my book,” she placed him back on the floor and quickly went to the bucket, washing the blood from her hands, while Sha’ree did her best to lick Malkadian clean as he shrieked and giggled.
“When your father hears of this he will be overjoyed that his children passed their first milestones so quickly!” She gathered us all on the floor before moving to a nearby shelf and plucking a scroll from it. She then began to inspect each of us, writing things down on the yellowing parchment as she went.
“Both of the eldest passed their second milestone already!” she exclaimed with a smile as she read over her notes.
“Now, let me see. If I remember goblin children grow quickly, so there should be no more than five or six. However, the eldest appears small.” Our mother muttered to herself; I had no idea what she was talking about. She then looked up and seemed to glare at us, my very essence felt like it was being scrutinized.
“Ahh, 2 of ten for all three of them,” she frowned and furrowed her brow, looking puzzled.
“That’s odd. It's almost similar to Hoblin children,” she paused, seaming to consider something for a moment.
“The others require anywhere from 5-7. They must be more powerful!” A grin spread across her face. While I didn’t understand what was going on, seeing my mother smile put me at ease.
“If you have learned to speak, then you can learn to listen. I will need to teach you about the world you have been born to. So that you may survive it.” She collected us and placed us back in Sha’ree’s saddle, where we fed for a few hours, while she returned to cleaning with renewed vigor. Every now and then I felt what seemed to be whisks of heat and tremors that shook the ground. Our mother didn’t seem worried, so I decided to ignore it.
The sunset and our mother claimed us from the saddle, placing us around the hearth in the front room, we were able to look up and see the stars through the hole in the ceiling. As I gazed up I saw that the four central pillars of the yurt were covered in intricate carvings, depicting wolfs that chased an array of creatures, whose names I could only guess, around and up the pillars and out the top of the yurt. Sha’ree stood up from her fur-lined bed and stretched her limbs briefly before trotting over to lie in front of the doorway that led to the outside. Just like she had done the night before.
Looking around the room, I noticed a pile of bloodied weapons and armor tucked away near the entrance of the yurt. I also saw that the walls seemed to be patched in a few places and the floor, once fully covered with plush furs, was now completely bare in some spots, exposing the hard ground beneath it. The moons hung high above our heads, and the soft light that shined down danced and mingled with the warm glow of the hearth's fire. Then our mother spoke.
“You are of the Bloodstorm Clan. Sons and daughter of Urana Bloodstorm and Sadash Bloodstorm. I am Urana Bloodstorm, your mother,” I wasn’t sure why, but hearing her tell us her name filled me with warmth. My mind wandered to the other name. Sadash. I wondered what my father was like and when I would get to meet him when she spoke again.
“I will now tell you the story of Ignis, whom I know you all met before coming to me in my belly.” Suddenly, the fire blazed with an intense heat at the mention of Ignis’s name. If we hadn’t been paying attention before, we certainly were now.
“Let me tell you of the war of the Gods” and her eyes flickered with excitement.