After freeing himself from the rock crevice, Dwindle spent the remaining day scouring the area for signs of his young companion. He searched high and low. He hopped on the old dwarf’s wagon and rode down to the forest at the foot of the mountain. Poly awoke and paled in hearing the news. Their search continued well into the night until they were finally forced to stop when darkness prohibited anything to be seen.
When they awoke the next day, Dwindle and Poly went deeper into the forest, Dwindle with a crossbow in hand.
Please be alright, champ, Dwindle prayed as Poly hugged close to him like a backpack. The elf wasn’t a fighter, but she wouldn’t stay behind. She wanted to make sure Red was safe.
Hours passed by but the small pair remained resolved to search. They continued their trek through the forest keeping an ear out for danger and any sign of Red Rumble.
A deep grumbling caused them to become alert.
Dwindle threw himself against a tree while dragging Poly with him. His round head swiveled back and forth, searching for the source of the noise. He and Poly both poked their small heads out past the tree to find a black furred bear lying on the ground just a few feet away.
Poly hiccupped and had a dwarven hand placed on her lips to quiet her. Both elf and dwarf knew of such bears, creatures known to attack and feed on all manner of things, including the civilized races.
These bears did not discriminate in their prey be it beast or humanoid. They were called skull faced bears for the white markings around their face that resembled a skull. The bears ranged six to seven feet in height and weighed almost a ton. No one hunted the massive creatures for sport, but only to protect their own territories being threatened by the bears.
Dwindle pulled his head back quickly and wiped off a handful of sweat from his brow. Poly’s own hands were planted firmly on her mouth, afraid her breathing might wake the creature. Dwindle motioned for Poly to follow him. He decided that they would have to turn back and find another way through the area.
Before he could move away, he heard a voice from afar.
“Did you think the champ would bow down to mere teddy bears!” a voice rang out through the thicket.
Dwindle took another chance to look past his tree and the sleeping bear to find a rather muscular person in sparse leather armor holding down a skull faced bear. The dwarf gawked at the sight. There were numerous skull faced bears lain about a wide clearing and in the middle of the space, a human and bear were fighting.
The person got off the bear then hunched over in a crouch while circling the fallen bear.
The bear on the ground did not appear that it wanted to contend with the human any longer and rolled up to its paws to start to run.
“Oh, no you don’t, sucka,” the human yelled as he grabbed a hold of one of the bear’s hind legs.
The bear made a noise in response, but to Dwindle’s surprise, the bear wasn’t growling out of anger; it was whining, or rather, whimpering in fear. It obviously did not want to continue the fight.
As Dwindle and Poly got a closer look at the human, they noticed a familiar face beneath a leather helmet as well as rust colored hair.
“Champ?” Dwindle sputtered.
The human looked over behind him, saw Dwindle and Poly then smiled. The man was Red Rumble.
The skull faced bear in Red’s clutches saw an opportunity and started to scramble away, but the grip on its leg was too tight. Red noticed the bear’s attempt to leave and dragged the mound of fur back to him. He clasped his arms around the bear's round body and bent backward, bringing the bear up above him and slamming it onto the ground behind him.
At the moment the bear hit the ground, Red hopped to his feet and began flexing his muscles, “Oh yea. The forest has a new king. Red Rumble says to collect your friends and get your candy asses out of Red Rumble’s woods, oh yea.”
The bear groaned in pain. Dwindle noticed that there was swollen skin coming up with its fur around the bear’s body. There was some blood mixed in as well.
Red positioned himself in a low crouch again and waved for the bear to rise. The bear did not get up and chose to remain laying there.
“What are you doing, champ?” Dwindle whispered loud enough for Red to hear but careful not to wake the surrounding bears. Poly was latched onto his back, nearly one with the dwarf’s shadow as she hid as best she could.
Red made his muscles dance, “Dwindle, the manager with all the coin and food, manger to the champion of the world. I hope you told the wrestling federation to go ahead and send more these wimps into my ring, oh yea.”
The dwarf immediately became frantic and started to look around for any bear to have woken up from Red’s loud voice. The bear that Red had pinned suddenly got up and started sprinting off on all fours.
“That’s right,” Red yelled after it while pointing, “Red Rumble’s ring is for real wrestlers only, oh yea. The cream of the crop rises to the top, woo!”
“Psst,” Dwindled whispered toward Red, “What are you doing?”
Red walked undisturbed toward Dwindle’s hiding place. He even tripped over a few bears on his way making Dwindle and Poly jump. One bear he did trip over aroused and looked fiercely at Red but once it recognized who had woken it up, it dashed away.
Dwindle couldn’t understand the bear’s reaction. Another bear woke up and saw Red and it also began running away.
Red made it to Dwindle’s tree and patted his two friends on their shoulders.
“I hope you got some matches ready for me,” Red said to Dwindle, his voice rumbling deeply, “A yearning is out there for the people’s champ to return as soon as possible, oh yea.”
Dwindle was unable to grasp what was happening. “You took out all these bears?” Dwindle murmured.
“Oh yea,” Red nodded, his eyes wide, “These cuddly bears couldn’t measure up to a real man, oh yea. They called for the biggest and baddest bear, but he too was nothing compared to one hundred and eighty pounds of twisted steel and sex appeal, woo!”
Dwindle nodded his head dumbly.
Poly gasped, “Another person is in Red!”
“Let’s get a move on,” Red growled, “The Rumbling doesn’t stop here, no it does not. To spread Red Rumble’s name across this world will be glorious. To the sound of millions of cheering fans, I’ll slam every wrestler on their heads, oh yea.”
“I don’t understand, Champ. Wrestlers? Which ones?” Dwindle questioned, confused. Poly pulled on Dwindle’s collar and shook her head.
“You’re not talking to Red right now,” She whispered.
Red sighed, “I know what you mean, my manger of managers. So many jabronies, so little time. But Red Rumble can’t be in a world without being on top of it, no I cannot.”
Dwindle looked to Poly and both knew what had happened. The elf had mentioned to Dwindle about the people inside Red’s head. The dwarf wanted the news to be false, to make believe that Red was only mimicking others he’d known in his life and became confused after head injuries.
Now, he could see the elf had been right.
“What about the harpies?” Dwindle chose to ask, “How did you manage to survive the fall while fighting one of them?”
“We bumped into a bunch of trees,” Red said, his mind coming back to somewhat normalcy, “The harpies are soft. I fell on top of one. Only my head was hurt for a bit.”
Dwindle and Poly exchanged glances.
Red went on, “I collected the bodies that fell down here so that you could do some of your famous dirty work on them.” Dwindle could see that the Red he knew had returned. Poly had mentioned whenever Red became emotionally strained, he allowed these “others” inside him take control.
Red moved back toward the sleeping bears to guide Dwindle and Poly to his stash of harpy bodies.
“We’ll wait right here, if that’s alright with you, champ,” Dwindle said, worriedly. Poly nodded in agreement.
Red shrugged and went to drag back the dead harpies.
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Dwindle then cut a claw from each harpy and from their chests, shiny life cores holding brilliant hues of blue. Dwindle reported to Red he’d taken what they needed from the harpies dead on the mountain before coming down to the forest. Red nodded in satisfaction then asked if Dwindle could take him to his next wrestling match.
The dwarf merely smiled warily and along with Poly, guided their confused young friend back to the old dwarf’s wagon. Dwindle commanded the old dwarf to take them back to the city to have Red checked by a healer, but Red denied him. Red wanted to go to the next wrestling match and was stubborn about it. Dwindle could only slap a hand to his face in frustration before giving in. Poly didn’t see the magic affecting Red’s mind as evil or harmful, so she wasn’t too worried.
Dwindle informed the old dwarf to continue as planned to the next quest location.
They arrived at a grassy plain a bit away from the mountainous region, which a quest described as an area home to a tribe of gnolls. Gnolls were tall canine humanoids with enough intelligence to wear armor and wield weapons but not enough to create a civilization or smith armaments. Their nature was to attack humans and other intelligent life forms to steal resources.
In Eronia, they were known as dog bandits.
Once the tribe of gnolls was located, Dwindle tried to explain to Red how they should attack but was ignored when Red sped off toward the tribe on his own.
Such an event was starting to become a pattern, Dwindle noticed. Poly stood by while shaking her head.
The gnolls were sitting within a patch of thin trees eating and socializing among one another with growls and yelps. They paused at the sight of another creature headed their way at a worrying speed. When they realized they were under attack, they brandished their weapons and went forward to meet their advisory in combat.
The first gnoll was snatched up by Red's hand and slammed to the ground, spittle flying up from the gnoll's mouth as it landed hard, wheezing out all the air from its body.
Red whooped, “Woo!”
Another gnoll left the ground as Red picked it up easily then twirled it through the air gaining extra momentum before it too found its back hitting the grass below.
“Another of Red Rumble’s foes falls, oh yea!”
One more gnoll went into the air and then another. Before long, they had all fallen asleep unconscious on the floor or did not have the ability to get back up, their spines broken in too many places.
The last gnoll was hoisted into the air above Red’s head right before it was slammed onto the ground head first. It died as soon as it landed, its skull crushed while its brain compressed into a pancake.
Dwindle was dancing on a hill nearby after seeing the last gnoll meet its demise. Poly was clapping along.
Red posed like a statue with his muscles flexing.
They reunited and Dwindle dispatched the gnolls that had yet to die and dislodged life cores out of their canine chests. The old dwarf laying in his wagon, waiting on a dirt path, was then called through his dwarven mechanism to come over so as to load up the gnolls weapons and armors. Though rusty, such items would still sell either for how they were or as scrap metal.
After they completed their work, the old dwarf wagon driver drove them to another location. Their next quest was another one that involved goblins like the first quest they had completed together.
But their new goblin quest revolved around dealing with a goblin clan. The clan of goblins described by the quest parchment was made up of the more typical cave goblin, green skinned and short in stature.
A clan of goblins was only able to form if one goblin grew into a more terrifying version of goblin, a hobgoblin. A hobgoblin was larger in size and more intelligent. Other times, an orc would absorb a host of goblins into its tribe and in turn, created a clan from them.
This quest described that the targeted goblin clan was formed and led by a goblin wizard, a goblin that was able to learn and perform magic. Though physically weaker than a hobgoblin, the goblin wizard rivaled their stronger counterparts with magic power and higher intelligence.
Dwindle was worried how they’d confront magic produced by the goblin wizard.
The witches, though strong in magic as well, did not have a clan of other creatures protecting them like a goblin wizard. The dwarf planned out different scenarios on their way to the quest, offering his thoughts to Red who listened intently.
Red was also wary of magic.
None of the memories swirling around his head had experienced the mysteries that magic held. The witches had died so readily that he was not able to witness what magic could do.
Once they arrived at a forest similar to the woods Red had fought the bears in, they jumped out of the wagon to explore the wilderness. Poly chose to stay behind and prepare food. She was also wary that goblins typically went after the weakest member of a group, which she was, especially without her elven magic.
It took only an hour to find the cave goblins. The goblin clan was not quiet in their daily life. Red and Dwindle happened to come across them while the creatures were performing a strange ritual. Their strange chants guided the two Hunters to their whereabouts.
They saw one lone goblin dressed like a witch doctor, shrouded in a weathered cloak, wearing the skull of a ram atop its head. It was sitting on a rock formation in a shoddy chair made of branches. Numerous goblins either clad in armor or wearing only a loincloth were in front of the strangely dressed goblin and bowing toward it.
Dwindle targeted the goblin sitting alone and pointed it out to Red as the leader, the lead goblin that knew magic. This time, Red did not rush his enemies. He made an effort to understand Dwindle’s plan and tried to think how he’d implement it.
After some time, the goblin wizard rose from its stick throne and addressed its underlings. It growled and grunted while gesturing expressively, causing the goblins below it to stare in exaltation as if the goblin wizard were giving a rousing and inspiring speech.
In the midst of its speech, movement from the goblin wizard’s peripheral caught its attention. It turned and found a human moving rapidly toward it with a rock in hand. It did not have time to react as the human got close and reached his arm back to wind up a throw.
Red threw his rock.
The rock moved through the air at break neck speeds hurtling toward the green head of the goblin wizard.
Dwindle wanted Red to throw the rock from where they were, but Red couldn’t guarantee a hit from such distance. They had no other choice but for Red to run close enough to get a sure-fire, accurate shot. Now, their plan was beginning to come to fruition. After Red killed the goblin wizard, he would run, leading the other goblins to a rock formation with a narrow path to funnel them through.
In such a narrow space, the goblins could be easily fought and picked off a couple at a time.
As Red’s rock neared the head of the goblin wizard, a green hand the size of a bear paw got in its way, stopping it. The rock fell, leaving a red mark on the palm of the meaty hand.
Red looked up at what the hand belonged to and found a rather large goblin staring back at him with long black hair and sharp teeth protruding out of its lower lip. Its stature was close to Red’s in height, and its body was muscularly built, unlike the thin frames of the goblins worshiping below.
Dwindle, watching from afar, started to tremble seeing the large goblin and whispered recognizing the creature for what it was, “Hobgoblin…”
Goblins started to swarm Red. The goblin wizard roused them, grunting in its primitive language. The hobgoblin stood like a statue by the side of the goblin wizard.
Dwindle poked his head over a rocky outcrop he was on to yell for Red to run.
Red moved a hand up toward Dwindle, stopping the dwarf’s words. Dwindle stared in disbelief at the gesture. He saw how many goblins were attacking Red and did not believe his young companion could fight so many. But he could say nothing. Red wanted to fight, so he'd have to let the champ act however the champ saw fit.
Red waved the creatures forward, his muscles expanding and contracting as he made them dance.
A goblin went through the air as it leapt to attack. It fell after a jab landed on its face, downing it. Another grabbed at Red’s arms but was thrown back into the goblin crowd, slowing down a part of the green mass from progressing. But the other parts of the horde moved forward unimpeded.
Red kicked into others.
He then spun around with two gripped in each hand, swiping green creatures around him in his twirl. Small green bodies began launching in the air in every direction. One goblin’s head exploded from one of Red’s punches. Another had the bones in its body shattered from a kick. Others were thrown away like rubbish after getting slammed into the ground leaving shallow, goblin shaped craters behind.
The goblin clan started to lose numbers rapidly. Those remaining slowed their assault and simply hovered around Red in a circle, wary of continuing the fight. From above on his throne, the goblin wizard’s mouth twisted in fury seeing the cowardly display of its clan members.
Red stole a glance at the goblin wizard then peered over to the hobgoblin next to it. He met the muscular creature in its eyes and smiled. Red stuck out a hand toward it and waved it forward, inviting the creature down.
The hobgoblin’s face contorted in indignation as it flexed its muscles. It then dropped down off the elevated rocks and landed with a heavy thud. Goblins parted like water, scurrying away from the hobgoblin’s path. The hobgoblin walked up to Red and met the human with filmy yellow eyes that held within it intelligence.
“You wanna dance with Red Rumble, brother?” Red growled with a grin, staring straight into its eyes.
The hobgoblin unsheathed a machete at its hip and swung the rusty weapon without warning. Red dove under the blade and grabbed a hold of the hobgoblin’s dark green legs. Coming back up, Red held the hobgoblin above his head. Green heads tilted upwards to watch the hobgoblin struggle helplessly in Red’s hands. Red threw the hobgoblin into the air and jumped to catch him midflight before bringing the creature down in a slam head first into the dirt.
The hobgoblin never rose back up again.
“Oh. yea,” Red roared, flexing his biceps at the surrounding goblins, when a ball of fire lifted him off the ground, burning him in the process. Red flipped through the air and landed on his feet. He covered up in time and blocked. The back of his arm was blackened by the fire, and the armor there was still smoldering.
The goblin wizard was staring furiously down at him. Veins could be seen stretching across its green face, each vein pulsing with anger. It held a smoking staff adorned with the skulls of various creatures, some of which appeared human in shape.
“Kishtinng Disst Disst,” the goblin wizard spat at its underlings. The goblins around Red started moving forward again, cajoled by their leader. The fight continued, but no goblin found any success no matter what they threw at Red. They would end up either broken or dead once they felt a counter attack.
It was all going swimmingly for Red when the goblin wizard conjured another ball of fire. A goblin was raised by its neck to meet the attack as a makeshift meat shield. Red’s brown eyes narrowed beyond the blackened goblin corpse he held up to look at the goblin wizard on the rocks. The goblin wizard’s yellow eyes stared back viciously, its staff pointing directly at Red and the green fleshy shield.
Red threw the burned goblin corpse away seeing that the other goblins were attacking again. Another spell was shot off from the goblin wizard’s staff. A lightning bolt streaked downward to hit another goblin, which Red held up to defend himself with.
The process between them repeated as more spells were fired and blocked while more goblins died from either Red’s attacks or the goblin wizard’s magic.
The enraged goblin wizard began to gather mana in order to make a more powerful and fatal spell. A hole emerged in its chest before it could finish its spell. It turned to look at the hole, then at Red, who was smiling at it. The human was in a stance as if he had just thrown something. The goblin wizard perished and collapsed onto its stick throne, destroying it.
Red killed the remaining goblins without issue. They had given up the fight after witnessing the death of their leader, but Red did not let up. He chased every goblin and killed until there was nothing left moving.
Dwindle came down afterwards from where he was perched to congratulate him. Red moved an arm into the air causing Dwindle to applaud happily.
“You’re the greatest ever, champ!” Dwindle cheered with his heart. “I hope Poly has something good cooking. You deserve a good meal, champ.”