[LOADING SKILL COOLDOWNS]
[COOLDOWNS...LOADED!]
[LOADING COMBAT ANALYSIS MODULE]
WHAT IS GOING ON?
I look down upon the green men’s awestruck faces from above, my paws walking on nothing but the cold night air. No longer do I feel the rain on my fur. Now, I am warm. I am – free?
As soon as this thought comes I plumet down to the burned-out crater where my cage once was.
The green men look at me. I look back.
Then the leader screams.
“DEMON!” he cries out, again throwing spittle into the air. “Demon dog! KILL IT! KILL IT!”
What? I am no demon. I am a corgi! I told you before – a cor-
[COMBAT ANALYSIS MODULE...LOADED!]
COMBAT ENCOUNTER: INITIATED
CORGI x1 VS GOBLIN BANDITS x5
WHAT?!
I cannot even examine these strange buzzing words in the back of my skull as one of the green ones (a ‘goblin’?) shoots an arrow at me.
I watch it coming. I can see its trajectory.
I feel fear.
I think only one thought: RUN AWAY!
[Core Skill: Doggie Dash]
LVL I
Effect: Your paws instantaneously carry you out of harm’s way up to a distance of 50ft
Duration: 3 minutes
Cooldown: 24 hours
ACTIVATED
Next thing I know I’m zipping across the camp, past the bonfire, the goblins, and I hear the arrow that was launched at me ricochet off the tree that was once behind me.
I look down at my paws to see that they’re…glowing?
The goblins bellow something in a language I don’t understand, and I hear them shuffle through the camp towards me, their big knives being drawn, their war cries piercing my little eardrums.
Ok. Ok. Ok. Ok, I think. I need to run away. I need to run away again. I need to-
[Dash time remaining: 2 minutes]
GO!
I do. As soon as the thought forms I’m off, zipping past trees, bushes, and forest creatures staring at my fleeting shape with complete confusion. I don’t stop. I run until I feel my paws go numb, and even then I run some more, trying to clear the dark trees that cover my vision until – OUCH!
I fall to the ground.
[Doggie Dash: Depleted]
[Cooldown: 24hrs]
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Twenty….four….I think as my mind goes blank. That’s like...half…my life…
My head clouds, but I manage to stagger up and shake myself off, now preoccupied with the thing that I’d bumped into.
It was long. Dark. Shaped like a big thorn that grew on some of the plants I’d seen – the thorns that hurt my nose when I sniffed them. This one is bigger, though, and looks far more dangerous.
I try to move around it, but it follows me. It’s long tendril whips about as though its alive and wants to hurt me. No matter how much I try to get past the big dark shape, it blocks my way.
I say! I bark. You are the most unfriendly plant I’ve ever met!
One undulating spot in the middle of the thorn then jerks open.
And a crimson eye with a black pupil looks out at me.
NOPE.
I turn tail immediately and run back the way I came. I am NOT dealing with that. No, sir. Living plants are fine. Green men at least I can run away from. But I draw the line at plants with big red eyes. I am a corgi. I am destined for less evil things.
Then again, I’m running right back into danger, aren’t I?
My fear is reignited when an arrow flies out of a bush, whizzes by my head, and embeds itself in the dead bark of a gnarled tree behind me. Thank any gods that exist for my tiny corgi form!
Two of the goblins then emerge through the bush and aim their bows at my face, both snarling with glee.
“We found you!” one cries. “We got you, ya little git! Now it’s time ta see how dead dog demon tastes!”
Anger takes over me, this time. Not fear.
I am NOT a demon! I bark at them. I am a CORGI! C-O-R-G-I – CORGI! Demons are not warm and fuzzy. Demons do not like smelling flowers. Demons certainly do NOT have small jiggly butts. Can you not see the difference!
They laugh in the face of my incessant barking and nock their arrows.
Even though I should be running, I simply can’t. The insult to my breed is just too much.
If you’re going to kill me, at least get your facts right! I howl, trying to mimic the noble wolves. I. AM. A. CORGI!
[Core Skill: Bark]
LVL I
Effect: You strengthen your lungs, and your tiny mouth belches a vicious rebuke at your foes.
20% chance to invoke a flee reaction in common foes.
Duration: 1 minute
Cooldown: 1 hour.
I keep barking with greater ferocity until I notice that one of them starts shaking. He drops his bow.
“Gith?” his friend asks, incredulous. “What are ye doing?!”
“L-l…look at its eyes, Malth!” the shaking goblin stutters. “Look at it! It’s a demon, alright. It’s a demon that’ll curse us if we kill it! You’ll see! It’s small now, but it’ll summon its evil minions ta feast on our bones! Grind us ta dust! You’ll see! You’ll see!”
The goblin covers his eyes in the face of my barking while his friend tries his best to comfort him. But honestly, I’m barely listening to him.
I AM A CORGI! I howl to the moon. A CORGI!
“See!?” the shivering goblin says, grabbing his friend and shaking him incessantly. “Ya see? It’ll have our guts fer garters! It’ll drink the blood from our heads! You’ll see! YOU’LL SEE!”
And finally, the screaming goblin runs off, throwing his arrows to the forest floor and waving his arms in the air as he disappears into the darkness.
His friend is left with one hand in the air, reaching towards his departed comrade.
“Malth…” he murmurs. “What am I gonna tell Ma when we get home…?”
I get the feeling that the goblin is about to go into a long monologue, and so I waste no time in seizing my chance and sinking my teeth into the skin just above his exposed foot.
“I-AAARGH!”
[Core Skill: Bite]
ACTIVATED
LVL I: (Ankle) You sink your teeth into the flesh of a foe, and hinder their combat prowess.
An {ankle bite}
Duration: 30 seconds.
Cooldown: 1 minute
“You little shit!” the goblin roars, a dagger flashing in his hand as he pulls it out from under his waist and takes a swipe at me. He falls to one knee and grips his bleeding foot, growling in fury. I growl right back.
“We’ll get you, soon,” he says. “Don’t you worry.”
I don’t waste time worrying. Satisfied that my message has sank in, I depart through the bushes to the West. The great wolf had said a great battle had been lost in the East, and so I avoid that direction.
I can dimly make out the cries of the other goblins who must have been scanning the area, trying to find me. But, with nothing more than running to do, I decided I should take some time to think as I blasted through the vines, thorns, and brambles of this hellish place.
Let us recap the last hour, shall we?
I was captured. About to be served up as meat. Then, a strange man called a ‘Greycloak’ comes to die before me. I send him off with a little lick of pity, and then I’m suddenly imbued with all these new, strange powers and sensations. Not that anything I’m doing isn’t exactly par for the course for my breed – but the intensity behind them! The strength I feel bouncing around in my tiny bones. It’s…miraculous.
But one thing’s for sure: it’s not mine.
And this ‘quest’ thingy? ‘Finish the fight’? What did that mean? My fight with these goblins? Or something else entirely?
As I think the thought, I see more words appear inside my buzzing brain:
Current [Main Quest]: FINISH THE FIGHT
The Darkseed has risen, and the call of the Grey must be answered.
I have literally no clue what any of this means.
Just then, I emerge onto the crook of a small riverbed running the length of the forest’s edge. I’m close to an exit – I must be. I can see the light beaming through the dead trees on the other side of the riverbank. If I can just get out of here and find the wolves, maybe they can help me. We may not exactly be blood relatives, but there was a kindness in the old one’s heart. And he knows something about all this – about this ‘battle’, and about these Greycloaks.
But this ‘Darkseed’ thing? That’s something new.
And just when I think things can’t get any more confusing, I hear a familiar voice snarl from behind me.
“There ye are, ya little shit,” the goblin leader says as he licks his vile weapon. “I’m gonna enjoy this.”