The head goblin glides his tongue across his blade, eyeing me hungrily by the riverbank.
I whimper, moving back till I feel my paws skitter on the edge of the bank, sending tiny pebbles falling into the dark waters below.
“Demon,” the goblin boss snarls. “Yer in league with them, aren’t you?”
I cock my head at him.
Them?
“Don’t play dumb, demon!” he roars. “The trees! Yer one of their servants, aren’t you!”
I blink my beady eyes at him.
Poor ugly creature. He must be insane.
That makes sense. Only an insane creature would desire to feast upon the flesh of a corgi rather than scratch its fluffy belly.
He inches forward, his long knife glinting in the shadows of the looming trees, and I try my luck at barking up a storm like I did before.
[Bark]
ACTIVATED
This time, however, he just smiles and licks his slitted lips.
“Ye don’t scare me,” he spits. “I’m gonna gut ye good fer killin’ Malth.”
Malth? I ponder, shaking my head. I didn’t kill him! He ran away! He ran-
“Enough!” the green monster bellows at me, before lunging towards me with renewed anger. “DIIIE!”
He comes at me twirling his blade in his hand, faster than I can defend myself.
I’m going to die! I can’t look!
And as I turn away from him, more words cascade through my canine brain:
[Wag]
LVL I
Effect: Your tail starts whipping up a storm, bludgeoning incoming foes and pushing them up to 15 ft away
Duration: 5 seconds
Cooldown: 1 minute
ACTIVATED
“AHHHHH!”
I open my beady eyes as I see the goblin leader sail through the air and plummet down into the river below, swallowed up by the rushing waters with a vague curse bubbling through his lips.
I stare unblinking at the sight of him being washed away, his curses echoing down the riverbank, while I feel a numbness gnaw at my butt.
And, looking back, I scream with horror to see my tail practically helicoptering around as though it is a mechanical rotor.
Stop! I cry. Stop, tail! Stop! Down!
And just like that, it finally ceases its exertions.
Good! I say, giving it a little lick, even as my mind clouds over with the fact that there are distinct parts of my body that suddenly have minds of their own.
I turn to look at my reflection in the waters below – the murky depths of the liquid providing me with a black, hazy image of my fuzzy form.
Alright, look here, I bark at myself. Whatever’s going on here, I want answers. I think I deserve that. All these weird powers – whatever’s inside me making them happen – firstly, okay, thank you. You got me out of a pinch. But still! I didn’t ask to become a mutant corgi! I’m not supposed to be a fighter! I’m supposed to be adorable! So, tell me: what is it you want? What’s happening to me?
And like an uncaring master rubbing my face in my own excrement, the same meaningless words wash over my brain again:
Current Main Quest: FINISH THE FIGHT
Details: The Darkseed has risen, and the call of the Grey must be answered
B-but what does any of that mean? I bark at my dark reflection. What’s any of that got to do with me?
There’s a pause. A silence broken only by the head goblin’s continuous cries that still echo down from the end of the river. Then: more words in my brain:
Name: RAZIEL
I pause, staring into my own tiny eyes. And the confusion that’s reflected at me annoys me for some reason.
Raziel? Is that really my name?
And I swear, by the pricking of my paws, that my reflection nods back at me.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
“FOUND HIM!”
Crap! I bark. More goblins – this time, from somewhere nearby. But the riverbed is making too much noise. I can’t focus.
“What are ye waiting for, dolt!” someone shouts. “FIRE!”
I close my eyes again. Out here, in the open, I’m a goner. But if I can find out where these sounds are coming from…
[Snoop]
LVL I
Effect: Your canine senses are heightened for a short time, allowing you to perceive sentient life forms up to a distance of 100 ft around you
Duration: 10 secs
Cooldown: 10 minutes
ACTIVATED
There, I think, as I feel the world slow down around me, and everything becomes so much more lucid, including the bowstring that’s being pulled back in the bushes across the river.
I hear the goblin lick his dried, swamp-green lips. I hear the bowstring snap back.
And I roll to the left as the arrow flies right past me, barely grazing the hair on my hide.
“What the...?” the attacking goblin shouts, jumping up from his hiding place on the opposite side of the bank.
His friend – the other life form I sensed berating him – jumps up to clap him around his ears.
“Ya MORON!” he shouts. “If you’d practiced instead of drinkin’ all night yer aim would’ve been better!”
I suppress a chuckle to see these two hideous beasts act like a pair of little siblings, but then I realize something – only six seconds have past since I activated this ‘Snoop’ ability, and so right now, in the remaining duration of its apparent effectiveness, I spy something else. Something that’s moving, creeping, slowly converging on the goblins’ position.
Something that’s coming from…underground?
Hey! I bark at the pair of prattling greenskins. Run away! You should run! Even if you are bad stinky green men!
They both look at me with only disgust in their eyes. I can see – as only a member of my species can – that they register panic in my incessant barking and jumping – but they either choose to ignore it willfully or are so intent on my death that they cannot heed the warning.
“Shut it, demon mutt!” the failed archer screams at me. “And hold still this time! Me arrows gonna go right through yer little raisin eye, and then I’ll put yer head on me pointy stick!”
I mewl quietly while I back away, my paws shaking as an earthquake racks the forest floor.
Run! I shout to them again. Something is-
“QUIET!” the archer’s friend shouts back. “Grax, take the shot!”
But Grax doesn’t get the chance. Indeed, he barely even registers his friend’s command. Instead, he drops his bow, looks at the ground, then up at me again.
“Falk,” he begins. “We gotta -!”
His sentence is interrupted by a cry of panic as a long, dark thorn pierces the earth beneath him and grabs him by his throat. His friend watches in mute horror as the lithe plant begins to squeeze the goblin’s neck and his limbs flail at the bark of the beast in utter desperation, trying to dislodge himself. His eyes bulge like two inflating balloons in a mute cry for help.
I turn away before the inevitable happens. All I hear is the blood curdling sound of the goblin’s neck popping like grapefruit, and the manic screams of his friend as the thorn reaches for him next.
If that’s not my cue to run like hell, I don’t know what is.
----------------------------------------
I follow the riverbed, traveling upstream, trying to work out a way to cross and clear the edge of the forest. But everywhere I go, I am forced to confront more of the evil thorns that rupture the earth and swipe at me as I run.
What’s your problem?! I snap at each one.
Their crimson eyes open, blink, and then stare at me as though I am just as much a monstrosity as they.
Rude! I bark before I move on.
As I run, I hear more screams – screams of goblins, forest creatures, and other beings I can’t even begin to fathom. All of them share just one thing: they are screaming their death cries into the night sky.
And the forest is swallowing all of them. Literally.
I curse myself when I stop in front of the first thorn I saw before – realizing that I’ve just ran in a circle. But, before I move on, I am forced to confront the greater threat here: the thorn has the goblin that I hobbled earlier in its grip, slowly choking him like the other one at the riverbed.
“D-D-DEEEMON!” the greenskin gargles through his frothing mouth.
And through a mixture of confusion, frustration, and sheer fear, I pick a different direction and run.
----------------------------------------
When I eventually make it back to the goblins camp, I fall on my side and let my tongue lol out my mouth. I’m not safe, not by a long shot, but the slight warmth from the fire is what I need to rejuvenate me right now, and none of the evil thorns seem to have burrowed through the earth here.
Why? I ask no one, panting with sheer fatigue. If I knew this is what this ‘freedom’ thing would feel like, I probably would’ve just stayed in that cage.
-You have gained the title: Ungrateful Pooch-
Hey! I bark. What’s that all about?
[You gain the following Core Skills]
Bad Attitude (LVL I)
I turn my nose up at this ‘skill’ – it sounds more like an insult to me.
Well, let’s take a look at it:
[Core Skill: Bad Attitude]
LVL I
Effect: Your negative outlook on life guarantees you less favorable reactions from other beings.
PASSIVE: Chance of
Damn it! I yelp. How dare you? You – whatever you are in my head! I’m going through a lot right now! If you want me to ‘finish the fight’ – whatever the hell that means – you’d better get used to the fact that this dog needs a break every now and then!
Just as I think there’s going to be a response, my nose picks up on something beside me. Lying next to the fire is the corpse of the goblin that had run away earlier – Malth, I think his name was? Well, the leader had certainly not lied – he’s lying here as dead as dead can get, covered in flies and reeking of rotten flesh.
There’s a series of splinters lodged in his chest…
Looking at him, I know I should be horrified. But something suddenly takes hold of me. I’m thinking: a way out, I need a way out. And all at once I’m focused on the dead goblin’s slimy, greasy feet.
Um….I ponder, my tongue unconsciously lapping at the sides of my fangs. What..?
[Core Skill: Consume]
LVL I
Effect: Body parts can be consumed to gain context-sensitive information dependent on the limb being eaten.
*Note: Most civilized societies view corpse consumption as morally decadent. Refrain from using [Consume] in polite company to maintain your social standing
Duration: Personal
Cooldown: 24 hrs
OH, HOW NICE, I mumble, about ready to vomit at the prospect of my body actually considering this. What a lovely, historic skill to bestow upon a corgi like me! Look, I’m starving, I’ll admit it. But I’m not desperate! And I will not lower my race by succumbing to –
*Note:
My eyes go wide as I suddenly grasp the implication. Yes…obviously the goblins had trekked into the forest in order to make their camp. So…if I…did this…thing…I could learn which way they’d come from. Then, it’s just a case of following the pathway out…
I consider it. I actually consider it, and I’m not proud to admit that it sounds like a good idea. I could spend the rest of this dark night traversing the labyrinth of killer thorns, frantic goblins and who knows what else till one of them gets me...
…or I could suck it up, nibble on these green toes, and get out. Now.
I gulp, feeling sweat clam my forehead.
Am I really going to do this?
*Note:
I KNOW! I KNOW! You don’t have to tell me again.
I edge closer, risking a cautious lick.
And oh…oh no.
IT TASTES GOOD!
LIKE, REALLY GOOD.
I’m shaking now, and I try to keep myself from retching as my twitching nose moves closer and my mouth begins to salivate, spurned on now by the taste of the goblin’s flesh
Before what’s about to happen happens, I close my eyes.
To any of the Gods watching above, I’m sorry. I’m really, really sorry.
My teeth bite down.
Bottoms up…