I run through the forest with green blood smeared across my lips, tongue covered in pieces of slimy nail.

Look, I did what I had to, okay? I did what I had to. I swear I wasn’t a pervert about it! I’m just a Corgi trying to survive. I am NOT into that kind of thing. I am not, I am not, I am most definitely NOT a freak!

The footprints of the Greenskin shimmer before me, luminescent against the mud-caked ground as I follow them towards the edge of the forest, avoiding more reaching vines and watching as the birds, squirrels, and other creatures of the forest were not so lucky.

I pass by rabbits running from their burrows, badgers limping from their homes overcome by living roots, and the sad, dead forms of sparrows who have had their little chests pierced by the very tree branches they perched on.

Whatever is happening here, it’s bad. It’s really, really bad.

And I’d bet my front paws that it’s got something to do with this ‘Darkseed’.

The footprints of the goblin take me out of the thick brush and into a patch of dead ground. No trees grow here. No plant life. Nothing at all. It’s a field of grey nothing hemmed in on all sides by the jagged trees that blot out the sky.

I enter with trepidation, sniffing around, employing the [Snoop] skill again just in case there’s any stray goblins nearby.

Nothing.

Nothing but the promise of light, streaming through the tree line at the far end of this patch of dead earth.

An exit! It must be!

I can’t help it. I start hopping about, my tongue slapping around still covered in the green blood of my last meal…

…yeah, I’m just gonna not think about that. Let’s pretend it never happened.

I run for the end of this nightmare, towards the light, towards true freedom.

And I would have attained it, if a wall of vicious thorns didn’t just blast through the ground and block my path.

I edge back at their demonic eyes all open, fixing me with their dark, steely gazes.

Sounds of rumbling echo all around me – the wall extends itself. I turn to watch more thorns break through and link up with their brethren till they form a circle around the whole area, penning me in.

I’m trapped.

The evil vines stare at me with their unnatural eyes, and I begin a sustained [Bark] make them flee.

No dice. They stare back, unblinking.

What do you want?! I scream through my barking. Why won’t you leave me alone?

Their answer comes in the form of two vines behind me unraveling and retracting back into the ground, giving me a vision of the darkness I’d just escaped from. The forest, by now, was completely draped in a dome of dead or dying trees.

It was like the life from all the leaves had been sapped away.

And from out of the opening the vile vines left, a familiar creature stumbled forwards: the goblin leader, fresh from the river I’d left him in.

Except now, there was something different about him.

He shuffled like he wasn’t quite awake, and his head and torso were covered in a kind of bark-like skin. His lips quivered as he tried to talk, and his whole head twitched around. His eyes aren’t even focused on me as he shambled forward and moans, in a dull, dead voice:

“Deeeeemon…”

My ears droop of their own accord and my tail curls under my back legs on instinct as I move away from the twitching body of the goblin. It was like he wasn’t even alive – his eyes swirling around, never focused on one spot for long. His head was lolling to the side, tongue flicking out like a snake’s as it examined its prey.

Then I saw the vines sprout up again, and the scimitar in the goblin’s hand.

They’re working together! These evil plants want me dead – for some reason – and this guy’s their champion.

I scan the vines around me and am put immediately in mind of those old gladiatorial arenas I remember the humans loved. This was the same thing. Two warriors went in, one came out.

And the game has just begun.

“Deeeeemooooon,” the goblin moans. “DIE!”

He flew forward with greater speed than I could even intuit, and the kick he aims at me throws me across the field of death. I mewl, rise, and see that he is sprinting towards me with unnatural zeal.

Quick! I think. Do something!

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[Wag]

I turn and start whipping up my tail as he brings his blade down on my back.

Success! I hear his blade skitter off down the field and his oaken limb go limp.

Ha! Just try and slice me up, now! Just try and – AH!

The goblin’s hand comes down in a strike that clips me behind the ears. I roll away, wounded, and weather another kick to my nose.

I fall, my breathing growing heavier, the rain thundering with greater intensity above, and the evil eyes of the vines always watching.

Do…something…my mind rages again.

I try to rise, feeling my paws slip on the muddied ground as the goblin shambles up to me and picks me up by the scruff of my neck.

Now!

[Bite]

I get him right in his bark-skinned nose and pull away, feeling splinters caught in my tongue.

A [nose] bite temporarily distracts your opponent for 5 seconds.

*Note: Does not work on constructs/elementals/noseless targets

I ignore the silly message once the goblin lets me go and he starts pawing at his snapped nose.

But the image of his eyes lingers in my mind as I run through his legs. His eyes were glazed over and yellowed – like he was there, and yet not there. Coupled with the way he moved – jerkily, with singular focus – it was almost like he was a puppet.

I ignored this as I followed the new instinct rising in me. These skills I have – they can annoy, distract, hinder, and provoke. But none of them can do what I need to do, here.

I run towards the one thing that could: the goblin’s fallen scimitar.

WhatamIgoingtodowhatamIgoingtodowhatamIgoingtodowhatamIgoingto-

In the next second the sword is in my mouth.

I turn, twist the blade between my front fangs, and find that the grip is…fitting…but heavy.

Ok. I admit it. I’m a freak.

[You may choose one of the following Martial proficiencies]

Bladed Weapons

Blunt Weapons

Marksman tools

Magic Staves

You are currently wielding:

Iron Scimitar (Bladed Weapon)

Penalty applied for inexperience: sluggish movement. Slowed attack speed.

You know, big box in my head, surely you could give me various options, or at least explain how I (reminder: a Corgi) CAN WEILD A SWORD IN MY MOUTH?

The goblin’s head rotates 180 degrees to fix me with its chilling, unreal gaze, and somehow, my other concerns seem childish.

I TAKE IT BACK! MAKE ME GOOD WITH THIS! NOW!

And the goblin leaps towards me again, claws outstretched, roaring a cry that was part goblin, part ghoul.

You have chosen {Bladed Weapons} as your [Martial Proficiency]

LVL I

You may now use {Bladed Weapons} without penalty

His claws are inches from my already scratched up face when I close my eyes and draw the blade across the air.

I feel the sensation of resistance meeting the blade.

A flash of silver as the scimitar cuts through the night.

And the unreal screams of the goblin as its pincer-like fingers fall to the ground.

He drops to a knee, and I fall to the ground with him, scrambling to right myself as I get used to the heft of the blade, the curve of the hilt, and the momentum of the strike.

But again, it feels…natural? Almost like the sword is an extension of my teeth, and I turn the handle in my mouth effortlessly, twisting the blade and readying it for another strike.

But I notice something else, now – something that had happened when the blaze of silver light flashed in the dark as I cut through the splintered fingers of the corrupted greenskin:

The vines’ eyes widened. Their pupils dilated.

Like they were…excited?

Or scared.

Whatever the case, the goblin takes the bait. He throws himself at me, going for a bite of his own now – his mouth opens to present the wooden slivers that now serve as his teeth.

Another flash of silver – and I draw the scimitar across the side of his mouth, rolling behind him and readying myself again.

But this time he staggers as his jaw drops.

Literally.

When he turns back around, I see only half a face remaining on the creature’s face – a series of blackened roots dangling from where his mouth once was.

Eugh. Look, I know I just ate goblin foot, but this is a bit much.

And the vines start to shake all around us, now. They shiver like they’re afflicted by some biting cold, and at another crack of thunder from above, the goblin throws himself at me again.

This time I don’t rush to meet him. Instead, I watch the words blaze behind my head, take them in, and act:

[BLADE ART: Swallow Swipe]

LVL I

Effect: Horizontal Slash up to 50ft, focused on one enemy

Cooldown: 5 minutes

I rear up on my hind legs, clench my teeth on the hilt of the scimitar, and cleave it through the air.

And I watch with a mixture of horror and fascination as the slash of lightning I send flying from the blade splits the goblin clean in two – his body coming apart in a series of bloodied roots, splinters, and any organs that were still his own.

I step back, seeing the twisted tendrils of the goblin that coat my blade, and let the thing drop from my shaking lips.

COMBAT ENCOUNTER RESULT: CORGI VICTORY

DEFEATED FOES: Goblin Bandit x5

Skill Improvements:

Bite LVL I > 2

Wag LVL I > 2

Snoop LVL I > 2

Doggie Dash LVL I > 2

I stare down at the words as they shimmer away in the rain, and then all I see, once again, is the sword.

My legs quake, and my nose twitches uncontrollably.

I’ve killed, I say, now that the reality of the whole situation is starting to set in.

I…killed…

Corgis don’t kill.

Corgis don’t even maim.

Corgis just get headpats.

Corgis just laze around.

Corgis just get belly rubs.

And then, staring up at the shivering vines still fixing me with their paralyzing gaze, I am forced to see that, maybe, I’m not just a Corgi now.

Y-Yeah! I bark at the evil plants, and the strength of my bark, this time, sends them reeling back. See that! I’ll chop you up good if you stay in my way! I’ll chop you up and bury you good and proper, and you’ll never see the light of day again!

Even as I shout at them, I feel every bone in my body shaking, shivering in the increasing rainstorm sweeping through the edge of the forest. For a moment, I genuinely think that they are all about to flail towards me, grab me, and squeeze the life out of me just like they did the rest of my captors.

But the feeling passes with the sudden shift I feel in the air. Like a charge being lifted. Or a curse.

The vines retract into the ground, and the path to freedom now awaits me.

I…I did it, I pant.

Did I?

I did.

Me – a Corgi! Or…

…Raziel…

…Yeah, that’s – I think, as my eyes begin to close over, and the pathway from darkness grows dimmer and dimmer before me.

…that’s who I am…now…

Before I black out, I see my own dumb reflection in the sword I fall beside. Then, amidst the dead forest, buffeted by rain, I finally sleep.