Gob had a lot to reflect on after his conversation with Leőn, and was lost in thought for much of the rest of the day.
iz i reely espectin to looz wen i fite? he asked himself.
He didn't want to believe it, but the more he thought about it, the more he realised the Elf might be right.
When he had defeated his fear and replaced it with courage all the way back after his first fight with the cave rat, he had thought himself invincible. He had overcome fear the moment he took responsibility for his own progression through life. After all, what was fear but your own worst imagination of one potential future? From that revelation, he had become determined, motivated, and driven. They were positive stats that emerged out of a positive personal breakthrough. He'd even added selfassurance during the fight with the elementals earlier...
But he was unstable. It was one thing to take responsibility for your future, but what good was any of that if on a deeper level you fundamentally doubted your own ability? What did selfassurance do except let him keep telling himself he could do something that he didn't actually believe he was capable of? As a result of his instability he had become neurotic and ferocious. Sure they were powerful stats, but Leőn was right. He was still walking a path that anticipated his own failure.
He had conquered fear. But how could he conquer himself?
They stopped and set up a camp just below the crest of a ridge that afforded a reasonably good view in all directions but still afforded some protection from the ice cold wind that howled unceasingly through the mountain pass. There were few trees here, and the whole area was covered with a crunchy layer of frost. Gob let the others get the camp organised. He sat on a rock that overlooked the mountain ranges.
The sky was still clear, with only a low band of clouds in the distance, and as the sun started to set behind the mountains its last rays first tinged the sky with a tranquil pink followed soon after by an powerful display of reds and bright oranges on the undersides of the clouds as it creepy below them.
Kylie flew over to him and sat on his head.
"You've been quiet this afternoon," she said. "You Ok?"
"iz da sky on fire?" Gob asked Kylie looking at the setting sun. He looked worried.
She looked at him strangely, then realised something with amazement,
"Of course, you've never seen a sunset before! It's not on fire, Gob, it's just what light can do when it refracts through the atmosphere"
"evyfing iz so… big" Gob said quietly, "evyfing iz so powaful. an nufin iz wot i fort... i iz stil juz... liddl."
"Listen Gob," said Kylie, "I don't know what's going on in here..."
She tapped him lightly on his head.
"But let me tell you something. In just a matter of days, you've done more things, been through more things than most trolls in their whole lives. Not just trolls, most anyone in their whole lives. If you're feeling some sort of doubt on some level, I'd like to give you a piece of advice. Stop it. You are awesome. That's an observation. It isn't my opinion, it isn't just me saying something nice to try and make you feel better, it's an analysis of your situation based on my experience of the Spheraxis and the average progression rate of anyone, of any archetype, ever.
"I know that Leőn discussed your instability with you, I know the White Orc has too. And they're right... you need to work on it. But you know what you don't need to do? You don't need to 'fix' yourself. You aren't broken. Instability is a part of your Spirit. A part of you. A part of who you came to be because of circumstances that were beyond your control. It's part of you today. It still will be tomorrow. And the day after. But if you decide that it won't stay a part of you forever, you've already taken the first step towards understanding yourself. And understanding is the first step towards powerful progression. Be aware of what you want to progress, but never be discouraged that you haven't reached a specific outcome. Progression is permanence. It isn't somewhere we get to, you can never arrive at it. It's something we're committed to. It's the moving that matters. You're only broken, if you give up."
They watched the sunset in silence until the sky faded to purple then dark blue.
"It's about two weeks since the attack on your troll den, did you know that?" Kylie asked quietly as it got dark.
Gob shook his head.
"You want to know what I did for the first two weeks of my progression journey?"
Gob looked at her.
"Every day, I'd wake up--"
"i neva see yoo sleep" Gob interrupted.
"Sure, I don't. That's because for the first two weeks of my progression, every day I'd wake up, I'd remember that I was a fairy of the Realm and not a human teenage girl of Earth, then Gervais would come and check on me, and because he was, to me, a comparative giant, I would take one look at him and scream GIIIIIIAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNTTTTTTTTT! and then pass out cold. I was unstable, sure. And neurotic. And fearful, angry, depressed, anxious, desperate, upset, stressed, hurt, irritable... name a negative stat; I had it!"
"how long did it tak fo yoo to werk frew dem?" asked Gob. She flew down from his head and looked him in the eye.
"Two years." she smiled.
"i fort yoo woz ony heer too years?"
"Exactly." she said.
"yoo iz stil doze fings?!" he exclaimed.
She nodded. "Some of those things, yes. All of those things? No way."
"but yoo is GOOD fary, kylz!"
"And YOU are a good troll Gob. That's my point! Don't let your weaknesses consume you. You will progress. You ARE progressing. You have quests, you have purpose... and you have a motley crew of similarly imperfect companions fool enough to have come along for the ride! We need YOU just as much as you need us! Maybe just spend less time doubting yourself, and more time looking at what you have achieved."
It was dark now, with only the bright stars lighting the black sky. That was big too. But he'd been up there. And someone up there, a gargantuan someone, had embraced him as an equal... The wind whipped peace and quiet of the peak was broken by a new sound that rang out, echoing across the mountain.
HOOOOOOOWWWWWWWOOOOOOLLLLLLL!
"Come on" said Kylie nervously, "let's get back to camp."
----------------------------------------
"Wolves" said the White Orc casually as Gob and Kylie walked into the ring of firelight cast by a firepit he had built in the middle of their camp. He had his cauldron held over it on a tripod and chain.
"Ahh, should we really be starting a fire and cooking some dinner then?" asked Kylie nervously, "I mean, won't it attract the Wolves?"
Leőn answered "Stop being such a worry wort Kylie, they're coming anyway, we may as well be warm and fed when they do. Relax and enjoy the atmosphere!"
"They'll attack us tonight as soon as the moon is high. We should be ready. Before that happens though, have something to eat." said the Orc.
As if on queue Gobs tummy went off
Gurgleeeuuurp. Glub. Glub.
They all looked at him strangely.
"What's with the 'glub glub'?" asked Kylie, "I've heard your tummy plenty of times but it's never said that before."
"iz sinz i eet da faze spida. it no feel very good."
The White Orc narrowed his eyes. "Be careful Gob. If you continue to feel anything unusual, you let me know..."
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Gob nodded, then sniffed at the steam rising out of the Orcs cauldron, and licked his lips. "dat smel lik da food from da dwarf feest!"
Leőn laughed "It is the food from the Dwarf feast. You've got to keep an eye on this old Orc."
The Elf pulled out a barrel of red wine and filled a goblet, then reclined casually on the cold ground in front of the rising flames.
The White Orc ladelled Dwarf stew into bowls for himself and Gob. As he ate, he said, "Leőn I've been thinking about the ice elementals."
"Oh?" said Leőn "You've been thinking again Orc?"
The White Orc ignored the jibe and continued, "They shouldn't be here."
"Well it's icy… and they're elementals… so…" Leőn still sounded casual, but he had leaned forward, interested.
"So… who summoned them?" finished Kylie.
"wot yoo meen?" asked Gob.
"Elementals don't just 'exist'" explained Kylie "At least not here, not in our plane. They only come into being if an ELEMENTAL Mage summons them."
"Well they can occur naturally under some unusual circumstances," added Leőn, "but they wouldn't have been aggressive. They might have defended themselves if we say, stepped on a few… but they wouldn't have started the kind of avalanche you described to try and stop you from crossing the pass. You make a valid point, Orc. Gervais again?"
"I doubt it. Elementals are nasty, mischievous and unpredictable.
"lik elfs" said Gob looking at Leőn.
Leőn raised his goblet with a grin.
"I don't think elementals are his style." continued the Orc. We should be careful, there may be something else going on here. When the Wolves come tonight we should probably expect the unexpected."
"So what are we expecting?" asked Kylie now sounding more nervous.
"Wolves." said the Orc. "Probably a large pack."
"Soooo... what aren't we expecting?" she pressed.
The White Orc gave her a funny look then turned to Gob, "Whatever comes, it will be the perfect chance for you to try out your Toast of Krunch. However, don't use it straight away... I think Toast should be your your final move considering the recovery time. Leőn has been working on some things with you, make sure you try those out first."
"SAVES!" Leőn chipped in. "If you don't use all your attacks, try to use them as defensive blocks. I want to see LESS BLOOD on the ground... yours, that is!"
Gob nodded. He was keen for that too.
"Wolves I can get stuck into as well right?" said Kylie, "I felt like a third wheel in the last fight against the elementals."
The White Orc nodded, "Yes Kylie, Wolves you can 'get stuck into'. But I'd also like your help in keeping an eye on this one." He gestured to Gob.
"We need him to work on CONTROL, can you also hang close by him and give him some reminders? Give him a hand with counting his attacks, and if and when it's time for him to Toast I'd like him to start with a single swig so we can measure size gain, time that elapses and recovery time. When we first tried it out back in my cave, I worked out that he grows one point in size for the first swig, two additional points for the second swig, and three for the third. His time at the size with three swigs was the count of thirty, and his recovery time is about ten times that! It would be a great advantage if you could help us keep track, you have a perfect vantage point being up there to call the count and help us organise our fight strategy."
"Alright alright, I won't Zap them all straight away... if it looks like it's getting out of hand, THEN I'll get stuck in!" she replied.
"Gob," continued the Orc, "I'd like you to lead the attack. You have the highest initiative here. Most likely, the first attack will come from the pack leader. He will expect to rip someone to shreds as an example to his pack, but he won't be able to because of you. However, first see if you can talk to him instead of attacking."
"wolvz can tork?" asked Gob surprised.
"Some can, some can't. Some won't. I very much doubt there'll be any outcome tonight except dead wolves. But, it would be helpful to find out whatever we can about what, if anything, is going on here. So give it a try. Unfortunately it will mean that if he won't talk, you'll have to take a hit instead of a swig, but you're tough enough. If he does talk it could give us a valuable insight to decide how to proceed with the fight."
"Ok." said Gob
"When you do use your Toast… ONE swig, alright? We need to get you used to it slowly, and we need to understand it."
"ok. wun swig" repeated Gob.
i iz takin too swigs he thought to himself.
They finished their meal, stoked the fire nice and high and bright, and packed up ready for an attack. It wasn't long.
HOOOOOOWWWWWOOOOOOOOOLLLLLL!
HOOOOOWWWWWOOOOLL! HOOOWWOOOLLLL!
The howls came from every direction at once. They were surrounded. They were surrounded by a lot.
The opening move was, as expected, by the pack leader.
He charged, snarling and growling into the ring of light cast by the fire, but Gob stepped back in surprise. It wasn't a wolf at all. It was a… hoomin wolf? Well not a human as such, but a hideously deformed creature that stood on two legs like a human, but had fur all over it's body. It had a face with a fanged snout like a wolf, but with the crazed, bloodshot eyes of a man. A deranged man. It wasn't as tall as a man though, it was something between what a human should be and what a wolf should be. However it's height didn't detract from it's intimidating presence... the creature looked unhinged, and downright dangerous. Gob considered taking a swig of booze straight away. The plan was obviously already out of the window... this must be the 'unexpected' the White Orc had been talking about earlier. He glanced at the White Orc, but he only nodded and gestured at the pack leader, indicating that Gob should still do what they agreed. So he stuck to the plan.
The creature was coming at him with incredible speed, such that he actually thought for a moment that he might not have the initiative after all, but he held his ground and they were fang to tusk before Gob said,
"wonna tork abot it?"
The deranged beast skidded to a halt mid charge, surprised, and immediately raised his clawed paw into the air. Around the camp, angry snarls could be heard but no other beast attacked.
"You've had your dinner fluffy goblin, snarl, now you want me to delay my pack's? For what? Polite conversation?" snarl, twitch, twitch.
The wolfman's eyes pointed in two different directions, and his whole body twitched and spasmed erratically. There was in intense feeling of vicious unpredictability about him. dis iz wot leon meen by un-balans... thought Gob to himself, dis guy iz supa fast an strong but he iz not in control of hizelf. i rekon i juz need to mak him reely reely angree... den can beet him for sur!
Gob turned to the White Orc.
"Where is your Primary, Werewolf?"
"What makes you think I'm not the Primary, strange white creature who might be an orc?" snarl, twitch
"It's clear you aren't your own Master, wolf. Now answer me and we can proceed."
"There is no Primary here! Our allegiance is to the Princess of the Ice. Now enough! My pack is hungry, grrrrrarrrrrrrl, and it's time to tear flesh."
He dropped his paw and creatures sped from the darkness on all sides. All werewolves, but all different. Some were more Human-like, even wearing tattered clothes, and some more like wolf-like covered head to foot in fur and leaping on all fours. But no matter their form, they were all vicious, all ravenous, and they were all incredibly fast.
Gob was expecting the hit from the pack leader when it came. He hadn't really been listening to the White Orc, he'd been getting ready to save! He raised his slicehook claws and effectively intercepted the wolf's own clawed attack.
Powerful wolf claws met powerful troll claws with a loud
tchak!
The wolf was clearly surprised, but followed up incredibly fast with a second swipe that caught Gob painfully and bloodily across the belly. Gob hadn't been expecting that. It was a disembowelling four clawed slice that would have ended any goblin easily, but his shagpilehide bore the brunt without spilling any vitals. It still hurt though.
YYYEEEOOOOORRRRRRCCCHHHHHH!
too ataks he thought, i need rememba dat.
The wolf's snout snapped forward, fangs bared, trying to bite viciously into Gob's neck. Gob remembered what Leőn had said about using his feet and kicked up at the wolfs groin, connecting with some vitals that caused it to
YEOWL!
and snap it's jaws shut on thin air as Gob lost his balance and fell on his backside. Then he remembered about Leőn suggesting not to experiment with his balance during battle.
emerged:skill:clorkikka! Use a foot to fight.
diz guy orso got a bite atak... i betta rememba dat too!
Everything had happened so incredibly quickly. The whole thing seemed to be a blur. Kylie was yelling something at him from above, but he wasn't listening.
He jumped up from the ground ready to have his turn, but instead received another slash across the belly, then another, then a savage bite. He had only just managed to raise his arm to intercept it and at least took in on his forearm instead of on his neck where it was aimed.
YYYEEEOOOOORRRRRRCCCHHHHHH!
Again! He was bleeding quite badly now, and Kylie was still yelling at him. This time he listened.
"DON'T FALL DOWN GOB, IT TAKES YOUR WHOLE OFFENSIVE TURN TO GET BACK UP AGAIN!"
So that was how the wolf had just go so many strikes on him. The wolf still had it's jaws locked around his forearm. It was time to try something. It was time to taunt.
"HEY WOLFEE, IF YOO IZ DA PAK LEEDER WY IZ YOO SO CRAP AT FITIN? DA REZ OF YOR PAK MUZ BE COOT LIDDL PUPPEEZ!"
The pack leader leapt back with a snarl. Gob swiped with his claws and missed completely. The pack leader had leapt back out of contact range!
how did he do dat?! thought Gob.
"Cute little puppies eh?" twitch. The pack leader barked, and some of the toughest looking werewolves immediately broke off their attacks against the others and leapt snarling in Gob's direction.
"Let's see how cute you think they are when they're ripping you to shreds!" twitch, snarl.
wel mi taunt didn werk kwite lik i fort... thought Gob.
The wolves were incoming. They weren't actually cute little puppies.
It was time for his Toast.