IDWTBTHQ Chapter 88 - A Trip Down Memory Lane

Had he been any less of a professional, Arag would have started to silently curse in his mind. However he knew all too well that even feeling too hard would make him slightly less stealthy, as some beings were somehow capable of picking up hostility, fear and anger, so he just took a deep breath and tried to keep his emotions as neutral as possible.

The Blue Terror was on the move.

The Oni was coming to the north, bringing a large host of at least five hundred orcs and seventy-two ogres in tow. Arag had followed them for a few days, and by now it was clear that they were heading straight for the human-Vex outpost in the Ashwood Hills. Which left the Spider Goblin with the unenviable task of deciding what to do.

Technically, his mission was just to keep an eye on the Blue Terror’s movements and report back to Trakk if he was going to attack Brettholz,  but as always the General had implicitly given him almost complete autonomy regarding everything else. So it was up to him to decide the fate of the outpost.

He had to decide quickly though, as the orcs were just two days of march away from the outpost… and as if things weren’t bad enough, he couldn’t even spare too much time for thinking, since he had to actually focus on staying hidden all the time. That had come as a surprise as Arag hadn’t expected the usually unfocused and dumb orcs and ogres to be able to spot him under any circumstance, but against all odds there were two individuals among the Oni’s retinue that actually posed a danger to him.

One was a feminine-looking ogre who had proven to be incredibly keen and stealthy for her kind, to the point that she had almost managed to notice Arag multiple times. Luckily she often left the group to explore the territory ahead and whenever she was too busy mating with the Blue Terror to really pay attention to her surroundings.

The other one, however, was much more worrying for multiple reasons.

The orcs were carrying two prisoners with them. One was a thin, tall Piraca Noble with a pale red skin, while the other was an albino Arachne. From their appearance, Arag recognized them as the Crimson Devil and the Pale Matriarch, respectively the leaders of the Piraca and the Rantul. They were both battered and bruised, and were always kept in shackles and looked after by at least two ogres.

The Arachne was also the source of Arag's worry.

Somehow she seemed weirdly aware of his presence, turning in his direction even though she couldn't possibly see or hear him, and when  he was near her the Spider Goblin also felt something in his mind urging him to approach her. Luckily, that mental compulsion was rather feeble and Arag could easily shrug it off, but it still made him incredibly uncomfortable. The only thing that had kept the goblin from considering this mission compromised and running away was the fact that for some reason the Rantul didn't seem willing to inform the orcs about his presence, and actually she seemed rather hostile to her captors whenever they weren’t looking at her.

Still, there was no telling if or when she would be spilling the beans —even if just to make the orcs stop beating her for a moment— and Arag tried to avoid getting near her as much as possible.

This made his job of keeping an eye on the Blue Terror rather hard, as the Oni often kept his prisoners near him, but the Spider Goblin still managed, and he kept following the group through the forest.

The orcs kept walking until sunset. They didn't really have a marching order, but they were tough enough to pass through most terrains with ease, while also carrying huge baskets full of food and supplies on their backs. After they stopped, they set up a rudimentary camp, cleaning their resting spots from undergrowth and lighting a few bonfires. They also put a few guards around the camp, but they weren't really on their toes, as there were very few things in the forest brave or foolish enough to attack such a large number of orcs.

This stop gave Arag enough time to slip away and think in peace for a bit. He scuttled away from the orc camp, heading into the thick of the forest like a faint apparition, until he deemed to be far enough to be relatively safe, and then he went hunting.

Not even two minutes later, he had already caught a couple of small animals and had started devouring them raw while thinking about his next move.

If he was going to warn the outpost of the incoming attack, he had to depart right now, in order to give them enough time to evacuate, but he felt reluctant to do so for a variety of reasons. For starters, the Vex and the humans could attack him before he could explain himself, and there was also the slim possibility that the Blue Terror wasn't going to attack the outpost and was actually heading north for a different reason, which meant that by leaving Arag would lose track of him at a critical moment. And finally... the Spider Goblin wasn't too keen on revealing himself openly to anyone but his kin. Both his goblin and Deathstalker instincts made him cautious to the point of paranoia, and he preferred to keep his existence as much of a secret as possible. After all, who knew when his services would be required to deal with either the Vex or the humans?

He kept pondering on all the possibilities as the darkness of the night grew, leaving only the far away stars to light the forest. In the thick shadows of the trees, the Spider Goblin felt safe and protected, and he allowed himself to relax a bit and to think more clearly.

Sadly, the conclusion he came to wasn’t to his liking.

Warning the outpost of the incoming attack seemed like the only possible choice. The risk of the humans being captured and spilling everything they knew to the orcs was just too great to ignore. After all, the greatest advantage that the allied goblin-Meledan forces possessed was that the orcs didn’t know that they knew about them, and by not doing anything right now Arag would essentially give it away. So, with a silent sigh, he got up and started walking in the direction of the outpost.

As he passed the orc camp, Arag thought that it was a shame that he couldn't organize an ambush. After all, right now the Blue Terror was vulnerable, being far from the bulk of his forces, and the Spider Goblin knew where he was heading to. Those were the ideal conditions to set up a trap, but sadly he didn’t have the means to actually prepare one. He would have needed an army, or at least something equally dangerous, to have a chance to kill the Oni...

The Spider Goblin suddenly froze, as a sudden realization flashed in his mind. Sure, he didn't have an army, but he knew about something living in the Ashwood Hills that was even more dangerous. A creature that the General had decided to leave well alone when the goblins lived in the forest, fearing it would decimate them and destroy their city if provoked.

It was the dragon known as the King of the Ashwood Hills, the ancient threat that had made its nest in that part of the forest and had chased away every other beast that could challenge its rule. About a year ago, the Vex Queen had awakened it and let it loose on the goblins in order to escape the destruction of her first hive, and the dragon had killed scores of goblins before going back to rest.

Now, maybe it was possible to use the dragon in the exact same way, only siccing it on the orcs instead of on the goblins this time.

The more he thought about it, the more Arag liked this idea. From what he knew about the King of the Ashwood Hills, it seemed to target the strongest foes first, which he considered them potential rivals for his territory, and the Blue Terror was certainly strong enough to warrant its attention. So, if the dragon was awakened, it would almost certainly focus on the Oni, and the odds of him surviving the onslaught were slim at best. The Blue Terror was a terrifyingly strong foe, sure… but the King was simply in a different league. And with him dead, the orcs would have lost their leader, the one who kept them together as a unified force, and consequently the threat they posed would have been neutralized, pretty much like a snake with its head cut off.

All of this for the price of letting the orcs attack the outpost.

It wasn't necessary a tactical genius like that of Trakk to make the math. Winning an entire war just by sacrificing a few soldiers would have been an ideal move for any commander, and the Spider Goblin was sure that the General would approve of it... though he may have denied that publicly because of all of his politics, alliances and whatnot.

Also this plan removed the need for Arag to reveal himself to the humans and the Vex— which, as far as he was concerned, was a huge bonus.

So, without further ado, he moved away, disappearing into the night in order to make the necessary preparations for his plan to come into fruition.

It was early in the noon when the outpost was attacked.

Jones was checking his baggage for the twelth time in the last hour. He had been jittery and restless all day, with his gut screaming at him that something bad was going to happen.

And, like most sorcerers, he had long since learned to trust his gut.

Sadly the guards wouldn’t accept his gut feeling alone as a reason to leave, so all he could do was to just stay close to the Wyvern drones’ pen and keep his baggage ready in case they had to run away, all while feeling as restless as a goat used as live bait.

He felt almost relieved when the orcs finally attacked.

Deep, bellowing cries echoed in the air as the Vex swarmed out of their nest like a bunch of ants to meet the invaders. A couple of guards followed the lizard-bug things in order to see what was going on, while the rest just huddled around the Wyvern drones.

Less than a minute later, the two guards came back running, their faces as pale as ghosts.

“What's going on!?!” Jones asked.

“The orcs!” One of them replied as he kept running towards the Wyvern drones. “Hundreds of them, led by dozens of ogres! The Vex won't be able to hold them for long! We have to go!”

The man didn't have to repeat himself, as Jones immediately darted after him. They started mounting up while the sounds of battle got closer and closer. They could now clearly hear the cries of the orcs, the sound of chitin being broken and even the footsteps of many huge and heavy creatures approaching their position.

“Go!” Jones begged the handler frantically. “Go go go go go go!”

“Up!” The guard cried, grabbing the horns of the drone. “Fly up!”

The Wyvern drone crouched, tensed its body and finally jumped in the air, all while flapping its wings. As always, the lift off made Jones’s stomach churn, and he struggled to keep his lunch down, but it got better after they had risen up high enough, as the Vex started flying at a more regular pace, mostly gliding while occasionally flapping its wings to gain more altitude.

Once he stopped feeling his stomach trying to get out from his mouth, Jones finally gave a look down at the ruins. The Vex Hive had indeed been overrun by the orcs, with only a few pockets of resistance left. The Vex Warriors were vicious fighters, and in normal circumstances they would have managed to fight the orcs to a standstill, but there was an unusually large number of ogres leading their lesser kin in battle and their presence had turned what would have otherwise been a fairly even battle into a slaughter. The ogres were not only faster, stronger and more ferocious than the orcs, but many of them were also wearing armor and using metal weapons,and the Vex Warriors simply couldn’t stop them. As a result, with the armored ogres leading them, the orcs cut through the lizard-bug creatures like a red-hot knife through butter.

The equipment of the ogres surprised Jones. As far as he knew, the orcs had close to no knowledge of metalworking, and most of their tools were crude and shoddy made of stone and wood, while the armors and weapons were not only rather well made but also looked as if they were custom made for the ogres as well.

“Well, that's certainly something to report to the marquis.” The telemancer thought. “And after that, I think that I’m going to resign from my service with him and get back to the capital.” He smirked. “I think that I can ask for my old job back at the post office… the pay is not that great, but at least they won’t ask me to stay in the forest and wait for a damn orc invasion!”

“Hey, what is that!?!” The guard that was handling the Wyvern suddenly cried while pointing at something in front of them, interrupting Jones's thoughts.

The telemancer looked ahead and saw something with huge, blue wings flying towards them. Whatever it was, it was approaching very fast, and Jones felt an awful sensation taking form in his stomach.

“I don’t know… but I think it’s better if we avoid that.” He replied.

The man nodded and turned to the other Wyvern drones, gesturing something to the other guards who were riding it. A few moments later, the two flying Vex turned in opposite directions.

“What are you doing!?!” Jones asked.

“We’re splitting up.” The guard replied. “If that thing is hostile, at least one of us will have a better chance of escaping this way.”

The sorcerer couldn’t really argue with that reasoning. Instead, he just silently prayed that the blue thing would decide to go after the other Wyvern drone first.

Which was exactly what happened.

The flying creature turned towards the other group, flapping its bat-like wings like crazy and quickly gaining on the Wyvern drone. Then, as it reached them, it seemingly grabbed the flying Vex and ripped off its wings, letting both it and its riders fall to their death.

Both Jones and the guard turned pale, but the telemancer also felt a sudden surge of relief. After all, now they could escape thanks to the sacrifice of their companion.

That sense of relief quickly disappeared when the creature turned back and started chasing them.

“Shit!” The telemancer cried, and then he turned to the guard who was handling the Wyvern drone. “Go faster! Faster!”

“I can’t!” The man replied, in the controlled tone of someone trying not to piss themselves in fear. “We’re already going as fast as we can! Can’t you cast some magic to make us faster, or to slow that thing down?”

“I can’t!” Jones shouted. “I’m a telemancer, not a battlecaster! I can only use my twinstone!”

“Then use your bloody twinstone and call Brettholz!” The guard said in a grin tone. “Tell them about the orcs! If we don’t make it, we can at least complete our mission.”

“Screw our mission!” The telemancer cried. “I want to live!”

“Well, acting like a bloody coward won’t help you survive right now.” The guard replied. “Also, if you won’t use your twinstone you’re just useless baggage, which means that the best thing I can do is to throw you off to make the Wyvern go faster!”

The tone in the man's voice made it clear that he was dead serious, so Jones just shut up and grabbed his twinstone from his purse. However, he was far too scared to properly focus, and he couldn’t establish the link no matter how hard he tried.

“Gods dammit!” He cursed. “Dammit!Dammit! DAMN IT!”

Then, while he was distracted, their pursuer reached them.

Before Jones even realized it, the blue creature had ripped off one of the Wyvern drone wings, and he and the guard were falling to the ground.

The telemancer screamed at the top of his lungs as gravity mercilessly pulled him down. He closed his eyes, waiting for the painful impact with the earth to happen… and then something suddenly grabbed him, interrupting his drop and saving him from the fall, though the grip around his body was still strong enough to be painful.

Jones opened his eyes, and saw himself being held in the hands of a huge humanoid creature with blue skin. Due to the shock he just experienced, it took him a few moments to realize that this was the same creature that had pursued them, and that it probably was the Oni that the goblins had told the marquis about.

The humanoid landed a few seconds later, breaking a few branches on his way down, and then he let go of Jones, letting the telemancer fall on the ground.

Jones immediately tried to scuttle away, but the Oni immediately grabbed him again and lifted him up so that he could stare into his eyes.

“Calm down.” The blue humanoid ordered, speaking in perfect Imperial, but the telemancer was too terrified to comply. The sheer Aura of the Oni would have been enough to make him panic even in the best conditions, and right now he couldn’t even talk properly, instead whining and trembling like a newborn.

The humanoid clicked his tongue in annoyance, and narrowed his eyes.

“I told you to calm down!” He repeated, this time with an even harsher voice, but this just caused Jones to shake harder.

“Fine.” The Oni said, rolling his eyes. “You had your chance and you wasted it. If you won’t do as you’re told, then I’ll find another way to make use of you…”

And, with a sickening clicking noise, the Oni opened his mouth to an impossible degree.

“Wait!” The telemancer cried, but at this point it was too late.

The last thing Jones saw were the teeth closing on his head.

Blueskin chewed loudly, still holding the beheaded corpse of the telemancer in his hands.

As he consumed his meal, he idly thought about how easily it had been for him to kill those humans. It shouldn’t have been a surprise, as he had trained to be a soldier ready to kill even in his previous life, but for some reason he thought that his first human kill should have been… well, more intense, one way or the other. Instead he had felt nothing, pretty much like every other time he had killed an animal in this new world.

He thought about it for a bit more, and then shrugged. It wasn’t as if he cared anyway, and besides the one he had just eaten alive right now had looked so pathetic that he struggled to consider him a man at all. He was stronger and he did what he wanted to those weaker than him, that was all that there was to it. Morality was all just bullshit anyway.

As he swallowed,  the memories of the man started flowing in his mind. He saw random glimpses of his life, from the times he had fallen as a kid to what he had for dinner last night, but he ignored them and started browsing for some more important information. After all, the flow of memories wouldn’t last forever, and Blueskin wanted to learn something actually useful before the essence of his prey had been completely digested.

As he dived deeper into the memories, he discovered that the man’s name was Jones and that he was a telemancer —some sort of caster specialized in communication magic.

That information actually piqued Blueskin’s interest, as he was fascinated by everything related to magic, and following that line of thought he tried to learn everything he could about it.

He quickly absorbed the man’s memories about magic, learning a great deal about it. Apparently, all magic worked through something called Aura, which had to be channeled through specific instruments in order to cast spells, but there were a few techniques that could be used even without a focus.

Interrupting his memory diving for the moment, the Oni decided to try out one of those techniques, just to see if he could. For this test, he decided to use one of the most basic aura techniques, the aura sensing.

He focused on himself, trying to be aware of his own intrinsic being, and then expanded his perception outside of himself.

It worked like a charm.

Blueskin suddenly became fiercely aware of everything that surrounded him. The trees, the birds, heck even the bugs in the ground… he could feel everything. And as he did so, he also became aware of a somehow familiar presence behind him.

He turned and found himself face to face with Tiny-Sneaky. She had approached without making a single sound, but the aura sensing had still managed to reveal her. The ogre seemed surprised for a moment, but she immediately regained control and stood where she was, waiting for orders.

“What news do you bring, Tiny?” Blueskin asked after a moment, with a huge, satisfied grin on his face.

“We have taken the ruins.” She replied. “All of the bug things have been killed, but the boys told me that they taste bad. Also, there is that gray stuff that covers everything… We don't know what it is, but it also tastes bad.” She paused and then asked: “What do we do now?”

The Oni raised an eyebrow. It was very unusual for an orc to find something unpalatable, so those bugs had to have a really foul taste.

“Well, leave those bodies where they are then.” The oni shrugged. “If we can’t eat them, they’re useless.  As for what to do next, I’ll tell you after I’ve finished absorbing the memories of this human.”

“As you wish.” The ogre said. “I’ll go tell the others then.”

She then left, leaving the Oni to finish his meal.

Blueskin took another bite out of Jones’s corpse as he went back to browse his memories. This time, he tried to learn as much as he could about the world outside of the forest, and a flux of information started flowing in his brain.

The telemancer hailed from a kingdom called Medelan, which was part of a union of different nations called the Dianisian Empire. Images of medieval-looking cities, weirdly dressed people and all sorts of stuff flashed in Blueskin’s mind, causing him to smile with satisfaction. It all looked just like he had imagined a fantasy world would look, and this somehow made him happy.

As he kept browsing, he stumbled across some memories who were very vivid, which meant that they were relatively recent. He saw a medium sized city attacked by an army of goblins and defended by a mix of humans, beastmen and those weird bug-creatures, which apparently were called Vex. He saw the goblins being repelled multiple times before surrendering and negotiating with the humans… a negotiation made possible by the looming threat of the orcs and the Oni who was leading them.

Blueskin suddenly froze, and went back to inspect that memory. Just like the first time, he saw that the goblins had informed the humans about his existence and then used the threat he posed as a bargaining chip to negotiate an alliance.

The Oni cursed. He had hoped to have the element of surprise when attacking the humans, invading their lands without resistance… but as it seemed, the goblins had ruined that. And now the campaign he had planned had gotten significantly more difficult.

“Those little dirty gray bastards!” He snarled. “They think that they can stop me just because they know I’m coming? They’re in for a surprise then!” He smirked. “I’ll show them. Now that I know that they are waiting for me, I can easily plan a counter to their counter!”

He started to focus again on Jones’s memories, trying to discover more about how the humans and the goblins had planned to fight him, but all of a sudden an ear-splitting roar echoed through the forest, causing all the birds in the area to immediately fly away in a panic and distracting him from his memory absorption.

Blueskin raised his head in alarm, and looked to the north, from where the roar had come from. Even without using the aura sensing technique, he could feel a terrifying presence approaching from that direction.