Chapter 194 - 166: Death March
Cyan Hide stared at the goblin head impaled on the nearby post, his expression dark and somber.
The head was already rotting, emitting a foul stench. Maggots crawled all over its eye sockets and mouth. Many were squeezed out by the writhing mass, dropping to the ground below. A few flies buzzed up and down around the head—BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ—as if celebrating a "grand feast."
A fat, white maggot inched its way to Cyan Hide’s feet. It had been pushed off by the others and was now trying to return to the "feast."
SQUISH. Cyan Hide stomped on the maggot, crushing it. The sensation under his foot was as suffocating and nauseating as his mood. ’That goblin looked like he had just reached adulthood.’
He sighed and looked away from the head. In the past, heads were often impaled on posts here—sometimes three or four at a time. No one ever paid any special attention to the dead goblins. It seemed the only thing that would get anyone’s attention would be a day when there *weren’t* any heads on display. No one found the flies’ buzzing particularly loud, either. The only annoyance was having to shoo them away when they landed on you.
Fortunately, it was winter now, so there weren’t as many flies. The goblins in the burrows were actually relieved that there were fewer of the pests.
Cyan Hide’s gaze swept over the surrounding goblins. Their faces were all blank. The Earth Goblins had herded every last goblin out of the burrows, and now they stood as a silent, sprawling mass. No one spoke or made a sound. The only noises were the reprimands of the Earth Goblin Military Leaders and the incessant buzzing of flies.
Before, he had been just like the goblins around him: standing blankly, waiting blankly for an Earth Goblin to come over and kick him, watching blankly as a rope was slung around a companion’s neck and they were dragged away, and then returning blankly to the burrow.
But now, after eating several delicious, filling meals and sleeping on a warm fur mat, he felt he finally knew what it was to be alive. Someone had told him that the food he ate and the clothes he wore were what he deserved for his hard work, for his contributions in the forest, for ensuring the tribe’s growth.
He hadn’t felt much when he first heard those words. After all, having eaten boiled rat meat for so long, the sudden switch to delicious stewed venison and fruit pastries made him think of little else but how wonderful it would be to eat like that forever. But now, returning to the Evil Throat Army’s camp, seeing those posts with goblin heads impaled on them again, seeing his weak, scrawny companions in the burrows fighting over a single rat leg... something inside him had been stirred.
"This is what we deserve," Cyan Hide muttered. They hunted and gathered every day. The large prey had to be handed over to the Earth Goblins, leaving only rats, bugs, and small birds for them to eat. ’But why can’t we eat the larger prey? The Big-horned Deer, the grouse, the fish from the river—don’t we deserve those?’
SMACK! A slap struck him. An Earth Goblin loomed over Cyan Hide, looking down on him with disdain. "Stand still. What are you muttering about?"
Cyan Hide stumbled back two steps from the blow, his cheek visibly red and swollen. He cautiously raised his eyes to look at the back of the Earth Goblin in front of him. Reason told him, ’Stand up straight, now! Lower your head and stand still!’ But another voice echoed in his mind, the words of a goblin he’d heard once before—’Why don’t you fight back? Why don’t you run?’
"Everyone, with the column! Forward!" a furious shout boomed from the front. Cyan Hide was yanked off balance by the goblin ahead of him. A rope had been looped around his neck, just like all his companions. The goblins were all roped together in long lines, organized by Military Leader squads. The Earth Goblins strode arrogantly beside the columns, occasionally kicking any goblin who moved too slowly.
’Where are we going?’ Cyan Hide covertly scanned his surroundings, even daring a few glances at the Earth Goblin ahead. His intuition told him every single goblin had been driven from the burrows. ’This looks like a full-scale march.’
The rope around his neck pulled taut again and again; he had to struggle to keep pace just to avoid choking. A scream rang out from nearby. Cyan Hide shot a quick glance over. A goblin was being dragged from the line, and in front of everyone, was decapitated with a single sword stroke. The killer, an Earth Goblin, merely flicked the blood from his blade and said nonchalantly, "Keep moving."
’Where are they attacking? My tribe, or the Kingdom to the north?’ Cyan Hide looked at the sky and his surroundings, but being in the middle of the column made it hard to get his bearings.
THUD THUD THUD. The sound of heavy footsteps approached. The rope behind Cyan Hide went taut, as if a goblin had fallen. He glanced back, then immediately dodged to the side as a group of Ogres strode past. Their swinging arms knocked several goblins to the ground.
The Ogre at the head of the group carried a wooden frame on its back, upon which sat General Evil Throat. He stared straight ahead, never once glancing down at the lines of goblins. The sight of these Slave Soldiers seemed only to make his large nose flush an even deeper shade of red.
The Ogre right behind it carried a large wooden barrel on its back. As it passed, Cyan Hide could hear the SLOSH SLOSH of liquid from within.
"General, we need to turn right up ahead," a goblin reported, scurrying up to the Ogre’s side and bowing obsequiously to General Evil Throat.
It was Scarface. Cyan Hide’s brow furrowed. ’He’s guiding the Evil Throat Army.’
General Evil Throat, still perched on the Ogre’s back, didn’t even lower his head. He just waved a dismissive hand as if shooing a fly. Scarface then scurried back to the head of the column, apparently searching for something on the nearby trees.
’Are we going to attack the tribe?’ Cyan Hide whispered. He had performed the ankle-touching ceremony and now considered Shire’s tribe his own, but Scarface seemed to be leading the army right toward them.
’What should I do?’ A tug on the rope around his neck snapped him from his thoughts. For now, all he could do was keep moving with the column; he couldn’t afford to think about anything else.
SHUFFLE SHUFFLE... The sound of goblin footsteps filled the surrounding woods. Everyone walked numbly in the shade of the trees. They didn’t dare speak or stop, for fear of being dragged from the line, cut down, and tossed into the weeds.
"Leader, the Evil Throat Army is coming," Cyan Hide whispered, praying that some Divine Being might carry his words to Shire. He’d even take the Feathered Serpent Evil God of the Goblin Kingdom. But the only reply was the harsh reprimand of an Earth Goblin.
...
"They’re here?" Shire lowered the intelligence report in his hands and looked up at Broken Tooth.
Broken Tooth nodded grimly. The leader had ordered him to expand his patrol routes, so he had been venturing out much farther. As long as he had jerky, honey, and a wool blanket, he could stay hidden in the forest for an entire day.
Luckily, while scouting to the north, he had spotted scrape marks on several trees, clearly made by metal tools. He knew at once that they were the work of other intelligent beings.
Following the scrapes led him to artificial trail markers. Broken Tooth had initially tried to erase them but stopped when he realized doing so would only leave more traces. Instead, he followed the markers northward.
It was another stroke of luck: from a treetop, he spotted the approaching column of goblins. The Evil Throat Army was marching through the forest with little care for stealth. Aside from keeping the goblin Slave Soldiers relatively quiet, they paid no mind to the disturbance they were causing. The birds constantly taking flight from the woods completely gave away their position.
Back when he stood watch for the tribe, Broken Tooth had learned to hide in the shadows and listen to the birds. If they were startled into flight or fell unnaturally silent, it was a sure sign that Adventurers were hiding nearby.
After confirming the enemy was following the markers he’d found, Broken Tooth decisively turned and ran for the Fortress, staying hidden in the shadows the entire way for fear of being discovered.
After a long run, he finally reached his leader.
"Time to see these guys for myself," Shire said, stepping out of the stone house. He began shouting orders to the nearby goblins and sent someone to notify the Centaurs.
Soon, Evita arrived before him with several other Centaurs.
"Are they on their way?" the young Centaur asked the moment she saw Shire. She was already clad in Battle Armor: her upper body was protected by Philip’s Light Fine Steel Breastplate, while her lower body was covered by a combination of several pieces of Valentine Guard Armor and some newly forged Iron Armor, giving her a rather mismatched appearance.
"Yes. They’re still some distance away. Broken Tooth ran back ahead of them, and it was a long run," Shire said calmly with a nod. "I expect they’ve sent a large force. They will certainly choose to fight on this huge clearing we’ve just made."
"They are a Race with some military discipline; they’ll trust their own judgment," the Skeleton Warrior, Elton, affirmed from the side, agreeing with Shire’s assessment. "Large-scale combat is difficult in a forest. Since they’ve brought so many troops, they will want to fight on flat, open ground to maximize the effectiveness of their Slave Soldiers."
"So, all we need to do is wait for them in the clearing and crush the Evil Throat Army head-on," Shire said, looking at the others and clenching his fist. "They may outnumber us, but we choose the battlefield. Our traps and Teleportation Gates will give them a nasty surprise."
"We still need to be careful of those berserkers," Evita added, looking at Shire. "They’re hard to deal with."
"Don’t worry," Shire said with a reassuring smile and a nod. "They would have been more of a problem in the forest, but they’re too greedy. They actually chose to come to us."
"The day of reckoning is here."