Chasing My Fiancée Across A Fantasy World - Chapter 4

After a hearty breakfast of porridge and black tea, John followed his new comrades into the forest along the logging path he had taken to get into town.    He had chosen to unload some of his equipment from his pack so he could take on some of the items that the girls would have had to carry themselves.

Netruna smiled as she handed off hard leather vials containing magic potions to John.  “Thanks for taking the load John, just remember - I have to grab some of this stuff if we think we’re going to get into a fight.”

“Sure thing.”  He pulled his compass out and took a bearing. “I was coming in from this direction when I hit this road, Brideen.  I can get us in the general direction with this.”

The girls approached and looked. “Is that some magic artifact?”

“Sure…I guess.”  He didn’t want to bother with explaining magnetic fields. “It points south, see?”

They were all very impressed.  Brideen held his hand to get a closer look. “Amazing! This will help us in dense forest when there are no trails.”

“Yeah, without it you can surely get tied up in circles.”  He closed the plastic compass and packed it.  “Now I can help with getting directions, and I can track game, but I’m not sure I’m good at tracking monsters or finding people.”

“Ah, that’s my speciality John.”Allonsa pointed her thumb at herself. “ It’s always hard learning the ropes in a new region, new animals, new monster types, I get it. I can teach you the tricks of the trade so you can get your ranger skills back up to snuff in this area.”

“Thanks Ally.  Can I call you Ally?”

Allonsa blushed. “Sure, I guess.  I mean people have called me that in the past, so it’s no problem.”  She looked flustered. “Look, I think we should head for some point between here and the ridge at the point John thinks he came over from.  Then we can conduct a  cross-shaped search pattern and look for monster leavings or any trace of John’s betrothed.”  They all nodded in agreement and headed up the game path that John had found.

John knew he was a fit man.  In his old world he had a membership to a grimy gym in an old repurposed factory.  He also did a lot of jogging.  Now that he was in this new world, he tried to do some calisthenics, but found he didn’t tire at all.  He could push out set after set of pushups.  In the end he set a timer on his phone and capped the time so it wouldn’t get in the way of the party getting ready.  This improved stamina showed in his hiking.  He consistently pulled away from the girls who were no slouches themselves.  Realizing that his constant separation was a problem.  He waited and let the four girls go ahead of him.  They smiled as they passed, understanding what he was doing.

The trail they were walking on increased in grade going ever higher.   John got a full view of his new friends’ posteriors.  They were all attractive.  Netruna had the perkiest bum, being the gnome, and only a hundred and eighty years old, just having reached the age of majority.  Brideen has the most ample and muscular buttocks which were draped with  gleaming chain mail and bright white cloth.  He craned his neck trying to see what type of underwear she had on, but Ally stopped them with a fist held in the air.  John froze and looked away, trying to be casual.

“Stupid goblins.”  Ally shook her head. “Come have a look at this.  They never seem to understand the need to hide their scat.  I’m so glad they’re stupid.”

“They don’t cover their waste?”  John looked over Lori’s shoulder. “I take it they’re not very smart.”

“Goblin’s are weird like that.”  Netruna muttered. “Most of the time they act stupid, and then they spring a cleverly ambush on you.  It’s like they lure you into a false sense of security.”

Brideen spat. “That’s why you have to kill every last one of them you see. If you let the clever ones get away, you will have the same problem in only a few months.”

“Are they strong or fast?”  John wanted to learn all about the enemy he was going to face.

“About the same as a human I’d say in speed and strength.  Which is unnerving because they should be slower being so short.”  Lori swung her mace. “They go down easy though.”

Brideen nodded. “If we come up against them, keep your head on a swivel in case of a pincer attack.  That’s why you’re important John.  Picking off a few of them at a distance can prevent the risk of a swarm of them.  And I’ll say this as many times as I need to.  Kill the ones furthest away so they don’t try to scatter after seeing their point goblin go down.”

“Got it.”  John nodded.  Ally’s bow was simple but high quality.  The arrows were true and the fletching were high quality.  Adventurers depended on their gear to keep them alive, and arrows were no exception. “Let’s get going, Tricia’s out there somewhere.”

…

Once they reached the point where Allonsa thought they should be, they commenced walking out in a direction a certain number of paces and then returned to their starting point.  They then set out in a different cardinal direction and repeated the process.  Once they found nothing they repeated the process with longer excursions.

John continuously scanned the trees for anything that stuck out.  After a few hours of searching, John pointed out to the girls the possibility of a cave in the distance.

Brideen nodded and told them to gear up for battle.  John set his pack under a log and noted where it was.  He handed the vials back to Netruna and strung his bow and readied his quiver.

The group stealthily approached the cave, which was nothing but a group of large boulders in the forest surrounding a dark hole in the ground.  They looked around and saw no movement.  The entrance to the cave was littered with refuse and bones.  Brideen nodded and mouthed the word ‘goblins’ to the group. She whispered. “We’re going in.   John, you're at the back.  Be prepared to use the arrows if you have to but keep the spear at the ready.  Drop it if you need to shoot.  Netruna, don’t cast a light spell until we’re in pitch black, I don't want to give our position away.”

“Got it.”  The group nodded.

They descended into that black hole of stench and decay.  Crude runes were painted on the wall with a substance that John did not really want to identify. Many rotting heads of killed rabbits and boar were impaled on sharp sticks, which caused Lori to dry heave a couple of times.  One odd thing that John noticed was that things weren’t necessarily getting darker as they descended into the cave.  Instead things became colorless.

They had gone a hundred yards in and John could still see, but Brideen waved to Netruna to cast a low level light spell.  The gnome shrugged and then gesticulated quietly.  The ambient light in the tunnel rose, causing John to shut his eyes as a reflex.  He wondered if this was some other form of special talent that he had gained in this new world, the ability to see in the dark.

Brideen led the group further in and they came to a large chamber.  There was a firepit, some sitting stones and some large earthenware jars.  The stench was almost overwhelming,  everyone covered their nose.

“This is a goblin nest.”  Allonsa whispered. She put her hand to the charcoal in the fire ring. “It’s still warm.  If no one is guarding it, then it must be a new colony.”

“Colony?”  John raised his eyebrow.

Brideen spoke coldly.  “Goblins will split off into new pioneer groups when they become too large.  Three to five of them will march for twenty to sixty miles and find a cave like this one, or something similar.  They’re always close enough to a settlement for humans or elves.  At first they steal things from the village, then they take livestock.  When they feel bold enough they start to kidnap the women, one by one.  If heroes don’t clear it out in time, the village could be abandoned or destroyed in a final goblin raid.”

Lori shook her head. “And then the process repeats.”

John gripped his spear hard. “Tricia.  We’ve got to find her.”  He looked in the corner.  “What’s in those jars?”

Netruna tiptoed over to them and gingerly pulled the lid off.  She dipped her hand into it and pulled out a sphere of jelly.

“Lust slimes.”

“What?”

“Disgusting.”  Lori shuddered. “Colonies often drag these low level monsters to their new caves.  The slime contains powerful aphrodisiacs that make women more … compliant.”

“Fucking bastards.”  John spat. “I’ll kill them all.  Netruna, what are you doing?”

“I’m bringing some back with us, as much as we can carry.”

“What?!”

“Do you know how much these sell for?”  Netruna shoved a quivering jelly in his face. “Noblemen pay top dollar for these bad boys to get it up.  And these slimes look particularly potent.  My fingers are already tingling.”

Brideen put her hand on John’s shoulder. “Netruna’s right.  We need all the money we can get.”

John was furious.  Not wanting to start a fight he walked to the corner of the cave and sat down while the others continued searching for any treasure.  Brideen and the others searched quickly, but glanced back towards John once in a while.

A minute later they were just about finished up and were ready to go when he saw a sparkle near the trash heap.  He walked over to it and picked up what was causing the glint.  After brushing off the dirt he realized what he was seeing and he felt queasy.

“Tricia.”  He sniffed back a tear. “Oh fuck.”

Netruna looked up at him. “What is it?”

“It’s Tricia’s engagement ring I gave her.” He looked around. “Damn it, where are you!?”

Ally bent down near a side exit to the room and motioned the others to come around. “Hope is not lost John,  have a look at these.”

“What is it?”  John stood over Ally, she was holding  two ends of a frayed rope.

“Goblins either cut rope, or they untie it.  They only know how to steal it, not make it.  I’m hoping your girlfriend cut the bonds against a rock and slipped out this way.  The colony must have been days old, because more developed ones would be building crude cages.”

John started to walk down the dark passage when Brideen stopped him. “We go as a group, John, slowly and deliberately.  Unless you want to fall into a pit trap with shit covered spikes at the bottom of it.”

“I think I’ll pass on the infected wounds.”  He smiled and let them pass him.  Ally took point, caring to tap certain holes or piles of rubbish as they walked forward.

“I’m seeing larger footprints John,  see, the goblin’s feet vs this track?  She went this way.  It still could be a trap.”  They moved forward at what John felt was a snail's pace.

Netruna cut the mana to her light spell as natural light outshone it.  They came to a large cavern with a different entrance to the surface on the other side of it.  A shallow pool of water filled most of the space.

“All stop.”  Ally held up her hand.

Brideen walked up to her. “What is it?  What do you see?”

He could make out shapes in the water,  it was clear and sphere’s  seemed to distort the image of the rocks behind them.  They darted in different directions.

“I think this is where they found the lust slime.”  John muttered. “Or perhaps they found this pool and started breeding them?”

“Not only that, look up there?  That thing thinks we can’t see him.”  Ally pointed up to show a creature with skin that was the same texture and color as the rock.  Thick tentacles dangled from its carapace.

“Tentacle demon.  A pretty big one.”  Lori noted. “The goblins must have left it alone to guard this entrance.  They might have even fed it to make a friend.”

“Is it dead?” John asked.

Netruna shrugged. “Let’s see.” She cast a light spell and pointed the illumination in a focused cone up at the ceiling.  The creature had a massive scorched hole in the center of its body.

“Someone killed it, that’s magic no goblin could cast, maybe a goblin shaman, but no shamans would be in such a small colony.  We can walk around this pool quickly to avoid the slimes,  they mostly wait for people to step on them to attack.”  The gnome remarked.

They jogged around the edge of the pool and could see the sphere’s roll deliberately towards them.  They quickened their pace and saw sunlight and smelled fresh air.

“Finally.”  Lori sighed. “Whew!  What a shit hole.  John!  What are you doing?!”

John had drawn his bow and released an arrow within feet of Lori’s head.  He spoke in a flat tone. “Goblins.”

The girls turned around to see two goblins running at them, and a third nailed to a tree with an arrow.  Three seconds later, two more arrows downed the remaining monsters.

Brideen crouched.  “Fuck! Any more of them?”

Ally’s head swiveled. “Not that I see.  John, that was some quick shooting.  Nicely done.” 

The country boy walked and stumbled to the mortally wounded little green men.  He pulled out his trusty bowie knife.  At the first fallen monster he kicked away the creature’s weapon.  An arrow pierced his throat.  

John stepped on his chest, which made it gurgle. “Tell me where she is.”

“Plaxa nogthrak. Hehehe.”  The monster clawed for the spear that was well out of reach.

“No english huh?”  He ended the creature’s suffering in a single stroke. “That’s too bad.”  He hooked the knife behind the monster’s ear and sliced the ear off. 

Holding it aloft he spoke to his party members. “Ear or nose for proof of a kill right?  We get a bounty for each one?”

The girls winced as they witnessed John slowly finish the job with the other two.  He removed the arrows and examined them to see if they could be reused.  He wiped two on some duff on the ground and slipped it back into his quiver. Finally he took proof of the kills.

Brideen walked up to him and hesitantly raised a hand but retracted it. “I think we got the colony, and think your girl is still alive.  We should continue the search.”

He turned around and stared at Brideen with a stone face. “I hate this place.  The moment I find Tricia, I’m looking for a way home.”

Brideen somehow felt hurt by that statement and wondered why. “I guess if that’s your decision no one can stop you. John, you would have been a crucial member to our party so think on it before you commit to that decision.   But right now we need to find a safe spot to camp and then start the search lower down the mountain.  It’s likely she would have found a stream and followed it to the town if she was smart.”

“She’s smart, way smarter than me.”  John laughed hollowly.

“Then there’s hope.” Brideen flashed a smile that sparked a flicker of good feelings in his heart.  The party walked away quietly to find John’s pack.  Ally took her saber and while no one was looking, flipped the rag that was covering the fat goblin’s crotch.

She whispered quietly to herself.  “Damn, he would have split me in half for sure.  I don’t envy you Tricia, wherever you are.”