Chapter 46: Small and Clever

Chapter 46: Small and Clever

Akkyst had very little idea of what was going on.

This... Bylk was the Chieftain of the Magelords, apparently. He could only guess that this group of goblins called themselves the magelords. And had a chieftain? That was already far more organized than the group he had come from.

But they were still goblins.

Bylk, with his wide, snaggle-toothed grin, leaned closer, waggling a finger. "You'll need to be up and walking if we're going to chat."

Akkyst glanced down. Ah, right, his front leg was shattered; frankly, enough had been happening he'd rather forgotten. He squinted at the goblin's extended fingers, glowing a pale white.

The stalking jaguar was hidden behind him, curled up under the spread of his shadow-attuned mana, and the bladehawk was hidden overhead, tucked away in an alcove. If he was up and walking, that would be all the more defense he could offer, and if Bylk was betraying him, then they still had the opportunity to run away. Certainly not the best option, but it had enough of a chance. He nodded.

Bylk's grin widened to a degree that really shouldn't be possible and he bopped his finger on the tip of Akkyst's nose.

A warm, sort of soothing feeling flowed through him, spilling down from his face and wrapping around his paw; it felt like water, but warm and comforting in a way caves hadn't yet managed to be, like he was back in the living halls, curled up on his algae bed with a stomach full of mushrooms. It felt like home.

And with a snap, his bone wove itself back together, muscles reconnecting and skin knitting across the wound. Akkyst blinked, gingerly setting it back on the ground. It held his weight the same as all his others.

Bylk did cough roughly, one of the jewels hanging from his ears losing its glow and going dim. "Damn," he hissed, spitting some backed-up phlegm on the ground by his feet. "You're mana-dense, ain't ya? Took a hell of a lot to heal you."

Akkyst settled for looking at him. The secret he could talk? He wasn't happy he had shared it, but that was important for getting understanding on both sides and having them see him as a sentient being. That was important.

Exposing that he came from what he was pretty sure was the Growth and born of pure mana?

Yeah, he'd be keeping that one a little closer to his chest. Judging by how much the war horde goblins had hated and spat at the very name of the Growth, he doubted it was popular ground.

And if he was going to survive this and get his fellow beasts out, he needed them not to attack him right now.

Bylk stared at him for another moment, pale eyes narrowed, before twitching his shoulders in what probably counted as a goblin shrug. "Suppose you cave bears take a lot. Never healed one of ya before."

Akkyst bobbed his head. That seemed like the safest response.

"Well then." Bylk cranked his head from side to side, cracking his knobbly fingers. His strange stone-esque clothing flowed as he turned around, ears jangling with jewels, and promptly stopped at the dozen of goblins encircling him. Their wide eyes were fixed on Akkyst.Updated from novelbIn.(c)om

Who was also rather frozen. Turned out those goblins could be silent when they wanted to.

Bylk snorted, waving his hands. He couldn't have come up to the chin of most of them but they all unerringly followed his movements, their own bone-studded ears flicking in his direction. "Out of here, brats, you got work to do—you can talk to him later. Go on and heal."

And for the jaguar. Akkyst turned, shuffling his bulk to the side and looking back; hidden under the shadow he'd laid on her, still twitching from the lightning coursing through her veins, she was still. But her eyes, impossibly vivid gold even against the dusty grey-green of her fur, locked onto him as he turned. Paralyzed but still very much aware.

He knelt, awkwardly grabbing her side with one massive paw and dragging her onto his back; she slumped there, her long tail with its feather-like growth on the tip just beginning to twitch, but stable. Akkyst stood and cast his gaze up, making the odd, almost chirping sound he'd picked up from their times walking patrols.

The bladehawk did trust him, but he did receive a rather cautious squawk back. He chirped again.

With a flutter, he spread his four wings and swooped down from on high, his metallic wings catching in the mana's glow; goblins blinked and watched him soar past with a strange mixture of curiosity and awe. Made sense, if Akkyst had to guess. It wasn't like he was a native.

The bladehawk landed on his hunched shoulders, curling his wings tightly to his sides. His black eyes swept over the assembled goblins with a cautious air, but he knew his wings could bear him away faster than their mana could work. The jaguar stayed sprawled over his back, but she'd start to wake up soon. Either the paralysis or by the goblins healing her.

Bylk looked at him, one eyebrow raised. "Ready to head out, eh? Off to whatever caverns you came from?"

Akkyst knew a few movements that translated his lack of speaking abilities. He shook his head.

Both of Bylk's eyebrows shot up. "Oh. Oh?"

He squared up his walk, careful to keep both creatures stable on his back, and swung his head towards the entrance the goblins had come from. Wherever they'd head back, he'd follow. It was time he figured out this mountain mess.

And maybe they would know the way back to the Growth, because he certainly didn't.

-

She was the smallest, but she was fierce, and she did not bow to those around her.

Her carapace was thin and flexible, still hardening after her birth, and she used that to weave around her opponents, her jagged, grasping claws snapping out at flies and beetles alike; most of the time she bounced off their monstrous carapaces but it was enough to turn them away, to direct their gaze elsewhere so she could slip away.

She learned about herself, in this fight. She was a creature built for stealth and sneaking, for tricking her prey closer and feasting on their corpse, but that did not mean she was weak. The other creatures expected her to be weak like her siblings, who stayed in the corners and struck out only when struck, and thus they paid no attention to her.

Enormous beetles with their round-shell backs, larvae dragging themselves out of water with their many-faceted eyes glinting in the dark, flies and moths flitting overhead with cautious, spinning circles. Lancers stayed around the edge of the pillar, fending off others instead of striking for home. Tanks rumbled through the midst of the battle, ignoring all attacks in their slow and endless charge. Biters swarmed overhead, searching for an opening the others would never provide.

But she was small. Still the pale grey of her youngling carapace, still small and unhardened, but quick. Clever. More focused on the underlings of the things surrounding her.

So she charged, her grasping claws snatching up foes and slicing off limb and head, scuttling through the cracks in combat and skulking against the side, letting her grey carapace hide her against the stone.

Until finally, she snuck underneath a final dragonfly's corpse and emerged on the top of the pillar.

Other bugs saw her then, of course. It was hard to pretend to be small and weak and young and foolhardy when she stood upon the prize of victory. But they could not stop her, and she saw that little pool of mana, of potential.

And she drank deeply of that mana, of the pure power, and felt light explode through her.