Belney the Supplicant Ch. 03

Tholeaus was meanwhile thinking that the further they went, the more he felt like they were in deep shit. He wasn't a goblin hunter. Could he even catch one of the little monsters with his blade? They seemed fast, with that zigzagging way they came at them the other day. With their beady little eyes and long pointy noses. Yesterday. It was only yesterday. He was hungry. He reached his hand into a pouch for dried fruit.

Okay, we'll make camp at a flat place on this hill, if we can find one. Or else back down at the trail. Lenya, you need a water source, and theres a spring we just passed a little ways back.

Fennis was used to making tactical decisions, but it hurt to not stay on this fresh trail until dark, or after. Lenya's little poke demanded caution.

Lenya how do you feel? Tholeaus asked. He couldn't lose her too. He could not.

Let's keep pushing guys- if I start to fade I'll say so.. but we still have daylight.

They stayed on the trail, until they came to a scree field. Fennis spoke.

This will be difficult to track through this. We'll have to walk the upper edge. Let's save it.

Light was waning. the sun had set and chill was setting in.

They scraped out a sleeping spot with joyless efficiency. It wasn't much flat, but they chose a place with a shallow trough shape they could use.

Fennis and Tholeaus arranged to alternate watch. Lenya looked down pensive at her hands. She held a palm to her forehead. She felt hot. Fennis keenly wished he'd requested more help, or at least kept that Finn fellow. That guy seemed more handy than either of these youngsters, however motivated. Three goblins in the dark were formidable. These youngsters were untested. It could be dicey. He spoke suddenly.

Tholeaus, I'd prefer you sleep straight through with Lenya. You two can sleep close, yeah? I'll stay awake on watch.

The two Dunsmuir-ians looked at each other and smiled, relieved to have each other on this night. They had spooned before. And so they curled down together with a familiar tenderness. A lingering cry then rose above the night sounds. Very faint to their ears. Was it an animal sound? A wild cat, maybe. The cry trailed off in the dark. Fennis raised his hooded cloak tighter around himself and stared out at the shadows on the trees.

Lenya, after dozing for a while against Tholeaus' warm body curled behind her, came awake and shifted. She was deeply tired from the day of pursuit, that was clear. She was emotionally drained as well. She could feel a grief in her chest. She'd been holding it at bay. Her travel clothes felt hot and scratchy. She was aware of her womb. She dared push her butt back against Tholeaus a little. His breath was slow and even and his arm draped loosely around her. She pushed back a little more for relief and he cuddled in, his weight shifting towards her. Lenya's mind began to swim around in a haze. Not landing anywhere, but searching.

The goblins, so nearby, began to feel her in the trance space they knew so well. Their green cocks had just slipped wetly out of their new filly- who seemed to be dozing, contented. Each in turn sighed, satiated by their second round with their prize. Good progress had been made. They weren't sure if it was because of their experience- none of the three had the honor of a capture before, but they had shared among the tribe's rare slaves on festival nights, and the ways were passed in song among warriors. Maybe it was just this filly's ripeness, caught at the right time. she was a fine one.

Tonight they had hardly partaken of their summoning blend. A cup diluted weakly and shared among four. They knew they had wire snares out, but a strike was unlikely. So when they sat together to rest like they do, cross legged and still, they were surprised to feel a human casting about in their haze. And a woman, a young one. It was the friend of their filly's. The fiery smaller one who'd thrown the smoke bomb. She was close. She had come to rescue. Their dream-selves took in this development together and they smiled. They couldn't take this one tonight, they had no hunger in them, with soft penises just tucking happy back in their sheaths. They only had the nature to tease her a little. They couldn't sing a calling-in song, but maybe they could leave a little hook in her mind and maybe she'd follow them all the way home.

Lenya's eyes flashed open in the dark. Terrible fever dream. She shuddered. Had she heard creepy goblin voices in her head? she hated hearing what they sounded like! Is this what they did to Belney, creep around her with their voices in her head until she went mad?

Lenya turned over, pushing Tholeaus' big body to turn over with her. She loved him. She really did. She had for years. She closed her eyes again. Tried to settle down.

They had come around her, she remembered. She had swung a little sword, lashing out left and right- but her arm had moved like slow water. Had they danced around her? She could see their long noses side profiled, had that one leaned his head back, calling to the moon. The horrible little fuckers! Why did they dance around her like that? She could see one, then gone. They flickered in and out. Then she was down, crawling. Thrown down. Was she naked? Were they whipping her with long thin sticks. But smiling. Then she'd been walking. She cast her head

about. Trying to see the landscape passing. She blinked her eyes open again. Remembering her dream. There's that feeling that you can dive back in, and chase the monsters away. But the dream is gone. She thought about her friend. And the loneliness of being alone with monsters. And then she fell back into a dreamless sleep.