Risha: Chapter 51

Risha watched the doors, their fiery scripts wrapping through each other. The spiderlings in her clothes rustled in anticipation. Risha wore the panther’s items, the necklace and gloves she’d made giving her comfort. At her waist was her sword and across her back were her bone-headed arrows. She held her strung bow, ready for whatever might wait for them on the other side.

This was it. Something wanted her here. Risha knew that there was power to be found here, but what that meant exactly, Risha wasn’t sure.

She stepped forward, her hand rising to the words she couldn’t read. Magic flowed through her, lighting up the same words she’d seen lit in her vision. 

The door opened, a breeze pushing its way through the depths.

The breeze brushed past the party who’d been chosen to accompany her. Glo had wanted to send twenty warriors with her, but with Klaz’zks’s help, Risha had narrowed it down to six. Dilo the High Goblin Scout, Kyra the High Goblin Assassin, Mist-Prowler the Coyote disguised as a goblin, Talo the Shade, Diel the orc Death Bringer, and finally Klaz’zks herself. 

The spider queen stepped up besides Risha in her human form, the Death-Bringer a step behind her. They stared into the normal looking corridor behind the doors. The same bright stone lit its interior, lighting the way before it twisted.

Risha stepped forward, and the group arrayed itself around her. Kyra the goblin disappeared into the shadows, while her partner Dilo stalked forward with his bow ready. 

Risha walked calmly, her feet silent on the stone floors as [hunter] activated. They turned the corner, and the hallway changed, expanding into several large rooms with their own branching paths. Crystals jutted out from the walls, reflecting the red light of the bright stone which illuminated their way. 

Many sounds made their way to Risha’s ears. The shifting of something deep in the earth, the bubbling of a nearby stream, and a faint thrum that echoed through her, like a heartbeat.

Dilo, the High Goblin Scout, stalked carefully through the crystals, an arrow knocked to his bow, exploring the many paths before they traveled further.
Risha found her gaze drawn to the crystals, they sung with the heartbeat, adding their own music to the experience. They called to her, and her greed wanted her to grab them for herself. 

She took her gaze away from the crystals, and instead turned to Dilo as he walked back to her. 

“Grand Mother, there’s three paths. One leads deeper into the earth, another has the track of someone passing through, the third narrows dangerously.” 

Risha looked at Talo who’d trailed behind the rest of them, but he shook his head, “I do not know this place.” 

Risha looked over the room, the choice soon becoming obvious to her. She suspected that deeper led to whatever she was looking for, but if there was something living down here, then she wanted to know what it was. “We’ll follow the tracks.”

Dilo nodded, then moved right. The rest of the party followed him, the orc deathbringer taking up the rear. 

As soon as they started on the path, Risha saw the same signs Dilo had. Faint disturbances in the dirt of the floor made unrecognizable tracks.

The tunnel they walked through was large enough for Risha's whole group to walk side by side, but stone pillars and large crystals blocked her from seeing too deep.

They followed the tracks until they heard the sounds. Klink klink. 

Dilo stopped, then held up his hand. 

Moments later, Kyra stepped out of the shadows, “Grand Mother… I think you should see this.” She glanced at the others, “It would be best for us to be silent.”

Risha nodded, then motioned for the others to wait. [Hunter] activated as she followed the other goblin through the cave. She could tell that Kyra was purposefully making herself visible to Risha as they traveled, and Risha wondered how well she could follow the Assassin if she tried to hide.

They turned a corner, and Risha was distracted from her thoughts when she saw it. A tiny goblin with pale white skin lifted up a pickaxe, and tapped it against the base of a large crystal.

Familiar scars and burns covered the goblin, its body little more than skin and bones. Behind it, was a rucksack filled with the crystals. In the distance, Risha could hear more klinks, as other goblins tapped their picks against the crystals. 

Risha stepped forward, into sight of the goblin. 

It let out a tiny shriek, and stumbled backwards, dropping its pickaxe. 

“Hello, Risha is a friend goblin. Do not worry.” Risha said,

“Ola good goblin! No bad. Monster no eat Ola!” The goblin cried out. Risha could hear the klinks of other goblins stop as they wondered what all the noise was about.

“Risha sorry.” Risha said as she grabbed the tiny terrified goblin and retreated back to her party. The goblin shivered in her arms, not daring to fight and thankfully staying quiet as the two High Goblins moved.

They arrived back at the main group, and Risha motioned for the party to retreat. Everyone stared at the small goblin in Risha’s arms curiously, but she waited until they were far out of earshot before setting the goblin down.

Ola, the pale white goblin got on her knees, and placed her hands forward pleadingly, “Ola good goblin. Monster no eat goblin!” 

Risha’s heart twisted, and she heard her own heartbeat before she calmed herself. She did not want to scare the strange goblin.

Risha pointed at herself, “Risha is a Goblin.” 

Ola paused, then looked up at Risha, scrutinizing her. “No. Risha too tall.”

Risha gave a soft smile, then sat down in front of the goblin, “Risha could make you tall, make you talk.”

“No!” Ola immediately answered, then bowed her head low, shivering. “Masters kill tall Ola.” 

An old anger rose in Risha. She’d wanted to pretend it was nothing, that she’d been misreading the signs. But the burns, the old scars, the mark of whips and irons, Risha knew them, and she knew what they meant. “Risha will protect you from ugly orcs.” Her anger drifted into her tone, and the tiny goblin shivered more.

The orc deathbringer shifted awkwardly, and Risha pushed her anger down. 

“Orc? M-master no orc.” Ola paused, finally gathering the courage to look over the group Risha had with her. Her gaze paused on Talo, but not with the fear she had of her masters, “Risha protect Ola?” 

“I promise, I just want some answers in exchange.” 

Ola slowly nodded. 

Risha leaned forward, and gently placed her hand on the fearful Goblin’s cheek. 


Analyzing Goblin Ola’s feats…

Possible Evolutions:

Under Goblin Miner

Under Goblin Defender

Under Goblin Sparktender


“You want to be tall, like Risha, yes?” Risha asked, letting her anger flow away as she focused solely on this lost child.

The fearful little creature nodded.

“I could help you mine, or I could make you a warrior. And if you want, Risha can make you something different.”

“Ola wants…” Risha could see the trouble that the goblin had with words, but she waited patiently. She knew what it was like to be so limited, your brain moving, but your mouth silent. “Ola want different.”

[Motherly Advice]

Risha spoke, the words wrapping around the young goblin, and speaking to her very being. Risha brought out something that was inside the goblin all along, and Ola’s form changed with the magic.

Ola grew taller, but not as quite as tall as Risha. The similarities between the two goblin types were visible, but so were the differences, Red lines went through her pale skin like veins, pulsing with the heartbeat of the cave. Her ears drooped further than Risha’s, and her hair glowed white. Ola’s eyes were a bright sky-blue, lighter than Risha’s own darkblue eyes, and Ola’s muscles toned, showing clearly.

Ola blinked up at Risha, then looked over herself, “Ola is… I am… Beautiful.” 

Tears poured down her face, glistening like the crystals of the cave. 

Risha pulled the other goblin into a hug, holding her as she sobbed into Risha’s shoulder. 

The goblin cried quietly, used to hiding her tears in a manner that made Risha’s heart ache. Risha stayed with the tiny goblin for as long as she needed, holding her.

Eventually, the goblin pulled away, “Ola is so thankful, but you should run. The masters will not be happy.”

Risha observed the goblin for a long moment, but no part of her even considered following the other goblin’s words, “How many goblins are here?” 

The goblin looked pained that Risha didn’t take her advice, but answered the question as she’d promised, “two tens of us here. But closer, there are many.” 

“Closer to what?” Klaz’zks asked from nearby.

“Closer to the heart.” Ola looked at them expectantly.

“The heart of what?” Risha asked, drawing the young goblin’s gaze to her.

“The heart.” Ola paused, “Ola does not know any other name for it. That is what the masters call it.”

Risha felt her hands clench at the mention of the masters, her nails biting into her skin and drawing blood. She took a deep breath and loosened her fists. “How many masters are here?”

“Five.” Ola held up her hand, showing all of her fingers, “but they are strong. Stronger than Shades.” She glanced at Talo, then turned her gaze back to Risha.

Risha looked at Klaz’zks, and the spider already knew what Risha wanted. Twenty goblins so close to the spider-warrens, it made sense to grab them now, while they had the element of surprise. 

Risha stood tall, picking her forgotten bow off the ground. “Dilo,” The High Goblin Scout stepped forward with his head lowered, “Keep her safe.” 

The Scout bowed his head, and moved closer to the Under Goblin. 

Risha pulled an arrow from her quiver, and that was the signal for the entire party. Klaz’zks’s legs unfolded behind her, and she disappeared into the shadows of the cieling. The Death Bringer drew his own sword and buckler, while Talo placed his hand on the cloth covering his face. Somewhere in the shadows, Kyra drew her own blades.

Mist-Prowler stepped over to RIsha, “Grand Mother, I have an idea.” 

Risha looked at her, then nodded.

Her form shifted from the high-goblin she’d been to a near exact replica of Ola before her evolution. 

The Under Goblin took a step back in surprise as Mist-Prowler turned to her, then spoke in her own voice, “Do I look right?”

Ola nodded, her eyes wide.

Mist-Prowler turned to Risha, “Wait by where we found her, I’ll bring them to you.”

Risha smiled, her teeth sharp. Anger flowed through her, red-hot from the tears that still covered her furs, and her spiderlings bristled with the emotion across her body.

She’d thought that her anger was sated, that she’d drowned it in blood, but she was wrong. She missed this, the fire in her blood.

Any creature that dared to call itself master, would find its head torn from its body, and its bones crushed under her feet.

Risha followed silently as Mist-Prowler led them back through the cave. [Hunter] silenced her movements as she focused on her newest prey.

She did not know who or what they were, but they would regret every torture they placed upon Risha’s children.

***
Epigraph from Chapter 37:

This is my first lesson to you, young Mystic. Spirits give us power, and they could take it away from us just as easily. You see your strength, that no orc pig dares stand against you, but you do not see that such power comes with a price. Do not offend our ancestors, or the spirits who you call upon, or you will find yourself dead, your family skewered by the spear you carry so proudly. Even the least of them carry the strength of their souls.

-Mystic Itok to his apprentice