The Waystation Ch. 23b

Interlude

Bud’s Big Adventure

Bud felt himself relax as Slothy ambled down the drawbridge. Being around when Bell and Bert lost it was never a good idea. After briefly warning the other residents and guests of the Waystation to stay indoors and ignore anything that happened, Bud climbed up on Slothy and left.

As they cleared the drawbridge and began to trot away, the sounds started to fade. They found themselves in a region of light forest. It was nowhere near the density of the Forest Bud had been in when Bert found him. Instead, it was light and airy, even more so now that Bell had flattened a good portion of it.

Circling the Waystation a few hundred meters out, Bud was able to confirm there were no immediate threats.

Well, out here, at least. Loud thumps and crashes still occasionally sounded from the Waystation. Slothy turned her head to look at Bud and then nodded into the distance.

“Smell something tasty?” Bud asked.

Slothy nodded and licked her lips.

“Let’s go get it then,” Ranger Captain Bud said with a grin. He said everything with a grin; he was a skeleton.

With a happy snort, Slothy started moving off toward whatever had caught her nose.

Bud activated two of his new skills, Tracking and Pathfinding, as they moved. The forest floor was suddenly alive with tracks, paths, and clues. Bud would have raised his eyebrows. Only he didn’t have any. This was a lot of traffic for a small forest. This was still the Dead Lands, after all. Using his skills as an Assistant, Bud started to categorize and cross-reference the various tracks.

As Slothy trundled her way deeper into the forest, Bud kept comparing the tracks and paths, even as he scanned for threats.

He was a very different creature than the archer that had followed Bert out of the skyship crash site. It was more than just his levels and skills. It was not even the shiny new Ranger Captain Class. It was that he thought differently.

His status sheet might still describe him as a minion, but he knew better. Bert and Bell didn’t treat him as some minion. They treated him as family.

As an equal.

Just the thought made Bud light up with pride.

Slothy slowed as they came to a rise, her head raised to sniff the air.

Bud wished he had a nose.

Scanning the nearby tracks, he noticed something and laid a calming hand on Slothy’s head. The great bear watched as he climbed down and quietly checked the tracks in question.

“Goblins,” Bud whispered to Slothy before carefully approaching the small hill's top. A shuffling noise made him look back.

His jaw fell open as he watched slothy shuffling forward, belly to the ground and keeping low. Shaking himself, he moved on as Slothy caught up to him.

Together they peaked over the top of the hill, finding a small valley on the other side.

That was not all they found.

Hidden in the valley was a small, crude village. Several huts were surrounded by a rough stone wall made by stacking boulders on top of each other.  Goblins moved listlessly around the village, dragging rusty weapons along the floor as they did so. A small tower was built in the center, and a sentry snored loudly from the top.

Scanning each of the goblins, Bud quickly counted thirty-five, plus however many were inside. Not a threat to the Waystation. He was about to turn away when he heard the crying. Whips cracked in the village. Bud watched as a trio of prisoners were driven out of one of the huts.

The emaciated green-skinned prisoners almost looked like goblins until he noticed their ears and height. Orcs, but very young. Early teens, at best.

Bud remembered the orcs they had met. They had been kind people.

They had been nice to him.

And Orcs were allies of the Fae.

Bud was Fae now. Bell had told him so.

Leaning over to whisper into Slothy’s ear, Bud kept his eyes on the prisoners.

“Want to go kill some goblins?”

Slothy smiled and nodded her huge head.

========

Gor’tal, the oldest of their group, glared down at the Goblin. His friends had followed him on his exploration, only to be captured by these goblins as they slept. They had found no way to escape this hell in five months or more.

Time got hazy as they got weaker.

Acid twisted in his stomach as he thought again of how stupid he had been. Wanting an adventure like the old stories. All he had done was get his friends captured and soon… killed.

The sneering goblin spat on Gor’tal and pointed at the wall. Every day for months, the orcs had been made to pull boulders from below and build these damnable walls. They were effectively building their own prison.

Gor’tal opened his mouth to argue, only to pause as a strange sound rolled through the valley.

It sounded like growling… and it was getting closer.

Slothy burst through the flimsy wooden gate with ease. Bud fired, his arrow killing the Goblin holding the whip. He kept firing as Slothy ripped entire huts apart with her massive claws. As the goblins ran in terror, Bud fired. Every arrow was a kill. Bud was a Ranger Captain, and he did NOT miss.

In less than a minute, almost all of the Goblins were dead. The last few had gathered together, hiding behind the bound orcs. Bud glared down at them from his perch on the Giant Sloth Bear’s back.

“I will give you one chance, Goblin scum,” Bud let his knotwork mana channels shine as he drew himself up to his full height, “Let the Orcs go!”

As the orc’s eyes widened in shock, the goblins pulled themselves tighter behind their fleshy shields.

Bud drew his bow and focused, poring mana into his arrow until it burned away, leaving a ghostly mana arrow in its place. “Ghost Shot!” He cried.

The arrow left his bow in a blur, passing through the largest orc without a trace. The goblin behind him fell, his head a pink mist.

Bud drew again and looked at the goblins once more. The goblins threw down their weapons and backed away.

“Multishot!” Bud called, his arrow splitting into five, each one killing a goblin in a single hit.

“Well, now, that was easy,” Bud said happily as he slid down from his saddle and began to free the stunned orcs.

“F-F-Fae?” Stammered one of them.

“Why, yes,” Bud said happily. “Thanks for noticing.”

The three orcs dropped to one knee and bowed their heads.

“We thank you, brother.”

“Your very welcome, I’m sure.” Bud glowed with pride. Bert was never going to believe this.

“Now, is there anything else I can help you with?”

Mic’ali licked his lips nervously and nudged his brother. Ric’ali nudged Gor’tal. They all looked up at the skeletal Fae and hesitated.

“We beg you, help us rescue our friends!” Gor’tal said in a rush.

“Of course; where are they?” The Fae asked while he patted the enormous bear affectionately.

The three friends pointed hesitantly into the ruins of the largest hut.

“They are in the tunnels below,” Mic’ali said nervously.

“Hmm,” The Fae scratched his chin, “Slothy doesn’t do small spaces.”

“Please, Lord Fae,” Gor’tal begged. “They are here because of me. I can not let them die down there.”

“Well, can you three fight at all?” Bud asked as he stared at the three cowed orcs.

“I can a little,” Gor’tal offered.

“I can manage a little healing,” Ric’ali offered.

“I can try,” Mic’ali said.

Bud dropped into the tunnel below the hut and looked each way. It seemed clear. Slothy’s head pushed into the tunnel, and she whined sadly.

“Don’t worry, Slothy, if anything goes wrong… maybe get Bert?” Bud patted the nervous bear. She gave him a nod and a few good luck licks.

As she withdrew her head, the three orcs dropped into the tunnel. They carried a mishmash of scavenged gear. None of it fit. Even young orcs were much larger than goblins.

Bud nodded to the three young orcs and led them into the tunnels.

He tried to hide his nervousness. This was his first-ever raid.

As they crept through the tunnels, they came across a couple of goblins here and there, but they died silently with arrows in their heads.

The first large room they came to had a dozen goblins, but after a quick Multishot, it was down to five. As Gor and Mic fought beside him, Bud cut down two more. The final three threw themselves at Bud and his team but died quickly.

They moved further into the tunnels, the occasional fight giving the orcs confidence, and Ric’ali’s healing was rarely needed.

A final turn in the tunnel and they faced the largest room yet.

Fifteen goblins lined the walls, pick axes clanging as they mined the ore in the room's walls. Two more orcs swung picks as well, easily doing the work of three goblins each.

A vast, fat Goblin took up the center ground. A Hob. He had a massive club across his legs as he shouted orders from his stone chair.

Hesitating in the doorway, Gor’tal turned to Bud and pointed at the Hob.

“He is why we could not escape.”

Bud scrutinized the Hob. He was at a higher level than Bud, but not by much. The fact remained that Bud was a little more breakable, however.

He stood and thought for a moment.

What would Bert do? Or Bell?

The grinning skull took on a sinister air in the tunnel's darkness.

The orcs shied away a little.

“You get those other Orcs. I’ll handle the Hob.” Bud said. Ducking back around the curve of the tunnel, he began to glow.

Once he was ready, he leaped around the corner again.

“Multishot! MultiShot!” He shouted as the goblins on either side of the orcs fell in droves.

“Sal, Tru! Over here, hurry!” Gor’tal shouted, and the two orcs ran for the tunnel as the Hob laughed.

“Come now, little skeleton! How is such a puny creature as you going to challenge me?” It stood and flexed its large muscles.

“Easily,” Bud said as he drew his bow, “I’m gonna cheat! Explosive Shot!” The arrow flew over the hob’s head and cracked into the ceiling. An explosion rained shards of rock down on the fat goblin, who laughed.

“You missed, little bug!” He sneered.

A creaking sound echoed across the room before the roof caved in. Tons of rock and dirt poured down, burying the Hob alive.

“I didn’t aim at you,” Bud chuckled before he turned to the five astonished orcs.

“What? I told him I was going to cheat.”

A half-hour later, the party climbed out of the tunnels to find Slothy pacing nervously back and forth. As soon as Bud cleared the hole in the ground, he was snatched into a literal bear hug.

“I missed you too, girl.” Bud laughed as Slothy licked his face. “Time to go home?”

Slothy rumbled her agreement.

“Excuse me, Master Fae?” A feminine voice called out.

“Yes, miss orc?” Bud said as Slothy let him down.

“I am Sal’ali, and my blood sister Tru’nal and I offer our thanks.” The two orcs bowed deeply.

“No problem. Happy to help.” Bud said as he climbed back onto Slothy. “I assume you know the way back home?” He asked.

“Uhh, about that….” Tru’nal said. “Any chance we could go with you?”

“Returning from our travels with nothing would be a big embarrassment to us,” Gor’tal said.

“Plus, we are completely lost,” Mic added helpfully as the others groaned and covered their faces.

“Idiot!” Ric said and punched him.

“What?” Mic asked.

“We wanted to make a good impression!” Sal’ali hissed at her brother.

“Didn’t that ship sail when he found us captured by goblins?” Mic asked.

“SHUT! UP!” Tru said as Ric covered the blushing Mic’ali’s mouth.

“Sure, you can come with me,” Bud said once they seemed to be finished. “ There is plenty of room at The Waystation.” He hesitated momentarily, remembering Bell’s strict lessons on proper Fae behavior. “But you must swear to serve me and the Waystation for at least five years.”

Bud felt terrible about saying it, but Bell had been very clear about Fae etiquette.

“We swear!” The orcs said gratefully.

“Then follow me!” Bud said and turned Slothy back towards the Waystation.

He had minions!