The Journey
Merlinious was sneakier than most kobolds, Toop was forced to concede, and that certainly made her more dangerous, but she was also weaker. That didn't bother Toop so much as the friend Merlinious brought along: Tibbit, a goblin. Toop didn't like Tibbet. For one thing, Tibbet was too green. But not green like the grass, green like withered grass, a sort of yellowy green. Mostly, Toop didn't like Tibbet because Tibbet was always showing off, and trying to impress Merlinious. Tibbet could barely swing the hammer he carried – a big stone on a bowed stick, but Merlinious seemed to like him. Toop wasn't sure why, but that didn't matter, because Tibbet would help by hitting Chloe between the eyes.
Then when she mooed and fell over, he, Toop, would rush in and stick her. He was certain the sword would reach her heart. No matter what, Chloe had to die and he had to be the one to kill her. Best of all, Merlinious and Tibbet would hide, so no one else knew they were there. Everyone would be watching him, and not Tibbet. Merlinious said she was going to paint 'Tibby' blue so even if someone did see him, they'd think he was a Xvart, at least from a distance. Merlinious was so smart, Toop sighed. Why couldn't he be this smart? She thought The Plan was silly, and they should just pepper Chloe with arrows until she got mad enough to rush towards them and fall down a ditch. But that would defeat the purpose of him killing her. If he, Toop, didn't stab Chloe, then the village's honour would remain in tatters, and he'd get none of the glory. Merlinious said something he didn't understand, in her hissing scalekin tongue, but he suspected it was rude. He couldn't prove anything and because she was his friend, he couldn't take offence.
He had practiced his war cries all afternoon. He would surely scare Chloe where other Xvarts had failed. Now he had to gather up the others, and they would go hunting.
Dawn found them at the edge of the great stone river the pinkskins used. It didn't flow like water, but wooden open huts were pulled down it by oxen, an even more terrifying breed of cow than Chloe. There were six of them. Merlinious and Tibbet had gone on ahead, and would meet him at the ditch. The ditch was a ridge that determined the boundary between the forest and the pinkskin's farm. Crossing the stone river was dangerous; hobgoblins and the smelliest of the pinkskins lurked in the trees and tried to drag the moving huts out of the river. They contained food, and fruit and grain juices. Sometimes they carried iron, but not lately. Now a sword was rarer than cow.
What Toop hadn't told anyone was how it was Merlinious who got him a sword. He didn't know where she'd got it from, or how, but he didn't like to ask. It proved that she was his friend. She promised, unlike the other swords, it wouldn't rot, and it hadn't! He hadn't believed it, but after four days, it was still fresh. He was so impressed that he actually kept his promise to hide it and show no one. Now he wore it proudly in his belt. He had dubbed it 'Chloeslayer' at first, but then he thought it would be nice to call it something else. He hadn't actually killed Chloe yet, and until he did the sword hadn't earned the name, no matter how much he treasured it. It was very plain around the hilt and grip, but he didn't mind. This was the sword that would change everything forever.
By midafternoon, they had crossed the stone river, snuck through the woods and reached the farm. The grazing grounds of Chloe were vast and green, with only a couple of trees to provide cover. A wall of stacked stones ran along two sides, marking where the trees ended and the grazing grounds began. The other side had a ditch, and the last was where the stone hut was. Inside the hut was the nasty pinkskin who came out and touched Chloe's udders each morning. Why would anyone touch a cow, Toop wanted to know, but even Merlinious didn't have an answer. The shaman didn't either, but told him if he asked another question, he would feed Ursa. Toop certainly didn't want to feed Ursa; the she-bear might protect the village in exchange for tribute, but she wasn't above eating a blueskin.
The sun was half way between noon and reddening when he saw her, his foe. Chloe stood there munching grass without a care in the world, as if she had never crushed a xvart before in her life. Toop's blood began to boil. Abandoning the plan, he screamed his war-cry and the other xvarts joined him. "AIIIIIIIII!"
Chloe wasn't impressed. She watched the charging xvarts, then mooed loudly. It stopped several in their tracks, but not Toop. Little dagger held high, he slashed wildly as he neared her. He had forgotten Merlinious was watching. Then his blade came into contact with the cow. Chloe mooed in pain, and swung her head in a great arc. Toop barely dodged, having to throw himself sideways. Then Chloe took a step forwards; she was so close, half a xvart away from him! Frantically, he rolled, but her steps were longer than his rolling. He felt the moist warmth, smelt the horrible grass, and knew he was about to die.
The warriors from his village had fled. As soon as Chloe had advanced, they turned and ran. Merlinious' arrow saved his life. Striking Chloe firmly in the rump, the cow howled, and looked around, then amazingly began to charge towards the stone hut.
"Quick," Merlinious hissed, "Let's get out of here!"
Still shaken, Toop nodded and hastily got to his feet. He was too ashamed to even look at her, much less Tibbet. He was sure the goblin was laughing at him.