Thank you Reviewers!
I've been very busy lately, with my brother's wedding and all, (Yay, I have two sister-in-laws now! .,) but now that it's done, my only concerns this month are party planning and school, w00t!
Enjoy!
Chap 4:
The Hedgewitch:
"We have much to discuss. You brought up my scribing at the meeting, so I would very much appreciate it if you initiated our chat," Master Erebus began, suddenly sounding somber. Perching himself on Makenna's item chest, he pulled out a small book with quilled markings of the original goblin language. Although Makenna could not speak it, she recognized the symbols of warding and knowledge from Erebus' library collection back in the Old Realm. The old goblin watched her patiently inspecting until patience faded, and he then cleared his throat to gain her attention once more.
"For the first few days you were gone, the city affairs carried on as normal. Ah, how in depth do you want me to go?" she asked after starting. Erebus quietly thought before speaking, "Not intricately in depth. If I think something is striking, I ask for details." She adjusted her seat in her bed cot. "As I said, affairs continued on as usual. Aye, there were a few problems with housing arrangements and building projects, but for the most part after that, it was calm." She watched the goblin scribe rapidly, feathered charcoal scratching away at pressed leaf paper. One finished, he looked up and smiled, showing his enjoyment of the Bookies' favorite kind of knowledge; useless information. "The next month was harder. June brought oddly cold weather, and it postponed some of our late planting. A few goblins in the north parts of the mountain experienced a light frost, which damaged some of the newly grown plants." Makenna recalled how Miggy and her old goblins friends had contemplated whether they chose the right spot for a city. For days her nerves frayed while she hid herself in the armaments cave, though in the end she decided to stay.
"After it started to get warmer, and plants prospered fully, the goblins brought me news of foreign creatures nearing the city outposts." "Really?" the Bookie frowned, leaning forward and scribing even faster. "I didn't make any moves of attack until I could see for myself if they were harmful. They were centaurs, horse creatures with the torso of a human. They sent out a messenger, who had approached us cautiously. He presented me with paper in a foreign language, and spoke in a foreign tongue, and knowing we didn't understand, traveled back and returned, this time with a branch of a plant I'd never known existed. On it were round black fruits, about the size of an acorn, it's leaves grew opposite one another, and the branch was gnarled," she continued. The goblin's head shot up, "An olive branch?" He asked. The Hedgewicth nodded. "I'd no idea what it was until a young Bookie told me. After that, we dropped our weapons and told him we wanted to problems." Just as she finished her sentence, and tap on the tent flap sounded.
"Come in," Makenna offered, watching as a slightly damp Tobin stepped foot through the threshold. He shook his boots out a bit before removing them and setting the on the edge of her thinly weaved rugged."I assumed your going over what happened in the expeditions absence?" He asked while sitting down. Nodding, Makenna gestured towards Erebus. She felt her stomach knot, feeling guilty that she had yelled at him in the days prior. Since then, she had barely spoken two words to him, and was ashamed at her childish actions.
"You can catch up by reading what Erebus records later," Erebus smiled at the ex-knight, and then faced Makenna once more, prepared to finish his writing. "Let's see," she began, trying to recall where she left off. "The messenger returned to his clan, who were situated about a mile away to the south from our outpost. The next day, he came back with an ambassador who spoke the Old Realm's language. He had said he had learned it from other humans that had entered Otherworld, though he called Otherworld Itola. After that he brought a treaty stating that we would remain friendly with one another-" Makenna explained. Tobin started to gape as she explained about the truce, straightening up and speaking in opposition. "They could have told you that to make you think the treaty was that of friendly terms for all we know-" Makenna calmly silenced him, sitting tall, reassuring herself of her authority. "Your concern is needed Tobin. Aye, that's why I want you to take part in our social affairs. But the treaty was in our language. I read it word for word and even subjugated the ambassador to a truth spell, so you don't have to worry. " He looked slightly taken aback, but his expression gave way to a relaxed acceptance. "Sorry," the lord apologized. Makenna grinned, finally relieved. "Don't say sorry to me lordling, I don't need it. You're smart enough to know you are in a position to protest my decisions." He nodded calmly, sullen expression retreating.
"Anyway, the centaurs disappeared not to be seen again. Master Erebus, after that, nothing happened. The plants grew, and city affairs continued. The only changes made were the community banquets and the formation of the rest of the outposts." With that, Makenna sat deep into her cot, fatigue pulling persistently at the back of her eyelids. Tobin stood, stretching, and Master Erebus finished his scribing while Makenna waited.
"It seems we have no time tonight for my exchange," the goblin spoke in a hoarse unused voice. Sitting up with his book in hand, he hopped from the chest cautiously, approaching Makenna and handing her something from his pocket. She took it, examining it in the darkly lit tent to see it was a copper coin of some sort. "I'll give you that until we find another night in which to discuss my findings," he explained, bowing to his mistress and bidding Tobin goodbye.
"What is it?" Tobin asked, taking a seat next to Makenna on her cot. Stiffening at his proximity, she felt fresh nervousness find it's way into her chest. "It's a copper coin, recognize it from Old Realm?" She asked, handing it to him. He held it up in front of his face, turning it to face the light until it glowed like a pool of fire. "It's copper coated, see the indentations there? Thats iron underneath. It's defiantly a coin from before the Hierarchy's time. They used solid bronze," he explained, handing the coin back to her. She met his gaze smiling until he eyes remained on hers for longer than a single glance should last. Hoping the light would hide her awkward blush, she stood and set the coin in her item chest, facing away from him.
"Listen, I'm sorry about suggesting you didn't care about your goblins, Makenna." he spoke softly, his voice filled with a mixture of emotions. "It's fine, I don't know what got into me to act like that," finally being able to offer what she thought about herself, she felt at ease. "I know very well I should practice magic, and I have. Just not the priests, for reasons you can guess." Tobin looked at her as if seeing her for the first time, gaping in realization. "Of coarse you wouldn't want to use his magic, after what the Cloister has done to you and yours," He stood, scratching his head. Smiling, Makenna said good night and watched him leave. The rest of the night she spent sleeping.
The Knight:
Tobin woke in his tent during the early morning preceding dawn. Sitting up groggily, having plenty of time to pack well before others were up, he thought aimlessly, letting his mind wander while he woke completely from his dreams. He recalled the day prior, how the group had traveled at a slow pace, but managed to get to a far distance from their city. He also recalled his evening, first listening to Makenna talk, and then mustering the courage to apologize to her about her accusations in the city archives.
Tobin thought of her more; how much he was truly sorry for making her self conscious of her magic; how close he had sat to her, praying to St. Spiratu she couldn't see his hand shaking as he held the bronze coin. Suddenly wiping his thoughts, he stood, stretching his sides and yawning. "Don't think," he whispered to himself. Thinking makes proximity harder to bear.
Being away on his travels, far from Makenna, his mind had cleared. He was able to consider everything that had happened to him in perspective, especially his abandoning of the Old realm. At first he had regretted leaving his brother, especially when the reason he left was to escape knightly duties, and attend to his hopes for a simpler life; both of which he was unable to do presently. However, the more he spent time thinking about how he'd come to love the goblins, and how he'd come to know Makenna, the more he felt at home. As time dragged on while he was away, he'd found a single soul to confide in; his goblin friend Mourry. The Tracker knew all of Tobin's feelings, and possibly understood even more about what they meant than Tobin did. Without him, Tobin could have been driven insane with confusion and loneliness.
Shaking his head, he dressed himself, slipping on a linen shirt, and wool tunic, with burnt bark colored breaches. Once his boots were on, he packed his things, tying the few things he had into neat bundles, and setting them outside his tent as he tore it down. Soon Mourry was up, waving to Tobin as he undid his own tent structure. After an hour or so, Tobin begun to catch the rustling and mumbling of waking goblins as they prepared for the day. A few ventured outside their tents in search of the creek that had led to the seemingly stagnant marsh pond, but most tore their tents down just as Tobin had. The last person to get up was the hedgewitch, but rightfully so. Her tent protected scrolls of her spells, treasures for potential trades, records of supplies, and extra materials for a traveler's use; all of which she packed and unpacked herself from the unreliable mountain rams. It took many a lost bundles of goods to teach The Expedition that the rams could jump over any pen they made, chew through any rope they tied, and would turn on the goblins if frightened by the night noises; so they simply carried their goods with them where ever they slept.
Makenna was outside her tent, pacing back and forth from the inside threshold to the outside, transferring bags and bunches of items she was deemed to guard. Her long hair was braided that day for practicality's sake, and she wore more than she had the day prior; a sign she knew colder weather would be upon them. She tore down her tent and folded it up just like the rest. Soon the Makers were out saddling the rams with their carefully crafted gear and Charmers calmed the steeds into staying still while the army mounted them. Once everyone was packed and prepared, they continued their journey, first walking, and then riding when the ground became stiffer.
"Lovely mornin', lovely muck," Mourry exclaimed sarcastically, breathing deep the rotten musk scents of the bog area. Tobin laughed, "Not half as lovely as your wife!" Jabbing Tobin with his walking stick, Mourry narrowed his eyes cackling away. In front of them Makenna turned, curious about their laughter, and sent them a look of confusion. As she swiveled back to keep her eyes on the forest in front of her mount, Tobin caught a smile creeping on her lips. Mourry unexpectedly poked his side painfully again, catching Tobin off guard. "Oof!" he grunted. About to finally poke his friend back, he stopped when he caught the distance sound of dull marching.
"Makenna!" he called, but she was stock still before he was. Dismounting, she brought her steed back for Mourry to hold. "Goblins!" she called, clearing the ground of the few dead leaves that had fallen from the turning trees. "We have company! Trackers, if you have been with the expedition, I want you to search the surrounding area for potential sorcerers. Finders, search for unnaturally rotten or decaying foliage. Watchers, surround the group and keep an eye on our perimeters," she called, moving towards Tobin and Mourry once more, her expression taut, she spoke. "I'm going to draw a rune of warding and then step outside the shield to investigate, I want Tobin to stay here and Mourry to come-" "With all due respect, I'd prefer to come with you," Tobin spouted, refusing to be left behind if the enemy was ahead. Makenna stared at him seriously for a single moment of thought before nodding. Mourry nodded as well, brining his steed back to the other goblins that were mounted, and yelling commands of preparation.
Meanwhile, Makenna drew a circle, penciling in runes in each of the four directions, stepping on the circle's edge with her foot. Tobin waited for her to finish, seeing her eyes flutter shut while she whispered the chant of the protection spell. Suddenly, a faint purple glow appeared first on the ground around the goblins, and then above them in a half sphere shape; the spell was much stronger than it had been when she first practiced it in the city. After bringing her mount back to her, Tobin watched the empty forest around them. Some trees were much older, but most seemed only a few decades old; making it easy to see something at a distance. Peering around as they rode further and further from the shielded goblins towards the potential threat, Tobin heard the beat of approaching horses. Makenna gasped suddenly, watching something nearing them from the east. Tobin turned quickly to see just what approached them.