Panic was a frantic drumbeat in Grishnak's chest.
He scrambled through the mire, slipping on slick roots and crashing through grasping vines.
Behind him, his last two kin, Grol and Snark, followed with equal terror. They leaped over a mossy hollow.
Grishnak heard a soft groan, then a sickening, wet crunch from behind. He risked a glance over his shoulder.
Snark was gone. Vanished. As if the swamp itself had swallowed him whole.
A fresh wave of terror, stabbed through him.
He didn't dare stop. He pushed harder, his lungs burning, his eyes fixed on the dark maw of a cave he knew offered some semblance of safety.
Almost there. Almost—
An agony bloomed in his leg, and the world tilted.
He hit the mud with a pained grunt. He twisted his head, his eyes widening at the spear sticking out of from his thigh, pinning him to the ground.
Fear compelled him to look back.
Through the tangled undergrowth, he saw the Elf child. He was on top of Grol, straddling his chest.
The Elf's fists, sheathed in a crackling golden light, rose and fell in a brutal rhythm.
WHUD. WHUD. WHUD.
Each impact was met with a weaker twitch from Grol, a final, fading spasm of life.
Then, stillness.
The Elf pushed himself up. His face, smeared with green blood.
A slow, chilling smirk spread across his lips as his golden eyes found Grishnak's. And then, he began to walk.
He moved with an unhurried grace, a predator approaching its trapped, trembling prey.
Aurelion stopped a few feet away, towering over the pinned and terrified goblin.
"Good," he said.
"Finally. I've found a friend to talk."
Aurelion knelt beside the goblin, his hand closing around the spear shaft still embedded in its thigh.
"Let me go," the creature whimpered. "Please, no kill, no kill..."
Aurelion studied the begging goblin. "These filthy creatures are just like humans," he thought. "They both start pleading in the face of death."
His smile seemed to only heighten the goblin's terror. Its pleas grew louder, more frantic. "Please! Mercy! PLEASE!"
"Be quiet," Aurelion said calmly.
The goblin didn't hear him, the desperate gibberish continuing to pour from its mouth.
Aurelion's free hand shot out and clamped around the goblin's throat, squeezing just enough to cut off its cries.
"If you don't shut your mouth," he said, his golden eyes boring into the goblin's terrified ones, "I will rip out your tongue. Do you understand me?"
The goblin nodded frantically.
Aurelion loosened his grip slightly. "I'm looking for one of your friends," he continued. "He has green energy. And he can control your minds."
The goblin nodded again, quickly.
"Tell me," Aurelion commanded.
The goblin, its mind addled with pain and fear, simply blinked. "Tell... what?"
Aurelion sighed. He tightened his grip on the spear, and a crackle of white blue lightning traveled from his hand, down the wooden shaft, and into the wound.
The goblin start to shake, its body seized by agonizing spasms, a strangled shriek caught in its throat.
After a few seconds, Aurelion released the energy flow.
"Again," he said, his voice flat. "Tell me."
"Zid! Zid! Zid!" the goblin stammered, drool and tears mixing on its face. "His name... Zid! Chief's son!"
"Zid," Aurelion repeated, the name a soft hiss. He leaned closer. "So tell me about this Zid. How does he control your minds?"
"Zid... Zid is Chief's child. His energy... strong. Special." The goblin's words were a desperate tumble. "He touched World Tree... Primordia blessed him!"
Aurelion's brows furrowed. "Primordia? Why in all the hells would it bless a filthy goblin?" he thinks.
The idea was so absurd, so illogical, that it almost made him laugh. He tightened his grip on the spear once more. The lightning crackled.
The goblin shrieked.
"Stop rambling nonsense," Aurelion said, his voice dropping to a dangerous low. "Why would Primordia bless you?"
"Is truth! I tell truth, please, please!" the goblin sobbed. "Zid is blessed! He is blessed!"
"What kind of blessing is this?" Aurelion pressed, his patience wearing thin.
"The lucky ones... sometimes we are blessed when we touch World Tree."
Aurelion processed this. A new variable. "And what did Zid gain with this "blessing" ?"
"His energy grew strong! He is future leader! He makes us... stronger!"
"He can only empower you?" Aurelion asked, his tone deceptively casual.
"Yes, yes! Poison to others, gift to us!"
"So Zid's power is most likely limited to his own race," Aurelion deduced internally. A critical piece of information. "Where is he?"
"Nest! In the nest!" the goblin cried.
Aurelion sent another jolt of lightning down the spear. It was shorter this time, just a sharp, disciplinary shock. The goblin screamed, then whimpered.
With its trembling, grimy finger, the goblin pointed deeper into the swamp. "There... please, there! At the Swamp's Edge cliff... the nest entrance... please let me go."
Aurelion's expression softened, a feat that was more unsettling than before. "What's your name?"
"Grishnak," the goblin choked out.
"You wouldn't lie to me, would you, Grishnak?"
"Never! Never! Grishnak always tells truth! No lies, no lies!"
Aurelion's lips curled into a gentle smile. "I believe you, Grishnak," he said, and with a swift pull, he ripped the spear from the goblin's leg.
Grishnak howled in pain, but as the weapon came free, a wave of desperate relief washed over its face.
It looked up at Aurelion, its eyes filled with a pathetic gratitude.
"Thank y—"
SPLASH!
The word was cut short as Aurelion, in a single motion, plunged the bloody spearhead through the goblin's open mouth.
Aurelion pulled his spear free. He looked down at the lifeless goblin, its eyes wide with a final, betrayed surprise.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk," he clicked his tongue, a sound of mild disappointment.
"I was just starting to like this one," he mused "But a friend who limps is just a liability."
He spared the corpse a final, dismissive glance. "Sorry, Gris... Grihna... Grim- whatever you are. Try surviving in the void now."
He slung the spear over his shoulder and gazed into the oppressive gloom, in the direction of the nest.
"Now then," he said with a cheerfulness. "Let's find some new friends."
Zid sat in the darkness of the cave.
Before him lay the desiccated corpses of several brown spiders. He had one hand extended over them, siphoning faint wisps of green energy from their lifeless bodies.
"That scum elf whelp won't escape this," he hissed to himself.
"Primordia has blessed me, and now it sends this elf as a test. I will tear his wretched corpse to pieces and offer it to the World Tree. For passing this trial, my blessing will grow stronger."
A twisted, smirk spread across his face.
Just then, another goblin scurried into Zid's chamber. "Chief... summons you," it chittered.
Zid ceased his energy absorption. He rose to his feet and followed the goblin.
They walked into a vast, cavernous chamber, dimly lit only by the eerie glow of phosphorescent fungi clinging to the walls and ceiling.
In the center, on a crude throne of stone and bone, sat a goblin as tall as a man. He was old, his skin a roadmap of scars and wrinkles, and he wore a ceremonial garment crafted from giant spider legs.
Other goblin warriors stood silently in the shadows.
Zid walked before the enthroned figure. "You summoned me, father."
"Of course I summoned you, you half-wit," the old chieftain snarled. "Or did this idiot next to you fail to say it?"
Zid said nothing, his head bowed.
The goblin on the throne continued. "First, you caused the deaths of the ambush party. Now, there are others who have not returned from the nest's patrols. I called you here assuming you've thought about this mess. So, tell me. How will you deal with the child you spoke of?"
Zid looked up at the old goblin, his brows slightly furrowed. "I plan to lure him here, father."
The chieftain let out a low growl. "Thanks to you, the numbers of these imbeciles have already dwindled. Do you wish to cause the deaths of more? You will pass the trouble you've started onto us, you fool."
"This is a test given to us by Primordia, fa—"
"SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" the Chief roared, his voice bouncing off the damp cave walls. "Even if this is a test from Primordia, it is your test, you idiot. You are the only one who received its blessing."
"Father... I cannot handle that child alone."
The old goblin stroked his thin, wiry beard. "I am well aware of how useless you are, you dont need to mention that," he said.
Zid could only grit his teeth.
"We will proceed with your plan, Zid," the old goblin continued. "But you will be the one to lure the child here."
Zid's head snapped up in shock. "Father, I must not di—"
"SHUT YOUR MOUTH! It doesn't change a thing in my eyes even if Primordia has blessed you. Now get the fuck out of my sight and lure that child here. I will deal with him myself after that."
He looked down at his son with utter contempt. "You can at least do that much, can't you, Zid?"
"I will do it, father. I will, don't worry."
The chief let out a booming laugh. "Oh, I'm not worried at all Zid. Just try not to get yourself killed before you bring the child here." He paused, a cruel glint in his eye. "You may not take any goblins with you, but you can take the spiders."
Zid opened his mouth to spek, but the Chief cut him off.
"Don't even think about taking the green ones."
Zid snapped his mouth shut.
"Now get lost," Grommash commanded, his voice final. "Don't show your face to me again until you bring that whelp here."
Zid silently turned his back. The other goblins in the chamber let out soft, chuckles.
He didn't say a word, his posture rigid as he walked quietly out of the throne room.
"Damned old man," Zid fumed internally. "He just won't die. But don't worry, I know exactly what I'm going to do with you."
He made his way to a side cavern where brown, hairy spiders, each half his size, skittered in the gloom. He stepped before them and snapped his fingers. Four of them immediately scuttled to his side, their multiple eyes fixed on him.
As he tried to motion for a fifth, a massive shadow shifted in the back of the cavern. A silhouette, far larger than the others, stirred restlessly.
Zid froze, immediately halting his command. He backed away slowly with his four chosen spiders.
"That damned old man. When did he instruct his pet? Am I supposed to do this with only four?"
He led his small retinue out of the nest. As he emerged from between the vines at the cave mouth, he began to walk along the narrow path that snaked along the cliff's edge, overlooking the vast swamp.
"I just have to lure that whelp here," he whispered. "And then... I'll be rid of both of these filth."
The Chieftain's throne room was quiet again, the echoes of his son's departure still hanging in the stale air. Grommash stared into the shadows where Zid had vanished, his expression a mask of cold calculation.
"Skulk!" he barked into the gloom.
A section of the cavern wall that seemed like solid shadow detached itself. A dark skinned goblin, agile looking than the others, emerged from the darkness and knelt before the throne.
"Has Zid left?"
Skulk simply nodded, his eyes fixed on the floor.
"It is almost impossible to encounter an Elf child in these lands," Grommash mused, more to himself than to the kneeling goblin. "If what that fool described is true, then no matter what, we cannot let him escape. Do you understand?"
Skulk nodded again.
"Do not kill him," Grommash commanded. "He is more valuable alive."
For the first time, Skulk lifted his head and spoke, his voice like a dry whisper.
"The Elf will die when you say it should die, Chief Grommash."