I follow Nerk deeper into the strange forest, watching as the last rays of this alien sun filter through the silver-emerald leaves above. The goblin moves with surprising agility despite his awkward gait, occasionally glancing back to make sure I'm keeping up.
"This way, master," he rasps, scurrying under a fallen purple trunk covered in luminescent fungi.
As we walk, I focus on that strange connection between us, that green aura I can somehow perceive. Is this my power? I couldn't never do stuff like this back on Earth. Still, it's coming in pretty useful right now.
But I can feel that there is more depth to it, as if it is an empty container I can fill with my power. Should I try it out? Concentrating, I visualize pushing some of my own energy, or whatever this power is, into the goblin. The effect is immediate and startling.
Nerk gasps, stumbling mid-step as his body absorbs the energy. His his muscles becoming more defined. His yellowed eyes sharpen, gaining a predatory gleam, and his movements become more fluid, less erratic.
"What... what you do to Nerk?" he asks, looking at his hands in wonder as they develop slightly longer, sharper claws. "Feel stronger. See better. Smell more!" He sniffs the air demonstratively, his nostrils flaring wide. "Can track wolf-demons from twice distance now!"
The enhancement has clearly boosted his natural abilities. Stealth, already a goblin specialty, seems dramatically improved, when Nerk moves ahead to scout, he practically vanishes into the underbrush despite his continuing mutters of amazement.
"Master powerful. Very powerful," he says, returning to my side. "No shaman ever make Nerk feel like this. You great tamer, yes?"
"I guess I am," I reply, still processing how the hell I'm doing any of this.
The forest grows darker as we travel, and strange sounds emerge from the deepening shadows, chittering noises, distant roars, and once a sound like breaking glass followed by what might have been laughter.
"Almost to safe place," Nerk assures me as we descend into a ravine lined with glowing blue moss. "Nerk tribe nearby. They not believe when they see what master did to Nerk."
The path narrows, winding between rock formations that look oddly like hunched figures frozen in stone. The air grows colder, damper.
"Master must be careful," Nerk warns suddenly, voice dropping to a whisper. "Smell something wrong ahead. Not tribe. Something else."
He crouches, motioning for me to do the same, and points toward a faint orange glow visible around the next bend.
"Not goblin fire," he hisses. "Too big. Maybe humans or worse, elf-kin."
The howl we heard earlier echoes through the ravine, much closer now. Nerk's enhanced ears twitch frantically.
"Wolf-demons coming from behind," he warns, genuine fear in his voice despite his enhanced state. "We trapped between bad things."
I crouch next to Nerk, weighing our options as my heart pounds. The ravine walls look steep but not impossible.
"Can we go around?" I ask.
"Around?" Nerk's enhanced senses scan our surroundings quickly. "Yes, yes. Nerk see path." He points to a narrow ledge about fifteen feet up the ravine wall that I hadn't noticed before. "Climb there, follow ridge, bypass bad fire and wolf-demons both."
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Testing my new bond with him, I mentally urge Nerk to lead the way. He responds instantly, scampering toward the ravine wall with newfound grace.
"Master follow. Quiet-quiet," he whispers, his claws finding purchase in cracks I can barely see.
I follow, grunting with effort as I pull myself up. The rock feels strange under my fingers, slightly waxy and warm despite the cool air. Below us, shadows move at the bottom of the ravine—something large patrolling on four legs, sniffing at the ground where we just stood.
"Wolf-demon," Nerk confirms, his enhanced eyes piercing the gloom. "Big one. Leader maybe. Good we climb."
The ledge is narrow, barely a foot wide in places. We shimmy along it, backs pressed against the ravine wall. As we round a bend, I get a better view of the orange glow ahead.
It's a campfire, but what's gathered around it makes my blood run cold. Four figures in dark armor sit there, their helmets shaped like skulls of creatures I've never seen. Massive swords rest against rocks nearby. These aren't humans or "elf-kin" as Nerk feared.
"Death Knights," Nerk whimpers, so quietly I barely hear him. "Serve Bone Lord. Very bad. Kill everything."
One of the knights suddenly stiffens and turns its helmeted head in our direction. I freeze, holding my breath.
"Master, no move," Nerk whispers, then does something unexpected. His skin, already a mottled green-gray, begins to shift color, blending with the ravine wall. The enhancement I gave him seems to have boosted camouflage abilities I didn't know goblins had.
The Death Knight continues scanning for another tense moment before turning back to the fire.
"Go slow now," Nerk instructs. "Nerk tribe cave just past ridge. Almost safe."
We continue our precarious journey along the ledge, the howls of wolf-demons echoing behind us and the ominous knights below. After what feels like an eternity, the ledge widens into a small path that curves away from the ravine.
"Here, master. Soon safe," Nerk promises as we slip into the shadows beyond the ridge, the dangers momentarily behind us.
The narrow path winds through dense underbrush, away from both the Death Knights and the wolf-demons. Nerk moves confidently now, his enhanced senses guiding us through the growing darkness. Strange mushrooms glow along the path, casting everything in an eerie blue light.
"Tribe just ahead," Nerk says, pointing to what looks like a solid rock face covered in vines. As we get closer, I realize the vines conceal the entrance to a cave.
"Nerk home," he announces proudly, pushing aside the curtain of vegetation. "Master follow."
I duck through the entrance, and immediately my senses are assaulted by the smell—a pungent mix of smoke, unwashed bodies, and something fermented. The cave opens into a larger chamber lit by small fires in stone pits. About two dozen goblins of various sizes are scattered throughout, some cooking, others crafting crude weapons or sorting through piles of scavenged items.
They all freeze when they see me, conversations dying instantly. A few reach for weapons.
"No harm!" Nerk shouts, stepping in front of me protectively. "This master! Powerful tamer!"
An older, larger goblin with a necklace of teeth and bones hobbles forward, leaning on a gnarled staff. His milky right eye suggests blindness, but his left fixes on me with suspicious intensity.
"What nonsense, Nerk?" he croaks. "Human no master. Human food or trade only."
"Gruk wrong," Nerk insists. "Master change Nerk. Make strong. Show magic!"
The goblin crowd murmurs, clearly noticing Nerk's enhanced appearance. Gruk, apparently the tribe's elder or shaman, circles us warily.
"Smell different," he admits, sniffing the air around us. "Magic smell. Old magic. Tamer magic."
"Master show," Nerk urges me. "Show Gruk what you do."
The cave falls silent as all eyes turn to me expectantly. I can feel their collective aura now, similar to Nerk's but each slightly different in color and intensity.
Gruk pounds his staff on the ground. "If true tamer, prove! Tribe need strong magic. Death Knights hunt our lands. Wolf-demons take our young. Show power!"
A small female goblin pushes forward a cage containing what looks like a rat the size of a small dog. It hisses, revealing rows of needle-like teeth.
"Tame venom-rat," Gruk challenges. "Very mean. Very hard. If you tame, we believe."
The creature thrashes against its cage, its red eyes gleaming with what looks unmistakably like hatred. I can sense its aura too, a sickly yellow-green cloud of aggression and fear.
"Master can do," Nerk whispers confidently. "Master strong."
The tribe watches, their expressions ranging from skepticism to hope, as I approach the cage containing my next potential companion in this bizarre new world.
