The Savage Caves - Chapter 6

The Savage Caves: Original Story by T.H. Lain
A Fan-Fiction Reimagining: Walthus Proudstump

Chapter 6

Tazerg held his breath as Dulf smeared the disgusting stuff on his bare chest, the strange paste feeling slick but with bits of rough, stone-like texture in it. The marking hurt and Dulf was rough. He jabbed his clawed finger in the goblin’s chest and it felt like a needlefish stabbing into him. He remained quiet, though. Being marked by Dulf with Rezrek’s symbol was an honor, said Rezrek. He said that any goblin who served him would be honored with the mark and while Tazerg wanted to sink a blade into the smelly bugbear’s eyes, he knew he needed allies to stop the massive creature. Goblins along the entrance, then middle caves and even near the underground lake were all Cavedeep Goblins. They’d split off years ago but still remained connected by blood and an agreement not to cause issues for one another. They skirmished sometimes over a bloom of mushrooms or when cave snails were discovered. Cave snails were a rare but delicious treat and the goblins could fight pretty nasty for the rights to any found. But they never killed. At least never on purpose. Rezrek had killed thirty goblins since he arrived. Most of those had been Rezrek himself but the other bugbears had killed goblins as well. All save Leden, Tazerg thought. The shifty bugbear seemed uninterested in killing or hurting them, though he didn’t stop the other bugbears from doing so. Maybe it was because he was weak compared to the others, Tazerg thought. The goblins were weaker than the bugbears and they hadn’t done anything to stop them. Not since his father died. Dulf finished painting Tazerg and five other goblins; Regek, Muln, Sard, Undreg and Narkle. The goblins had all volunteered to seek out goblins that had not yet been brought under Rezrek’s control - a suggestion given by the bugbear called Leden. Tazerg saw that Leden didn’t like Rezrek either and had caught him sneering behind the much larger creature’s back several times. Rezrek hurt his own people like he did Tazerg’s. The little goblin fumed but stayed silent. Regek was eager to find the other goblins - they’d bring them to Rezrek to swear themselves or they’d beat them up until they did. Tazerg hated Regek’s excitement. All of them seemed excited, all too willing to serve this beast that had come into their home and killed their kin. Tazerg’s kin. His people. Rezrek looked over the group and his eye settled on Tazerg. “Why Tazerg here,” Rezrek said in his loud, rumbling voice. Tazerg did not look at the bugbear but answered, trying to make himself seem smaller next to the goblins at his sides. “Tazerg…weak. Rezrek strong. Tazerg…serve Rezrek. Be honored.” Tazerg felt angry just speaking the words. Lying to keep himself from being smashed in the head by Rezrek’s weapon. He feared it. He said again. “Serve Rezrek.” The bugbear nodded and laughed, shoving Dulf out of the way and reaching forward to loom over the six goblins before him. Bits of fish flesh were still stuck in Rezrek’s yellowed fangs and the smell of his rancid breath made Tazerg sick. He did nothing, only kept his eyes averted and remained silent. Rezrek stayed like that, right in their faces, for several long breaths before drawing back and turning to Dulf. The smelly bugbear nodded, collecting several stone-tipped spears and two stone knives. Tazerg eyed the knife hungrily; his fingers twitched and he wanted to hold the weapon. But he was patient. Weapons were given to the goblins, Dulf staring each in the eye as he handed the simple tools of war. Tazerg was given a spear and he hefted the long wooden handle. He preferred a dagger but he bowed as it was roughly thrust into his hand. He wasn’t about to question it. Any weapon was better than none. Rezrek looked at the armed goblins and sneered. “Little goblins. Weak. Rezrek,” he patted his huge chest and growled deeply. “Strong.” He jammed a thick finger into Muln’s chest and he let out a squeal of pain. Rezrek was pointing to the symbol. “Rezrek’s mark. Make goblins strong, like Rezrek.” The goblins next to Tazerg nodded, brandishing their weapons. “Strong like Rezrek,” Sard yelled. He raised his knife into the air and hooted, the other goblins following suit. Tazerg was half a breath behind this. He felt shame fill his chest as Rezrek looked down on them and smiled. The bugbear’s approval stung and the little goblin grit his teeth. The bugbear didn’t think they’d be stronger with his mark. He just wanted them to convince more goblins to join him. More goblins to fight. More goblins to hurt. Tazerg gripped his stone spear so tightly that his grey knuckles went white and spittle dribbled from his open mouth. He gnashed his teeth and Rezrek held up a hand. “Now,” he said, looking over the six of them. “You,” he pointed to Sard. “You lead goblins in Rezrek’s name.” “Yes!” He called back, excitedly. Tazerg shifted his eyes to Sard. Tazerg was taller, stronger and smarter than Sard. He wrinkled his nose as the other goblin stood tall, stepping forward and nodding to Rezrek - he was acknowledging him as chieftain. The thought made Tazerg angry and he bit the inside of his cheek to keep from yelling. He tasted blood. “Sard serve Rezrek! Chief Rezrek!” The lead goblin’s voice felt frantic as he shouted. “Bring other goblins,” Sard nodded up at Rezrek and the bugbear snarled in response. The smaller goblin took a step back, uncertain, but Rezrek only smiled and pointed a thick finger to the exit of the small cave. “Go!” He roared. “Bring goblins to serve Rezrek! If they won’t serve, kill them!” His eyes grew wider at that and he laughed. “Join or die!” Tazerg’s heart ached with frustration. These were his kin; brothers, sisters, cousins. He didn’t want to kill his own people. It was wrong to do so, his father had taught him. There were so many things that could hurt goblins, why would another goblin want to do that to their kind? But he also knew that the goblins with him now were willing to be loyal to Rezrek. Would they listen if he tried to convince them to help Tazerg kill the bugbear and his packmates? Tazerg wasn’t sure. He sighed. If they wouldn’t listen to him, then that meant they might tell Rezrek what he was planning. As Sard started to move out of the chamber, followed by the others, Tazerg kept pace while he ran the situation through his head. He would need to kill Sard. And probably the others as well. The thought made him sad. They were his people. Rezrek had stolen them with fear and Tazerg would get them back. But by killing a few of his kin, goblins who swore that they would serve Rezrek, meant that he could kill the bugbear and maybe get the other goblins to help him. He would do it. Tazerg nodded silently to himself as he set his mind to it. Rezrek needed to be stopped and anyone who helped him was no friend of Tazerg. He would need to be clever about it. Tazerg wasn’t a bad fighter but five goblins against him wasn’t a good fight. If he wasn’t careful, he’d be the one killed. The goblin followed the others in the party out, shifting through the wide tunnels and hearing the sounds of his feet slap the bare stone. The chamber they’d left was close to the one that had been his father’s - he could see the mark of his father etched above it as they moved past and he closed his eyes against the angry tears he felt. That cave was meant to be his when his father died, not the bugbear who’d killed him. As they moved forward, Sard moved to a thinner vertical tunnel that led down into the cave system. The little goblin was in the tunnel and shifting forward faster than Tazerg had expected. The others followed behind. The tunnels had been there for as long as Tazerg could remember; before even his father’s father had been alive. They didn’t know what made them but they were smooth, covered in the thick webs of the spiders. Tazerg knew these paths; he’d run them many times and the webbing inside of them would allow the goblins to scale down great depths very fast. They’d make quick time finding the other goblins Rezrek wanted, he knew. He hesitated for a moment. From up ahead, he heard Muln call out for him. “Tazerg! Hurry, Tazerg!” There was a hissing noise and Muln spoke again. “Sard says you get left behind, he tell Rezrek.”         Tazerg growled in his throat. Sard. He shifted forward, angling the spear in his hand as he went.         Tazerg needed a plan and he needed one fast.
The cracking of dice hitting the stone drew Rezrek’s yellow eyes. He was leaning over a small stone table, cut right from the rock by a thousand years of water runoff that had long since stopped. It formed a perfect, if short, table for the bugbear leader to spread out the small map they’d stolen from the humans. It had blood spots where the man who’d been carrying it had been shot by Leden but the map was still legible. Or would be if Rezrek had much skill with reading. He could make out a few words in the Flan language but it made him angry that he didn’t understand more. There were looping letters that he knew where the names of places but scribbled in the margins of the map were notes. Notes that he couldn’t understand and that none of the other bugbears had any idea of. He grit his teeth and ran a heavy paw through his thick fur. Thrunk cleared his phlegmy throat. He scratched and the sound of dice clattered again, followed by deep laughter.         “Stop!” He yelled, froth and spittle dribbling down his chin and splattering on the stone table.         Kurdeg and Wendeg, brothers who both shared the same dark grey fur, quickly snatched up the dice they were playing with. Kurdeg elbowed his brother in the stomach and Wendeg nodded a few times, looking at Rezrek but not into his eyes.         “Sorry Rezrek.” His voice was gruff but sounded pathetic to Rezrek’s ears. The two had similar coats and carried iron studded clubs, which they used effectively from what Rezrek had seen. They were clumsy, though, and he knew they weren’t much good for anything other than smashing something when told. Rezrek stretched, yawning and placing a paw on the map. He looked over Fairbye and snarled, feeling his anger beginning to boil up and wondering if he could spare another goblin to kill to take his mind off of the humans for now.         The sound of Leden approaching drew his attention. He turned on the bugbear and curled his lip.         “What?” He said, shifting forward so that there was almost no space between him and the much smaller female. This close he could smell the faintest whiff of the fish she’d eaten and the smell of damp clothing. He wrinkled his nose as he looked down at her. She looked up, eyes leveled at his chest. She nodded, still not looking up, but spoke. “Rezrek plan for Fairbye.” She gestured to the map and Rezrek scoffed. “Leden have plan, huh? Better plan than Rezrek?” He raised his voice and Kurdeg, Wendeg and Thrunk stopped what they were doing. Rezrek might be ready to fight and if he did they didn’t want to miss him throttling the smaller bugbear. The smaller female didn’t back down, only pointed to the map again and shook her head. “No, Rezrek plan good. More good. Leden have no plan, only Rezrek’s plan.” “Then what?” He yelled, turning away from her. She walked slowly around the stone table, catching the eyes of the other bugbears and showing her fangs as she sneered. She stopped, putting a paw out and pointing to Fairbye. “Fairbye small,” she said and Rezrek nodded. “But Fairbye have many people, more people than Rezrek have warriors.” She looked up at this and caught Rezrek’s eye. He squeezed his fist tight and his upper lip quivered. He wanted to reach over the table and smash Leden’s head into the stone, over and over. Until her too smart brains splattered the map. Then he would feed her body to Ripper. He smiled and Leden mistook that for agreement. She continued. “What if Rezrek send warriors to scout? See how many humans.” She nodded as Rezrek listened. Her face seemed happy that he was listening; she softened her snarling lip and her voice became less gruff. More soft. “Rezrek send scout, find human number, come back and be ready to take Fairbye!” She laughed and then paused, waiting for Rezrek to respond. The entire chamber went silent as Rezrek leveled the female with his intense eyes, yellow-orange gaze burning into her. He sneered but considered it. He could send a scout. Fairbye was a farm but Rezrek didn’t know how many had pitchforks or weapons. If he knew how many he would know how many goblins he needed. And if they could attack at night. If there was a watch. He took a long moment to think, running a filthy finger over his bottom lip and snaking his tongue out over it. His hand tasted bitter and he snarled. Leden shrank away, lowering her head and turning away from Rezrek. He turned to the other bugbears, who all stood impatiently waiting for the leader to say something. “A scout,” he began, looking to Leden. She looked up, catching his eye and the much larger bugbear smiled at her. She smiled back. “Yes. Scout. How many humans, then how many goblins. What weapons they have? Watch at night or easy kills, sleeping in bed like babes?” He smiled wider and slammed his fist on the stone. The other bugbears howled in response, Leden among them. She took a step forward and nodded. "Rezrek, Leden scout! I scout.” She patted her chest and smiled. But her smile faded very quickly as Rezrek shook his head. “No. Rezrek’s idea, not Leden’s.” He looked at the twins, growling for both of them to approach. The smaller female made an angry growl in the back of her throat and snapped her fangs at the two males as they walked closer to Rezrek. She moved her eyes from both of them to Rezrek and her anger didn’t fade from that growl. Rezrek stared her down and snarled back. She held his gaze for another moment before turning away, storming out of the room in anger and slapping the wall hard with her paw. Rezrek knew there were goblins outside of the chamber, he’d told them to wait for as long as he wanted, and he expected to hear the sound of screams at Leden’s leaving. But none came. Thinking about it, the big bugbear didn’t remember Leden killing any goblins since they got here. Sure, she shot at them and wounded a few. But killed? He couldn’t remember. She must’ve killed some. Why wouldn’t she? The bugbear leader turned to stare at the twins. Both wore a pleased, if stupid, look on their faces and he narrowed his eyes at them. The smiles disappeared from their faces and they fell silent. Rezrek pointed to the map, his clawed finger stabbing at the small area. “Fairbye,” he said in a rumbling growl. “Go up top, scout. Do not be seen.” He leveled them both with a look that drained the color from their faces. His eyes were clear in their intent; if they were seen, Rezrek would kill them himself. He barked an order and the two bugbears left, gathering the scant equipment they had with themselves. They both scuttled away and Rezrek was left with only Thrunk there. With a growl, he dismissed the other bugbear. In the darkness of the chamber, he felt uneasy. The goblins had mostly fallen in line. But Fairbye was a human village. Goblins were weak and easy to dominate; easily killed, too, if they stepped out of line. He absently fingered the amulet that he’d taken from Tazerg’s father and felt the smooth, strange stone held within its shape. It felt good to have. It felt like Rezrek was holding pure power. He would check on the Spider Mother soon. Her brood would help him take over Fairbye and some of the other small villages, as well. Rezrek would take and take, keep taking until there was nothing else left. He wanted everything he could get his claws on. The bugbear let out a contented grumble and Erzmer’s voice interrupted his pleasant daydream. He didn’t turn to the other bugbear as he entered the chamber but stayed staring at his map. “What, Erzmer?” He let the annoyance slip into his voice as the other massive bugbear lumbered into the room, making a wet sucking noise as he did so. The bugbear dropped a mostly eaten fish to the ground behind him and cleared his throat; a wet, deeply unpleasant thing that Rezrek hoped would be a sickness that killed him. But he was strong as ever. “Twins going up?” “Yes. Rezrek knows Fairbye but needs know more. How many people. What weapons.” He nodded, tracing a paw over the map. Erzmer looked over it and snuffled, wiping spittle from his mouth and fur. “What, Erzmer?” The question came again and the two stood in silence for a moment as tension built between them. Rezrek realized that this could be an attempt to take his place. They were alone and though Rezrek had his warhammer, that didn’t mean Erzmer didn’t want to take the leadership for himself. Rule instead of Rezrek. The larger bugbear growled and shifted his head slowly to look at Erzmer, leaning over the other edge of the map and smiling. “Answer or I’ll break your fangs. Crunch on those.” Rezrek said. Erzmer held his hands up but still smiled. “Careful, Rezrek.” He started and looked to the exit of the chamber. “Leden know much; skilled tracker, ambusher. He good with quick bow.” The other bugbear shrugged. “Too much anger and bugbear make mistake. Stupid mistake.” He narrowed his eyes at Rezrek, who returned the look. “Erzmer want to fight Rezrek?” The question was direct. Erzmer said nothing but his hand dropped to the weapon at his side; a short blade that looked small in Erzmer’s large hand. It had been a man’s blade at one point but the bugbear had been using it to hack at trees up top and goblins down below, so it was blunted and warped looking. He patted the weapon and raised an eyebrow at Rezrek. “Erzmer not challenge Rezrek. Not yet.” He laughed. Rezrek laughed, humorlessly, at the shorter bugbear and stood to his full height. The ceiling of the cave chamber was still another foot or so above his head but Rezrek puffed himself out to look more intimidating. Erzmer snarled and slapped the stone table. “Erzmer bored, Rezrek. Need something to do. Something to hurt, not goblins. Erzmer bored with goblins screams.” He shook his head and held a hand to his left nostril. He blew hard and a wad of mucus splattered against the floor. “Let Erzmer go up, too. Scout.” “Erzmer can’t scout,” Rezrek said, ignoring the complaining bugbear. He was done with the conversation and just wanted to look over the map and think of how good it would feel to have all of it. He swept a hand over the table and mumbled to himself. “Rezrek’s. All mine.” He chuckled but Erzmer didn’t let up. “Erzmer scout fine! Leden no scout. Twins too stupid; can’t scout! Erzmer scout!” He slapped his chest and took a step forward. Rezrek rose to meet him, hand going to the weapon at his side as he snarled. Erzmer snarled in return. The two looked at each other, hovering a few inches from one another’s faces. Their large lower fangs, almost tusk-like, nearly brushed against one another. Rezrek lowered his eyes for a moment, drawing away from Erzmer in a way that felt submissive, as if he were backing down from the argument. Just as Erzmer opened his mouth to say something, Rezrek slammed his head forward. His forehead connected with Erzmer’s face and the other bugbear’s nose broke in a spurt of blood that splashed Rezrek’s lips. He greedily licked the blood with a thick, black spotted tongue and shoved the other bugbear away. Erzmer, dazed, stumbled back and landed on his rump. He whimpered and growled, quickly swelling eyes glaring up at Rezrek from the floor. The leader of the bugbears only nodded, turning away from the other - he knew he was no threat. Rezrek did, however, draw his warhammer and place it on the table next to him. Just in case Erzmer decided to do something stupid. Rezrek wanted to smash his skull into pulp and so he left his hand on the handle. “Erzmer can’t scout. Eyes too small now.” He chuckled and Erzmer shakily got to his feet, touching his destroyed nose and cursing in the bugbear tongue. He started to draw his weapon but stopped with it half way out of the sheath. He spit blood on the stone floor. Rezrek waved his hand at him, dismissing the wounded thing from his sight. Erzmer stormed out of the room and, as expected, the sound of screaming goblins filled the underground corridors of natural stone. Erzmer wouldn’t kill too many, Rezrek thought. He knew if he did, Rezrek would kill him. He wrapped the map back up, stuffing it roughly into the stylized scroll case they found it in. There was also a piece of paper that felt good, almost like leather on Rezrek’s fingers and had strange symbols on it. The bugbear didn’t even try to read these; they weren’t the human tongues he was aware of and he didn’t care. It was paper.         How useful could it be?
Kurdeg and Wendeg made it to the surface. The opening of the cave mouth was huge and sat on the top of a great hill that steadily sloped up. They’d entered from a back passage, one with considerably fewer trees, and they now looked down into a harsh incline covered in thick grass, rocks and trees with low-hanging branches. They both took a die and tossed it on the ground, a common ritual among the two of them. One die came up “2”; Wendeg’s. He cursed and stamped his foot. Kurdeg smiled and watched as his die rolled a “5”. He laughed and shoved his brother forward. “Alright, you lost! You first!” As Kurdeg shoved, Wendeg lost his balance. He shifted forward, trying to hold his hand out to steady himself but the footing was too poor. He was falling, tumbling forward. Just as Kurdeg exploded in laughter, watching his brother tumble end over end down the tree covered hill, a tiny goblin head poked out from behind a tree. The creature must’ve been running from something because it never looked forward, just backwards, and only noticed the oncoming bugbear when it turned. With a shriek, Wendeg collided with the little monster and his weight slammed both of them against a tree. Wendeg was the heavier of the brothers and his body pinned the goblin’s against the trunk of the old tree. As Kurdeg stumbled down towards his groaning brother, he called out. “A goblin!” “What, where?” His brother Wendeg asked. He looked around and saw nothing. “Under you, stupid!” Kurdeg slapped his brother across the head hard enough to rattle him and the smaller brother roared with laughter. “You smashed him when you fell!” He helped Wendeg up and picked up the goblin. The little figure was limp in his paws and he shook him several times to wake him. “Wake up! Goblin! What you run from?” There was no response. Wendeg took the goblin’s body and pressed its clay marked chest against his ear. He listened. He shook his head and tossed the body to the side. The goblin was light enough that it sailed fifteen feet before stopping, striking a larger boulder with a wet thudding noise. Blood smeared it as the body collapsed and was still. “Dead,” he said, almost sounding bored. “Oh well.” Unslinging his weapon, Kurdeg started slowly down the hillside. His brother Wendeg caught the glimpse of silver on Kurdeg’s hand. “What’s that?” He asked. “What’s what?” Came the reply as his brother turned, stopping. Wendeg pointed to his hand and Kurdeg gave a wicked, massive toothy smile and laughed. He waved his hand back and forth and Wendeg could see a little silver ring on Kurdeg’s fat finger. It was one they’d take from a lady; they’d killed their group and Thrunk had taken all their hands. “Kurdeg steal lady ring from Thrunk?” Wendeg raised a bushy eyebrow. His brother just shrugged. “No fair for Thrunk to keep all hands - Kurdeg wanted hand too. Now Kurdeg have ring. Thrunk and Kurdeg evens.” He turned to continue away from the cave entrance. Wendeg looked over to the dead goblin and looked almost remorseful. But he scratched himself, knocking away smelly clay that had clung to his fur and he pulled out his weapon as well. He shifted forward faster, trying to catch his brother.

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