CHPT 91: Solo Saviour

Claude placed the knowledge of what led the Goblins at the back of his mind and prioritized saving the village people.

The hut he stood in was a mess. It may have been respectable when it was first made, but the Goblins did a number on the interior. The walls were splattered with blood and other foul smelling fluids that soaked into and stained almost all surfaces.

The Goblins seemed to prioritize this place based on the random, yet important, objects that filled the space. At the back corner of the hut was a brick forge that raised the overall heat of the place by 10 degrees and bags of mined metals laying around it waiting to be melted and melded. Next to the suspended deer, at the back center of the hut sat a throne with what looked like rat skulls on each arm rest. The sight of it made him uncomfortable.

The survivors were placed in a cage made of sticks and twine that must've been deceptively strong if ten people inside weren't able to break out. They quietly squeezed against one side and fearfully looked from him to the dead old women inside with them.

There was another survivor strapped to a flat surface being used as a sort of operating table. It was a female, close to Claude's age.

She had long black hair that flowed off the dirty table and smelled like a lake or ocean. All she wore was a damp long white shirt that clung to her shivering lithe frame. Cuts ran in all angles down her arms and legs, some fresh while others scabbed over with yellow puss surrounding them, he knew when they healed the cuts would look just like his own— only worse.

"Get them first, my bindings are too.....tight." The female strapped to the table said angrily while fighting against the strength of them.

Claude was surprised by her ability to be rational after being tortured, but followed her request nonetheless.

He rushed over to the cage of people, in response they all jumped back covering the little bit of space they had left inside. The overpowering smell of fear was almost enough to make him lose control.

"They're traumatized." He thought sadly.

Claude slowed his movements and approached the cage calmly before he spoke to them.

"I mean you no harm, I swear it..." after receiving no response, he continued. "I promised the people that died here that I would avenge them, part of doing that includes stopping those sick bastards from killing all of you, so please, work with me."

He could still smell their fear, it filled the room like a wild flood. They all looked paralyzed— completely unresponsive to his words, killed from the inside by their own trauma.

"Fuck it." He thought before grabbing the cage, Frosty caught on and clamped his jaws on next to him. He could feel the strength in their holds and smell the faint traces of magic, this wasn't any normal cage.

"Aren't Heroes supposed to come with a team? Where's everyone else?" The female survivor behind him asked.

"Sorry, all you got is me." Claude said while he pulled on the cage with his hands and pushed with his feet.

She stayed silent in response and began to strain even harder against her own restraints.

30 seconds passed with Claude pulling as hard as he could. Blood rushed to his head and his arms and legs began to burn from the immense amount of tension he put his muscles under.

"Come on dammit!" He groaned in anger.

With the increased strain and usage of his muscles, his body began to change and shift, lending him more power as well as pain.

The survivors picked up on his change without seeing much of anything. Some of them silently cried while others simply shook.

Little did they know, they were helping him.

Claude began taking deep inhales of their electrifying fear to further empower himself. Slowly, the cage began to creak and give under him and Frosty's physical strength.

"There we go!" He growled as his bright green eyes burst open.

"How....." the survivor behind him questioned in disbelief. As she watched him actually begin to move the cage, she started to remember back when all 12 of the village people inside couldn't even make the thing budge. Whoever this Hero was, he was surprisingly strong.

Something inside the survivors changed drastically once the cage started to give. The idea of freedom filled their minds and temporarily cleansed them of their trauma.

Claude suddenly felt movement and opened his eyes to see all the strongest survivors had their hands firmly placed on the cage. The man closest to him seemed to be oblivious of the fact that he was gripping Frosty's snout as it clamped around a part of the cage.

"Ok....on three, I want everyone to give it all they've got." He said to them all.

"One..."

"Two..."

"Three!"

In unison, everyone began grunting as they pushed and pulled against the cage.

Snap!

The front of the cage snapped apart and let off purple and black smoke from the release of magic, causing Claude and Frosty to fall back and the survivors inside to fall forwards.

He wasted no time and got up to help them to their feet. They felt as light as feathers, the Goblins must've starved them for the longest based on their emaciated features and loose fitting clothes.

"Alright, I'll lead you all to the gate then come back for you." Claude said, looking to the girl on the table.

She nodded in response and continued to strain against the straps, not relaxing or laying still for even a second.

He was about to turn and lead them out when he noticed some of them hung back, looking at the one dead old woman.

"Ms. Maxine..." a middle aged man said in between sobs.

Claude rushed over to him saying, "I understand how you feel, but you have to go. Now."

"But what about her? I can't leave her in this place." He replied, beckoning to the old woman.

"Do you think she wants you to die here with her?" Claude asked with a hint of urgency in his voice.

The man thought about his words for a moment in silence.

"I'll come back for her. I just need to get you all out of here first." Claude said.

The man seemed more or less satisfied with his words and followed him to the door.

He led the group outside silently as he listened for the Goblins. In the distance he heard them bickering and barking orders at each other. The deep and scratchy voice of the Shaman sounded even worse now that he was so close.

"Ok, we're good. Follow me and stay close." He said.

"Oh, Frosty, protect her."

They all looked around between each other in confusion at who he was talking to. After hearing a light squishing sound, they looked at the ground and saw large wolf paws pressing into the dirt floor. Based on the depth of its prints, the animal had to be insanely heavy. Before they could question what it was, Claude started moving behind the cover of the huts.

He led them down the length of the village as silently as possible, he had to carry an injured man who couldn't walk silently enough which slowed them down a bit and gave him time to notice something.

Aside from everyone's increased fear when they passed the Shaman, he noticed the disruption in nature was strongest around the Shaman— almost like it was the very thing tainting it. The more he learned about the Goblin's leader, the more uncomfortable he became.

Luckily, he was able to lead them to the gates without getting caught and they were grateful for it. At first they panicked at the sight of the guards, but once they looked a bit closer they relaxed and silently celebrated, one of the older women even slapped the corpse of the Goblin guard.

He could smell the chaotic mixture of excited and happy emotions they let off, swirling around him like a cyclone.

"Ok, I obviously have to go back for the others. So this is where we part ways for now. As long as you go up that hill and straight through the forest, the city of SkyHaven's a few miles North of here."

The survivors thanked him and jogged up the hill urgently. As their figures disappeared into the dark forest, he felt a part of himself begin to relax.

"[Small victories....]" Arne said out of nowhere.

"What?" Claude said.

"[Uhhh...nothing.]"

"Right."

"[Anyway. Ten down, two to go.]" Arne reminded.

Claude said nothing and jogged back into the village to retrieve the final survivor.