Chapter XV: Mel’s Return

The swamp bubbled and gasped with noxious fumes as three humanoids traversed amongst it. A couple of them walked the mushy lands with perfected stealth, and the other barely stumbled through. Warm air filled the lungs of the three as a conversation ensued.

Rou grunted and said, “Yee, why bring cousin Mel. He can’ts stand up right, let alone fight” while he stepped into a shallow pond.

Yee replied, “Brother, you are dense like tree. Mother commanded that we brings him. You not remembers?” and he followed suit with Rou.

Mel said, “I’m right here you buffoons', and you damn well know why I came along” as he lifted his rob and trailed behind.

Rou said, “Oi, I knows brother. Cousin Mel would starves without us, that’s whys mothers commands it,” and he chuckled.

Mel stated firmly, “I am here because you two get into too much trouble, and to make sure Margrett doesn’t loose two of here dearest sons.”

Yee replied, “Oh, we all know Boo is the dearests. Mother lets him do whatevers he wants, bah.”

Mel said, “No. Boo is much smarter than you apes. He even has a talent for magic, which is much more respectable.”

Rou then stated, “Magic is lame. Hitting things with club is betters.”

Yee rebuked, “And me not ape. I ams ah smart goblin.”

Mel replied, “You two are fucking hobgoblins, more precisely you are the higher variation of a boggart, so high boggart would be more correct.”

Rou said, “Me like Mel’s fancy words. I musts be the bests high bog!”

Yee replied, “Quite brother, you wills scare the prey aways.”

Mel said, “Ugh, mother Estra please grant me the patience to deal with these two, for I am losing it.”

Rou placed his boot onto dry land, and asked, “Who dis Estras? She your mothers?”

Mel now followed Yee toward an incline, and replied, “No, well, in a way yes. She is the goddess of earth and fertility. You could say she is the mother of us all.”

Yee rebuked, “Mhm, Mel lies. Our mother is no Estras,” and began to walk up an incline with Rou.

Rou came near the top of the incline, and whispered, “Ssshhh, we’re heres brother. You smell dem?”

Yee replied, “Yesh, enemiess,” and he drew his mother’s short sword.

*Shinggg*

Mel asked, “What are two going on about? I don’t see or smell anything,” as he peered over the incline.

They both growled at him and said, “Shut up,” and then threw clumps of wet mud at him.

Rou said, “I wills challenge der leader, and slay him. Yee?”

Yee replied, “Fine… But I wants their things.”

They both nodded to one another and then blended off into the swamp.

Mel was so concerned with his mud-infested robes that he lost sight of the two he swore to protect. Sweat dripped down from his face in panic but flowed less after he soon spotted Rou from his position. He thought their mischief couldn’t get any worse until he noticed what was really going on.

Rou was standing in front of a small tribe of savage bogarts. They hooped and hollered as a swarm in front of Rou, like wild animals, yet none of them approached his opposing figure; he was almost twice the height of normal bogart and stood there smacking the club in the palm of his hand.

Mel asked himself, “Hm, where is Yee though?”

Rou called out, “Where’s your leader?! I wants to fight the strong!” and he slammed his club into the ground.

No one from the crowd gave a coherent response, however, the tribe’s chieftain soon came forth from a mud burrow. He punched and kicked his way to the front of the crowd and gazed upon Rou.

Rou yelled, “Are you da leader?! Yous look weak!” and spat on the ground between them.

The enemy chieftain bubbled and foamed from the mouth at the sight of Rou, and howled so loudly that it made some of the other bogarts cover their ears.

Rou replied, “You no speaks? Whatevers, come at mes!” and he waved him forward in a taunting manner.

The chieftain waited no longer, and they both charged at each other as a group of boggarts screamed and hollered in joy of the bloodshed to come.

Mel sat in a bush nearby and gazed at the sight before him. He readied his wand just in case Rou neared a fatal end. Right now, there was no way he was going to go down there and risk being swarmed to death. The situation was suicidal in his mind and didn’t understand why the tribe didn’t just all charge him. Mel went on to observe the fight and their behaviors.

The chieftain threw his fists wildly at Rou and clearly grew angrier when his strikes struck the air and the club. Mel watched Alakar’s son dodge and weave out of the carless strikes and witnessed a few swings of his own. It was crude, but shocking to him nonetheless, as he was positive that any one of those swings could have knocked a man’s head off.

The fight was somewhat difficult to witness, as a crowd of goblins had formed a circle around the two; they all kept jumping and yelling, and it made it difficult to tell what was going on. Regardless, Mel was sure he could take control of the situation at any time with just a few spells. So, he continued to watch the show, and bide his time. Eventually, he found himself indulging in a hobby of his.

Mel tucked his wand under his armpit, and diligently took notes on the scene. He licked his lips at the wealth of new information and ideas he could gather from the fight. He questioned many things: Why do they dance like that? What calls meant what? Was there a reason for the lack of clothing or was it preferred? Do their women participate in such an event? How do they order themselves within the circle, or is it all-natural? And it went on and on. He was truly lost in his own little world, but not for too long.

*Rustle* *Rustle* *Swish*

Mel suddenly flopped onto his back, and cried out, “Damn you, give that back!”

A rogue bogart within an adjacent tree laughed, “Muahahahaahha,” and waved his wand at him.

Mel put his notepad in his rob pocket, then pointed, and shouted, “Give that back you dirty little monster! That is not a toy for the likes of you!”

The creature climbed further up the tree, sat on a branch, and then proceeded to chew on the horn piece that made up the wand.

Mel pulled a dagger from his robes, and yelled, “Toss that back down here now or I’ma come get your ass!”

The goblin smirked and laughed, “Wahaahahahahaha!”

Mel thought that the pest may give up his item under a threat and soon considered casting a spell on him. However, he feared that missing would cause it to run, so decided he needed to wrangle him for it.

He sized up the tree and began to shimmy his way up it. The rough bark of the willow tree felt sharp on his soft skin, yet he was determined to ascend the tree and retrieve his wand. Mel slipped several times and lacked the strength to grip the trunk with his legs. However, after many attempts, he eventually made some progress. As he came close to the first branch, the goblin stopped gnawing on the wand and scooted away from him.

Mel put both his legs around the branch, waved the dagger at him, and yelled, “Last chance! Give me my damn wand back!”

It was a benign threat. He had no interest in scuffing along the branch, and he wasn’t sure if it would hold his weight either.

As the goblin moved towards the end of the branch, he noticed Rou’s duel from up above. The situation shocked him, and he felt immediately powerless. Rou had lost his club to the chieftain and was now on the defense. There was an urgency within him to intervene, but he needed his wand to cast spells in quick succession. He could cast a single spell, however, there was no guarantee that it would save Rou, especially if he needed to cast a second. He froze in anguish.

Mel chewed away at his fingernails until a yellowish-green flash shot across the field. It was so fast, and to Mel, it appeared to be just a blur.

Mel exclaimed, “Yee?!”

The situation happened so fast. Mel’s human eyes could barely keep up.

Yee had dashed across the open field out of nowhere towards the encircled duel. He charged the enemy tribe with no hesitation.

In the midst of the circle, there was Rou, losing decisively at this point. He laid on the ground as the enemy chieftain kicked him repeatedly in the ribs. The chieftain tried to finish Rou off with his own club, but the overhead swings kept missing.

There was a disturbance in the crowd and noises of shock as a Yee jumped on top of one of the goblins and then somersaulted into the air.

The chieftain had placed his foot on top of Rou’s chest and was about to finish him off right as Yee landed behind him.

*Shinggg* *Splat*

Yee shoved his sword into the back of the chieftain. The club fell and the high bog was lifted off his feet. He seized up, stunk down to the hilt, and then was tossed off the blade.

Rou yells, “Yee! That was my kill” and he shoved the corpse off of him.

Mel brushed the sweat from his brow and sighed in relief. However, the goblin before him had a very different reaction and seemed to be frightened.

Mel said, “Okay now, where were we? Oh yeah, my damn wand,” and he thrusted both of his hands out towards the goblin. Small flickers of electricity began to build around his hands, and the goblin quickly started looking to his left and right.

*Boom* *Zaap*

A tiny ball of blue energy launched from Mel’s hands and struck a tree behind his target.

The goblin now hung upset down from the branch and fumbled with the wand, only to drop it. The branch shook from Mel’s spite, yet stopped after the clear lack of results; he dismissed killing it and soon descended the tree.

Once on the ground, he ripped through a bush and found his wand. His face scrunched up as he gawked at the goblin within the tree. He huffed, turned away, and then meandered over to the field that held a duel. As he moved closer to his destination, many goblins ran past with expressions riddled with fear.

Yee snatched a gold chain from a corpse and yelled, “Dis is mines! All of their things are mines now!”

Rou stuck his pointy nose into Yee’s face, and yelled, “I wants dat! Yous no steal my kill and loots! No!”

Mel approached the two angered high bogs, and said, “Calm down boys. No need to kill each other over a small trinket…”

They both looked over and shouted, “Shut up Mels!” only to turn back and growl at each once again.

Mel stared at the many goblin corpses that laid across the field and was quickly reminded of the violence these two were capable of. He stroked his beard as he considered a resolution. Nothing came to him, so he began to pray for a solution instead.

Suddenly flocks of birds went flying from the trees. Sounds of crying animals were heard off in the distance, along with the screams of goblins. A breeze of warm air shifted in their direction, and the high bog’s faces teared up.

Mel asked, “What’s going on? What’s wrong?”

The largest goblin Mel had ever then seen emerged from the treeline. Its muscles were well defined even from a distance, and the beast wore nothing besides fresh blood. Mel shivered in his boots and was sure of himself that boys would lose against such a foe.

Yee and Rou charged the goblin.

Mel then cried out, “No! Get back here now!”

He ran after them, but it was too late. The goblins had already tackled each other in the field. The cries and screams of the high bogs rang out, and it caused Mel to raise an eyebrow.

Mel approached the group, and asked, “Alakar?! Is that you?!”

The biggest goblin throws the other two about, and replies, “You know for a caster you’re pretty dumb Mel,” and he continues to rough house with his sons.

Mel says, “Hey, it’s been a long day for me! I’m just glad to see you again! And you have a lot of making up to do.”