Fate Deals the Cards Temperance

  Chapter 13 Ticket To Ride

  Winter’s hold began to release, bringing new life, warm breezes and even more girls with fragrant, overheated tenders into my nest for a good smooshing. I had to have a firm talk with my ‘Director of Staffing’ and her cheerful little apprentice, Sapphie.

  “Emmie, is nub-good for Sapphie to help direct chief’s ‘staff’ is super weird. Nub involve her in ghnash’s ‘job’. Is rule, nub break." I told her when we had a private moment. I was pretty relaxed and feeling lazy, after my morning ‘chores’.

  “Time of morning and nightfall, those belong to Ghnash. Nub more pillowtime till sun three fingers up in morning. Nub till firebugs start to flicker in night.” I was getting pretty good at talking, as long as I had time to plan and no one was fondling me.

  Getting her to accept that I was not available for a while before and after both dawn and dusk was a tough one, but I had my personal practices to maintain, if I wanted to be more than just another horny chieftain. I wasn’t giving up my time with Sapphie either, even though several other runties had started joining us, off and on. Dancing the spear among the stumbling, fumbling kids was good fun and good for me, as I shared the fundamentals and basics with them, further deepening my own insights as I passed on the lessons.

  Since I was shooting blanks, I couldn’t even fall back on the goblin lord path and become the master of a well stuffed harem in the wilds.

  No matter how thoroughly and often I flopped around on them or let them dance around me like a meaty maypole, they remained unfilled and highly aromatic.

  My first challenger came at the cusp of spring, drawn into the deep marsh by hunger and the faint scent carried by the breeze. My ladies’ warm, summery perfume drew him in, raging and absolutely certain he’d come up lucky-lucky and determined to be the one to get all those girls nicely stuffed…

  Amelie and Fern came pelting into the garden, screaming in terror one evening, just as I came back from my evening practices. Those two were not yet joining the queue outside my door, but very soon, if my nose knew anything.

  Behind them sprinted a wild eyed, furiously erect goblin man, who saw me and completely lost it.

  “Mine!” He shrieked, as he launched himself at me, claws and dong first. Why the damn idiot led with his junk was a question I was unprepared to answer… and I really didn’t wanna get face raped on my front lawn by a deranged little maniac.

  His willingness to shove his stuff right at the awful tusks and fangs sticking out of my lips was almost the most disturbing part of the whole, tragic event.

  I’m not proud of how I handled that encounter, but I was just getting my day started and he chased a pair of young, delicious girls into my yard with a stiff cock. Jabbing it at me was just one of several bridges too far for the poor guy.

  As goblins go, my fighting style was considered beyond odd. I struck with precision and moved with deliberation and urgency, often killing quickly and with far less screaming, splatter and mess than the usual gobb.

  When his tackle came flying at my face, the girls still screaming in terror setting off a chorus of distressed voices, I kinda lost my shit too. All I could see was this guy chasing two of mine and I wasn’t having it.

  Again, as goblins go, especially marsh gobbs, I was an outlier in every dimension… Most marshies were bright green, stout, barely over three feet tall, burly and bald. They never wore garments and favored clubs and spears, seldom using even stone tools.

  I stood a little over four feet, long-limbed and lean. I outweighed the little guy by almost half; I also had reach, mass and strength on him, he had a can-do attitude and the willingness to lay it all on the line.

  I don’t like some words; ‘disemboweled’ ‘eviscerated’ or ‘ripped open’ spring to mind immediately. Let’s just say I had to bathe and spend some time in meditation, after cleaning up an awful mess on the lawn. I got scolded pretty badly too.

  “You could have captured him and filled some of these desperate bellies, boy.” Sarafina grumbled sourly. “Few of my young apprentices are ready to take the next step and leave tummytime behind.” The old dame complained in the bath. “Your wife is swelling nicely, but the rest remain flat as can be.”

  “Two wives… Beryl.” I mumbled awkwardly.

  “No, Beryl is to be mine. Once the pup she bears leaves her nest, she will take the witch’s path and never suckle a babe again.” The old lady sighed sadly.

  “I am isekai, born in this world from another and thus, barren. She, like most of my apprentices, comes to me, not seeking a new path; but seeking to escape the endless brutality and cruelty of tummytime. A bitter choice and a hard one.”

  She slipped into my lap and began playing with my ears, her legs wrapped around my waist. “Console me, as I tell you of these things, boy. You know nothing of this world and should learn.”

  She made herself comfortable, straddling me and gently holding my ears, with the head of Ghnash junior poking above the water, between her saggy breasts.

  “Gods, boy…” She sighed fondly, as he thumped on her sternum in time to the beat of my heart. “Even with my arts, I could never fit…” Sarafina sighed and settled more firmly on my lap, rubbing herself against the base of my shaft as she spoke.

  “All goblins are slaves, chief Ghnash. All of us. Slaves to our biology and hormones… You know what that means, yes?” I nodded, which earned little Ghnash a kiss.

  “When tummytime comes, a girl will suffer until she gets a baby in her. We should all be thankful that most gobbs get the job done the first time… Since so many girls end up unwilling or unable to endure another ‘encounter’ without sufficient time to recover and heal.” I nodded again, hoping for another treat, but she patted my thinkin’ head fondly, instead.

  “Good boy. Know this, Ghnash; goblin men have it little better than we do, my boy. No-gobb can make his babystick rise out of season, only a ripe goblin girl can bring them up, but they go wild, deranged and ravenous… Many hurt girls, even kill us with raging claws and too big things wielded with no thought.” She petted me, as though to soothe the excited little guy nudging her in the breastbone.

  “It is not evil in their hearts, but too much raging babystuff thundering to get out. They are enslaved to the things between their legs, as surely as we are. Their brutish ways and savagery are a part of what makes us what we are… Slaves.”

  “Humans.” I grunted, which earned me a quick pop into her mouth and a nibble! Score!

  When she could speak again, she nodded. “Yes… Humans come and take us away dragging gobb-men to war on other worlds. Almost none return and those few come back changed.” She smiled and shook her head sadly.

  “They come back something vaguely like you… But wicked and vile! They return with babysticks like yours, always eager, even when no ripe tummy is near. Unlike you, they care not what or who they rut with. Not-yet-ripe girls, too-young girls, old gobbs, even other gobb-men they will attack, when the fever takes them.”

  “Humans take girls and babies too.” I grumbled, which brought a surprised purr to her lips… and her lips to my meaty member.

  “You surprise me again, chief Ghnash. Few gobb-men notice the doings of those who are not yet ripe or who have pups already.” She cooed, before giving the above water parts of little Ghnash a good, slobbery licking. That made me purr too.

  We lost the plot for a few minutes, joyfully playing unselfconsciously with each-other in the bath like a couple of idiots.

  “Is good to goof, before talk bad things.” I grumbled, while she washed my back with her front, just for fun.

  “Yes, chief, as you say.” She cooed, while I was busy ‘downtown’ attending to some important business at the junction of dusky green thighs and a sparse patch of fluffy brown hair. It was testament to both my hard work and the trust we’d built, that she let my deadly face-full of fangs near her tender bits, without Emmie supervising for safety.

  Deep down inside me, the Gary Ward I had, been squirmed uncomfortably, while I went ham on the old dame’s delightful secrets; but he died a virgin and needed to chill out. I tucked his hangups around my lover’s ankles, where they wouldn’t get in the way… behind my ears.

  She tapped out before long, ending up draped over the curb of the bath, gasping for breath, her bony but still firm ass glistening with droplets and so delightful to gaze at.

  “Chief Ghnash suspects what humans want gobb-girls and pups for, I think.” She mumbled, when she could manage. “Some they use as fuck-slaves. Is considered a wicked fun kink to fuck goblins, even goblin children, among some humans. Most are sacrificed on altars to feed the dark sorceries of the Light cult.”

  “Yub… Smells right.” I grumbled, no longer in the mood at all.

  “See why I wanted to play with you, before telling?” She purred, while snuggling up to me in the steamy water.

  “Goblins are not a fully formed species… This is a dungeon world, the cradle of our race. Here we should have developed and learned, gained new knowledge and grown beyond our animal nature, to become a sentient race.” She whispered in my ear.

  “Somehow, long ago, the Light cult gained control of this domain, twisting it… and us to their desires. We are a warped mirror of what they are within; created in their image with awful sorceries and blasphemous acts.”

  “Blasphemous acts?” I asked, when that rang a very distant bell in my mind.

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  “Deep within this world, the gods of the goblin race sleep, growing and dreaming as we expand our akashic record. Somehow, they have been cut off from us, either imprisoned or silenced, none live that know.”

  “Sara… I think I go to war with Light cult.” I grumbled, as my insides churned with that old undirected rage, which now had a firm direction in mind.

  “I had hoped you would say that, my chief. I have already sent word to the conclave of witches… Some few will be waiting for us to the west by the sea, before spring melts the ice. They will take your measure, as I did. They will not be disappointed."

  She sighed and smiled when I sat up in the bath at that bit of info. “No, they will not be after your cock… Well some might like a ride on that thing; but they will come to see if you are what we have been seeking for so terribly long.”

  “Seeking?” I asked, feeling distinctly suspicious.

  “Of course we seek an answer to this awful condition we suffer! No prophecy, no foretold savior, have we… What we seek is the key to unlock what binds us this way. Are you that key? Definitely not, but you are a useful crowbar and come with a nifty hammer. Perhaps burglar’s tools are the answer we need, after all.” She giggled and cooed, pulling me down into the bath with her again.

  “The outer gods know, you’ve forced this rusty old lock with your tools and arts. Now hush, while I enjoy a special treat, just for me.”

  The gentle, clawed fingers of the old dame washed me, starting between my toes as she spoke, slowly soaping me up with sweet smelling herbs and scrubbing me with her bare skin. She bathed me entirely, from toenails to ear tips, without stirring the chief’s staff from his fitful slumber.

  I emerged from the bath renewed, invigorated and with none of my late, unlamented rival’s blood or entrails in my hair. What I did have was a goal, a direction and an enemy, one who had already made it personal. Deeply personal.

  “Emmie, Sapphie, Beryl…” I called when I emerged from the bath. “Spread word. Big meeting. All tribe. After sunrise.”

  /

  When I opened my eyes, leaving a deep, tranquil meditative state, Sapphie and a few of the regulars were there, seated around me, trying their best. Freaking adorable!

  When I rose, they followed, taking up their toy spears as I began my routine… but simplified for young bodies and minds. I stepped and danced through the most basic forms, hitting each as cleanly, crisply and gracefully as I could with a focus on my pupils, rather than on my own movements.

  Once again, instruction opened deeper levels in my own understanding and expanded my abilities, just a little, but at the very baseline, which improved everything, across the board.

  “My daughters, my princesses, my students…” I whispered, desperately trying to avoid a bloodbath as my emotions flared possessively. “We learn for real. Warriors, hunters, predators. Not prey, not Ghnash’s daughters.”

  The little runties had no clue, but Sapphie cheered and they all joined in. For a guy with no kids, I had a huge litter of the cutest daughters… and they were mine. We had a particularly noisy music practice, then went out into the garden in a mob, to join the older girls for the big meeting.

  I lounged on a rug, with Emmie sprawled on me in a shady bower, with a wide brimmed hat and those awful goggles on and it was still pretty bright out. Though, all I had to do was sprawl on the fur and let Emmie fawn over me, while Sarafina did all the talking.

  “Tonight at dusk, we sleep here for the last time, this is the chief’s will. None may sleep in the house or on the grounds, so make your burrows and bowers with care outside the hedges. Gather all that you wish to carry with you and prepare, for we depart at dawn for a new place.”

  A few groans and mumbles rose but were quickly hushed.

  “Yes, many of you suspect what we have found, ladies… What you do not suspect, is just what a valuable goblin carries around our special treasure. Soon you will understand a bit more, if what Emmie tells me is correct.”

  She held her hands up for silence and smiled at her gathered apprentices and their children. “Rest, eat, drink, prepare. We journey west at dawn.”

  /

  Darkness descended on the land, as I headed out into the night, following game trails and blazing new paths where needed. I moved quickly, hacking a rough passage through rank, frozen reeds and withered brambles. Small waterways I bridged with a few lashed bamboo poles, but I stopped at the first major river I ran into. In a wide clearing where the river bent, I drew a flute of giant swan bone from my shadow and began a sprightly tune.

  Sapphie’s panpipes were specialized, they could manipulate the house and grounds more easily, but this flute was far less fragile and had wider utility.

  I liked its sound too, especially for classic rock. I laid down an instrumental ‘Thick As A Brick’, complete with an extended outro and some solos I pulled out of my ass. When I finished, I tapped a bit of blood and drool from my flute and tucked it away, while admiring my work.

  Each time I’d moved the house, it had grown just a bit, now, after months of immobility, I wasn’t sure what to expect. It was more of the same, an expansive half wild garden of food plants, herbs and fruit trees surrounded by a thorny hedge. At the heart of the garden stood the house, taller and wider now, with an upstairs, complete with a balcony, railed with winding grape vines.

  The bath spread farther too, steaming and bubbling away merrily under the stars, surrounded by a wide lawn, flagstone pavers and backed up to a bamboo grove; all in all, it was very nice.

  Now I needed to move my ladies in, before figuring out how to cross the river. I had a whole moses thing going on, leading my people out of bondage, but with way more fucking. Or maybe… Those religious weirdo-beardos never could keep their hands to themselves. I wondered what church services would look like, if the clergy weren't so consistently weird and creepy about sex and sexuality. A healthy dose of fun and a little bit of harmless, cheeky kink never hurt anyone!

  I entertained myself, imagining Charlton Heston doing a spirited rendition of ‘Sweet Transvestite’ from Rocky Horror. That made the walk back to my old digs more fun.

  I arrived not long before sunrise, returning to find a few of the girls wandering in the dark, the early risers and morning-loving gobbs. They roamed a bare patch of dark, sweet smelling soil, the kind of thing a gardening minded person would gaze at with envy, if they saw it in their neighbor’s yard.

  Of the house and garden, there was no sign, so naturally, they were confused, concerned and nervous. To be fair, I hadn’t really done anything to explain, or to prepare the girls of my… Harem. It was a harem and they were just as unprepared for what was going to happen as I was, just in different ways.

  “Yes, gone. Moved to new place. All gather, follow.” I told the first girl I recognized. Alba, tell all girls, wake and gather. Must walk.”

  I was frankly startled by just how many girls had gathered under my ‘banner’. At least twelve were clearly suppressing tummytime with the now unavailable tea, or in its grip, with three more about to become very interesting to me, judging by the aromas on the wind.

  Nine runties swarmed the nests, in addition to Sapphie, who was the leader of the pack, by virtue of being my daughter. Several were older than her, but she had been eating well, exercising and sleeping safe her whole short life and it showed.

  There were no goblin boys in the group, none at all; which was probably why the runties were always around, but rarely underfoot or a bother. Goblin girls seemed to follow the most confident of their number, especially if she always seemed to know where to find tasty things. Hence, Sapphie’s unquestioned rule, she knew where I kept the honey, nuts and dried fruits.

  Our little parade gathered quickly, and I worked hard to try and count them… Partially because they kept moving around, partially because I was having trouble both counting and paying attention to the girls who were not having or about to have, tummytime.

  The girls with nursing pups, the older gals and gobbs who hadn’t yet had their first or come in back season again were a vague blur to me. I could interact with them and knew some of their names, but I wasn’t as interested in them, so they were harder to focus on, when the others were so darn interesting.

  Before the awful sun came up, we got the girls in a ragged line and in motion. Sarafina, Emmie and Beryl served as my officers for the march, while Sapphie helped me… Since I was going to be tracking my trail by scent, almost completely blind.

  Winter’s grip was still strong, so travel in the marshes was safer than at most times of the year and I’d passed through, with my witch’s aura tuned to I’m a big bad predator and this is where I hunt. I’d stunk up the place so badly with that, hunting was gonna be bad for a week around here.

  We had to navigate wide around the pond of a monster snapping turtle, avoid a few other sedentary threats and most importantly, stay together as a group, which goblin girls turned out to be particularly good at. They didn’t chatter, wander or goof off, they moved with furtive grace and a steady, economical stride across the grasslands. When we entered the actual wetlands, the results were a little less consistent, but still so much better than I’d feared.

  Traveling a full day on foot, with a band of around thirty goblins, while nearly blind was stressful… I don’t recommend it, even if it was uneventful.

  Through the whole journey, I was secretly looking forward to leading them to our new home. I smiled, thinking of all my girls, familiar and new, discovering our new home in its primitive splendor, down by the riverside.

  /

  “Down by the riverside, Ghnash?” Emmie, Sapphie, Sarafina and several other ladies asked almost in unison, when we emerged on the little hill overlooking our new home after a long walk.

  Yub yub! Goblins nub like water! Safer!” I declared, realizing far too late that I’d been dumb. I’d built a lovely home, but without regard for the ever present, giant crayfish and crabs lurking in the water. They largely ignored me, but would find my girls irresistible.

  “Okies, every-gob, all of you, go over-hill and wait.” I grumbled, biting myself several times and finally needing Emmie to translate, since she and Sapphie were the best at understanding my speech. “Nub looking over hill! Is law!”

  Sapphie I kept with me, to help. “Close eyes, play flute darling.” I whispered, when I had her settled on a stone, on the edge of the garden, where it climbed the hillside.

  She pulled her precious panflute from the hardened crocskin case I’d made for her and began to play, whistling a sweet, airy improvisation into the dimly glowing stars of a new-born night.

  I followed her unstructured song, drifting and fey, as he spun her breath into music, just for the joy of it. My bone flute joined, tight, sharp and piercing in bright clarity, contrasting and guiding her song into a more coherent form. I used snatches of melodies she’d picked up from me to lure her from one key and time signature, to another. We ran through merry jingles from commercials and holiday tunes, bits of old pop hits and some deep cuts that sliced to the bone, dragging each other into a musical dance.

  Entwined in our arts, she never noticed the changes when they happened, because she never peeked, not even once, through the whole performance. When she did open her eyes, the stars had come out and the garden lay up the hill, set back from the water. Our house squatted on the hillside, its foundation all but buried in the earth. Wider and longer, the roof peaked low, hiding behind the crest of the hill while only the very furthest edge of my domain touched the water, with a thorny hedge lined up especially thick there.

  The garden ran up the hill in all its verdant plenty, almost hurling the first shoots of spring into the sky as the land woke beneath the chief’s feet and life flourished all around.

  “A wonder of wonders, chief…” Sarafina mumbled, while nodding sagely and pretending that she was absolutely fine with the absurd display of magical fuckery I’d just put on. “I saw those charms you made your wives and child, that set of pipes too. What are you, chief? A sorcerer? Some kind of enchanter or mage?”

  “Ghnash is bard… Ok, maybe druid… is hard to say. Like making more than breaking. Fucking is better than killing. Healing more than hurting.” I shrugged, surprised and pleased I’d gotten that out and wasn’t spitting blood. “Ghnash is goblin king. Nub more to say.”

  With that witty remark, I led my surprisingly obedient girls into our new home… Where they immediately forgot all about the discipline, obedience and good sense they displayed on our journey.

  “Ghnash, who’s getting smooshed first?” Holly demanded, when Shell and Ginger tried to claim precedence, since they’d had tickets to ride they hadn’t been able to redeem, due to unforeseen events.

  “Bahh… Ghnash tired. Sort out and line up, or I sleep…” I grumbled, which caught them off guard, not just because I was clear in my speech and remained unbloodied. The idea of a gobb-man turning down a ripe tummy startled them just as badly as my ability to remain civil and sane, in the vicinity of those fragrant flowers.

  Negotiations were swift and silent. The three girls nodded wordlessly and turned on me, like a pack of hungry jackals eying a wounded calf.

  I’m still not sure what happened, but it was awesome, exciting and maybe just a little bit outside my comfort zone. They teased, poked, pinched and fooled around until I became a raging inferno, only to be quenched unceremoniously and swiftly re-kindled for the next round.

  They didn’t use me, like some of the girls had; they devoured me by inches, until there was nothing left of me but a few scattered bones, bleaching in the sun. I fell asleep while one of them was pawing at my ragged remains, hoping to get just one more out of me.

  When I woke, Sarafina was there smiling sadly at me. “You hurt their feelings, boy. No goblin man would be able to say to them what you did last night… never in all our history. Consider being the first goblin girls to ever be rejected by an intact male! The shame of it might have slain them outright!”

  “Oh, shit!” I mumbled, and promptly bit the living crap out of my lip. My hot-streak was over, it seemed, so was my break from my duties. The old dame patted my knee fondly and left, letting in two girls I hadn’t met yet.

  The tall one had long, golden blonde hair and pale green skin, a forest gobb with long limbs and small, bouncy boobs that she jiggled at me with a sweet smile.

  Her companion was more than a little bit shorter, completely hairless, bright green, stacked and statuesque. A pure marsh goblin in her prime, she was a busty little bodybuilder, beside the lean, lanky, blonde lady.

  “Hello… Tell me your names.” I purred, my bitten lip forgotten as the scent of a ripe pair of tummies woke my sleeping monster.

  /