Chapter 14 – Goblins
The hunt that day began like the others.
He left early, the stone tools on the skin strap, his body light and responsive. Luna stayed in the cave. Her intention had been only a warning: not too far. He answered with a mental acknowledgment and moved on.
The known areas were soon left behind.
The scent of the forest changed. More humid. Denser. The trees grew twisted and close together. It was at that point that his sense of smell caught something different. Sweat. Dirty flesh. And low laughter.
He approached in absolute silence.
Three figures were crouched near a small clearing. Green skin, pointed ears, yellowish eyes. Clothes made of scraps and bones. Goblins. He recognized them immediately from the stories he had heard in the village years before. Creatures weak individually, but dangerous in groups. Thieves. Opportunists. Cruel when they had the advantage.
They were laughing. Looking at the ground where there were remains of a smaller animal. One of them pointed in his direction without realizing he was being watched and said something in a guttural language. The others laughed louder.
The malice was clear.
He did not wait.
The first one died before he could scream. The claws opened the throat in a single movement. The body fell. The other two reacted too late. The male tried to run. The female pulled a bone knife. He was faster. A precise blow to the male knocked him unconscious. The female received a blow to the arm that made her drop the weapon and fall to her knees.
Alive.
He needed them alive.
The ropes were already prepared. Days earlier he had cut and braided long, resistant vines, testing the strength of each one. Now they served. He tied the male first, wrists and ankles with firm knots that did not cut circulation but prevented any useful movement. Then the female. She cursed in a language he did not understand, her eyes full of hatred and fear. He ignored her.
Carrying the two back was laborious, but the new body held up. He arrived at the cave at the end of the afternoon, dragging the bound goblins behind him.
Luna raised her head at the same instant. Her intention was one of alert and curiosity mixed with a hint of disapproval.
What is this?
"Experiment," he answered mentally.
He left the male in a more distant corner, still bound, and the female closer to the wall. Only then did he allow himself to breathe deeply.
The night's lust came after Luna had thoroughly scented the two prisoners. She seemed to decide they were not a threat. When she approached him, the intention was clear and possessive. The wide mouth swallowed his cock with the usual hunger, the throat working until he came deep. Then she offered herself and he fucked her against the cave floor, claws dug into the white skin, while the two goblins watched in frightened silence from the other side.
When they finished, Luna coiled around him and cast one last look at the prisoners. The intention was simple:
They are yours. But me first.
He ran his hand over the blue horns and agreed.
The next day the work would begin.
The male for the cores.
The female for the Pink Mist.
And the vine ropes, made by his own hands, held the two without giving any chance of escape.