Carbon Copy 8 - Pleasant and unpleasant suprises

Dan was much slower on his return trip to the clearing, stopping each time he heard a branch snap or saw something move. The fact that he ignored the path he had made when he barged through didn't help much either, but he was afraid something might have followed him and was lingering halfway.

When he finally reached the edge of the clearing, it was quiet ahead. He moved a few branches aside and looked through. It took him a split second to understand what he was looking at, and then he sucked in a breath in shock.

Seriously?

The beetle stood with its face against the side of the tree, lapping at a glistening amber fluid that oozed from a long tear in the enormous tree. Wasps lay all around it, their wings fluttering uselessly while small stubs were all that remained of their stingers. A few cracked and bent stingers lay around.

Soft whirring came from above, where a handful of wasps hovered in the sky above the beetle. Like a unit of jet fighters, they rushed down, jabbing at the beetle without avail. Their stingers harmlessly scratched off the thick black plates covering its back.

Dan felt his joyous mood evaporate as he sat down. He'd expected the wasps to have made short work of that beetle and, in the worst case, that the battle was still happening. But this? Now, what was he going to do? This stupid beetle would just make a new hive here. That meant it would create more of the smaller drones that would quickly expand, destroying the forest and eating the dryad. Worse, they were a lot closer to his camp now!

He needed to kill it, but how? He replayed the fight he had with the smaller ones. He had speared them through their mouths. Staring at the enormous stag beetle, an old, familiar feeling of futility made him want to leave. It wasn't really his problem now, was it? He could take his goblins and simply move to another location in the forest.

But what about Melia? he thought. He didn't owe her anything... but could he just let her be killed? She seemed nice and hadn't harmed him. Besides, she might know more useful things.

As he gazed at the beetle, he thought back to the people he had seen during the previous week. It seemed way longer now as if months had passed. He'd been too weak then and couldn't or didn't dare help most of them.

But he wasn't weak now, and the beetle was stupid!

As he began to make up his mind, the heavy and depressing futility faded almost as fast as it had come. Something about that confused him, but then that faded too.

Besides, if I kill that thing, I'll probably get a huge amount of exp, he thought as his previous plans returned. He might get so much stronger that he'd not have to worry about Tsir's shenanigans!

Any worry that he might fail vanished, and he began to plan. He'd need a really long stick and a way to get close to the thing without being spotted. As he searched around the open space, his gaze drifted to one of the dead wasps, its long stinger blinking in the light.

Oh, right! he thought as an idea formed.

Five minutes later, he was hiding below the closest bush from the tree, holding a long thick branch with a stinger attached to the end. He had used young shoots of the same plant he had used to weave bowls to attach the two, and he hoped they would hold. He had tested it by poking holes in the ground, and the makeshift spear had held up well enough.

Taking a deep breath, he waited until one of the wasps attacked the beetle, then rushed forward. The loud buzzing of the wasp and the heavy lapping of the beetle covered his footsteps, and he scrambled behind the massive tree trunk.

Staying perfectly still, he held his breath as he listened for any reactions. The buzzing became softer as the wasp flew back up. Then there was nothing besides the constant sucking noise.

So far so good, he thought as he turned to the rugged bark and looked for a way up.

Climbing in the tree proved tricky. There were no branches he could reach, and in the end, he resorted to stabbing his fingernails through the bark and climbing up like that. With the spear between his teeth, he prayed he wouldn't fall down.

Sitting on a branch above the beetle, he felt his courage dwindle as he saw the large mandibles grind another hole into the tree before suckling from it. Up close, he truly got to appreciate how giant the beetle was. In hindsight, it was closer to a large bull than a horse. Staring at his makeshift spear, he swallowed at how small it suddenly seemed.

He silently watched the beetle for a while longer when he realized something. He'd only seen the smaller beetles climb higher up in the trees, so why did the big one stay here? Perhaps it can't climb? he thought as he focused on the big beetle's legs. The tips were almost flat, showing no hooks or other things that might assist it in getting up.

It can't climb! he thought, and suddenly his plan seemed a lot more feasible.

Focusing on the sky, he waited until one of the wasps attacked, rushing toward the beetle. He quickly climbed down to a spear's length from the beetle's head, readying himself. As soon as the wasp reached the beetle, Dan struck down with his full weight, aiming for the open mouth that was slobbering up the thick tree sap. His attack and that of the wasp coincided almost perfectly, and the tip of his spear disappeared into the dark mouth.

The beetle jerked his head back violently, ripping the spear from Dan's hands with such force that he was yanked forward. He scrambled to hold on, balancing precariously on the branch for a moment. Then his hand slipped, and he plummeted down as the beetle backed up from the tree.

Adrenaline spiked as he saw the ground approach. A few steps away, the beetle was scuttling back, shaking its head around, trying to dislodge the spear that seemed jammed inside.

Dan landed on his hands and feet and felt something in his left wrist snap. Pain flared up, and he rolled over his shoulder, clutching his hand to his chest, biting his tongue to keep from shouting and drawing attention.

A loud buzzing made him look up, and he saw the remaining wasps swarm around the beetle. There were seven left, and they seemed to focus on the beetle's head.

Still shaking its head in agony, the beetle's erratic movements knocked two out of the air, but the wasps kept coming. The beetle almost slapped one out of the air when the beetle reared up, its mandibled mouth wide in a silent scream, the spear forgotten. A wasp stinger had found its way into its eye. The wasp grabbed hold of the beetle's head, seemingly ignoring the mandibles that poked its soft underbelly, and began shoving its stinger in deeper.

Shit, it's going to get the kill!

Before he realized what he was doing, Dan rushed forward as the beetle crashed onto the ground, shuddering. Body leaning forward, he rammed the spear still lodged in the beetle's mouth with his shoulder while grabbing it with one hand.

The spear slid inside with barely any resistance, and Dan collided with the beetle's head, his face almost touching the wasp's stinger. Freaking out, he backed up.

The beetle was completely motionless. Had he been in time or? Staring at his palm, he began praying. Come on, come on. With a suddenness that startled him, his palm began heating up, and he felt a rush of excitement. He'd done it-

A buzzing close behind his back scared him to death, and he jumped forward, colliding into the body of the dead beetle.

Behind him, the remaining three wasps circled in the air with their stingers pointed at him.

"Come on! I just helped you kill that thing," Dan shouted, unable to hold back.

There was no response, not that he expected one, and he wondered how the hell he was going to get away without being perforated. Feeling behind his back, he felt the bud of the spear and began pulling on it, but it didn't budge.

Damnit! Seeing the wasps get ready to attack again, Dan looked around for something to hit back with. There was nothing but the now unmoving wasp next to the carcass. Why isn't it moving? Startled, he kicked it while keeping his eyes on the other three. The wasp only shuddered slightly. Either it was dead or close to it. Wait, did wasps die after they sting? Only bees did that, didn't they?

Doesn't matter, he thought as he stepped forward and into the path of the incoming wasps. He didn't have another option. He waited till the last minute before jumping to the side as memories of his previous attempt replayed in the back of his mind. He almost expected one of the wasp's stingers to strike home, but either he was much faster than before, or these wasps were slower than the other because they didn't even get close.

Behind him, two wasps slammed stingers first into the unmoving beetle. A loud crack came as the stingers ripped free, one almost cracking in half. The third wasp managed to swerve around, but Dan only looked at the other two. Although they still moved, they weren't flying away, and slowly a nasty smile crept on Dan's face. Bees! Turning to the last bee, he began baiting it with his arms.

"Come on, you ugly piece of flying mucus!"

The bee swerved and rushed him, and he jumped out of the way, causing it to slam into one of its brethren, impaling the other on its stinger.

Dan held his breath while waiting at the sidelines, ready to run in case the bees were trying to trick him. Ten seconds later, he knew for sure. These things only had one good sting in them. But were they dead? Moving next to one, he poked it, and it rolled its eyes at him, seemingly incapable of doing anything else.

Not dead but knocked out? Wait, for how long?

Dan swirled around, but the bees that had dropped before he came still weren't moving.

He ran to one that was definitely dead, almost torn into halves by the beetle, and with a little effort, ripped off its stinger. Then he went back and, without remorse, rammed it into the eye of one of the paralyzed wasps. It didn't so much as blink, but he felt his hand warm up straight away.

Jackpot! Free exp!

Dan laughed as he began running around, impaling wasps, then stopped after four. Wait, hadn't he told the dryad she would be safe because the wasps were here? If he went and killed them all… groaning, he stopped, staring at the dozens of wasps remaining.

"Fine! Listen up, you stupid wasps! You better behave, rebuild and protect that little dryad tree close by from beetles. That is the only reason I am letting you live!" he shouted. He had no idea if they even understood him, snorted at his own foolishness, and moved away.

With his joy at being alive returning and expecting a big win from killing the beetle, he looked at the beetle. He wanted to bring it along for food. But could he even move it? Not alone, but... he rushed into the bushes, returning a few minutes later with Etin and Bras in tow. The two Goblins stopped at the edge of the open area and stared in shock at the scene of carnage on the field. They only moved when he yelled for them to come.

"Listen up. We are going to bring this thing back so we can eat it! Leave those wasps for now."

Dan looked at his wrist, wondering if he could even help. Then he blinked. His green wrist was only a little bit too thick and puffy. Nothing at all like it should be after breaking it. He moved it carefully, and it only stung slightly. Had he imagined it snapping? Or was it because of one of the skills he had?

It didn't matter. All that mattered was that it was fixed! He walked to the back of the beetle and tried to lift it. The muscles in his back grew taut while his feet pressed deeper into the ground. The beetle barely moved.

Okay, so that's not going to happen, he thought, disgusted.

Staring angrily at the stupid thing, he blinked when he remembered the smaller ones. With them, most of the weight had been in their protective shells. Inspecting the large one, he gripped the edge of a shell and began ripping it free.

In the end, it needed all three of their combined strengths, but they managed to tear it off. Feeling the shell's weight in his hands, Dan grinned and dropped it to the side. It landed with a loud thud, creating a small dent in the ground. After they removed the second one, Dan could almost lift the remains on his own.

"Put a few more wasps on top, and let's go!" Dan said, feeling in a great mood.

He looked at the sky, noticing it would be dark soon. Time had flown by this day, and he could barely recall where it had gone. Still, it wasn't all that surprising with all that had happened.

"Dan, this thing really heavy. Why we not eat here? I hungry now," Bras mumbled as he struggled through the forest carrying half of the front and trying to keep matching his steps with Etin's.

Dan blinked a few times as he realized he was famished! How come he hadn't noticed until now? With a dull grin, he dropped his half of the beetle, and stretched his sore muscles.

"That is a great idea, Bras! Let's eat!"

The two Goblins didn't seem at all surprised by his reactions nor in need of a second invitation. Within moments the three of them were ripping bits of white meat from the open back of the beetle.

Dan's eyes widened as he bit down on the first piece. It tasted even better than the small ones! Almost sweet enough to imagine that there was sugar in it. With a hungry grin, he ripped off another few pieces.

Nearly fifteen minutes later, they had eaten a small hole in the beetle, and the two Goblins lay on their backs rubbing their bellies while Dan knew he couldn't get another bite down. He hesitated to check if he had leveled up and gained anything, then shook his head. He didn't want the other two to see what his tattoo could do.

"Enough rest! Let's go to the others," he said, waving at Bras and Ettin.

Though complaining loudly, the two Goblins got up and began moving again. When it was sunset, they finally reached the treeline behind which the swampy hill was.

Home sweet home. Dan thought as he followed the others as they walked out in the open. When both stopped as one, he almost stumbled and dropped his end of the beetle.

"Keep going!"

"Dan? Something wrong!" Bras' voice sounded so spooked that Dan quickly dropped the beetle.

Now, with an unobstructed view, he saw bodies lying on the ground in front of the cave, and dark streaks on parts of the wall. Getting a bad feeling, he scanned the rest of the area, but there was no movement.

"Drop that thing and stay here. I am going to investigate. If you see me running back, start running into the woods," he whispered.

The goblins didn't respond, just putting the beetle down and staring around with narrowed eyes.

Dan nodded, then slowly made his way forward, head on a swiffle as he tried to find anything dangerous.

When he arrived at the first of the still forms, he saw it was one of the Goblins. He recognized it as the one that he had seen touching Tsir the first night. Long slashes covered his body, and his throat and belly were ripped open and partially eaten.

Well, that rules out anger killing, Dan thought as he licked his suddenly dry lips.

He looked at the other bodies and saw similar marks. His stomach roiled when he found one that had half his face eaten off. Staring at the ghastly sight for a second, he quickly averted his eyes, feeling himself grow a bit dizzy. He drew a few deep breaths to clear his head before walking towards the caves, worried at what he might find. He hesitated for a moment, before sneaking into Tsir's cave first.

The place was empty, and he saw nothing different from the last time he had been there. After a second, he backed up and looked at the entrance to the nursery. Should he shout? Better not. On his toes, he snuck inside, trying to be perfectly quiet.

Two steps in, there was a rustle to his side, and a shape jumped him from the dark. His arms rose and moved as fast as whips as he grabbed the incoming thing. It took only seconds to feel the familiar shape of another Goblin struggling against him.

"Stop, it's me, Dan!"

The shape struggled for a moment longer before going limb. All strength seemingly drained from the Goblin as it began breathing heavily.

As the shape collapsed against him, Dan caught it, then carried it out quickly. He cursed as he recognized Gras, one of the smarter of the Goblins. The other Goblin was blinking as it stared up at him.

"What happened?" Dan whispered, looking at the long gaping wounds on Gras' belly.

The other gasped for breath but didn't respond, and Dan got up. If he didn't help him fast, Gras was going to die. He waved at Etin and pointed at the wasp. "Come here and bring one of the wasps, run!" Then he sat back down, examining the other. The slash across his belly was the only wound he had, but it seemed deep enough to be lethal to a human.

Luckily Gras wasn't human. "Gras, I need to know what happened. Try and explain. Where are the others?"

The other opened his eyes and stared at him, before struggling to speak, stopping to take deep breaths every few words.

"Ugly cat monsters come. They follow Bur. Kill all except Bur and one other. Then they come here. Kill everyone. Tsir, run in cave, take two smallsies, then flee with many other Goblins. Cats chase them, most too slow. I hear them scream."

Groaning, Dan felt a block in his throat. He had a good idea which smallsies Tsir wanted, but perhaps...

"And the others? The little girl ba- smallsies?" he asked.

"We hide them in back of cave! Cat's come in and we fight. Something knock me on head. Don't know. When I wake up, I hear you. Thought you cat, so attacked. Don't know about others," Gras' voice had turned to a barely audible whisper by now.

Bras and Etin arrived at that moment, Etin carrying the wasp. Dan yanked it out of his hands, tore the stinger off, and ripped open its abdomen. Scooping out a handful of meat and fat, he held it in front of Gras' mouth.

"Eat. It will help you heal!"

Gras weakly bit down on the meat, then began chewing and swallowing slowly. Dan looked up at Ettin. "Feed him more. I will see about the others. You two stay here. If anything comes, start yelling really loud!"

Ettin and Bras nodded, which was good enough for Dan, and he ran into the nursery. It was a slaughterhouse. Three dead goblins lay sprawled on the ground, almost mangled beyond recognition. Dan stared at the slight elevation that held in the baby Goblins. He didn't want to see what the cats had done there, but did he have a choice? He needed to check if somebody had survived.

He stepped closer and took a quick peek over the small wall, then staggered back, retching. Feeling his stomach heave, he sat on his haunches taking deep gulps of air. Monsters. This whole fucking world is infested with monsters now!

When he managed to get his stomach under control, he began searching between the tiny bodies, barely able to look at them. A few adult Goblins lay between them, but big or small, all had similar wounds: throats ripped out and intestines gone. When he finally reached the final body, one of the adult Goblins propped up with its back in a corner, he heard a soft sound.

Sitting very still, he looked around but saw nothing. It came again, and this time he could pinpoint it. It came from behind the dead Goblin's body. He snuck forward and carefully moved the corpse away. Behind it lay two Goblin babies, sucking on some meat and blood. Blinking, Dan realized they were sucking on the blood of the Goblin that had somehow guarded them with his body. Shivering, he scooped them up. Only one was a girl, meaning the other one was either between the dead or Tsir had found her.

Holding the two Goblin babies close, he crouched down and placed them on his knees quickly taking the meat from their mouths. They tried to protest, but he ignored them and cleaned their faces with his thumb. When the blood was mostly gone, he carried them out. He didn't have the heart to look inside the pit again.

Outside he moved to the others and handed the babies to Bras. "Hold them. They are the last."

Then he turned to Etin. "Etin?" Dan swallowed, but the other was a Goblin and probably cared less for things than him. "Go inside and check if you can find more that are alive."

Ettin just nodded and moved inside the cave, munching on a piece of meat. Staring at Gras, Dan sighed. The Goblin would probably survive, but it would take a few days or longer for him to recover. He grabbed some meat and fed it to the two babies, who instantly fell asleep. Should have had this back in the day, he thought somberly before staring blindly into the dark woods. He barely registered when Etin came back, saying there were no more alive.

The thing that woke him from his lethargy was when Brass stood next to him and whispered. "Dan. What is that?"

He looked up and around. Not seeing anything, he followed Brass's gaze. He was staring towards the side of the forest he had not been to before, behind the swampy area with the weird gasses. Seeing movement, he squinted, trying to make out what it was. Some Goblins that were returning? Or-

Shit!

Long shapes jumped between the dry patches, and shining green eyes stared straight at him.

"Those bloody cats are back," he hissed.

Turning around, he knelt next to Gras and lifted him before searching for a way out. He had no idea where they should go. Could cats swim? He knew they hated water. That may work. Turning around, he ran towards the forest.

"This way, we are going to the river!"

It would have been half an hour of walking at a regular pace, but they did it in ten minutes. Even then, they only made it before the cats got them because the felines had surprisingly stopped eating the beetle corpse.

Now, staring at the raging water of the river, Dan wondered how they were supposed to get across without dying. He cursed and called out. "Uleina! Can you help us? We need to cross!"

Nothing happened, and he tried again with the same result.

Turning around in distress, he looked at Bras, carrying the small baby Goblins. Those would never survive going into the water. He was about to suggest running back towards the grassy plains when a soft voice bubbled up from the river.

"What do you want, filthy Goblin?"

Looking to the side, Dan saw a different Neirad glare at him. The only reason he knew she was different was because of her purple eyes and hair as her face seemed a duplicate of Uleina's.

"We are being hunted by cats and need to cross the river. But we have small ones with us, and they won't survive crossing!"

"And why should I care about this? Goblins kill and eat anything in sight, including Nymphs," the Neirad snapped.

Dan felt like screaming at her to stop wasting time, and barely managed to keep his calm. He took a quick look over his shoulder, but there was no sign of the cats yet. They would be here soon, though. He was sure of it. He turned back to the Neirad.

"What do you want? Is there anything I can do that will make you help us get across?"

The pair of purple eyes widened as the Neirad stared at him in shock before giggling. "You are a funny little Goblin!" Then she snarled, her face twisting as her teeth turned long and pointy. "But there is nothing you can do! Goblins killed my sister, and I am just here to watch the show!"

Dan heard something from behind, and at the same time, Etin took a step back.

"Three nasty cats, and another two, and more… I can't count this many Dan!"

Dan swirled around and cursed as he saw a dozen or more super-sized cats staring at them from the treeline. One with a ripped ear glared at him with hateful eyes, and it took a step forward. Something about it seemed eerily familiar, and suddenly it clicked. That was the one he had seen before when he changed into a Goblin! How did that thing even recognize him? Seeing the cat smell the air almost as if to demonstrate something, he wondered if it was a mind reader.

"Dan, what we do now?" Bras whispered.

He was standing beside him with a terrified look on his face. There was no way they could fight these cats. Dan swallowed and began carefully moving towards Etin. The cats followed allof his moves but didn't charge. Yet. Once next to Etin, he handed him the still unconscious Gras before stepping towards the slowly approaching pack of cats.

"Bras, I am going to see if they want to run and see who is faster, them or me. If they all chase me, follow the river the other way and find a place to hide. Don't go back to the cave. If I can, I will find you. Otherwise, you are on your own. And one thing? Don't eat anything that can speak, even if you don't understand it! Ever!"

Dan didn't wait for a reply but began sidestepping along the river, away from the forest. He kept his gaze firmly on the cats who were staring between him and the Goblins. He prayed that his assumption was correct and that he wasn't grossly overestimating himself before snarling at the cats.

"Come then, show me how fast you are! You want to kill me, right?" As he spoke he began backing up faster, making mock cat sounds and hissing.

As one, the cats turned on him, growling dangerously.

Dan laughed, turned around, and sprinted away, still hissing like a cat. Behind him, he heard a multitude of padded feet rush after him, and he prayed it was all of them. He didn't go full speed immediately, waiting to ensure they were following him. A quick glimpse across his shoulder showed a horde of fur rapidly gaining on him, and he cursed. They were way faster than he had thought!

He had no idea if it were all, but there was no horrid screaming from behind, and he had to take care of himself now. He stopped holding back and began focusing entirely on the run, angling his feet, grotesque and green as they were exactly right, and moving his arms in tandem. As the wind streamed across his face and his muscles slowly bulged from the strain, he zoomed along the ground. Slowly a euphoria he had not felt since his twenties began building.

As Dan kept his breathing as even as he could, he realized that he could go even faster! Pulling from a spot in his stomach, he sped up even more, and somehow he managed to forget why he was even running as he lost himself in the run and the speed.

He ran until sunrise, and the red light was what finally snapped him out of it. He was sweating, his breathing came out in ragged bursts, and he felt painful muscle cramps from all over his body. His muscles cramped up as soon as he became aware of the pain, and he tripped, fell, and rolled across the ground, bruising every inch of his body.

Lying on his back, he tried to calm his racing heart, but it didn't work, the pounding only seeming to grow louder. Still, in between the thuds, he didn't hear anything, and he hoped that meant he had outrun the cats.

Ten minutes later he could finally stand and as he struggled up he looked around the vast open grassy plains surrounding him. The forest was a small line in the distance behind him, and if he had not known it was there, he would most likely not have recognized it. The river next to him was still a raging current, but there were no rocks at this part, and it looked deep and even more dangerous. Further ahead was another line of forest.

Damn, now what? Do I go back? Perhaps those cats are-

An angry growl made him shudder, and he slowly turned his head. Behind him, moving out of the tall grass, came the pack of cats. They were barely breathing faster than normal and quietly staring at him as if they were mocking his efforts.

Dan stepped back, and his heels touched the wet sand of the river bank. He looked around for an escape that he knew wasn't there. There was just one way.

The river it is then, as he finished the thought and was about to throw himself back, the lead cat seemed to read his mind again. It rushed forward, leaped, and collided with him mid-fall, shoving him back. The horrid feeling of razor-sharp claws slicing open his stomach and chest came an instant before he hit the cold water, which wrapped around him like an icy blanket. The cat fell on top of him, but he was dragged away instantly by the current.

He tried to keep his head above the surface, but his body wasn't reacting appropriately. As he spun and tumbled around the dark water, his hand grew hot. Had the cat died? A rock slammed into his legs, and he went under, crashing with his head against another rock turning everything black.