Confrontation in the unconcious

The cut across my face was no longer bleeding profusely, but it remained open and vulnerable to infection. I had to act, but my body wouldn’t budge. I might be in terrible shape, so that at least meant that Thodbargild was in no tip-top condition either.

“My boy!” A familiar voice called out, and helped me to my feet. Someone else joined in and supported me from my other side. It was my uncle Aremfrid with my friend Wergnarinth in tow.

“Get our men ready… We gotta pursue ‘em,” I said, forcing the words out of my huffing self.

With his face submerged in tension, his eyes darting from side-to-side, and the weakness in his voice betraying his inner worry, my uncle complied. “…Understood”

“What?! That’s ridiculous,” Wergnarinth objected with fury, “Hey, numb knucks, you’ll stay here until you heal up. We’re not movin’ an inch, you hear?”

“Shut up, Wergnar, and get up that wall!” I roared. “Keep an eye on them—on which direction they’re heading.”

I collapsed on the ground as my support gave way. Wergnarinth’s body had contorted by itself—his feet wavering, his balance shaken. He staggered back and fell down as if some invisible force had suddenly shoved him to the ground, and brought me down with it. He obscurely gazed in puzzlement. “W-what just happened…?”

“Ugh…” I moaned in pain, “What was that for?”

“What…? I don’t know! You screamed like a woman and suddenly my body moved by itself. How should I know?”

My uncle reclined me against the wall of the palisade, shifting his attention elsewhere. He hollered at a few people to bring me some supplies for my wounds. Bandages, water, and the like. A few hollers at the other three Highgoblins that were part of my entourage set in motion the mobilization of my band of Kragnin-trained warriors, which consisted of three squads, if you remember. Ten Crawgoblins headed by a Highgoblin champion multiplied by three.

As Wergnarinth remained on the look-out, surveying the direction in which the enemies retreated, as my uncle busied himself with organizing the unit, and as I sat gathering my strength, we heard the trotting clip-clops of a horse approaching. A grey-skinned goblina was mounted upon it, a few armored riders to her flanks.

“Fetch my father’s healer,” she said, once again scrutinizing my looks, before hesitantly moving on.

“Lady Astvid,” my uncle spoke up, “It is I, Aremfrid Habzakii. May I enquire where you are leaving off to with your armed retainers?”

“S-sir Aremfrid? Is Frasmul with you?”

“Where… are you going?” I interrupted, my throat hoarse.

Between my uncle and I, she didn’t know what to say. She realized something, but did not want to believe it. In denial. “To—uhm—rescue my father and chieftain Arnric.”

I planted my claws into the wooden wall behind me, and pulled myself up on my feet. “Don’t. Your boys here won’t do you any good against a Goblin King and four Gnobbles. Uncle, how long for our men to rally?”

“High chief, listen,” Wergnarinth spoke up. “I’ll shadow the enemy and follow them to their camp. Once I find their location, I’ll return and we can plan for an attack or whatever. Right now, what’s important is that you take rest. Maybe reunite with your sweetheart, I don’t care. Because, look, if you go out to fight in your current state, you’re bound to get completely done in. Forget saving anyone, you’ll just doom yourself and our peeps back home.”

He immediately got to work without awaiting my approval. I pondered the matter the best I could with my hazy mind. It made sense that continuing to fight in my current state was futile. I want to rest. I want to fight at full strength without being taken by surprise. I want to fight knowing what I’m getting myself into, and with a plan of action at the ready. Backup to cover me, would go a long way too.

As my acceptance of his proposal began to weigh heavily in my mind’s consideration, my body fell limp and lethargic, already accepting the plan by gut rather than reason. Before I would faint, I added my own two cents to his plan. “Contact chief Audbernrek, and extra Highgoblins from our tribe as reinforcements. Hardalgmar and Frakaldhelm need to stay home and defend our lands, just in case, but the rest… you can… call…”

I was gone.

***

I was back. Not through any peaceful manner, though.

Astvid… Astvid, I’m sorry.

That incessant voice was ringing in my head again, not allowing me a piece of respite. I had fallen unconscious, but it seems that even then, this voice finds a way to disturb me.

Albaric, please, you gotta…

Oh, you’re talking to me? That’s new. The previous times I heard you in my sleep, I’m pretty sure you were just some dream conjured up by my nerves. Because as you know, my first night here and the night after my “coronation,” you could say, were both very exciting. I thought you were just some REM sleep, brainwave, neuroscientific phenomena. Well, maybe you are. I don’t know even know what those words mean. I basically thought you were some illusion, but it’s actually cool that you can talk to me.

I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to leave her, but neither do I want to be a king. Albaric, you must hand me back my body.

Hold on. I don’t think this is the voice at all. I can think clearly for once, and I’m not really in need of any sleep. I’m not drowsy like last times. This is different from those previous dreams.

OH! I get it! I was already asleep, probably recovering from my wounds. The person tending to me was likely worried, making the sounds I was hearing currently. I was already awake, but I guess my eyes remained shut for some reason. I’ll just open them, in that case… O God—my eyelids were shut tight. This… Will… Take… Some… Effort…

POP!—Finally.

As my eyelids parted and the light reached my eyes anew, I found myself not in a hall, bed, or any manmade structure whatsoever, but an empty space. It was pitch black, yet hazy and misty, like my eyesight was blurred and in need of new glasses. I tried to squint, focus my sight, but to no avail.

“Oh. Is that truly you, Albaric?” A voice blurted out behind me.

“Who are you?” I demanded from the voice, which came from a silver-haired, violet-eyed man, mirroring my exact looks. He stood on a floating island that was filled with vegetation, boulders, and a river. Behind him, in the distance, there was the hazy void again. I looked down and saw that I stood on the very same piece of floating dirt as he was. It was a small island in the middle of a black void.

“You finally heeded my calls,” he said. “I’m Frasmul, the owner of the body you’re possessing.”

“W-whoa…” I stuttered in bewilderment.

He sighed heavily. “Come on, friend. Did you not hear me talk to you in your sleep? I don’t know how it happened, but after drinking the dragon’s blood and ascending, you came into my body and took possession of it. I didn’t resist, because why would I?”

“Oh, that’s right. I did hear something from that voice about ‘our uncle’ and Frasmul and all that,” I put my hand on my forehead, as the memories flowed, and the words resurfaced. “But where are we?”

He looked around. “It’s not the real world, I know that much,” he pointed towards a black box that was supported by a stand of some kind. “However, this contraption, some sort of portal window, is a gateway to the real world. From it, I’ve been able to follow you and your adventures.”

“Now wait,” I took a closer look. “What is the Nova X-Series 4K Ultra HDR 32Inch Dynamic Color Quantum Contrast OLED Monitor from my gaming set-up doing here?!” I blurted out.

“You know this thing?”

“It’s my gaming monitor that I equipped with an ultra-wide, dual QHD display so that I could see the full map in Dominus Carthago II!” I blabbered as the words entered Frasmul’s one ear and left through the other, not even coming close to penetrating the part of his brain meant for comprehension. He zoned out completely, until I spoke up again. “What is it doing here?”

“I do not even know what here is, Albaric.”

“Ok, so, nevermind that. Frasmul, I need to get back to the real world. I need to get chieftains Sigvald and Arnric back. Do you know a way outta this place?”

“Halt. Wherever do you plan on going with my body?”

“Excuse me?”

“That is my body you are living in, friend. Sorry, but I want you to get out. I need to speak with Astvid one last time.”

“Even if I knew how to do that, why would I give it back to you?”

“That is my body, is it not? I am quite literally its owner.”

“You JUST told me you abandoned it. Finders keepers.”

“Don’t utter such falsehood! I told you I did not resist your repossession of it, or more like, your thievery of it.”

“I didn’t thieve anything! I just woke up in your body, and BOOM! Suddenly I’m tasked with becoming the king of all goblins—something that you clearly walked away from. Now that I think about it, you were that same voice that thanked me for living your life for you, weren’t you? Do you have sudden regrets?”

“Listen, I don’t want to be a Goblin King. All I want is to talk to Astvid one last time, and then I’ll return the body to you. After that, you can keep doing what you do, as long as you stay away from Astvid.”

“Why would I stay away from her? She’s my betrothed. I need her to get the Esyces subtribe to join me.”

“First of all, she’s MY betrothed. Not yours. What kind of a man wants to see another make love to his wife-to-be on this thing you call a gaming monitor?”

“Surprisingly, quite a few.”

“Well, I don’t count myself amongst those scum. Break off the betrothal, and marry another damsel. She has a younger sister anyway, so your alliance can remain. I’ll tell her myself, and put an end to this matter. C’mon, hand me my body,” he said as he reached for a handshake.

“No way, pal. Sorry.”

“Fret not. I’ll hand it back.”

“I can finally become the king I have always wanted to be. I’m not going to risk that just so that you can kiss your girlfriend goodbye,” I retorted and pushed his hand away.

My eyelids suddenly shut by themselves, and when I tried to open them once more, I found myself looking a goblina in her eyes. It was Astvid.