Return to Jorgaldur Volume III: blood warrior

Keepers

The three Keepers were surprised to find their companions following the same type of strange being.

"What's going on?" the goblin asked.

"I don't know. One of those woke me up, and wanted me to follow it," the panther-woman shrugged.

"Me too. I hope it's not a trap. Shall we follow them?" the vulture-woman muttered.

"Look at them, they're flying over that area. Is there something there?" the goblin asked.

"Hmm, I don't know, there's something strange. Liena?" the panther-woman asked the vulture-woman."

"There're mana fluctuations. Whatever's there is hidden and protected. It seems there're traps. Let me see.

She approached a trap and slowly deactivated it, while her companions kept watch. It took a few minutes, because she not only wanted to deactivate it, but to do it gently, so as not to raise the alarm. The woman then approached some kind of illusory shield, which she carefully probed.

"It's just to hide what's behind it. Nahta, can you take a look?"

The panther-woman nodded. She crossed the barrier carefully, melting into the night. She had the ability to Camouflage in the Shadows, similar to the vampiress', although of a different nature. The Keeper didn't take more than half a minute to return, and she stared at the goblin.

"I'll tell you what I've seen. But first, Golo, you must promise to restrain yourself," she requested.

"When I don't?" the goblin growled.

"Promise me," she insisted.

"Okay, it's a promise. Now talk," he accepted, somewhat irritated.

She looked at her other companion, who understood, and moved to her side. They put themselves between the camp and the goblin.

"They're slave traders. They've captured several dozen low-level goblins and... Golo! Wait! You've promised!"

They had a hard time calming him, convincing him that rushing in there and massacring them wasn't the best idea. Only when they argued that he might endanger the captives did he calm down a bit, though his bloodshot eyes said he was going to show no mercy.

Away from there, Gjaki watched with concern. She watched as the Keepers arrived, led by her Bats. She saw the panther-woman came in and out, and how they almost fought each other.

After that, she watched as the panther-woman went back inside, and stood next to the carts with the goblins. Meanwhile, the vulture-woman climbed a nearby tree, and the goblin waited, clearly impatient.

The next thing she saw was a massacre. The panther-woman eliminated with her black sword those who were guarding the captives, while the goblin entered brandishing a pair of axes, with no intention of taking prisoners. The vulture-woman fell from the sky.

Only a few of the traffickers were saved, although not those who tried to flee. Only those who managed to surrender quickly, and were able to put themselves in the care of one of the two women.

The goblin only ceased his killing frenzy when he approached the cells. Just then, his face changed from that of a bloodthirsty warrior to that of a good-natured grandfather, and so did his attitude. In fact, seeing them like this had only increased his anger, but that anger wasn't directed at them.

Only when she saw how he was treating them, how he was gently untying them, how they hugged their hero, the vampiress was finally able to relax, and quickened her pace.

There was nothing more she could do for them, and she didn't want to get involved with those Keepers. While Gjaki had helped them, she didn't know how they would act against a vampire, and she didn't want to risk finding out.

The vampiress kept watching, until she got too far away, and her scout was forced to turn back.

"Who do you think has warned us?" Nahta asked.

"I don't know, but it seems that I was wrong. Whoever they were, they were friends. Although it's suspicious that they didn't want to show themselves. Maybe they were poachers?" Liena suggested.

"It could be, although it would be strange for a poacher to help others," the panther-woman doubted.

"It's no so strange, not all are bad people. Some have no other choice, but they still have their hearts," the vulture-woman disagreed.

"Really? I've never seen any of those. Tell me, why did you say you were wrong?"

"Those winged beings have a strange scent of blood. Also, they aren't alive, but made of mana. Someone controls them."

It was then that they saw the goblin approaching. He had freed and tended the captive goblins, without any hesitation in using the traffickers' possessions.

"I'll take them back. Can you make the report, and take care of that scum?" he asked, while looking at the imprisoned traffickers with undisguised hostility. "Or do you want me to take care of them?"

In other circumstances, they would have protested, since neither of them liked paperwork. However, it was clear that he was the best one to deal with the goblins, to return them to where they belonged.

He was known and admired by them, because they knew that he was in charge of guarding the area, of preventing the entry of poachers or traffickers. Besides, he was one of them, a role model to look up to, a hero.

They may respect the rest of the Keepers, and appreciate their work, but the rest weren't green and short.

"Okay, okay, but you owe us one. The next report is yours," Nahta accepted.

He smiled for the first time that night, if only for an instant, showing his fangs. There were few things he hated more than traffickers, especially when his kin were the victims.

"Don't worry, they won't get off that easily, but we have to question them. If we know who is behind, maybe we can dismantle the organization, or at least hit it," Liena scolded him a bit.

The goblin waved goodbye to them, as he turned his back on them, and walked away in the direction of his kin.

Actually, he didn't want to look at them because of feeling embarrassed. The goblin knew perfectly well that it was better to leave them alive for questioning, but he hadn't been able to help himself. When anger overcame him, he couldn't hold back. It was normal though, considering he was a Berserker, perhaps the only Berserker goblin in existence. At least he didn't know of any others.