Konna

~Chapter 14~

Renna crouched down beside me. Her green hair gently swayed in the calm afternoon breeze. She patted my shoulder reassuringly. "Assuming we don't run into anything unexpected, you'll only have to endure the smell for 3 days. Hang in there until then Kocho," Renna spoke encouragingly.

Upon hearing Renna's words my heart sank. The smell of the black paste was beyond revolting. What was worse was Renna added some right below my nose, making it look like I had grown a moustache. I silently wept in my heart. Life was unfair. But, if I wanted to continue to stay by Renna's side, I would need to overcome many obstacles in the future – after all demons and humans were enemies. How could I let a silly smelly substance stop me?

Following that train of thought, I stood back up with a renewed spirit. "Let's go."

Upon walking a short while, Renna and I reached the entrance of the goblin's den. A thick layer of fog swallowed the entire area making it impossible to see what was inside. The grass ahead gradually changed colour from a vibrant green to a dull yellow. It was eerily quiet. Fog tendrils slowly crept towards us.

"Are you ready?" Renna looked at me. I noticed her emerald eyes sparkled with anticipation and excitement.

I nodded. I grabbed Renna's hand, afraid that we would be separated, and stepped into the fog. As my eyes adjusted to my new surroundings, I noticed we had entered a marshland. The fog inside was less dense compared to outside. The mud was sticky like glue. Ahead, water covered the ground. A few trees poked out above the water. Their branches reached out to each other, as it they were holding hands. Green moss ran across their trunks.

On the other side of the water was a group of goblins looking at us. Drool leaked down the side of their mouths like a waterfall. They were still as hideous as ever with two big protruding fangs from their bottom jaw. Amongst them, there was a taller goblin who had an aura of a leader. He lugged a two handed axe and wore a black fur cape to differentiate himself from the rest.

"Kree kreee!" Commanded the taller goblin. The group of goblins charged forward, following their leader who was in front. Water splashed everywhere as they waded their way across. It looked like an army of green balls bobbing up and down. I looked over at Renna worriedly. Whilst goblins weren't too difficult to deal with, there were a lot of them.

"Don't worry," Renna reassured. "They'll turn back around soon." Almost after Renna said those words, a few goblins, who had managed to cross half of the marsh water, stopped. They looked at us with disgust. A few goblins with a stronger sense of smell vomited. They quickly began to retreat just as fast as the charged towards us. The leader, however, looked reluctant to head back. After contemplating for a few seconds, it decided to retreat along with the rest.

"See," Renna said proudly. "We smell soooo good that the goblin's find us irresistible – soo irresistible they're running in the opposite direction."

"I don't blame them. If I could, I'd run away from myself too."

Renna chuckled. "Follow me Kocho. I know a route around most of the marsh water that is relatively safe." I nodded and followed Renna closely.

Crossing the marshland was like a mini adventure. Sometimes we would hop across stones to cross shallow bodies of water. Other times Renna would tie a vine onto a tree branch and use it to swing us over to the other side. Whenever goblins saw us, they'd flee in the other direction. Our journey progressed smoothly.

As the colour of the sky darkened, Renna pointed towards a large cave that was nearby. "Let's set up camp there tonight." I nodded and obediently followed Renna into the cave's entrance. Once inside I shivered. I felt a cold chill run up my spine. I looked at the inside of the cave only to see nothing but darkness.