Parallel Vol. 4 [LEGACY EDITION]

Chapter 32.2: A Goblin's Fear (2)

True to their words, three silhouettes appeared on the horizon five minutes later. Honne Onna, Grizzlydiamond and Rustyreaper rode up to the village on massive elks as large as stallions. These creatures were indigenous to Ederwood and were the preferred mounts for the wealthy and influential Ederwood residents.

Renark stood at the village's entrance with Bok and Uthmar, eyes narrowed as the trio stopped in front of him and dismounted. The orc's muscles tensed as he glared at the heavily armored Grizzlydiamond. It was rare to meet a hume who rivaled an orc in size, but at 7 ft tall, Grizzlydiamond stood head to head with Renark. "Grizzly."

"Ragelock," Grizzlydiamond greeted with a curt nod and a snort. Both warriors' hands instinctively reached for their weapons as they sensed the others' power. It was an almost primal instinct to defend themselves from the considerable threat.

Luckily, Rustyreaper stepped between the men and defused the tension with a sweet smile before the situation escalated further. "Calm down boys, there'll be time for this later."

Renark and Grizzlydiamond snorted, imposing subconsciously imposing dominance over the other, then softly relaxed their stances.

"Thank you for listening to listening to little old me," Rustyreaper gratefully said with a short curtsey. A warm smile played on her lips as she looked at Uthman and Bok with curiosity then back at Renark. "So, what is this problem you need our help with?"

Renark looked at Honne Onna with slight trepidation in his eyes. "I need your ability Honne-san. We need to get some information from the goblin's mind."

Honne Onna looked at the frightened Bok with slight curiosity. "What could a goblin possibly know?"

Renark explained the issue with the door. When he was finished, he looked at Bok and said, "He saw Farvulia open the door. We need that memory."

"Never heard of a goblin being tied to an important quest before," Grizzlydiamond muttered with an intrigued gaze. "I wonder if there's something special about this one."

Renark's eyes twitched. These damned Summoned and their 'quests.' They measured everything in this world in respect to how relevant they were to their 'quest completion.' Personally, he could not stand the way the Summoned looked down on Residents, but in this case, their prejudice worked to his advantage, so he buried his unease.

Honne Onna walked over to Bok and squatted so he was at eye-level. Her playful, yet unfeeling eyes chilled him to the bone, a condition that only worsened when she smiled. Bok instantly felt like he had dropped into the seventh level of hell, and was faced with a high-ranking demon. Seemingly oblivious to the effect she had on Bok, Honne Onna asked, "What's your name, little goblin?"

"B-bok," he answered as thick sweat poured down his forehead.

"Nice to meet you, Bok," Honne Onna said. "We do not want to hurt you, I promise. Just look into my eyes."

Bok, realizing he had no choice in the matter, looked into the commander's eyes. His heart skipped a beat as her pupils suddenly turned into a complex mandala. The mandala whirled in place and created an illusion of a whirlpool that sucked everything into her eyes. He glimpsed all sorts of horrors within the maelstrom and frightened out of his mind, attempted to shut his eyes and wrest away his sight.

Unfortunately, he immediately found he had lost control of his body. Try as he might, Bok could not look away from the whirlpool. Within moments, his panic intensified as he began to feel himself get sucked into the vortex. He screamed and attempted to pull himself out, but it proved futile as, before long, he was completely sucked into the vortex.