Chapter 17
Goblin Frenzy
A rumble shook the bridge as a massive, ape-like beast forced its way through.
“Troll... get into positions!” Kaz shouted.
The twelve-foot monstrosity had a blue hide, and as it tore through the tear, runty green things with bulbous eyes and sharp yellow teeth followed behind it.
"Fish, those are goblins coming in with the troll." Kaz called without looking back, "Stay mobile but don't break formation until I give the order. We fight as a unit."
"Copy that…"
The goblin horde slammed into the line. Kaz moved like a force of nature, cleaving through them with a heavy chop of his axe, his weapon biting deep into green flesh and shattering bone with wet crunches.
Sadie generated hard-light blades that carved through multiple enemies with each swing.
A goblin slipped through Sadie's blinding arc. I swung the club I'd picked up from one of the dead goblins and felt it connect with the goblin's skull. The creature dropped, but more rushed us.
The worms writhed more urgently. Every dead goblin hit the ground with a wet sound that made my mouth water. My eyes kept following the fallen instead of the next threat.
"Watch out!" Sadie snapped, sending a light-blade through two goblins trying to ambush me from behind.
Kaz stepped in front of the troll, golden light blazing from his skin. Their collision sent shockwaves through the bridge.
My club caved in another goblin's skull. As the corpse dropped, the gnawing in my gut flared. The club suddenly felt heavy and dead in my hands. I let it fall to the floor. Beneath my skin, the worms were writhing, demanding to be let out.
Someone shouted my name, but it sounded distant and muffled. All I could hear clearly was the pounding of blood pumping in my ears.
I broke away from my unit in a sprint, charging directly into the goblin horde.
My body moved with aggressive force, ripping through claws and weapons.
I grabbed one of the goblins by the throat and slammed it into the floor until it collapsed.
Worms burrowing into its flesh, consuming it, fueling my body.
The relief was immediate and intoxicating.
I caught another one and swung it into a group of them, then jumped on the tangled mass of limbs. The worms stretched from my mouth and eyes, devouring them with frightening speed. Flesh tore beneath the worms' touch.
The feast was a blur of tearing flesh and snapping bones. A distant, muffled part of me recoiled at the slaughter, but the raw intoxication of the feed buried it completely. My blows became more savage, messier, more visceral, and more overwhelming. My arms were covered in thick, dark gore.
The troll dragged its feet to a halt, its chest heaving as its eyes locked onto the writhing mass of my arms.
God, this feels good.
The frantic buzzing beneath my skin slowed as the red tint bled from my vision.
I was standing in a circle of corpses. The worms retreated beneath my skin, gorged and temporarily satisfied.
Our unit engaged the remaining goblin force while Kaz wrestled the troll to the ground. Even from this distance, I could see the surprise on their faces when they looked my way.
I wiped blood from my face with the back of my hand, breathing hard.
Zo was watching me from where she fought, her pupils dilated as the last of the worms receded beneath my flesh. She flashed a wide grin before turning back to the goblin she was pummeling.
"Regroup!" Kaz ordered, his voice carrying over the diminishing sounds of combat. The troll lay motionless at his feet, its chest caved in from what must have been a devastating blow.
I wiped my hands on my pants, trying to remove the worst of the gore, and rejoined the formation.
The goblin horde had thinned. Those that were left were retreating toward the tear. The bridge was littered with corpses. Kaz led the advance, his body still radiating golden light.
Prisoners knelt beside the dead goblins and began extracting small crystals from their bodies. These were the real objective, more valuable than the kills themselves.
The tear shrank. With the troll dead and the horde broken, the rift collapsed in on itself, snapping shut with a sharp crack.
We spent the next few hours securing the bridge and collecting cores. I sat alone by the bridge's edge, my muscles twitching with the phantom sensation of the swarm, the taste of goblin blood still coating my mouth.
As we prepared to return to the fortress, Kaz came up to me directly for the first time since the battle began.
"You broke formation."
"I did… sorry abou—"
"Give us a heads up the next time you're going to go on a fucking rampage!"
It wasn't the reprimand I'd expected.
"...I'll try."
Kaz nodded once. "You're effective. God damn messy, but effective."
As he walked away, I realized what had just happened. I'd been evaluated, and conditionally accepted… all in a single conversation. In Kaz's eyes, I'd proven my worth through blood.
The march back to the fortress was quiet. Everyone kept their distance from me, everyone except Zo.
"First time's always messy…"
I didn't respond. Still processing the knowledge of what the worms had consumed… goblin social hierarchies, their fear of the dark despite living underground, the strange language they used to communicate.
The massive doors of the fortress swung open as we got back to base.
"Get to decon," Kaz said.
I followed the unit, not sure exactly what the fuck decon meant. Until we entered a large bathhouse with shower heads lining the walls. There were no dividers, no privacy; it was just an open space.
Zo pushed past me, already stripping off her armor.
"Last one in buys drinks," she called out, peeling off her top without hesitation. She winked at me. "What? Never seen a naked woman before, worm-boy?"
I looked away, but not before noticing the beautiful curves of her body.
The rest of the unit was undressing too. Nobody seemed bothered by it except me. I hesitated, fingers at the hem of my shirt. The worms had reshaped parts of my body during the battle, and I wasn't sure what I'd find underneath.
"You're holding up the line, either get clean or get out," Sophie said from behind me.
I removed my clothes and stepped under an unoccupied showerhead.
The water ran red at my feet, carrying away what I'd done on the bridge. I kept my eyes fixed on the floor, not wanting to see the looks on their faces if they noticed the veins beneath my skin where the worms moved.
By the time I finished, the room was empty. Even Zo had left without me noticing.
I dressed in the clean clothes that had been left in a pile by the door and stepped out into the hallway, unsure where to go next.