Chapter 23: Family outing

Eleric walked before Alistair and Yurek, his eyes searching for hoof prints. The favorite meal of the goblin God was the Elk. The bigger the rack on it, the better. They were in the forest, after the trail of a herd, that was not too far from Mante.

Yurek looked around the forest. He had a dagger strapped on his belt, and his hand was in Alistair's. He was somewhat afraid of what they were going to do. After all, Gog was temperamental. What if they didn't get the correct buck?

Eleric rushed forward, and bent to the ground. The vampire and goblin also bent, so they were laying on the ground on their bellies.

"I can smell them," Eleric spoke, as he crawled. "It is best if you two stay behind."

"I need to be the one to deal the mortal blow, or Gog the Mighty won't accept my offering," Yurek protested.

"You'll get trampled, kid," Alistair told him. "Now, be quiet and watch the artist perform his trade."

Eleric's ears tingled red, when he heard that. They crawled until they saw where the hill ended. The herd was down there, with a magnificent buck in the middle.

"Look at the rack on that one," Yurek was amazed. He had only ever gotten elk when the hunting trips of the tribe had been good. Which is to say, only once before. He salivated at the idea of eating the heart of the great beast.

"I think I can shoot down a couple before the rest run," Eleric whispered. He aimed his bow, and an arrow made of mana appeared. "One day, I will teach you how to hunt."

And he began. The magnificent buck was the first to fall. Without even managing to make a sound. Then, two does fell as well, and even a second buck, before the herd figured out, they were hunted, and they ran.

The animals were not dead yet, so, when they got down to the base of the hill, Eleric nudged Yurek to the magnificent buck first.

"Go now, make your offering," Eleric urged, and Yurek swallowed. He had never killed before. He had been considered too young to hunt, by his tribe's standards.

"I can't," Yurek murmured. Alistair sighed, and took him to the side.

"You will be doing them a favor, they are suffering," the vampire told him, then placed two fingers under the goblin's chin. "You don't want such good animals to suffer, do you?"

"Gog would have wanted for them to suffer," Yurek spoke, head bowed.

"You can't know that. What is the purpose for the wild hunts?" Alistair asked. He knew a thing or two about goblins. More than Yurek thought he did.

"To feed the tribe," the goblin told him. "If I can't provide for the tribe, Gog will curse me as an oath breaker."

"Precisely," Alistair spoke, and he unsheathed the dagger from Yurek's belt, and handed it to the goblin. "Now go and provide for the tribe. Make it as painless as possible."

Yurek went to the magnificent buck first. It was blinking up at him with a silent plea in its moist eyes and an arrow in its neck. Yurek then slit the animal's throat, and kissed its forehead.

"I am sorry," the goblin spoke, as the buck breathed its last. Then, Yurek gave the same treatment to the other three animals. He would make sure their meat didn't go to waste.

That their hides decorated the temple of the divines. He would stitch them into something magnificent. No, he would be the one to do the skinning as well. Respect the animals with all he had.

Yurek's hands were clumsy as he dressed the animals, but he managed to get the hides without too many tears on them. Then, he began to use potions on them, to doctor them until they stopped smelling of blood.

The goblin worked as if in a trance, stitching together a hide armor from the fallen animal's hides. Back in his tribe, only the shaman had been allowed to make clothes. Yurek wondered if the man's soul was now at peace and hunting with Gog.

When the sun rose, the goblin looked at the elf and vampire, who had just finished distributing the meat in portions. The two racks of the bucks were resting next to Yurek, and he knew what to do with them. He stitched them into the armor.

"I do believe the priest will accept this," Alistair spoke. He was smiling at the goblin, who looked at his handiwork with wonder.

"Did I make this?" His work was similar to the one of the shaman. It was good work, if he could say so himself.

"You sure did. Now let us go. Anmu is probably worrying sick about us spending the entire night out here. Not to mention that Fen will probably want to baby you," Eleric spoke, and he offered his hand to Yurek. The goblin took it, and smiled up at the elf.

"We are one weird family," Yurek said, and then he giggled. "But I won't replace you for the world."

"Well, you are stuck with us until you grow up," Eleric flicked the goblin's nose. "After that, you are expected to visit at least two times per month."

"I will visit four times per month," Yurek promised. "And bring you my mate and children, and show you all my tribe, when I get around to making myself one."

"Tribe?" Both Alistair and Eleric asked at the same time.

"Goblins need tribes. I will have a tribe and make the goblins in it bathe and wear normal clothes. We will have livestock to trade, and use the forests and rivers for food. We will be happy, and..." as Yurek began to list all the things he was going to make sure his dream tribe had, Alistair and Eleric shared a look.

"They grow so fast," the vampire murmured.

"Well, children are always like that," Eleric said with a chuckle.

"And we will have orchards, and vegetable patches, and..."