V.
"Come on, come on, come on!" Audrey urged Madoka to follow. "Don't wanna have the guild people after us!"
"Why don't we just stay put, then?" Madoka grumbled. She smoothed her clothes and peeked over her shoulders but only saw the dead ogre's lumpy toes. She groaned but hurried after Audrey over the moat of dead bodies.
"'Cause that's boring!" Audrey moved deeper in. Madoka sighed, since deep down she was bored and itching for action.
Or, she just liked only being near her princess.
"Kind gods," she breathed. "There's nothing left, isn't there?"
"Nuttin' but the rocks and the dead, amen," Audrey spoke in that odd accent of hers. She called it a Southerner's accent dismissively like a joke, but to Madoka it sounded like another way to use the language of the Gods. "Like destruction from the Almighty, all hands are feeble, buildings are rubble, and hearts are dismayed... or something like that. Never liked that book."
The street was broken up as if a giant descended down and battered through it with his fists, or like frozen ice sheets breaking off into individual dangerous islands floating down a river. The few skeletons of buildings that still stood were coated and smeared by a mysterious brown substance that the maid did not dare to touch.
What secret could they find here? Madoka wondered. Audrey suddenly grew silent as they approached a building. There were still goblins roaming around in this place, she realized. A humming noise could be heard on the inside. They crept along the rundown walls when she noticed the purple mist slithering through its destroyed windows.
Grant us ears.
To hear our enemies crushed.
Come to us.
O, come to us and speak your tall form into our new ears.
Prayer? Madoka deciphered the odd thoughts. Someone, or something, was heard struggling through the burnt walls. She peeked quietly above a shattered window to investigate. Audrey's body crept close beside hers.
The sight almost made her gasp. Bodies were strewn about of unknown origins and piles of frozen severed ears were in the room's center amidst the rubble. Madoka averted her gaze from the messes and maintained her composure, only to find the source of those odd prayers. There were four goblins wearing robes and seemed to be taller than the normal ones she destroyed last night. They were dragging a sack that contained someone struggling inside it.
She moved to attack but Audrey stopped her. Madoka gave her a look but the princess simply nodded back at the sack. A green hand wriggled through a hole.
"Chanting?" Audrey whispered. "A sacrifice?"
"Quiet," Madoka warned her. They watched the creature struggle in the sack until the taller goblins hurled it brutally overhead and she heard the floorboards splinter under its impact. It shrieked in pain while the others chattered strange vocalizations but she had trouble hearing them clearly.
The goblin inside the sack tore at the others, but they were too strong for its weak arms. One of the tall goblins lowered its hood and revealed multiple Sovos ears grafted on the sides of its head, much to the girls' horror. The three other tall goblins then dumped the struggling one in the center out of the bag. Its head rocked against the ground and revealed that it did not have any eyes unlike the tall goblins.
Eyes and ears, Madoka pondered grimly. These creatures seemed at odds against each other based off of their odd fetishes. The eared goblin drew a staff and pointed it at the eyeless one. It screamed in an odd language, but Knotting strands pushed themselves towards Madoka's own ears. She plucked at the chains and rotated her arms in an arc to both sides of her head, then watched the amber magic copy her movements. After the strands attached to her ears, she realized she could understand them.
"You!" The eared Goblin shrieked at the eyeless one. Madoka realized that the magic was changing the Goblin's words to Commoner. "You would give your eyes to the False God!? The—" It uttered incomprehensible words,"—Barrier!"
"Evil!" The other tall goblins chanted and began to tear at the pitiful captive's flesh.
For a moment, Madoka considered leaping over the wooden barricade and painting the room green, but suddenly she felt a tug on her sleeve. Audrey looked at her oddly, but could not question her. The chanting continued and an ominous violet energy swirled beneath where the captive lay.
Ears.
Ears!
So we may hear Tomorrow!
Madoka decided whatever they were trying to accomplish was too dangerous to watch. She had to act! The ground began to rumble as the princess mouthed a command, but Madoka ignored whatever it was. She drew her axe and leapt through the windows to confront the monsters.
The inside of this building was disgusting but Madoka stifled her urge to choke from the rotting smell. In a quick movement she spotted the four goblin targets and prepared for an attack, but to her surprise they cowarded and abandoned their spell casting at the sight of her fearsome intrusion.
"A heretic!" one of the hooded goblins shrieked. It had an oddly feminine voice, but it sounded like it was mixed with gravel and bile.
"Stop!" Another cried out, raising its arms in surrender. A band of bloody ears clicked together around its bone-thin wrist as it shook with fear. Audrey hopped over to investigate with Madoka, but she could sense magic emanating from the princess.
"Interloper!" The one with the grafted ears spoke to them in a mix of Commoner and Noble. "Have m-mercy, you and you! You have eyes, unlike this heretic! No heretic!"
It pointed a shaky claw out to the maid and her princess. Madoka could not believe she was speaking with monsters. The leader spoke again, tapping her staff on the ground and letting go of it. To her surprise, the staff remained standing upright amongst the severed ear piles and limbs.
"This town's finished!" It spoke to Madoka. "Our livestock ran!"
"Livestock?" Madoka questioned if the bodies of dead Sovos surrounding her were the livestock. The goblins nodded vigorously.
"R-Ran away! With their ears and their—" It spoke faster as it noticed Madoka's countenance darken. "Broke the Barrier, the False God did. Poisoned these heretics with lies of eyes!"
It directed its finger at the pinned goblin. A wound was spreading across its bare chest, as if a sword was meticulously carving a bloody pattern along its skin.
"False God?" Audrey asked. Madoka was curious in a False God. Would the kind gods even allow such a heresy to exist? Was it the creature whispering in her head?
"Surely you see her work all around, you!" The creature addressed Madoka. "You feel her pecking at your eyes, like a bird! You and you, come with ill intent and juicy offerings."
"If you mean the guild," Madoka growled and lifted her axe in a fighting stance. "You are mistaken if you think I will allow that."
"Yeah!" Audrey cheered behind her. She would roll her eyes but she had to focus on the threat in this rotted carcass of a building.
"Barrier, keeps it below, you and you," the leader's wretched voice turned to a desperate snarl. She could sense a battle brewing. "Or are you a heretic already!"
"Take their ears!" One of the hooded goblins cackled.
Madoka rose her axe to defend Audrey but the spell circle beneath the captured one flashed in a purple light. The magic's emission stunned everyone, and the blind goblin writhed on the floor. Its thoughts were erratic. Pain? Madoka questioned, but turned to see the other four goblins were incapacitated and also writhing on the floor.
"Audrey?" She called over the wailing creatures.
"I'm good, I'm good," Audrey shouted over them. "Finish them off before something bad happens!"
The rumbling continued and through it all Madoka finally heard thoughts above the chaotic clamor.
Me, a false god?
I am no God.
They only need eyes!
To see Tomorrow!
I will show you, Child.
How blind they are!
"Enough," Madoka chided. She moved to silence the wailing, but she noticed they were also ripping at their eyes amidst the chaos.
"Do it!" Audrey struggled to maintain her balance from the shaking.
She swung.
Frozen ears scattered, blackened ashes and green blood sprayed like discolored snowflakes in a windstorm against the frail wooden walls. All that remained before her was the blind captive. It still writhed and the magic did not disappear even after the remains of ears were disturbed. Its thoughts were not recoiling in agony, Madoka realized that it was writhing in ecstasy!
Eyes!
Oh, I see!
Tomorrow, it is—
The spell circle flashed and she witnessed what silenced the blind goblin's thoughts. A massive, gaping jaw materialized from the spell circle and crunched the goblin like a green, moldy grape exploding with its rotten fruit. Its skinny body snapped like a green stalk of a flower crushed between sharp teeth. An ogre was coming through the spell circle head first!
"Ewwww, gross!" Audrey shrieked at the sight. "Don't just stand there, get it!"
Madoka left on its forehead and plunged her axe straight into its top eye. The creature howled in agony, but began to seep back into the floor and magic circle as its power faded. Her grip felt like it was shattering a tough rock, but even still, rocks still could be smashed to pieces. Its throat ruptured as it swallowed the goblin whole and its lower eyes wriggled in agony. Squishing noises disturbed her ears as she withdrew the axe and proceeded to smash another eye. Each strike seemed to slow down its emergence.
"Like whack-a-mole with an ogre!" Audrey cheered. "Smack it down!"
"Can. You. Not?" Madoka groaned over the ogre's roars as she gouged out its final eye. She realized that Audrey used magic to slice off its tongue and even through its tough fangs. She was fighting off a larger claw emerging from the portal while Madoka silenced its wailing.
Instantly, the magic seal ceased existing as she pulled her axe out of the beast's final goopy, lifeless eye. The rest of its body was apparently unable to come with it since the magic stopped, leaving the ogre's severed head fused to the wooden floors in a bloody mess of flesh and rubble. The claw, surprisingly, dissolved into purple mist.
"Blegh!" Audrey looked away. The head was melting in the mist as well, but Madoka did not want to stay and find out what might happen next. "What kind of messed up ritual was that?"
"It was what they called the False God's doing," Madoka glanced at the leathery green heap she made before the ogre arrived. Well, she glanced at the large head she lept off of. It arrived partially.
"They mentioned a barrier," Audrey mused, but she noticed the leader's staff still remained standing after all the commotion and took it. "We should go investigate it before the guild people take the opportunity away."
"Let's go," Madoka agreed, although secretly she figured anything was better than being near the rotten head in this house. Between the grotto and this place, she was sure she hated this godless town more.
As they moved along the scarred road, she noticed it was eerilyw silent. A slight inclined pushed through the middle of this place and nature claimed the eastern side where the supposed siege took place. She was reminded of the many snow covered hills they traveled over in Fiara.
Madoka swatted the mist away from herself. The mist swished away from her, and dissipated quickly after they stopped that ritual. She groaned at her new ability to see magic. Of all the things Audrey could do, this was not one of the abilities she wanted. Whatever it this ugly mist was escaping to, this ancient city will never be restored to its once peaceful state.
"So this, False God," Audrey's sapphire eyes scanned above them at the things unseeable. She still had the Goblin's Staff. It rattled with ears and odd rocks off its thorny and twisted handle. She focused for a moment, and before Madoka could stop her red strands formed in her wrist's veins. "Yah!"
The staff of ears did not react to the Domineering magic. The girl held it sideways as she inspected it and flinched at Madoka's glare.
"S-Sorry, my intrusive thoughts won that one," Audrey tossed the staff into the portal. "Had a feeling the magic in that staff and my own were not compatible."
"Let's just get it on with," the red haired girl grumbled, but stopped just in time to see an opening in between a few crushed towers at the center of the hill. A dark cave entrance sat there with more of the strange symbols she saw being carved upon the captured goblin's skin. "This must be where the barrier was guarding."
"Mm," Audrey peered further up the hill. "A church...?"
Madoka joined her gaze to see a broken sculpture overlooking the rest of the town. It was missing many of its features but nevertheless seemed like a desecrated statue of a kind god to her. She shook her head out of it. There was not enough time since Audrey was already headed towards the dark cave. The runes carved inside the rocks seemed like they were inactive.
"I hope this isn't another thing like the grotto," Madoka worried.
"No," Audrey confirmed. "There's something different about the manas here. They're... bright?"
Madoka could not see what the princess saw, so she focused on her own Knotting magic. The more she observed the magic in the air, the more brightly it glowed. She noticed it would hardly glow at all in her vision if she did not focus on it. It must be her improvement over her control, she hoped. The amber strings lit a path straight into the darkness and seemed to gather in a certain area within.
"I sense something in there, too," Madoka told her. "Careful."
Together, the two descended into the hill's dark cave. Audrey's magic rings and stars illuminated the surroundings. Light pooled in from the other end of the corridor. This was not a cave, she realized. It was a tunnel!
She could not resist heading towards the glowing Knotting magic ahead. Could it be a fairy? The strands curved over a mound, and Madoka did not hear any thoughts deeper within the tunnel. The mound crumbled to dust as she attempted to step over it.
"Dust?" Audrey started but was interrupted by the glow Madoka uncovered. "A flower?"
Strange white glowing flowers were growing here of all places? Their petals glowed in defiance to the dark around them and yet peace surrounded them in their gentle aura. The light reminded her of the bird, but she hoped they did not share a correlation.
"Pretty!" Audrey gasped at their beauty. Madoka bent over to look at one closer. It had large petals that layered into a bulb on its tip yet the stalk did not yield to its weight. Instead, it stood upright as if it was at attention and silently gave its light to the world around it. She wanted to touch it but it could be a trap somehow.
"I've never seen any like these at the Estate," Madoka remarked. "They are beautiful, like you."
"Ah! Don't say that," Audrey's core lit her blushing face. Madoka could not stop herself from saying that, because the flower's beauty distracted her. She checked the area around it and noticed that more flowers seemed to be growing in a path towards the outside. "These... aren't just dusty mounds. They're... goblins?"
She carefully stepped around the flower to look at one of the goblins. They were whitened by the light and were frozen in motion. They were like statues, Madoka looked at its face and scoffed. Still ugly, even if fear etched its mug in its final moment. She wondered if that statue above was not actually one at all.
"Salt?" Audrey looked at the ground as they traveled by multiple sculptures. "Or bone, even. Perhaps a combination of the two. Something or someone did not want these things to escape, and used a spell that caused mass calcification."
"Mass—" Madoka attempted to repeat that large word but they already made it to the tunnel's exit. Audrey excitedly leapt over more of the glowing flowers and into the sunlight.
"Ah, fresh air!" She twirled to face Madoka. "And the, uh, unknown. We're probably around the base of the settlement."
"I'm glad we made it out," the maid scoffed. Still, she had not realized it at first, but they traveled quite a ways downhill and now were standing at the bottom beneath a large cliffside. "Those things dug all of this?"
"Probably," Audrey guessed. She squinted at the top of the cliff. Madoka could see the torn down walls. "Well, I thought there would be a secret in that place but there was a whole lotta goddamn nothin'—"
The grass beneath them shook and the trees rustled. Shattered ashes and salt slid out of the exit of the tunnel as Madoka searched for the disturbance. Why did that girl open her stupid mouth? The quakes were rhythmic. Something was stomping loudly out there.
"Come, before this place crashes down upon us," Madoka dragged her princess along towards whatever was causing the commotion.
"It wasn't me, I swear!" Audrey complained, but the two were off. She broke away from Madoka's hands and stopped. "There's company ahead."
It was true, Madoka felt the stamping grow more intense as they moved away from the cliff. Lucky for them, the trees in this part of the woods were tall as towers and crowded like soldiers in a formation. They would sneak upon the nuisance making noise and silence it before the cliffs topple over! She would do that, however, the pair found themselves at a dead end. A massive root snaked as far as she could see through this part of the woods. Distant, hungry thoughts were coming from behind the root.
"Come," Madoka commanded Audrey.
"Wait up!"
Madoka had no choice but to climb up on it and scout for any danger below. Ogres, she counted three large figures below her in a clearing. A hand suddenly crunched the bark behind her, but they were too high up to be noticed. She whirled around and turned to see Audrey struggling to pull herself up.
"Dude," Madoka groaned.
"Uh, a little help here?" She urged. "Come on, I ain't as strong as you!"
Madoka put her hands on her hips and stared down at the princess. She contemplated if she should help her up or not.
"You could just use magic to fly up here," she sighed. Audrey grunted as she continued her attempts at climbing up.
"Yeah, and?" The princess did not even challenge her, which almost made Madoka smirk. "You flew up the root like a squirrel on crack, I just —hng— forgot, okay?"
With a final shove, she finally got a hold of a nook and pulled herself up.
"Seriously, man," Audrey heaved. She was out of breath from merely climbing up a root. "Don't give me that look, this root is taller than a house!"
The two quieted down before Madoka could question what she was talking about when the stomping suddenly stopped. The ogres were talking. She did not realize until this day monsters could speak. One of the grotesque brutes raised a three fingered hand to his chin, as if in thought.
"What's in a name?" He asked the other two. The ogres were strange. They only possessed two eyes. Maybe these large monsters were a separate type? "The Cuckoo — Why do the birds call the Named One that?"
The other ogres did not respond, but instead waited for him to continue with bated breaths.
"For some, it is to gain power over others," he continued. Was this creature reasoning? Madoka wondered. Audrey poked her. "Power over the unknown. The power to control themselves and their smallness. Us? We are too big!"
"You sneak in and get 'em distracted," she whispered. "I'll charge up a spell."
"A spell?" Madoka was admittedly more nervous of the spell than those three monsters, even though they were each larger than Armor.
"Yes, yes," Audrey slid a finger across her neck. "This kind of spell. Get 'em in position."
Madoka rolled her eyes. They seemed to be rapt by the leader ogre's speech. His tone was softer than she imagined an ogre would sound like, and much more intelligent than the goblins.
"Boss, I'm all for names and all," one of the ogres spoke up. "But my stomach has more power over me than a name."
"A name means everything, fool!" The leader snapped. "They named your stomach's churning and turning "hunger," isn't that correct, my sweet little birds?"
Distract 'em, Madoka heard the command in her head. Challenge accepted. She lept off the root and landed before the three ogres. They stood about six or seven heads taller than her.
"Ah!" The third ogre raised his hands up in surprise. The dirt, snow and grassy debris cleared from Madoka's landing. "A bird!"
The leader ogre stared in shock at the maid's arrival and sniffed the air.
"My, my, my," he pondered aloud. He was pounding the ground with a crude club along with his comrades. Madoka could see a pendant wrapped around his finger. Knotting magic made it glow yellow. "What an unexpected unknown. Are you a named one? Or one of these birds?"
He revealed a cage behind him, and held it up effortlessly at his eye level. Madoka saw its contents: Two women and a smaller individual. A goblin? She squinted just to make sure. Why were Sovos trapped with a monster.
"My name," Madoka kept her voice steady and her axe ready. She doubted she had enough time to deal a lethal blow to any of them. They were too tall for her to leap to and chop in time if she wanted to keep the hostages alive. "Is Madoka."
"Madoka?" The leader asked, then he started to laugh. The other two looked at each other in confusion, but began to laugh with him. "You don't suppose you have any other names than just the one? Names, have power, you see. Unlike these delicious snacks, who do not have power."
He shook the cage in his hand. One of the women kept standing, staring at him defiantly.
"I am a slave," Madoka sighed. "I have no other names."
"A slave?" The ogre leader questioned, but eased into a laugh. The ground rumbled as his belly aching continued. "A Slave Madoka! Splendid. Two names!"
"Can I eat slave?" The third ogre asked. He shook his head. It was evident that his efforts in trying to speak Commoner caused his mental faculties to slow. His eyes glowed with intense thoughts and the sun outlined his imposing silhouette even through the trees.
"We should give it a proper name before you do," the leader declared.
"Wait," Madoka told them. She needed time to distract them for Audrey's spell. "I can give you three a name."
"Give us a name?" The ogres seemed suddenly mystified at her suggestion.
"What are you doing?" One of the women in the cage shrieked. "Are you mad? Get us—"
"Shut it," Madoka and the ogres all snapped the caged prisoners. The leader dropped the cage on the ground and pondered her suggestion once again. "It's true, once you have a name, people will fear you."
"Fear us?" The leader ogre pondered at the proposition. "And what is a Slave Madoka? Nevermind— Give us a name and send our name to those babbling fools upon that hill."
"Make it fearsome!" The second ogre cheered.
"Make it hungry!" The dumb third agreed. "Or we'll make you hungry!"
The threat did not seem like it made sense at all, but Madoka understood the meaning behind it.
"Let's call you the Bone Crushers," Madoka suggested. The leader did not seem pleased at the suggestion. "Leaf Eaters?"
"Oh I like that one!" The dumb one agreed.
"Slave Madoka, you are making me quite hungry," the leader finally spoke. Madoka hoped the spell Audrey was preparing would be ready. "Or perhaps, these three birds will suffice as a delicious meal?"
"Maybe you can be called the Bird Eaters?," Madoka suggested. The ogres gasped, seemingly awestruck at her newest name idea but even more impressed by her. She hoped to lead them away from the hostages. "Speaking of birds, there are plenty of them upon the hill. Maybe you can go up there and eat them?"
"Maybe we should do that, boss," the dumb ogre suggested. "I like birds!"
"Mmm, maybe we should— Wait a minute!" The leader exclaimed. His gluttonous belly glowed red as his anger rose. "You just want to eat our birds! Only the Cuckoo gets to eat them!"
It drew its massive club while the others grew agitated and did the same. Madoka still noticed the pendant wrapped around his finger. The three gathered closer to surround her, leaving the cage in a safe spot.
"Audrey, do something!" She screamed as the ogre prepared to smash her with the club.
"This is your end, Slave Madoka!" The leader roared. Madoka prepared to leap out of the way, but suddenly a massive Wind Blade cleaved each of the ogres' heads off. The energy sliced through several branches behind it as it traveled into the sky. The headless leader's body started to topple over, so she dove out of the way. Leaves and branches crunched as the bodies crashed down through everything.
How is anything allowed to be that big? Madoka groaned.
"Oh baby, a triple!" Audrey cheered. "That was the biggest Wind blade I've made yet!"
"Could have been worse," Madoka sighed. The bodies began to stink as their insides experienced fresh air. "Let's get out of here—"
"Hey! Helllooooo?" A voice near the tree she leapt off of called.
"Oh yeah, prisoners!" Audrey moved towards the cage beyond the fallen ogres. "Let's rob them!"
"Audrey," Madoka started after her.
"I'm just joking!"
As she rounded the leader's massive hand, she noticed the pendant was loose on its gross finger tip. Audrey watched her peel it off, surprised that she was able to lift its giant claw off the ground and not ruin everything. Madoka shot her a look and the portal immediately manifested. She contemplated taking one of the beast's clubs, but she did not want to know what scheme the princess could use it for and chose not to.
"Hey! Let us out of here!"
"So needy!" Madoka approached the cage. There were three trapped in a cage made out of tough wood and tightly knitted strippings. The one whining wore an odd uniform, similar to the Adventurer Guild but it was grey and more rugged. She was covered in mud and nasty liquid. The other taller woman stood silently, as if she was waiting on the first. A furry tail flicked in annoyance, but she stood there with crossed arms. A Cherish woman, Madoka followed the swishing tail's path. She averted her gaze after the tall woman glared back at her.
The third was a tightly bound goblin, with only its head exposed. Its eyes were still inside its skull, at least, but it looked crazed.
"Well, color me surprised!" The woman eyed Madoka's tags. "Never knew coppers could be so tough! You are here to rescue little old me, right? Right?"
"You're not old," the tall woman scolded her.
"Whatever! Just get us out of here, please! We have to report back to Luxgor or he'll throw a fit! Wait a minute," the Truth Guild member's green eyes scrutinized Audrey. "I know you two! The Adventurer Guild Master told me all about you two! A Noble and her slave! How romantic! Ach!"
The strange woman yelped as the other elbowed her. The Cherish woman gave her a look that Madoka knew all too well. She has given Audrey that same look. She noticed the Truth Guild member was pouting!
"Do you honestly expect me to have manners after this ordeal?"
"A little thanks would be appreciated," Madoka agreed with the Cherish woman. She suddenly knew who they were without even meeting.
"Fine, fine! Thank you, saviors. We're somehow quite alike," the Truth Guild member groaned. "I am Arudite, level two researcher of the Truth Guild in Capital Rustaze. And this here is my slave, Ilalune."