The Birth of the New World

A midnight stroll, just me and my buddy.

It had taken a bit to get the others to agree to us leaving without them, but I had promised that I have no intentions of getting into any fights until we get the call from home. I can’t risk ruining this mission and putting people at risk by starting things early.

On our way out, I had made sure to stop by and check on Gra and Vivviv one more time, to remind them to keep their Fields as contained as they can around themselves. We need them to keep it contained so that they won’t be easily sensed by the other Hobgoblins.

Surprisingly, they seem to have a much harder time keeping their Fields contained than I do. While I am able to keep mine contained to the point of no one even being able to feel it, these two are only able to keep their Fields wrapped about a couple feet around their bodies, like a big bubble, at minimum.

It was rather surprising to learn that people could struggle with this, but it good to know. In the future there will probably a lot more mages running around, and knowing that most of them probably can’t just hide their power is a bit of a relief. I can already see issues popping up with that, like having a mage sneak into an event and then throwing fire balls around, incinerating people by the dozens. With them not being able to fully hide their Fields, we will be able to keep an eye on potential threats like that. Not to mention that Fields seem to carry the will of the mage, and if you can understand it well enough, you can figure out if they are agitated or about to lash out at you.

Future security concerns aside, this makes my ability to hide mine so perfectly a bit of an anomaly. I am going to need to figure out if this is something that anyone can learn to do, something that is specific to me because of what I am, or if it has something to do with the type of mana I use, or any other number of factors.

I can solve the mana question by meeting another user of shadow magic, and Gra knows one, one of her younger Brothers, but she doubts that he would be of much help to me. Apparently, he is pretty weak and just uses his magic to hide, his shadows hardly being comparable to mine…

Getting sidetracked again…

The point is that I need Gra and Vivviv to stay hidden. Better yet if her allies think them dead or having deserted. I don’t need our hiding place getting attacked by the enemy trying to take back my prisoners.

Hopping down the stairs to the outside world with Sam following closely behind, the both of us shrouded in my Field and a cloud of shadows to keep us from getting spotted, my mind can’t help but go to that word, deserters…

The Goblins, or more importantly, the Hobgoblins, are capable of doing that. They can betray their leader. They don’t have to listen to him if they don’t want to.

I had become curious about this because Gra and Vivviv had been able to - hells maybe even happy to - betray their leader. Choosing between their lives and loyalty, they made the easy choice, without hesitation. Sure, Gra is still upset about how it happened, but I am certain that she was just waiting for an opportunity to betray this Father guy.

Gov’es, he chose to die with honor because he was loyal till the end, which I respect, but it is good to know that not all the Hobgoblins are like him.

No, what I find truly interesting about this is that Father, despite being like me, he doesn’t have my complete authority. Where I could have ordered my Demons to do whatever I want, even against their will, he does not have this power over his people.

His people, they follow him because they respect power, they crave it. It is in their blood to follow the strongest of their kind. But, with knowledge being granted to the Hobgoblins, being made to be capable of thinking for themselves, betrayal is now possible…

And I find that interesting. I have no idea if I will be able to use this to my advantage, but it is interesting to know…

It makes me wonder how I compare to the others that those brats mentioned. Am I the only one with complete authority, or do they have it too? I guess I would have to meet them to find out. Let's just hope that it ends up being on much more peaceful terms than with the Goblins…

Pushing aside my thoughts for now, Sam and I are getting closer to our targets. Checking over a map, we have marked three buildings for demolition, in order to get them out of the way of artillery fire and to help maximize destruction.

As we are running through the back alleys, covered by a cloud of shadows in the late afternoon, we eventually end up smacking into the Field of another Hobgoblin. The moment that my Field touches theirs, my mind shifts from wondering thoughts and into work mode. No more useless thoughts or wandering off, it is time to be sneaky.

Sneaky beaky like… Nobody pays attention to their own shadow…

Where this other person’s Field is like a sphere of turning and splashing water, mine becomes like a gas, slipping through any opening and mixing without being noticed. Becoming nothing more than a shadow underfoot, passing through without a sound.

Hmm, core of this Field is about thirty meters away to my left, tastes like salt water up your nose… Must be Caiven or Betvin. Those are the Water Mages that Gra told me about. They aren’t too dangerous, but they have figured out that you can turn snow into water, and that you can use water to drown your enemies. Luckily, they haven’t figured out how high-pressure water can be used for cutting yet, so they aren’t really a threat right now. My Demons and I can hold our breaths underwater for quite a while after all.

Passing through the Field unnoticed and keeping away from any patrols we spot, Sam and I move through the city like a pair of shadows, my magic making it difficult for anyone to see or even hear us as we sprint through the streets and dive into alleyways. Even Sam’s heavy footfalls are muffled until being almost inaudible. My Fiends, no matter how slim and fit they are, are quite heavy. But luckily, with it just being Sam here, I am not having too much trouble with hiding her noise than if it had been everyone here.

Sneaky, sneaky… Sneaky little Imp…

We pass though more Fields along the way, each one tasting of a different element and varying levels of control and power, hinting at the sheer number of mages that Father has already created. The vast majority of them seem to be living underground, hiding out in the sewers, while those that are stronger seem to be living up in the remains of the city’s buildings. Be it because they are better suited to handling the cold, or just because being higher puts them above their weaker siblings, I do not know.

By the time we have passed through the dozenth Field, we are finally deep in the heart of the city. From where we are, I can easily see the skyscraper where Father is supposed to be living, according to Gra. If we were to get closer, I could probably confirm it by touching his Field, but I don’t want to take the risk.

From what Gra has told me, my power is on the same level as Father’s. While I have no problem with sneaking around under his children’s noses, I can’t risk that his senses might be strong enough to be able to detect me. So, we are keeping our distance for now.

…

Arriving at the first target on our list, we enter by jumping in through the second story windows while no one is looking, completely avoiding the sentries guarding the entrances on the first floor.

This building is coated with the aura of another Fire Mage and is keeping everything nice and warm inside. Thankfully, this is definitely not Father, as the Field feels weaker than Gov’es’s did. Still, the Field is large enough that its owner is probably covering about a dozen floors, protecting it occupants from the chill of Father Winter’s touch.

And there are a lot of occupants here…

The building looks to be an old office building, but considering that this is the heart of the city, that isn’t too surprising. Regardless, just on this floor alone is hundreds of little Goblins milling about and doing their thing.

Thankfully, they are too stupid the notice the magical cloud of shadows slowly moving through their halls. Even the Goblins that we walk past, their eyes seem to glaze off of us like we aren’t even here. I’m not entirely sure how it would work against another Mage, but for these simple creatures without magic or much intellect to protect their minds, my shadows are making them see nothing where we are. They even move to walk around us, as if they are navigating an obstacle without thinking out it.

I let out a breath of relief, glad that this homebrewed spell of mine is working as intended. After all, magic is all about the imagination. I have to truly believe that coating us in a cloud of darkness will hide us.

And it is working.

Still, I have doubts that I could hide more than myself and one person right now. Especially while trying to go unnoticed by an enemy's Field, so I will have to practice this more in the future when I get the chance.

Setting aside thoughts of the future, I continue to focus on feeding my spell, to focus on keeping us hidden like a pair of ghosts in a haunted house as we slowly walk through the building.

Sam holds her hand up to her nose and makes a gagging motion, but thankfully doesn’t say anything. I just return a nod to her.

Yup, this place fucking reeks! It’s like we are walking through a communal outhouse or something!

Trying my best to ignore the smell, we make our way in deeper and deeper, Sam leading the way since she knows where best to set the explosives. As we head in deeper, we move past rooms and offices where the doors had been left open or destroyed so the little Goblins could gain entry. They fill these rooms by the several dozens and each one is a mess of bodies or just plain filth.

Some rooms are full of sleeping Goblins, practically piled on top of one another in giant cuddle-puddles of naked or barely clothed bodies. In one such room, I find a Goblins naked ass sticking out of a pile of snoozing Gobos, the rest of his body buried somewhere inside as he moons anyone that walks past. Other rooms are filled with meat and carcasses, left out in the open for any hungry Goblin to come by and rip off a piece of meat, or grab some hide and bone if they are smart enough to use them. Some rooms are just full of shit. Literally… They just basically decided that some rooms are now their toilets and said fuck it.

We quickly make our way past those rooms, having to hold back from throwing up from the horrid smell that leaks out of them as our eyes water.

Besides those, there are other communal room that the Goblins seem to have made for themselves, two of which make me rather uncomfortable as we pass them.

The first one, which isn’t as bad, is the rooms for their pregnant females and breast-feeding mothers. Those rooms are filled to the brim with heavy bellied females and mothers with tiny baby Gobos latched onto their dark-green tits. As we walk past one such room, I have the special horror of witnessing the disgusting miracles of birth, as one of them pops out two slime covered crotch goblins onto the floor, before promptly licking them clean.

The other is the orgy rooms… I would rather not go into exact details, but they are a mess. Walking past those rooms, I find myself cringing at how… violent, these little things can be as they mate. When I find one female, being dragged around as she is passed from male to male, looking like she is half dead and barely aware of the world around her, I have to hold back the urge to kill all of these nasty little things. In one of the rooms, I am quite certain that I saw a male fucking an actual corpse in the corner of the room…

Compared to Gra and Vivviv, these things really are animals… Those two are cute and cuddly to the point of where I want to give them cookies and dress them up in onesie animal pajamas. They are smart enough to know how to use a toilet after just being shown once, and they even smell nice. Hells, even the other Hobgoblins are better behaved than this and don’t smell nearly as bad. Is this what happens when you gather thousands of Goblins in one place? It just turns into bedlam? I can’t wait to blow this damn place up and bury all this filth.

Eventually, Sam leads me to the first spot and carefully removes her pack. Digging out her supplies, she shows me how to make a C4 charge without a word, mushing and mixing together the explosive clay like putty before wrapping it around a detonator. Once she is satisfied with her work, she stands up, and using her new body’s natural height, easily attaches the explosive on the wall up near the ceiling, far out of reach of any curious Goblins that might find it, and I don’t know… try to eat it or whatever. I honestly wouldn’t put it past them…

With it set and the receiver blinking, armed and ready to receive the signal, Sam gives me a hand sign to tell me that she is ready to go to the next one.

Our work is slow and steady, with Sam silently pointing out the best places to set explosives and continuing to show me how it is done. Once she is confident that I have it figured out, she even lets me make a couple of them, a happy smile on her face as she gives me a thumbs-up after I plant them. Setting my very first explosive had left me all jittery and excited, like a kid that was just handed a bunch of very dangerous fireworks by their very irresponsible dad. Sure, the kid might lose some fingers, but they are going to have one hell of a story to tell their friends at school later. That sort of feeling.

…

It takes a while for us to finish setting up the first building, supposedly setting it up so the detonations will make the building fall into its neighbor. I have no idea if it will actually do that, but Sam is the expert here, not me. I’m just looking forward to watching the fireworks go off with my friends.

Once we are finished with the first building, we sneak our way out and make for the second and third target, stealthily moving around to avoid getting detected by an mages, even if it means hiding away in a room until they pass, not wanting to risk them seeing through my recently developed spell, and not wanting to risk an early assassination tipping off the Goblins to our presence.

It takes a few hours, but we manage to finish up without raising any alarms, emptying out Sam’s bag of Christmas gifts before making our way back to the others.

…

Arriving in the middle of the night, I check on my prisoners and find them peacefully sleeping on their couch under a blanket together. Nathaniel is taking his turn to catch up on sleep tonight, and is knocked out in his room, an arm hanging off the couch he claimed as he snoozes with a blanket half covering him.

I find Xander and Frank in our little command room, where we have the radios set up and waiting for the call. They both nod as they acknowledge us coming in.

“How did it go?” Frank asks.

“Great. We got everything set up for the big fireworks show, any news from home yet?”

“Not yet, but I am expecting the call to come soon. Probably by tomorrow, so we need to be ready to go.”

“Mhm, we’ll be ready.”

Xander sniffs the air and then gags a bit as we get closer. “Oh god! You two need a shower!”

“Ah, sorry. Spent a bit too long wading through Goblin nests. Sam, hold still.”

“Huh?”

Placing a hand on Sam, I set the both of us on fire for less than a second, startling the hell out of Sam, but not harming her in the slightest. In an instant, both of our bodies are completely free of any filth or odor.

“Holy shit! What the he-“ She stops mid word as she starts sniffing the air. “Huh… even cleaned out my sinuses. Damn, thanks!”

“Hahaha, alright, you two good for the night?”

“Yes ma’am, we’ll be just fine.” Frank says with a nod.

“Alright then, Sam, tonight is yours and Nathaniel’s to catch up on sleep, grab your stuff from your room and head to my office, drag in an extra couch if you have to.”

“Are you sure?”

“Mhm, that way I can keep you in my Field at all times and safe from the cold. From now on, at least during the winters, you are to stay by my side. Now go and grab your shit.”

She gives me a big happy smile, her heterochromatic eyes practically shining, and looks like she wants to say something, but she changes her mind before saying something else. “Yes Boss! Haha, I guess this means I just got promoted. Thanks! Since you’re the Boss, does that make me your secretary now?”

“Mhhmmm, sure.” I say with a shrug and a smile.

“Yes! Just try not to cheat on your wife with me now, Boss!” She jokes as she goes running out of the room with a laugh.