Missing Persons Search Operation (5)
Without a second thought I plunged into the dark mouth of the cave. The entrance, thick with damp earth and a foul, nauseating stench, hit me hard even as a dog.
Once inside I couldn't see an inch ahead. Absolute silence pressed in from every side, and terror came with it.
I have to find people in here?
The urge to turn back flickered through my mind. The direction of the breeze told me exactly where the entrance still lay. That, too, was a dog's sense, not a human's.
I was so tense I nearly crushed the seed between my teeth. The ash-tree seed was harder on the outside than I'd expected, but soft and jelly-like inside.
I needed to finish this as fast as possible.
—Sniff sniff…
I had to lock onto a human scent. It wouldn't come. Instead the goblins' distinctive reek—sour, filthy, overwhelming—threatened to shut my nose down completely.
I crept forward, every ounce of focus poured into smelling.
If someone had been dragged in here, how would it have happened? They would have been hauled along the ground, body scraping the dirt the whole way. I jammed my nose into the earthen floor and sniffed like a madman until, little by little, it came through.
The scent of a human woman's urine.
She must have wet herself in pure terror. And layered under it was the same woman's scent I'd caught earlier on the scrap of cloth.
—Pad. Pad. Pad.
Every footfall boomed through the hollow dark and made my nerves worse, but I kept going.
I couldn't lose Angela.
A genius dog never lets his master down.
—…..Kerrk.
"?!"
Something sounded far ahead. Not human. Definitely goblin. Could they see in this blackness?
That made no sense. Even with dog eyes I was nearly blind. I refused to believe goblins could see any better.
They wouldn't be able to see me either. Their sense of smell, though—other senses—I had no idea.
All of it was guesswork. In the end I just had to find the people and get the hell out.
I kept tracking the scent, snuffling forward for what felt like forever. Once I slammed my forehead into a wall, but I pressed on without a sound.
This sense was on a completely different level from anything human. Even in total dark I could map the path with smell and the faintest scraps of hearing. Confidence settled in. A sound-map formed inside my head, and a scent-trail painted itself across it.
Even I was impressed. So this was what it meant to be a dog?
—Kerrk!
—Flinch.
Close. Way too close.
Right in front of my nose? Distance was getting fuzzy. A goblin was nearby—maybe ten meters out…
I'd been told they were nocturnal and would be sleeping. Apparently not. How many were awake and moving? Hell, how many goblins were even in this cave?
Imagination slid into unease, and unease flipped straight into fear…
I kept well clear of the nearest goblin, feeling my way along the wall. After more walking, a red light flickered far ahead.
…And that was exactly where the scent was coming from.
I moved closer, slow and careful. The goblin stench thickened with every step until my stomach heaved, but I swallowed it down and kept going.
The red light was a torch fixed to the wall. I was surprised mere goblins had the brains to use fire, yet what waited beyond the torchlight hit harder still.
On a flat stretch of cave floor lay five people… no, ten… no. More. Far more, all sprawled out.
The village chief had said four. What the hell was this?
I circled them carefully. They were alive—chests rising and falling—but still as sleep. The odd part: every single one was a woman, and every single one was naked.
In the center of the cluster rose a massive purple mushroom nearly three meters tall. Beneath it, lit by the torch, lay a human corpse with the mushroom's roots sunk deep into the flesh.
Each time the corpse exhaled, spore-like dust puffed from its mouth and drifted through the light like floating ash.
Odorless. Completely scentless. Yet that mushroom had to be what was keeping them under. Their chests still swelled and fell, so they were definitely alive…
Thirty minutes since I'd entered the cave—fast or slow depending on how you looked at it—but at least I'd found the people.
Now all I had to do was crush the seed…
—Kerrrk!!
"…..!"
The sound exploded right behind me. I startled so hard the seed dropped from my mouth and rolled away into the dark. I couldn't see where it went.
Damn it…!
Hide first. I wriggled into the black hair of the nearest woman and burrowed deep.
—Pad. Pad. Pad.
Dozens of footsteps at least. Through the faint gaps in her hair I scanned everything. Moments later a whole swarm of goblins poured in.
Fuck. There were way too many. It made no sense. Countless goblins dumped more limp humans onto the floor and started shouting.
I couldn't understand a word, but joy poured off every movement. Some stomped and danced. Others rubbed their stiff cocks against the women's pussies, groping and harassing.
Yet the classic fantasy cliché never happened. No rape. No full assault. They were simply thrilled about the catch.
Why? Hell if I know. I don't even understand other dogs, so how am I supposed to read a monster's skull?
They left the captives and filed out again, leaving only two goblins to patrol among the sleeping bodies. I watched them while my mind screamed about the ash-tree seed I'd dropped.
Damn it. Where the hell did it roll?
—Sniff sniff…
Even smelling turned up nothing… Shit. Those mushroom spores?
—Kerrk?
One goblin bent down and picked something up.
In its small green hand sat the exact seed I needed. It showed the prize to its buddy, held it high like a trophy, shook it proudly, then slipped it into a pocket.
Ah.
Fuck. I'm screwed.
The seed-thief and its partner headed out.
A dog's life is supposed to be the good life, my ass. Shit. Ahh.
I cursed every curse I knew inside my head. I had to chase that bastard.
I crawled after them on pure stealth, following the scent in the footprints and the soft pad of their steps. Away from the torch the dark swallowed everything, but there was no choice.
After a long stretch of walking the footprints stopped. —Creak. Friction, then again. Ahead, something blocked the passage.
Damn. A door? I reared up on my hind legs and stretched, but whatever looked like a handle stayed out of reach. Worse, the door opened by pulling, not pushing.
What now? Hyper-intelligent genius dog Tommy! Snap out of it! There's a solution somewhere!
Wait until the bastard comes back out?
I paced in front of the door.
—Grab.
"Kyiing?!"
Something seized the scruff of my neck!
Fuck—the grip was nothing like Angela's or any human's. Rough, brutal hands lifted me and spun me around.
—Click… hiss…
Sparks flew, a torch flared to life, and the world lit up.
A goblin glared at me, torch in one hand. Bright yellow eyes. Long ears, long nose, warty green skin reeking of pure filth.
…I'm fucked.
It held me up and turned me this way and that, inspecting every inch. Frozen solid with terror, I didn't move a muscle.
—Kerrk. Kerrk… Krrrk…
Low crooning sounds, then it set me down again and—
—Stroke. Stroke.
Started petting my head.
"…..?"
The goblin was stroking my head and body! Clumsy, rough hands, exactly like a little kid mauling a puppy.
I trembled hard. The goblin laughed—kurrrk—delighted, then grabbed my scruff again and marched off.
We passed more goblins. They clapped their hands together at the sight of me, or reached out to ruffle my fur, showing rough affection in their own grotesque way.
What the actual fuck is this.
The goblin carried me to a small iron-barred opening, swung the door wide, and shoved me inside. Then it dropped the latch.
Hmm.
Screwed. Properly, thoroughly screwed.
I'm totally fucked. Angela, my dear master. I'm sorry. I got cocky for no reason. Sob sob… I miss you.
In the pitch-black dark I cried. Why the hell did I make such a stupid choice? I should have left it to the slaughter-weapon elf girl, or clung to Uncle Gert's pant leg and let him go first.
Fuck. A worthless suckling puppy who didn't know his place got full of himself and earned this miserable fate…
Damp air soaked my fur. My nose was already pickled in the stench; I couldn't smell a thing anymore.
I hung on the bars and stretched, but the latch stayed far out of reach.
….Fuck.
Angela's face rose in my mind. I missed her. Wanted to smell her. Hear her. Meet her again.
I don't want to be here. I want to be at Angela's side.
Angela… Angela…!
—Grrrrrrrr…
"?!"
Just as I tried to beat the fear with thoughts of her, a beast's growl rolled out of the dark behind me. Low. Completely unfriendly. I whipped my head around and still saw nothing.
Somewhere deeper in this black space… a monster waited.
These goblin bastards. They threw me in as free food. That's why they were so happy.
It was a fulfilling dog life, I guess.
I squeezed my eyes shut and curled into a ball. Just make it one hit. Don't let it hurt.
….
……..Lick.
Something wet and warm dragged across my body. A monster's tongue, savoring the meal before the swallow… The breath alone nearly choked me.
"Ky… kyiing…"
Fear broke free as a whimper.
—Kyiing. Kyiing.
—Kyiiing…
Smaller cries answered—pups, maybe?
…Huh?
This felt weirdly familiar.
"Sniff sniff sniff."
The tongue pulled away. The creature started smelling me instead. —Thud. Thud. More footsteps closed in.
—Sniff sniff sniff.
—Sniff sniff sniff.
—Sniff sniff sniff.
Something about the behavior was so familiar I tried smelling back.
This scent… I know this. That musky, earthy-pit smell from before… Ah. I remember.
…Why the hell are you guys here?
The "monsters" were none other than my own brothers and sisters.