CHAPTER 10: CALL OF THE BONEFLAME – PART III
December 14, 2:28 PM – Eldora, Lunarest Outskirts (Night in game)
"Shiv never won his wars in open daylight. He won them in the breath after his enemies laughed, when the smoke looked harmless and the bones under their boots were already listening."
Elder Grak of Thrash Clan
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The hide flap snapped open on his first step.
Cold night air slammed into him with the full stink of war. Smoke and iron and sweat. Wet leather. The sour tang of goblin bodies packed too close together. Under it all, something new clung to Rin's skin, a faint chill like bone dust and old ash that had not been there before Shiv.
He stepped out into a living battlefield.
The Thrash war camp sprawled down the slope like a wound. Rows of hide tents and rough timber lean-tos clung to the hillside around a central bonfire tall enough to lick the low clouds. Damp mist coiled between the tents, glinting green-orange where the flames caught it. A few shelters near the outer edge still smoldered where earlier spells had punched through, canvas sagging and blackened, embers pulsing in the seams.
Goblins moved everywhere.
Archers scrambled up crude scaffolds and watch ledges along the south ridge. Runners sprinted between tents with bundles of javelins or sloshing waterskins. Old goblins rolled heavy cauldrons toward the palisade, iron rims squealing over packed dirt.
The main bonfire was no longer just a party pit. It was a command post.
Heat washed over Rin's face as he descended the slight rise from his tent. The fire painted the world in green-orange and bone white. For a heartbeat he just watched it, chest rising and falling, feeling how the relic against his sternum seemed to pulse in time with the flame.
A faint blue edge tugged at the corner of his vision.
[STREAM: OFFLINE]
[START BROADCAST: ON]
Rin's hand twitched.
"World quest, first real fight in here, live on stream," he thought. "I either make it or everything I gambled for goes up in smoke."
He flicked his fingers and confirmed the stream.
[STREAM: LIVE]
[USERNAME: KAISEKI]
[TITLE: WORLD QUEST GRIND]
[VIEWERS: 1… 4… 9…]
Chat blinked awake at the edge of his sight.
[LIVE CHAT]
[NetBreak]: is this actually Kaiseki??
[LuneVODs]: tag matches, check top left
[TheoryCrafter]: world quest icon as well it can't be fake
A new icon pulsed below his HP bar.
[WORLD QUEST: CALL OF THE BONES – ACTIVE]
Rin smirked, nerves buzzing under his skin as he noticed that people locked onto his stream instantly.
"Of course they did," Rin thought. "Title is bait, and HGO hard-links my account to my stream. Anyone can confirm it's really me."
He dove into settings with a practiced flick, the blue interface shimmering against the dark as goblins rushed past him.
[Minimap – HIDDEN]
[Location Data – HIDDEN]
[Party List – HIDDEN FOR VIEWERS]
The notifications shrank to a thin border. The system blurred the HUD back into the world, leaving the bonfire's roar and the ring of metal to dominate his senses again.
Goblins noticed him as he moved.
A pair of spear carriers jogging past nearly clipped him before one skidded sideways, eyes going wide. The goblin's gaze snapped first to the necklace, then to Rin's face, taking in the shadowed hat, the longer limbs, the sharper V of his jaw and the paler tint to his skin.
"…that the stray from the cages?" the goblin hissed in low Goblin-speak.
"He was greener," his friend murmured. "Shorter too. And he did not wear Shiv's relic like that."
Rin caught other scraps as he walked.
"What happened to him…"
"Was he always wearing that…"
"He does not look like clan-goblin anymore…"
A younger goblin started to angle closer, curiosity winning, until an older shield bearer cracked him in the back of the head with the rim of his buckler.
"Eyes front," the elder snapped. "You see that relic? That is Shiv's favor. If you want to keep your teeth, you show some respect and stay out of his path."
The younger goblins straightened fast.
Nobody stopped Rin. Nobody bumped him. Where a normal goblin might have been shoved aside, the flow of bodies bent around him, leaving a narrow pocket of space, as if the camp itself had decided he was not to be jostled.
"Yeah," Rin thought. "Definitely not the same green idiot you dragged in here."
The relic felt heavier around his neck. For the first time, he wondered if Shiv had just made his journey as a goblin a little easier… or a lot more dangerous.
Rin moved toward the bonfire and the war tent.
Wyx Thrash stood on one of the larger camp stones at the fire's edge. White hair spilled in thick waves down her back, bound at intervals with metal rings that chimed when she turned her head. A short fur-lined coat sat open over her armor, plates strapped on in a hurry, one pauldron still loose. The firelight caught the curve of her jaw and the sharp points of her teeth when she spoke.
"Archers, ridgeline, watch your arcs," Wyx called, her voice cutting through the camp noise like a whip crack. "You see movement beyond the traps, you call it and shoot together. No lone heroes."
A cluster of bow goblins sprinted toward the crude towers overlooking the southern dip of the hill.
"Shield line, keep the gaps closed," Wyx went on. "If they come again tonight, they will come for the same weak points. I also want water buckets by every tent and sand ready for any stray fire. We are not burning because some human gets excited."
The goblins around the blaze answered with a rough growl. There was fear in it, but there was pride too.
Rin skirted the outer heat of the bonfire, sweat beading at his temple even as the cold night gnawed at his fingers. He passed a pair of goblin kids being hustled deeper into the tents, blankets pulled tight around their shoulders. An elder stacked spare javelins near the central path, hands gnarled and sure.
"Incredible," Rin thought. "Every smell, every ember, full contact. Watching VODs never touched this. This is my first time inside a world like this."
The pressure in the air changed before he saw Sevish.
It felt like walking into heavier gravity. Goblins within a few paces moved tighter, shoulders squared, backs straighter, voices dropping without anyone telling them to.
Sevish stood near the central war tent, feet planted in the trampled earth. His massive bone greatsword rested point down in front of him, both hands on the hilt, like he was nailing the camp to the ground by will. Scars traced pale paths across his dark green skin. Bone beads and teeth hung from thick braids, clacking softly when the wind shifted. His eyes were closed, but Rin could feel him, an awareness laid over the camp like a net, tugging at every shout and footstep.
No one crossed the invisible line around Sevish unless they had a reason.
Rin stepped across it.
The soft clink of his ankle chains against bone shin guards cut through the nearby noise. Sevish's eyes opened.
For a heartbeat, the chieftain simply watched him. Sevish's gaze tracked from Rin's elongated fingers to the sharper angles of his face, then down to the relic resting against his chest. Sevish's pupils narrowed, then widened, calculating.
"You look different," Sevish said. His voice was low and deep. "Taller. Paler. You were smaller in size when we first met."
Rin's mouth was dry. His throat felt like he had swallowed sand.
"Keep it simple," he thought. "In their words, not yours."
He drew a slow breath.
"When I was meditating, I met someone," Rin said. "The fire went quiet and the dark felt heavier. I saw a goblin there. Older than anyone I have seen. He did not give his name. He only watched me through the darkness."
Rin lifted a hand, fingers brushing the relic.
"When I woke up, I looked like this," he finished. "And this was on my chest."
The lie slid out smoother than he expected. It was close enough to the truth that his tongue did not trip on it.
Sevish's jaw worked once, like he was grinding that answer between his teeth.
"You saw the old war-chief in the dark," Sevish said. "And he left his mark on you."
He did not sound surprised. He sounded like someone who had been waiting his whole life for that sentence and still did not quite believe it had finally been spoken.
Wyx's head snapped toward them.
She hopped down from the stone, boots crunching on the dirt, metal rings in her hair chiming. Wyx's eyes ran over Rin in a slow, assessing line, taking in the hat, the coat, the way the shadows seemed to cling a little too tightly around him.
"You were nothing when we first met," Wyx said. "Now you walk out of that tent looking like a story I was told not to chase when I was a whelp."
Her lips curled, somewhere between a smirk and a test.
"If that spirit chose to hang a relic on you, the clan will treat you as chosen," Wyx said. "That does not mean I will let you walk around doing as you want. There are rules. You do not waste our time."
Rin felt a grin tug at the corner of his mouth despite the tension.
"I would rather not waste it either," Rin said. "Feels like the kind of gift you only get once."
A horn at the south fence sounded. Not the panicked blare of an active attack, but a short, clipped call that meant positions ready, eyes out.
Wyx's jaw tightened. She turned slightly toward the darker slope beyond the palisade, eyes narrowing.
"They have not pushed again," Wyx said. "They test us, then sit back down there like they own the hill."
Rin followed her gaze.
Down the slope, beyond the crude spike fence and a line of ditch traps, the land dropped into a shallow hollow. Faint orange light flickered where there should have been only river fog, the glow of a small fire half hidden by canvas and scrub. When he focused, the sound of distant human voices carried on the wind. Laughter. The clink of metal cups. A bit of off-key singing under the damp night.
"Players," Rin thought. "Camping after a farm. Of course."
Sevish finally dragged his eyes fully away from the relic.
"Fifteen of mine lie dead because of that little fire," Sevish said. There was no tremor in his voice, just steady anger that felt old and sharp.
Rin's throat tightened.
"When did they stop attacking?" Rin asked.
Wyx glanced at the sky, then at the shadow of the war tent, reflex measuring time by habit.
"Ten minutes ago," Wyx said. "Maybe a little more. They hit twice since dusk. Each wave heavier than the last. Then they backed off and built themselves that little nest. Fire, food, noise. They think we will sit here and wait while their bellies and veins refill."
Rin's brain snapped into the old rhythm.
"Pot delay is fifteen minutes if you are playing safe," he thought. "Stamina food needs cooking, then time to settle. Mana does not snap back just because you chugged blue juice. They are not coming again in five. They are coming again when everything is full green and blue, or when they are bored enough to grief."
A familiar blue box hovered near the top of his sight.
[WORLD QUEST: CALL OF THE BONES]
Time Remaining: 3:57:22
"Three hours," Rin thought. "Not enough to walk to Lunaris, break into their archives, and live. I need more time."
Rin looked back at Sevish.
"You said there was more to this than that campfire," Rin asked, slightly changing the subject as he watched the war-chief's face. "The archives under Lunaris. The place you are trying to reach."
Sevish's gaze sharpened. The camp noise seemed to pull back a little under the weight of it.
Sevish spat once into the dirt.
"My line has chased that hall since before Lunaris had its third wall," Sevish said. "Old chiefs left words, scraps of maps, warnings. They said Shiv's secrets were locked there and that Thrash would carry them home. I do not know what waits under those stones. I only know my dead demand we find it."
He jerked his chin toward the hollow where the human campfire burned.
"But I will not pull my clan toward Lunaris while enemies in clean steel make sport of our rally camp," Sevish said. "I am war chief, not story teller. We deal with the hand on our throat first."
The war tent loomed just behind him, its hide walls snapping softly in the misty wind.
"Inside," Wyx said. "All of you."
She did not wait to see if Rin obeyed. Wyx turned and strode toward the war tent's entrance. Sevish followed, huge sword scraping a furrow when he lifted it, and Rin fell in behind them as the goblins around the bonfire parted.
The air inside the war tent was thicker and warmer. Smoke from a central brazier bled upward through a cut in the roof. Bone fetishes and iron hooks dangled from the support poles, clacking softly when the canvas shifted. A wide, battered table dominated the center, its surface carved and scratched with rough maps. Bone and stone markers marked positions along the hill and the road. Waxed leather scraps with Lunaris sigils were pinned along one side.
Outside, the horns and shouts dulled to a muffled rumble. Inside, the only sounds were the crackle of coals, the drip of condensed moisture down one pole, and the shuffle of goblin guards outside the flap.
Sevish planted his sword beside the war table and rested one hand on the hilt.
The air around Rin shimmered.
[WORLD QUEST UPDATED]
Sub Objective: Defend Thrash, eliminate the intruders preying on the war camp.
Rin sucked in a quiet breath.
"There it is," Rin thought. "More time. Deal with the wolves at the door, then knock on the city."
He let the flap fall and turned back to Sevish.
"Then let us hunt," Rin said. "Let me take the first swing at the ones who think our clan is weak."
Wyx cocked an eyebrow.
"Our clan, huh?" Wyx asked. There was challenge in it, but also real interest. "Who invited you to join? And what is your plan?"
Rin tapped the relic against his chest, feeling its warmth.
"I have a plan," Rin said, "but it requires a bit of gas and a small squad that can keep their heads."
He moved to the war table, then dropped to a crouch, using one of the pens on the war table to scratch into the packed map.
Lines took shape under Rin's hand. The slope. The fence. The ditch traps. The hollow where the human fire burned. A ring along the outside.
A soft chime drifted across his vision.
[TITLE ACQUIRED: TACTICAL CARTOGRAPHER Lv. 1]
Minor bonus to field schematics and ambush planning.
Rin snorted softly.
"Cute timing," he thought.
Sevish's eyes narrowed slightly.
"You want my goblins," Sevish said. "If I lend you people, I need to know more than 'trust me'."
Rin nodded once. Fair.
"I am not going to lay every detail out loud," Rin said. "Some plans only work when only one head carries them. But this much I can say."
He pointed at the crude circle around the human camp.
"They are resting," Rin said. "We need to strike before they have time to recover."
Rin dragged his fingertip along the edge of the circle.
"We push from the edges first," Rin said. "The plan is a very easy gas and bomb tactic. I will have the quickest of our unit snuff out their fire. Yes, this will alert them, or they may think the wind did, which will naturally force them out of their tent. But of course we do not wait for them to play that game. We gas the east and west side of their tents so it should seep in, to where they not only come out confused but give us the best shot. From there it is history. Everyone can gas during the fading phase, but when they are outdoors I will try something that should put an end to all of this. Then we can discuss what is next."
He let the plan sit for a moment, the rough ring tying the hill to the plan.
Outside, the wind hissed against the tent. The bonfire crackled. Somewhere in the camp a goblin barked a laugh that did not reach this space.
On the edge of his vision, chat flickered again.
[LIVE CHAT]
[ClippedIt]: this sounds like a setup for a team wipe lol
[DeepDiveAI]: is anyone else watching how the NPCs answer him
[ArcLine]: Does anyone know where they're located at?
Sevish grunted. It might have been approval.
"Goblins fight best shoulder to shoulder," Sevish said. "Remember this when going down there."
Rin flicked his focus to a different corner of his sight.
[GOBLIN RALLY – Unlocked]
Effect (Preview): Increases goblin offensive and defensive capabilities while within 30 meters of an allied goblin. Strength scales with number of goblins in range.
He closed the window.
"We fight strongest when we know others are close," Rin said. "It does not mean we all have to stand in the same puddle. As long as we coordinate distance with each other."
Rin tapped the scratched circle.
The invisible air around them rippled.
[THRASH CLAN, Tactical Understanding +1]
Rin stared for half a second, then huffed a quiet laugh.
"So they can also learn," he thought.
Wyx's mouth curved.
"You are either going to strike fear into their hearts," Wyx said, "or you are going to get yourself killed in a way that is at least entertaining."
Sevish lifted his chin toward the tent's entrance.
"Grukk. Tikka. Muzzle. Drosh," Sevish called.
A moment later, the flap stirred and four goblins stepped inside, the sounds of the camp swelling and then muffling again as it fell closed behind them.
Grukk was thick through the shoulders and neck, leather straps digging into his skin. His armor looked like it had been thrown on in a hurry and never fully taken off. His face settled into a permanent grimace, as if the whole world smelled faintly rotten.
Tikka was smaller and wiry, hair knotted into a dozen little spikes, eyes too bright for the hour. She bounced on the balls of her feet even as she stopped, fingers twitching like she was itching to toss a spark at anything flammable.
Muzzle's mouth carried an old burn scar that curled the corners of his lips, leaving them puckered and slightly twisted. Where most goblins darted and jittered, his movements were steady and controlled. A simple leather mask rested on his brow, the edges darkened from past close calls.
Drosh towered over the other three by half a head, a red-skinned hobgoblin with a thick mane of dark hair braided back from his face. Ember orange tattoos traced sharp angles across his cheeks and brow, echoing the patterns burned into his forearms. His armor was heavier, layered leather reinforced with bone plates, kept in good repair despite scorch marks. A golden clan tag flickered above him.
[DROSH – HOBGOBLIN LIEUTENANT – THRASH CLAN]
Drosh's eyes swept Rin once, cool and weighing, then flicked to the war table, the map, and the south slope beyond the tent wall, already charting paths in the dark.
They stopped in a line before Sevish and Wyx, weapons across their chests.
"This one wears Shiv's relic and carries a plan that needs gas," Sevish said, jerking his chin toward Rin. "Grukk. Tikka. Muzzle. You have the lungs and tricks for it. Drosh, you keep them walking back alive. Show him why you the kingdom of lunarest fears thrash." Sevish said
Rin watched all four of them with a tactician's eye. His grin sharpened.
"Perfect."
Wyx folded her arms, watching Rin over the edge of her fur collar.
"And you?" Wyx asked. There was less mockery now, more curiosity. "Where do you stand while they are choking people?"
Rin rolled his shoulders. The Shaman's Veil hum under his skin felt like static and adrenaline mixing in his veins.
"If I told you everything," Rin said, letting a slow grin spread as he looked up at her, "it would not be as fun."
He winked at Wyx and pushed himself to his feet, dusting dirt from his hands.
For a heartbeat, the tent held still.
Grukk barked out a surprised laugh, shoulders shaking once before he smothered it.
Tikka's eyes lit up, her grin going sharp. "I like him," she muttered.
Muzzle exhaled slowly through his nose, the ghost of a smile pulling at his scarred mouth.
Drosh's expression did not move much, but his stance loosened by a hair. His gaze flicked from the relic to the map again, respect settling in behind his eyes.
Wyx snorted, but her smile had more heat in it now.
"Careful," Wyx said. "Charm will not help if you are dead."
Sevish's eyes glinted.
"If you pull this off," Sevish said, "when you walk toward Lunaris and its white walls, Thrash will not hide in your shadow. We will walk beside you. Not as fodder. As war kin."
The necklace warmed against Rin's chest. For a heartbeat he heard Shiv's laugh again, low and pleased, like kindling catching.
On the edge of his vision, chat ticked upward.
[VIEWERS: 23… 31… 42]
[LIVE CHAT]
[ClipFiend]: this is insane, they are literally planning with him
[MetaWatch]: NPC just promised to march on a capital, what timeline is this!!
[AriaSky]: interesting…
Rin swallowed, feeling the nerves spike under the buzz.
"Eyes up," Rin told himself. "Mom in the hospital. Winter Bash coming. Every piece matters."
He turned to his new squad.
"Grukk, Tikka, Muzzle, Drosh," Rin said. "We are going to pay our neighbors a visit. Stay low, stay quiet and save your gas until I call for it. When their fire goes dark, that is your cue."
Grukk whooped, already bouncing on his toes as the tent flap stirred behind them.
Tikka's grin went sharp. "Been a while since I cooked something that screams," she said.
Muzzle simply nodded, calm and focused, hand adjusting the mask on his brow.
Drosh stepped in closer, one hand resting on the hilt of his sword.
"I will keep them pointed at the right targets," Drosh said. His voice was deep and even. "And I will make sure your plan reaches the camp."
Rin snorted
He jerked his chin toward the exit.
"Move," Rin said.
The four goblins fell in around him, two ahead, two behind, as they slipped back out into the night. The bonfire's roar hit them first, then the cold mist, then the layered noise of a camp snapping into a new formation. They ducked between tents, shadows cutting across their faces, the smell of smoke and wet canvas thick in the air.
Down the hill, human laughter floated up from the hollow, bright and careless.
They had no idea the ground under their boots was already listening.
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END OF CHAPTER 10
Chapter 11: The Circle in the Mist
By the time they see the flames it will be to late.