Chapter 98: Chapter 88 – Feast after a Hunt

"One word of advice for those who chose to venture into the goblin plains: either come with iron stomachs, leave with one, or die a very embarrassing death. While there is nothing wrong with goblin cookery itself per se, some of the animals they hunt and eat might not be as agreeable to the stomachs of outsiders." - Old warning common in Union territory near the goblin lands.

 

As ineffective as the barrage might have seemed to observers, it was nonetheless quite useful against the clearly not too bright creature. For nearly five minutes the tyrant lizard spun around as groups of hunters took turns to distract and annoy it, and even when it finally charged at one of the groups, Cal realized that it was not a particularly fast creature.

 

Despite how it loped in its gait with all four limbs, the creature moved barely faster than a goblin running all out, and was far less flexible besides. Several times it chomped down only to find empty air as its target had long run away. Its clumsy attempts with its arms also failed to grab any goblins.

 

The tyrant lizard was a beast built for power, and hunted equally large prey where it could make good use of its strength. It was ill suited to handle a horde of agile goblins that never stayed still while they nipped at it.

 

While the tyrant lizard's size meant that the arrows, bolts, and spears embedded in its flesh were barely an annoyance, it still bled from the wounds. Thinner bone plates had shown the beginnings of cracks as well, as the rain of lead projectiles slowly but surely tried its integrity.

 

As strategies go, the strategy used by the goblins for the hunt was simple. They simply aimed to tire the creature out before they went in for the kill.

 

Plans rarely survived contact with the enemy, and in this case, something had indeed gone awry after a while. After another ten minutes, the creature ignored the second group when they provoked it, and rushed straight towards the forest - something it had not done before - where the first group was at. Goblins and therians hurriedly vacated the trees they used as firing positions, and moved deeper into the forest as the tyrant lizard's snout led the way and the creature crashed into the forest.

 

Trees broke and splintered in its wake, and the creature let out a screech of frustration as it failed to grab anyone. Its hands grabbed at fallen trees and threw them at the other two groups, which had barraged it with their all during this time. The groups scattered from the unexpected counter bombardement, but they still fired shots as they ran. Cal saw one of the dwarven mercenaries swallowed by a tree's canopy as it crashed down, but he walked out none the worse from the experience, other than how he spat some leaves.

 

Since the creature had difficulty moving between the trees due to its size, some brave hunters took the chance to approach and stab it with spears, before they backed away again. Cal joined one such group and struck a blow with her halberd to the back of the creature's ankle, which elicited a screech from it.

 

The tyrant lizard nearly fell as one of its legs suddenly gave way beneath its weight, and only stopped its fall when it caught itself with both its hands. It had only turned its head to look when more goblins had stabbed it with their spears from the other side.

 

Cal joined in from time to time, her blows aimed at the weaker joints, mostly the backs of the creature's ankles. Before too long neither of the creature's feet were functional, and it rested on its haunches as it tried to strike back with its arms. The mercenaries kept their distance and constantly pelted the creature with projectiles, and the goblins took less risks now that the creature was immobilized.

 

They simply kept up the harassment while they waited for the creature to weaken and tire itself out.

 

It took three more hours of harassment before the creature petered out in the end, and collapsed from exhaustion. A few hunters were injured, but none died throughout the hunt. It was by no means a hunt to boast tales about, but definitely an efficient one to Cal.

 

They finished the creature with spears jabbed into its thick neck, where many attempts were repeated until they found a large artery. They just waited until the creature bled to death at that point.

 

Cal offered to carry the massive carcass in her storage for the way back, an offer the old goblin hunter accepted happily since it saved them the trouble. Otherwise they would have spent more time, as the carcass needed to be butchered on the spot into pieces small enough to fit inside the few larger storage artifacts they had.

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As a bonus Cal also stored the thunder lizard's carcass since the goblins mentioned that it was a fresh kill, and thus perfectly edible still.

 

The trek back to the goblin settlement was uneventful. Cal spent the time for the journey back as she chatted with either Fheeri, even as she busied herself and applied some ointments on bruises her adopted father acquired when he fell from a tree, or with the elven mercenaries.

She deposited the two massive carcasses on a clearing outside the settlement, since they were far too large to be worked in the settlement itself. The goblins cheered and welcomed the hunters back with food and alcohol, or in a more intimate way. Most of the hunting party went with goblin and therians of both genders into huts as others swarmed out and busied themselves with the massive carcasses.

 

Cal tuned out the moans and groans she could still hear from the settlement - sometimes having a sharp sense of hearing wasn't all good - and focused more on the butchery instead. Much like the orcs did, the goblins made use of practically every part of the massive carcasses.

 

The work proceeded much faster than with the orcs, since this time they were not on the move, and there were more people who busied themselves with the butchery. Some of the hunters also came back and helped with the work after an hour or so, along with some of the ones who they had spent the past hour with.

 

Predictably enough, the mercenaries mostly still enjoyed themselves.

 

Cal only saw most of the mercenaries again - many of them with some goblin ladies coiled around their arms - by dinner time. Large slabs of choicest meats from the tyrant lizard grilled atop hot rocks, and the smell of the spices they rubbed it with made her salivate as fat oozed out of the meat and brought the aroma to new heights.

 

Slabs of rare roasted meat were served atop carved wooden plates, with the first portion served to those who went on the hunt. Cal was included in that group, and she happily sliced the meat with the given knife, pierced a slice, and ate it.

 

Tyrant lizard meat had a strong, gamey taste, not unusual for a carnivore. The meat was also beyond tender in texture, with veins of sweet fat heavily distributed throughout its flesh. The spices used by the goblins cut through the richness nicely and kept it from being overwhelming, while slices of spicy, marinated ginger and a paste of sharp flavored horseradish helped draw out more of the unctuous meat's savoriness.

 

It was a meal Cal enjoyed thoroughly, and like many others she went for seconds, the meat chased down with local moonshine the goblin made out of foraged berries. It tasted similar to the orcish arrack, but stronger yet sweeter at the same time.

 

After she had her meal though, she noticed a very slight discomfort in her full stomach, which passed without issue before long. She had heard rumors that some goblin food tended to be incompatible to foreign stomachs, so she wondered if tyrant lizard meat was such an example. She was fine, but she was a half elf. Elves were known to eat most anything like goblins and therians, even more so when their cannibalistic roots were considered.

 

Not too surprisingly, she guessed correctly, and that night, the dwarven mercenary team and half of the mixed one had a rather unforgettable night spent mostly crouched over the latrine pits.

 

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