Chapter 74: Chapter 68 – Denial

A foot pressed against the side of Charlie. Flickering his eyes open, he looked up. His hair was fuzzy and tangled from being held in the tail of Ourupadia all night.  Circles of sleep hung under his eyes as he stared past the women to see that the sun had only just caressed the horizon.

“Get up, we have plans for today,” Cluupyte said. Her body was already covered in war paint, and she had already cleaned the goblin blood from the feathers in her headdress.  

Putting out a hand, she offered him his shirt. Staring at her, he then looked to his shirt, then to his topless form.

“I have a few questions about what you did to me in my sleep,” Charlie said sternly as he glared at the lead warrior. Blushing she threw his shirt onto his lap.

“You wouldn’t believe me.” she said as she looked back to the funeral pyre, “We have just finished all funeral practices, and I plan to spend today teaching you a little more about survival,” she said as she waited for him to dress and stand. “We’ll have a bath in the lake, then something to eat, before we really get started,”

With her few words, she walked to the edge of the lake. Staring after her, he then looked back to the funeral pyre. Next to it lay mounds of dead goblins, and next to them live goblins bound to trees. What purpose had she used his shirt for? Sighing and muttering a few words under his breath, Charlie got to his feet.

Walking over to Cluupyte, he saw she was busy cutting up large pieces of goblin bone. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw he had approached.

“Goblin Lord bone is incredibly strong. By the end of today, I am going to have you make a knife from it,” Charlie raised an eye brown. Noticing this, she showed her white stone knife to him. “Do you know how these knives are made?” she said.

“No?” Charlie said, moving not far from her to the lake. Sitting down, he dipped his hair into the water. Looking back to her, he gave a small smile, “Don’t worry, I’m listening, but I also want to wash so that we can get to work quicker.”

Nodding, she carried on.

“But as I was saying, this knife is a very special thing. They are incredibly rare as they are made of dragon bone,” Charlie turned and stared at Cluupyte.

“But the majority of the dragons were killed off? How have you gotten your hands on dragon bone, let alone dragon bone that is strong enough to cut through metal?” Charlie said, based off the fact the Chiefess’s knife looked incredibly similar, and what he had seen some natives doing with those knives before.

There were several times he saw them cutting up the metal body armour of mercenaries that they had brought. They then used this metal to create somewhat cheap and effective arrow and spear heads. Staring at the knife, he watched as she cut off large twelve-inch pieces of bone as if it were as delicate as butter.

“When the Chiefess’s mother was a dragon slayer, she had slaughtered a large dragon over by the mountains that separate us and the fourth region. She had brought the bone back to the tribe, where we had then forged knives, spears and arrow heads from the material.” Picking up a bit of the Goblin Lord bone, she offered it out to Charlie.

“We no longer have any of the dragon bone as it has all been used and created into weapons, and even though goblin bone is no where near as strong, it is still stronger then regular metal. But this only goes for the bones in Goblin Lords,” Taking off his shirt, Charlie began to use the water to scrub his arms.

“Just as a warning, I am horrible at making things,” Charlie said, looking to the chunk of goblin lord bone. The dusty white bone looked to be a rib of the goblin lord.

“How am I going to make a knife out of that?” Charlie muttered before returning to cleaning himself.

Glaring over his shoulder to make sure no one was watching; he began to slip off his trousers and pants. The second his head turned away, all huntresses and warriors turned to stare at his nudity. Sighs and moans of annoyance went up from the group as Ourupadia stepped in front of Charlie, blocking their perverted view of him.  

Glancing back, she saw he was none the wiser as he continued to clean himself. Biting her bottom lip, she looked away to avoid temptation of looking at him. Washed and dressed, Charlie wiped the last of sleep from his eyes as he walked over to Cluupyte.

“So, what we are doing? I thought we were doing something with the body of the Goblin Lord?” he said, staring down at the dissected body of one of the small goblins. Glancing around, Charlie began to scan the area.

“I only took one rib from the Goblin Lord. The rest has been sent back to the Chiefess to hopefully calm her about you staying out with us for longer,” Charlie only nodded in response. She was right, staying out for longer would probably incredibly anger the Chiefess.

“So then, lets get started,” Cluupyte said, gesturing for him to sit by her side.

Sitting by her side, Charlie stared down at the goblin body. Its guts had lay in a pile on the ground, with a pile of flowers next to it to mask the vile scent of blood.

“We’ll start in this order,” Cluupyte said, flowing her hand in a clockwise position. Looking over what she had displaced, he took note of the skin, skull and bones of the goblin.

“Starting with the guts, we can create these into a stew,” she said, taking the guts and placing them into a wooden bowl. Seemingly, Charlie was showing the disgust on his face as she quickly placed the bowl of gore to one side before moving onto the easier parts of the lesson.

Taking the skull of the goblin, she placed it before him.

“Take my knife,” she said, handing him the blade. Turning the skull onto its side, she took his hand and guided his blade. Keeping his eyes focused onto the skull, he allowed her to guide him as she began to make a cutting motion along curtail deformities in the skull and bottom jaw.

“Cut of these, it makes it easier to drink from the skull,” His hands shook slightly as he stared down at the skull.

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“To be honest, I don’t think I will be drinking from the many skulls,” Charlie said, hoping she would get the message to move on.

“I understand your dislike of this, but skull bowls are seen as a symbol of power in our tribe. It means you were able to beat an enemy and make them into your prize, and as you know this means more to us as warriors as these enemies will join us as allies in the afterlife,” Seeing the religious significance in her argument, Charlie decided to swallow his pride and allow her to pass on her twisted knowledge to him.

“Remember, make the bowl round,” with her final instructions, she continued to guide his hands.

Even if he didn’t think that he would need something like this as a skill, it may tighten his diplomatic relationships with her. In turn this could mean she would be more likely to be on his side in the future if there were any tribal disputes. Small gestures could go a long way. For about twenty or so minutes, they hacked and slashed at the skull, turning it slowly into a bowl. An almost amusing seriousness plastered across Charlie’s face as he focused on every edge until he got the shape he desired.

Slowly, Cluupyte began to loosen her grip on him until he worked on his own. Since he was so focused on his task, he didn’t flinch as she fully let go and allowed him to work. The making the bowl itself wasn’t important, and Cluupyte was fully aware of this as she began to ready the Goblin Lord bone for the next task.

The carving of the bowl was simply her way of getting him used to using a knife. It was a simple task, but she knew his fear of wanting to offend an important person such as herself, so she knew he would quickly agree. Every now and then, she glanced over to make sure he wasn’t making any mistakes. A smile spread across her lips as she watched his slightly parted lips and widened eyes as he placed all of his brain power into making the bowl.

Carefully, as to not make him jump and potentially cut himself, she placed her hands onto his.

“You have done well, now just place,” for a second Charlie was startled by her words as he snapped out of his almost hypnotic state. Smiling, she took the bowl from him, before placing the Goblin Lord bone onto his lap.

“I think want to show you how to make a drum, but as I do so I want you to get used to the wait and strength of the Goblin Lord bone,” Not fully understanding the purpose, but also placing trust into her knowledge, he placed his hands onto the bone.

Taking a piece of wood, which had been carved into a bowl shape, she placed it in front of him. Small holes star around the top of the drum and looking to the flayed goblin skin she had in her hands, he had a good idea of what was to happen.

“Goblin Skin can be used for many things, such as tops, skirts, and helping make a number of other goods. I want to show you one of these goods, a shallow drum,” Placing the skin over the drum, she stretched it until it was tightly over the top of the bowl.

Taking some thin pieces of vine, she began to weave the drum and skin together. In a sickly skill, she began to expertly join the skin and drum together. Looking just behind him, she called something to one of the women. Turning, he saw the person she had called to be Ourupadia. With a few large stones in hand, and some tree bark, she made her way over to them. Sitting down next to Cluupyte so that she was facing Charlie, she presented the material.

“Usually, we would make cloth from hammering out tree bark with rocks until it becomes a fine material to use for drums, but Goblin skin again shows your power as a warrior, and it demands respect from others,” Cluupyte said proudly as she presented her finished creation.

“I see,” Charlie muttered, not being sure how to respond to a flayed skin drum which was made from a creature that was trying to kill him just the day before.

Placing the drum to one side, Cluupyte sighed and stared at Charlie.

“Sorry. If you couldn’t tell, I have just been buying time,” She said, her eyes meeting wit Charlie’s, “I want to as you something that has been on my mind for a while,”

“What is it?”

“Can…. Can we win? Against the Region Lord? What is your plan?” As he stared at her, Charlie looked into her sorrowful eyes.

“I’m a merchant, not a soldier. So, let’s make a deal,” Charlie leaned forward and stared her in the eyes.

“I have been thinking about what you said yesterday, about whether or not I love the Chiefess, and I think I have my answer. But I want to see if my mind can match my emotions, so I want you to help me. Help me create a knife, and I will tell you about our chances. Deal?” Charlie said, putting a hand towards Cluupyte.

“You know, I can never decide something,”

“What’s that?”

“If you are a devil or an angle, or just a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” Cluupyte said, as she stared into the eyes that were so familiar to her. The eyes of his farther.

 

 

Sorry about the slow pace at the moment! Still hope you all enjoy the story and will continue to do so in the future. There is a lot I have planned for the story, but I tend to struggle to place my ideas onto paper, or well a word document in this situation. Still hope though the enjoy my story and will follow for more. I like to make things for people to enjoy, and in all honesty I hope you enjoy! 

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