My (Monster?) Hero Life

Chapter 120: Child Of Your Dreams

Kace felt exhausted as he collapsed on his bed in his chamber. The aches and pains reminded him that he had probably overdone it today. Especially considering the fact that he still had not fully healed. While laying there, Grugda popped in to give him a quick look over to make sure he had not suffered too much.

When he saw Kace's new armour, his eyes almost bulged from their sockets. Even he admired the vampires' craftsmanship. Even the goblins back in Stonefall Town had better craftsmanship than his people. So how could he not find such splendid armour to be appealing. 'Maybe I should. Ask for something. For myself.' The Eljein pondered as he imagined what he would like.

Soon the sound of Kace snoring on the bed entered his ears, signalling that it was time to leave him alone. With heavy steps, he tried his best to stealthily leave the room so that he would not disturb the sleeping figure. On his way out he bumped into Sophia who had apparently regained consciousness. With a firm grip, he marched her away before she could barge into Kace's room. She could wait one more day.

Kace had fallen into a deep sleep and was currently enjoying a perfect dream. He was sat in a comfortable chair gazing at the roaring fireplace. The heat from the flames felt pleasant on his skin. A woman voice called to him from somewhere in the background.

"Dear! I hope you're ready!" The voice was extremely calming and pleasant to his ears. "Get ready! She's going to jump on you!"

The sound of small feet could be heard running towards him. 'Huh? I don't remember us having any kids, though? Perhaps it's our nephew. No, wait. That's not right either. Her sister does not have kids either.' His face contorted into a confused look as he tried to turn around and catch a glimpse of the child.

"Kace! I said, get ready! Wake up! She's going to jump on you!" Sylvan's voice cut harshly into Kace's dream. Waking him from his slumber in the nick of time.

As Kace's eyes flew wide open, they witnessed a horrifying sight. Clinging to the ceiling was the ugliest little girl he had ever seen in his life. Her frilly dress did nothing to detract from her malformed face. 'Is it some kind of evil spirit that lures people away by pretending to be a helpless child?' Kace wondered, still groggy from his sleep. He seemed to recall hearing similar stories back on Earth.

When the creature realised that he had woken up, it fixed its yellow eyes on him. With a menacing growl, it let go of its grip on the ceiling. Starting its free-fall towards Kace. He instinctively responded to the threat by holding out his hand to try and catch the creature. However, to both of their surprise, Sylvan manifested his weapon form in Kace's hand.

Sylvan's vines unwrapped from around the wood near his base. With apparent ease, they caught the abhorrent creature before tossing it to the corner of the room. Seeing that the immediate threat had been dealt with, Kace leapt off the bed to establish a solid footing to defend himself from the following attack that was sure to come.

Lorget growled yet again as he unceremoniously pulled at the frilly edges of the dress that had flipped up over his head. As he tore it away, his hat came with it. Allowing him to get a better look at the creature that had assaulted him.

Kace took a sharp intake of breath as he thought his mind was playing tricks on him. 'I'm not crazy. That's a goblin, right? But... What's with the dress?' He wondered as he watched Lorget struggle to tear the dress to shreds. Lorget turned his line of sight onto Kace once again before giving Sylvan a cautious glance.

Lorget had never come across anything like it. This was supposed to be a done deal. He had been sure to check the room carefully. He was positive that there had been no weapons in the room. 'Where did it come from?' Lorget found himself in a bit of pinch now.

His well-planned ambush had failed. He no longer had surprise on his side. His disguise was ruined. And to top it off his target had conjured a weapon from thin air to defend himself. The whole thing was turning out to be more than he had bargained for. He looked around the room quickly to see if there was anything that he could use. 

To his dismay, there was nothing. 'That only leaves a frontal attempt. If it fails, I'll have to return to the tribe.' Lorget thought. To him, failing this mission would be worse than death. He hunched over and sprinted forward. He watched as Kace prepared to swing the weapon over the top of the bed. Which would catch Lorget with a nasty blow as he jumped over it.

With a savage grin, Lorget decided to exceed expectations. Instead of jumping, he slid below the bed and attempted to slash at Kace's ankles with a small blade. It reaped absolutely no reward though as Kace's new armour that he had fallen asleep wearing easily prevented the blade from reaching his flesh.

Before Lorget could react to this, the purple vines reached out and slapped him off of his feet. With a strange choking noise, he went headfirst into the wall at the opposite end of the room. Feeling dazed from what had just happened, he turned his head to look at Kace. 'He's a fucking monster! And I should know!' Lorget thought with a slight chill as he watched Kace coming closer. 'Fuck! I can only try the other thing!'

"Wait!" Lorget suddenly yelled as Kace swung the stave that was Sylvan's body towards his head. Lorget managed to look pathetic as he did this. "Please. Master Shadow wishes to speak with you. You are a Goblin Lord, aren't you?"