Chapter 17: 17 Cave politics.

Rattles.

The old shaman was sitting cross-legged in his usual spot, humming to himself as he happily chewed on a bowl of the day's stew. Perfectly pleased with his existence as he enjoyed the frankly appreciative blend of spices the girls had scrounged up for their nightly feasting.

Idly, he worked his magic, infusing a small assortment of growing herbs in his budding garden, watching the tiny plants and grasses slowly grow with the wry amusement only gained through watching the world trundle on for too many years to count.

"Elder." Came an all-too-familiar voice to his side, the interruption causing the wizened old sorcerer to peer up—and up, gaze taking in a vision of ‘admitted’ divine beauty if he'd ever seen such in his long life, and as it happened, he'd seen some stuff…

His eyes paused upon the softly glowing pink orbs of the clan's very own high priestess herself, his smile widening a fraction as he waved his hand.

"Good morning, my dear. Come to finally pay your respects to one of the few elders left in your family?"

"Come to—talk." The young woman replied, seeming a touch off guard as though she herself were just realizing this was the first time they'd spoken since her transformation.

"Well, by all means, young one, speak and be heard! I've nothing but time and my plants, you see."

"Want talk—alone."

"Do you now?" Rattles mused, expression broadening by the moment, even as yet another familiar shape appeared in his periphery.

"No talk, shaman; priestess."

The young goblin turned, blinking as she came face to face with the square head of Strong-arm, the ‘acting’ chieftain by right of being the previous one's last surviving heir.

For her part, the enchanting girl didn't seem to miss a beat, nodding her head and smiling as though she actually meant it.

"Good, wanted to talk to chieftain as well. Need alliance. Need ‘reason’ to stay that way."

In a marvelous display of manipulation, Rattles watched as the youthful Gube stepped in a fraction closer to the large hobgoblin, batting eyelashes that would have even made the fairer folk weak at the knees and melting around her delicate and monstrous little fingers...

The girl lifted her chest with carefully placed crossed arms that raised and separated her bewitching breasts in a way that brightened the old shaman's dark heart.

"Alliance…" Strong-arm repeated, hesitating rather flat-footedly, doubtless the man, having expected to start a fight rather than actual discourse. Of course, his thoughts weren't helped by the fact that his eyes were most certainly drawn to the same place the girl had intended.

What a delightful little creature she was…

"Goddess wants heirs to ‘chosen’. Gube think hob and priestess spawn would be—powerful… Also, need leader for tribe, leader who ‘all’ agree on... And Gube too busy! Not enough time in the day! Strong-arm already chief, but if we bond, makes things easier for goddess."

Strong-arm just nodded, seemingly following along but not exactly believing what he was hearing. And, when he tried to reach out and touch the enchantress, promising him the world, it was no surprise to Rattles that she batted his meaty paw away.

"Not now," she hissed, glaring at the hob. "Goddess demands ceremony! Big celebration. No ‘touch’ until then."

"Lies!" Strong-arm spat, rounding on the girl who didn't so much as take a single step back. Rather, she held her ground, watching the man with a dominant posture.

Ohhh, how the old shaman liked them feisty and ill-tempered… Were he twenty years younger… Hmph! He'd have dragged the girl off to his hovel and ‘given her’ what she needed!

Yet, instead of backpedaling as the hob loomed closer, the priestess just raised an eyebrow at the challenge, reaching down and grabbing hold of the hob's balls and squeezing firmly.

That shut the big man down rather fast, Gube leaning in closer as she applied even more pressure with a formidable gaze. "Will make ‘great’ babies… Later! For now, need talk to shaman, will find chief after and work out details."

Admittedly, the young hob was no fool, well, maybe he was, but not ‘gullible’ at least. Still, he nodded slowly, swallowing as he drank in the priestess's almost distressingly lewd body, his hands practically shaking but not seeming willing to try to risk the chance of what was being offered.

No, far too many in the cave had tried that and paid the price for their presumptions for his ‘nephew’ to know better.

The priestess smiled, reaching with her other hand to gently stroke his chest with light kisses of her dark talons before pulling away, dismissing the man with a wave. "Go eat; like I said, will talk later."

"Chieftain will—sit and listen," the man decreed, though with a touch of uncertainty.

For her part, Gube sighed, sounding utterly exasperated as the large hob created a slight quake in the vicinity, collapsing to his rear and sitting beside Rattles who was merely watching it all with a gleam in his eye.

Her gaze was telling and hinting towards how little she really thought of the larger hob, but, even as she spoke, she schooled her features with all the wiles of a talented actress, returning to an air of neutrality with serpentine ease.

"Fine, if want so bad, ‘do’ as please. You are chief," she stated, shrugging as though his presence wouldn't cause her a moment's grief.

The old shaman rather suspected that, whatever was to come of the conversation, poor Strong-arm likely wasn't going to get the best of it. He'd seen the type of woman the priestess was before, and while in his younger days, Rattles mused that he could have tamed her, as she was now, and, mmhrm... as Strong-arm was now...

Ah, needless to say, any ‘union’ between them would result in a clear leader for the clan, just not in the way the hob likely envisioned.

She'd chew him up and warp his delicate little soul until he was little more than an obedient shell of the man he could potentially, one day be...

None of which was Rattles's concern.

After all, Strong-arm was his own man, and it was not his place to dictate the boys life, merely look out for him.

No, ‘he’ had his own desires and plans.

For a moment, the old shaman even wondered if Gube would surrender the ruse, give up and stomp off, her no doubt carefully laid-out plans to win him over, shattered by a stubborn hob too suspicious to be ‘had’ quite so easily. Rattles idly pondering what her next move was.

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The alliance bit was inspired; it was true, but now, she'd have to make up a believable reason for her having come to visit him, and one that didn't involve the oh-so-obvious stink of betrayal filling the air.

"...Want learn magic."

The trio was silent for a time. Gube just standing above them, arms crossed, looking determined as she was confident.

Strong-arm appeared about as surprised as Rattles felt, though the difference between them was that he didn't show it. For a heartbeat, the shaman wondered if he'd actually misread the situation, but decided quickly that it didn't matter.

Either way, be it alliance or tutelage, he had no desire to ‘work’ with another god. He’d learned his lesson, after all, and was still paying the price for it.

Instead, he just grinned, hiding his inner thoughts behind a crafted air of jobility! "Ho, magic is it? What ‘kind’ of magic, might I ask?"

"All."

“Hahahahahaha!” Rattles laughed, loud and boisterously, as he shook his head at the cheek and ‘audacity’ of it all! His raucous uproar causing several heads in the cave to turn and pay attention. He really was beginning to like this girl.

"Goddess won't give you what you desire?" He prodded, tone dripping with taunting delight.

"Goddess isn't goddess of magic. Gives gift, not spells."

A fair point, the shaman observed; the priestess had certainly come out to play… She might ‘sound’ like a simpleton, but there was more than just a small spark of intelligence hiding behind that gaze, wasn't there?

"Magic is typically quite expensive, you know…" Rattles noted, his smile never fading. "Typically, one ‘indentures’ themselves to their teacher, or master in many cases, devoting themselves to their every need and whim in exchange for—hmhmhm, such lofty secrets."

"Just tell Gube what shaman wants!" the girl snapped, the fire in her belly, that venom on her bladed tongue—oooh, it was just ‘working’ for the old-timer in a manner that made him wish his cock could still stand strong and hard as it had in days long past.

"Want to feel how warm goddess's high-priestess is with my prick. How’s that for a bargain?"

The woman scowled, sneering at him as she snapped back a reply. "How 'bout Gube urinates on ‘tiny worm’ so it's warm, then shaman can fuck hand all he wants."

"Oh, my, my, you are a sharp little delight! Quite the contrast from the dull flower you were not a ten-day ago, don't you think?"

"Eat me."

"Willingly, my dear," Rattles chuckled, giving her a knowing wink.

The priestess grumbled, her frown deepening as she found herself slightly out of sorts, annoyance and budding anger rising in her voice as she growled her reply. "Maybe will just ‘shit’ in shaman's stew tomorrow and tell him it's burnt pork."

"Promise? I bet yours tastes sweet!"

The utter sheer look of vile disgust the young woman's face twisted into was worth all the effort in the world to see it through!

Ohhh yes, were he younger and spry… he'd take the greatest of pleasure in warping that expression to one of lust and desperation. Sadly, those days were behind him.

Instead, he just grinned, showing teeth as he did so. "That's the problem with going all in without the best cards, my dear; when someone has better and calls the bluff, you've got nothing left but sour faces."

"Shaman worse than Swift-spear…" Gube groused, seeming to take the loss for what it was and finally sitting down. Ready to join the bargaining table.

After a moment, Rattles waved his hand, gesturing to her with a wide sweep and deciding, now that the pleasantries were out of the way, they could talk business. "Now, what can you offer for what you're asking?" He proposed, earnestly curious in his question.

"No idea, need to know what shaman wants…" Then, after a moment, she added, "besides kinky sex."

"Hmph! Very little, I'm afraid," the old man replied, rather truthfully to boot. It wasn't like she knew such a thing was out of the question for him, but that was the problem with negotiations. There was always a party at a disadvantage.

"Would be willing to ‘stomp’ on it until shaman satisfied," Gube offered with a lazy shrug.

"I might have even taken the offer, my dear! Your feet are quite something… prettier than all the regular goblins in this filthy hovel combined! Sadly, you can't give me what I want. My prick hasn't risen in nearly two decades; there's simply nothing to bargain with."

Gube appeared to hesitate, but not in a manner that made Rattles think she was despondent...

More, and to his immediate uncertainty, it was in a manner that appeared as though she were ‘actually’ considering something…

Again, this made the shaman question what her true motivations were in coming to see him, and what she’d brought with her to entice his attentions.

She chewed on her idea for a time, then, taking a deep breath, she just let it out. "Will have goddess fix prick. But want more than magic. Will need shaman's word to devote self to the goddess as a ‘faithful’ servant."

"No!" Strong-arm growled, looking as though he were about to lunge for the pair.

Yet, Rattles had seen the certainty in the girl's eye, and faster than anyone present likely suspected he could act, the shaman summoned stone from the earth, pinning the glowering hob as he turned to shush the man.

"Be quiet, boy! This is a conversation you're not needed for." Rattles glared at the upstart youngster who strained against his bonds, his face twisting toward a snarl, "Keep it up, and I'll ‘do’ worse... Calm down and think. You'll be getting everything you wanted from this; I'll make sure of it, but only if you sit—fucking—still."

The hob paused, relaxing a fraction while looking between the two sharing their small circle before, reluctantly, nodding his head.

That was good; it meant the boy still trusted him.

Turning away and letting his old friend's son fall from his mind, Rattles pinned the priestess with a piercing stare. "Such bargains are not to be taken lightly, child… my soul already belongs to another, are you prepared to pass that price along to your ‘lady’, all so you can get what you want?"

"Can make shaman feel young again," Gube purred, ignoring his warning as she tasted blood in the waters. "Won't be easy, might take time, but certain that shaman will ‘understand’ when he receives gift."

Rattles eyed the girl suspiciously. Finding that, for once, he wasn't in complete control of the conversation.

To be given the boon of youth again...

How long had he dreamed of it?

How many times had he contemplated if life was even worth living as old and decrepit as he was…

And what would he have to pay for it?

To trade the contract for his soul to a different master? To serve another as he ‘already’ did? To teach this little upstart strumpet his magic and, no doubt, betray his brother's great-great-great whatever grandson?

Ha! The question didn't even merit a second thought!

"Agreed!" The shaman grinned, his reply snapping like thunder in the air! "I will pledge myself to your goddess if she can do as she claims, even if it takes time, so long as it actually happens."

The girl seemed to flinch at his words, something almost painful surging through her expression and leaving the woman visibly startled and, perhaps even a little frightened.

Still, she hid it wonderfully, not really missing more than a moment before she nodded and stood. Rattles rather suspected he knew what that little hiccup was, and, for all their sakes, he hoped the girl was ready for what she'd just gotten herself wrapped up in…

A second later and she moved to walk away, seemingly done with her business, but Strong-arm found a resurgence of energy as he barked after her, testing his stone confinement with renewed vigor!

"Said talk about bonding after!" He half accused, half demanded, earning himself an all-too-telling ‘flat’ look from the voluptuous priestess who just replied with bared teeth.

"Said later, not after. Try listen, else, will be bad chief."

And with that, the girl sauntered away, leaving Rattles and his young charge yet sitting in the dirt, neither of the pair entirely sure of their futures as they'd been before she'd arrived...