Chapter 18: 18 Momma Gobba's bountiful green teets.

Melinda.

Melinda followed the conversation between the shaman and her high priestess with both growing disdain for the creature and a tentative apprehension.

Gube was starting to promise things on her behalf, and not just empty gestures either...

Admittedly, she could see the girl was somewhat stuck, making things up as she went along, but Mindy wasn't quite sure if she liked what was happening.

Certainly, this couldn't become a pattern; else she'd have to devise a way to gently ‘smite’ her goblin and remind her not to take too many liberties with her good name.

And, because the dark god Murphey simply enjoyed toying with his prey as he so did, it all got so much worse when the despicable old codger warned Gube that there was another power at play in the room!

A divulgence that caught Mindy by surprise as she processed it, but at the speed the conversation was flowing, and with her inability to do anything about it, Melinda was helpless as her priestess and the supposed chosen of another possible god or ‘thing’ struck a bargain for the shaman's already paid-for soul.

Worse was how the man took immediate advantage to pledge himself to her with such a visible degree of eager readiness! That, perhaps more than anything, had the young goddess groaning as a horrible and sinking feeling settled in the pit of her stomach.

She didn't even get time to contemplate just how ‘fucked’ she truly was!

As, with a flash, her worst fears came true not seconds after the bargain had been struck, Melinda finding herself so abruptly caught out she didn't even realize the moment when she was standing—actually ‘standing’ amidst a thematically forested room that appeared as though it were constructed for giants!

Pillars, grand and titanic as they were, masqueraded as the trunks of colossal trees!

Pebbles that were scattered about the floor were nearly as tall as her waist…

A gentle radiance pooled from the overhead canopies that swayed and shifted, a subtle breeze scented of berries and fresh water pressing against her as Mindy gawked at the strange chamber while the chilly bite of the headsman's axe ‘softly’ pressed against her nape.

It was a land looking like the woodland home of a mythical race of giants. One replete with colossal tables and chairs strewn about, a large rug laid atop the soil, and, oddly enough, pictures, knick-knacks, statues, and odd ‘things’ that didn't quite make sense to her mind but were there all the same...

All of it filling the space as though this were someone's den in an ostentatiously themed home.

"Oh, ain't that just grand… You already have a physical form you can relate to! Ha, sweetie, you've no idea how much simpler your life got just for managing that alone!"

Melinda turned, her body shrinking to huddle on itself as a booming voice rattled her very bones!

The young goddess hesitantly and cautiously spun herself as the heavily accented thunder that called to her from behind, all but forced her to pay it heed.

The mind-splitting woman's words layered almost impossibly, given the circumstances, with an undeniably ‘thick’ and enthusiastic Brooklyn snap…

Her head pivoted as she moved, eyes falling upon a truly tremendous set of legs which rose higher and higher as Melinda craned her neck, only for them to terminate at a set of knees… and beyond it, a long-nosed green face peered down at her, immense orange irises surrounded by an ocean of honey-yellow sclera that watched her with lazy but amused interest.

"Yeah, I get it." The colossal goblin grinned, displaying an impressive array of gleaming choppers. "Hold on, hun, I'll make this easier."

There was a crash!

A roaring ‘crack’ like a continental glacier fracturing across its entirety within a single moment; and in it, Melinda found herself nearly falling to her knees as her legs gave out from under her, head desperately held between her hands. The enormous being's fingers snapping with a shockwave-inducing force that she could swear actually rippled her fucking skin!

A moment later, Mindy more ‘sensed’ something was different than actually saw it, cowering and trying her best to look small and unimportant as she was. The young goddess only looked back up to the sound of soft chuckles, all to see a considerably ‘smaller’ form before her. Though one that still looked to her like what a yeti might to a short man.

"Sorry, sweet stuff, best I can do these days; not a lot of people coming to visit old Momma, so I'm a bit out of shapeshifting practice."

Mindy just nodded her head, brain compartmentalizing mmhmmm... well, a many great things...

For one, the giant green goblin-woman was stunning beyond belief. Completely opposite to the creatures that Mindy had come to understand as—well, goblins…

She was flawless with a sort of extra thickness about her person that breathed fertility, warmth, and comfort.

Her skin was smooth and olive green, her thighs thick, breasts large. Her hair was a sheen of fiery red, less curly than it was wavy, looking like licking flames that descended to her calves, their highlights seeming almost alive as they glowed...

Her face was, unsurprisingly, breathtaking, nothing more than Gube's own in truth, amidst all the small variations to mark them as individuals, but from an aesthetic standpoint, the observation stood.

The entity seemed to just radiate this abnormal sensation, like the benevolent luster of a mother's tender adoration, mixed, of course, with a hypnotic allure of demonic ardor, all of it hitting her at the same time and with equal effectiveness!

Every long curving eyelash, each inch of her long and slender nose, every subtle wiggle of her large ears, all just impossible to ignore or take in all at once.

The effect was frankly dizzying as it was overwhelming! Mindy feeling for all the world like she was about to fall over.

"Oh, hold on, kiddo, I just need to tone down the—there we go!"

And, like a switch, Mindy found she was able to actually ‘look’ at the being before her without feeling like she needed to love-vomit.

"Forget how hard it is for first-timers… Well, I suppose that's good enough as any intro for what's going on so, how goes it?

“I'm the great mother of gob, the ‘matron’ of all that's green, the beautiful elder-god goblin-queen—Momma Gobba! A pleasure to make your acquaintance, tuts!"

"Goblin—god-queen…" Mindy whispered, voice hardly more than a murmur.

Because, of course, the stupid old shaman hiding in a backwater cave would owe his soul to a fucking ‘elder god’, whatever that actually meant.

She wasn't even surprised!

In fact, Mindy rather thought something like this should have been expected.

The universe hadn't ever given two craps about dropping a steaming log on her before, so why would it stop now?

Wooo-wooo!

All aboard on the kick Mindy while she's down train! Next stop, who gives a shit...

Though looking up at the elder god, and all jokes aside, her face did slump in despair... The young woman simply stared at the grinning and overwhelming confidence of the deity before her as Mindy's entire life spiraled right down the drain.

Just from that look alone, she suspected that the phrase ‘elder-god’ wasn't at all a self-given title…

"What's wrong, kid? Didn't you hear what I said?"

"S-sorry… umm, I’m new to being a god… Hi, I'm ugh—Melinda? Umm, am I supposed to kneel or…"

The elder goddess looked at her for a heartbeat, seeming to consider her before shrugging in a very goblin-like manner.

"Nah, any closer to the ground, and you'd be scraping that pretty nose of yours. What gives with that, by the way?" She demanded, looming forwards as though to peer at Mindy closer, a manicured finger lazily pointing in her direction. "You ‘look’ like one of mine, but all weird and such…

“Plus, I don't remember having any new kids I left unattended, or with an elf… Momma's green tits, baby, you're as pretty as I am, and that's saying something for a goblin!"

Mindy looked down at herself, noting how her skin was indeed a somewhat memorable shade of purple-grey…

How her familiarly shaped and elegant toes were capped by dark black talons...

How her all-too-unforgettable breasts hung from her naked chest, bare and bodacious, every detail all the way down to the nipples ‘ingrained’ in Mindy's mind from having watched them bounce and jiggle for days on end.

Her eyes crossed to stare along the long length of her slim and carefully crafted nose, and then, Mindy opened her interface to see the face of ‘Gube’ staring back at her...

Only, instead of bright bubblegum eyes, twin orbs of glowing silver, the same color as her wavy hair, stared back at her.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Oh, well, isn't that a cute little power… what's it—oh! Oh my dear sweet girl, what a ‘monster’ you could become… with the right guidance and, hmhm, protection, of course."

Melinda looked back up, seeing the widening grin on the other god's face, who evidently, just learned everything she needed to know about her new ‘junior’ god, and all by Mindy's own hand.

The how, of course, didn't much matter...

At this point, Mindy was in full survival mode!

"Eldritch goblin eh? Never heard of it… But I like it, sexy, brash, and you've got one helluva nose, kid; that's how you ‘tell’ if a goblin is good people; it's always in the nose if you know where to look! Say, where'd you pop outta anyway? You my grandbaby or somethin'?"

"I—don't know?" Mindy replied, voice nearly on the verge of a genuine breakdown.

And yes, tears were right on the verge of appearing!

Worse, she was pretty sure that commenting that she was once ‘human’ probably wasn't the best thing to say.

Obviously, the way the chips seemed to be falling, that wasn't much of a problem for herself given her humanity meant diddly squat as of recent days.

Also, she ‘had’ manifested for goblins.

Hmmmm, was Mindy reincarnated as one of the elder goblin's own spawn?

Maybe it was food for thought...

"Eh, fair enough," Momma Gobba chirped, lifting back up with a shrug. "I do let the carpet-munchers run around without much supervision these days, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised when one of them up and squeezes out something new.

“Between you and me, kid, gods are weird like that. There's far too many of us who get into far too many things we really shouldn't. Take you for example. Half gob, half ‘nightmare’ of the void!"

"I—I… I…”

"Relax, kiddo, Momma ain't here to pick you up and ‘shake ya’ till ya quit yappin’… Honestly, you're the most interesting thing that's happened within the scope of my domain that at this point, I'm sorta digging what you've got going on. That said, we need to set some ground rules."

"O-of course!" Mindy warbled, not wanting to find out what being ‘shaken’ felt like, god forbid.

"Good, you're a fast learner. Always regretted going the ‘stupid route’ with my species… Sure, you figure that genetics would mean the best of the best would weed out the rest, then you'd get to keep the crazy birth rate and, one day, before you blink, the world's overrun by super-gobs who are all little beautiful savant brutes the size of orcs. But, well, plans ain't always go the way you want 'em to, do they?"

"N-no, they really don't." Mindy agreed, earning herself yet another smile.

"Knew I liked you, just the right amount of fear, bootlicking, smarts, and sexy, all wrapped into one scary little package! You'll do good work out there for me; I'm certain of it!"

"Y-yes ma'am—I mean… Momma Gobba…"

"See, you get it! Alright, here's the score, babydoll; you work for me now. Simple as that."

Mindy nodded, not refuting the gigantic goddess's point, but when she didn't seem to elaborate, Melinda morbidly couldn't help but ask… "What does that exactly look like?"

"Ha! Glad you're so eager, kid, I like that. Honestly, the answer is a simple one: you do you until I decide I need ya. That's it. Nice and easy.

“Until then, I really don't care what you get up to; I'm generally a fan of letting the little nippers off the leash. I usually get a kick out of whatever shenanigans you lot get up to if left to your own devices.

“After all, how is one gonna play the ‘great game’ if they're directly involved in it, huh? But, if I ever give you a call, you better come running to Momma else I'll have to spank some discipline onto those bubbly purple cheeks of yours, understood?"

"Yup, loud and clear… You say jump; I say how high."

"Ha! That's a good one, Imma take it, you can use it, but you gotta say It was mine first, clear?"

Mindy nodded. "Crystal."

"...Smart kid," Momma chuckled, resting her hands on her wide hips as she sighed and moved right along. "Now, for business. You and me got a little issue that needs cleaning up regarding a soul that you decided to claim. Guess you didn't know it was old ‘Momma’ who had dibs on that wily shaman, but now that you've made the claim, rules are rules."

"What rules?"

"The rules, kid, the universe's rules! We either gotta work it out, fight over it, or one of us has to back off the other, else reality's gonna work things out on its own, and nobody wants that!"

Melinda blinked. "Oh, okay, then that's perfect, he's all yours!"

"Nah, I don't want 'em, I'd rather bargain you for the guy instead."

"You—don't want his soul?"

"I mean, I did," Momma Gobba muttered, looking away in a very familiar fashion. "But, now that I've got options and I know how much he's worth to ya after taking a little looksie back in time, I think I can do much better than some measly shaman's single soul, you know?"

Mindy was…

Was she getting—grifted?

By a fucking god?

A god that was also her new boss and, weirdly, also maybe her god-goblin grandma?

Was this what her life had been reduced to?

Mentally, she sighed, preparing herself to pay for the soul that Gube had bought...

Honestly, she couldn't even be angry at this point. So ridiculous was the situation that the words were coming from her mouth, even before she knew it was happening.

"Okay, what do you want for him? I'll pay it…"

Momma Gobba looked utterly dumbfounded as Mindy spoke, scandalized even, her jaw dropping and ears deflating as she just stared at her while shaking her head.

"Baby, baby, BABY! That is not how you negotiate with another god!

“Favors maybe, promises and gifts if the occasion suits it but never just give up the game like that!

“Momma's green tits, you are new, aren't you… Alright… alright. Momma’s gonna have to smack your wrists a bit for that one; teach ya a lesson that you won't forget it, for your own good, kiddo…

“Fine, look, since you already said it, listen here, you're ‘fucked’ right now. I could ask you for the freaking world, and you'd have to give it to me, else I could rip that pretty black soul of yours right from your chest!

“Friggin' nuts! Didn't anyone give you an orientation? Or, did your nightmarish and pretty tuchie get all peckish and accidentally ‘chomp’ the little critter before it had a chance to teach you nothin'?"

"I was—supposed to get an orientation?" Mindy asked, perking up slightly despite the growing sense of dread in her guts.

"Yeah, you were! An oversight that isn't cool if it didn't happen… Universe better not be playing favorites with Momma, else I'ma… well, I'ma do something ‘real’ bad!" The goddess seethed, hands flailing with genuine anger as she ranted. "No orientation… Ugh! Probably hoped you got yourself killed your first day out… but look at you! So beautiful and chaotic!

“Already making waves and getting the attention of elder-gods all on your own… Aww heck! I can't stay mad at that!

“Alright, here's the deal, Momma's gonna give you a freebie on this one. In fact, let's make it a ‘test’ to see what you can really do with a little heat under the hood! We'll call it, three hundred souls, one month. A hundred souls a week, if you will. I'll even toss in Old ‘Rattles’ early as good faith. You manage this, and I'll let ya come back so I can personally give you the do's and don'ts of being a god. Sound good?"

The elder goddess snapped her fingers, not waiting for her guest to reply as the younger god was utterly run over by the other's pace.

The sudden sound resonated through the room, even as Melinda's head began to spin and the walls started closing around her. Distantly, unbeknownst to the despairing young goddess, an obelisk rose from the ground outside a familiar cave, the inhabitants within all surging to get a better look at the bleak obsidian stone that had risen from the ground.

"One month, nice and simple. You just push any souls that come your way into the obelisk I just dropped for ya, and that's that! Better get a move on, baby; time's already ticking!"

And, with that, Mindy found herself launched through the void, abruptly and without warning!

Once again, disoriented but inexplicably present amidst the comforting void, it's only deviation from its expanse existing as the small span of details offered to her by the priestesses she'd transcended.

"I'm—back?" She asked, blinking and looking about herself, noticing that, now, she had something of a corporeal form she could actually feel...

And, one that was decidedly Gube—or, that was to say, her but only in Mindy's slightly altered version.

It still felt like her own body, but rather than her human form, she was now an Eldritch goblin.

It was honestly a bizarre transition...

Still shaken, she peered down towards the cave, noting how the massive black protrusion was garnering no shortage of attention.

Melinda stared at the scene as it unraveled before her, gazing at all the goblins and their confusion before, of course, her attention landed on the shaman...

"Son of a bitch!" She shouted, her anger finally managing an opportunity to flare. "Three hundred fucking souls? In a month! I haven't even gotten fifty in my entire first week! And you want ‘three hundred’ in a month? How long is a month anyway?"

Well, that sort of made her pause and grumble, her mind recalling how Momma Gobba had said a hundred a week and, then, there was the whole ten-day thing, so… she had thirty days?

Thirty days to get three hundred souls.

Even at ten souls a day… Well, maybe it wasn't that bad, but were there even animals that were plenty enough to sustain that sort of hunting?

"I'm sooo freaking screwed! Fucking Gube, that shaman better be worth all this bullshit! I'm gonna have to revise the whole plan! And I guess ‘bidding our time’ is out the window! Christ!"

Then, the goddess wavered, her left eye twitching with a growing sense of anxiety and anger that only seemed to be growing by the second... "You know what? Fine. If this is how the universe wants to play it, then bring it on!

“I'll start a fucking war over this cause I just know that's what you really want to happen! Watch! You're gonna freaking eat it when I start ramping things up! Pissed Mindy isn't someone you want to fuck with!"

Her final words were accented by two fingers saluting the darkness around her, the young goddess seething as she gnashed and snarled, pacing back and forth as though she were standing on solid ground.

"Guns? No, too hard to make. Not enough time, But you can bet your ass goblins with firearms are coming for the world, universe!" She spat, glaring at the void.

"Okay, okay. Need an effective army and don't have many resources beyond wood. Cavemen level of technology, but everyone else around me is dumb as a stump, so… Pikes. Lots and lots of pikes." She grinned, her expression malicious. "Second to that, bows. Not the easiest thing in the world, but doable with what we have, it's not like we're shooting at armored targets here so massed archers and pikewalls…

“Simple enough, even for morons to understand…

“And no more ‘nice’ goddesses, either. This shit's a dictatorship now! Bibles to riding crops! Priestesses to warmongers. You want a big-bad? Well, congratu-fucking-lations!

“Build the arsenal, invade the neighbors, pressgang the locals, kill anyone who doesn't submit, rinse and fucking repeat!"

When Melinda finally settled down, glaring at her high-priestess, her mind seemed to calm. Again, she just couldn't stay mad at the girl.

This was, admittedly, Mindy's fault as much as anyone else.

She'd just left the goblin after upending her life, wished her the best of luck, and then hoped she could figure it all out on her own. No surprise, really, that things had taken a swing as violently as they had, all things considered.

Mindy—Mindy needed a drink.

Something heavy that would burn the belly as it went down…

Sighing, the weary goddess, absent her alcohol, got to work on her plans. Starting with the best thing she could figure out to do in the moment, hoping her hunch was right.