My (Monster?) Hero Life

Chapter 194: Homesick

Kace awoke a short time later, he was laying on the stone slab used for his bed in a barren area shaped like a small room. The furs used to cover him felt heavies they lay over his body. It took him a few moments to properly come around. That was when he realised there was an argument going on just outside of his room.

"There's no way I'm letting you go in there!" Sophia's voice rang out with an angry tone.

"That's not for you to decide! This is between Kace and me!" Vaskra's shrill voice retaliated.

Kace groaned as he put two and two together. Clearly, Sophia had caught Vaskra in the middle of her usual trick. Kace could not be more grateful to her for preventing him from waking up next to the wrinkly hag.

'They've been at it for a couple of hours now.' Sylvan suddenly cut into his thoughts.

'How bad is it?'

'Pretty bad. I'm sure one of them won't make it out of this cave alive if it continues on much longer.'

'God damn Vaskra and her big mouth!'

'Hey. Did you really sleep with her? Twice?'

'Hell no!' Kace furiously denied it. 'What the fuck has she been saying?'

'Hm, the little goblin has just been educating Sophia on your past activities together. Focusing on how you two would wake up naked next to each other.' Sylvan began to laugh his head off at the of it.

Kace began to go pale hearing this. 'It's not like that! That runt would sneak into my bed whenever I was fast asleep! I had no idea she was there until I woke up in the morning!'

'So, you're saying she didn't actually lie then?'

Kace felt sick when he realised what Sylvan was getting at. Vaskra was careful with her words. Telling only the truth but in a way that made it appear to be more than what it actually was. 'I have to put an end to this!' Kace thought as he slid out from underneath the covers. Someone had laid out his armour for him beside the bed.

'I should probably warn you about this,' Sylvan interrupted him while he was getting dressed. 'But Vaskra is accusing Sophia of having cursed you. Otherwise, you wouldn't look so different.'

'Fuck me! Surely nobody believed that! The whole tribe witnessed my transformation and Sophia was not there at the time!'

'True, Shadow and Lorget were the strongest advocates of this fact. But it seems like the rest of the men are willing to blindly believe anything she says.' Sylvan chuckled as he had already worked out what was going on.

'Why would they do that? She's only been here for a few hours!' Kace was beginning to panic. If Vaskra started an uprising just to kill Sophia, then whatever way it played out would damage his interests.

'Apparently, your friend is quite the beauty amongst her own kind.'

Kace felt the bile in his stomach suddenly rush up his throat, making him gag. He choked it back down with great difficulty and stared at the wall with a dead look on his face. Unfortunately for him, he had just suffered from minor mental trauma. There were some things that you just should never picture in your mind no matter what.

'Well? Are you going to stop them from killing each other or not?' Sylvan chuckled, a shocking case out of his stupor.

He bent down and tightened the fastenings on his boots. In the time it had taken them to have their conversation, he had finished putting on his armour. However, he was a bit reluctant to leave the safety of his room. There was always a chance that the pair of them might corner him again. If they did, he would have to think of a plausible reason not to answer their question.

He straightened his back and did his best to look imposing. Like he was someone that would not put up with their petty quarrelling right now. He summoned his courage as he stepped out into the battlefield.

Both women immediately fell silent, seeing that Kace was finally up and about. Their expressions became many times softer as they checked him out with their eyes to make sure that he was okay. Neither of them spotted anything to be concerned about and heaved a sigh of relief. Which drew the attention of each other. 

This shared moment made them realise that the other woman truly cared for Kace's well being and that they were not entirely selfish. They gave each other a small embarrassed smile, having realised that they had been making fools of themselves for quite a while. 

Kace was taken aback by the sudden silence when he appeared. He had prepared himself to become the neutral party in an ongoing war. He had thought up several things that might have been used to defuse the escalating situation. But now, his concerns and quickly conceived plans had been blown away like a fart in the wind.

"Right, well. I'm glad you seem to have settled things." Kace said after clearing his throat with a small cough. "Let's go have a chat, shall we? I'm sure Vaskra has a lot to fill me in on, while we have to let her know our current situation. With any luck, together we might find a way to back home."

Both women nodded in agreement and stepped aside. Allowing Kace to lead the way. This was technically his home after all. Amongst their group, he held the highest authority right now. The sounds of revelry could be heard from his throne room as he recognised the guttural voices of Orcs. Kace let out a broad smile as it brought back fond memories. 

Stepping into the cavern that acted as his throne room, banquet hall, gathering area and basically anything else that was important, he began to laugh. The place was lively with Vaskra's comrades getting to know his own subordinates better. However, what really caught his attention were the goblins from Stonefall attempting to teach his own tribe about a sacred custom for beginning a meal.

Not five foot away from them, several goblins from Stonefall were throwing themselves through the air. Attempting to get the first bite of the meat that they were cooking on a spit. Jaws snapped as they tried to latch on. Attempting to imitate Kace's legendary feat from so long ago. 'Now, this! This is what home should feel like' Kace thought warmly as he watched their antics.