7 Chapter 7: We are Vulcan

Two days had gone by, and nothing had happened yet. No signs of any goblins, or creatures for that matter. It made the silent stillness of the forest even more nerve-wracking. Finally, on her 3rd day of tracking, Jess found some footprints on the muddy floor and had spotted a goblin group. She had chosen a space decently far away from them in the tree line. This group was fishing near the large river, and from time to time, she would see the goblins go full alert when something made even the smallest sound in the forest. This made her speculation on something more dangerous than these goblins in the woods being around more believable.

These were goblin hordes, and they feared very little when they became the dominant magic beast around. She kept her vision on this group, hoping to find answers of where their camp was and maybe of what else was lurking in these woods. Until she noticed a small goblin farther into the water went under abruptly. The others from its ground yelled shrieks at it when one by one, they were taken below the murky surface. Her senses heightened when she felt the atmosphere change from a relaxing moment to a tense battle scene.

Out the wood line several figures pincers attacked the goblins. They were weird looking knights and their armor shined abnormaly bright, but the more she paid close attention to their strange weapons or that they had no insignias to identify them. They couldn't have been the lord's soldiers; these guys were too well-trained and coordinated. The goblins could only cry and fight with their small strength as the strong metal soldiers cut them down relentlessly. She racked her brain into thinking who these people were. Had she stumbled upon a secret organization working deep in these woods, or maybe they had connections to the terrible mercenary group at the village?

Either way, she had a bad feeling that she couldn't fight these people off. She could barely fight off a hobgoblin warrior, and they just killed one on their own easily. Just when she was sneaking away, they all turned around to look at her direction, the scene sent a chill down her spine. She knew she had just been caught as she dashed to get away. Sweat drenched her back, and her senses on full alert as she passed trees and plant life. She only stopped when she realized that they had surrounded her.

Going into her fighting stance, there was no getting away without a fight. They stared at her, and she didn't move a single muscle until they moved first. As she contemplated strategies in her head, one of the bigger ones from their group approached her. "A human, it really had to be more humans," the metal man said in a disappointed tone as he approached her. She didn't know what he meant by that, but it gave her the feeling of hostility, and she didn't take chances and ran straight towards him.

The metal man didn't seem to see her even move, and she took full advantage of that as she swung with her short sword at his leg. Surprise hit her as her weapon connected but didn't cut through like she anticipated. A strong pressure at her abdomen made her fly backwards onto her back. It hurt. She clutched her stomach and chest, fighting to breathe and stand up. "Weak, this is something to be expected of your race. Flesh is too malleable and easy to bruise," as he walked slowly towards her, "I hope you don't break as easily as these goblins do. I have some questions that I would find valuable if you answered," as he towered over her body.

She was then restrained and lifted by the other strange metal men. Any strength she had was useless as they had a tight grip on her. On the way, one of them put some dark bag over her head, and she wasn't able to see where she was going. This only made her fears worsen as she wondered what they were planning on doing to her.

Minutes went by, and she had given up on escaping. No matter how much she fought back, they never tired of holding her. She tried seeing if she could listen to whatever was happening outside but was more confused when she heard them crossing some rocky terrain. More than an hour had gone by when she felt thick metal chains be placed on her. Finally, the bag came off, and she was in a large stone room surrounded by the metal men. "Who the hell are you guys? What do you want from me?" She asked as they walked out of the room and closed the thick metal door after them.

They didn't care what she asked and only left. She looked down at her bindings and clothes, hoping she would find a weak spot to the chains. They were thick and strong; it was a hopeless situation. If anything, maybe it will finally explain what has been happening around here and why they were killing the goblins. Leaning back felt relaxing as if some of her tension left her body. What a terrible place she was in, this has only escalated more ever since she retired in the village. She hoped for a nice quiet and calm place to forget her loss, but it had only gone from calm to worse. The adventurer life never let her be, only this time she didn't have her teammates with her, it was just her.

Finally, after hours of nervous waiting, a metal man came into the room. She had fallen asleep, hoping she could catch the person by surprise and take something to unlock her restraints. But after the man had taken a few steps into the cell, they had not taken any more since.

"I know you're still awake," said the man. This brought a jolt of surprise within Jess's body. How did they know? She thought to herself. She calmly opened her eyes and looked at the stranger. He was carrying a wooden plate and what looked like a freshly made fish on top. The food made her stomach grumble, which made her embarrassed after what she tried to do.

"What do you want from me?" asked Jess in a lowered tone. The man simply walked closer to her and placed the food in front of her. "Eat first," said the man. He didn't look at her as he walked away. Before anything, she grabbed the food and ate with vigor. If they had wanted to poison her, they would have killed her before and not bothered taking her alive. Satisfied, she kicked the wooden plate away. This was her letting her captor know she wasn't going to try to use anything to escape.

"I guess we can start with the easy questions. What's your name? Are you alone? And where did you come from?" he asked without looking at her. Jess thought about what she was going to say. "Jess, I'm alone, and I have no home. I'm a wandering adventurer," she said, only revealing her name but not the village, hoping to at least spare them if these people were enemies.

"Adventurer, huh? So what about the human village?" he asked, his response causing Jess to stiffen up. "Your mouth lies, but your body can't. Another weakness from having a non-metal body." This comment went over her head as she thought about why this person knew she had come from a village. She would have her answer.

"I had some of my sentries follow the path you have taken. It seems your village is worried about why you had left. Maybe I should introduce myself and capture the entire place. Someone is bound to be able to answer me truthfully," his threat this time taking effect on her.

"They're really not with me. I left on my own accord because of the recent goblin activity. They had been raiding us for months, and I was worried why they had stopped attacking us. Just don't hurt them, please," she begged, looking for mercy from the man.

The man didn't care for her and simply continued with his questions. "Who are the armed men in your village? Soldiers, mercenaries, or also adventurers?" The question was a weird one for Jess, but she nevertheless answered.

"They're mercenaries, a pretty shitty group of them." That was all the man was interested in as he then asked her more weird questions that only a child would ask. If it kept the village safe, she didn't care. The questions ranged from, what forest are we in? To what country were they in?

After what seemed like an endless interrogation, the man asked her one last question as he turned around slowly to look at her. This made her finally get a good look at her captor. His eyes glowed a deep purple behind his metal helmet, as they penetrated through her mind. Something about him gave off an inhuman feeling, as if there were no compassion behind his eyes. "What if I told you that I'm not human? What would you think?" Just as she was having similar thoughts, he asked her this.

"I've seen some crazy shit as an adventurer. I wouldn't be that surprised but more curious as to what the hell you really are," she honestly replied.

This made the man laugh; the cell door opened, and more metal men joined. She didn't think much of it but just got nervous about their next move. Suddenly, the same man's voice could be heard coming from the metal man to her left. Then her right. What was going on? ""We are Vulcan,"" they all said at the same time. This was turning creepier for her by the second. ""We are metal incarnate, but that shouldn't be what you should fear but what we are capable of.""