Cries filled the empty cavern, as the infant was literally dragged across the cave floor towards another part of the cave.
It's cries of anguish and sorrow resounded throughout the cavern but elicited no reaction whatsoever from the people standing inside it, as if this was an affair that was carried out on a regular basis.
Unpertubated, the shaman moved on to the next infant and used his weird device to measure something innate about them that differentiated the wanted from the unwanted.
After a few measurements another infant was measured below the given standard and dragged away by the other guard. The one before him had already returned, a blank look on its face.
As the shaman inched closer and closer to Kote's direction, he became more and more anxious regarding the situation. He was already aware of his own results.
And he was also aware of the consequences of those results.
There's no room for empathy and kindness in a world of monsters.
Especially not for weakness.
Kote started sweating, aware that the next few hours of his questionable existence will be torturous and a never ending struggle for his life.
But he was no weakling.
He already survived this tribulation, without a conscious mind no less.
Although luck and coincidence had played a big part in his survival, Kote knew one thing for sure.
There's no such thing as a coincidence.
When the shaman kneeled over him his eyes held no interest, only the signs of boredom and the grudge of unwanted labour.
He pulled the same crystal out of the pouch strapped on his waist, and ground it all the same, dropping it inside Kote's mouth.
As he was forced to swallow, the tiny bits of the crystal scraped against his throat, making the taste of copper fill his mouth, and creating a rather unpleasant sensation, and restless breathing.
As it entered his body, he felt his pores open up, and his hair stand on end. He felt a warm, fuzzy feeling in the pit of his stomach as well as a refreshing sensation flow through every inch of his body, as if it was a parched man stranded in a dessert, finally soothing his excruciating thirst.
The sensation spread throughout every inch of his body, and made him feel something he thought he would never feel again.
The circulatory system hidden inside his body became visible, showing an intricate system of vessels that carried some kind of substance throughout his whole body. The number of vessels was uncanny, surpassing the number of blood vessels and neurons, making him look like a lightbulb.
Unfortunately, the light was dimmer than others.
The shaman placed his device close to Kote's body, and with a face of indifference waited for the result.
Kote lost himself in the feeling of refreshment for a moment but quickly felt his consciousness pulling back to reality after his eyes noticed the device.
*Thump*
His heart started beating faster.
His eyes slightly widened, and his pupils doubled in size.
The device started shining, showing the numbers that corresponded to Kote.
*Thump*
Kote's eyes darted around the room, hoping to find some kind of exit, some kind of safety net, some kind of saving grace.
*Thump*
The number four lit up in the device.
Kote closed his eyes in despair.
The shaman sighed, rather emotionlessly.
"Four percent."
He said while turning to look at the chief.
The chief's expression remained uncaring throughout.
He turned his head to look at the guard next to him, and jerked his head in Kote's direction.
The guard looked at the chief and moved.
Kote's eyes opened once more. He looked left and right, searching.
*Step*
The first step. It weighed much too heavily on the little goblins heart.
*Step*
The footsteps echoed through the cavern, sounding like a ticking clock.
*Step*
A countdown.
*Step*
Kote's pupils shrunk to pinpoints as he lifted his tiny head upwards to stare at the face of the silhouette that appeared before him.
The guard had no expression.
He stared at Kote indifferently, like a person looking at a piece of meat.
Inconsequential.
The guard squatted down and grabbed Kote's leg.
He was pulled from the ground like a piece of meat and dragged across the cavern's floor, the rugged edges scrapping against his infant skin.
It hurt.
But no matter how much it hurt, it didn't matter.
This was it.
He just woke up and he is already facing death.
Just how many times has this happened before?
How many times did he have to stare at death in the face just so he can live?
The guard dragged him until he was next to the chief.
Kote turned his head to look at the chief's face.
He saw nothing.
No emotion, no glance towards him.
A monster.
That's what the chief was.
Feral and brutal in nature.
And that's what he was too.
His eyes glowed making their characteristic azure blue colour resplendent, as they stared deeply at the chief's face.
The air suddenly became suffocating to him.
Inside the black of his pupil, a tinge of scarlet appeared.
One that seemed to propagate through time and space to appear right in that moment.
A scarlet deep, and fathomless; that carried so much resentment it would sock the soul of any that became a witness.
The guard hadn't stopped for a second.
But the moment that Kote spend staring at the chief felt frozen in time.
He closed his eyes, and let out a tiny sigh.
Time starting flowing again.
He disappeared inside the cave; the last thing he saw was the chief's back.
It looked... Reachable.
---
The guard moved through the tunnels of the cavern, with a slow and steady step.
His body was protected by a rather shabby leather armour, that left his arms and shoulders unprotected, while protecting the torso and extending to the knees.
His legs were also exposed.
And that's what Kote was aiming for.
He was completely unaware of how or why he was compelled to do this as an infant and would probably never learn of it, but he did it nonetheless.
Knowing what was awaiting him at the end of the next tunnel, he had to act and he had to act fast.
There were few differences between humans and goblins. A rather clear one was the height difference, and generally physical size. The sharp ears, bald heads (natural at least), and the distinctive pine green coloured skin made them humanoid in nature but inhuman nonetheless.
Another difference was the elongated lower canines that were too small to be called tusks that protruded out of their mouths.
Teeth that were carried from birth.
And Kote knew that he had no other way to leave any kind of damage with his infant body.
So his eyes shone with an azure light as he turned his tiny body around, ignoring the pain he was in through sheer tenacity of will, and planted his canines in the guards calf, biting as hard as he could.
The guard shrieked in pain and suprise as the taste of copper filled Kote's mouth, blood pouring from the bite.
The guard turn to look at what had skewered his calf only to see an infant of his race greedily biting through it.
After the initial pain and suprise, adrenaline rushed to the guards head and he pulled Kote as hard as he could hoping to have him let go.
Unfortunately for him, he underestimated the strength of those canines.
Along with Kote came a piece of his leg, leaving him an few ounces of flesh lighter.
Kote spit the flesh out of his tiny mouth, disgusted by both the taste and texture.
Before he could orient himself, he felt his body spin and found himself staring right at the guards face as he held him by his armpits.
The guards face was controrted in rage and pain, as he stared and the little piece of meat he was supposed to simply dispose of.
"You little piece of SH*T!"
He shrieked like a shrew.
He wanted to tear Kote apart but pain radiated through his body as his wound was bleeding profusely.
He looked at it and saw how bleak it was. It needed immediate medical attention. The shaman should be able to fix it.
Then he looked at Kote and realized that he was going to suffer a fate much worse that he had in mind for him so he simply grit his teeth and moved faster towards the end of the tunnel.