They sat there for a minute, digesting Temate's words. It was Kea who broke the silence.

  "So your bear friends are in big danger, though these nds aren't?" She asked looking to Tharoah.

  Tharoah grimaced in reply. "We are not, at least not until the forest itself is consumed and all is death." She spoke slowly, cautiously.

  "So you can help then!" Toni announced excitedly.

  "No ss. We can't." Laurel told her.

  "Why?! If you're safe as long as other things live then you have to help right?!" Toni rebutted, her voice strained.

  "Because if any Warden leaves then we are in danger. If worst comes to worst the Grand Ceil has said they will take us from this realm until the danger passes." Tharoah stated, though Temate could see the guilt in her tightened posture.

  "So you're just gonna le' everyone else DIE?! Go hide in the woods between the realms?!" Toni turned to look at Pipuck as they took up her shout.

  "Yeah! Why not leave with those who can't fight now while the others-" Toni began but Tharoah stomped her foot and Toni fell silent.

  "The decision is made. We cannot stem the tide, nor do we have great enough numbers or strength to effect the outcome in the end. We are few Toni. Protectors of this nd, not an army."

  "If you protect the nd then-"

  "This nd Toni." Laurel cut her off. "Not all the nd. This one, the Grand Ceils nd. The Leshy Forestnds. The gardens and nurseries."

  "Still you coul-" Pipuck began to protest but was cut off by Tharoah with another stomp.

  "We are putting ourselves at risk already by remaining. The Grand Ceil is the only thing stopping the greater force from moving beneath our feet and further, corrupting the world from below." Tharoah snapped. "If we left now it would surge forward, for now we remain and hold it off while protecting our nds so all there is to fear is those above."

  That silenced Toni and Pipuck. Toni felt a little guilty, of course the Grand Ceil could just leave, but it was fighting to protect them. A whole... wait.

  "How important is the underground? It's just like caves right?" Toni asked.

  "Apparently not." Toni turned to Temate as he answered her. "I asked the Grand Ceil the same thing..." He trailed off and Toni was about to punch him again when Kea spoke.

  "Studies and expeditions below, into the Darknds, have determined there is more open nd mass beneath us then on the surface of our realm." She spoke softly. Almost as if reciting from memory. "Vast historical kingdoms are buried beneath our feet. Layer after yer of worlds and empires that have risen and fallen. They call it the World Tide Effect." She opened her eyes to look at Toni.

  "The World Tide effect?" Toni and Temate said almost simultaneously. Despite the seriousness of the situation Toni could help but ugh a bit.

  "I didn't really study much on it cause I've never really been interested but..." Kea pressed two fingers to her forehead. "My understanding is there's a theory that we serve as a sort of dumping ground of the universe. Between Divines, Hero's, Ruins with no history, sudden shifts in technological or magical focus." She huffed and released her head pouting. "If Voel were here he could expin better, it's really more a mage thing."

  Temate looked to Pipuck. "Thoughts?" Pipuck turned and blinked, then ughed.

  "Aye, many thoughts. Not an uncommon occurence in the realms, some realms 'ave a greater pull than others and can lea' people an' things astray. New realms can grow into the fores' between diggin' up ol' memories from dea' realms. Happens in your realm righ'? Pnet's with greater pulls tha' drag in pieces of other pces?" Pipuck asked for crification.

  "Yeah. Gravitational pull, big pnets suck up smaller ones, or drag them out of the way. Part of how we define pnets, and why pluto isn't a pnet." Toni expined and Temate grunted.

  "Pluto will always be a pnet in my book." He said.

  "Yes yes, you and every other old fart who grew up eating their mothers nine pies and what have you." Toni smirked waving dismissively at Temate.

  "My Very Earnest Mother Just Made Us Nice Pasta actually." Toni said.

  "Chief mother?! WHERE!" Chiel looked around in confusion and concern. That got a ugh from a lot of people, including Sioh who spped him and said something in their goblin tongue. Right before she dragged him off into the dark towards the goblins camping spot.

  "Well that was refreshing." Toni said after restoring control over her body.

  "Aye, bu' back to poin'. 'Gravity' exists for as an idea as much as a material trai'. One of those things which exists in both realms an' worlds." Pipuck expined and Kea snapped her fingers.

  "Yeah! We pull shit in from all over the universe is the theory, and every now and then we pull something big in. When that happens huge chunks of the world get buried and a new world forms on top!" Kea excimed making a strange gesture around her neck.

  "So. There are how many worlds beneath our feet?" Temate asked that question.

  "Hmm?" Kea replied then shrugged. "I dunno, but a dozen or so at least? It's also posited that's why the continents are so far apart and why there are so many and a bunch of other stuff." Kea smiled smugly, which faded as she saw Temate put his head in his hands. "W-what?"

  "I figured you'd be the one to get it Kea. Seeing as it is your world. Tharoah?" Toni looked quizzically at the egor who was frowning, eyes furrowed in understanding. "Yeah, does the Grand Ceil cover all of the underground spaces?" She asked. A soft nod was all she got in response.

  "It is a big tree." Temate said, looking over where the towering tree could be seen. If you could see passed the canopy of the already towering trees here at the edge of the mangal.

  Toni took a deep breath. So the Grand Ceil couldn't send help, not without basically sacrificing it's own people. It was doing what it could but clearly it wasn't enough since creatures were fleeing and stumbling right into Bearbhaile. Which meant Bearbhaile was probably in a lot more danger than they realized.

  So they needed to get back quick but... They had to go around the mangal with the goblins. Which made her regret taking them on for a second before she shook her head. They didn't deserve to die, and they'd chosen Temate as a chief after defeating their previous one.

  Plus something about imagining a pile of hot, naked, green goblins all atop Temate... Squirming and pleasuring every inch of him while she watched.

  SLAP

  "Toni?!" Temate stepped over to her as she pulled her hands back from her cheeks, reddened only partially from the heavy sp she'd just given herself on both.

  "Sorry, trying to come up with a pn." She calmed Temate, putting a hand on his own rger one. "How long will it take us to go around Tharoah? Laurel?" She looked to the two awakened, Tharoah looked to Laurel.

  "You traveled with them, what's your estimation?" She asked the squarel knight who thought for a long moment. He moved slowly now, his lethargic semi-resting state having kicked in awhile ago. A fascinating trait to learn about for Toni, and one that made her jealous.

  "5 days?" Laurel softly spoke after awhile.

  "FIVE DAYS?!" Toni shouted in surprise. "It's only half a day to go through though how's that happen?!" It shouldn't take that long should it? Quick maths in her head told her if the mangal was a circle, which seemed reasonable, the travel time on it's outer circumference should be maybe 20 hours? Which travelling 8-10 hours a day was two days tops!

  "Because it is very long?" Laurel sounded almost confused. "Going around the short end to the north would take 5 days I imagine. Going the length southward would take a few weeks."

  "W-what? How... Is it not like a circle?" She asked and received a number of incredulous looks from all the awakened here, not just Tharoah and Laurel.

  "The Grand Ceils domain is several times longer from north to south then east to west." Tharoah stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

  After a long pause where Toni looked to Temate who seemed deep in thought. Then to Pipuck who just shrugged, then Kea who giggled into her hand, and finally Surrender who just tilted her head. Toni sighed.

  "How was I supposed to know that." She mumbled. Then she perked up remembering something Temate had said. "You said there may be a way to get the goblins through?" Toni asked and saw Temate grimace.

  "Prove they're not a danger." Temate muttered. Toni perked up thinking that wouldn't be so hard. "By bringing them to the Ceil for testing. Any It deems dangerous It kills, the rest may go through."

  Oh.

  Toni slumped back. Supposedly, Surrender and Pipuck had failed their tests. It probably wouldn't be the same test but what was the likelihood none of them would be deemed a threat? She looked over toward the small huddle of ramshackle tents the goblins had retrieved from their tribes camp.

  They were all that was left. 11 of them. They would certainly go if Temate commanded it but... She sighed and shook her head.

  "I doubt Bearbhaile is gonna colpse in just a few weeks. Not like they're under siege or anything right?" Toni tried to sound confident. Temate smiled at her and nodded.

  "Right, 5 days to go around. A week or so back? Less then two weeks, they're smart, strong, and there's a thousand bears there. It'll be fine." Temate agreed.

  There wasn't much else to talk about that night, but Toni stayed up for a bit after Temate went to bed. Her mind was stressed and Temate had tried to soothe her but she'd shooed him away. They were still waiting on the seed from the nursery, and now she felt like they were on a time limit.

  She was trying to do some quick maths on pure assumption. If the creatures below were running away from all this stuff, and the first waves had been a few spiders and Darklings. The Darklings had escated attacks over time, first just a few ending in almost a dozen. Then the spiders swarmed in and they colpsed the tunnel.dozens.

  So with that in mind, how bad could it get? If the Darklings were infinite, and found a new way in, they could be attacking in the hundreds by now. Assuming the size of attacking bands increased linearly as it appeared to have. If it didn't though? If it was exponential?

  Then they had to hope the Darklings were limited, but even if they were would there be hundreds? Thousands? More? That thought terrified Toni, but didn't seem impusible. If they lived below, and below had more space then above...

  Well then they had to hope that living below was more difficult and they couldn't gather enough supplies to maintain rge poputions. Which could happen, she sought out Pipuck to ask them about that.

  "I suppose it's possible ss bu'... Caverns 'ave their own ecosystems. They can be jus' as abundan' with life as... well." They waved to the forest around them. Toni frowned at that.

  "Really? But it's hard for pnts to grow without light right?" She asked hopefully.

  "Sure, bu' no' impossible. Jus' gotta supplemen' wha' they woul' ge' from ligh' from elsewhere. No' har' to do. Especially 'ere where idea 'as as much sway as material." Pipuck pointed out and Toni groaned. Magic. Magic could easily mean that the whole underground was just as full of resources as here.

  Even if it was only a few pces, the fact that the world was so rge below would mean plenty of opportunity for such things. Which means it's unlikely that the Darklings were few in number.

  "That's not good Pip." She muttered into her hands.

  "Cheer up ss. Goo' news is you jus' gotta convince them the surface isn't worth i'. After all, jus' as much opportunity down below means the surface isn't special." Pipuck pointed out and Toni cheered up a bit at that.

  "Yeah, so we just have to... make sure they don't find a way above and decide it'd be nice to live here. Make it not worth their while..." Toni trailed off as she realized what that would mean. Killing them. Lots of them. A war against an enemy she had no knowledge of.

  And what if they were stubborn? What if the fact that there was opposition made it more interesting to them? The goblins seemed to enjoy fighting, they didn't just fight from pure bloodlust. They fought for the thrill of the fight, for the excitement and challenge. To grow and improve.

  So. What if-

  A finger poked her nose and Toni reared back a bit. Pipuck smiled up at her and she grudgingly smiled back.

  "Don't ge' too caugh' up on i'. You'll lose sleep. Focus on somethin' else. You coul' go join Temate, sure 'e coul' distrac' ya." Pipuck grinned and Toni blushed.

  "Piiip!" She blushed slightly and Pipuck chuckled. Then, they grabbed a small wood case from their sack. They handed it to Toni and winked.

  "Jus' a bi' of tha' an' you'll feel more than you ever 'ave." Pipuck whispered to her and Toni's blush deepened. She opened the tin and looked inside to find a series of small pink-white pills. Not like modern pills with coverings, just a collection of herbs wrapped and sealed in a dried paste of some kind.

  She picked one up and looked at Pip, they looked back with a shit eating grin on their face.

  "T-thanks Pip. I'll think about it." She said, putting the pill back and sealing the container. She made her way over to her own bag, separating from the grinning Spiras. There she sat herself down and tried to return to her thoughts. It was hard though, she was thinking about the pills Pip gave her. Then she heard something.

  Off in the distance she heard the not so subtle sounds of the goblins, a few pairs having formed after their 'proving hunts'. That made her blush, but it was rather quick as well much to her surprise. Though maybe not? Fraar had gone down after one shot, big though it was, and hadn't gotten back up till the end.

  She was trying to decide whether that was just Fraar or all goblins based on what she'd just heard when someone sat next to her. She spooked slightly looking over to find Kea smiling at her. The dark skinned, dark wooled, sheep girl reached out, and wrapped Toni in her fuzzy arms.

  "So. You had an orgy with two goblins, a ralug, a egor and a gremlin." She whispered conspiratorially. The reminder made Toni blush brightly.

  "Y-yeah so what?" Toni asked confused.

  "We had a talk, remember? Something about your big, strong, sexy man wanting to... how as it you put it." Kea tapped her lip, pretending to try and remember. Toni blushed even brighter as she remembered her own words. It had only been a quick conversation, an opportunity taken on their trip back from the Fallow.

  "Fuck me into a new coat of wool?" Kea finished her false thought and Toni spluttered. She hadn't said that!

  "No! I said he wanted to h-have you in his bed." She stumbled over the words, her body burning with embarrassment. Look. He had said to get Kea in bed with him. She didn't really know how to flirt with girls! Especially not with the aim of getting them to sleep with her man!

  It wasn't her fault!

  "Mmm, yeah that sounded boring so I spiced it up. Anyway why then did you have an orgy. Without. Me." She practically growled the words and Toni was reminded of the phrase 'a wolf in sheeps clothing'. Kea might have been awkward about actual combat but this? Clearly she didn't ck confidence here.

  "I-uh, it just sorta-"

  "It just sorta happened" Kea said in a half tease, half mocking tone. "Yeah I heard that from the ralug. Yet that still doesn't expin why you didn't ask someone to get me. I was really lookin forward to it ya know?" Kea leaned in and whispered into Toni's ear. "Showing him what a slut made for breeding feels like."

  Toni basically melted at the hot breath on her ear. The words Kea whispered sending a shiver straight between Toni's legs. She whined softly and then caught herself. Kea ughed.

  "Yeah, had a talk with little Surrender after that on our way here. She told me a little secret, that you like it when your man fucks another woman." She practically moaned the words into Toni's ear, and Toni realized that Kea's hands were pced very carefully. One set just on top of her thigh, Kea's thick fingers teasing the edge where her thighs joined her hips.

  The other was pced in the small of her back, running up along the back of her neck until thick fingers wrapped in her hair. With a sudden jolt she was half bent looking up at Kea who grinned down at Toni. Toni... Toni barely noticed the girls face. Her eyes blurry with the sudden shift from all her worries to being dragged around.

  "Yeah. Here's what you're going to do. You're going to lead me over to that weird tent you have hanging in the air and you're going to open it for me. Then you're going to leave, staying just outside where you can hear everything." Kea hummed the words into Toni's ear and all she could do was nod, her legs tightening around Kea's fingers. Fuck, what had she become?

  "Good girl. Now then." Kea stood up, dragging Toni up by her hair and the thick fingers pressing into her lower half. "Let's go shall we?"