"Good boys" thought Silanus.  Paradox was close-minded, well, yes… Goblins have no honour, respect for others and would even kill their family for a gold nugget. But Silanus trusted them, as far as he knew, he was their only hope to return to their clan…

Silanus listened at Paradox' words. He answered: "Oh, don't be like that. Look at those poor things!" They continued to walk, oh, the fresh air… The goblins were walking behind with the heavy burdens, and Silanus was holding Paradox' body, both of them were wounded, however, the centaur seemed to be as healthy as ever!

Silanus answered Paradox' question: "Oh, simple! We walk over there and follow the road. When we see the river, we follow it! There is no time to go to Silanus' camp, we'll go directly to the cave!" Silanus held Paradox' horse body, the poor man did not want to fall to the ground…. oh! The cold, dirty ground! 

Silanus slowly walked with Paradox, and his two goblin servants behind him. Silanus constantly spoke with her, trying to begin some conversations to kill time…. He mentioned his little rat named Lorica, he talked about his camp… oh, his beautiful camp! It was almost a city, it had fountains, statues, a temple…. oh, poor Silanus really missed his camp…

Silanus stopped and said to Paradox: "Oh, damn it all! Silanus CAN'T keep like this! Poor Silanus… He will… Heheh… Hah!" Silanus grinned and said something to his two goblin followers. The soldier asked for a canteen, it had some "grape" wine. It could be hardly considered wine. It was alcohol with grape… Oh, a strong alcohol! Strong enough to make a giant sleep!

Silanus opened his canteen and drank a little bit; of course, enough to make him…. "happy" Now, the soldier was drunk…. But it worked! His leg felt really good! He said: "Oh… My dear centaur… my friend! Want wine? If you want, ask Silanus! But please, take us to the… The water line, the land oceanic fresh water! It will take us to a cave, a hole in the beautiful land!" Silanus closed his eyes and hugged Paradox and whispered: Silanus will… eh… walk sleeping but awake and will walk… His leg feels bettah! He can walk, no run, only walk!

Paradox rolled her eyes at Silanus's statments about the goblins. "That won't work on me," she said blandly. They continued on for a few moments and she listened as he gave her directions to his camp. She conversed with him as the day wore on and she watched the sun crawl its way across the sky. There were a few clouds about and they were white and clear, not the heavy gray burdens that would quickly be accompanied by a sudden rainfall. She was glad of this, she didn't want to get rained on. 

Her leg ached and caused her to stumble once or twice, each time she caught herself. Her bitten hand was stiff and swollen and she glared at the little goblins behind them when she lifted it to her face to get a better look at it. She was not happy with them, or Silanus for letting them join the two of them anyway. She didn't trust them and she didn't believe that she would sleep well with the two of them nearby.

At one point the pair stopped and she looked over at Silanus. His face was red and she had noticed his limp getting progressively worse the later it got. He yelled, his voice almost pleading. Then he laughed at the two goblins behind him and spoke to them. One of them ran up to him with a small flask and she stared as he threw back his head to chug the contents. She smelled the rank liquid as soon as he uncapped the canteen. She snorted at him and sided away a few paces. 

"You vile creature," she hissed at him. "Spirits are almost poison to my kind. Even the strongest of us will befall to its strength after only a few drops. That drink makes us go mad and I will not take part with any of it." She shook her mane and glared at him. "You humans and your ways disgust me." She reached down and pulled the canteen from his hand. "You do not need any more of this," she told him, talking like a parent. 

How insolent, how… How disrespectful! Silanus felt as if his leg was going to fall from his body, and he used the wine to feel better….And what did Paradox do? INSULTING HIM! He may be drunk at the moment, but he knows when it's too much!!!

Silanus glared at Paradox, he was outraged, furious! A small, arrogant smirk appeared in his face and said: "Y-you… You know why they call ME Tacitus The Mad? Yesss! Because I-AM-CRAZYY! Hahaha! Oh, my cen… centauho… Cen… Zen… Sfentaur friend… If you want my drenk, you can have it… But… The canteen! Give it back when you're done, mhm? Ok?"

It was quite interesting… Silanus usually talks in third person, however, he talks normally when drunk… why? Not even Silanus could tell why…

Tacitus Silanus tapped Paradox' back in a friendly way and said: "Please, don't lose my canteen. I only have one, heheh… Let's go! A world full of adventures awaits!" The soldier held Paradox' hand and continued walking, mumbling a melody… One he really liked.

Hours passed. The goblins were complaining about carrying Silanus' stuff, but soon they calmed down. Silanus finally found the river, and followed it. "Just a little further, my four legged frehnd!" He was holding Paradox hand as a little kid holds his big sister's hand while walking. She reminded him about his dead cousin, Louisina, oh, their voice was even similar!

The nice day became an ugly one; gray, thick clouds covered the skies, and a cold breeze could be felt. But, on the good side… The ogre's cave was found! It was there, some meters away! Silanus' drunkness had passed away, and he was eager to fight the ogre.

The two goblins hid behind a bush, it was obvious that they were extremely scared. But Silanus un-sheated his sword and entered the cave with Paradox…

One would expect an intimidating, cruel ogre… But no… Not this one. It was sitting down, crying… It was huge,  had a pale gray skin, two big eyes and large teeth… It could speak Canelux Language!

The ogre cleaned his teary eyes with his big hands and said: "Oh, more adventurers here, obviously going to battle with me… Why does everyone want to fight against poor Sthar! Sthar is a good ogre, please go away! Sthar hates battling! Why! WHY?! Why Sthar cannot live in harmony with people, just like orcs!" As soon as the ogre named Sthar finished talking, he began to cry more… Silanus could not even look at him without feeling sad…

Paradox snorted at the man as he tried unsuccessfully to speak to her, only a few of his words were understandable. She kept the canteen out of his reach but kept a steady hand on him, as he stumbled by her side. She didn't really want him to hurt himself more, besides he was the only reason the two little green creatures behind them weren't squished into the dirt yet. She flicked an ear at him as he started to hum and she rolled her eyes. I hope this day goes by soon…she thought.

The sun had drifted to the far side of the sky by the time they had found the river. She hissed as she heard the two goblins bickering around behind her. She stopped and felt one of the small creatures run into the back of one of her legs. It stepped back and shook its head, the noises from the small creature stopped. She bent around and looked at the creatures. "Stop complaining you two," she growled at them. "We're almost there."

It was around noon when they reached the ogre's cave the next day. They had left their packs a short distance off, but the two goblins came along anyway. Once the cave came in sight and the creature inside could be smelled, the goblins took off and hid. She scoffed at them, cowardly creatures. She shook her mane and stepped forward with Silanus, ready to face this monster. When she saw him, she squinted her eyes and turned her head to the side. Some monster…

The size and color of the creature reminded her vaguely of an elephant. It spoke through its tears and she stepped forward with a mix of curiosity and caution. He didn't seem to be much of a threat, he even seemed slightly intelligent as he spoke well and clearly. She propped Silanus up against a nearby tree so he wouldn't fall and then walked up to the creature, her leg wasn't giving her much trouble anymore. "We aren't here to fight Sthar." She said quietly, glancing at her travelling companion.