by Emma Hamm
Goblins were leading a small cluster of humans across the bridges, whooping and hollering as they forced them across. The men were dirty, clearly malnourished, and shivering as they were forced to cross a chasm she knew would be terrifying for them. They were frightened out of their wits.
Jane didn’t think. She didn’t have to. She was already marching towards the prisoners with the intent to help them. If she had to knock some sense into the goblins then she’d do just that. She was a big enough woman. She might not get away without a few cuts and scrapes, but she had to do this. They had welcomed her with open arms, how was she any different from those men?
Likely the emotions came from the lingering effects of homesickness. These people had welcomed her into their society with open arms, and she might be falling in love with Ruric. But Jane could not stand by and watch her own kind get treated this way. She was human. She was one of them.
She didn’t get far. A strong arm wrapped around her waist, hoisted her up and into the air. No matter how much she slapped or kicked her legs, Ruric wasn’t letting her go charging into what could easily be a death sentence for her.
He struggled to get her into the cave. She braced her legs against the entrance. Once again he was startled by the strength she could suddenly show. She would make a good goblin mother, perhaps just as stunning as she was a goblin bride.
But she was no match for him. He whipped them both around and backed through the opening of their cave.
“Let me go!”
She was shouting now, loud enough that he had to slap a hand over her lips to keep her quiet. Damned woman knew she could use her voice against him. It hurt when she shouted directly into his ear.
She did have an impressive set of lungs on her though.
“Ruric let me go!”
Apparently she could also manage to talk through his hand. He stared down at her, frustrated that she had made a scene. “No. You cannot help them Jane. You have to say here.”
She sunk her teeth into the meat of his hand. He pulled back quickly, hissing through his teeth at the pain. Blood was already dripping out of the wound. It was his own fault really, he should have guessed that she wasn’t going to let him overpower her without a fight. Goblin bride indeed.
“Let go!” She struggled away from him, wrenching her arm from his grasp. His claws caught on her skin and he was horrified to see red ribbons track down the soft flesh. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her.
Jane on the other hand, barely even noticed that there was blood starting to break free from her skin. She pointed angrily out the door, though she did lower her voice.
“Those are my people out there Ruric. My people. And they are being treated like animals. I cannot stand by and watch them be paraded through your home as though they are nothing better than the food you eat.”
He growled at her. “You think I don’t understand that? To goblins they are nothing but slaves. We can do what we wish with them. You are not going to change their minds with a foolish decision. You have to stay here.”
“I will do no such thing.” She replied, just as angry as he was. “Where are they being led Ruric? What are they going to do to them?”
He remained silent, his arms crossed firmly over his chest as he placed himself in between her and the opening. Obviously she wanted a fight and Ruric was not going to give her one. She should have been afraid of him. He could hurt her worse than he already had. His Jane was brave though, she would never be afraid of him.
“Ruric!” Her voice echoed in the cave slightly. “They were sick. I could see some of them were wounded. They need to be taken care of.”
She was starting to recognize goblin expressions and she knew one that he was making did not bode well. Whatever was going to come out of his mouth next was not going to make her happy. In fact, it was probably going to infuriate her.
“They can no longer work.” His tone betrayed just how frustrated he was as well. “There is no more use for them.”
“No more use?” She shouted, having to pause and take a deep breath when he winced and held a hand to his ear. “Those are humans. My kind. Has having me here not changed anything about the way you people see us?”
“You people?” His eyes flashed at her, anger starting to grow in their depths. That was what she wanted from him. She wanted him to shout back at her and argue. She wanted to pound sense into him with her fists so that he would finally understand what she meant. She was hurting and she needed him to understand that.
“Yes you people! You are not human, Ruric. I am not goblin. That does not make either of us less.”
“And yet you treat us less!” He shouted back, the loudest she had ever heard his voice. “We have given you everything we have to give. I give you every attention that I can. My people bring you gifts. They want nothing more than to make you happy. And yet you treat us like we are beneath you!”
“You are!”
They both froze for a moment at her angered words, chests heaving as they stared each other down. It wasn’t fair of her to say that. She did not believe those words. She had lived here for long enough to know that Micah was right. They were not animals. They were sometimes more civilized than the people she had grown up with. But that didn’t mean that their actions towards her species didn’t make her think less of them.
“We’re beneath you.” He repeated. She watched as his shoulders bunched, the tell tale sign that he was trying to control himself.
“Yes.” It was the wrong thing to say. Pride wouldn’t let her apologize.
Ruric was exhausted by his attempts to make her feel welcome. He was tired of feeling as though there was a chasm between the two of them because there was a slight different in species. He knew they weren’t all that different. They couldn’t be. He felt it in his very soul that they were one and the same.
Her words seemed to unleash the anger that was building in him. She didn’t have a moment to even step back or flinch from the wall of goblin that rushed towards her. Jane found she didn’t want to. She didn’t care that he was intimidating and she didn’t care if he ripped through her.
It wasn’t claws that met her skin though. It was warm hands that yanked her towards him. It was a firm touch that palmed the back of her head and soft lips that pressed against her own. Anger and passion and perhaps something else were hidden within the taste of him.
A goblin kiss was not a soft thing. Their teeth were sharp and their claws were deadly. Ruric knew very well that she was capable of handling all of him, but he had always held back for fear of hurting her. He did not hold back now.
What both of them realized was that anger could turn into passion as quickly as a spark igniting into a flame. One moment they were ready to throw punches, the next they were tangled in each others arms.
His hair was fisted in her hands, yanked backwards in aggression. She was held in place by his large hands and strong arms, a cage that she could not have escaped from even if she tried.
Eventually they stilled. Pulling apart when the world came crashing down around them and they both realized what they were doing.
They did not move far from each other. His arms stayed curled around her. Her hands rested against the broad expanse of his chest. And as they caught their breath he reached up to brush away a bead of blood from her bottom lip.
“You stay here.” He said quietly.
“I have to do something.” But Jane knew when she had lost. She could rage here, throw things and break everything she could get her hands on. But Ruric was right. Running out to try and be a hero was only going to get herself or the other men killed.
He hated to see her so broken. He could do nothing to ease her pain. There was no way that he could save those men. They were a liability and too weak to continue to work. The goblins could not sustain themselves and the humans that worked for them. It was their way of life. To attempt to change that would mean he had softened to a creature that some
still barely considered more than animal.
The worst part was that it was he who would have to deal with them. Like animals they would put the humans down. Sometimes it was done down in the mines when one was injured, other times there was a spectacle made of it.
His thumb soothed the wrinkle between her eyes, dragging gently up until the worried mark would disappear for a few moments.
“I will do what I can.” His words were quiet and little faith that anything could be changed. But he would do what he could.
She stood frozen in place as he left, the curtain swinging closed behind him with a soft sound that seemed loud to her ears. He was gone, he had kissed her, he was going to kill humans.
The idea that he had killed her kind was not a new one. She had heard the stories just as much as the next human. She knew what these creatures were capable of. He wouldn’t be considered a warrior if he hadn’t killed before.
But those men she had seen were not warriors prepared to fight back against him. They were men that were sick and dying. She had seen the ribs of a few of them sticking out against their skin. Malnourished and weak, they had to be frightened as the goblins herded them towards a fate they did not understand.
What had Ruric meant that they were incapable of work? Was that what they were using the other humans for? It made sense that they were used as cattle. The goblins hadn’t seen humans doing anything other than working in the mines. It was likely they thought humans were bred to do just that. There were enough caves here that she thought they were probably always expanding.
Did they use humans for that then? Was the purpose for kidnapping them to work in mines further underneath the rock?
It made no sense that the men were in that state then. If creatures were working for you, the only way to keep them working well was to keep them healthy. Feeding them, clothing them, keeping them safe. It was the only thing that made sense to her. Obviously the goblins didn’t follow this logic and she couldn’t fathom why.
She started to pace while the sharp strikes of her feet against the stone numbed her mind. They were going to kill those men. She knew that Ruric had told her to stay and he was right. There were too many goblins here, she was outnumbered and potentially in danger. She was a human and they were killing humans. To remain here felt like a slap in the face to her species.
It was her choice to be foolish. It was her choice to help the men that she likely knew. In the end, she also knew what was the right decision. She had to help them even if it meant forfeiting her own life.
As a human, she had to do what she could.
Rushing into the back of the cave, she could grabbed what little Ruric had left. There was a black swath of fabric that they used for a blanket. For now it would have to serve as a makeshift cape that would hide her in the shadows.
One of the globes in the corner of the room started to dim, and as she shook it for more light she pondered whether or not she should take it. There was no way to turn them off and if someone came looking for her it would be a dead giveaway.
She couldn’t see without them though.
Realizing she was stuck, she walked to the edge of the room looking for something that might help her.
And it was in the very back of the room that she discovered another makeshift bed. It was roughly made and looked uncomfortable. She had seen it before once or twice, but had never took the time to really look it over.
This must have been where he slept before the hammock. It had taken time for them to share a bed. Jane had always assumed that he had gone somewhere else to sleep. Now she was starting to realize that it was unlikely he would ever leave her for that long and that he had been staying here to watch over her.
She fingered the soft material of the blanket softening towards the memory. He had been so kind to her even back then. He was a good man.
Her foot connected with something underneath the bed with a loud thunk. Brows furrowed once more, she leaned down to see a metal box that had been slid underneath it.
She had never seen goblins keep anything like this. It looked like something she would have found Above not something that was here. The box was light and rattled loudly when she shook it. No one was going to walk in and stop her yet somehow she thought she was going to be caught doing something she wasn’t supposed to.
The latch was broken and it was easy to ease open. Inside were a few random items she recognized. A small pin, a few switches from the helmets they had worn, a faded photograph of a man she did not recognize. But in the corner was the one thing that made her breath catch in her throat and her hands shake.
There was a flashlight in the box. Old and slightly muddy, but a flashlight.
She held her breath and prayed to the gods she did not believe in hoping that there would be something that happened. A soft click echoed through the cave as she hit the switch. Please let there be light, she thought. Please let this work.
It didn’t. Nothing happened but the soft click that did nothing but make her angry.
She smacked it against her hand hard, but once again nothing happened. “Come on! You last forever in the mines but a stinking goblin gets his hands on you and you stop working?” She hit it again. “Work please!”
One more strike and there was a stuttering light that shuddered before steadying.
White light. She hadn’t seen white light in over three months. It had always been blue light that changed the color of everything she could see.
The cave was suddenly stark in the beam of her flashlight. Colors faded to dull, the stone no longer glittering the way it did in the light of the globes. She cared not for what was around her but indulged herself in a moment of pure self absorption. She turned the light towards her arm and flexed her fingers as she enjoyed a moment of looking at normally colored tan skin.
She was paler than she had been when she came down here. Already she was starting to look more like the goblins than human.
It was more than enough reason to have her clicking off the flashlight and covering herself with the dark colored blanket. Her people were down there and who knew what was happening to them. If she could help then she would. If she died doing it, then so be it.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
SHE SLIPPED OUT of the cave and checked to make sure that no one was around to see her. It appeared that most of the goblins had followed the troop leading the humans towards the bigger cave. It was an odd contrast to know she had celebrated a type of celebration there.
She shivered to think that this might be part of a celebration as well.
The already lit globes guided her way and with the blanket over her head she managed to pass by without being seen. Any who did glance her way dismissed her. None caught sight of the long golden braid that swung from underneath the blanket.
A large crowd had gathered in the giant cave, all of the goblins agitated. They were shouting and warbling. Their strange noises would rise to hit the ceiling and reverberate back down towards them. Some were nearly foaming at the mouth.
Jane didn’t know what was going on, but she could easily see that she wasn’t going to like it. They were crowing towards the gathering of goblins that were on the lifted section of the cave. She had seen these goblins before, the council members that had judged her grouping of men.
This couldn’t be good if they were here. Ducking her head a little lower, she shifted herself through the crowd to the edge so that she could press herself against the wall.
There could not have been a more dangerous place for her to be. A human among many goblins that were only here because they thought these humans were going to be… what? Killed? Given away as slaves?
She was careful to continue to thread her way through the crowd slowly until she was standing just beyond the council members. If she wanted to slip past them unnoticed, she was going to have to be quick.
No one noticed the shadow that skittered past the gathering of goblins and into the darkness b
ehind their leaders.
Jane let out the breath she had been holding. She gasped as she rounded a corner in the cave and pressed her back against the stone. Her heart was pounding so hard she could feel it knocking against her ribs.
The flashlight was easier to click on this time. It only took a few swift smacks until the bright beam hit the ground in front of her. She was going to feel much better once the angered sounds behind her died down.
She picked her way through the tunnel, carefully choosing her footsteps as she wandered further and further into the depths. The goblins would have been cocky to leave the humans unattended. Jane was certain she would be discovered by goblin guards at any moment.
But she wasn’t. Instead after two corners she rounded a third to find the six men she had seen on the bridges. They were tied up hands to feet. These men weren’t going to be able to move if they tried.
She didn’t recognize any of them and she tried to squash the feeling of disappointment. Surely the men that she had came here with still lived. There would be no reason to kill any of them. They were strong able men. They were certainly capable of working in the mines for a good amount of time.
She bent down next to one of the men, setting the flashlight on the ground next to him as she worked the gag out of his mouth.
“What are you doing here?” He was quick to hiss at her, eyes wild as he looked past her towards the darkness. “This is no place for a woman.”
“I’ve been here for a while. I’m saving you.” She said.
She had forgotten how the men Above also thought that women were fragile. Only the men could work in the mines. Only the men could be strong. Apparently now also only the men could save people.
“Go girl, this place is not safe! How in the world did you manage to get down here.” He actually pulled away from her touch. “We’re too far gone for your help. Save yourself.”
“I don’t need saving!” She hissed at him. “Let me untie you and we’ll make our way out of here. At least let me give you a fighting chance.”
He flinched away from her once more. “No one is getting us out of here alive girl. There are others, deeper in the mines. If you think you can get us out, then go to them. They’re still healthy enough to make it.”
