It was getting dark, and the lantern lights strung across the street provided a mellow flickering light. It was comforting. They searched for a while, unsuccessfully.

“You’d think he’d have one here somewhere? What are we missing?” Illaria exclaimed.

“Bait no know. Maybe dey have delay? No set up shop on first day?” he asked.

“I suppose that could be true.” Illaria spotted a few familiar faces. Alvec and Naya stood in front of a stall with paintings and portraits. Sarbie and Hoc were walking away from them.

“Have either of you seen a shop set up by Ben?” Illaria asked as she neared them.

“Can’t say I have,” Alvec said.

“Ben, the cheesemaker from Archers Market?” Ij asked.

“Yes, Dat Ben,” Bait replied.

“You won’t find a booth for him here. He and a local restaurant handle the entire concession stand for the festival. It closes up shop early but is the most prestigious location,” Ij explained.

“Bait no get cheese tonight? Bah, dis dumb,” he said before lightly stomping around. A few moments passed as the group shared the overview of their evenings with each other before Edis and Nora slowly walked past them.

“Fancy seeing you folks here,” Edis said. The couple were holding hands and walking the festval grounds slowly together. “Figured you’d be at your house, what with all the goblins you’ve got partying over there.”

“...with all the WHAT?” asked Naya.

“Oh no,” Alvec said as the group exchanged looks. “Ij, tell Sarbie and Hoc I’ll be back as soon as possible,” He said before breaking into a sprint towards the house. Illaria, even buzzed as she was, quickly overtook him. Bait caught up, and Naya and Echo rode on by. When the team arrived at the compound, they heard the noise first: many goblins, far more than those who had competed in the tournament round this morning, were occupying the grounds. Several groups were dancing around small campfires. Another group of goblins was playing with an ax. They tossed it up in the air and then dodged it as it fell to the earth. There really wasn’t any winning, just surviving or losing.

Naya looked away. She didn’t want to know if anyone lost. She did see that Sorali was moving through the crowd of goblins, delivering them drinks and food. A look of relief spread over her face as she saw the trio arrive.

“Ah, masters, glad to see you’ve arrived back! I’ve been serving our guests food and drink to keep them occupied while we awaited your return!” She said before pressing a serving tray full of mugs of beer into Naya’s hands stepping close to Alvec, and whispering in his ear. “They haven’t touched any of the alchemy equipment, and I got all the cats into the stables as well. So they haven’t done any harm to anything but our pantry,” She said before taking a half step back. Alvec nodded approvingly to her before turning to Bait.

“Bait,” Alvec stated firmly. “These are your people; you deal with them,”

“Right, Bait got dis,” He said before puffing his chest up and entering into the encampment. “Boogie! Where you?” He shouted.

Before long, Boogie came front and center to meet him. “Bait, I make peace. Boom-boom may have faltered today, but you stronger tribe. Boogie respect dat,” he said before he held out a small offering to Bait a stick with two rats tied to it.

“Rat stick, Bait; not see one of these in long time. Blackpowder goblins missing, Bait no interact with other goblins much, and humans think rat-stick strange.”

“Correction, we find it gross. The rats are still alive, Dahn above,” Illaria said as she placed her hand against her forehead.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“Boogie, sorry to hear this. Boar Eaters keep eye out for Black Powder; maybe find dem? Though, dat not what we come here for. Goblin Moot SOON. Boar Eaters see something strange chase DOG-MOTHER into cave. Dogmother no come out of cave. We go look; Dog-mother not in cave? Goblins search long and hard, no find Dog-mother. So Dog-Daughter call for Goblin Moot. We gather all the tribes and try to find Dog-Mother.”

It had been a very long time since Bait had heard the name Dog-Mother. She big spirit for Goblinkind. She give Goblins their goblin dogs. She help make dem great riders on open plains. She give them companions better than regular dogs.

“We want you at Goblinmoot. Your tribe small but strong; if Goblins fail to find Dog-Mother, maybe you and your tribe do?”

“Bait will be there. We help find Dog-Mother if you can’t by den. When moot?”

“Moot take at least two full moons to assemble all goblin tribes.”

“Ok, we be there,” Bait confirmed.

Alvec let out a sigh. “Sorali, how are you holding up?

He asked as he saw the young woman peek out from the coroner.

“Good sir, I’ve, uh, kept them away from the alchemy lab and the cats,” she replied.

“Excellent work, but you already told me that. I thought you were taking the day off,” He said.

“ Oh dear, I guess I did. It's been a strange night, forgive me. I had planned to take the day off, sir. Then I realized that if you guys keep winning, I can’t take the whole week off, so I figured I’d come and do a light touch-up so the work won’t get too backlogged.”

“A sound plan. Now that we have other people here to watch over them, it's fine for you to head out,” Alvec said. “In fact, sorry guys, but I promised to buy someone dinner, so I’m going to be on my way as well,” Alvec said. The wizard excused himself and headed for the gate; he used his magic to accelerate himself. It wasn’t a massive rush of speed, but it would get him back faster.

He returned to find Ij packing up shop and Hoc and Sarbie loitering around. “See, I told you he’d be back,” Hoc roared.

“Yeah, but we’d better hurry by the looks of it. Having walked the grounds so much, you must have your hearts set on something,” Alvec said as he caught up with them, out of breath.

“The kebab stand two blocks over,” Hoc said.

“Run ahead and order something for me too!” Alvec said. “I’ll be right along with the coin.” Hoc didn’t hesitate to break into a sprint.

“Alright, and what about you, Sarbie?” asked Alvec. “You’re the one I owe, after all.”

“Really, it's ok. I don’t need anything.”

“I’m not taking no for an answer. One good turn deserves another,” Alvec said.

“There's a stand that sells some fried dough near here. I haven’t had any of that this year,” she said reluctantly.

“Alright, let's go,” he said, gesturing for her to take the lead.

“I’m new here; I don’t know where I’m going,” Alvec said with a smile. They arrived there to see that the stall owner was packing up.

“Darn, we can rain-check this,” she said. “I mean, you didn’t need to buy me anything anyway.”

“Give me a second,” Alvec said before walking to the counter. “Sir, I know you’re starting to break down, but would it be possible to ask you to make up two more batches of fried dough?”

The man let out a hefty sigh. “It would take about a half hour of my time and delay my getting home by an hour and a half. I’d really rather not.”

“What if I offer to help with the cleanup?” Alvec asked. “I’ll also pay five extra gold as a tip,” he said. The man looked him over briefly and finally noticed Sarbie off in the distance. He nodded.

“Alright, you get ten minutes after it's done to eat with your friend,” he said, winking. “And then you get back here and help me close up shop. Also, you're paying in advance,” Alvec flushed at the insinuation and quickly slapped the gold and silver onto the counter. He took a handful of other coins and tied them up in a small pouch before handing them to Rem.

“Ok, buddy, go find Hoc so he doesn’t get into trouble. Give him the coins.”

Rem yipped in agreement, sniffed the wind, and sprinted away.

The two of them stood there awkwardly, waiting for the food. As soon as it was done, the man took off his flour and oil-smeared apron and served them two plates of fried dough with a light sprinkling of powdered sugar on the top. They ate in relative silence. “That was delicious,” Alvec said as he stood up. “Have a good night, Sarbie. I’d offer to walk you home, but I feel Hoc will be along any moment now. I can feel Rem’s excitement. I think he got my kebab. They're heading this way now.”

“Wait, what are you doing?” she asked as he walked over to the stall and entered into it.

“Helping him clean up for the night. The deal I made was more than just coin.” He said as he gave her a final goodbye wave.

She sighed; the boy went out of his way to do good as recklessly as Hoc claimed he fought. Maybe she’d have to actually catch the next match. It might not be her everyday scene, but he deserved one more supporter in the stands.