I walk for about ten minutes before I come across the first sign of civilization. The village I find is very lively, full of life and color. I see children running around, playing a game that is unfamiliar to me. Adults either watch the children or shop at the stands that are set up around the town. To me, this looked to be a shopping center for this world, similar to that of a mall.

The people, I eventually notice, aren’t actually people. Not like humans, anyway. As I get closer, I see that these humanoid figures are green in color. Their ears extend backward, longer than a human’s ears, and they end in a point rather than curve. Their limbs are longer, slender, and their eyes come in several different colors, ranging from white to black to red. I realize that these things are goblins.

Grandma described goblins as some of the most sophisticated creatures in the entire world. Despite what old stories say about goblins being tricksters and thieves, many goblins live peacefully and actually have many different personalities. Only a few goblins are considered to be dangerous, and most of those ones grew up in a gang-like group known as the Nelsheks. They are the ones who always get into trouble, but no one knows where they hide. Because of that, no one can truly stop them. It doesn’t help that they are rumored to always move around.

These goblins, fortunately, did not look like they would be a part of a major traveling crime organization that is hellbent on making life worse for humans. They look like the friendly kind. At least, I hoped they were.

I barely make it into the town before I hear a shout: “HUMAN!” In the blink of an eye, everyone runs to the far end street, and I’m surrounded by very sharp metal spears. I let out a nervous laugh. “Heheh, hey, guys.”

The guards with the spears lead me to what has to be the largest house I have ever seen. It stretches out in all directions, the end never to be seen. This has to take up at least half the town. What is even more impressive was the material it was made from. From what I have seen so far, the houses and shops are made from stone and wood. This house is made from something that is way more expensive than that. I can’t place my finger on it. It has luster, but it’s not metal or anything similar. I don’t understand it, and I don’t have time to comprehend it before I’m taken inside.

We wander through many different rooms: a bedroom, a kitchen, what looks to be a bathroom, and several others, before we arrive in a room that was elegantly decorated. The room shines brightly from the precious gems buried in the walls. Two large candle chandeliers hang from the ceiling, providing light to the room. Surprisingly, the candles are able to provide enough light to illuminate the room as if it were midday.

On the far side of the room is a large chair. A very large chair. Like, fifteen feet tall, ten feet wide. I gape at the enormity. I could never believe that there could ever be a chair this big, unless…

Unless I’m about to be addressed by the Goblin King himself.

Grandma talked about the Goblin King with incredible respect. He used to be a ruthless warrior, highly revered by his people, and he is supposedly one of the kindest goblins ever. When Grandma was here in this fantasy land, she would often turn to the Goblin King for guidance and help. Much of her wisdom, she says, came from him. This guy had been alive for centuries, so he had a lot of life experience.

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Hopefully he can help me.

A large door opens to the side of the throne. The guards around me click to attention. Here he is, the King of the Goblins. I’m about to meet the most powerful creature in the entire land. I’m sure he’s huge. I’m sure he’s kind. I’m sure he’s…

Short?

Young?

Snarky?

The first sentence out of his mouth is, “Ugh, a human. They’re as dumb as a croknot on a hill. Why is he here? He should’ve been sent to the prisonlands immediately.”

The guard on my left speaks. “Sorry, sir, but we didn’t know what to do with him. It’s been centuries since we’ve last seen a human. We just thought…”

The short goblin cuts him off as he sits in the large chair. “I don’t care what you thought. You should’ve gotten rid of him. I don’t care what he has to say either; I’m the king, and what I say goes. Now, take him to the prisonlands.”

That doesn’t sound good.

“Please, um, sir,” I say as the guards start to turn me back toward the door we came from. “Just hear me out. I’m sure after you hear what I have to say…”

“And I don’t!” he says. Could he be any more annoying? “Listen to me, human, you aren’t even supposed to be here. It says so in the treaty! If you can’t get that through your tough skull, then you deserve to go to the prisonlands for life.” He seems satisfied with that idea.

The guards take me out of the throne room and back through the enormous building. Out on the street, there is a crowd of goblins watching the entrance, probably waiting to hear what my verdict would be. This assumption is made true when someone at the front shouts, “What’s the verdict?”

Again, the guard on my left speaks. “He is to be sent to the prisonlands.”

The crowd gasps. I drop my head. The crowd parts, creating a berth large enough for the guards and me to walk through. I’m taken out of the town a different way than I came in. After a couple more minutes of walking, we arrive at what I have to assume is the prisonlands. The sky has turned gray, the trees look dead, and several large stone blocks sit as far as the eye can see. On each block is a single gate on the front and a single barred window on the back.

I’m led past several of these, each block occupied by… something. I can’t tell what they are. It’s too dark to see in the cells.

We come to a cell marked with the number 267435. I assume that there are at least that many cells in the prisonlands. Already this tells me a lot about the world I just entered.

The goblins open the gate and shove me in. I stumble into the block while the guards shut the gate behind me. I didn’t see a key used during any of these recent events. They must’ve left the gate unlocked.

I walk up to the gate and put my hand against it, ready to open it. Instead, there’s a shock, and I fly into the back wall. I grunt, fall to the floor, and groan. Not what I was expecting.

“I wouldn’t try that again, human,” came a female voice to my left. “There’s no lock; just a bunch of magic used to safeguard the entire thing.”

“Yeah, thanks, Sherlock. I don’t think I realized that when I was blasted against the wall.” I groan again as I stand up. My back got hit pretty hard.

“My name’s not Sherlock, though I did know a Sherlock once. Really fascinating fellow. Anyway, my name’s—“ she says something long and hardly repeatable “—but you can call me B’anca. Or Bea. A lot of humans call me Bea.”

“Nice to meet you, Bea. My name’s Jack.”

“Jack. Such an unusual name. I’ve never heard it before. Well, nice to meet you, too, Jack. You must’ve come a long way from home. And you’re probably going to be trapped here for a while.”

For a while? I couldn’t stay here for however long that was. I need to get back home soon! “No, no, I can’t stay here. I have to go soon. I have to get back home, or everyone will start wondering where I am. Please, Bea, you have to help me get out of here. There has to be a way to escape.”

“Jack, if there was a way to escape, I would be long gone by now. I promise you, there is no way out of here. Let me tell you one thing, though: you’re lucky to find the goblin town first. Almost every other place would have killed you on sight.”

I’m still hung up on the no-escape part. The being killed part didn’t really help. Even if I could escape, that would mean I would die in some horrible way the instant I came across another town.

What am I going to do?