Two days later, Grillek and Lom were near one of the sewer entrances into the castle. After dodging several patrols and battling the elements, the two goblins made it. Before entering they took a rest outside and prepared themselves to go in.

“You know, if someone told me I was going back to this forsaken place, through the way we left I would have punched him,” Lom said.

“I would have laughed.”

“I knocked out a guard to get us through, I’m hoping he’s still not on patrol, oh and the egg we stole on our way out.”

“I still think it wasn’t a good idea, I remember you and Skrill-”

“Lom, don’t ever say that name. Please”

“Sorry, um let’s keep moving.”

Grillek sighed. “Look kid, you didn’t do anything wrong, I just don’t want to hear that name, that’s all.”

“Ok, as I was saying, you and the other person were bent on punching anyone we saw.”

“Hah, yeah, alright let’s do this, we need to move quickly.”

Grillek and Lom retraced their steps by finding the hidden markers showing the way out. It was strangely quiet, which made the two goblins nervous. When they were escaping they had to dodge several patrols. But, it was quiet, which is why Grillek chose to keep to the shadows.

Grillek was in front, he was better at sneaking and checking his corners. As they were approaching one such corner, the two heard a whistling noise. They both stopped. They recognized that tune, which enraged Grillek and made Lom sad.

“I know you two are there, you didn’t think you could slip in unnoticed?”

“Skrill,” Grillek said.

“Please, don’t do anything you’ll regret.”

“Come out and play, I promise we’ll keep you occupied.”

Grillek put his hands on his daggers. He looked at sweet Grillek’s face. He patted his hand on his head.

“I know you don’t want me to harm him, kill him for that matter. Look, I’m not going to sugarcoat it, I might have to take his life, you know this?”

“In the end, I hope you will make the best decision, for the both of us.”

“I hope so too, for the both of us.”

The pair turned the corner and found Skrill, along with another goblin. Skrill was now wearing the garb of the elite guard.No doubt his betrayal impressed the king. Then again, Grillek had recognized him from the fighting pits. He remembered that Skrill was the fiercest fighter he’s ever seen. The goblin next to Skrill was wearing a bigger and shinier set of armor, no doubt his superior.

“Well, I see you are taking good care of yourself, my old friend,” Grillek said.

“Surrender now, and face the king’s mercy, resist and your lives shall end now,” the commander said.

“I’m ready for a fight, Lom, close your eyes and ears, it’s time to get messy.”

Skrill went behind his commander and put a piece of cloth in front of his superior’s nose. The commander dropped and started to snore. Skrill rummaged through and found a key. He tossed it to Grillek, who catched it.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

“I never really liked him anyway, and this armor is fitting a bit snug.”

“So you have a change of heart, I still don’t trust you.”

“I don’t blame you, but after I heard about the abductions, well, I had a change of heart. Me and others.”

A dozen goblins stepped forward into the light. They were wearing civilian clothing. Grillek recognized some of them, they all served the king.

“Help us rescue the ladies, with our strength-”

“It’s not enough, the king locked down his palace, it’s hard to get in, but let me help, think of it as my penance.”

“Fine, but if this is a trick, I’ll slice your throat, understand?”

“Grillek, always direct, your terms are acceptable.”

Some of the goblins tried to join them but Grillek and Lom refused, too many they told everyone. Before the trio and the group parted ways, Grillek and Lom were given new clothes. The trio moved on through the tunnels until they came to their stop. Ahead of them were some stairs that lead into an abandoned house. Well, it only looks abandoned, in reality it’s a safe house. The trio climbed up the stairs, Lom gave the secret knock and the door opened.

“Come in, come in, quickly,” said the doorman.

All three rushed in. The doorman shut the door and locked it, then ushered them to the top. The house was teeming with people, all talking.

“There’s so many people here that it’s buckling the illusion, we had to ask some magic users to keep the spell going.”

“The spell better not break or else people will see this in its true form,” Grillek said.

“Indeed, the problem is, these people are here to escape from the king. He’s been rounding up any magic user and healer, no one is saying for what. The last straw was when he bombed that city hall. At least he had the decency to evacuate people.”

“I sense tension, I see many faces that look worried,” Lom said.

“Aye, threats of war are looming, the king won’t apologize for what he did. Nobody wants a war, not now. Come, the three of you can exit from the back.”

“Thank you for your hospitality, I know I don’t deserve it.” Skrill said.

“This doesn't change things, I still don’t trust you,” Grillek said.

“I understand, really I do. Here take these coins, they should get you into the castle, no questions asked. I have one for myself.”

“I want to leave now, but I could see poor Lom is getting tired,” Grillek said.

“You mean it?”

“Yeah, go find somewhere to rest, I’ll find my own. But I need to have a word with our friend.”

“Oh, ok.”

Grillek waited until Lom was far. Grillek took Skrill to the back. Outside was cold, not a lot of refugees out in the back. The two goblins walked away from the house, toward a shack. As soon as they went past the shack, Grillek pinned Skrill to the back.

“Let me make something absolutely clear, my dear friend. The first sign of betrayal and I’ll end you.”

“I assure you, I won’t.”

“Good.” Grillek unpinned Lom. “The kid seems to trust you again. Don’t let him down, again.

Grillek walked away and back into the safehouse. Skrill lingered for a minute and walked back to the house. Walking back Skrill could have sworn he saw a figure at the window, must be part of the illusion he thought.

An hour later the trio left the safe house. They were given a map from one of the deserters. It was an elaborate map of the city on one side, and a map of the castle on the other. The trio was cleaned up and given new clothes and given papers with new identities.

As Grillek was walking, he couldn’t help but look up and around. For most of his life he had to have his head down. He never really got to enjoy the city. The buildings had a light gray tone to them. The homes themselves were uniform, tall, two stories with only three windows and one door and a triangular roof.

The shops and places of businesses came in different sizes according to their needs. Some were tall, the highest Grillek saw was four stories, and the shortest, mainly a shop, was one story with a flat roof.

The people, though, Grillek couldn’t help but passively observe how people acted. People walking at a steady pace, not making eye contact. A conversation was started only behind closed doors, in fact there was no one talking at all.

The undead we accidentally unleashed at Dreadhollow Mountain were more livelier than this Grillek thought. Indeed his mind went for a minute to the time he and his crew accidentally broke through a necromancer’s lair. Luckily some adventurer’s came by and helped defeat the necromancer.

Back to the city. Another thing Grillek has observed is that there are no parks, just trees planted in front of the buildings. Not even a bird chirping, no pets or wild animals for that matter. No need to dwell on this place, it was putting Grillek in a sour mood. So he put his head down.