Stepping out of the dark hallway, Mouse yawned. Bare feet slapped over stone. Wet skirts dragged at his legs. He glanced down the hallway and paused.

Felix drew another few steps on, then stopped and looked back as well.

“Your Majesty, it’s late. I should go back to my chambers.”

“I still have so much to ask…” Felix said, reluctant.

Mouse smiled and gestured at his ruined clothes. “I couldn’t impose.”

Still hesitant, Felix wandered toward him. “I… couldn’t Eleda dry your skirt?”

“I wouldn’t want to wake her.” Let me go already. I don’t want to spend the night, dammit! Even if the risk is low, it’s still too high for me.

“If… you’re sure. But I wanted to see your magic,” Felix muttered.

“You’ve already seen Eleda’s magic. Mine isn’t that different. Sun elves and moon elves are very similar, at our core.”

“Well… if you must,” Felix said.

Mouse curtseyed gratefully. “Then, I’ll take my lea—”

“Run!”

Mouse and Felix whirled. Gawain bolted at them, ears swept back, nightdress held out of the way of her legs. She beelined for Mouse and scrambled up him like a tree, grabbing and pulling indiscriminately. Fingernails bit at his waist. Gnarled toes dug into his crotch.

Mouse tensed and bit back a scream.

In a second, she mounted his shoulders and held tight to his hair. Kicking her feet, she shouted, “Run, run!”

“Gawain? Why…?” Felix’s brows furrowed.

A yellow-eyed goblin, green shoulder stained with black, rounded the corner. Mouse backed away. Shit! It’s blighted!

“Is that what your spell found earlier?” Felix asked.

“Run!” Gawain demanded, kicking harder.

“The resonance was a bit strong for one goblin…”

Another goblin spun around the corner, then another, then another. A wave spilled around the corner all at once, goblins running, sliding, and falling over one another. Disorganized, they milled at the crossroads, some drifting away, others drifting toward Mouse and Felix.

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One of the goblins stared at them, whites of her big yellow eyes discolored to oily black. She raised her hand and jabbered something in the goblin tongue.

A dozen or more heads snapped around to face them, big yellow eyes unblinking, ears twitching.

“…but I guess there’s more!” Mouse backed away at a jog, then turned and ran. Felix chased after him, sprinting down the hall.

A goblin screeched, and the mob gave chase, feet slapping the ground at a downpour pace. Projectiles pelted against the backs of their legs, teacups, pebbles, half-chewed quills, whatever they had at hand.

Mouse sped up. “Do you have a spell that can capture them?”

“Capture them?” Felix asked, half a fireball already flickering in his hand.

“So I can show you the purification spell,” Mouse suggested.

“Don’t kill my friends!” Gawain demanded, tugging on Mouse’s hair.

“Ow! I’m trying to keep the Mage-Emperor from killing your damn friends, so stop!” Mouse shook his shoulders, annoyed.

Dismissing the fireball with a wave, Felix fell into thought. “I have spells that capture, but they need time…”

“We don’t have time,” Mouse snapped.

His eyes lit up. “A room! If we have an empty room, I can trap them!”

“An empty room?” Mouse glanced around. Doors opened on both sides of the hallway.

His brows furrowed. Actually, this part of the castle looks familiar. Isn’t this…

Mouse grinned suddenly and beelined for a door. “Here!”

He kicked open the door. It flew wide, revealing a bedroom. Mouse rushed in, Felix on his heels.

A woman shrieked and clutched covers to her chest. Beside her, Reginald stared at them, nose thickly bandaged.

At the sight of Mouse, Reginald’s face contorted with anger. “You! Filthy bitch. Get the fuck ou—”

Dozens of goblins poured into the room, climbing over one another, squeezing their little bodies to fit past the door.

The woman vanished under the covers. Reginald climbed half out of the bed, realized he wasn’t wearing anything, and snatched a blanket to cover himself. Clutching the blankets with one hand, he jabbed a finger at Mouse with the other. “Get those disgusting goblins out of here!”

Atop Mouse’s shoulders, Gawain gargled. She hawked a loogie into his face, then, mucus still strung to her lips, snapped, “Goblins aren’t disgusting!”

Reginald turned pale, then red, then green. He spluttered and jabbed his finger again, but no coherent words left his lips.

Mouse raised his eyebrows, surprised. I didn’t know humans could turn so many colors.

As the last of the goblins tumbled in after them, Felix pointed. Gold light flew from his finger and formed into a transparent gold mesh that blocked off the door. “Alright! Got them.”

The goblins spun around, startled by their exit closing off. They rushed at the mesh and bounced off it, the gossamer strong as steel. Frustrated, they screeched and roared, little fists smacking into the gold. Light blossomed brighter where they struck, but the mesh showed no signs of breaking. Others clawed, and one turned her head and tried to bite the mesh, but without success. The mesh stood strong.

“Hmm, interesting.” Felix drew out his notebook. His pen darted across the page.

Suddenly, the mass of goblins stilled. Babbling in the goblin tongue, one of them jabbed a finger at Mouse and Felix. One by one, the goblins turned and looked at them, big eyes wide.

“Are we supposed to be in here with them?” Mouse asked.

Felix opened his mouth, shut it, then opened it again. “Uh… no.”

“Huh,” Mouse said.

As one, the goblins rushed them.