"I'm Carl." The smallest boy in my group said, He was muscular and had short red military hair that really suited him. "This is my sister, Rebeca."

She just smiled.

While Carl was a short version of a bodybuilder, his sister was petit, like she had been stuck in time.

"And the shy guy here is Thomas." He said pointing at the fat boy. "Welcome to the last place brigade."

"Why?"

"Why what?" He asked, sparing a glance to the teams who were entering the dungeon.

"Last place, are you guys that bad, or are they too good?"

"We are bad." The fat boy said, avoiding my gaze.

"What Thomas is trying to say," Rebeca said, with her two hands on her hips, like she was some sort of boss. "Is that they are good and the team numbers are not fair."

On that, she had a point, and I could guess that for some reason, they were set to fail. And me too, by the looks of it.

"Fine." I sighed. "Let's see this dungeon."

The dungeon was actually a very spacious cave. At least at the entrance. There was also a dungeon portal inside it, but the carvings featured a couple of knights fighting each other.

"Can't the monster cross it?"

The three looked at me like I was dumb.

"Are you for real? Did you leave under a rock?" Rebeca asked.

"Probably." Her brother answered. "He is old and weak, what did you do before coming here?"

"Nothing." I was not in the mood to share my life story with a bunch of teens.

"He is probably sick in the head," Carl whispered to his sister.

"Probably." She whispered back.

I sighed. 'Let's get some shards, show me how it is done."

It didn't take us long to find a lone goblin scratching his while trying to make a bonfire. This one also looked like a short old man, all green and slim.

"It may be hard, but try to follow us," Carl said, pointing to the goblin. "My sister will draw its attention and I will fight it.

"And Thomas?"

"He will hide," Rebeca answered. "Ready?"

Before I could answer, she threw a rock at the goblin. It hit the creature's head, which turned, jumping. As soon as it saw her, it licked its lips, got harder, and ran toward her like a mad dog.

I had to be fair, she had a huge deal of courage for her age.

The goblin jumped at her, only to have its head smashed mid-air by a strike from Carl's mace. The goblin's head exploded like a balloon of gore.

Your team has killed Bob the Goblin!

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

You did nothing, so you got nothing.

Man up!

I really need to learn who was sending those messages, and why it was making fun of me.

"Two shards!" Carl shouted with glee.

"One." Rebeca followed.

The next battle followed the same pattern. Rebeca taunted; Carl finished it; I watched it; and Thomas did nothing. As a plan, it worked, but it would bring us to nowhere.

I turned to Thomas. "Why don't you help?"

He trembled and looked at his foot again. He looked nothing like the boy who attacked to get dinner.

"He is a coward," Carl said.

That made no sense. "Why are you here?"

"He was sold." Rebeca answered like it was the most obvious answer."

It took me a moment to process that. "Are you for real?" I turned to the boy. "You were sold?"

He smiled awkwardly and said nothing.

Shit! "Explain like I'm dumb."

"Not everyone wants to become a Warden, the poor families sell their children for a silver crown or a gold if the kid shows promise," Carl explained.

"Once you take an oath, you are a warden for life. He was sold for a bronze crown." Rebeca added.

"It was one silver," Thomas said, with red cheeks.

I felt sorry for the boy.

"Hey kid, come here."

He walked toward me, awkwardly, and stopped in front of me shaking and pissing himself.

"You kill the next one."

He finally looked me in the eyes. "I can't."

"You can, it's easy."

"It is not," Carl said.

"Shut up Carl. Jesus."

"Who is Jesus?"

"Nothing." I ignored Carl and held Thomas by the shoulders. "Look kid, you may not like it, but you only have to look for yourself. You keep it like that." I pointed at the dungeon gate. "And you will be buried there in no time."

His eyes went wide open. I didn't get the effect I wanted.

"Just try it."

He did and almost died.

The goblin jumped over him and punched the boy like he was a living punching bag. I had to kick the goblin's head and let Rebeca do the finishing blow.

You helped kill Bob the Goblin!

You got a single lesser shard!

Thomas was a bloody mess and I felt guilty, but he held the shard above his head, like a prize. The card shard was like a thin piece of glass, translucent with no detail.

I offered him my hand. "Are you ok?"

"No. Yes, I have a shard." He said, taking my hand.

"It's his first shard," Rebeca told me.

"Really? How?"

"He doesn't help," Carl answered with a shrug.

They let the next goblin to me. It was slightly bigger than the others, but still half my size. He remembered the goblin that had attacked me at the hospital.

That brought back a sour taste in my mouth.

The goblin attacked me. I ducked to the side and shoved the shield at his head. It fell with his back against the floor. In the next second, I was over him. Hitting his head over and over again.

"Stop it." Someone said.

I didn't.

"Come on, stop it!"

I didn't.

Someone pushed me, I turned, punched, and managed to stop the attack before I hit Thomas's nose. He was sweating, with a heavy breath, and with eyes so wide open, I thought they would have pulled out of his body.

"I…"

"What's your problem man?" Carl asked, hugging his sister, who was shaking. "You could have hurt him."

I walked away from there and out of the dungeon. Laryel tried to stop me, but I didn't listen. I just walked, until I got lost in the middle of the dead.

The silence became a torment.

I punched the wall with enough strength that it broke my hand. Yet, the pain almost didn't bother me.

You killed Bob the Goblin!

You are brutal! I liked that.

Here, take 5 Lesser Shards.

"Get out of my head! For fucking sake."

The voice stopped. I sat with my back against the cold stone, and stood there, doing nothing. I had snapped, and almost did something I would regret for the rest of my life.

The silence became agonizing. I hadn't had the time to mourn or even think too much about what had happened. Now that I was alone, it all came back like a punch in the gut.

It was ridiculous how life could turn for the worse in a matter of seconds. The worst part was that I didn't know what had happened to my daughter.

Was she used in a ritual? In an experiment? Or was she still somehow alive? God, we didn't even give her a name.

No, that was wrong, she had a name.

It was Yasmin, the name Vanessa wanted to name her in homage to her favorite aunt who had died of cancer.

With my eyes closed, I hit the wall with the back of my head once and got up. If I had the time to feel sorry, I had the time to grow stronger. I was now sure who attacked Earth, and for what reason, but I was sure of one thing.

Never mess with a father who has nothing to lose.