Night had fallen, casting a peaceful darkness over the village after the hectic events of the day. Raz moved slowly, carefully sneaking behind the weathered, wooden hut. In the dim light of the sole two torches still burning in the village, two Goblin Guards stood vigilantly out the front.

Raz's heart pounded in his chest as he inched closer, every step measured and deliberate to avoid making even the slightest sound. Raz knew that any misstep could alert the guards and jeopardize his entire mission. The tension in the air was palpable as he continued his silent approach. They had decided to keep the prisoner in the abandoned hut of Old Wognaz, who had passed away over a year ago.

In the weeks after old goblin’s death the place had been cleared out and Raz, Dunk and Ikni had made it their base of operations. They came up with secret missions and new plans of attack to get their hands on the bulbous sweetfruits that were crying out to be eaten!

The shrub-grown fruits were one of the village’s most prominent trade goods. The natural hot springs on the eastern side of town created the unique steamy atmosphere required to grow the juicy, yellow and green spotted delicacies. It wasn’t easy to get their hands on them either, they were the size of an adult’s head and they were harvested almost immediately after detaching from the stem, indicating they were ripe and ready.

The schemes the trio came up with were those of distraction and subterfuge and when they finally managed to secure one of the fruits, they had to be quick, unseen and have a solid hide-out. The Old Wognaz place.

Raz pulled aside the panel they’d installed in the back, it was the best secret entrance they had ever made. It was actually Ikni’s idea as she always felt the front door was a bit obvious. Not a bad instinct given it was also the only door. He looked around and listened for any disturbances, and then slipped through the opening.

Safely inside, Raz pulled the panel shut behind him and hid behind one of the storage boxes they used to use as seats. The hut would have been pitch black if it hadn’t been for the light from the flickering torches outside. A yellow glow shone through the poorly connected wooden planks making up the walls. The center pole of the hut was a big cylindrical beam, and Raz could make out the silhouette of the human, chained tightly with its back up against the wooden support.

Raz studied the human, it was breathing shallow, raspy breaths. It looked beaten and bruised, but no matter how much Raz squinted or focused, he found it hard to make out any distinct features in the low light. He decided to move to a better vantage point and silently Raz climbed up the ladder of the open attic.

He moved to the front of the hut as much as possible and now had a clear view of the human’s face as this side was better lit. The human was incredibly tall, and his muscles were toned and well-developed. Raz was certain this creature could rip his arms off his body like a rag doll’s, if it so chose. He was in awe of the Goblin Guard, they must be incredibly strong to be able to capture one such as this.

As Raz imagined the battle between the Goblin Guard and the human, his attention was brought back to reality as the door creaked, slowly opening. The guardsmen came in and walked up to the prisoner. The taller one of the two was carrying a bucket of water and threw it unceremoniously over the human. “Wake up you vile scum,” the guard hissed in a low tone of voice.

Raz knew the human had already been awake, its eyes were open and it had been looking around, though perhaps a bit dazed. The night wasn’t freezing cold, but it was cool nonetheless. The prisoner started to shiver and Raz thought it wasn’t quite right to treat even a monster this way.

The guard spoke again, “You have visitors, better behave or it will cost you your head!” Raz found his hands shake a bit, this was both exciting and nerve-wrecking, if he was detected he would be in more trouble than he had ever been before. He was so focused on the scene in front of him the rest of the world disappeared, all he could think of is who would come visit the monster in the middle of the night.”

Footsteps came from the doorway, Raz could tell it was a relaxed pace, lithe feet followed by a more of a dragging sound. It wasn’t one person, it was two or maybe even three. He focused, separating the sounds and rhythm in his mind. It was two people, he was certain.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Peering at the door, the first thing he saw enter the room was a black staff with a red glowing gem hovering just above it. Raz’s mind went blank, his mother was here, this was far worse than he had imagined. He instinctively pulled back and lay down as low as he could, slowly crawling further back, up against several old crates and tools. He pressed his body and his face against the floor, the only thing that mattered now was not being found.

His mother’s voice was cold and stern, “Well done Bhur’taznak, you will receive a commendation for this. I trust you covered your tracks? We will not be receiving company?”

“As per your instructions Elder,” the guard replied, “he will not be missed, the rest of his hunting party was found by foraging wolfbears. For the next three moons they’re fattening up for winter, everyone knows they are aggressive this time of year. There will be evidence only of the animal fight, the story is clean and believable."

“Excellent. Let’s get the sample,” he heard his mother say.

Some shuffling later the heard the human speak for the first time, “No, no please, no…” The sound of a thud followed and the prisoner went quiet again. Two to three dragging footsteps came next and then a quick clean slicing sound followed by a plop, just like when you throw something in the pond.

The guests and guards took their leave and it wasn’t long before the red glow of his mother’s staff was gone, the door shut and silence returned to the Wognaz residence. Raz didn’t move, the air was still thick with tension, he needed to make sure nobody would come back in. A hand touched Raz on the shoulder and while he tried to scream, no sound came out, his voice had shut down.

“That was crazy,” a soft voice whispered. Raz’s heart was pounding, he could feel it in his chest and neck both. He turned to look at his assailant and laid his eyes upon a big grinning mouth. A mouth he had dreamed of so many nights, “ehgr.. ehm”, his voice wasn’t functioning. It took a good ten seconds before he managed to produce something else than guttural sounds, “Ehm, hey, Ikni.” His saliva was thick, his mouth felt dry and he just realized he may have peed a bit when she startled him. That didn’t help his nerves.

“Raz, that was your mum, I recognized her voice. She sent the Guard to capture a human. By the Dawnling, your mum is such a bad ass!” Ikni whispered excitedly. Raz pulled himself upright and adjusted his hat to cover his missing ear, all in one smooth motion, or so he thought at least. Raz settled his emotions and forced a, hopefully natural, smile. “Hey Ikni, it’s ehm, been a while. How are you?” She punched him on the shoulder, quite a powerful punch, the pain shot right down the length of his arm. “You avoid me like the plague for a whole week and all you can say is,” her face formed into a sullen look, no doubt to imitate Raz’s own face, “it’s been a while?”

Before Raz could speak she punched his shoulder again. “Ow, Ikni, what the heck”, he cried out, still trying to keep his voice low. She punched him a third time, in the same spot, and finally said “Ok, now we’re even. Now be quiet you big crybaby, let’s check on the human.”

Before Raz had the chance to say no, she was descending down the ladder. She was so darn stubborn. He was secretly happy she hadn’t mentioned his ear, maybe things were not that bad after all. No time to think about things though, he couldn’t be seen to be scared, so after her he went.

The human was unconscious, and Ikni sneaked right up to him. Him, because the guard had indicated this was a male, Raz wondered if a human was a person, or an animal or a monster, he wasn’t sure but the guard seemed to indicate it was a person. “Stop Ikni,” Raz whisper-shouted, he panicked a bit, because he could smell blood. Blood and something else that he couldn’t quite put a name on.

Right when Raz spoke, Ikni put her hand on the human’s face and tilted the slumping head back. The side of his face was covered in blood, and Raz spoke, “By the Dawnling, they cut off his ear.” Ikni pulled her hand back, it was fully covered in blood, her face contorted in disgust.

“Let’s go Raz, this is gross, and if they catch us we’re dead,” Ikni’s cheery attitude had turned serious. Raz just kept staring at the human, he felt sorry for him, and he knew what he would feel when waking up. He too had lost an ear. Ikni kept pulling at his arm, but he wasn’t moving. In stead Raz took the drinking pouch from his belt and poured some water into the human’s mouth. Raz didn’t know if all humans had cracked lips, but to him it looked like this one was thirsty.

“Help …” a barely audible sound escaped the human’s lips, “… me”. Raz froze, the human spoke in the common tongue. Raz wasn’t fluent, but he liked using it as a secret language with Dunkblat. His parents had many books written in the common tongue at home, and Raz loved reading the stories. His father had taught him the basics of the language from very young.

“I can’t,” Raz said, “I’m sorry.” And then he ran off, following Ikni. As he closed the panel behind him, a memory hit him, he could suddenly place the mysterious scent he picked up on a bit earlier.

It was the smell of sweet mushroom cake.