The goblins who had fallen from the sky emerged from the trees onto a road. They sprinted past the corner of a cottage, trampling all over a farmer’s field. Hundreds of them looted food and drank. They cheered and stole baskets where they put their valuables. They covered these baskets with stolen cloth, wearing hoods and imitating a child’s walk. They looked like a horde of children when they ran up to a line of houses.
Hundreds of people hid inside these houses. Some of them covered themselves in multiple cloths and clothes to hide.
The goblins squeaked when they spoke. “I crave after happy tunes!”
“I crave after red baskets!”
“I crave after ceilings too.”
“The ceilings where mages loom!”
“They asked us, Parry! They asked us, Marty! They asked us, Cecillia! They did ask us!”
They gathered, leapt, and hugged one another. Some of them choked.
“And we’re here now.”
They let those who choked breathe again and scattered.
The people sighed in relief.
John said “hi” and opened a door.
Some of the people froze, but most of them greeted John one after another, shaking his hand and saying his name.
John gave them a smile that reached the eyes and maintained that smile until he left and looked inside the other houses.
The three children whom John had handed an orb greeted John.
John held their hands and guided them toward a small well. “Do you want water?”
The children nodded, rubbing their eyes.
“Please don’t rub your eyes!” John sounded tender.
The water fell on the children’ legs.
“Okay.” John tiptoed away, avoiding making too much noise. He turned around. “Raise your leg and wash it under and don’t use all the bucket!”
The kids laughed as they poured water over themselves.
John left with a surprised smile, joining Amanda.
Hundreds of dogs ran toward the goblins and joined their march.
John fell to the ground. Bones that belonged to another creature emerged from his back and exited out of his skin.
Amanda grabbed him and pulled the strange bones out of his back.
John grabbed Amanda’s hand and rubbed it against his face. “Heal me. Quick.”
Amanda nodded like a woodpecker. She cast a healing spell that failed.
John shouted. “No!”
Amanda opened her mouth, but she was speechless. She cast the healing spell again and again, but it failed.
John tightened his grasp on her hand. “Stop, stop!”
Amanda furrowed her brows.
John let her hand go. “I should be fine. I was hoping I could join you in the fight, but go without me.”
Amanda sat down.
John gave a tired smile. “Go.”
Amanda ignored him.
John lay down.
They stared in different directions and glanced around for danger.
Amanda pressed her hand against John’s thigh and massaged it.
John closed his eyes and fell asleep.
Amanda became half-asleep too.
When the sun set, two goblins had passed by her, inspected her body, and sprinted away.
When Amanda got up, she opened a compass and watched it go southward. She threw it away, and it exploded.
The three children were watching, their jaws dropped.
John got up. “Stop looking. Go, go, go.”
The children joined the rest of those who fled from the goblins.
A group of a couple of ogres and a bulky man whom John had met guarded those who fled.
A carriage trundled up to John, and the two soldiers whom John had met jumped off and strangled John.
John fell to the ground and wiggled his body, coughing.
The soldiers removed their hands, letting him recover.
John stood awkwardly, pushing himself off the ground with one hand. “You can’t be serious.”
The soldiers pointed elsewhere. “You shouldn’t told them to leave earlier,” one of them said, a man with a snarky face and a clean haircut.
“What?” John imagined Amanda as he rubbed his clothes to remove any dust.
“They died! You should’ve told them to leave earlier!”
“Who! Who?” John’s imagination became disturbed, and tears dripped down the imaginary Amanda’s face.
“The three kids. You were here, weren’t you? Why were they late? They came from here, and you’re the only one with the responsibility to get this done! Son, either go somwhere safe or help us and atone for what you did directly.” The snarky-faced soldier handed John a potion and gestured him to drink fast.
John’s imagination disappeared, and his senses became sharp. The pain he felt stung despite the healing effects of the potion.
“Blood for blood?” he said.
“No! Of course not! No one’s getting their blood spilled because someone they cared about died! You dumbie!”
“Blood for no reason then?” John sounded derisive.
The snarky-faced soldier pointed toward the grave of the three children. “Just do the right thing, John!”
John fell to his knees and slowly nodded.
“Yes?” said the other soldier, a pale-faced young recruit. “Are you going to come?”
John nodded hard, and he pushed himself off the ground and got up. “I... I will join you.”
The other soldier cheered with an innocent smile.
John slowly smiled as Amanda tapped his shoulder. She was sitting beside him during his confrontation with the snarky-faced soldier.
A older man with weak joints emerged from the carriage. He greeted Amanda and John, waving a hand.
Amanda, the older man, and the soldiers imitated John’s infectious smile.
Amanda raised a small hand. “Where have the goblins gone?”
“Far north near the trees,” said the snarky-faced soldier.
“Seven of them probably contacted some sort of disease if they’re hiding in a cave somewhere.” John rested his chin on the palm of his hand.
“Closer to us than we think.” Amanda climbed a tree and sat on a low branch. “They’re most likely deep inside the province.”
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“North?” The older man stretched his hands and back, whimpering when he made a bad twist. “Why north?”
The snarky-faced soldier squatted. “It’s faster that way and more effective since they can climb well.”
The older man strided toward John until he was face-to-face with him. “Why the disease, John?”
“They could be manipulating the diseases too well that one of them caught it.” John tapped and plucked around his back. “I got the bones.”
“The bones?” The older man grew tense as he strided around. “What’s the bones?”
“The bones spell is one where hundreds of goblins sacrifice a body part.” John sat on the ground, dirtied his hands, and rubbed most of the dirt off them. He took a joking tone. “And hundreds of people get bones on their backs. It’s horrible. I’ve tried it myself.”
Amanda tapped him with a half-disappointed, half-amused look.
The snarky-faced soldier raised his hands and tilted his head toward a tiny pool of water. “They could be hiding near the river north.”
The older man struggled to squat and tripped. “Okay, James, before that, how about what John said?”
The soldiers helped him up.
“It’s the bones spell.” The snarky-faced soldier named “James” gestured toward the carriage. “I’ve only heard it as much as I’ve seen it myself. No one talks about it because it’s unprecedented.”
The soldiers brought the older man to the carriage and handed him a pouch of water.
The older man sat down and drank from this pouch. “Half of those who lived here died.” He sounded depressed.
He dropped the pouch by mistake.
James caught the pouch and returned it. “This situation calls for it to be a problem, but history likes to get the best and the worst.”
The older man leaned over toward the soldier and whispered.
The soldier nodded and turned his head toward Amanda. “Might I please know your name?”
Amanda nodded. “I am Amanda Lee.”
“How did you get your name?”
Amanda stared at the pool of water where James tilted his head.
She took a long, deep breath for over ten seconds.
“From my birthfather, and my stepfather agreed to keep the name despite a tradition in his family to change names regarding his faith.” Her tender voice carried hints of repulsion and admiration.
The older man joked. “I did not need that. Too long. Did not expect that.”
The soldiers dropped their jaws.
Amanda and James showed easy, polite smiles.
The older man covered his head and eyes, glancing in the soldiers’ direction. “Either way, since we’re up here, we should go down the mountain.” He coughed, blinking hard. “You guys go do what you need to do. I will be with you shortly.”
James whispered to the younger soldier, and the younger soldier scurried up to Amanda and James.
Amanda and John stared at the older man, furrowing their brows in concern.
The younger soldier slapped his hips to get their attention. “Morning.”
Amanda turned toward John, and John turned toward Amanda.
“What?” John stretched his arm behind himself.
“They’re coming. The team.”
“Who?” Amanda yawned.
The younger soldier wrinkled his nose. “They’ll take care of the fighting with you.”
John smiled. “Fighters, alright.”
The soldiers joined the older man, and their group left.
John and Amanda left and visited the grave of the three children.
Amanda broke into tears.
John’s voice was weak.
They grieved for them.
When the sun reached its peak, a group of teenagers had emerged from the trees and sprinted up to John and Amanda.
These teenagers separated themselves and adopted elegant poses. “We’ve been sent to fight with you.”
John and Amanda shook each of their hands with tender smiles and introduced themselves.
The teenagers lowered their heads somewhat.
“Let’s discuss how we’re going to fight them, shall we?” John said.
The teenagers trembled with excitement. “Yes, John and Amanda!”
John and Amanda glanced between one another and the teenagers, waiting for them to introduce themselves. Their glances showed obvious prompting.
One of the teenage boys swallowed.
Another teenage boy stepped forward. “I’m Handsome.”
John pretended he misundestood, covering his mouth. “Apparently!”
Amanda grinned. “He’s kidding. Hi, Handsome.”
The teenager named “Handsome” widened his eyes for a whole second, making himself terribly obvious.
Amanda gave John a knowing look.
John imitated Amanda’s grin. “My son would like to meet some of you if he knew.”
The teenagers glanced at one another with half-scolding, half-amused looks.
Amanda sounded serious. “Excuse me, John, might I please ask if we are heading toward the gates?” She preferred sounding polite in front of the teenagers.
The teenagers turned their heads toward John.
John posed and gave an enthusiastic thumbs-up, opposing Amanda’s seriousness.
Amanda rubbed her forehead as her sweat slip down the tip of her nose.
The goblins slept inside a small camp where hundreds of ants traveled across their bodies.
“Yo! I’m sleeping here. Get me a pillow.”
“We have no pillows. Want to sing a song?”
“No! I’m tired!”
“Yeah, we’re tired!”
“Me too!”
‘Alright, then, I’ll be leaving.”
A goblin trudged outside of the camp and spotted Amanda giving John a massage.
“Yo, guys, little ones out here doing some bondage.”
“Those guys are not little, but hey, they’re a tad bigger than normal.”
“What’s up with them?”
“Killing them?”
“No, I mean ‘What’s ‘up up’ with them?’”
“Strange people that’s for sure. Let’s kill them, alright?”
“Right.”
“Alright!”
Amanda and John handed the teenagers handkerchiefs for their sweat.
The teenagers thanked them as the goblins sprinted up behind them.
John leapt and blocked the way.
The goblins slammed into John.
John jumped away and tripped.
The group of teenagers, around 60 in number, pulled their crossbows and aimed.
Amanda helped John up.
The goblins, around 5,000 in number, retreated to avoid the arrows, prefering self-preservation over an easy victory.
The teenagers relaxed their bows and sprinted away alongside Amanda and John.
The goblins charged. They had increased their speed twicefold when their targets ran the short 100 meters in the very long 20 seconds.
John grabbed a rock, whispered an incantation, and shot it.
The rock exploded, and its tiny pellets slammed into the goblins.
The goblins stopped and rubbed themselves, bleeding.
John and Amanda sprinted away away from a hill.
The teenagers ran behind this hill and climbed it, raising their bows.
They shot their arrows, and a goblin at the front caught all the arrows.
One of the goblin men cursed. “Olato got made.”
They marched away.
John and Amanda sat on their haunches.
John rubbed his nose. “Do they have something else to do?”
Amanda grabbed her pouch and grabbed packaged food. She handed it to John.
John grabbed it.
Amanda handed the teenagers some packaged food.
They ate and drank.
When darkness came, they had left, rested somewhere hidden, and left again.
They walked up to the gates which John, Amanda, and their son had visited.
The goblins pitched camp there for the night.
John, Amanda, and the group of teenagers joined a large group of people that surrounded the goblins.
“What in the world are they doing?”
John and Amanda stared for several minutes.
John sounded nice. “They look normal. Should we bother them?”
A group of goblins among the mass of goblins waved balls of light toward John and Amanda. One of the goblin men dropped a painting depicting the dead goblin named “Olato” with his hands outstretched in front of his favorite food. Their faces looked forlorn and wasted.
However, as John stared, their lost expressions shifted to rage.
They ran, waking up their goblins and sending a grandious message.
“They’re here!”
“The hateful!”
“The tyrannical!”
“The monstrous!”
“We should remove them! Break their tendons!”
Their voices were musical.
The goblins who had moved on from Olato’s death in a blink of an eye woke up, grasping weapons and protective gear. They stood, joined the singing, and entered into formation.
John’s face changed.
He covered his disgusted expression. “This is hypocrisy. They killed children.” His voice contained venom.
Amanda raised her hand and adopted a thinking pose. “A talk. A talk will gain something.”
A group beside Amanda heard her and nodded. “Let’s tell whoever’s in charge.” They bounded away alongside Amanda and John.
“Stop the plans to fight!”
“Don’t fight!”
“No fighting!”
“We are against fighting!”
“Please don’t fight!”
The shouting in favor of pursuing peace talks with the goblin group soared as John and Amanda spread the message.
A tall woman gave a tender smile toward John and Amanda and greeted them with a bow. She gestured to the onlookers of people crowding toward her. “I’m Sophia, the mover of these people.” She pointed to a group of men beside her. “And these men are my husbands.”
Amanda hid her surprise, glancing at John.
John gave a composed smile. “We are against fighting the goblins. Can we give them what they really want?”
Amanda widened her eyes, failing to hide her surprise.
The tall woman named “Sophia” noticed and gave a couple of big nods. “No, too dangerous I think. I’m not the one deciding ‘that that,’ but right now, do tell me why fighting them won’t end up in a win-win in the long run. They carry bombs that’ll destroy the kingdoms from the inside out.”
Amanda raised a closed fist. “What are you guys talking about? Bombs?”
“Conceptual.”
Amanda squinted as her expression grew tense.
“Not the actual.”
Amanda raised a brow, widened her eyes, and compressed her lips.
“Metaphorical.” John sounded serious and somewhat guilty.
Sophia and the group of men giggled.
Amanda grabbed John’s arm with a tender smile.
John clasped his forehead, covering his eyes, looking somewhat embarassed.
The group of men showed Sophia expectant glances, and Sophia nodded.
The men handed Amanda and John some cheesecake.
John and Amanda thanked them, and they ate.
She gestured, raising a packaged cheesecake. “We can end it today, but only if they accept this meal. I can do it myself, but you can try since I’m open to either war and peace.”
John and Amanda showed their surprised smiles, turned around, and finished their food.
Sophia rested her chin on the palm of her hand. “Hello?”
John turned around and back several times before he realized.
He gave a thumbs-up for the food. “Yes?”
Sophia glanced at the meal for the goblins on her hand.
John raised his shoulders. “Oh, I’m sorry!” He grabbed it and bowed. “Thanks for the food!” He turned around.
“Chic lavender and mustard.” Sophia paused midway through her return to resting position. Her smile was awkward.
John wore a purple gown layered over yellow trousers. His face outside of Sophia’s view, he raised a brow and left. He took her words as a compliment despite his distaste with the use of the word “mustard.”
Sophia continued her return to resting position and stood at ease. She turned toward the group of men beside her, and the men showed her a map.
The map displayed a couple of balls of light that moved at the same time John and Amanda did. It showed their location.
Sophia stretched her back. She raised her brows, showing her approval.
A goblin connected a couple of his fingers and bit their thick, square-shaped nails from top and below. “What’s up with you guys? You’re mad, but I’m not. Do you really want to fight ‘right right’ now?”
A goblin fell to the ground as arrows struck it.
As the goblins yelled, the group of teenagers alongside whom Sophia and John had expected to fight reloaded their crossbows.
A goblin rubbed her face and covered her mouth. “Stop! Stop! Stop!”
John and Sophia sneezed, paused, and said “Excuse me.”
Amanda handed John his handkerchief from his pouch.
Sophia drew lines on a map as mud walls emerged from the ground where she drew.
These mud walls emerged and formed a enclosure around a group of goblins closest to John and Amanda.
Sophia touched the drips from her nose. “Ugh.”
John and Amanda imitated the goblin shouting “Stop!” John ran toward the teenagers, and Amanda ran toward Sophia.
The teenagers shot a volley of arrows as Sophia drew a line.
A group of seven men, a couple of ogres, and a bulky man whom John had met blocked Amanda’s way.
Amanda widened her eyes, covered her mouth with one arm, and flailed her other one as he ran.
John bit his lip, struggling against cursing.