General Arnold and his security detail arrived where the Goblin prisoner was being held. They were in an opening in the woods about two miles out from Alpha Base settlement. There were four men surrounding a wooden cage, each of them with a holstered sidearm and a fifth man that the security detail checked in with. Nearby, laid out on the ground were the other Goblin remains and their weapons.
The officer that the security detail was talking with appeared to have cut open the remains of one of the Goblins. It was like the Goblin’s skin was a jacket that had been unzipped. Inside was a skeleton and next to it was a black stone.
In the wooden cage was a Goblin, squirming around on the ground with its wrists and ankles cuffed and then hog tied together with zip ties. It wasn’t gagged and was hissing while frothing at the mouth.
“Soldier, tell me why this creature is so heavily restrained.”
“It’s feral, sir. The scouting team brought it back cuffed, but it wouldn’t stop thrashing around the cage we put together for it. We honestly thought it would hurt itself. If it got a chance, it would definitely try to hurt us or others if it got loose.”
“I see,” the General said, crouching down to the Goblin. “Can you understand me?” He asked the creature.
The Goblin looked up at him while continuing to hiss and thrash.
“We don’t want to be hostile toward you or your kind,” the General continued. “If you can be civil, we would like to establish relations with you and your people.”
The Goblin began making gibberish noises, semi-mimicking the General, but in what sounded like a mocking voice. The General raised an eyebrow.
“Do you know what I’m saying?”
The Goblin spit at the General and hissed. The glob of spit landing on the General’s insignia. The guards stepped between the General and the cage.
“Stand down men.”
The guards moved back to each of their corners of the cage.
“Has this creature shown any signs of reason or communication?”
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
“No sir. It has just hissed and occasionally spoken in gibberish, usually in a tone similar to something one of us said something in. Spitting is new though, but none of us has tried talking with it. It has been feral since it got here.”
“Did any of the scout team that brought it back say anything about any intelligence from it or its companions?”
“These four were actually part of that scouting party.” The officer replied.
“Sir.” One of the guards spoke up. “They all seemed feral like this one. As soon as they came through the portal, they seemed surprised to see us and then went berserk and attacked.”
“Did any of them show any sign of comradery?”
“No sir. We shot the first two that charged us and the other four behind them trampled their bodies as they were falling. It was like they were fighting to be the first ones to kill us. They had no regard for one another, just blind rage at us.”
The General let out a sigh. “Very well. There is no reason to keep a prisoner then and waste manpower better used elsewhere. Especially if such aggressive hostiles are out there. You are all to report back to Alpha Base immediately, with the gear that was recovered. Get some rest and wait for orders from your COs.”
The General walked over to the weapons, picked up the wooden spear, walked over to the cage and stabbed the Goblin in the eye. It immediately spasmed for a moment and then went still. The General tossed the spear to one of the guards who caught it.
After a moment, the Goblin began to leak black smoke as it appeared to deflate. Instead of the dark smoke dissipating, it wafted over past the General to the black stone next to the dissected Goblin remains and seemingly disappeared into it. The smoke itself had a foul odor to it like rancid flesh.
“Is that what happened before, soldier?”
“No sir. Before the smoke just disappeared like steam.”
The General and officer walked over to the stone and looked at it. Instead of being a solid matte black stone like before, there seemed to be purple and black swirling together.
“Officer, where did you get that stone?”
“General, it was inside the Goblin remains. I had just opened it up and removed it when you had arrived.”
“I want that stone studied and the others dissected as well. See if they all have them.”
“Sir, yes sir!”
The men began gathering everything up to haul back as the General turned to one of his guards.
“Inform Captain Ryan to rescind the capture order that I gave him. These creatures don’t seem anything but hostile. Tell him that if there is a friendly one, to capture it at all costs, but the rest are to be put down if engaged.”
“Yes sir.”
The General and his security detail then departed to return to Alpha Base and begin planning what to do with the found portals. If such hostile creatures resided so close to their current location, then they needed to be dealt with for the safety of everyone at the settlement.