As the creature known as Minerva howled behind the steel door, Yuzuru counted down the seconds between each attack.

They were getting shorter. Not only that, each blow seemed to weaken whatever force field was keeping it back. But he had more important matters to deal with right now, like how not to get shot by a vengeful goblin widow.

“Gentry,” said Baron Loops. “I trust the events in this tunnel will not make it to the outside.”

Her eyes and crossbow never leaving Yuzuru, the goblin widow said, “Who or what you sleep with is of no concern to me.”

“Oh, come now,” said Loops. “Must you say it like that?”

Yuzuru backed towards the door. It shuddered as the slime monster pounded on it.

Under his arm, Gweyn was waking up.

“Where… am I?” She asked, looking at Yuzuru and then the goblins. “Huh. Nevermind. I must still be dreaming.”

Yuzuru let Gweyn stand on her own. "Unfortunately not," he said, as cracks ran across the ceiling, stretching all the way to the mouth of the cave. “Can we do this somewhere else? I don’t imagine you two would want to be here when the monster breaks free.”

“That is no monster,” said the Baron. “That is my wife.”

“Enough,” Gentry said, training her crossbow between the two humans. "It's time to end this."

“Okay, this is way more than I bargained for,” said Gweyn. “I’m going to leave this Freudian nightmare dungeon now.” She took one step but Gentry started shouting.

“Not a step more! I have no quarrels with you, traveler, but I will give you only one chance to leave. I am offering you mercy where none was given to me.”

“Uh, sure,” said Gweyn. “Did you not hear what I just said about leaving?”

“I didn’t understand a lot of the words you used,” Gentry admitted.

The tunnel shook again. The steel door bulged, shoving Yuzuru forward. Gentry pitched her crossbow at him. Her finger slipped around the trigger and a bolt flew at his chest.

Just before it struck, Gweyn reached across and plucked it from the air.

“God,” Yuzuru gasped.

“Not yet,” said Gweyn. “Maybe one day.” She snapped the bolt in half and threw the feathered end by the goblin’s feet. “This is uncalled for. What mercy did he owe you?”

“Silence!” Gentry hurried to notch another her crossbow. “He murdered my husband in cold blood.”

“Oh no,” said Gweyn.

“It’s a long story,” said Yuzuru.

Gweyn turned to him. “You didn’t know goblins were capable of human emotions so killed one for points.”

Yuzuru sighed. “The longer version sounded better.”

When the monster lashed out this time, it brought the entire steel door off its hinges. With a metallic screech, the door crashed into Baron Loops and threw him out the tunnel’s mouth.

“Time to go.” Gweyn grabbed Yuzuru’s hand.

“Stop!” Gentry yelled but Gweyn didn’t even slow. She raised her end of the broken bolt and swiped it at the goblin. Gentry staggered back, her crossbow splitting apart in her hands.

Gweyn was out of the cave now, Yuzuru close behind her. He glanced back to see the goblin widow sitting on the ground, pieces of her crossbow strewn about her.

“You didn’t kill her,” he said, just as the ground dropped away into nothing.

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At the bottom of the hill, Yuzuru clambered from a mud pile on his hands and knees. Spitting out a mouthful of leaves. “Gweyn?”

“Here.” The girl emerged from the treeline, red eyes flashing. She raised her arm to show Yuzuru the struggling Baron.

It was like looking at a rat dangling from the claw of an owl.

“Unhand me,” said the Baron. “We must placate Minerva before she breaks free!”

Gweyn threw the goblin to the ground and stomped onto his chest, making the goblin’s eyes bulge.

“I’m sorry to tell you,” she told him, “but you’re not the winning team here.” She unsheathed another dagger from the other side of her belt.

Moonlight spilled across the blade, coloring it crimson.

“Stop, Gweyn,” Yuzuru said as he got up. “Don’t kill him.”

Gweyn’s eyes took on the same deep color as her weapon. “I spared one already."

"And you can do it again," said Yuzuru. "It's what a hero would do."

Gweyn spat out a laugh. “No thanks. I might’ve considered playing along but then this happened.” She flung out her left arm, Yuzuru’s cloak fluttering to show black skin underneath.

Before he could stop himself, Yuzuru gasped.

“See?” Gweyn said. “I bet if this happened to someone you actually cared about, you wouldn’t want this goblin to go free.”

Yuzuru fumbled for words but none came. Up above, Gentry screamed.

“Sweet goddess,” Baron Loops said, fat tears spilling from his eyes. “She’s coming.”

“What’s the matter, scared?” Gweyn leaned down and stuck her dagger up to the Baron’s nose. “Don’t worry. I’ll make it quick.”

The Baron’s eyes closed. “Do it, if you must, but know that Minerva will avenge me.”

Gweyn smirked and raised the dagger, but when she went to stab the goblin Yuzuru grabbed her first.

“Get a hold of yourself,” he said, pulling at her arm. “This isn’t you.”

Gweyn shoved him away. “Now you’re being serious? Not when I was suffering or when we were nearly killed trying to escape that hellhole. Now, just when I’m about to exact my vengeance, you take a side?”

“What are you talking about?” Yuzuru asked. “I’m just trying to do the right thing here.”

The monster’s roar sent the trees shaking. Baron Loops clambered up and crawled over to the cliff face, sobbing.

“Minerva! Please, go back home. There is nothing for you out here, nothing but hardships and people who do not understand the love between us.”

Stones fell from above as the monster began to scale down the cliff.

Gweyn stepped away from Yuzuru. He reached for her but leaped back as rocks crashed between them. Dust flew into his face, blinding him.

“Gweyn!” He yelled, pushing into the cloud. A blast of heat threw him back, dispersing the clouds as a column of crimson skulls shot upward, screaming into the dark skies with a million voices at once.

Yuzuru clutched his ears and fell to his knees. The ungodly power surged, then broke as from above, Minerva’s massive form crashed down. Pieces of goo splattered into the trees and onto Yuzuru, knocking him senseless.

Silence and dust preceded over the clearing. Yuzuru heard the Baron’s sobbing, and followed that until he found the goblin lying next to the carcass of his wife. His crown lay a few feet away, slathered with the same black goo that he was clutching in his arms.

Yuzuru said nothing, if there was even something to say. He wasn’t sorry for Loop’s loss. If anything, he was glad no one else will be hurt by the monster, but he couldn’t help seeing this as a tragedy through the Baron’s eyes.

“Step away, Yuzuru, he’s mine.”

From behind the slime, Gweyn stepped out holding her dagger. Yuzuru positioned himself in front of the baron.

“I can’t let you do this,” he told her. “There are lines we can't cross, Gweyn. There's no going back if you do.” He looked into Gweyn’s red eyes. They were like two burning coals, dancing in the midst of hell.

“What if I've already crossed it?” Gweyn asked.

“There’s a village above us,” Yuzuru said. “It’s filled with little goblins. They need the Baron to lead and help them. But most of all, you need him too.”

Gweyn stepped closer, her white hair moving in the wind like smoke. “What, to lead and help me?”

“He deserves to eat shit,” Yuzuru said. “But so do all of us. Hell, my sister tells me that all the time. Did you know she refused to talk to me for three weeks after I accidentally sat on her dog? She thought I was psychologically attacking her.”

The corner of Gweyn’s lips twitched. “Were you?”

“In my defense, Ned was the same color as the couch.”

A hint of a smile graced Gweyn’s lips but she shook it away and strode past him.

Yuzuru swiveled, grabbing Gweyn’s hand in both of his. “You need him,” he said again, “to remind you of your humanity.”

Gweyn tugged. Yuzuru gripped her tighter, willing her fingers to loosen around the blade. “I know you don’t think you’re a hero, but do you know why I know you are?”

Gweyn rolled her eyes. “Please don’t say it’s because I’m my mother’s -” Her words were cut off by a startled gasp. At the same time, Yuzuru felt a sharp jab in his thigh. He looked down, thinking Gweyn was pinching him, only to see a feathered tip sticking from the fabric of his pants. He tried to ask what was happening, but then he was on the ground, looking up at Gweyn.

Head ringing, he watched as another shot into Gweyn's back, and she collapsed next to him.

It didn’t feel real, even as armored bodies emerged from the trees to surround them. Yuzuru couldn’t move, but he didn’t take his eyes off Gweyn. He studied her face as he’d never done before, noticing all the little details he’d never seen, like the thin bridge of her nose, the dimple on her chin, the peak of her lips…

He wanted to tell himself that it was Gweyn beside him, and that he should be paying attention to what was going on around them instead of ogling her, but his eyes were closing and the last thing he saw were those lips he so missed opening, and saying his name.