What she saw turned Nairo’s stomach.

They were led to a small wooden shack outside the tent. Inside were the three Goblins they had come with, their sleeves rolled up, the Heap King himself covered in blood up to his elbows, and the mangled body of Zimeon De Woolf shackled to the wall. He was so covered in gore and blood Nairo could barely make out his features. But it was him, she knew that the second they walked into the shack. One of his ears had been sliced in half, his eye was so swollen it bulged from his head, he was covered in cuts, and three of his fingers looked badly broken.

“What have you done!” Nairo rounded on Rufi who just shrugged at her.

“You ain’t the only one that needed answers.”

“You’ve tortured him!”

“Naa, he slipped,” Chuch said calmly wiping his bloody claws on a rag.

“You… you can’t do this,” Nairo growled at them. “This is…”

“Don’t,” Ridley said, laying a hand on her arm.

“I’m an officer of the law I can’t…”

“She poleeeese?” The Heap King grumbled, his one eye swivelling madly. “You bring poleese to my Kingdom!”

The Heap King rounded on Rufi, only for Chuch to step between them. The Goblin was dwarfed by the Troll, but he maintained steady eye contact with him, daring him to do something foolish.

“Why don’t we all take it easy,” Rufi said. “Sarge, need I remind you of the perilous situation we’re all in right now?” The way he said it hinted to Nairo that her particular situation was more perilous than anyone else's. “And I’d wind your fucking neck in,” Rufi said, pointing at the Heap King. “Lest you wanna end up in one of your own heaps. Just coz you call yourself a king don’t make you shit to me. Understand?”

The Heap King faltered, suddenly looking unsure of himself.

“I no mean anyfin by it…” he said, looking down at the floor.

“Forget about it. In fact, forget you saw or heard any of this. Go back to your throne, your highness, and we’ll take it from here.”

The Heap King lumbered out of the shack without another word.

“Is he…?” Ridley asked, looking at De Woolf.

“He’s alive,” Mikkle said, lighting a smoke, and tutting when he spotted blood on his tie.

“I can’t let you get away with this,” Nairo said, her heart hammering in her chest.

“You can’t?” Rufi said calmly.

The other three Goblins turned to look at her. Ridley closed in on her side, but it wouldn’t have made a difference. They could tear through both of them like paper.

“This is torture, kidnapping, grievous bodily harm…”

“This is what was necessary,” Rufi replied. “Consider it the lesser of two evils.”

“Lesser?” Nairo spat.

“Yeah.” Rufi said, not feeling the need to justify himself. “But he’s all yours now.”

“Unchain him,” Nairo said, her jaw clenched as tightly as her fists.

Rufi nodded to Pug and Mikkle. They reached up and unhooked the HobGoblin’s body, letting him drop. Nairo leapt forward and caught De Woolf’s frail body. He collapsed on top of her and whimpered.

“Out!” Nairo snarled at the Goblins, who shrugged and sauntered out of the shack.

Ridley knelt down and helped to prop De Woolf into a sitting position. The HobGoblin groaned, his head lolling to one side.

“Mr De Woolf, can you hear me?” Nairo asked, holding him up.

De Woolf rasped and then coughed. Ridley grabbed a pale of water and dragged it over. He cupped water in his hand and dribbled it down De Woolf’s throat, the remainder he splashed over his face, wiping the blood from it. With the blood washed from his face, Nairo was relieved to see much of the damage done to him was superficial. The cuts were shallow and even his eye looked less mangled up close.

“Who are you?” De Woolf groaned, his good eye turning to look at Nairo.

“My name is Detective Sergeant Nairo, I’m with the police.”

“Police?” De Woolf murmured before breaking down into tears. Whether they were tears of relief or pain Nairo couldn’t tell.

“Alright, easy there,” Ridley said. “You’re safe now, but we need you to answer some questions…”

“I didn’t do eeeeeeeet!” De Woolf wailed, tears oozing down his bloody cheeks. “I didn’t!”

“What didn’t you do, Mr De Woolf?” Nairo asked.

“I didn’t take ze Diamond! I zwear! I didn’t kill Benny!”

“But you owed him? You were in deep to him?” Ridley said, trying to look into his eyes to see the truth in his words.

“Yez!” De Woolf wept. “I’m a fool! It juzt kept getting more and more. I couldn’t get out and that animal Benny, he took everything from me!”

“So I bet that Diamond would have been enough to get you out of trouble?” Nairo said gently.

“Noooo! I’m not ztupid! I would not zteal from Elvez!”

“A desperate creature does stupid things,” Ridley said through gritted teeth. “You must have nicked the Diamond! How else did it get out?”

“I don’t knooooooow! I wazn’t even there that night! I was in the Cedar street card houze! I had to ruzh back to inter the Diamond in the vault and then I went ztraight back! You can check with the manager! Pleeeeeaaaze! I would not do thiz!” Zimeon wept openly now.

“Who else could have nicked it! How did they get in?” Ridley said, desperation creeping into his voice.

“Noone! It iz impozzible! The vault cannot be broken into!”

Ridley snarled and kicked the pale of water, shattering it off the opposite wall.

“You don’t know anything about Benny?” he shouted at Zimeon, who cringed and shook his head. “You don’t know who killed him? Or why? Or where the fucking Diamond is!”

“Ridley! Stop!” Nairo pushed him back and placed herself between him and the cowering HobGoblin.

“He’s lying!” Ridley roared.

“You know he isn’t,” Nairo said quietly. She felt like someone had reached down her throat and was squeezing her heart.

Ridley's chest heaved as he fought to regain control of himself.

“A waste of fucking time!” he snarled, kicking the pale again. “You know how long we’ve been searching for you! How many hours we’ve spent! Our friend lost his job ‘coz he helped us look for you! And you’ve been here in this stinking fucking shit heap the whole time gambling your last pennies!”

“I’m zorry,” De Woolf whined piteously, wiping blood and snot from his nose.

Ridley slammed a hand on the grimey wall and then slid all the way to the floor, sitting against the wall despondently.

“That’s it then,” he said after a few seconds of silence. “We’re no closer to finding this thing than when we started. Benny’s a dead end. De Woolf’s a dead end. No one has any idea who stole this thing, why they’re killing creatures, or where the Diamond is now. It was all… pointless. The city’s gonna burn and there’s nothing we can do.” He hung head between his knees.

Nairo sighed, feeling the weight of it crushing down on her.

“You get the same answer as us?” Rufi asked from the doorway.

Nairo looked up and gave him a small nod.

“Shit. Well, for what it’s worth, I’m sorry. I really thought he had nicked the damn thing.”

“Yeah.” Ridley said bluntly.

“Well, come on, let’s get out of this shithole and back to civilisation. The HobGoblin can ride with us back to the Hall.”

“What? He’s not going back with you,” Nairo said coldly.

“Where’s he going then?”

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“With us, back to the precinct, where he’ll be safe.”

“You mean, where the Elves are. No matter what his story is, they ain’t gonna believe him. They’ve probably already got the noose tied waiting for his neck.”

“Elvez?” De Woolf said, his voice quivering. “Pleaze Mizz Nairo, pleaze don’t give me to the Elvez! They’ll make me dizzapear! Pleaze!”

“I’m sorry, you’re a wanted creature… I can’t…”

“Pleaze!” De Woolf crawled across the blood and muck covered floor to grip the hem of her tunic with his good hand. “Pleaze have mercy Zargeant. I am weak yez, I am a fool yez, but I am not a bad creature. I have never hurt anyone but myzelf. Pleaze.”

Nairo swallowed the lump in her thoat.

“I say let ‘em have him,” Ridley growled.

“Your decision, Sarge.” Rufi said with the tone of someone both bored and sickened by what he was seeing.

Hot tears stung at her eyes. She felt her badge burning in her pocket. But this time, it wasn’t the warm, comforting glow she was used to. The badge had always meant doing what was right. This time… she knew it was wrong. Every fibre in her being railed and tore against the idea. But she knew. She knew deep in the caverns of her soul, this was wrong. This wasn’t justice. This wasn’t lawful. The badge was the criminal, not De Woolf. So what did that make her?

Nairo extricated the Goblin’s fingers from her tunic and then knelt down next to him.

“Come on Mr De Woolf, stand up.” She threw the HobGoblin’s boney arm over her shoulder and pulled him to his feet. He whimpered as his battered ribs lanced pain through his body. “What will you do with him?” Nairo asked Rufi.

Rufi shrugged.

“Uncle Sam will decide what happens to him. I mean, technically, he ain’t done nothing. He didn’t nick the Diamond. He didn’t kill Benny. And he don’t know fuck all about anything. Knowing Uncle Sam, he’ll take pity on him.”

“You promise?”

“No.”

Nairo glared at him as she struggled to keep De Woolf upright.

“Mr De Woolf? Where do you want to go?” Nairo asked him.

“I want to go home,” De Woolf moaned. “Back to the mountains.”

“You can do that?” Nairo asked Rufi, who thought for a moment and then nodded.

“Then he’ll go back to the Hall, but I will deliver him to Uncle Sam, myself. Understood?”

“If it makes you happy,” Rufi said. “Now let’s go. I can’t stand the smell of this place, anymore.”

*

The Heap King had gifted them a second horse and carriage to take them back across the river, but like everything from the Wastelands, it was old, shabby, and smelled putrid. Naturally, Nairo, Ridley, and De Woolf had been given this cab. Their journey was silent. Ridley sat chain smoking and gnawing on the inside of his cheeks. His sunken eyes darted back and forth as he silently tried to put the case back together. De Woolf sat hunched on the other side of the cab, dabbing at his wounds with a cloth and whimpering. Nairo sat between them with her head resting against the cab seat, not even caring about what foul liquids could be producing such a stink. What did it matter if she was covered in one more bit of shit? It was over. The case had gone completely cold.

The miserable, drizzling rain had swept back in again which made their crossing easier. It took really invested creatures to stand out in the rain to patrol. The city was as still as a corpse. The only sounds she heard were the clopping of the horse’s hooves and the squeak of their cabs rusted wheels.

“I’m gonna do the Parliament job,” Ridley said, finally shattering the tense silence.

“What?” Nairo asked wearily.

“I’m contacting Jimmy tonight. Whatever he says, we’re getting to the Houses to find those travel documents, it’s the only lead we’ve got left.”

“Give it up, Ridley.” Nairo leaned her head back and closed her eyes again. “It’s over. We failed. It will be safer for you to just walk away from this case.”

“I told you, I don’t give up that easily.”

“And why not?” Nairo snarled with venom that surprised her. “What are you trying to prove?”

“I ain’t trying to prove anything.”

“Then why? For the gold? Because it’s not worth your life and all the damage we’ve done since starting this case.”

“It was never about the gold,” Ridley said coldly.

“Then what? Why are you still pursuing this? We never had a chance! All we’ve done is wreak havoc and ruin creatures' lives!”

Ridley blinked twice and then withdrew into his coat.

“It ain’t over.”

“Benny, those four humans, Conway, De Woolf, Drake, the Cap’n, my career! All of it turned to death and shit because we wanted to solve this damn case! Well no more! It’s over!” She was screaming at him now.

“That’s the exact reason why I’m not giving up!” he shouted hotly back at her. “Because then it was all for nothing…”

“It is all for nothing! What, do you think we’re going to get a prosecution from this? Do you think if we found the Elves guilty of anything, that they would actually face any consequences? We were never meant to find the truth, just the Diamond, so we could hand it back over to them! There’s no justice, no law in any of this!”

“You’re the only one that thought that wasn’t the case,” Ridley growled. “I already know justice don’t exist in this city. But if I stop, they get away with it, like they always do.”

“They have got away with it, Ridley.” Nairo fell back into her seat, defeated.

“Then the city burns,” Ridley said, lighting another smoke and staring out of the window at the ghostly quiet streets.

The cab started to slow and the air filled with noise. Shouting, crying, barking, all melted together in a cacophony.

“What the hell?” Ridley peered around and then opened the door of the cab. He hauled himself out and stood on the step to look at the way they were going. “Oh shit!”

“What?” Nairo said, trying to look out of her window.

The cab pulled up in front of the heavy iron gates of Goblin Town, which had been ripped open and lay twisted and broken. There were Goblins and police officers, in full riot gear, tussling and shoving. Heavy, armoured, black stallions were being rode up and down the line, separating the baying Goblins from the Town Hall. The square was packed and the feeling that it would erupt any moment in madness swept Nairo up. Ahead of them, Rufi leapt out of his cab followed by the other three Goblins. He hung back a minute looking around, trying to figure out what was happening. Nairo, Ridley, and a limping De Woolf joined him in front of the gates.

“What’s going on?” Ridley shouted over the melee.

Rufi ignored him, his eyes darting back and forth as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing. A young Goblin extricated himself from the throng and raced towards Rufi. Breathless, he rattled out something in Kittei and Rufi’s eyes went wide. After a few seconds he turned to Ridley and Nairo.

“The Elves are arresting my Uncle,” he said as if he didn’t believe the words himself.

“What? Why?” Ridley said.

“They think he had something to do with the Diamond theft.” Rufi turned away from them and spoke to the other Goblins.

As he finished speaking a visceral roar went up from the mass of Goblins. They all turned to the steps of the Hall where a dozen armed officers surrounded Sam’sun as he walked out of the Hall. His hands were manacled in front of him, but his head was not bowed. He strode out with his head high and a look of righteous fury on his face. Upon seeing him in manacles, the Goblins howled their fury, barreling through the line of police. Horses reared as officers struck back with their heavy truncheons while Sam’sun was hastily marched to the waiting police wagon.

Rufi roared in fury, a hatchet appeared in his hand, he looked over his shoulder at Ridley and Nairo.

“That’s it. This city’s gonna tear itself wide open now. Nothing can stop the war coming now!”

He turned away and sprinted into the chaos, his three friends hot on heels, they exploded into the line of officers knocking them over like skittles, before they were swallowed up in the chaos. Nairo stood, her mouth wide open. Goblins had broken through the lines. One of the horses had been brought down and was being hacked apart by a Goblin with an axe, blood spraying across the cobbles. She watched as officers were trampled and hacked at. The wagon doors slammed shut and Sam’sun disappeared. Goblins surround the wagon, fighting tusk and claw with riot officers. One Goblin broke through and was trying to tear the chains from the wagon's doors with his bare hands, only to be smashed over the back of the head. Another Goblin was hanging from the side of the wagon, trying to pry open the bars and release their Ustra’a. From behind, Nairo heard the barreling of hooves on the cobbles. She didn’t need to look to know heavy back up was arriving. As she turned, she saw more heavily armed officers flying out of wagons with riot shields and truncheons. They swarmed towards the mob of Goblins.

“We need to get out of here!” Ridley screamed at the frozen Nairo, grabbing her by the arm and yanking her back.

Nairo blinked, looked around, and then saw De Woolf who was standing motionless in shock.

“Run!” she screamed at him.

It was too late. De Woolf took off limping, trying to force his ruined body to run, but the officers were already on him. They barreled him to the ground. They had no idea who he was, all they saw was green, and took him down.

“We have to help him!”

“It’s too late!” Ridley shouted back, pulling her away.

“Oi! Stop there!” Three officers detached themselves from the group grappling with the HobGoblin and advanced on them.

“But I’m a…” Nairo began dumbly as they began running towards her.

She saw in their eyes. There was no reason there. No ability to wait or discern friend from foe. They were there to crack heads and arrest. It didn’t matter who Nairo thought she was.

Ridley pulled at her again and this time she turned and began running as fast as her battered body could. Ridley was just ahead of her, his coat flapping, as they tore down the road and through an alleyway. The officers were hot on their heels, but all their heavy riot gear weighed them down. Ridley leapt the wall at the end of the alley, crashing down onto the other side, closely followed by Nairo who landed on him. She pulled herself upright and heard the scrambling of their pursuers behind her. She helped Ridley up and they continued running. They ran for so long that Nairo thought her chest would explode. They ducked down every alleyway they could find, jumped fences, and tumbled through bushes, until finally they had finally lost the officers. Bent over double in a stinking alleyway, they wretched and coughed. Nairo spat a mouthful of thick phlegm on the cobbles and then rested her head against the wall, her chest heaving and sweat pouring down her face. Ridley squatted in the shadows of the alley sucking in breath through his nose.

“This is fucked,” Ridley gasped.

“The cobbles will run red,” Nairo muttered between gasps, flashes of blood spray filling her vision. “They’ve got De Woolf.”

Ridley nodded.

“That will be all the ammunition they need against Uncle Sam. They’ll say he was harbouring De Woolf this whole time.”

“And we brought him straight to them.” Nairo screwed her eyes shut and bounced her head off the wall. “It’s… so unfair!” she said, struggling to put it all together. “Every time we try to do the right thing, everything just gets worse!”

“Then maybe it’s time to not do the right thing,” Ridley said, straightening up and looking her in the eye. “This whole time you wanted to do everything by the book and look where it’s got us.”

“I know,” Nairo said, looking away from his steely eyes.

“Then it’s time to trust me, Sarge.” He said, his voice firm. “De Woolf, and maybe even Uncle Sam, are gonna hang if we don’t find that Diamond and bring the killer in. Even if we can't bring the Elves to justice, we can free them. We can clear Conway’s name. We can… fix some of the damage we’ve caused.”

Nairo gritted her teeth. Her hands clenched and unclenched. She reached inside her tunic and pulled out her badge. It looked so dull and useless in the halflight of the alleyway. Nairo looked up at Ridley.

“Get in contact with Jimmy. We’re breaking in the Houses of Parliament and ending this madness.”

Ridley nodded, his mouth set in a grim slash of determination. Nairo began walking out of the alleyway. She stopped, looked down at her badge and then let it fall from her hand. Ridley pulled his collars up and followed her a moment later.