Friedrich stood at the top of the sand dune, looking towards the shore with Bahadur’s map in his hands. He glanced at the map and then looked up against, confident that he had led everyone in the right direction. He nodded to himself in satisfaction as Marina and Teleri walked up the dune after him.

“You’re certain we’re in the right place?” Marina asked him.

“Positive,” said Friedrich, showing her the map. “Do you see where we came into Port Balsia?”

“Yes,” said Marina, pointing to the southern part of the map. “It’s right here, isn’t it? And we’re facing west, is that right?”

“It is and it is,” confirmed Friedrich, turning slightly to the south and pointing towards a giant statue that sat in the not-so-far distance. “I saw that statue when we were approaching Kai’roh on Captain Alden’s boat. This is the right place.”

“Teleri?” asked Marina.

“He is correct,” said the elf.

“Why do you doubt my map-reading abilities so much?” Friedrich asked Marina.

Marina shook her head. “Because you’ve gotten us lost so many times!”

“Once!”

“It was only once?”

“Yes.”

“Oh…”

Teleri let out a single loud laugh and walked down the dune and towards the shore. Friedrich rolled up the map, stashed it inside his pocket once again and followed while Marina trailed along behind, racking her brain to try and think of other times Friedrich had gotten her lost.

The three kicked off their boots, picked them up and let the water over their feet as they walked. It was pleasant and cooling, having walked so far in their stifling boots. As they walked, the sand crabs scuttled out of the way, terrified of the giants walking among them.

One larger crab dared approaching Friedrich, snipping and snapping its claws as it walked sideways towards him. Laughing, he bent down and poked its shell, expecting it to lose its nerve and flee, but it did not. Instead, it clamped down on his finger and he let out a loud yelp. He picked the crab up and hurled it towards the water, cursing as he nursed his finger while Marina laughed at him.

Teleri waded into the water and retrieved the crab, setting it back on the shore where it scuttled away to find its brethren. “That was an overreaction, Friedrich,” she said.

“My finger…” he said, shaking his hand.

“Why would you poke it?” Marina asked, trying to calm down.

“Sometimes I just do things,” Friedrich shrugged.

“We’ve noticed,” giggled Marina.

As they walked along, Friedrich pulled out the map and tried to follow the group’s position along the western coast, but struggled to pinpoint their exact location. In any case, he was confident that they were close. Wherever the mask was hidden, it was hidden close by.

“It’s within our grasp,” said Friedrich, clenching the paper tightly. “Three thousand kupons…I can’t wait.”

“I think I may have found it,” said Marina, pointing a little ways inland and up a shallow river.

Wedged among the rocks and the small stream trickling through the valley that was once a much larger river, was an old wooden ship. Its sails were ragged and its wooden boards were broken and cracked; even if put back in the water, it would not be going anywhere. It was sad to see such a magnificent vessel go to waste, but everything has its time.

Friedrich looked closely at the map once again. “This must be it,” he said excitedly, stashing it away and running towards the ship.

“Wait!” called Teleri. “We do not want any more monsters, constructs or demons catching us unaware.”

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Friedrich slowed his run to a brisk walk, looking all around him as he moved and giving Marina and Teleri a chance to catch up. Teleri eyed the ship up, trying not to miss a single inch from her current angle. She then made Friedrich and Marina spread out so they could get a full view of each side of the ship. Once she was satisfied, she allowed them to approach.

Friedrich hopped into the river bank and walked through the broken planks and into the hull where the water was up past his ankles. A cluster of grabs had made the hull their home, so he hurried back outside and put his boots back on before taking his time to look around.

“How can we get up there?” asked Marina, looking towards a broken ladder that led up to the next level.

Teleri took a running leap and grabbed onto the ladder. She pulled herself up and then jumped over to the nearest solid planks that she could find, balancing precariously on them and looking around.

“Bit of a show off, isn’t she?” Friedrich asked Marina.

“Do you forget that as well as having incredible athletic abilities and sight, the Alauri have exceptional hearing, Friedrich?”

Friedrich scowled and shook his head while Marina nudged him. “I’m sorry, Teleri,” he said as Marina smiled in satisfaction.

“Apology accepted,” said Teleri, throwing a chest into the shallow water where it caused a large splash and soaked Friedrich and Marina.

“Why did you soak me too?” squealed Marina.

“You will dry quickly when we go back outside,” said Teleri, upon sliding back down the ladder. “Let us see if this is the prize we seek.”

Friedrich tried to open the chest, but it was locked tightly. Rather than spend an hour trying to pick the lock, he opted for the less subtle approach. He bashed the wood with his shield until it broke and then he pulled it apart, revealing the treasure inside.

“It’s so ugly,” said Marina, recoiling.

Friedrich held the wooden goblin mask in his hands. It was a sickly green with a long, hooked nose that bore two wide nostrils, along with twisted and pointy ears. Each wrinkle was carved to match the most hideous of goblins and there were red marks painted across its nose its brow and upwards from its upper lip; the only lip featured on the mask. Embedded within the forehead was the soul gem, glowing the familiar turquoise colour and emitting a wispy vapour, telling the party that the mask would grant them the transformation if they would only place it upon their face.

“Well, here goes nothing,” said Friedrich, turning the mask around.

“Are you sure about this?” asked Marina.

“I see no harm in testing it out,” shrugged Friedrich.

“I would have said as much if you had only ever used Kitt’s mask, but having seen what the minotaur can do…I don’t feel good about it.”

“At least a goblin is more easily subdued,” said Friedrich. “And besides, it took a couple of uses of the minotaur mask for it to truly start forcing its will. I would expect the same for the goblin if it’s even strong enough to do so.”

Teleri sighed and drew her bow. “I would rather not shoot you, so please keep control.”

Friedrich winked at her and smiled smugly before placing the goblin mask upon his face. Unlike the fox and minotaur masks, which he had gotten so used to, the transforming into the goblin was an unfamiliar discomfort. The young Mercian felt his limbs shrink and turn dangly, while his back became hunched and his face warped from being youthfully handsome to twisted and ugly. His clothes turned from his tunic, trousers and boots into a ragged loincloth while his weapons disappeared, leaving him with a spear of bone in his hand.

“Eugh,” said Marina, pinching her nose. “You smell!”

“Are you still you?” asked Teleri.

“Ragh!” called Friedrich, trying to say yes. Realising he couldn’t quite get his words out properly, he opted for a nod instead.

“That is good to know. Is the goblin strong-willed?”

Friedrich could not feel the slightest dominance from the soul of the goblin, but that did not leave him completely assured. He felt as though he was in full control, which would have to do for the time being. He shook his head and gave a hunched shrug before walking through the broken planks of the ship and out into the desert once again.

Upon climbing out from the bank and walking free of the shadow of the wrecked ship. The sun felt nicer upon his dry, wrinkled skin, and his long, flat toes curled into the sand. He ran around a little, finding it easier to move along in this form than as a human, but not quite as easily as he could as a fox.

After wasting a few more minutes while Marina and Teleri watched him, he reverted to normal and the mask fell from his face. Friedrich picked it up off the ground and tried it around his neck using the old string from the fox mask before it had been shattered.

“There we go,” he said pleasantly.

“And you felt fine?” asked Marina.

“As well as could be expected.”

“That’s good.”

“I suppose that leaves us with the question of what to do about the mask,” said Teleri. “As we have discussed at length, Namavar cannot be trusted to fulfil his end of the deal.”

“No, he cannot,” said Friedrich, “but I haven’t decided on how I would like to approach things.”

“Yet you still desire the kupons.”

“Of course. A thousand kupons each? That’s double what we were paid by Lord Buckstone for stopping Baron Pelagius.”

“How much more time do you need to decide?” asked Marina.

“I don’t know,” said Friedrich, looking at the goblin mask. “A part of me wants to keep the mask and never go back to Legama, but I suspect Namavar would send his men to hunt us across the island. And we aren’t exactly going anywhere until Captain Alden and his men come back.”

“That leaves us at a crossroads,” said Marina, shaking her head despondently. “I don’t know what the right course of action is either.”

Friedrich looked up and spotted the colossal statue towering in the distance. When he had first laid eyes on it, he wondered what it was holding, but he could see for certain now that it was a staff. He smiled at it and Teleri raised an eyebrow.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Let’s go for a walk,” said Friedrich, strolling over the sand in the direction of the statue.