We only made it about 15 feet before a female Goblin dropped down from above us. Another one jumped behind her, and the first one said, “What are you doing here? You are to be executed. If they find you free, all of us will be punished.”

  The other girl who fell behind her ran off.

  “And what are they doing here?” She said to Blanket with anger and fear as she took a step back. The crazy thing was, I didn’t even see those two before they dropped out of nowhere. It seemed like they might not have levels, but they definitely had some impressive skills.

  “I’m sorry,” Blanket said shyly as she looked away. “They need to talk to Bubble and Sparkle.”

  “Then you need to go back to the stockades,” the other replied, staring seriously at Blanket.

  “Calm down. She is with me.” I stepped in front of the cowering Goblin, and the other one that was giving orders wilted under my gaze.

  It took a minute for the others to arrive, but when they did, they brought more people with them. I assumed the two in front were those we were looking for. Sparkle was a beautiful young Goblin with a strong jaw, large eyes, and not a wrinkle on her face. Bubble looked like she could be Sparkle’s grandmother, sharing the same features but with an aged appearance. Oddly, they both appeared more mature than the other female Goblins and carried a confidence that belied their small stature.

  Unlike the other Goblin women I met, Bubble wasn’t afraid of me at all. “What is going on?!” She shouted and looked over us one at a time. She then yelled even louder, “Who are these two, and why did you bring them here?!”

  Sparkle intervened with a condescending voice, “They are clearly intruders like the one that tried to make it to the control room.”

  Bubble looked at Sparkle with contempt. “Yeah, I got that.”

  So they were aware of the control room in this city. That would be valuable information to someone who had the ring. What goodies did this city have to offer to a person with the proper key? I would have to play my cards right on that and wait for the perfect opportunity to ask.

  “We are here to help,” I spoke up sternly. In the background, Saresh coughed, so I amended my statement. “Sorry, I am here to help. Saresh needs a way out.”

  “You’re Union scum.” The older woman scrutinized Saresh and me up and down, appraising us, and then said, “Fine. I will have someone show you the way out, but only if you give me your word that you won’t harm any more Goblins.”

  “Deal,” replied Saresh.

  “No. Blanket and her children are coming with us, and we will leave,” I overrode Saresh.

  “This is our chance to leave unharmed. We should take it,” he insisted.

  “Do you want to leave her to die here?” I asked, gesturing to Blanket, who was fearful, now that she was around people of authority.

  “Yes. You know why? Because I didn’t put her there to die. This is how their society works, and you should respect their customs and rules. If their way of life says she needs to die for their system to function, then so be it. Who are we to come in and change everything? Let’s fix our own societies and leave these people to themselves,” Saresh argued, finished with me, and turned to the Goblin elder. “Ma’am, I would like to leave if you will show me the way out.”

  After a moment of tension, Bubble called two other female Goblins over and talked to them. “These two will show you out. I want your word you won’t harm them or any other Goblin.”

  “I promise not to harm any Goblin on my way out if avoidable, and as long as I’m not in danger,” Saresh said, and the Goblin elder regarded him with suspicious eyes. “If the way out is as straightforward as you claim, keeping that promise won’t be an issue. Trust me, I want to leave,” he insisted.

  “Very well,” Bubble replied, while Sparkle seemed almost bored by the whole exchange.

  “Thank you for your help. If I end up back at the Union, I hope you don’t mind if I tell them about you. They will be quite suspicious when they see that I survived this by myself,” Saresh replied, and I enjoyed the honesty he showed me. The Union never bothered me that much, but rather, the actions they were taking. I told the man I killed with my bow that I just wanted peace, but it didn’t seem they liked that.

  “Do you want to go back?” I asked with some concern.

  “No, but I don’t have anywhere else to go,” Saresh answered, looking down at his feet. “And the only people I know were also taken by the Union. I mean, I don’t like what they have me doing, but… I don’t know.”

  “Hey, look at me,” I said, and Saresh looked into my eyes. “I can’t guarantee anything, but the Hidden Falls Village might take you in. I am on good terms with them. Do you know where the village is?”

  “Yeah, I have a general direction. It has been on some of the maps and correspondence lately.”

  “Good. When you get there, ask for Carrick and inform him of what has happened. I cannot guarantee they will let you in. Still, with your skills and knowledge, you might have a good chance with the leader of the village,” I replied, and Saresh looked almost in turmoil with himself.

  Saresh came close, hugged me, and whispered, "Thank you for everything, but I haven’t been completely honest. Once the Union discovered this city, they sent messages back to our forward base. They had already made a key trade involving the Dwarves, which is why they came here first. After receiving that message, though, I’m betting they’ll rush here and delay going west. They’re gathering incendiaries, and while I’m not sure why, I suspect they will now use them here. Even if you save the Goblins, it won’t matter because they’re as good as dead. Come with me."

  As he pulled away, I could see the pleading look in his eyes, the unspoken appeal for me to follow him. It was then that I understood why he had kept silent, why he had hesitated to reveal the secrets that he carried. It was a matter of life and death, a gamble that could either end in his salvation or his ruin. If he had told me earlier and then returned to the Union with this knowledge, there would be no forgiveness. He would be seen as a traitor, a spy who had consorted with the enemy.

  But coming back unharmed, with information on the person who had harmed them, he could explain it away as being within his skill set. After all, he was not a warrior, but a gatherer of knowledge. If he could provide the Union with valuable intelligence, he would be welcomed back with open arms and reassigned to a new task. Giving away secrets of this magnitude would be unforgivable, a crime that carried a particular death sentence.

  What he told me was intriguing. While I didn’t know the purpose of the incendiaries or what precisely the Union was doing here, it was clear they had specific goals on this peninsula. If he had said they planned to go east, I would have been more concerned, as the Falls Village is in that direction. The only reason he likely shared this with me was because the Union wasn’t heading that way, and he planned to seek sanctuary there.

  I could tell from his comments that he really didn’t want to go back. I locked eyes with him and replied with what was in my heart. “I can’t abandon them.”

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  Saresh nodded and left with the other two Goblin women.

  “Now what to do with you?” Bubble asked, narrowing her eyes.

  “Just give me her kids, and I will leave peacefully as well,” I replied.

  “It’s not as simple as you think. Because of her actions,” the old woman pointed her bony finger at Blanket, who was hiding behind me, “both of her daughters have been married off. The younger one was given to the leader, and there’s no getting her back from him. If they hadn’t been married off, no one would have even noticed they were missing.”

  “No, please.” Blanket dropped to the floor, pleading. “My children. You know what they will do to them.”

  “Yes, child. We have all been there. Remember, it is their duty,” Bubble tried countering, but she didn’t sound convinced herself.

  “No, they are too young. They don’t even understand yet. They are too young.” Blanket sniffled and cried.

  Now Bubble got angry in return. “Yes, and your youngest child could have been spared this pain if you just let them take your eldest. She might have been too young as well, but no one would have allowed your youngest child to be taken unless you did what you did.”

  “My boys, my girls…” The Goblin wailed.

  “Your boys were always fated to die when your husband passed away,” Bubble added.

  “Why is that? Why were the boys killed?” I asked.

  “Simple. The boys are not offspring of the new husband, and thus, he isn’t obliged to take care of them. The women can be traded or taken as brides when they are old enough,” Bubble said, not vexed by the whole exchange. It seemed like chaos down here.

  “I know what Saresh said about it being their culture and their rules, but I say, ‘Fuck that!’” Rabbit exclaimed in my head, and I agreed with him 100%. If he was on board, then these people must be severely messed up. They were trading wives like Pokémon cards and killing off every other male. Even crazier was that they would marry their wives’ children if they got a chance. This was pure insanity.

  I pinched the bridge of my nose and said, “Are you happy with this?”

  “Happy? I haven’t been happy for a long time, but I am doing my duty. Something she should remember.” Bubble pointed at Blanket, who was sobbing on the floor. “What do you think will happen when they learn she is gone? We will all be punished. Some of us might end up where she was because of your actions. Is that what you want?”

  I didn’t like any of the options, but I wasn’t naive enough to believe they were the only ones.

  “Then why let her go?” I replied.

  “Because you have your fancy weapon and are twice our size. We can’t stop you, so why die trying? It’s better to accept the punishment than to risk all of our daughters being killed,” Bubble replied, and I could see her logic. It wasn’t enough to save one Goblin if others would be punished in her place for doing nothing wrong. The entire system was flawed and needed to be torn down.

  “Why don’t you leave?” I challenged.

  “And go where? Live with the baby-eating Dwarves? No, thank you. Out there, we’d either die or be hunted down. The punishments would be far worse if we tried to escape. People talk about it, but there’s nowhere to go,” Bubble said, almost manically.

  It was as if everything they had been taught was designed to hold them down, to keep them in a perpetual state of fear and submission. The stories they had been fed, the lies they had been told, all painted a picture of a world in which the Dwarves were their enemies. They had been led to believe that the Dwarves were monsters, cannibals who would devour their young without a second thought.

  The similarities between the Goblins' beliefs and the propaganda campaign used by the Japanese during World War II were chillingly familiar. The Japanese civilians on the island of Okinawa, who had been so indoctrinated by their government's lies, were given grenades to kill themselves rather than be captured by the Americans. Those who survived resorted to other means of suicide, convinced that the "barbaric" Americans would rape and torture them to death if they were taken prisoner.

  It was a horrific episode, a reminder of the power of propaganda and how fear and misinformation could be used to manipulate entire populations. And as I looked at the Goblin before me, I couldn't help but draw parallels between their situation and that of the Japanese civilians. Like them, the Goblins had been fed stories of the Dwarves as bloodthirsty monsters, their every action designed to keep the Goblins in check. It was a cruel and cynical manipulation of their fears, and a way to maintain control.

  “Then why not fight for your freedom?” I urged them.

  “Some have tried, and they’ve died in terrible ways. I understand what you’re trying to do. I can see that you have a soft heart. Some of the men here are like you, and don’t like our imprisonment any more than you do. But they realize that, at the end of the day, we can’t do anything about it. We may have numbers, but we don’t have weapons, armor, or even levels. The best way we can protect ourselves is by following the rules and protecting our children as long as we can,” Bubble stated. After a moment, she continued, “If you had a heart, you would let us put her back in the stockades and go on your way.”

  Her words hit me like a punch to the gut, the truth of them ringing through my mind like a clarion call. The odds were stacked against them, and any attempt to fight back would almost certainly end in their deaths, or worse, be punished beyond measure. As she spoke, it became clear that they were trapped in a cycle of fear and oppression, their every move dictated by the whims of those in power. They had no weapons, no means of defending themselves against the overwhelming might of their oppressors.

  “Remember, you do have a lot of daggers,” Rabbit said in my head. It was nice that he seemed as committed to righting this wrong as I was.

  At that thought, I plastered a smile on my face, which confused the Goblins, but then I pulled out a dagger from my pouch and said, “What if you had some weapons?”

  I tried handing a dagger to the women, but all of them backed away except Sparkle. Bubble immediately said, “Don’t do it. It’s forbidden for you even to hold a weapon.”

  Sparkle didn’t care. She grabbed it and said, “I haven’t held one since my first husband. He loved and cared about me. He treated me like I was the world to him. He was killed because of me, because of my beauty. Sometimes I wished I didn’t have these looks, but I wished more for revenge for my true love.”

  The sudden shift in tone took me aback. In my time among them, I had seen crying and submission, desperation and fear. But now, as she spoke of vengeance, there was a fierceness in her eyes that I had never seen before. It was as if a spark had been ignited within her, a burning desire for justice that could not be quenched. Considering all that they had gone through, it made sense that each of them would feel something different, and that their experiences would shape them in their own unique ways.

  “How many weapons do you have?” Sparkle asked with a glint in her eyes. Her name did her justice. I could see the sparks of rebellion in her. I couldn’t say the same for the rest, though.

  “Over a hundred,” I answered.

  “What would you want for the weapons?” Sparkle asked.

  I hadn’t thought about that.

  I couldn't help but feel a growing sense of unease. Helping these people gain their freedom had become my singular focus, a cause that had consumed me completely. But now, as I grappled with the reality of what it would mean to provoke them to rebellion, I realized that I had not fully considered the potential consequences of my actions.

  The thought of these innocent Goblins being subjected to further brutality and violence weighed heavily on my conscience, and I knew that I could not allow myself to force them into a situation that could ultimately lead to their demise. But at the same time, I couldn't stand by and watch them continue to be enslaved by their more dominant counterparts.

  I wanted nothing more than to see them free, but I knew that it had to be their decision, not mine. It wasn't enough for me to believe that it was the right thing to do. They had to believe in it and be willing to fight and die for their own liberation. As I looked at Blanket, her eyes filled with determination and longing for freedom, but she couldn't do it under this tyranny. I realized that this was becoming a much more complicated situation than I had anticipated.

  Bubble wasn’t having it because she grabbed Sparkle’s arm and confronted her. “What are you doing? We can’t take weapons. What would we do with them?”

  “We would buy our freedom with blood,” Sparkle replied with fervor.

  “We can’t. These people are our sons and brothers. We can’t kill them,” shot back Bubble with clear logic.

  “Maybe to you. My sons aren’t old enough, and my brothers were all killed,” Sparkle spat.

  I felt they were both wrong and were looking too much at the details. They needed to see the larger issue rather than scrutinizing what personally worked for either of them.

  “Both of you are missing the big picture,” I intervened. “I understand your point of view, but think of your daughters and sons to come. Do you want your daughters to be taken when they are just children, like Blanket’s daughter? Do you want your son to be taught to kill or be killed, or to see all women as property? Wouldn’t you rather raise them to work together like other societies of this land? Listen, I’m not telling you to kill the others actively, but at the very least, defend yourselves and your children.”

  Both of them looked at me with creased brows. It was clear they had fought about this before, but never with actual stakes. “We need to discuss this with the other women.” Bubble then raised her voice and said, “Wake all the women! Don’t let anyone enter this area. Also, get this Elf some food.”

  That wasn’t exactly what I was hoping for from my rousing speech. However, they chose to let the other women join the discussion, recognizing the importance of hearing from all voices before making a decision. It was a level of wisdom and respect that I had rarely seen in any leader, let alone a group of Goblins who had been so long oppressed.