Sparkle the Goblin

  The night was almost over, and dawn was approaching. This was when most Goblins would be settling down to sleep. Usually, I spent this time making sure the little ones were all covered up and ready for bed. But this night was different. I had been busy taking care of the wounded or defending myself.

  Life as a female Goblin meant doing what you were told. You followed orders, or you faced punishment. Even when you did what was expected, sometimes you still got punished. The best strategy for any woman had always been to stay quiet and avoid drawing attention. Those who tried to speak up or resist often suffered the most.

  My mother had tried to run away from her husband, who had threatened to kill her. When she was caught, she was made an example. They gathered everyone to pelt her with stones and beat her until she lay dead in the street for all to see. Tonight, our actions marked an even greater act of defiance, worse than anything we had ever done before. We had not only planned to harm our overlords but had actually committed the gravest form of treason in their eyes by directly disobeying their commands.

  We took up arms against our own kind and declared, "No, you do not own us anymore." This betrayal was more devastating than a brother turning against a brother. They believed we were their property, bought with the blood spilled to take us from others. But we resolved never to surrender our freedom again.

  That was why I was there, waiting on this bridge. The Elf, a savior who had come to our city, offered us a new way. Just yesterday, he had entrusted me with a knife, like my late husband once did. The possession alone could warrant a death sentence. Holding that knife was dangerous, but what I did with it was far worse. Although the knife alone couldn’t halt a direct charge aimed at me and my group of females, our superior numbers ultimately gave us the advantage.

  After the battle had calmed down, a man approached and claimed he owned one of the women. We refused to give her to him, which made him angry. Once he saw our weapons, he changed from giving orders to attacking us, thinking we were traitors. In the fight that followed, my knife was one of many that ended his life.

  He was more powerful than any of us, capable of knocking several of us down with a single blow. They were used to beating us, expecting us to cower as we always had. But this time was different. A lone tree could not help but be pushed by the storm and would only sway with the wind to avoid damage. We were no longer a lone tree but a forest, able to move together, absorbing and distributing the storm's force.

  For the first time, we were united. For the first time, we defended ourselves.

  While it made me happy to see the black blood on my hands from that sadistic Goblin, others were sad. They didn’t want to kill him, but I knew the truth. If we didn’t take our freedom, we would never be given it.

  Those Goblins were greedy and abusive, thinking of us as property rather than as one of them. They took our children, beat and abused them while telling us it was illegal to hold a weapon.

  As I sat there on the bridge, stewing in my thoughts, my exhaustion escaped me. My mind focused only on that man who had saved us, that outsider who had given us a second chance and most likely offered himself as a sacrifice. He had given us everything and had even led the guards on a chase through the city. Reports were that he had made it to this tunnel and gone inside. This, we all knew, was a death sentence. Surviving two strikes was unlikely, and three strikes guaranteed death.

  Every child was told this story, which is why it was so odd that the Goblin soldiers chased him into the tunnel. The only explanation was that he must have survived the lightning strikes. As crazy as it sounded, there was no other reason for so many Goblins to go in and chase him toward certain death.

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  If that was the case, then they were likely all dead by now. None of the Goblins had come back, and neither had our savior. I had been waiting here for him, hoping to thank him with whatever I could offer. Some had come to check on their sons, who were lost in that cave. Still, others, I suspected, had been here to challenge our savior the second he came out.

  Everyone had agreed to his new rules, but that night we had shown that rules could be changed if enough blood was shed. I wasn’t sure if they had planned to attack the man together or one at a time, but I couldn't let either scenario happen. If this man died, we wouldn’t be able to maintain our gains without resorting to wiping out the opposition entirely.

  The males might have accepted this strong Elf as their leader with our support, but a weak male Goblin would not have been accepted. They would have felt compelled to erase such a leader from memory. The idea of a female Goblin leader was a joke to them, so our survival depended on this Elf.

  If he did not return, the war would drag on. While others might give up, I would either die fighting or live free. It seemed unlikely, but I held on to the hope that this man would come back to us. It was a foolish hope, but I clung to it all the same.

  That was when I heard the buzzing of the tunnel that signaled it was powering up. I was already facing that direction and saw no one entering, which meant either we could not see who was coming in or someone was approaching from the other end. Almost in unison, those who had been facing the wrong way started to turn around, and everyone stood up.

  Then, as the buzzing intensified, a bolt of lightning shot out with a sharp zap. The cave flared brightly, as if the sun had shone for just an instant, blinding everyone, but no one looked away. Every Goblin waited in tense silence, watching to see what would happen next.

  Zap! Another bolt struck inside the cave, a likely fatal blow. My heart sank. I had hoped he had been fast enough to dodge the strikes, but with no silhouette visible against the blinding light, that hope was fading. If our savior was in there, he must have been struck twice, which was certainly a death sentence.

  Zap! The sound echoed again, leaving us all confused. Was there more than one person in the tunnel? Why was the lightning striking so close?

  I looked around to see if anyone else knew the answers and then saw several of them placing their hands on their swords. These were some of the males that I believed would attack if our savior came out of this tunnel. There were four of them, and even with our numbers being double theirs, I was certain they could kill all of us and then attack the Elf.

  Zap! This one was much closer and almost out of the tunnel, but I didn’t look away from the swords. I was trying to figure out what to do. There was only one action that I could see that could turn the tide. If I grabbed their leader with all my strength, I might be able to pull us both off the bridge into the abyss below. My life would be forfeited, but of course, I would die free, and it would give my sisters and children a chance to live a real life.

  Zap!

  “What the fuck,” the lead Goblin mouthed and let go of his sword. Confused as to what was going on, I turned my gaze back to the cave entrance.

  He survived.

  When he appeared, the Elf was transformed. He no longer looked the same. His skin was paler, almost glowing with an unusual light, as if the lightning had changed him. Was it power that made him radiate? His clothes, now tattered and smoking, barely clung to him, yet he walked confidently through the cave, sword raised high for all to see, moving at a leisurely pace.

  Zap!

  This time, I saw clearly what had happened. He had emerged from the cave, but the lightning seemed to follow him, stretching out to touch him as he walked. Instead of being thrown back or killed by the strike, he continued forward, seemingly unfazed as the lightning coursed around and through him.

  If he could keep walking after so many strikes, his power must have been immense. Perhaps the Goblins didn't chase him into the cave after all. Maybe he killed them all and then just strode through the cave like it was rain, only an inconvenience to his great power.

  Looking around, no one had their hands on their weapons anymore. That was enough for me, and I bowed. Others followed me as quickly as they could see the raw power he possessed. If he wanted to strike us down, he could in an instant.

  "Master," I said aloud to catch his attention with as much reverence as I could muster. “Please follow me. Bubble and I have much to discuss with you.”

  His eyes locked on mine after scanning the area, and I immediately put my head down further so as not to upset him.

  “Very well,” he said, “the others may go. I left no one else alive.”