I turned my head to see that Smutisha had emerged from the lower tunnel… the one that was kind of half imbedded in the floor. She had that goblin from the entrance next to her. He had his trunk and arms tied with rope which Smutisha was holding onto like a dog leash.

  Behind Smutisha, various others were emerging from the tunnel. All women. They must have found the place where the goblins were holding them hostage. All of them were naked and wrapped in blankets. The blankets were well maintained and looked new… they certainly did not belong to the goblins. Farrow must have had them in her void. From what was visible of the women… they were covered in bruises, cuts and burn marks. These women have been through hell.

  Dietrich and Farrow emerged with a screaming heavily pregnant woman.

  Smutisha: “Priest, what’s your name. darling?”

  Clive: “Clive Beaumont, my lady.”

  Smutisha: “I know that name from somewhere, not sure where, anyway, unimportant right now. Actually, darling, do you know Doncaster?”

  The pregnant woman screamed… loudly.

  Smutisha: “On second thought, never mind, not important. Heal those that you can, darling. Then give this lady some assistance. She seems relatively far along. Ladies, get the woman comfortable, then make sure there isn’t a single goblin left in this place.”

  Dietrich took the woman to the edge of the room and started to help her down to the ground while Farrow opened her void and started getting out bedrolls and things to make the woman comfortable.

  Smutisha: “Now… boys… I believe that I asked what the hell was going on?”

  Asmodeus stepped forward, absolutely covered in goblin blood.

  Asmodeus: “That vile creature has once again brought you all to the brink of imminent demise!”

  Smutisha sighed and rolled her eyes.

  Smutisha: “Could somebody who has not been utterly consumed by the desire for vengeance give me a less bias answer?”

  Asmodeus: “My lady!”

  Smutisha: “Quiet, Trevithick.”

  Asmodeus: “I must protest, my lady. He has lured you all here into a blatant ambush. He intended to have his way with you and discard you unto the hordes within this cave!”

  Smutisha: “That is both slander and deformation of character. You will cease this idiocy immediately. He did not lure us here. In fact, he has been very vocal about not wanting us to come here. He voiced his concerns about how unsafe it would be several times. The one at fault here is me. This was my idea, my expedition. If you hold anybody responsible, then it should be me.”

  Asmodeus: “I do not believe…”

  Smutisha: “Hold your tongue, Trevithick! Go search the rest of this cave with Dietrich and Farrow. I am in no mood to be dealing with your narrow-minded bigotry at this moment.”

  Asmodeus: “But, my lady.”

  Smutisha: “Go!”

  Asmodeus stormed off towards the tunnel that Smutisha had come from and disappeared within. His entire body looked heavier than normal as he went. He clearly did not take what Smutisha said to him well. Dietrich followed after him, along with Farrow.

  Clive went to heal Damecus’ leg but Damecus redirected him to Phoenix. Damecus then limped over to the pregnant woman to assist her with the birthing… the arrows still sticking out of his leg.

  A couple of the other women who had been rescued were holding her hands and supporting her. You can tell that those women have only been captured recently. The women who have been here for longer look as though they are barely even processing what is happening. One of the women just looks completely dead inside… her eyes are glazed over… her expression blank… gods… how long has she been here.

  Damecus: “Is this your first birth?”

  Pregnant Woman: “Yes!”

  Damecus: “Is it… one of them?”

  The woman did not answer… she bit her lip and turned her head, as though ashamed.

  Damecus: “I do not ask to shame you. The birth will need to be handled differently should the baby be human.”

  Smutisha: “Why, darling?”

  Damecus: “Goblins are much smaller, so the birth will be quicker and the baby less likely to get stuck. However, goblins are born with sharp nails that can cause lacerations on the way out.”

  The pregnant woman spoke in a whisper… I was barely able to make out the words.

  Pregnant Woman: “It’s one of them.”

  Damecus: “Understood. With your permission I will use my hands to shield your vaginal wall in order to prevent the lacerations.”

  Clive: “Will that not overstretch the area?”

  Clive was hovering over Phoenix, his hands glowing. He looked relieved that somebody else was handling the birth. He had adopted a panicked look when Smutisha had given him such an assignment. He may have been questioning Damecus’ approach, but his face had changed to a look of relief.

  Damecus: “As I said, a Grim child will be much smaller than a human. There will be enough give for both my hands and the baby. However, it is up to you miss? The more the area needs to stretch the more painful it will be for you. However, without the protection, you may suffer several internal injuries that will be harder to deal with.”

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Pregnant Woman: “Whatever gets this disgusting creature out of me fastest.”

  Damecus: “Understood.”

  The woman started to scream again and I turned away to look at Smutisha once more. The woman has been through enough. She doesn’t need an entire room staring at her while she is going through that.

  Smutisha: “Now that that is being dealt with, darlings. I need to know what happened in here. Damecus, you took charge after the collapse, explain.”

  Damecus: “I am afraid I cannot shed any light on the situation. I was hit by confusion gas. My understanding of what happened from then until a few moments ago is highly unreliable.”

  Smutisha: “Ah yes, darling. Agaroth said something about that before the speaking spell stopped.”

  Damecus: “Kiyui was also hit by the confusion gas; he likely lowered the spell as a result.”

  Smutisha: “Then that just leaves you, Dwynfel, darling.”

  Dwynfel: “I’m sorry?”

  Smutisha: “You are the only person other than Damecus that is conscious, darling. Can you explain?”

  Dwynfel: “I’m sorry… this is all my fault.”

  Smutisha: “Oh, for god’s sake, darling. No, it isn’t. I’ve already been through this with Trevithick. Now stop the self-deprecation and just tell me what happened.”

  I can’t… I can’t tell her. If I tell them, it will ruin Kiyui’s life. They can’t know what he is. But it wasn’t just me… others saw him change… I can’t conceal this anymore… oh gods… what do I say?

  Dwynfel: “Umm… well… the confusion gas hit Damecus and Kiyui. Damecus ran off down that tunnel and Kiyui was panicking. I don’t know what he was seeing, but… he was… he was so scared…”

  Phoenix: “Agaroth had to knock him out.”

  Huh? Phoenix is awake again? Oh yeah, Clive was healing her. Phoenix glared at me, as though demanding my silence.

  Smutisha: “Oh good, Patience, darling, you’re awake. Dwynfel seems to be emotionally struggling a tad. Mayhaps you could fill me in.”

  Phoenix went to stand up…

  Clive: “Lady V’Rel, I am not finished healing…”

  Phoenix: “I’m fine. Go get Carter.”

  Clive: “But… Patience…”

  She turned to him and glared.

  Phoenix: “Do as I say.”

  Clive: “As you wish.”

  Phoenix walked towards Smutisha. She was still clearly not fully healed. She staggered somewhat… but she made it well enough.

  Smutisha: “You really should let him heal you properly, darling.”

  Phoenix: “The unconscious and the immobile come first.”

  Smutisha: “Fair point, darling.”

  Phoenix: “Keith was fatally injured shielding me from an explosive flask. While he had taken the brunt of the blast, I was still badly injured by it. Agaroth was attempting to heal me as Kiyui was becoming distraught…”

  Clive: “Could your cleric not have used clear mind on him instead of knocking him out?”

  Phoenix: “That was the initial plan. But that damn fox of Kiyui’s wouldn’t let Agaroth get close enough. It has a strange affinity with him, Kiyui’s confusion likely spread to it. Other goblins were baring down on us; there was no time to come up with an alternative, so Agaroth threw a rock at his head.”

  She’s good at improvising. I was completely floundering before.

  Smutisha: “There looks to be a lot of blood around him, darling.”

  Phoenix: “He clawed his own arm open. I believe he thought that something was under his skin.”

  Smutisha: “Confusion gas is truly awful, darling. Do you think they have more of it here?”

  Dwynfel: “If they do, it will likely be stolen. The Grim don’t do alchemy. What potions and bombs they have; they have taken from places they’ve raided.”

  Smutisha: “At least they aren’t making it themselves. They could be a real problem if they knew how to do that.”

  Well, that is definitely true. Goblins and chemical warfare would be an awful combination.

  Phoenix: “The room was swarmed by goblins. There was at least fifty of them. Agaroth put up a wall of protection around us and attempted to fight them on his own in order buy us time.”

  Smutisha: “Time to do what, darling?”

  Phoenix: “For Dwynfel to use the sword.”

  Smutisha: “Ah! You have worked out how to use it? Excellent!”

  Dwynfel: “I think it only works when I truly believe that I am about to die. The power I felt before… I had not felt it since the night of the ball. I hope that I never have to feel it ever again.”

  I cannot stress enough how much I mean what I just said… I never… ever… want to experience anything even close to what just happened ever again.

  Phoenix: “Both Agaroth and Keith died to protect me today. I would have them both buried with honours.”

  Smutisha: “It will be done, darling.”

  Carter: “M’Lady, I don’t know if you can bury a goblin with honours.”

  Smutisha: “Oh, don’t you start. You’ve been spending too much time with Trevithick. I will do as I please, darling. Now, if you have nothing productive to say, do be quiet.”

  Pretty sure that Carter is correct. Not just because he’s a goblin. Keith isn’t a knight. He can’t be buried with honours. Although, knowing Smutisha, she’ll find a way around that.

  Phoenix: “Asmodeus arrived with Carter and Clive. While Asmodeus was spouting nonsense, a bunch of other goblins arrived through the high tunnel. They were followed by Damecus. With the aid of Asmodeus’ party, we were able to cast clear mind on Damecus and kill the remaining goblins. Which brings us to now.”

  Smutisha: “Gods… sounds like you had it rough through here, darling.”

  Phoenix: “I believe that we were assaulted by the brunt of their forces.”

  Smutisha: “That you certainly were, darling. I think they underestimated us because we are women. Dietrich and Farrow decimated them with ease. No explosives or gasses or anything. In one cavern, a bunch of them were riding dire wolves and trying to catch us with nets, nets for god’s sake. Their desire to catch us alive was their undoing, I think.”

  Thank you, Phoenix. Thank you for keeping his secret. Thank you so much. Now I just need to work out what the hell to tell Kiyui.

  Darling should be about 1ft taller. AI is terrible at getting heights correct. It also continues to struggle to cope with Dietrich's helmet.