Even though Elena and Alex clearly knew their way in this district, it took them quite a long time, along a route full of twists and turns to reach their next destination. Ever since they entered Goblin-kvarter they had only gone continuously deeper into it. Along the way, they came across many creatures and buildings. And while their density was larger, the homes and people themselves were a lot smaller than in Human-kvarter. The shape of buildings especially took Jax's attention. While human buildings were usually at least 4 floors tall, the buildings here were not often higher than 2. On top of that, they were ugly. Their structures were haphazardly placed with useless parts sticking out towards all sides.  

In general, the atmosphere in this part of the city quite pleasant. There was a comforting mixture of cosiness and liveliness that was unthinkable in Human-kvarter, especially outdoors. Apparently, goblins gathered everywhere, eating, working, fighting, dancing, and playing music.  

  

Alex: "This isn't that bad, right? It seems pretty normal for here. . .?"  

  

Ela: "Wait and see. . .?"  

  

Alex: "For what ??"  

  

Ela: "Fine. We'll look and go see ?."  

  

Suddenly Elena left the main street they had been following for a while in favour of one of the smaller, adjacent streets.   

  

Alex: "What am I supposed to see here?"  

  

Ela: "Can you just give me a sec ?!"  

  

Alex: Why? I mean, even if we see something here that is like worse or more violent than in the main streets. . . That'd still be pretty normal, no ??"  

  

Ela: "Will you just shut it ?!" She took a deep breath, followed by an even longer exhale. "Can't you smell it ??"  

  

Alex: "I'm not a dog ?." 

  

Ela: "Unlike me, you mean ??"  

  

Alex: ". . ."  

  

Ela: "It's not like you need an extraordinary sense of smell for this-"  

  

Jax: "I think I smell something too. . ."  

  

Ela: "Thank you, not for the interruption, though. Alex. . . just smell, please ?." 

  

Alex: ". . . Fine."  

  

Alex walked further into the alley, closely followed by Elena. He inhaled carefully.  

  

Ela: "I can't believe you have such a hard time noticing this ?."  

 

Alex: "Again, I'm not like you. . ."  

  

Ela: "But even Jax smelled it. Way over there too. And it's not like this is a such a faint smell. . . So, what do you smell ?? 

  

Alex: "Blood. . . Corpses. . . Magic. . . It smells like sacrifices and poor medical practices. . . So, what so strange about this to you ??"  

  

Ela: "You apparently only smell this here, but I smell it everywhere in Goblin-kvarter. Hell, if the wind is blowing in the wrong direction, I smell it outside of here as well. And ever since the past week or so, the stench has become so much worse. . . That is what worries me ?!"  

  

Alex: "Alright, fine. I trust you. . . But for now, let's get out of here ?."  

 

Jax: "Aren't you a doctor though. . . Like, shouldn't you help them if their medical practices are really that bad?"  

  

Alex: "How do you even know I'm supposed to be a doctor? Did I even tell you ??"  

  

Jax: "I overheard you saying it. Or, someone saying it at least. . ."  

  

Alex: "Oh, I see. And no. This is their business, not mine. As long as they don't want my help, I'm not helping, only trouble comes of that-"  

  

Jax: "How d'ya know that?" 

  

Ela: "I mean, he doesn't always help those that do want his help either ?."  

  

Alex: "No, not unless they’re put on my list, and no-one who lives her has. That's all that matters to me."   

  

Jax: "Why, though?"  

  

Alex: "Because I can't just help everyone, aight. . . It's way too much ?."  

  

Ela: "But you don't help Sara either. She can't be that much trouble ?." 

  

Alex: "Bad things come from helping those I'm not supposed to help ?."  

  

Ela: "Like what ??"  

  

Alex: "Ask your girlfriend, won't you ??!"  

  

Ela: "Why would I ask. . . Oh, you mean her. We ain't like that, you know that ?."  

  

Alex: "Also, wasn't this morning enough? Why we gotta talk about this here and with him here ??"  

 

Ela: "Well, you don't answer me properly, so yeah. But sure, let's just go to your client now. . . Seems like you at least got my point about this place being worse than usual ?." 

 

They left the alley. For Alex and Jax, this meant a relief of the stench that had begone to dominate the small street, but Elena still had to endure it. She had booked a tiny success, but she couldn't feel happy about it. Even if Alex recognized her problem, he would not help her. She would need someone else for that, but she had not met anyone who could actually help her since it started. On top of that, Elena had mixed feeling about her inability to convince Alex to cure Sara, and it wasn't a positive mixture. She felt sad, mad, and disappointed. Elena had been unsuccessfully trying to get her brother to help her girlfriend for quite a while now, but he always turned her down, saying he couldn't or he shouldn't. Meanwhile, Sara's condition had been getting progressively worse. It worried her, though her putting extra pressure on her brother only seemed to infuriate him.   

It did not take the group long to get from Elena's short transit to Alex's desired destination. However, each of them, the journey felt painfully long. During the entire way there, an awkward silence hung over them that was broken when Alex pointed out the building where he was expected.  

  

Alex: "Alright, it's here. I guess we'll just go in then unless someone feels opposed to that." He glared at Elena while he said it. 

  

Ela: "Don't look at me ?, I don't give a dam. . . Well, I still don't mind, but will you be fine ??"  

  

Alex: "Why not ??"  

  

Ela: "I mean, you can't know if something will happen right. If they'll be aight with you working. . ."  

  

Alex: "I was called."  

  

Ela: "No need to be cross. You know I don't mean that ?. I mean the others, the ones that make the stench and ones like them. It wouldn't be the first time. . . So, what d'you want me to do ??" 

  

Alex: "Fine, do as you please ?."  

  

Ela: "You sure?"  

  

Alex: "As long as you don't make any extra work for me ?."  

  

Ela: "I'll see what I can do ?." 

 

They entered the building. Alex went in first, with Jax behind him and Elena last. She took a little more time than the others to watch their surroundings and smell the air. At last, she followed them through 2 beaded curtains. The halfway was dark, rancid, and sweltering. They could see multiple lights further into the building, indicating a branched path. The building was much larger inside than any of them had initially imagined.  

  

Ela: "You have any idea which of these lights is your patient ??"  

  

Jax: "Wait, the light is the patient?!"  

  

Ela: "What? No! Of course, not ?! It was just a manner of speech. . ."  

  

Jax: "Ah, okay, good. That makes more sense. . . It's just that now all the insane things you guys say, seem possible. . ."  

  

Ela: "Aight then ?. So, what about it, Alex?"  

  

Alex: "Yeah, I know where to go, just over there. "He pointed to a standard looking light down the hall. "I think we can just go now. Instead of discussing these. . . pointless things ?." 

  

Ela: "What? You nervous ??"   

 

Jax: “Shush.” 

 

Silently the group entered the second room on the right. After they passed through another beaded curtain, they got instantly blinded by all the lamps and the blazing fire in the room. Once their eyes got used to the lighting, they saw a surprisingly cosy little room. The floor, wall, and ceiling were all completely covered in designed carpets. Elena tried to decipher what they depicted. They clearly represented some kind of story or stories perhaps, but she didn't manage to figure out much more than Maanfest, sacrifice, war with humans, and bear-hunt. The lamps that had aided their blinding earlier were sitting in the corners of the room. While the fire was burning in a primitive fireplace dangerously close to the door. A few goblins sat against the far-walls. And in the middle of the room lay bedding with a small looking goblin inside. Jax stumbled into the room, narrowly avoided the fire, and awkwardly clutched to the wall. While Alex went directly to the patient, to the visible distress of the goblins, seemingly unaware of the commotion he caused. When he knelt down by the patient, Elena quickly removed her attention from the carpets and positioned herself between the goblins and her brother, trying to look as unaggressive as possible.   

But she was immediately was confronted by confused and angry goblin noises. 

  

Goblins: "? Wat yu want! Go way! ?." 

  

Ela: "Ah, uhm ?. What was it again. . . ?Kalm down, kalm down ?. It's okay, he is the doctor ?." 

  

Despite Elena's agitated movement and speech, as well as her terrible use of the goblin language, she did seem to somewhat get through to the group. Most of them stepped back again except the 2 most elderly.  

  

Elderly goblin: "He doctor?" 

  

Ela: "Uhm, yes ??"  

  

Elderly goblin: "Big doctor? Strong. . . Good doctor?"  

  

Ela: "You mean like 'Angel Doctor' ??"  

  

Second elderly goblin: "Angel! Angel! Yes! He angel doctor?"  

  

Ela: "Yes ?!"  

  

First elderly goblin: "Ah, oke, oke, he work now."  

  

Ela:  "Phew. Crisis averted, for now ?."  

  

Jax: "Sorry, what?"  

  

Ela: "Doesn't matter, watch that door, will you." She pointed towards the entrance. 

 

Even though Alex had noticed the many people in the room, he chose to ignore them. The second he entered the chamber, he recognized his patient and simply went over to them. Alex just wanted to get this over with, but he was afraid of what he might find. And he was sure, that he would need his full attention for this operation. The rest he would just have to leave to his sister. He was annoyed with Elena. She was prying and pressuring him again. And worst of all, she didn't even keep it between the both of them. But he would have to ward her out of his mind for now, if he wanted to succeed.   

 

He closed his eyes and breathed in, slowly, carefully, and controlled. In his mind's eye, he could picture a moon made from shining, viscous liquid, its surface leisurely moving opposite to its rotation. For a moment, Alex maintained this image in his head. When he let it go and opened his eyes, he perceived the world differently. His vision was no longer blocked by annoying things like walls and flesh. Alex took a moment to adjust to his new vision. He peered through the roof to admire the night sky. The stars and moon always seemed more beautiful in this state. Like this, he was able to view the world through energy, both physical and spiritual. Now that he was free of his usual colour-vision, he would no longer be distracted. Fully aware that as soon as he'd turn his eyes from the sky to his patient, he'd know what the issue was, Alex took his time.   

 

Finally, he laid his eyes on the body at his knees. Their lungs shone brightly. Carefully Alex placed his hands on the chest and pushed. He felt his hands go through skin, muscle, and bone until he finally touched the soft, squishy tissue of the pleura. There Alex stopped, judging whether there was a problem with this membrane or deeper in the longs. Slowly he started to move his hands again, this time not deeper into the body, but rather over the surface of the pleura, searching for information, looking for an accumulation of air and moisture. It did not take Alex long before he found the culprit, pneumothorax. Alex had found a significant collection of air in the pleura of the goblin. He did not know how this had happened as he could not find any additional trauma, but he did not care much for that sort of thing either. Carefully Alex took his right hand out of the body. With his index finger, he punctured the chest, including the pleura where the air had accumulated. Quickly, Alex massaged the lung with his left hand to guide the air out of the body. After that, he closed the wound from inside to out while taking his left hand out of the body. All in all, the procedure had only taken about 15 minutes. Alex sighed in relief and looked around the room. . . Only to find chaos. 

 

When Alex had started with his treatment, the surrounding goblins had become restless again. But none of them tried to get closer to him. For a little while, Elena kept a keen eye on them until she started hearing commotion down the halfway. She drove Jax to the far corner of the room while a pack of new goblins, bigger and brighter green than the ones that were already in the room, poured inside. Quickly she blocked the newcomers from going further into the room and was almost immediately backed up by the 2 elderly goblins, though they took that 'backed' annoyingly literally. A heated discussion broke out. Elena was almost entirely unable to follow the conversation. Due to the speed and the emotion with which the goblins spoke. However, it was clear that the larger goblins disapproved of the presence of the humans and their use of magic. How they had figured out what was going on remained a mystery, and they seemed less persuaded than their smaller counterparts by the word 'doctor' being thrown around. Eventually, Elena felt forced to attempt to physically remove the new group, from the by now very crowded room, while yelling: ?leav, leav ?, in their own speech. Though this did little to helped and mostly aggravated the goblins even more. With her eyes and ears occupied by the horde, Elena was a little slow to realize one of the newcomers had slipped past them. Suddenly she jerked her head backed to look at Alex and saw the creature reach out their hand to grab her brother. She could not allow Alex's ritual to be disturbed. It was too dangerous, if not for her brother, then at least for his patient. 

 

From the back of the room, Jax saw one of the goblins dash towards Alex. He tried to warn him, but his voice wouldn't leave his throat. But before the intruder had a chance to lay his hands on the man, Jax saw Elena turn around. With her arm pulled back, she leaped towards the goblin and quicker than his eyes could follow, Elena swung said arm towards the poor creature's head. However, Jax was fully able to appreciate the horrific result of the attack. The goblin lay in a sorry heap against the wall, their head a bloody mess. All of the goblins, big and small, cried out in anguish, and several of the larger ones jumped on Elena. For few seconds, there was a violent struggle, after which Elena threw a few of the green creatures to the ground, with mangled throats and jaws. The room reached new levels of clamour while a new struggle broke out. This time Elena had the initiative. She threw out fast punches towards the last aggressive goblins breaking the cartilage in their faces. The rest of the goblins, big and small, evacuated the room screaming. After the noise died down and the dust in the room settled, Elena was surrounded by 9 bodies, 8 large ones and 1 smaller. The only living goblins left in the room were the 2 elders and Alex's patient. The house had become possessed with a dark-red glimmer. For the first time, Jax noticed Elena's horns, as they shone as crimson ad her eyes, seemingly bloodied. On the wall, shadows gathered, providing her with wings. Carefully, Elena took the source of the red light, which was hovering in front of her eyes, out of the air and ate it. The image filled Jax's mind and made him unable to speak. However, at that moment he knew 2 things for certain. He would never be able to see her as 'just Elena' again, and this was gonna show up in his nightmares.  

  

Alex: "What the fuck happened here. What is this. . . Slaughter ??" 

  

Ela: "Stuff happened. . . ?"  

  

Alex: "Elena. . . ?"  

  

Ela: "They were gonna touch you. . ."  

  

Alex: "Again?"  

  

Elena: "And then all of ‘em attacked. . . ?" 

  

Alex: "Just. . . What the fuck ?."  

  

Ela: "Well, at least I didn't make any more patients for you ?."