Goblin Chief POV

In the meantime, the chief has finally gathered his men. Some are still exhausted or have not recovered from their wounds. But that doesn't matter right now. All that matters is the commotion in the storage room.

The chief has also noticed that the carriers are not back yet. If they have damaged the prey, he will have to punish them. He is urging the others on and wonders when the group he had sent out will return.

Together with his troops, he hurries through the tunnel. The fact that it is darker here than in the main cave hardly bothers him. Goblins see excellently in the dark. After all, caves are their preferred place to camp. And he knows from experience that the prey has difficulty seeing in the dark.

And then something unbelievable happens. The tunnel looks the same as always. The walls are of rough stone. But for some unexplainable reason, blades suddenly come out of the walls. They swing from left and right at the unsuspecting goblins. And before he knows it, his men are cut to pieces by the blades.

At the last moment, he himself grabs the goblin in front of him by the arm and pulls him back. However, a blade cuts through that arm, and his man lies screaming on the ground. He almost saved him but was too slow. And when the pendulum swings back, he dies just like the other four before him.

Should he wait for the others to return? No, something's happening in the camp. He must know what's going on! After the trap has lost its lethality. He draws his rusty sword and advances slowly...

My POV

And that would take care of the two guards in the storeroom. I order Goblina to release the blonde's bonds so she can take care of her friend. I hope she doesn't do anything stupid and understands that my goblins won't hurt them. But there is nothing else I can do. And I will not rely on goblins' first-aid skills.

Much more important is that I take care of the reinforcements. It took a while, but the chief has given his men a leg up. And together, they are now advancing through the tunnel. As they approach the traps, I consider the best course of action. I decide to keep the trap pit for emergencies. And when the goblin at the front has almost passed the pendulum trap, I activate it.

As three blades swing toward it from either side, they have no chance. Five enemies die by my trap. However, the chief can escape unharmed. Activating the pit will probably not help. So, it will be decided in battle. Therefore, I order my own goblins to prepare for combat.

The chief is armed with an old sword. It is the biggest of its kind I have ever seen (in my lifetime of 3 days). And probably stronger and more experienced in battle than my minions. But he has a significant weakness. Swords are overly glorified. Of course, it is an excellent weapon. But in general, the spear is the superior weapon.

Especially when the spearmen are in formation. Besides, the tunnel is narrow, and there is no room to manoeuvre. All my goblins have to do is to wait patiently and impale the chief when he comes closer. Maybe I can even convince the girl to help. After all, we scavenged another spear from the dead guards.

Blond girl POV

This can't be happening. The quest should be simple. Locate the nest of goblins and report its location to the guild. We haven't been in the Wildlands for two days when we discovered the first tracks. Everything pointed to small groups of scouts. But then everything went wrong.

Instead of one small group, we were ambushed by at least twenty. Our vanguard was immediately killed. Both of them were hacked to pieces. Our leader tried to break through with the rest of us. But there were too many, and we were surrounded. He was then killed by a taller goblin with a rusty sword.

Next, our priest fell. He killed two more with his mace but was overpowered. Only Paula and I were left, but we are both archers. And in close combat, we are clearly at a disadvantage. The last thing I saw was the goblins overpowering Paula. And everything went black after that.

Later, when I woke up, I was lying on rough rock. My head ached, and my hands and legs were bound. I try to look around, and I feel more pain in my head. It takes me a moment to recover my focus, and I try again. This time I can turn around and see Paula lying beside me.

She has a bleeding wound on her head and is not moving. I hope that she is only unconscious. Not that that would change anything about our situation. We are in a dark cave, tied up and trapped by goblins. You might call it hopeless.

I'm going to try and get out of my restraints for a while. I am unsuccessful, however. I cannot even reach the knot with my fingers. And the ropes are far too tight. I also cannot reach the knife in my pocket, because my hands and feet are additionally tied to a wooden pole.

I think about reaching the knife of Paula when two more goblins come around the corner. I hold still so as not to draw their attention to me. But then something completely absurd happens.

The newcomers throw their spears at the two guards and kill one of them. The second spear misses its target and lands on the ground next to me. It takes a few seconds until I overcome my shock. But then I crawl to the spear as fast as possible.

With the tip of the spear, I might be able to loosen my bonds! I have no idea why the goblins fight with each other, but this might be my chance. I grab the spear and try to cut the rope. But that is much easier said than done. And when I finally make some progress, the fighting noise is over.

One of the goblins comes at me with a blood-soaked axe. I panic and try to cut the rope. But I'm not fast enough. Tears run down my cheeks, and I close my eyes.

It's all over now.

But nothing happens. On the contrary, I feel my bonds coming loose, and I open my eyes again. When I look closer, I realise that the goblin is female. Her face is also much prettier than the others ... and I have never heard of a female goblin before.

She smiles at me and points to my unconscious friend. There the second goblin has already cut the ropes. He looks almost exactly like her, are they brother and sister?

I am dazed, and it takes a moment before I catch myself again. I crawl to Paula as fast as possible and examine her wound. It's not as bad as it looks. Head wounds always bleed a lot. I take a clean cloth from my emergency bag and clean the wound. Next, I take a healing potion and drip a few drops on her wound. With that, she should wake up soon.

After I have finished, one of the goblins suddenly presses a spear into my hand. Now I am completely confused. Releasing our bondage is one thing but giving me a weapon is something completely different. She points in the direction from which they came and goes into position together with her brother.

Does this mean more enemies are coming?

I'm not sure what's going on. Decide to help, though. I'll get in the middle of the two and point the spear forward.

But in the next moment, I understand the problem. The great goblin with the rusty sword is coming. He looks furious and is charging towards our wall of spears.

I don't know if he's stupid or just angry. But there's no doubt about how this fight will turn out. Yes, as a swordsman, you must get close to a spearman as soon as possible. But alone, in a narrow passageway, against three spearmen? This is madness.

It ends as it was meant to. His chest was pierced by all the spears. And he drops his sword lifelessly.

As the sword touches the ground, I suddenly hear a voice. It seems to be coming from everywhere and nowhere.

"So there you are. I knew you were sleeping somewhere hidden."

And then the goblin siblings suddenly began to glow.