“Are you sure you don’t want to come with me?” Rusty asked as he tied down his load to the wagon. “I’m going to be gone for a few days with this load. This particular settlement is near the Badlands and I was also thinking of visiting some family and old friends. I’m sure they’d be glad to greet you.”

Celeste shook her head. “No thank you, Rusty. I haven’t been alone since I woke up and I wouldn’t want to cause any trouble for you or your family.” She wanted to test herself to see if she would be okay staying alone. She had never done it before, but if she could, then she wouldn’t have to burden Rusty and could go out and camp by herself once she somehow managed to get the supplies. She’d have to get a job too, though she wasn’t sure what that would be. She doubted that engraving was in high demand at the moment.

“All right, if you insist.” He pulled on the rope, making sure it was nice and tight before he got onto the seat. “Remember, the goblins are nearby and will probably come running if you yell. The Renewer camp is north and the tavern is half a day’s journey south if you feel like you need to go to either of those places for some reason. Everything else you know.” He grabbed the rein for the mules. “Keep an eye out and stay safe. I’m not expecting any visitors, but tell me when I get back if anyone showed up.”

“Of course. Have a good time and don’t worry about me!” She had heard that dwarves had a tendency to be mother hens and it seemed like some of that had rubbed off on Rusty, even if he hadn’t realized it. Though given his last time, she figured that he grew up around dwarves as opposed to humans. But she wasn’t going to pry into his personal life unless he wanted to offer up that information.

Rusty snapped the reins and the cart started. Celeste watched it get smaller and smaller in the distance until it disappeared. Then, she went into the shed, retrieved a few things, and went into the cabin. While he was gone, she would stay in there so she could keep an eye on things. Once again, she missed her diary. It had at least given her something to do besides reading. She needed to pick up a hobby, but she wasn’t sure what. Maybe knitting or sowing…

She turned to the place she left off in the goblin book and read part of a chapter before someone knocked on the door. Celeste put the book down and waited. Maybe if she didn’t answer, they would go away, thinking no one was at home. The knocking came again, this time more insistent.

“Human, come out. We smell you!”

Is that what a goblin speaking the human language sounded like? It certainly wasn’t a human being speaking. It sounded like there was a fish caught in the speaker’s throat. Oh, their pronunciation was all right, but it sounded like they had trouble making the proper sounds to form the word. Maybe she should’ve skipped ahead to the goblin language chapter…

“Just give me a moment!” She yelled toward the door as she stepped into the kitchen area and grabbed a knife, hiding it behind her back. She wasn’t planning on using it, but it made her feel better to have it.

She opened the door just a little before it was pulled all the way open. Two goblins stood in front of it, but she had a feeling there were more somewhere. Although she was taller than them, she couldn’t help but feel a bit intimidated. They were larger than the river goblins and their teeth seemed sharper too. They wore crude armor and their weapons appeared to be mainly stone or borrowed blades with shorter lengths, but it probably didn’t make them any less deadly.

“Can I help you...gentlemen?” Celeste asked. She still couldn’t tell male and female goblins apart, so hopefully, she wasn’t offending them. “If you’re looking for Rusty, I’m afraid he just left on a trip and won’t be back for a while. I can leave a message if…”

“No, no half-dwarf blacksmith. Just human girl staying here.” They paused for a second. “That you.”

She wasn’t sure why they felt the need to clarify that. “What do you want with me?” She asked though she knew who had probably sent them. Celeste tightened her grip on the handle of the knife. “I don’t know any goblins besides the ones that live on this river.”

“Sent to get you for Lord Davik. Presence is re…” They coughed a little. “Requ...wanted.”

They held out a piece of paper with a long, spindly arm. She carefully took it with her free hand and looked at it. Yes, there was handwriting, but the ink had been smeared and the paper was slightly damp. It was unreadable.

“Erm…”

“Bag had hole.” The goblin admitted rather shamed-faced. Their ears drooped slightly. “Summons got a little wet. Tried to dry out but…” They snatched the paper away, balled it up, and ate it. Once they finished chewing, they turned their attention back to her. “Does not matter. Come with us with paper or not.”

“All right. I’ll come.” She remembered what the others had advised her. At least she wouldn’t be traveling with them for too long. If Rusty was correct in his directions, it wasn’t that far to the Reviver camp. She still had the knife. Maybe the goblins would let her keep…

“Weapon stays here.” They ordered. “Good try.”

Celeste stepped back and put the knife back where she found it. She probably wouldn’t have been able to do much with it anyways. It was too big to be a weapon, better at cutting up food than anything else. Then she left a note for Rusty. Once that was done, she exited the cabin, locked the door, and hide the key where Rusty showed her to.

“Okay, ready to go when you are. I hope you have food and water because I have no supplies for a trip.”

“Have enough.” They nodded. “Now we go.”

But before they could start on their road trip, a shriek pierced the air. It reminded her of Buttercup's, but higher pitched. The one who had been speaking to Celeste the whole time wrapped their hand around her wrist and tugged her toward the river. She could probably break out of their grip, but she wasn’t trying to run away, so she let him led her. As she thought, there were more goblins than just them and the other one that had been at the door. There were two more and they were holding a struggling goblin pup between them. Celeste thought it might’ve been one of Buttercup’s younger siblings, but she wasn’t sure. She’d seen them, but never formally met them.

“What doing? Put pup down and let’s go.” One the goblins holding the pup said something and the head goblin shook their head. “No, cannot keep. Plenty of goblin pups back home to pick from. Don’t need shrimpy river goblin.”

The other two goblins protested and the one that had been with the lead goblin made some kind of mark. The lead goblin sighed and then nodded. “Fine, but keep quiet. Bring payment later.”

The pup screamed once again and this time, it summoned an older goblin. Yes indeed, it was Buttercup’s dad. He yelled and charged at the goblins holding his pup, claws at the ready. One of the goblins let go of the pup and punched him in the face, sending him flying back. They said something to him, which he responded to by leaping up and biting their hand. They grabbed the back of his head and slammed his face into a raised knee to make him let go.

Celeste couldn’t stand it any longer. She wasn’t going to be party to a kidnapping if she could help it. She easily broke away from the goblin holding her wrist and kicked the one who was holding the pup. It hurt her foot, but she caught them by enough surprise that they let go of the pup. The pup scrambled to the bank and dove into the water. Buttercup’s dad attempted to follow, but the one fighting him caught his ankle and dragged him back to the bank. He growled and kicked, but that wasn’t enough to dislodge the other’s grip on him.

Meanwhile, the one who Celeste had kicked rounded on her and pounced. She got her arms up quick enough to protect her face, now that she was somewhat familiar with goblin tactics. The goblin claws swiped at her arms, tearing through the cloth and penetrating her skin. Fortunately for her, the goblin didn’t get an opportunity to strike before they were pulled off her. When she lowered her arms, she also saw that the goblin who had been with the leader at the front door holding back their hissing companion. Buttercup’s dad wiped some blood out from under his nose and dove into the river. The leader cuffed the one who attacked her on the head.

“Unharmed!” They snapped at them. “Lord Davik ordered so!” Then an argument started among the goblins.

Celeste sat up and rolled up her sleeve to examine her arm. Three angry streaks of red line her forearm with blood flowing from each of them. She couldn’t tell how deep they were, but it was more serious than the scratch Buttercup had given her. She got closer to the river to wash it up. But the one who had been with the leader grabbed her shoulder and shook their head. Then they held up their arm and signaled to her that they wanted her to do the same. She did, and they examined the cuts. They turned to the leader, who was still disciplining the underlings and said something. He gave one last kick to the goblin and came over.

“Says the cuts are pretty bad. Need stitches.”

Celeste couldn’t help but gulp. She had never been hurt enough to have stitches before. But a glance at her bleeding arm told her that the goblin had been correct in their assessment. You didn’t need a healer to tell that the cuts were pretty deep.

The leader snatched a bottle from the pack of one of the goblins who was one the ground and came over to her. They offered her the bottle.

“Here, drink. Numb pain.”

She took the bottle and popped off the cap. A strong smell wafted from the bottle and made her recoil. And they wanted her to drink that?

“What is this?”

“Like I said, numb pain.” The one she assumed was second in command already started stringing a needle. “Just don’t drink all of it. Need some for needle.”

She looked at the smelly bottle then at the needle. Well, maybe it would help. After all, the stuff Buttercup’s mom had given her had worked despite stinking. She took a deep breath and started drinking. There wasn’t much to say about the taste, but it became easier to tolerate after the first couple of gulps. She drank most of the bottle before it was pulled away from her.

“Lie back.” The goblin leader ordered as they handed the bottle to the one with the needle. “Will kick in soon.”

Celeste nodded as she lay on her back. Everything seemed to muffle around her. The leader shook his head.

“Why involve self in goblin fight?”

“You were going to just let them kidnap a child! Was I supposed to ignore that? Besides, I heard that kidnapping a goblin pup is one of the worst crimes a goblin can commit. I’m surprised you would tolerate it.”

“Don’t meddle in goblin business, human.” They warned as the one with needle approached. “Now close eyes.”

Celeste gladly did so. Thankfully, the drink kicked in and she only felt the initial prick, and that was dull. Soon, she embraced sleep. A nap would probably do her lots of good.