“Are we lost?” Asked Demian as gently as he could, trying not to upset Kinari.

“We’ve been lost since we first entered this fucking place!” She replied, kicking some rubble on the ground for emphasis. “Now we’re even more lost, tired and our oil is halfway gone!”

The last hours had been an exercise in increasing frustration for the two of them, as they made their way through the sewers. Paths diverged and converged multiple times, like a labyrinth. The two often went down a path only to find their way blocked by a collapsed ceiling or a pile of rubble and garbage which forced them to retrace their steps. And the oil lamp, which was kept low to conserve fuel, barely illuminated a couple of feet in front of their faces, forcing them to wander back and forth. In this environment Kinari’s sight was barely any advantage over Demian’s, and in fact he was the one who often prevented them from going in circles or going down a tunnel they had already explored before.

“I’m counting our steps and trying to keep track of where we are,” he said with a small shrug, when asked how he knew that this particular tunnel was one they had already gone through before.

Eventually their wandering led them to this room where they now rested. It was covered in rubble and there were ornate carvings and statues adorning the walls. It must have been impressive once upon a time, but now the walls were also peppered with black mold and the ground was full of rubble and garbage. But it was away from the overpowering smell of the rest of the sewers and they discovered there was only one entrance to this room, which is where Kinari now stood, keeping guard while Demian sat on the broken base of a statue nearby. He looked sweaty and a bit out of breath.

“I don’t get it!” She groaned in frustration. “We were supposed to have run into goblins by now! Last time I was under here, it barely took a moment before I had those hairy buggers trying to knife me in the back! So how come we haven’t seen a single one after hours trudging in this dump?”

“So you’ve come down here before?” Asked Demian.

“Yeah, once or twice,” she said. “Boss Nelos, he’s a big guy in these parts, has some stashes here where he keeps some smuggled goods, away from prying eyes. But goblins hate that of course. Sometimes they made tunnels or found a way to get to those stashes and attacked them. So I was recruited to help drive them away and block any goblin tunnels we could find. Me, a few other mercenaries and a bunch of his boys against the goblin fanatics.” She shook her head. “They were a fucking nightmare. You’d think them being small and weak as they are, they wouldn’t cause much trouble, but they were fucking vicious! Always jumping out of the shadows and stabbing you in the back, usually with poisoned weapons… Ugh.”

Demian ran his fingers slowly over the broken statue where sat, deep in thought. “I’ve read once that the goblins considered their underground architecture to be more sacred and important than their overground buildings.”

“What, underground?” Asked Kinari. “But we’re in a sewer!”

“They weren’t always sewers,” he said. “I mean, feel this thing I’m sitting on. It’s been carved by an artist. Someone put a lot of effort into it.”

“I think you’re sitting on part of a statue,” she said. “There’s a lot of other statues and wall carvings in this room. Huh, yeah, now that I think of it... I guess that is a little weird considering we’re in a sewer.”

“For goblins the underground was as important as the overground. They went from place to place in underground tunnels, some lived and slept underground, and apparently there were even ceremonies underground. Religious maybe, I don’t know.”

Demian frowned as he continued explaining. “But when our ancestors came and fought against the goblins, most of their overground cities and fortifications were destroyed. But goblin cities usually were in a good place, you know? Access to water, defensible, even ground. There were even building materials from the destroyed city to use. So our ancestors built a lot of their cities on the remnants of the goblin cities, and they repurposed the goblin’s underground tunnels and religious chambers as sewers since it was conveniently there.”

Kinari stood quietly in the dark, absorbing what he had told her. “Hold on,” she said. “So, basically, we conquered the goblins, destroyed their cities and now we’re using their holy grounds as a pisspot and garbage dump? No wonder they’re so pissed off. I didn’t even know the sewers weren’t built by them.”

“I’m surprised this is news to you,” he said. “Were you never taught about our conquest of the goblin lands?”

“No,” was her blunt reply. “All I know is that goblins used to live in this land, but now we do.”

“Which is true, I suppose,” said Demian. “I wonder if the goblins here had hidden tunnels or secret chambers which they used to escape the invaders and hide? This would explain how they’ve survived this long.”

Kinari shook her head. “None of this changes our situation. If anything, it makes it even clearer now that any way out of here is going to be well hidden, and the goblins have good reasons to hate our guts so we’re going to have to force them to tell us how to get out. If we can find them, that is...”

Demian tilted his head. “Why are you so insistent on using force on them?”

“Because they’re not going to help us if we ask nicely?” She replied. “Is this about negotiating with them? Again?”

“People are more likely to help if they like you,” he said. “Fear, on the other hand, is terrible at encouraging people to be helpful.”

“Well, I don’t know how things are with the blue bloods and their castles,” she said, scorn dripping from her voice, “but you’ll find a lot of people hate your guts down here. And acting nice and polite is not going to make them like you, or stop them from putting a dagger in your back. I mean, look at Hector! Did being nice to him stop him from betraying and getting all your guards killed? Would negotiating with him have helped at all?”

Demian lowered his head and went silent. Kinari looked away, but turned back when he heard a muffled sob. Demian was now crying, his hands covering his face and silencing his crying sound as much as he could.

Kinari winced when she realized he was crying. “Aw shit,” she muttered, glancing nervously at the tunnel before moving away from her guarding spot to console him. She awkwardly patted his shoulder while she spoke. “Look, sorry about that… I know you knew them well and… Yeah, it sucks that I brought it up.”

“They -” he gulped down a sob, then continued, “they gave their lives for me. If I wasn’t here, they- they would have...”

“Nevermind what would and wouldn’t have happened!” Said Kinari. “You don’t know that. But here and now, you’re alive! And you gotta be strong if you want to stay alive, get it? No holding back and no time to feel sad or guilty! You gotta keep moving forward! Can’t let the enemy win! Can’t let those bastards up there beat you into the ground, can you? That would make your knights’ sacrifice a waste!”

Demian sniffled, then rubbed his sleeves on his face in an attempt to make it cleaner. “Yeah...”

She went back to the entrance of the tunnel as soon as he had stopped crying, but still looked at him with concern. “Sorry I brought that up,” she said. “I can be a bit of a shit sometimes.”

“Do you trust me…?” His question was tentative, in a low, shaky voice.

“I… Yeah? Sure, but what do you mean by that?”

“I have a plan,” he said. “But I need you to trust me.”

She hesitated. “You realize that your head guard, Abraxas, asked me to keep you safe, right? It would be really shitty if you got killed here.”

“I know,” he said. “If it’s of any help, I don’t want to get killed here either.”

She let out an amused snort.

“Alright then,” she said. “Let me hear your plan.”

They were back to one of the main tunnels, with garbage and water running on the canal beside them. They trudged quickly down the tunnel at a steady pace, Kinari quickly guiding him around any obstacles or even grabbing and lifting him over a particularly large pile at one moment. They were making their way as quickly as possible, until Demian gave her hand two quick squeezes. Then they immediately stopped and stood as still as possible.

It was faint, but he could hear the rustle of movement behind them, briefly, after they had stopped.

Demain took a deep breath, and his expression was one of conflicted sorrow when he opened his mouth and spoke.

“Goblins! Stop and stay where you are! Don’t move or speak!”

His eerie voice echoed through the tunnels and ran through Kinari like cold water on a winter’s day, making her shiver. But she moved her legs experimentally and was glad to see she could still act of her own accord. The tunnel was now silent.

Demian took another deep breath. “All goblins who can hear me. If you are able to, I want you to raise your left foot and stomp it on the ground once, right now.”

There was a thundering stomping sound, as dozens of feet slammed on the ground all around them, the sound echoing along the tunnels. Kinari jumped when she heard how many they were, looking around and trying to guess their locations beyond the light of her lamp. There were so many of them, she thought.

Demian nodded quietly, then spoke: “If there is anyone here that could be considered a leader, I want them to say their name out loud and come closer to me.”

“Kavor Alydren!” Said a gravelly voice coming from the darkness. Kinari turned as the sound of footsteps came closer and closer until the goblin finally walked into the light. He was 3 feet tall, with a large head and orange eyes that reflected the light of the oil lamp. She could see the resemblance to Domnik, her fellow half-blood, but he was shorter and his fur was even longer; it was the color of dark auburn hair and utterly filthy with dirt and sewage, sticking in clumps and smelling much like the rest of the sewer. He was wearing makeshift armor that was really a hodgepodge of cloth, sown and re-sown in order to prevent it from breaking down, with pieces of wood in strategic places for protection tied with cloth or rope. There was a rusty blade in its hand.

“For the record, I think this is a mistake,” she muttered. “But I have to say, your plan did work.”

“Do you still trust me?” He asked, his voice quiet to avoid any echoes.

“Just remember they’re dangerous,” she said, not taking her eyes off the goblin frozen in place in front of them.

Demian cleared his throat. “Um… Mr. Alydren, you may move your head and speak freely, but keep the rest of your body still,” he said. After a short pause, he continued in his normal voice, “I want to negotiate with-”

He was interrupted by a blood-curdling scream from the goblin in a language he did not understand, but his next words were in their common language. “Let us goooo! Let us go, monster! Evil! So evil!” The goblin moved his head to the left and to the right, as if trying to pull his body along with him, but he remained in place. His large eyes darted around frantically and he screamed again in his language.

“I don’t want to hurt you!” Shouted Demian. “Please, let us talk!”

“Talk? Talk?” The goblin spat at the young noble, thankfully missing his face and hitting his cloak instead. “Monsters and lies! Always lies! You come into our homes! Kills and hurts us with your monster-things! You will pay us! Pay us in blood!”

Kinari let out a sarcastic huff, but said nothing else while Demian frowned at the goblins’ response.

“I mean you no harm,” he tried again. “I could hurt you if I wanted to, yet I only froze you in place. I can release you again! And if we negotiate, I might be able to help you. Do you understand?”

“More lies! Evilness!” The goblin growled at him. “You come into our home! This is our place! You won’t leave with life, monster!” The goblin screamed again in his tongue, the sound echoing all around them.

Kinari looked around nervously before whispering to Demian, “can you make him a little quieter? The bugger is going to attract others with all this fucking noise.”

Demian looked uncomfortable and he gave her hand a squeeze. “Sorry,” he whispered back. Then he straightened up and raised his voice again while addressing the goblin. “You may still speak freely but do not shout or say anything in a loud voice.” He hesitated, before adding: “I’m sorry about that, Mr Alydren, I don’t want to - ”

He was interrupted again by a string of furious whispering in goblin language. While he still did not understand the words, their meaning was made clear by the goblin’s vicious tone.

Demian sighed. “Look, if we let the rest of your friends go, and release them from my control, will you listen to me? Will that prove to you that I don’t mean you harm?”

The goblin immediately went quiet after that, and Kinari was the one who spoke instead, “That’s a bad idea, kid. Er, I mean, sir. They are going to get their friends and ambush us if you let them go.”

Demian hesitated, but spoke to the goblin, “I can let half of your friends go, right now, to prove my intentions are good. The rest will be released, if our negotiations go well.”

“I’m telling you that’s a bad idea!” Insisted Kinari.

“Let us go!” whispered the goblin. “I can talk if you let us go! We talk! We negotiate!”

Demian slouched, fidgeting with his hands while his face showed an upset expression. “I know you don’t like it,” he whispered to Kinari as low as he could, “but how are we going to get them to trust us without a show of good faith? Please, you have to trust me on this! Please?” He gave her hand another squeeze for emphasis.

She shook her head. “We keep half of them until we get out of the sewers, alright? They’ll be our hostages.”

“I don’t...” He fidgeted again, conflicted, before finally giving in. “Oh, alright...”

He then raised his voice and spoke to the goblin. “We can allow half of them to go free right now, the other half once we leave the sewers. Is that acceptable?”

“Yes, yes! Let us go!” Said the goblin. “Let us all go free! Stop hurting us with your monster-thing!”

“Very well,” said Demian. He took a deep breath and spoke again, this time in his controlling voice. “All goblins except for the one in front of me, you will divide yourselves into two groups of equal number, or close to equal. The first group will walk past us until they can no longer see or hear us. When that happens they will be free to do or act as they wish. The second group will follow us and cause us no harm until we are out of the sewers. You can choose which group you want to be in, but if one group is larger than the other then you must join the smaller group.”

There were sounds of rustling and moving all around them. Kinari saw figures walking past them, on the edge of the lamp light. A goblin carrying something in its arms passed by, and when Kinari brought the lamp closer, she realized the goblin was carrying her baby. She ignored Kinari and her lamp while moving forward, mechanically, down the tunnel they had just come from. More steps followed, and two other figures passed by and were close enough for Kinari to see them. They were all small, filthy and at least one of them looked like a child.

“These… These look like families,” said Kinari, looking uncomfortable.

“You enter our homes!” Replied the goblin. Kavor Alydren shot her an angry look. “You promised! You said let them go!”

“And we’ll keep our promise,” reassured Demian. Kavor actually seemed to calm down at this, and they all stood in silence while waiting for the sounds of movement to die down.

“Now let others go,” said Kavor. “If you let all go... We negotiate! We negotiate better!”

“Nope,” Kinari shook her head. “We told you already. We’ll let them go when we leave the sewers. Do you know the way to leave the city without bumping into any guards?”

“Maaaybe I knows?” Said Kavor, narrowing his large eyes.

“Maybe ain’t good enough!” Kinari approached him until she was directly above him, bending down. She was more than twice as tall as him and his eyes widened with fear and anger. “You tell us right now what you know about this exit!”

“Kinari!” Demian tugged at her hand. She backed away from the goblin and turned to him while he pleaded. “Please let me talk with him? You said you trusted me before, right? Please?”

She frowned and let out a sigh, but backed off further, standing behind him. “Alright, you give it a try.”

Demian turned to face the goblin’s direction, his head held high and eyes closed. “Mr. Alydren, we know you are angry at those living in the city above. But the thing is, they are our enemies too! We are being hunted by them.”

“Hunted? You?” Kavor looked suspiciously at the two of them.

“Yes,” said Demian. “We are running away from them and this is why we are here. We want to escape through the sewers and leave the city, which is why we need your help.”

“You want help?” Hissed the goblin, anger flaring in his face. “You come here, enter our home, use your monster-thing to trap us, then ask for help!? Help?” His anger became too intense for mere common language, and he spat more insults in the goblin language he used before in a furious tone. Kinari sighed while Demian waited patiently for him to catch his breath.

“We apologize for intruding on your home like this. We would not have done it if there was any other way. But think Mr Alydren, think! If you kill us, you are doing exactly what the nobles - I mean, what the people above want you to do. But if you let us go, you are ruining their plans! Helping us hurts them!”

“Hurt them? How?” Kavor asked, skeptical.

“We’re from an enemy group,” said Demian. “We were captured, but escaped them. And if we can return to our home, we can hurt them even more! We can fight a war against them! And if we do manage to win the war, we will remember the brave goblins who helped us!”

“Smells like lie to me,” grumbled Kavor, but there was doubt in his voice, rather than anger now.

“I promise it’s not a lie,” pleaded Demian. “What do you have to lose? You will spend maybe a few hours guiding the two of us out of here and that is all! And in exchange, you and your fellow goblins get an ally! Someone to help you and your kind!”

“You could be looking for our secret exits so you can hurt us or find our secrets,” said Kavor.

Demian let out a soft chuckle. “Mr Alydren? Look at us. We are completely lost. We have no idea where we are. If you guide us out of here, we won’t be able to retrace our steps no matter how hard we try. And if they were going to send a spy to figure out goblin tunnels, do you think they would have sent someone who was blind?”

He opened his eyes when saying those last words, turning this way and that to show how his eyes were blank and unseeing.

Kavor mulled over this, looking this way and that. Finally, he broke the silence: “I don’t know this exit, but I know one who knows.”

“That’s a good start,” replied Demian with a friendly nod. “We would be very grateful if you could take us to someone who knows the exit.”

“You no use your monster-thing on them!” Said the other, turning angry again. “If you do, deal’s off! No use it on anyone else!”

Kinari made an angry noise, but Demian ignored it. “Alright, agreed. I will not take control of anyone else. And when we reach the exit, all others will be released as well, including you. So long as we’re not attacked, we won’t strike back, I promise!”

“Good. Is good then,” said Kavor. He agonized for another moment, confused and angry. “Bah! Deal! I take you to Fanir. She know the exit. But keep your promise! Don’t hurt anyone!”

“Lead the way,” said Demian, a big smile dawning on his face.