Kinari felt her heart drumming desperately as her body tried to heal around this new wound. How much had she bled already? She felt tired, yet the adrenaline in her body kept her alert. And the wound on her shoulder would not close, because there was a blade going through it, twisting at her flash and grinding against her collarbone.

Or was it? The blade, and the knight wielding it, were translucent. And her mace had gone through him as if he wasn’t there. He looked confident too. Smug. She gritted her teeth to bear the pain.

“He’s some kind of ghost!” She shouted at Demian. “My attacks aren’t hitting him!”

“Sofkos,” muttered Demian under his breath. Then he raised his voice. “They go through everything except living things! There must be - ”

The knight did not let him finish, pulling the sword out and rushing Demian, grabbing him by the throat. The blind prince let out a strangled grunt, flailing and hitting at the hand that grabbed him but all he did was hurt his hands on the metal gauntlet.

“Enough of this,” said the ghostly knight. “Not another word!”

Kinari touched her shoulder where the blade had been, and noticed the blade had gone through her armor completely. There wasn’t even a hole in the fabric, but she still felt the blood underneath, and the pain as her flesh stitched itself together. And she saw Demian grab at the knight’s hand as he struggled to breathe.

So she dropped her mace and rushed at the ghostly knight. He noticed and swung his sword hard, only for her to block it with her own right arm. There was a sickening noise as the blade bit into flesh and broke bone, but her momentum carried her forward and she punched with her other fist. The knight turned his head, letting the blow land on the part protected by the helmet, and her fist hit the metal with a metallic clang. The blow hurt Kinari more than it dazed him, but when the rest of Kinari crashed against him the two of them toppled to the ground, with Kinari on top.

She was still hurt, her right arm broken, while her left hand stung from hitting metal. So she headbutted him instead, her skull hitting hard against the helmet. She attacked ferociously, struggling through the pain to try and keep him down, and prevent him from striking back. At such close range and with her weight on top of him, it was impossible to swing a sword well.

So instead he grabbed at her broken arm, that was still trying to mend, and yanked it, causing her to scream in pain. The pain put a quick stop to her attacks, and he used this leverage to twist and roll until he was on top of her, a knee on her stomach. He raised his sword, tip aimed at her neck, and the only thing that stopped him from impaling her was that, at the last second, she grabbed the blade and yanked it sideways. The blade hit the stone floor with a crack, grazing her neck instead.

Kinari let out a desperate, primal scream, something more suited to a wounded wild animal than a rational person, and pushed with everything she had. Her hand holding the blade, her other, broken arm, her whole body. She was still larger and stronger than him, and he was pushed away, but instead of falling back he flipped mid-air and floated into an upright position, a few feet above the ground, sword pointing at her in a fighting stance.

He was breathing heavily, and there was a trickle of translucent blood coming from his mouth where his lip was cut. But Kinari, on the other hand, was a mess. Blood ran down her right arm, which dangled limp from her shoulder, while her left hand also bled with a fresh new cut from when she grabbed the blade. Her neck was bleeding as well, and she swayed slightly on her feet, before raising her good arm defensively, not taking her eyes off the knight.

“Kinari, are you alright?” Asked Demian. He was crouched next to a wooden crate with his blank eyes facing up as he gripped the box tightly. His pale face was beaded with sweat.

“I’m alive,” she replied through clenched teeth.

“You’re tough to kill, I have no trouble admitting that,” said the Knight. He smiled. “But you have no hope of defeating a noble-born in fair combat.”

She took a careful step back, narrowing her eyes. She could feel her wounds mending, the bleeding slowing to a stop. Broken bones took more time, however, she could feel them cracking as her bones settled back into place. Could she get him talking and stall for time?

“Oh yeah? How so?” She asked out loud.

“Kinari!” Interrupted Demian. “This ghostly image is a projection! His real body is unconscious somewhere near! We have to attack his true body or move far away enough he can’t reach us!”

“Fuck! Where would it be?” Asked Kinari.

They were interrupted by a noise approaching them, coming from the sewer entrance. Boots stomping on stone, armor jangling and creaking, but no shouted orders or demands. Soldiers marching in silence.

In the dim light, Kinari saw eight soldiers approach them, all with their ears covered. Two had halberds, which they awkwardly pointed down in the narrow space of the sewers, while others had ditched them for shorter weapons, one held a sword, another a mace. But the other four soldiers had muskets, which they pointed at Kinari. She might hope for one, or even two, to miss her, even at that distance, but four?

She froze in place, trying to figure a way to survive this fight. A way out. If she could grab Demian and run…

The ghostly knight smiled triumphantly, raising a hand and signaling the soldiers to stop. “I will ask, one last time. Surrender.”

“Shit!” Whispered Kinari. She glanced at Demian, then back at the soldiers. “There’s eight soldiers here now, as well as ghost-face. And they got their ears covered.” She blinked a few times, trying not to show weakness. “Not looking good,” she whispered to him.

“They probably won’t hurt me, but I can’t guarantee they won’t hurt you,” said Demian in a small, defeated voice. “Sorry, Kinari...”

She grunted back, readying herself. Fighting to the death, it was. If she was any lucky, they would leave her for dead and she would have time to mend. But as for the prince… Damn! She made a promise, didn’t she?”

“Maybe try taking the ear covers from the soldiers?” Suggested Demian, his voice still low. “If so, I could - ”

“Enough of this!” The Knight gestured at the soldiers and pointed at the two. They began advancing, spreading out and circling the two. The ghostly knight glared at Kinari. “I’ll make sure you’re captured for interrogation, mongrel. We’ll see if you’re so tough then!”

One of the soldiers let out a grunt and slapped at something on his neck, which most of his peers didn’t hear or notice. He lowered his musket while pulling out something small and black, which he peered at in the dim light.

A small, black dart.

There was a shriek, words Kinari didn’t understand, but still recognized as goblin tongue. And suddenly the darkness was full of goblins. They jumped from hiding places and sprung from patches of darkness in an explosion of ferocity. Many attacked from the back or sides of the soldiers, viciously stabbing at any exposed skin they could reach with their makeshift weapons. Another dart hit a soldier, while the one first struck with a dart stumbled and fell down on his musket, that promptly went off, making a deafening noise in the enclosed space of the sewers and firing into a nearby wall.

The goblins did not fight valiantly, any one of them that was hurt or even threatened quickly retreated back into the darkness, and one was shot at close range by a musket, and crumpled to the ground after a pained shriek. But even short and weak, there were many of them, and the soldiers’ numbers were quickly cut in half by the surprise attack.

But the ghostly knight jumped on the offensive, slashing two goblins that were surrounding a soldier, killing one and wounding another. The two then rallied with the other soldiers, as they grouped together and tried to cover each other’s backs. The goblins fought still, but without the element of surprise they were much less effective, and any darts fired passed through the ghostly knight without harming him as he advanced on the goblins and attacked them without fear of being struck back.

That is when Kinari rushed them. She had finished healing and, in the confusion, had grabbed back her mace. She struck at a soldiers’ helmet and then grappled with another as he struggled to point his musket at her. But she was stronger, and overpowered him with a sharp elbow jab at his face.

A blade was driven into her chest, going through the rib and coming out from the side of her chest. The translucent blade made it clear who had been the one wielding it.

“Impudent creature!” Snarled the ghostly knight, a far cry from his previous, confident self of a few moments ago. She glared back at him and dropped the mace and her new musket, instead grabbing the blade going through her with both hands. It was her turn to smile triumphantly.

“Got you now,” she growled.

He pulled at his blade, but she held it tight, as did her body. He twisted it and she grunted in pain, spitting black blood as she glared back kept the blade where it was.

“Hey Demian!” She shouted. “I got the ear covers off two of the soldiers!”

The soldiers, one who was picking up his musket and the other who was on the ground clutching at his head, reacted to this, but Demian was faster.

“Human soldiers! Go quickly to the Sofkos knight’s real body. If he is unconscious, kill him!”

The two soldiers immediately got up and started marching quickly away to the sewer entrance. The ghostly knight panicked when he realized what was happening, and tugged harder at his blade, trying to pull it away. But she held firm while grinning with teeth slick with black blood.

“Got you now!” She repeated, her eyes bright with gleeful anger.

Another soldier lifted his musket and readied it like a club, preparing to swing at her, but a goblin that had crept behind him stabbed at his hamstrings and the man fell to the ground. The other soldier was being mobbed by three other goblins. The Sofkos knight was the only one there. Another goblin bit into his leg, trying to tear into the leather.

The knight pulled at his sword again, panicking, and saw the two enthralled soldiers climbing the entrance out of the sewers. Another goblin approached him.

Then in an instant he was no longer there. Kinari collapsed with the sudden disappearance of the blade and the goblin was biting into nothing. The battle was won.

“We gotta go, fast!” Said Kinari, stumbling back onto her feet and leaning against the wall for support. “There’s more soldiers around! Could be back any minute...”

“Khad-adraak!” Shouted a voice from one of the tunnels. “This way! This way!”

Kinari grabbed Demian’s hand and they followed the other goblins as they ran down the tunnel and into the darkness.

It was a long trek through the sewers in the dark, surrounded by stench and rubble. What made it so long was not its actual length, but how exhausted they all were. The adrenaline from the fight was almost gone, taking with it all the heart-pumping, manic energy that kept the two keen and ready to fight for their survival. Now Kinari and Demian were running on the fumes of that adrenaline, on the last remains of their fight-or-flight response. They put one foot in front of the other, huffing and stumbling while surrounded by goblins, their footsteps silent in the darkness.

But the goblins were not entirely silent in their return. Some of them carried the bodies of their fallen comrades, as well as one that was gravely wounded. He was being carried by two others while groaning softly. They journey was not made easy to the exhausted or on those carrying their fallen when they had to jump over a pile of rubble or crouch to go under a small tunnel.

To Demian, stressed and tired from the ordeal, that journey felt longer than the rest of his life put together. All he could hear were his and Kinari’s footsteps, the echo of dripping water and the soft grunts of pain from the wounded goblin. His thoughts were numb at this point as Kinari tried her best to guide him. He just wanted it to end.

When they reached the entrance to what Kinari recognized as the queen’s court room, she was stopped from going in by the goblin covered in dark rags.

“We honor dead now! You no come. Yo go follow him! Queen speak after. After! Not now!”

And so she watched as they took their dead and their dying into the court room. Meanwhile, she and Demian were escorted by another group of goblins into a small chamber with no decoration and only a pile of straw in the corner as a makeshift sleeping spot. There was only one door leading in or out, leaving Kinari to slowly realize as they were escorted inside that it resembled a prison cell more than anything.

She collapsed on the straw anyways. Demian sat down next to her and rested his back against the stone wall. They were both quiet for a few moments, content to be merely existing without any pain or effort, for now.

“That was scary,” said Demian.

“We almost fucking died,” said Kinari. Neither turned to face each other or moved away from their resting positions.

“Yes. Yes, I guess we did.” Demian let out a small, embarrassed cough. “Uhh, this is a first for me. Fighting for my life like that.”

“I had never fought a noble before...” Kinari’s voice was also small, as if coming from far away. “Never. Now I killed two of them. In a single day. And fought a third. Fuck.”

“Yes. Indeed, yes.” There was a pause where Demian tried to keep his composure, but he failed miserably and had only time to quickly turn aside before throwing up on the stone floor. He coughed and retched again before pulling back and gulping the air in deep breaths. “Sorry about that,” he said.

“Oh,” said Kinari. “That happens, after a fight. Sometimes. Don’t worry.”

“I see.” Demian crawled away from the puke and closer to where Kinari lay. When he brushed against her leg, he turned and sat beside her. There was another lull in the conversation.

“Can we not do this again?” Asked Demian. His voice was small, almost shy, as if making a proposal he knew would be unpopular. “I mean… I know our hands were tied, and there was no other choice. We had to, in order to survive. But...”

He took a deep breath, before continuing: “But let’s try to avoid this? In the future? Maybe plan things a little more carefully and avoid this… Violence? Umm… Please? If it’s okay?”

Kinari listened to all this with her eyes closed, head resting on the thin layer of hay.

“You can say it, I fucked up,” she said, rubbing her forehead and letting out a sigh. “I nearly got us killed, because of my shit plan. Ellora’s tits, this was a fucking mess.”

“Umm...” He searched for the right words, but Kinari continued.

“I made a promise. To protect you. And I meant it, you know? A blood-oath! This… This is really important to me! I’m trying my best here, but now… I almost let you get captured. And almost died myself, a whole bunch of times! Bloody hells… So stupid! So damn, bloody stupid!”

She hit her fist against the floor, the thump echoing on the empty room. They simmered in this silence, until Demian broke it.

“You saved my life,” he said. “I’m grateful for it. Really. We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you.”

“Hmph. Is that supposed to be praise?” There was a pause, before Kinari opened her eyes and turned to him. “Hold on, are you trying to make me feel better? That’s weird! A noble shouldn’t console their bodyguard! That’s...”

“If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s talking to people,” said Demian with a small, shy smile. “Let me use my gift? Not just the one from my bloodline, but the one I’m actually proud of? Please?”

Two goblins entered the room they were in. “You can come now! The queen wants to talk,” announced one of them.

“You can talk to her then,” muttered Kinari, a faint smile appearing on her lips as she slowly got up and helped Demian to his feet.

“It will be my pleasure,” he replied, turning towards the goblins. “I look forward to speaking with Her Majesty.”

They were ushered down the stairs to the centre of the room, with a row of goblin bodyguards between the two exhausted survivors and the queen,and Kinari noticed some of them had their ears protected. It was annoying how fast everyone caught on once they knew about Demian’s Gift, although she couldn’t blame them for being cautious. Was it Kinari’s imagination or were there even more goblins in the audience now? There were some shouts and whispers when they entered the room, but not as much as their first time. Many more were watching them in silence. Of their dead fighters, there was no trace except for a few bloodstains on the centre stage.

“Ah, you’ve returned! And I’ve heard from our fighters about what happened. Got yourselves into a fight with the monster-things from above?”

“Yes, we did, Your Majesty,” said Demian with a deep bow. “And we are extremely grateful for the aid your fighters gave us, back there. We would not be here if it wasn’t for them.”

“If it wasn’t for their sacrifice, you mean,” said the queen, her voice low and with a dangerous edge. “Two of our fighters were killed. Another one wounded. They gave their lives so you could be here, in this court, with us. Brave and strong goblins, willing to fight for our people and our land.”

“I am sorry for their deaths,” said Demian. ”But their sacrifice was not in vain, however! Kinari?”

And she dutifully opened the sack she carried in her hand and took out the head. It was bloodied, its hair messed and its jaw slack open in an eerie parody of surprise. Kinari lobbed the head past the bodyguards, where it landed on the queen’s feet. The effect was somewhat diminished when the head immediately rolled and fell off the central platform. But the queen was gracious enough to have one of her guards fetch it without saying a word. He passed it to her, who examined it in silence before giving one of her predatory smiles.

“Ah, this is true! So you’ve done it! This is, indeed, Nelos-thing’s head!”

There was an outcry throughout the audience. Surprise? Joy? It was harder to tell to Kinari’s eyes and Demian’s ears. Most of it was in goblin now, but a few words in common slipped through the hubbub.

“They did it!”

“He’s dead!”

“Bastard!”

The queen raised the head above her, showing it to the crowd, and the cries from the goblins rose even higher, echoing around the underground chamber. The two waited patiently until the crowd calmed down and the queen turned back towards them.

“I didn’t expect you to actually do it, to be honest,” she said. “Expected you two to run. Or try something stupid and bring soldiers to kill us.” She bared her teeth in a non-smile. “We were ready for that.”

“That’s why you guys had the ambush set up there? That was for us?” Asked Kinari with an impatient huff. She crossed her arms, glaring at the queen.

“I understand,” added Demian, stepping in diplomatically. “It is a difficult thing to build trust among enemies. You had no reason to trust us. But I hope that, with this, we can maybe take the first, small step towards building a long lasting relationship with the goblins and original owners of this land. One where we are no longer enemies at each other’s throats. Perhaps, one day, we might even be allies.”

The queen gave a dismissive snort. Demian acknowledged it as he continued speaking.

“I understand it may be hard to believe. It may be a distant dream, but I want to believe in it, nonetheless. Wouldn’t it be better than what we have today?”

And he gestured around him, in that dimly-lit underground chamber surrounded by goblins packed together, all grimy and wearing patchwork clothes and rags.

“This may be a first step in repaying your debt to us,” said the queen. “But there is a long road still to be walked. And your crimes still mount, day by day. Today, two of our fighters died. Kelem and Malvir. Another, Pearhod, is gravely wounded. And they gave their lives fighting to protect you. Will you repay that debt as well? Will you atone for their deaths?”

“What? We weren’t the ones that killed them!” Shouted Kinari.

Demian squeezed her hand gently. She stopped herself and looked at him; he turned to her with his eyes closed and a faint smile. Kinari closed her mouth, grudgingly.

“No, you did not kill them,” said the queen, narrowing her eyes. “But your actions still bear that responsibility. If they had not fought to save you, they might have lived. Will you ignore their sacrifice even as you demand for our help?”

Demian bowed to the queen.

“We acknowledge that the debt we owe to you and your kind is immense. It will not be paid in a day, or indeed, in a lifetime. But all I could do to aid you at this very moment, I did. We fought for you! We have killed while following your orders! Is it not, at least, a start? Is that not more than empty words?”

The queen smiled. “True, true. This deed, today, is more than the pretty words humans give when they want something from us. Much more.”

“Also,” added Demian, “it pains me to say so, but keeping me here might bring you and your followers harm. If the Adran Kingdom suspects that I am hiding in the sewers with you, they might launch a full-scale campaign in the sewers against you. This is not something you or I want, which is why I believe it is best for us to leave this place and this town. The sooner we leave your home, the less scrutiny will fall upon your resistance fighters in this place.”

The queen stared him down while, around them, whispers spread among the goblins. Rumors and apprehension. Fear. And all eyes were now on the queen and the prince, waiting for her decision. Demian’s eyes remained closed and his expression unreadable.

The queen laughed. “There it is. More pretty words, with steel hidden underneath. But I have to say, you talk well. You almost manage to hide that what you really want is to get out of here as fast as possible.”

“I never masked my intentions,” protested Demian with a small frown. “But isn’t it possible for my objective to be useful for you as well? If I leave quickly it’s one less trouble for you, and I get closer to returning home. It’s a win-win.”

“Hmph,” the queen scoffed, but she seemed more amused than anything else. Finally she waved at them. “Fine. You two may go. We will take you to one of the exits that we know. Blindfolded, of course. Remember that we helped you, if you survive and return to your home. Human monster-thing and troll woman.”

“We will not forget it, Your Highness,” said Demian with another bow. Kinari let out a sigh of relief. “And if I return, I will do what I can for your people.”

“That’d be a first,” said the queen, skeptical. But her smile was less predatory, softer. And her eyes twinkled in amusement. “You’re a strange human, but you still treated me well. I acknowledge you… Prince. One ruler to another.”

And the queen herself bowed back at Demian. It was quick and shallow, but the effect in the room was audible. The young noble heard the goblins whisper to each other more furiously than before, and their emotions were all over the place. Some sounded angry, others confused, and others still… Happy? Or hopeful? Demian heard it all and regretted slightly not understanding the goblin language and what they were saying right now.

A goblin queen and a human noble had acknowledged each other. That this had happened in a dimly-lit sewer did not diminish its importance.