by Emma Hamm
“We should not have done that,” She whispered.
“No.”
“This changes things.”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t want things to change.”
“I know.”
She let out a short puff of breath, frustration he could nearly taste upon his tongue. “Ruric-”
His lips silenced her, pressing against hers gently for a moment before withdrawing.
“It changes nothing if you do not want it to.”
“It doesn’t work like that.”
“I choose it to.” He let go of her then, stepping back until there was a wall of air between the two of them.
Surprisingly, she felt slightly hurt that he could step back from her that easily. She could not have moved away from him if the earth had shifted. Her hands were suddenly cold without his, her head still fogged from passion and something else.
Later she would justify her actions by saying that she had latched onto him as the only familiar thing in the cave. That she had desperately needed to feel wanted by something or someone. She was feeling relief of knowing her family was fine without her when she hadn’t thought that would be possible. But that meant that there really was no reason for her to rush back home. She wouldn’t be able to find her siblings in the vast expanse of the City. She likely wouldn’t even be let in.
This place was her only hope for survival now. Without entering the city with her siblings, she would be forced to return to the mining town. She could marry if anyone would have her, though most of the men were hardened and too old for her to consider. It would be a dreary life.
Here, Ruric was offering her his world. He was kind and generous, soft when she needed him to be. He was concerned for her and only her. Yet there was something inside her that screamed for him to go away, for her to build up a wall between the two of them.
He was dangerous, and perhaps not only because of his teeth and claws.
“Can you walk away so easily?” She found herself saying, despite all common sense.
Ruric shook his head, his head bobbing twice in the strange laugh. “I don’t have to walk away. You and I are bound together, as one in the eyes of goblins. I have not left you since you came here.”
The words confused her more than they answered any questions.
“Ruric, you have left me alone multiple times.”
He nodded at her words, a half smile quirking the corner of his lips. “Yes, but never in spirit. That is what a binding is. Two souls intertwined for as long as it remains intact.”
Though he feared it would last for much longer than that for him.
At her stunned expression, he stepped forward once more. His hands grasped the fabrics that had been left on the ground and he continued the task of dressing her once again. This time it felt different though, his fingers lingered upon warm skin as he passed over them. His breath slid along the length of her spine as he walked behind her to tie more knots.
She wasn’t sure if she breathed the entire time he stood beside her.
CHAPTER TWELVE
JANE HAD FELT useless for most of the time she had been here. She knew the other goblins worked. It was highly unlikely that they sat around and did nothing all day. But no one would show her what exactly it was that they did. No one wanted to give her things to do, even Ruric avoided the question as though she was asking something uncomfortable.
Yes she had heard about her family, that was a huge relief. But she was going to go insane if she didn’t start using her body once again. She was used to physical labor. Her hands itched to clean or break stone. Though the mine had been tiring work, she missed it. At least in the mines she was occupied. Here she was bored out of her mind.
As she stomped past, a thin goblin male had rushed past her. His panicked expression had only changed slightly when he saw her.
It was unusual to see a goblin looking so panicked. Jane followed him down a small cavern. He would stop goblins as he passed by them and they would turn to rush past her. This was odd behavior to be sure.
Jane eventually stopped him. Her fingers were gentle against his arm, but she firmly held him in place. He seemed to pause for a moment to think. The situation must have been dire indeed for him to gesture for her to follow him after a few moments of deliberation. At least it was something new.
She followed him without question. The goblins had done much to help her so far. If there was an opportunity for her to do the same, Jane would gladly do her best.
With these thoughts in her head, she nearly missed the goblin stopping in front of her. Jane almost ran into his back. He only flinched slightly at her movement, and pointed down the tunnel at something she could not see.
Lifting the globe she carried higher over her head, she realized she was looking at what seemed to be a cave in.
At their arrival, a few of the goblins looked up. There were expressions of shock, some of anger, but most of them were simply exhaustion. She knew that feeling. She had felt that many times coming home from the mines and wanting nothing more than to have her head hit the soft sand so she could sleep.
She looked back at the goblin who had led her here and nodded her head towards him.
“I know you cannot understand me, but I will help here if I can.”
With the words said, she knotted the fabric between her legs into makeshift trousers and walked into the fray. The first goblin she came across was the one who got the tap on his shoulder. He seemed tired, his shoulders bent hard against the work as he picked up stone after stone.
The exhaustion quickly turned into surprise when she pulled him away from the work. He resisted for a moment, shaking his head at her and trilling in that odd language until she placed her hands on his shoulders and forced him to sit down.
Jane hoped that holding her palms up at him would mean the same to goblins as it did to humans. Stay. Only when he remained seated did she take his place in the line. There was a pause in the work as the others stared first at her and then each other. It was clear they weren’t certain whether or not they should let her work with them.
She cleared her throat. A few of the goblins jumped, but at her soft smile and gesturing hands they were quick to start handing her stones.
For a few hours she worked with them, the muscles along her shoulders and arms bunching as she moved stone after stone out of the tunnel. She worked alongside the goblins, passing the rocks among each other until they were stacked at the very end.
It was tiring work but it felt good. Her arms and back ached after the first hour, went numb after the second. But it was even more refreshing to see the other goblins trading in and out. Perhaps she had shown them the reasoning of rest. They all needed to be aware of the precarious stones around them.
It did not take long for her to start hearing the noises past the stone. The low rumble of the same sounds they were created, but a mirror image that didn’t quite fit right. Every now and then she would hear a goblin voice, raised louder than she had heard before.
The cave in appeared to have trapped others. It split goblin from goblin and they were working diligently to mend the rift. Jane had never seen such a calm quiet among them and she quickly understood. She wanted to ask what was happening, how the others were faring, if they should be preparing for injuries or worse. She did not know how to ask them.
The language barrier hit her hard as she worked with them. More and more goblins showed up to help move the stone further away as the piles they were creating grew. Eventually, they managed to make the cave in wall thin enough that she could hear the others easily.
Some of them seemed to be shouting, others seemed to be moaning. The sounds spurred all of them on, nerves and worry making the goblins start to mumble as the stones passed down the line. It was a ripple effect. Each stone seemed to carry a note of urgency and fear that even Jane could feel.
The goblins were worried.
She saw a few of the s
maller goblins scamper up the rocks, choosing carefully where they placed their feet until they would feel a shift or a rumble and have to come back down. Three other goblins tried, continuing to push to greater heights until the stones forced them to slide back down.
It was clear to her that they were no longer trying to move the stones away. They were trying to get to the top of the mound though she did not know why.
They continued to struggle for long moments until she realized a few of them were starting to look at her. They were comparing her to the smaller goblins that had attempted to climb the great barrier of stone. The longer they looked, the more she realized they were trying to get her to volunteer to do something.
Goblins didn’t tell anyone what to do, nor did they expect someone to do a job that they didn’t want. Someone would eventually say that they would do it, and in that way no one seemed to complain overly much about the job they did that day. Usually they would wave her away when she tried to pick up one of their chores, but this time it appeared they were hoping she would do… something.
Jane walked forward. Her feet took her towards the wall of stone that seemed nearly twice her height. She could see where the cave in had occurred. The ceiling had ripped away and leaving behind a gaping hole where a smooth ceiling had once been. Her heart stuttered as she realized any movement from now on could potentially add another cave in. Jane had heard the tales of cave ins like this before.
Part of her knew this was foolish. She shouldn’t be here. She was not equipped to handle a cave in. She wasn’t capable of helping these people in the way that they needed her to. But this was the first time they had asked her for anything and she couldn’t turn her back on them now. Not when they needed her so much.
The stone above her and beneath her grumbled. Like a wave rushing towards her, the goblins ushered her forward and pointed to the top. Their clawed hands started to mime removing rocks. They wanted her to break through to the others it seemed.
She understood the plan then. They needed to make an air hole perhaps, or just start to be able to clearly contact the others. The top was the thinnest area and if they could puncture through that then it would be a start. Except none of them were small enough to scale the wall without causing another cave in. Likely the goblins on the other side could not do so either.
She put a foot on the stone, swallowing convulsively when she felt how much the bottom rocks shifted. This was not safe. Visions flashed through her head of the stones crumbling beneath her.
Her father had died this way. He had felt the pressure of rock as it landed against his chest and crushed the air from his lungs. Jane had always hoped it had been quick for him. To follow in his footsteps would be a shame.
The stone grumbled as her hands pulled her upwards, but it did not shift as it had with the goblins. She could hear the soft warbles behind her and she imagined that they were meant in encouragement. It would have been easier to have them tell her where the next steady hand hold was. It would have been easier to have them tell her she was doing well, or everything was going to be alright. Unfortunately, even if they were saying these things, she wouldn’t be able to understand them.
Though she was in a room full of people, Jane felt utterly alone as she climbed. Every heartbeat seemed to take longer, every breath felt as though it could be her last. Death loomed over her shoulder like a shadowy figure nudging her hands into the wrong place.
The stones held.
Eventually she reached the top. Her feet were wedged into the small gaps securely while one hand held her firmly against the wall. Jagged edges dug into her breasts and stomach, but she did not shift. She was frozen for long moments. Fear lanced through her veins in ice cold spikes that refused to allow her to move any more than a hairs breadth. She was here, she had survived, and now she could very well bring it all crumbling down with her.
Slowly she raised her hand. She reached towards the stone that had been pointed out to her. It was small enough to be removed without affecting the entire structure. The sight of it was imprinted on her mind. Plain, gray, nothing spectacular about it in the slightest. Other stones had gems wedged in them, or were speckled with stars.
This stone was manageable. It did not intimidate or make her fear. This stone was nothing more than a stone. This was why her hand could reach out and place a palm flat against its surface. She pushed hard.
There was a slow grind as it shifted among the other stones. For a moment Jane thought she would not be strong enough. It wasn’t going to move, she was going to be stuck up here forever.
But then it moved. With the slow glide of birthing it slid from its place and out the other side. She could hear the sound as it skittered down other rocks, striking hard until it rolled to a stop. It was the first step.
Relief nearly had her hands slipping from their firm hold. She had done it. At least she had managed to do something that would help these other goblins trapped on the other side.
A whistle had her arching her neck, looking down to see the hand movements of the goblins below her.
Clear the stones away, they seemed to be trying to say. Leave the sides, but in the center start pushing the stones away.
She could do that.
Jane started the slow and painful motions of pushing the stones one handed. There needed to be a long pause after every stone that shifted, making sure that the others had settled firmly into place before she could move the next one. Her back was aching, her arms felt as though they were made of water. She had to grit her teeth near the end.
Every push had her wanting to moan in pain, but all the goblins had gone silent. She had a feeling that too much noise was likely to bring the stones down around her head. It was enough to keep her silent, though her jaw was beginning to ache as she strained.
The hole grew until she could have fit her body through it. Then that the goblins below her started trilling again. She paused, pushing her hair out of her eyes with a hand that smudged dirt and blood over her forehead.
“Done?” She asked them quietly.
At their gestures, she carefully started the climb down. The journey down was shorter than the climb up, perhaps because her arms were so tired that much of it was an uncontrolled slide that had her heart beating just a little faster than before. Exhaustion like this could breed mistakes.
A goblin scooped her up at the bottom and deposited her a safe distance from the stones before he rushed back to the opening.
She caught her breath as she watched the goblins slowly hand body after body through the hole. They seemed to be alive at least, though there was more blood than she had wished to see. Streaks of dirt tinged their bodies almost to the brown skin tones she was used to.
Her elbows were propped on her knees, spine curved as she tried to force her body to stay upright. Tears pricked her eyes as more bodies were pulled through. She had helped them, but what if she had been too slow? What if they had all been too slow?
These people were not what she had expected. Their children were kind and sweet. They did what they could to make her comfortable around them, to encourage her curiosity with surprises that constantly had her laughing with them. She had expected the stories she had heard Above to be true. The flesh eating goblins that terrorized the humans were an easier story to deal with than the imaginative people that lived here.
Twelve bodies were removed in total. She counted each one as they were slid through the hole she had made. Some of them could help themselves and were handed to the line of goblins that slowly shifted them over their heads. Their hands were gentle. Their soft murmurs kind. Those that were injured would be helped in the best way that the goblins knew.
She was staring at the injured laying out next to her when she heard another low grumble. Was there another? Had they forgotten one more that was just now crawling to the mouth?
She hadn’t expected to see the wide shoulders and braided hair that she knew so well emerge from the hole. Ruric
wedged himself into the opening, one arm sliding through as he tried to angle himself through it. Of course it had been him. Who else would have been strong enough to hold the others so that they could get to safety?
But the hole was too small. She could see it from where she sat. His wide shoulders wouldn’t fit through there, not without shifting the rubble. Perhaps the cut over his eye impeded his vision, or perhaps he was simply too exhausted to notice that he wasn’t going to fit.
She heard the rumble before she saw it. The shifting of stones around him that clearly warned something was going to give. He was only halfway through. He had managed his shoulders but his broad chest was still in the opening.
Jane didn’t notice that she had stood. She did not realize that she had started to rush forward with a panicked shout.
“Ruric!”
She would never forget the shocked expression on his face as he looked up. Those dark eyes stared deeply into hers as his hands flexed against the stone. He would be angry she was here. He would yell at her for endangering herself like this.
If he survived.
The stone crumbled above him, a great shifting of weight that pushed her small hole closed as a sheet of stone slid down towards him. She flinched away, unable to watch him die. She knew how selfish the action was, how she should have given him her strength in whatever way possible. But Jane’s heart could not stand her last memories of him being of death and pain.
A roar echoed through the cave. Loud and ringing with pain and anger the sound could have struck fear into the hearts of men. But for her, it sent a jolt of awareness that clawed through her.
She whirled on her heel, staring back towards the stones as the giant goblin held the slab of stone away from him. His face was twisted in a snarl, teeth bared and brows furrowed as his muscles bulged.
That slab of rock was pointed directly at his heart and as she watched his arms started to shake. It seemed that the others noticed as well. They jumped into motion, four goblins climbing up as far as they could to brace themselves against the slab. They held it away from him, two others frantically digging at the stones that had collapsed around his stomach and legs.