Goblins. Truly they are one of this world's most wretched creatures. Of the bipedal monsters, they are both the weakest and the stupidest.
They lack the strength to survive as loners, yet their constant infighting and hatred towards even their own kind means their tribes are small. When a goblin tribe grows too big, blood is typically spilled.
Despite these weaknesses, the various gangs of goblins prove to be a constant nuisance and threat to those living outside the walled cities, but they have no hope of getting into our bastions.
It is only in the event of a "Wahrking" that they might prove a threat. However, this anomaly has not appeared in over 100 years, and is not likely to ever be seen again.
~ Excerpt from "Goblins: The Weakest of Monsters"
By Regulus the Green, Court Mage.
***
"Hello? Can you hear me?"
"Huh?"
I frowned and pulled one side of my headset away from my ear. I finally had the house to myself, so hearing unfamiliar voices was disturbing to say the least.
Not that it was an unpleasant voice. It was a bright and bubbly voice, distinctly feminine, someone distinctly too chipper for this early in the morning.
But it sounded like no one I knew, so either a stalker had broken into my house, one of my sisters had brought a friend over, I was losing my mind, or the most likely option was that I had left a game running and a npc was trying to get my attention.
Just to be sure, I leaned back in my chair to peer through my bedroom doorway.
I couldn't see any broken glass or dark shapes down the hall, so I turned back to my computer. I really should drink less coffee.
I was playing some generic fantasy title. Quest, I think. I've played a lot of videos It was a section I'd played before, so I could slouch and think about other things. Like food. Mmm. Maybe after this level I could whip up a nice plate of pasta and meatballs. Or heat up some leftovers. Then again I-
"You are needed!"
I ripped the headset off as fast as possible. I definitely heard someone that time. Before the sound was warped, like from down a long tunnel. But now, it sounded like the voice was right outside.
"Alright, who's out there? Mom? Rachel? Is this some kind of prank?"
Stepping over piles of random crap I had accumulated, I gingerly walked away from my computer.
"If you're out there, know thatI'm armed and dangerous." I say, pausing in the doorway to pick up a wooden bat from a previously mentioned pile of random crap.
If it was Mom or my sister, maybe I'd jump from around the corner and scare them for the fright they gave me. And if it's burglers… I guess I'll do the same thing. Probably to a lesser degree of success.
Maybe I should check who's in the house before I make any rash decisions.
Keeping my back to the wall, I shuffled down the hall, checking the rooms one by one. Parents room, empty. Sister's room, empty. Bathroom, empt-
"We need you!"
The second I heard the voice, I jumped away from the wall, and spun around, bat held at the ready. That time the voice was a lot clearer. And significantly more desperate. Who is talking? It is DEFINITELY not anyone I know.
"Only a Chosen can defeat the Calamity!"
"Calamity? Lady, if you show yourself I'm sure I can help you with whatever you need, but you have to stop yelling in my ear."
"Please! I need you!"
Okay now she sounds like she is in actual danger. And a dashing hero such as myself can never leave a damsel in distress.
"Don't worry! I'll help you! Where are you?"
I rush towards the stairs, dropping the bat as I run/fall down the steps. My heart was beating against my ribs. Where the hell was this voice?
I skidded to a stop in the landing, searching the living room, but I couldn't see a single distressed omnipresent girl languishing on the floor.
As a matter of fact, it was hard to see anything. I must have been staring at my screen too much because my vision was blurry. I could still see, but now my head was throbbing.
"Hurry!"
I yanked open the front door, but no one was in the front yard. It also didn't help that the sun was barely poking over the trees around the house, being the entire property was shrouded in darkness.Maybe she was in the back?
I stepped out of my house and started heading for the back fence gate.
"I'm trying to lady, but I have no idea-"
I barely got three steps in before a wave of vertigo swept over me. It was so strong that I couldn't even finish my sentence before I fell to my knees.
I shook my head to clear it, but it just felt worse. The ground was swimming before my eyes and my head was throbbing with pain, like it was being slowly crushed in a vice.
Is this dying? No, there's no way. It's far more likely that I just shouldn't have pulled an all-nighter.
After I took a couple of deep breaths to steady myself, I tried to get off the ground.
I reached out a hand and grabbed onto the nearby fence for support . The rough wood dug into my hand, but I was able to stand back up.
As I was pulling myself to my feet, I noticed a steady trickle of something warm dripping from my nose. After I wiped it away, I looked down to see blood smeared across my hand.
"That's not good."
"Hurry!"
"I don't think I will be… doing…hurrying… Oh I'm going to throw up."
In the middle of my sentence, a second even greater wave of vertigo crashed over me. My head was pounding with the worst headache of my life and I knew this wasn't sleep deprivation talking anymore.
Maybe I am dying?
I think I should have cared more, but I was too delirious. I lost my grip on the fence and fell backwards.
"Sorry I couldn't save you."
However, instead of hitting the ground, the falling sensation continued. I could feel the wind rushing past my face.
"What-"
I wrenched my eyes open, and I could see the sky flying away from me. Or more accurately I was falling down some kind of tunnel.
I must have hit my head and started hallucinating. That or a sinkhole somehow opened up right before I hit the ground.
God I hope I'm hallucinating.
Then I hit the water and everything went black.