They both sat on the small leather bed, facing one another in the dim, flickering light of the room. After a heavy silence that stretched between them like a drawn bowstring, Three finally spoke up.
"It's about the Great One."
"I know," One simply confirmed, his eyes steady to let Three continue his confession.
"What I did was wrong, and I understand the harsh punishment I faced for defying her, but…" Three took a deep, shuddering breath, a tremor running through his entire body.
"Even though I already accepted my fate, deep inside, something was… off. It was like a tiny bug that kept nagging at my insides. Like I was done for, like I was finished."
"Hmm…" One hummed in soft acknowledgment, nodding slowly.
"But actually, I felt it too. Something was missing, as if I was incomplete without it," Three continued, his voice barely above a whisper.
"And you felt this loss after the punishment was dealt?" One asked gently.
Three stopped speaking, his head slowly turning left and right, eyes darting around the room to ensure no one was watching or listening. "No… it was before," he admitted after a moment of hesitation.
"You mean…" One's eyes widened slightly, the realization dawning on him that Three was confessing to a different kind of ache.
"No! I-It wasn't what yo-you were thinking…" Three stuttered, his cheeks flushing a deep, burning red as his hands waved frantically in a desperate bid to dismiss the misunderstanding.
One's hand crept closer in the shadows, gently taking hold of his trembling hand, offering comfort. "I understand. You don't have to admit it fully, but I…" He started, his voice gentle.
But before he could finish his sentence, a loud, piercing yell echoed from outside the house. "Hey!!! Where are you guys? It's time to practice, you dumb shits!"
It was Two, calling out impatiently while searching for his missing companions.
Three quickly shook off the holding hand, the connection broken in an instant before scrambling out of the house and vanished into the night without looking back, leaving behind only one hurried sentence:
"Maybe we can talk about this later."
One was left sitting alone in the quiet dark, shaking his head. "After hearing what those Hobgoblins said about male goblins pairing among themselves, my head is getting scrambled,"
He raised both hands and slapped his own cheeks hard, the sharp cracks echoing in the empty room to shock his senses back to the present. "Focus! I have to train now, can't afford to disappoint the Great One,"
Renewed resolve filling him, he stood and followed the other goblins out into the night air.
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Somewhere else, in a place glowing beneath the golden sun, a vast expanse unfolded where the brilliant blue sky met the horizon. Green trees rustled gently in the vast space, while grass swayed in rhythmic waves every time a cool breeze passed through.
Upon a small, barren hill stood a pair of contrasting figures.
"Are you sure this is the place?" asked one of them, her tone was haughty and bratty while she looked around disdainfully.
"Yes, Your Hi… young lady. This is the one," the other answered in a mature, cold, and steady voice.
"This doesn't look like a dungeon at all. I can barely see the entrance!" she complained, wrinkling her nose.
"It is right there, young lady. The opening is covered by so many vines, and because it blends perfectly under the foot of the mountain, not many has noticed this place before now," the figure wearing armor explained calmly and pointed below.
"So, we can go in now?" she demanded, looking toward the dense foliage.
"No, we cannot enter just yet. We need to bring our essential supplies back to the camp first, because we shouldn't be staying out here for long," the guard replied.
"Insolence! Are you disobeying my order?" she snapped, her face twisting in anger.
"No, young lady. It is just for your safety. At most, we can depart tomorrow morning," they stated without flinching.
"Huff! Fine, tomorrow it is. But don't expect me to wait any longer than necessary!" she lifted her chin high and arrogantly turned back, walking away while leaving the guard to stay behind to survey the area.
"Sigh, I shouldn't have accepted to do this," the figure grumbled.
She lifted the faceplate of the helmet, revealing hazel eyes and long lashes inside, before quickly catching up after the impatient lady.
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BANG! BANG! BANG!
The sharp sounds rattled the wooden frame, breaking the silence of the morning.
"What happened?" Lyssandra groggily woke up when she heard the frantic pounding on the door.
"Great One, something has happened and it's bad!" The voice of a swift goblin came from the other side of the door, breathless from alarm.
"I will get the door," Luna said, placing a soft kiss on Lyssandra's cheek before rising.
Lyssandra quickly wrapped a leather blanket over the naked bodies of the bloom mothers before the swift goblin could walk in and see the aftermath of their night.
"Report," she commanded coolly.
"Great One, the Lightning Wolf, something has happened to it. Yesterday its health was fine and dandy, but this early morning, it just suddenly dropped down!" The goblin spoke, his voice shaking from worry, fearing he had failed his duty.
"It is laying down as if it was about to die, and a mouthful of foam," he continued, terror in his eyes.
Lyssandra raised an eyebrow, listening to the frantic news. "Let me see for myself."
They hurried to the area where the captured Lightning Wolf was being kept, a small wooden cage roughly the size of a normal log house. Inside, a soft leather rug served as a sleeping place for the beast, water and food bowls neatly prepared.
"So it worked as I expected," Lyssandra observed the miserable state of the wolf through the bars.
It truly did not look well at all; the great predator lay unusually still, its entire body trembling with extreme tension. The wolf's breathing was uneven and shallow, while its legs remained stiff and curled in an unnatural way.
"You all could leave, I need a moment," Lyssandra said, turning to Luna and the swift goblin.
Both obeyed her order and moved away.
"Helena's food is indeed scary" she moved her gaze the food bowls that was the culprit for the white foam inside the lightning wolf's mouth.
"Wake up! I know you can hear me," Lyssandra began knocking firmly on the wooden cage.
Caught red-handed, the Lightning Wolf slowly got onto its legs, head lowering slightly while shoulders rose to create a tense, predatory posture. Those eyes fixed on Lyssandra, cold and unblinking, like it were ready to pounce on her at any moment.
"What poison did you put on that bowl of food?" the wolf questioned her while growling.
"Don't worry, it just has some detoxification ingredients that can help you with digestion" Lyssandra hid her giggling with the back of a hand.
"Then release me, you inferior human, or I will have your head!" it growled, jaws grinding against each other.
"No, can't do. I have something for you to do, and you will obey," Lyssandra said with calm confidence while she opened the wooden cage door and stepped inside.
"Then die!" the Lightning Wolf leaped at her, claws extended and ready to kill. But it was too slow. Lyssandra had already side-stepped and delivered a precise kick to its stomach.
Its whole body jerked to the side, slamming hard against the wooden wall of the cage.
"Just give up. Even your alpha…" she started to say, her voice cutting through the air.
Without letting her finish the sentence, a bright yellow lightning streak shot from the wolf's mouth. Lyssandra raised her palm, the bolt crashed into it, yet she remained unharmed.
"So rude. At least let me finish," she clenched her fist tight, then slowly released her grip.
A yellow lightning ball began to expand from the palm, contained power and electric energy. The Lightning Wolf startled, a horrifying feeling rising deep inside its core at the sight of the mimicry.
It quickly regained composure and dodged at the last second, it sailed through the air, moving far more nimbly than expected.
Bam!!!
KRAK—ZZZTTT!
A huge black patch appeared where the wolf had been standing, tendrils of smoke rising into the air. Had that spark struck the wolf, death would have been instantaneous.