The Goblin Nation

The caretakers finally left the cottage, leaving Sun and his brothers alone. Sun asked his brothers to sit in front of the counter to listen to him reading the book. "Sorry, Sun, but I"ll head out for a bit," Stick said as Smoke and Rock sat down.

"Are you sure? This is the first time we ever get to see a book. I want to share the experience with you guys, and teach you all how to read it."

"It"s ok. I just want to go for a short walk. Look around the village. You guys can start without me." He said with a gloomy expression.

"Well alright then,"

Before Stick could pa.s.s through the door, Smoke got up. "Wait up. I"ll walk with you." He said as he followed Stick out the door. It seemed that something was occupying Stick"s mind, and knowing Smoke, he will not stop until he uncovers what it is.

While waiting for the two to come back, Sun decided to skim through the book for a bit to check if there are any pictures. Sadly nothing. The content of the book itself was very little. Only 13 pages had writing on, and all of them had reddish stains on the top right and left corners of the page. Rock watches as Sun flips through the pages at lightning speed. The only thing that Sun could find besides words were a few red stains. Ominous red stains. After what seemed to be hours of waiting, Rock decided to ask a question. "Sun, what"s the book about, and how do we read it?"

Sun decided to read the first page of the book. It said My Secret Diary with what seemed to be drawings of flowers decorating the sides of the page. "It seemed to be a diary. A type of book people writes on to share their most secret emotions and problems."

"Share to who?"

"To the diary, of course."

"What? Why would they share their secrets to a book? I can"t think of anything that would help them if they write about their feelings. Wouldn"t talking about it be better and easier?"

"Oh, really," Sun smiled. He remembered Rock and his recent "exploit" with the opposite gender. And a mother no less. "Then you wouldn"t mind sharing your deepest emotions regarding that woman you were flirting with earlier."

Rock faced turned red. How Sun knew about the woman was a mystery to Rock. He checked if his brothers were watching him. All of them were too busy trying not to squeal from the pain of the ma.s.sage, but it seemed Sun managed to sneak a peek or two on his actions. Rock tries to divert the topic. "Um, you know Stick and Smoke have been gone for a long time. Maybe we should go and see where they went." Sun jumps off the counter, closed the door, and blocked it with his arms. "You"re not going anywhere until you tell me about the girl." Rock started sweating. It was apparent that he was embarra.s.sed, and Sun would not pa.s.s this chance to see a fl.u.s.tered Rock.

While Sun was interrogating Rock about the mysterious woman he had a crush on, Stick and Smoke walked through the village. Smoke asked about Stick"s injuries. Stick shrugged it off, telling him he was fine. That wasn"t enough to convince Smoke, but he knew better to continue pressuring him. Eventually, they reached the edge of the village. In front of them was a large field with a shed and a small bonfire in the middle. A group of goblins gathered around the fire. "Let"s go see what they"re doing." Smoke said. Stick nodded in response, and the two walked to the shed. Smoke waved his hands and greeted the group. "h.e.l.lo, the name is Smoke and this Stick. Would it be alright if we ask you guys what you"re doing?"

One of the goblins sitting beside the fire stood up. Smoke and Stick saw this goblin before. It was Cloud. He also recognized the two and was delighted to see them once again. "You were those halflings at the barn? How are you two, and weren"t there more of you?"

"Our brothers are at the cottage the caretakers brought us to. Stick, and I decided to take a walk."

"Ah. A walk is no harm. ln fact, a walk outside could heal you faster." Cloud walks back to his seat. He motions to the two young goblins to follow him. "Come, sit with us. Since you"re here, we can show you how to make tools for tomorrow"s hunt."

The two sat down and listened to Cloud and his followers about how to make an arrowhead. Both goblins wondered if they also need to learn how to make a bow, but Cloud already had their bows made in advance to be used for their first hunt. Afterward, they began making some strange concoction on a pot. They mixed in the blood of h.o.r.n.y Toads, some bizarre blue worm, and two cups of water. They placed the pot over the fore and covered the lid. Stick was intrigued. "What is that for?" Stick asked Cloud.

"It"s a Stinkbomb. We are making them for Sum and his warriors down at Bona." Smoke couldn"t help but interrupt. "What"s Bona?"

"Bona is an outpost Cala made at the border between our tribe and the tribe of Razin. Oh, and I a.s.sume you, children don"t know the name of our tribe." Smoke and Stick nodded. "Our tribe is called Lev. Razin are our rivals, and to make sure our tribe is safe, Cala placed Sum at Bona to stop any Razin warring parties. These bombs will help them defend our lands. The scent of the bombs are so foul that Timber Wolves would sometimes faint from the smell. It also causes blindness because the smell forces you to cry."

"How do you know how to make that?"

"I had to know how to make this. If I didn"t, Cala would have abandoned me long ago." He glanced at Stick for a brief second then back at Smoke. "I am not as strong as other goblins. Even normal halflings are stronger than me. So I had to learn new things that can help my tribe so that I wouldn"t be a burden."

Stick looked to Clouds with admiration, but Smoke can still see that his brother is still unease. It was clear that the problem clouding his mind was answered, but the future is still uncertain. They continue to listen to Cloud and his stories, how they raided an adventure camp, how they fought an army of little men to capture this town, and how Cala dueled the Razin chief last spring. As the hour goes by, the sky continued to darken, and the two bid farewell to Cloud. When they got home, they witnessed Sun and giggling as Rock sat there with his cheeks red. Clearly, something happened while the two were gone. Smoke coughs to get Sun"s attention. "Oh, you guys are back! Listen, you have to hear this."

Rock stood up and went to the counter, grabbing the book and shoving it in front of Stick and Smoke. "Yeah, this book is amazing. You have to hear what it says." Rock turns to Sun placed a finger over his mouth. Stick grabbed the book and began to examine it. He hopes that it will have recipes for those stinkbombs or something similar. Sadly, he could not read. "What does this book say?" He asked.

"Its a diary. A book that people write on to share their thoughts and feelings to, usually, their future self to reflect on. Book is meant to be private, but only if they could hide it. Anyway, let"s read this. Maybe we can learn what happened to this town. I doubt our tribe was the one that built this place." Rock, Stick, and Smoke sat on the makeshift bed facing Sun, who was sitting on top of the counter with a book in hand.

"Dear diary. Today daddy bought me you at the farmer"s market. I was so excited that once I got home, I took my pencil and started writing this," Stick quickly raised his hands to ask about the pencil and what"s its purpose. "A pencil is a tool you use to write with."

"Like the deer"s blood, we used to write our names," Rock interjected.

"I mean, yeah, pretty much." Sun was about to continue reading when he suddenly remembered something. "Oh, that"s right none of you know how to read words other than your name. After this, I"ll be teaching you guys how to read. By the end of it, you should be able to read this book in front of us."

"What!" Stick, and Rock yelled.

"Now, back to the book." Sun continued to read the book, ignoring Rock and Stick groaning out of frustration. Learning to write and read their names was hard enough, but now they have to read an entire book. Sun couldn"t help shaking his head while grinning.

The book itself was fairly dull-looking, and the child that wrote the diary had the name Yoana. The diary mostly contains Yoana"s everyday life, but there was something that caught Sun"s attention. On nearly every page, Yoana writes about his father and mother arguing about the father"s decision to join the army. An army that was being raised to fight something called the Drons. Sun reached the 11th page.

"Dear diary. Daddy left today. Mommy din"t fight this time. Daddy said the nation needs em to help fight the drons. He said they move together like bees, like a swarm. I hear daddy tell mommy that the drons are getting close to here. He is going to fight them to protect me and mommy. Mommy pack his bag n lunch before he go to the army. He said he goin to come back in 3 days."

"Dear diary. Mommy and er friends came over to talk. I left and played with my friends. Gorgy had us play ladder." The wind started to blow through the holes on the wall, making a whistling sound. "While we wer playin, Gorgy said that his dad was goin back home soon. The drons lost bcuase the dwarves joined us in fightin the drons. They was going back a day earlier. I was so happy I left and run back to the house. When I got ther, Aunty Milly was cryin. Mommy told me to go upstairs right away, and to pack my stuff. I dont get it. Daddy was going back sooner than he says he was. I told mommy and she just hugged me. She says tomorrow we packing our stuff so we can go and surprise daddy halfway. I hope I get sum sleep bcuase I am so excited."

"Dear diary. Good morning! Me and mommy are getting ready to go. I am going to brring ma stuff bunny and my drawins to show daddy. I also got mom." Sun finished reading. The cottage was filled with the sound of the wind.

Rock and Stick looked at each other confused. Stick asked, "Mom, what? Aren"t you going to finish reading?"

"I did finish. That was it." Rock and Stick were at lost for words. They asked if they met the dad. They wanted to know how to play the game called ladder. And more importantly, if they can divide the pages, they have to read among themselves. Sun ignored their questions because he had one of his own. What are the drons? He felt gooseb.u.mps from the wind. He hoped the people evacuated on time, but considering the diary wasn"t finished and the reddish stains on the book, there was a chance they never made it. Where are the bodies? Maybe they around here somewhere? Then another, more ominous question came to his mind. What if the goblins were the "drons"? They swarmed this town, killing all of its inhabitants, or enslaving them. Sun thought about his mom and wondered, what if his mom lived in this town when the goblins attacked? Turned into a slave because whatever country this was failed to protect them.