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Another scream woke Jason up. He was on the ground but only seconds seemed to have passed. His head hurt but did he did
not think it was anything too serious. He heard someone yell his name and looked up to see Jenna being grabbed by something.
She was trying to fight back but was hampered by her pack which was nearly as big as she was.
Goblin, his mind supplied. But of course that was foolishness. There were no such things as goblins. 'And things you
dream about don't suddenly appear in your back yard either' his mind replied. 'Face it, you're not in Kansas anymore Toto.'
Ok, weird shit is officially starting, time to prioritize. First rescue your friend and then check yourself into a nice relaxing
psycho ward. He started to climb to his feet to go and help Jenna. The huge pack on his back did not help. Jason had to roll
to get to his feet staggering a bit as he did so.
He was go focused on his task that he completely missed the other creature. It was rooting around in the wheelbarrow,
but as soon as Jason was on his feet, the thing charged him. Somehow he still had the staff in his hands and he swung from
the hips as soon as the ugly little creature was in range. The silver dragon provided a nicely weighted end and it struck
the goblin squarely in the head. The creature's eyes crossed, it stopped dead in its tracks and then pitched over face first.
Jason heard Jenna shout a warning behind him and spun to see the goblin that had been menacing her come charging his way.
It swung a wicked looking short sword at his legs, but Jason managed to get the staff in the way to block the stroke. In
the process, somehow his scabbard got tangled up in between his legs and sent him crashing to the ground. The goblin's sword
chopped down towards his head, but Jason was able to roll away. However, when his body rolled one way, his backpack knocked
the staff the other way. Seeing his foe prone and suddenly unarmed, the goblin grinned and pulled his sword back for a killing
thrust.
Just then Jenna smashed shoulder first into the creature's back. The creature's thrust went wild slamming into the dirt
and giving Jason a moment to act. The sword was hopelessly tangled and probably not much good on the ground anyway. So he
pulled the survival knife. The goblin turned to deal with the new threat and Jason stabbed it in the back of the knee. The
goblin dropped its sword and crashed to the ground with a horrifying and painful scream. It lay there thrashing about and
mewling pitifully.
Jason managed to get his sword untangled and get to his feet with a massive effort. Looking down he got his first good
look at the creature and all he could think of was ugly. It was small, maybe four foot three, but with a head that was closer
to human sized. The hands and feet were also weirdly large for its spindly frame. The creature's skin was a grayish-green
with plenty of warts and odd looking bumps. Its face sported a huge hooked nose and a mouth full of broken yellow teeth.
There was not much hair on its head, but what was there was black and stringy. The large bat-like ears twitched and moved
seemingly independent of its head. With a disgusted noise, Jason drew his sword and prepared to finish the goblin off.
Seeing the sword, the goblin put up his hands and yelled in passable English, "No kill. No kill. Urguat meant no
harm to nice humans. Urguat is a good goblin. Urguat just want something to eat."
"You meant no harm huh? So why did you hit me from behind and try to attack my friend?" Jason replied sarcastically.
"That was not Urguat. Urguat is nice goblin. That was mean old Vewrgit. But you smashed him good. Vewrgit will
not harm you again. Please mercy for poor old Urguat." The ugly thing wailed, snot dribbling from its huge nose.
Jason glanced at Jenna and she shook her head. "If all those books have taught me anything it's never believe a
goblin. They are evil and vicious and would like nothing better then to kill you and eat you."
With a nod, Jason grabbed his sword and prepared to thrust it through the creature's heart. But the poor goblin started
crying and sobbing so badly he could not force himself to do it. It was too much like killing a really ugly little kid in
cold blood. He turned away to try and reason with Jenna, when he heard the goblin move.
Instinctively, he thrust forward with his sword, and he caught Urguat high in his bony chest. The dagger he had been
planning to stab into Jason's back leg fell from suddenly numb fingers. Urguat's mouth moved, but whatever it was trying
to say was lost in a trickle of blood. Finally, the goblin fell back to the ground dead.
"I told you Jase, never trust a goblin. They are foul nasty little back stabbers." Jason did not respond,
after all he was the one that had to kill the creature.
Jason sank to his knees besides the goblin's body. "I never killed anything before. I even caught the mouse that
kept chewing up my socks and safely let it go outside. And it couldn't talk to me."
Jenna hugged his neck. "It's ok Jason. That creature was going to kill us. It was vicious and evil. Just because
something can talk doesn't mean it has a more of a right to live. If you hadn't killed it, it would have killed us. What
do you think it meant when it said it was looking for food?"
Jason shuddered once then climbed back to his feet. "You're right Jenna. I don't have to like it, but we do have
other things to worry about. Like where did these things come from and will there be any more of them?"
Jenna flashed him a rare full smile showing all her teeth. "Well if I had to guess, from the tracks I'd say they
came from the sandbox. And the only way to see if there will be more is to go there and check."
"Go where Jen? I can see the sandbox from here and there is nothing in it except sand."
Jenna shot him an exasperated look. "So where do you think the goblins came from? A rogue gang of goblins no one
has ever seen before hiding out in suburban DC? Or maybe a circus train derailed and all the freaks ran away?"
Jason sighed. "Be serious Jenna, I know these things aren't normal, but..."
"But what? A wizard staff falls into your back yard, a staff that you have been dreaming about since you were in
diapers mind. And then when you remove it from the sand a pair of goblins suddenly jumps you from behind. You don't think
this is all related somehow? I know this is hard for you Jason, but stop being a prick." Jenna flared back, her hands
on her hips.
That sparked a moment of anger and he shot back. "Fine! I'm going." And started for the sandbox smacking the
staff into the ground harder then was strictly necessary.
"Wait!" Jenna yelled from behind him.
"Now what?" Jason yelled. "Damn it do you want me to go or do you want me to stay. Make up your freaking
mind."
"We have to loot the bodies" she replied calmly, all traces of anger suddenly gone.
"What?!"
"Oh don't be like that. It's standard practice. I mean it's not like they need the stuff any more. And you never
know what monsters might have on them. Plus think about it, a little money couldn't hurt. We might need things and it will
help us blend in." Jenna had an odd little smile on her face that Jason found disturbing.
Jenna knelt besides the first goblin and wrinkled her nose. "Whew these things stink." She began a brisk,
but thorough search and came up empty. Even its club was little more then a badly shaped tree branch. She had a bit more
luck with Urguat though. He had a small pouch containing a half dozen odd looking coins and a shiny black stone. Jenna made
a disgusted sound, "Six coppers? Oh well guess it's better then nothing." She started undoing the goblin's belt.
"Now what are you doing?" Jason edged in a bit closer to have a look. "If you're going to start striping
them..."
"Sword belt." She grunted in reply. "You might have noticed I am a little unarmed here." She finally
got the belt loose and pulled it out from under the body. She clinched it around her own waist then put the short sword and
dagger back in place. Tucking the pouch into a pocket she pulled out her well worn eye glass case. She removed her glasses
and carefully packed her glasses away. Tucking the case back into her pocket, she walked over to Jason. Taking his arm firmly
she said. "And now you can go. Just make sure you take me with you."
"Do you even know how to use a sword?" Jason asked suspiciously.
"Well not exactly but I read a lot. I mean most people learn in a few pages so how hard can it be right?"
Jenna ignored his exasperated sigh.
"Just promise me you will stay well away from me when you are swinging it around ok?" Jason replied deciding
not to try and argue the point. He had been fencing for nearly eight years after all.
"No can do. Sorry big guy."
Jason looked over at Jenna's grin. "And why, dare I ask, not?"
"Because you gotta teach me. You're the only one here that actually knows how to use one of these things. Even I
know you have to be taught." Jenna smiled and batted her eyelashes. It was a display of pure cuteness and
completely phony. But yet it worked every time on him.
Rolling his eyes Jason muttered, "Oh great. This just gets better and better."
"Oh don't be such a spoil sport. You got me, adventure, and a whole world waiting for you to rescue. What could
be better then that?" If anything her smile got bigger and brighter.
"I'm thinking a suite at the Crowne Plaza, room service, and dozen star love struck young starlets at my beck and
call?" Jason grumbled back. But in fact just about anything seemed better then going on Jenna's adventure.
"Nahh this is still better. C'mon forward to adventure and glory!" Jenna stepped into the sandbox and tugged
Jason in after her.
At first nothing happened, they stood there one expectant and one feeling really silly. Then the staff began to glow
again. Jason belatedly realized it had stopped after the goblins had shown up. And this was a far brighter glow then before.
It went from a lit candle to the light of the midday sun in seconds. The sand beneath their feet seemed to shift and roll
though to the naked eye it appeared still. Jason felt as if a giant hand had grabbed him and was squeezing the air out of
his lungs. Then another hand grabbed his head and he felt stretched to the breaking point. His limbs went numb but he managed
to grab hold of Jenna. Then the ground dropped out beneath him, the light from the staff exploded in front of his face and
he was falling.
Vewrgit the goblin stood up once the meddling humans had gone. He had taken a powerful blow to the head, but goblin heads
are strong. It had knocked him out for a while, but he woke up in time to hear Urguat begging. The stupid goblin had gotten
what he deserved. Vewrgit had followed Urguat's lead because the other goblin was bigger and meaner and it had nearly got
them both killed. But Vewrgit was smarter. He knew to fake death, he even let that little red human lay her hands on him.
But she did not find his stone, oh no. Vewrgit was smart, he swallowed the stone. And now the master's plan could go forward.
Once the stone was safely planted in this place, the Shadow Lord would be master of two worlds.
Of course he still had to wait for nature to take its course. Maybe he could find something tender and juicy to eat while
he waited. Picking up his dropped club, Vewrgit wandered out of the yard and into the street.
Unfortunately, this was not Vewrgit's world. And this world had its own perils and rules. For example, one rule was
always look both ways before crossing the street. This one was important but the goblin would not have time to learn it.
When he stepped into the street, Vewrgit the smart goblin got promptly run over by a large dump truck. Unnoticed in the
chaos that followed, a small black colored stone bounced down the street and rolled into a storm drain.
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