The Goblin Nation 18 Helping Hand

"Run!" Sun yelled at the top of his lungs. Sun and Smoke dropped the goat, and the brothers ran the opposite direction of the wolf. Stick slipped from the puddle of blood. He got on all four and watched his brothers run, leaving him behind. The wolf noticed the weakling of the group and prepared to charge at it. It spat out the body it was carrying and proceeded to run to Stick. He turned to meet the wolf, holding a spear in front of him. No rescue was coming, Stick thought. Cloud was right; the weak ones are always left behind. His hands could barely grab hold of a spear.

Stick closed his eyes as the impending doom approaches. He heard the wolf whimper and the sound of its footsteps backing away. He opened his eyes and saw Sun grabbing his arm, "Get up! We gotta run!"

Sun managed to lodge a spear into the wolf's throat giving the two ample time to get up and run. But the wolf is must faster. It spat out the spear and charged at the brothers once more. It only needed to make two strides to reach them. Sun knows this, but luckily they have a trump card they could use. "Rock throw the bomb at it!" Rock turned around and stopped. He reached inside his bag to get out the bomb. Rock stretched his right arm back, aimed, but he couldn't throw because his right arm split from the pressure. Rock released his grip from the shock. Smoke quickly dive to catch the bomb that fell from Rock's hand.

The wolf caught up to Sun and managed to bit its left shoulder with its frontal canine. Sun screamed from the pain. "Sun!" Stick turned around and put his hand in the wolf's mouth, trying to pry it open. Smoke got on one knee and threw the stinkbomb. It nearly missed, but Stick saw the bomb flying to the side of the wolf. He caught the bomb with his right hand. "f.u.c.k off, you beast!" Stick yelled as he shattered the stinkbomb on the wolf's head. The liquid inside the bomb splash and covered the wolf's face. The smell drove the wolf to release Sun and run back the direction it came. It was sneezing along the way.

Sun collapsed face-first to the ground. Smoke and Rock rushed to aid him. The wolf bit his shoulder and half of his left chest. Blood poured out from his wounds. Smoke quickly took off Sun's coat and whipped out some linen from his bag. He started to wrap around the shoulder and struggled to do so with his arms continuing to shake. Sun's face was pale. "Sun, everything is going to be fine." Smoke said with his shaking voice. Tears ran down his cheeks, caused both by the stinkbomb and by the stressful event.

"I'm sorry if I hadn't trip I," Smoke interrupts Stick.

"No, its no one's fault." He pulled Sun up and placed him on his back. The brothers began to cough as their lungs start to inflate slowly. Smoke stood up, with Sun's arms wrapped around Smoke's neck. "We need to get out here."

"Wait, we can't leave the goat and Lite's body behind." Sun said, "Stick, put Lite on top of the goat, and both you and Rock pull the goat by its horns."

"Why? We barely know."

"That's true. But I saw his mother at the gate. She must be still waiting for her. The least we can do is bring son home." Sun struggled to speak as the throat burn from the bomb's chemicals. The two did what they were told. "Smoke, get me near that tree." He coughed as he talks.

"Ok." Smoke walked to the tree, where he climbed to avoid the goat's attacks. Sun wrote on the tree with his blood a large cross. "What's that for?" Smoke asked Sun.

"This should warn other goblins." He said. Stick put Sun's coat on his back, and the brothers walked back to the gate as swiftly as possible. Smoke's eyes flooded with tears, and one of his eyes had a popped blood vessel. He could barely see. Sun remained conscious, fighting the urge to close his eyes. He guided Smoke through the trees and bushes. Eventually, they reached a clearing, and across the field was the wall and the gate. Goblins armed with spears and s.h.i.+elds were running into the forest. One of them noticed the brothers coming out of the trees. "Hey, stop! You see, wolf."

"Yeah," Rock responded.

"Go. Talk with Salacity. Tell Salacity see wolf at hunt." The goblin glanced over at the goat and the body on top of it. She noticed the goblin was one of her kin. "Lite. That Lite!"

"Um, yeah. We found him with the wolf. We managed to get his body out of there. Also, whats going on. Why are there so many goblins entering the forest."

"To save goblins from wolf." She said with a burning pa.s.sion in her eyes as she swallowed her spit. "Go!" She yelled at the brothers as she ran to the forest. The brothers noticed her wiping a tear off her cheek.

When brothers got to the gate, they saw a mob of goblins forming a circle. Some of the goblins smell a foul odor emanating from the brothers, and so they disperse. In the center were two goblin women fighting. One of them was pulling the other goblin's hair, screaming at her. "I sorry! I sorry!" The goblin, whose hair was getting yanked, yelled. Smoke recognized the goblin. It was Shuja, and the one pulling her hair was most likely Lite's mother. Salacity entered the fray, separating the two.

"You coward!" The mother screamed while trying to get through Salacity. Other goblins joined in holding the mother back. Salacity kept his hands stretched out, creating distance between the two. "You left Lite. My boy." She was crying out hysterically. Cloud walked up to the brothers to tell them to come to the gate. He noticed the body on top of the goat and realized that it was Lite's corpse. He quickly went to the mother and informed her that her son's corpse was brought here.

She followed Cloud, and when she saw the body, she did not hesitate and ran to him. She hugged it while wailing. Tears and snot covered the lower half of her face. Shuja tried to get close to her and Lite, but she would push her away. "Please, Shuja, love Lite. I sorry."

"Leave him!" The mother yelled back. Shuja collapsed on her knees, crawling to Lite and his mother, begging forgiveness. Stick asked Cloud what happened. "A Timber Wolf showed up while they were hunting some mountain goat. Lite tripped while running away and got left behind. All the others could only watch in horror as their friend got mauled to death." Stick's body felt a cold breeze coming up its spine. "Also, I wanted to ask what happened to you? How did you get Lite's corpse body and that goat."

"We found the goat while hunting. After killing it, that wolf showed up holding Lite's body in its mouth."

Salacity walked to the brothers after getting his man to move Shuja away. "The wolf. Shuja said wolf had pink collar on neck. You see, pink collar." He asked the brothers. Now that Stick recalled the experience, there was a strange pink collar with spikes around it.

"Yeah, there was one. Why?" Cloud and Salacity looked at each other. Both seemed worried and even afraid. "If you guys are going to look for it, Sun left a red cross to mark the place we met the wolf. The cross was that direction over there. Before getting to the small stream, you should find a steep, rocky cliff. There we left the red cross."

"Salacity, see. Go to Dolce. He takes meat, then you go."

"Sun, you hear that? Once we get the meat all sorted out, we can get home." Smoke told Sun. He did not respond. "Sun?" Smoke asked again and again. He dropped on the floor and turned around, examining him. Cloud and Stick joined in. They checked Sun's chest if he was breathing. Thankfully it was. Sun's body was covered in cold sweat, and he had bags under his eyes.

"Go take him to Flute. She should know what to do. Salacity, and I will handle the goat." Cloud told Smoke.

"And take a shower too. Smell bad." Salacity added.

"Thank you." Smoke carried Sun on his back once again, and the brothers ran to the slave quarters. Cloud and Salacity stayed behind. Salacity ordered his men to take the goat to Docle along with the other games.

Sun's breathing was getting heavier. Smoke's eyes were still cloudy from the stinkbomb, so Stick and Rock took the lead. They ran as fast they could until they finally reached the building with the tent roof. Stick opened the door for Smoke. They rushed to the center and placed Smoke by the fireplace. "Flute, we need you!" Rock yelled, walking around the room. The women slaves and the caretakers stared at Rock, walking around in a panic. Pin, Stick's former caretaker, walked up to Sun and told them to step back to give him some air.

Flute eventually came through the back door. "What? Flute busy cleaning bucket!" She yelled.

"Flute, we need your help," Rock said as he grabs Flute's hand and pulls her to Sun.

"What happened to your arm?" Flute remark after seeing Rock's arm.

"That doesn't matter. Right now, our attention should be on Sun."

Flute reached Sun lying on the floor. The caretakers in the room were waiting for Flute to give out the orders. She pointed at three goblins and ordered them to get a bucket of warm water. She then ordered another goblin to bring her ointments and a bowl of purple mush. Finally, she organized the remaining goblins into two groups; one was to get linens and any form of alcohol to her, and the other was to stay hand help her. The caretakers scattered to their duties. Flute ripped the coat opened. She was about to take the bandage off when she noticed the brothers were still in the room. Pin was ordered to get the brothers out while they operate on Sun.

Smoke, Stick, and Rock sat outside. All of them exhausted from today's event and anxious for the rest of it. Smoke covered his eyes. The pain caused by the stinkbomb was gone, but he cried nonetheless. "I should have gone back for you. I should have helped Sun." He sobbed.

"Come on, Smoke, it's not your fault. You said it yourself, its no one's fault." Rock said.

"I know. It's just so frustrating not being able to do anything."

Stick got up, "That's not true. You helped cover Sun's wounds, and carried him all the way here."

"Stick is right. We all did the best we can." Rock added.

Smoke took a deep breath. "Thank you." Smoke looks at Rock and his broken arm. He worries that it will be unfixable if it was left untreated. "Rock, we should probably get..." Pin suddenly slammed the door open. The brothers jumped out of their seat, surprised. She looked a bit delirious. "Come quick!" She yelled. The brothers entered the building. Right beside their brother was Sun's mother. She was on her knees. Her hand hovered over Sun's naked body, and from it came out soft s.h.i.+mmering light. It showered Sun's wounds, and over time they slowly healed, leaving a scar in its place. Some color was brought back to Sun's skin. The goblins and the women were shocked at what they saw. Sun's mother knew how to use healing spells.