Chapter 43 The Universe Sought to Crush Every Ounce of Hope We Found

One of the smallest of the hatchlings, clung to me with tiny trembling fingers. His lip quivered as he finally whispered the memory that had been gnawing at his soul.

“Papa… we didn’t sleep much after you left. Not because we didn’t want to. But because of what came…”

He glanced upward, toward the broken slats of the shed’s roof — as if even now, he feared seeing it again.

“There were legs. So many legs. They made this clicking sound… tap-tap-tap on the wood at night. We huddled under the old straw sack you gave us, all of us, but it didn’t help. The straw was wet… and it smelled. But we didn’t care. We just wanted to hide.”

His voice cracked.

“One night, I woke up because I couldn’t move my arms… something had tied me. It was sticky, Papa. Like sniffer slime but worse. It burned a little. When I opened my eyes, it was right above me — big eyes, black and shiny. It looked like a shadow had grown teeth.”

“I tried to scream but it covered my mouth with the web-stuff. It started dragging me up the wall. I was almost at the ceiling.”

His hands gripped tighter, his tiny nails pressing into my side.

“But Pip saw me. He didn’t even think — he just jumped up and bit the threads. Chewed through ‘em even when it stuck to his tongue. He pulled me down, and we fell hard… but the thing was gone when we looked again.”

He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.

“We didn’t sleep after that. Every night, we heard it. Tapping. Scratching. Waiting. Sometimes we saw webs in new places… sometimes we didn’t see anything at all. But it was there. It always was. Watching.”

He looked up at me again, his face fragile and pale.

“Why didn’t you come back sooner, Papa? We were so scared…”

Another hatchling's tiny voice broke the stillness of the moment. He spoke softly, almost as if he feared the memory might come alive again if he gave it too much attention.

"There was a body, Dada. A slave goblin... from the other group. He... he died in the shed when we were there alone. We tried to ignore it at first. Just let it lie in the corner. But it didn’t stay still, Dada. It… it moved. I heard it."

His eyes darted around, as if he expected to see something lurking in the shadows.

"It wasn't much at first. A soft shift or a groan in the dark. I told the others, but they didn't believe me. They said I was imagining things... But then, one night… it rolled. Just rolled."

He clenched his fists, his voice trembling, eyes wide and distant.

"It happened just like that. We were huddled together, trying to sleep. And then we heard it. The crack of bones... like it was... moving its arms, or its legs, or something. We all jumped up. We looked in the corner... and the body was on its side. Its head was all twisted and... wrong, Dada."

His breath hitched, and he struggled to continue.

"The smell… it made us sick, Dada. I didn’t want to smell it anymore. But it was everywhere — rotten, and thick. I couldn’t breathe. It was like it was waiting for something, like it was still… alive."

"I had nightmares after that. The body was standing, looking at us with hollow eyes. Chewed-out eyes. Like it had eaten itself. I wouldn’t go near it. None of us would, but we couldn’t leave the shed. We couldn’t leave anything. It just… it stayed there. Every night, waiting."

Pip was trembling as he spoke next. His voice cracked, and it took him a moment to find the courage to continue.

“W-when it rained, Papa… The roof… the roof broke. And the water—” He hiccupped, trying to control the tears threatening to spill again.

 “It came in like a flood. It flooded everything… the straw, the little food… we were cold. So cold, Papa. The guards—they just let the rain come in. They laughed and said it was funny. They didn’t care. They didn’t care that we were… we were all wet and sick. Our bedding was soaked. My legs hurt from sitting in the mud for so long. We couldn’t sleep, Papa. Not when the water kept coming in… kept rising up.”

He clenched his fists in his lap.

“And then, they made us stay in it. They told us to stay there, in the filth. They said we should be grateful that they didn’t let the monsters in. That was their kindness. So, we just… huddled together, cold and wet, in the corner… We couldn’t even move without slipping, Papa.”

“I... I tried to run to the little puddle by the door. I thought if I could just drink from it, puddle be no more, just for a moment, we wouldn’t feel so cold. But the guard caught me, grabbed me by my ears, and shoved my head into a bucket of slop. Told me to drink from that or he crush me. I... I couldn’t breathe, Papa. I kept coughing up the filth.”

As I held my precious hatchlings, their small, trembling bodies clinging to me in a desperate need for comfort, my heart felt both torn and full. My mind raced with plans and promises to protect them, to free them from the hellish life they had endured. I whispered soft reassurances to each of them, but my mind was clouded with the cruel memories of what they had gone through.

But, as if the universe sought to crush every ounce of hope we had just found, the sound of heavy footsteps approached. A guard—a tall, grim-looking goblin—stepped into the scene, his eyes narrowing as he took in the sight of me and the hatchlings huddled together.

The guard’s face twisted into a sneer, disgusted by the sight of the vulnerable little ones clinging to their father. It was as if the very display of tenderness and familial love offended him. As if goblins did not have right to love their hatchlings. He stopped just a few paces away, taking in the pitiful scene of my reunion, his features contorting into a look of absolute disgust.

With a sickening, guttural laugh, he took a step forward.

 “Ugh, look at this. I will puke!”

Before I could react, the guard lifted his booted foot and kicked our pile of huddled bodies with a vicious force.

The impact sent the hatchlings flying like ragdolls across the dirt, their tiny bodies slamming into the hard ground with sickening thuds. My own body was thrown sideways as the blow caught me off guard, and I landed harshly on my side, grunting in pain.

My hatchlings cried out in pain as they tumbled across the dirt, their small forms too weak to resist the brutal assault. They lay there, helpless and scared, wailing for their father. My heart nearly shattered as I scrambled to my knees, ignoring the sharp pain in my body as I reached out for my little ones. My hands trembled as I gathered them in my arms, pulling them back into the safety of my embrace.

The guard stood over us, laughing cruelly as he looked down at the wounded family. His expression was that of pure malice, a twisted satisfaction gleaming in his eyes.

“Disgusting little goblins. Should have known better than to show weakness around me,” the guard sneered. 

He spat on my face, the gesture dripping with scorn.

 “You’re not fit even to be a slave! Looks like I will have to beat it in you!”

Lyn's golden eyes flashed with anger as the guard approached me, ready to inflict more pain on the already-beaten goblin and his helpless hatchlings. Without a second thought, she stepped forward, blocking the guard’s path.

"Back off! I won’t stand by and watch you torment someone who’s already been through enough. You’re not laying a hand on him."

 The guard stopped, caught off guard by her presence, and glared at her, clearly unimpressed by the interruption.

"This isn’t your business, cat."

"It is my business when you lay a finger on someone who doesn’t deserve it," she shot back, "I don’t care if he’s a goblin slave or not. You don’t treat him like that."

The guard grunted in frustration, clearly not wanting to deal with her any longer. With a final sneer, he muttered something under his breath before turning and stomping away.

Lyn watched him leave, her posture still stiff with anger, but once he was out of sight, she let out a slow breath and turned back to me, her demeanor softening. She knelt down beside me, offering me a small but genuine smile.

"You alright?" 

"Thank you... You didn’t have to do that. Things could have gone bad for us."

Lyn shrugged nonchalantly, a playful glint in her eyes. 

"It was either that, or I let you get beat up in front of your little ones. I’m not that heartless." 

She grinned mischievously, making light of the tense situation, but her eyes softened as she looked down at the small, scared hatchlings still clinging to my legs. 

"They’ve been through enough. And so have you."

 "I don’t know what I would’ve done without you..." My voice cracked slightly, but I quickly cleared my throat, embarrassed.