The goblin outside was growing impatient. He demanded them to let him in so he could at least see the women. The caretaker won't budge. However, more and more goblins joined the one outside, shouting in unison. "Give us women! Give us women!" Flute did not cave in under pressure. In response, the goblins outside began to push the door.
"Stop it! No mating with women!" Flute yelled, but there was no sign of the goblin males stopping. If anything, they began to push harder. "All of you help me! Now!" There were at least 11 caretakers, including Flute, in the barn. Three on each door while five are on stand by.
One of the goblins managed to squeeze into the gap, but the moment he got in, four of the caretakers piled jump on him and beat him. Stick stood up and approached the center of the room, looking back and forth at the door and to us. "Sit Stick! Go, sit!" Stick's caretaker yelled at him.
I looked at my mother, which by this point, has just woken up. Despite her limited facial expression, it was clear to me that she was in distress. I decided to stand up and join Stick. Rock and Smoke joined him as well, and the four of us stood in front of the door. "All of you go back to your corners!" This time it was Flute that yelled at us. She let go of the door and made two other caretakers hold it as she approaches us. "I said go back to your corners now!"
"They outnumber you. We can help!" I answered.
"Yeah, we are strong!" Stick said in support.
"No!" She yelled while raising her hand. "You strong to survive the pain of growing. But you are not strong like them."
"What are you talking about? We are practically grown up. We can fight them with you!" Smoke said.
"You can't beat them. You're just half breeds!" We all looked at each other, confused by this statement. We can't beat them because we are half breeds? We looked back at her expecting to get an answer but was interrupted by the sudden appearance of three male goblins. Some of the caretakers tried to fight them off, but they got knocked down instead. Flute immediately rushed towards the three. Smoke and I followed her, ready to aid in the fight. The three goblins did not notice her as they were too busy running for the women.
Flute grabbed one of them by the wrist and bit their forearm. The goblin screamed in agony from the pain. "Dust, Lint got bit!" One of the goblin's with missing earlobes yelled. The other goblin with curly black hair stopped to help, but Smoke tackled him. "Dust, I'm coming!" The goblin yelled after watching his friend get tackled.
"Cut, watch out!" Dust yelled, but it was too late. I sprinted towards him and jumped. Before he could even turn, I landed a flying knee kick.
I landed on my feet and looked up, ready to run up to him as he lay in the ground to hit him with my punches. He is still standing. He rubbed the side of his head. "That fucking hurt. You dead child!" He charged at me.
He threw a left punch at me. I dodged and stepped outside his right. My legs spread wide, placing my right foot outside Cut's open stance. Afterward, I extended my right arm, hitting his chin with a jab.
SMACK*
His legs nearly gave in, but it wasn't enough. I followed up by pivoting my entire body on my lead foot, swinging with my left arm.
Cut held his hands up, catching my arm mid-swing. "Nice try. But you just half breed." He takes my arm over his shoulder as he turns his back towards me. He then bent over and threw me over his shoulder to the ground. The pain coursed through my body.
"Now, time to mate with women." Cut said. He turned around only to be met by a flying Stick. "What the?"
Stick landed on his chest, leaned backward, then bashed his head onto Cut. After taking a headbutt, Cut staggered back. Noticing my opportunity, I leg swept him, causing him to fall to the ground. Stick was about to get on top of him when Lint suddenly appeared to his right, throwing a backhand. Stick flew in the air and land on the ground.
I ran up to Lint and attempted to tackle him, but instead, it felt like I was pushing a brick wall. He grabbed me by the waist and raised me. He placed my back on his shoulder and then threw me to the wall. The impact caused the wall to break.
BANG*
I landed on the floor. These goblins, despite our similar sizes, are far stronger than us. I push myself off the ground while coughing up blood. Lint turned his attention to Stick. While on all fours, I bend my right knee to my chest and extend my left leg as far in the back as possible. My knuckles touching the floor, I look up, aiming at Lint as he turns his attention to Stick and his mother.
"Halfling! Move away." Lint said to Stick. "Time Lint mate with woman."
"Fuck off!" Stick looks at me. I nod back.
"You watch tongue, halfling"
"What will you do to her if I do move away?"
"Everything." Lint licks his upper lip. When I saw that, I reacted as if it was a gunshot used when starting a 100m dash.
My right leg exploded with energy as I propel myself towards Lint. I swing my right arm backward, my fist clenched. I ready to punch him when suddenly, I felt something grabbing my leg, and I fell face-first to the floor. I feel blood flowing out of my nose. I turned to my back and saw Cut grabbing my left leg.
"You think Cut finish! I kill you!" Cut said as he pulls me towards him. He raises his hand, ready to hammer strike me. I raised my legs, trying to create distance between us.
"Let Cut in!" He tries to grab my leg. He was impatient. Using his clouded judgment, I pull my legs closer to me, letting myself in his striking range.
"Time to kill you!" As he gets closer, I poured all my energy on my legs to kick him off me. He climbed on top of me, letting my feet on his hip. He pressed his weight on me, attempting to control me, but I knew the moment he tries to hit me, he would loosen up his control over me. He raised his hand, ready to strike, allowing me to extend my legs and kicking him off me.
I kick myself up to my feet. I stood up, facing my opponent, who was standing there, smiling. "You halfling. You weak. Why can't you stay down?" He asked me. "
"Sorry, but I will always get back up."
"Cut ends this now." He said.
His head is strong, but not that strong. As long I can keep up the pressure, he will eventually fall. But I also have to be careful. If I'm too slow, he would grab my arm and throw me to the floor. I need to be as fast as lightning to win.
I ran toward him. He puts his hands up, ready to catch my hands. Once I got in front of him, I extended my right arm, hitting a jab on Cut's face. He tried to grab my arms but misses. As I bring back my fist, a trail of blood appeared. Right in the middle of Cut's forehead was a cut. Most likely from Stick's headbutt. If I can get more blood to flow down his face, I could blind him. I hit him again with my right fist. He puts his hands back up.
I turn my rear hand. Cut sees this and moves his right hand to catch my left arm again. "Not this time," I tell him as I shuffle my foot and stop my left fist mid-swing. I then exited to my left, guiding my right hook to hit his chin.
His head shake backed and forth. He turns to me, his eyes covered in his blood. "Where you go? Cut can't see!" He yelled.
"I'm right in front of you."
"What?" I lead with my left hook, hitting his chin. I followed up with my right, hitting him on the left cheek. He tried to counter by swiping at my head. I avoided them entirely by bopping and weaving. By doing a figure 8 motion on my dodges, I can avoid his claw strikes while loading more momentum on my punches. I continued to hit him in between his attacks.
Finally, I stretched my left arm as far as it can go and then whipped back at Cut's face. The impact created a short burst of wind and a loud thud noise. Cut's face shook back and forth his skin formed a visible wave traveling across his face. Cut fell to the ground, unconscious. The victor was me.
My knee collapsed to the ground. I was running out of breath, my arms were aching, and my legs were numb. I faced the ceiling, close my eyes, ready to fall asleep, when suddenly.
SWOOSH*
"AAAHHH"
What was that? I opened my eyes after hearing a slashing sound and a scream. What I saw next shocked me. There was a dismembered arm flying in the air.