I'm at a loss for words when Gobkun says 'human slave'. It also sounds like my weapons are part of his supply gathering.
The Chief's grin deepens.
"Excellent, those are good weapons for my arsenal. Him being a slave is to be seen however. If he can't pull his weight, then he shall be our dinner."
At his last words I draw my Katana. The sound of weapons being pulled from sheaths surrounds me.
A crowd of goblins formed behind us, officially trapping me in the camp.
The Chief finally turns his attention to me, his smile gone. I stare him in the eye.
"I have no confidence in making it out alive, but there is no way I'll be dinner to you bottom feeders! Not after what I've already been through today!"
There's silence.
Then laughter from in front of me. The Chief is covering his mouth, the laugh slowly quieting to a chuckle.
"Bold words for a weak human. Let us see if you can back them up. Gobkun, retrieve my weapons for me."
My head snaps to my right, where Gobkun is still kneeling for the Chief. There's a mixed expression on his face, but it must be him thinking of how best to kill me.
He stands to catch a short sword that is thrown to him from the crowd. As he turns to face me, I see a hint of sadness in his eyes. I toss it aside, still beside myself that he had led me into a trap.
But what should I expect from a dirty goblin.
He charges first, silent and intent.
Gobkun's sword swings for my neck.
I deflect it downward, using the momentum to swing my blade around and slash at his side.
There's surprise in his eyes as he barely raises his blade in time to block.
My feet shuffle back and reset, my blade coming for his skull next.
He rolls to the side then stabs for my chest.
The sound of our swords clashing fills the subway tunnel.
I can feel the goblins watching me, waiting for me to slip up.
I side step a stab aimed for my eye.
I've never felt this alive. My pounding heart pushes me faster and faster.
I deflect another of his strikes and feint a side slash.
His sword isn't in position to block my blade from being buried in his collar bone.
Gobkun takes it like a champ, merely grunting as he jumps away from me.
Clapping erupts from me left.
"Impressive, this dog has quite a set of fangs."
A fist slams into my chin. The Chiefs grinning face swims in my vision as I crumple to the ground.
He pulls the katana from my lose grip and gives it a test swing.
"Hmm, I like it. Now, its time for you to go good nighty."
The last thing I see is a big green foot swinging for my face.
***
"Hey. Hey! Are you okay?"
My eyes flutter open.
A middle aged man is leaned over me. He scoots away as I prop myself up with an elbow, the other hand on my pounding head.
"What...happened?"
A dark chuckle escapes his lips.
"If you're talking about what happened to yourself, you got your ass beat. You know, before you actually put on quite a show. Where did you learn how to fight like that? Oh, speaking of, they also took your swords."
I sit up fully now and notice how sore my jaw is. I close my eyes as I rub the muscle, giving myself some time to answer.
"My parents got my brother and I kendo equipment when we were teenagers. Two full sets, and multiple lengths of bamboo swords. Made for a lot of fun, and we tried to replicate actual swordsman on ViewToob. Anyway, how did you end up here?"
Now his face drops.
"I ran into an alley to get away from the monsters when one of those goblins knocked me out. I woke up here, hooked up to this."
He holds up a chain locked to a shackle on his left ankle. I feel a slight pull on my foot, and look down to see I'm also attached to the chain.
There's another chain locked to the center of ours. As I follow it I can see at least another twenty people in front of me, if not more. My heart is hammering in my chest, and I have to take a few deep breaths to calm myself.
"Holy shit, at least we didn't get eaten."
The man's head tilted as his brow scrunched up.
"As far as I know, no one down here has become monster food yet. What did you think was going to happen?"
My hand goes to my chin in thought, one eyebrow up in confusion.
"I don't know, he said I was going to be eaten and I didn't like the sound of it. These guys diets are a mystery to me, and figured they might be hungry."
He laughs darkly at my words.
"We were all just threatened with it if we didn't work for them. I think everyone figured this would be better than what happened to the people on the streets after the..the..."
The man stares off in the distance, his face completely slack. This gives me a little bit to think. Gobkun definitely tricked me, but it kept me alive. I dont think I'd be able to survive on the streets by myself.
So maybe he was tricking me...to help me? He didn't look to happy to fight me, but maybe it was just for my swords.
I can feel the gears turning in my head, but decide to think on it later as I clear my throat to finish what the man was saying.
"After that phoenix passed through the sky scrapers? And the monsters appeared from the sky and ground?"
The man snaps out of it and looks at me with a crazed, broken look in his eyes.
"A phoenix? I didn't see no f*&%ing fire bird. I saw a dragon."