"Oh, well, I must apologize then. The healing spell that I had administered to you was of a lower class, which may have caused a bit of pain. Too much pain can make you go crazy, you know," the goblin informed Alex.
"Y-yeah," Alex responded dryly.
"It did save you, though. Without me, you'd be dead!" chuckling, the goblin continued, "Your savior's name is Kishan, by the way."
"Kishan," Alex paused, and his eyes focused. "I'll remember the name."
"You should. You'll be seeing me a lot more from now on," Kishan said.
"...Are you the warden?"
"Oh, goodness no, I'm much too important to take care of criminals," Kishan responded. "I'm here for you. I am your handler."
"You're my what?"
"Your handler. I have been assigned to study you. Not often do we get freaks like you, so some higher-ups stuck me with you."
Alex paused. His brain could barely keep up with the conversation, but when he registered the insult, he snapped to focus. "I'm the freak? Really, dude, have you seen yourself? You're as tall as my nutsack, and your face looks like it."
Kishan didn't respond straight away. Instead, he pulled out a notepad and scribbled away. As he wrote, he whispered, "Subject is hostile and delusional, less intelligent than we had assumed."
"I'm right here, you know."
"Oh, I apologize for that. Here, have this and calm down." Kishan slid a small bucket of water toward Alex, making sure he was just out of reach.
"What's this?" Alex was skeptical and worried that the goblins might spike his water.
Kishan once again paused, then looked down at his notes. "Subject is much less intelligent than assumed, doesn't know what water is—"
"Oh, come on. I'm not that stupid. I know what water is." Alex grabbed the bucket and quickly gulped it down. After all, he was in a cell. They didn't need to spike his water to control him. He threw the empty bucket at Kishan, who casually stepped to the side.
"Thanks for the water, I guess," Alex said sarcastically, "but you got any food? I'm starving."
"No, you'll get food...soon, well, probably. Speaking of, we have to go. Any last questions?"
"...Where are we?"
"The jail."
"No-no, like, where in the world are we?"
"Oh, silly me. We are in the capital, Charmoor. All located in the Aurora cave system."
"...So, just to be clear, what country is the cave located in?"
"What do you mean by country? All goblins are currently ruled by King Medrod, if that's what you're asking."
"Ah, perfect. I understand now. So then, just one last question: what do I have to do to get to the surface?"
"Hah! And you believe in the surface! The surface isn't real, my friend. Scientists have proven it many times."
"What are you saying? I'm literally from there."
"Oh—yep, I'm sure you are. Now it's time to go. We don't want to make the crowd wait, now, do we?"
"Wha—crowd? Where are we going?"
"You'll see. I'm going to restrain you now. Try not to move too much," Kishan said as he started to gesture strangely. Then, light started to sprout around Alex's hands, binding them together.
Alex tried to speak, but he couldn't. The restraining magic seemed to have shut his mouth. Light pooled around his legs, but this time they were not bound. Instead, his legs started moving on their own, Kishan controlling his body like a doll. The magic didn't hurt as long as Alex didn't try and break free from it. When he attempted to, he could move how he wanted, with the one downside being sharp pain in whatever limb he tried to move.
Kishan opened his cell and guided him toward their destination. Alex could do nothing but think during this time.
'They are going to kill me, aren't they? I don't know much about fantasy and goblins, but I know they're mean little bastards.' Alex felt a pit in his stomach and a lump in his throat. In just the past three days, he had been through so much, he never had time to rest and unpack it all. His mind was constantly assaulted by pain or the need to take action. Now that he was neither in pain nor needing to accomplish something, he was left alone with his thoughts.
Alex had been showing a strong front to the goblin, but deep down, he wanted nothing more than to curl into a ball and weep in a corner. He had tried to trick his mind by joking about his situation, and it had seemed to be working. The situation itself was unbelievable, so his mind was not as scrutinizing as usual. But now that all he could do was think, everything was hitting him.
Alex felt like he would throw up at any second, the only thing stopping him was the restraint spell. It hurt too bad to open his mouth.
'I hope I'll at least get one last meal before I die. I've never been this hungry before. Ah, fuck, I don't want to die!' Alex started crying silently.
'I have too many things that I want to do! Please God, if you can hear my thoughts, save me!' Alex wasn't a religious person, but only the devil would be cruel enough to choose this kind of punishment for him.
Alex's feet moved, but not of his own volition. Kishan was parading him through tunnels when they came to an opening. When they stepped out, Alex was astonished.
The cave was massive. An entire city made of stone faced him. Lights lit up the entire cave, and goblins went about their business. They seemed to have built homes everywhere imaginable. Not even the walls of the cave were left untouched; goblins had carved out small spaces for themselves, and the lighting they used filled the walls with spots of glow. And in the very center was a large circular building that dwarfed all those around it—a colosseum.
The sight took Alex out of his thoughts. His mind was incredibly unstable. He had experienced an immense amount of pain and trauma in just the past three days. His mind was fighting a losing battle, so when it was presented with the sight of the goblin city, Alex's mind latched onto it. Alex's subconscious mind collected all of his negative emotions and directed them toward the sight of the city. Sadness, anxiety, and hopelessness—all of these emotions were turned into rage. Rage toward the city of goblins.
'The goblins did this to me. Goblins are the reason I'm in this situation. They are trying to kill me,' Alex's mind was once again focused. He had found a way out.
And the way out was to cause the goblins as much pain as they caused him. To burn their stone city. To cut their lives short, just like they were trying to do to him. They deserved it.
Every building he passed, he daydreamed of its destruction. No feeling would be better than to strangle a goblin with his bare hands. The sight of them made him sick with rage. He prayed that just one would stray a little too close to him so that he could tear them limb from limb. The sight of them going about their daily lives as he marched to his death was unforgivable.
Kishan continued marching him through the stone city of goblins, toward the colosseum. Alex passed by the uncaring, cruel goblins that were going about their life. Each time he passed one, his rage grew.
'It's all your fault. It's ALL YOUR FAULT,' Alex almost lunged at a particularly peaceful-looking goblin, but he restrained himself. After all, he needed to wait for the right time. Otherwise, Kishan would surely cast some magical spell to incapacitate him. He looked at the colosseum in anticipation. Alex ragefully longed for a fight.
Rage was good for Alex. It snatched him from his depressed state and pointed him in a direction, but too much rage would just cause him to go berserk and lash out with no plan of action. He needed to release his rage. It was burning his mind.
As they closed in on the colosseum, Alex started to hear the roar of the crowd.
"We're here. They seem quite riled up today. Try your best to entertain them."
'Entertain? Oh please, I want nothing more than to throw Molotov cocktails into the stands,' Alex thought.
Kishan continued toward a large entrance, heading inside. When they entered, Alex saw the gate that led into the arena itself, and in the arena, he saw a goblin facing what seemed to be a mole the size of a large dog.
'Fight, you ugly little thing. Rip that green bastard's innards out!' Alex cheered internally for the dog-like mole.
Kishan led Alex past countless armed goblins, who all looked at him in disdain. Alex arrived at a wall that was filled with goblin-sized weapons. They looked like kids' toys to him.
"All right, I am releasing your binds now. I'm surprised you didn't try anything on the way over here. You were very obedient," Kishan proclaimed as he undid his spell, leaving Alex free in between the goblin guards and a gate to the arena. "Pick a weapon to use in the arena."
Alex said nothing. He simply looked at the wall of weapons.
'Hmm, these goblins are seriously dumb. I'm so glad! Giving me access to weapons—I'm so happy!' Alex could barely contain his excitement. He locked eyes with a spear—well, to him, it was closer to an arrow than a spear, but it would serve its purpose. Seeing this, Kishan chimed in.
"Ah, that's a good choice. Spears have always been a favorite in the arena." As Kishan was talking, Alex grasped the spear in his hand. It was light and felt too small to get a nice grip, but Alex didn't care. He glanced at the closest goblin guard. The greenie was staring at him, holding a sword in his hand and seemingly ready for whatever Alex would try.
"Hey, what's that thing behind you?" said Alex, pointing behind the guard.
The goblin couldn't understand what Alex was saying but understood the gesture he made. The second Alex saw the goblin take his eyes off him to look back, he raised the small spear. Alex's muscles rippled forward, directing the spear straight toward the back of the goblin's head.
Ftshh!
The goblin's head was pierced through. Alex had thrown the spear so hard that it lodged itself into the stone wall, the goblin's corpse still dangling on it.
Alex stood still, his arm still extended. He had thrown the spear impulsively, so when it landed true to its target, he was surprised. For a moment, he didn't know how to feel. He had just taken a life for the first time. Alex had never been put in this situation before; he had never felt that much rage. But before Alex could fully process what he had just done, he felt it.
Alex had experienced adrenaline highs before, but this was different. With adrenaline, he would feel stronger, but that came with trembling and a loss of clarity. He clenched his fist and felt a subtle difference. Alex was stronger, and he wasn't trembling. Although not much, he felt power flow into him. Finally, Alex cracked a smile and started giggling maniacally.
Panic erupted amongst the goblins that hadn't been paying close attention. They all circled in on Alex, who was now joyously laughing with tears in his eyes.
"AHHAHA, OH, I CAN'T BELIEVE HE FELL FOR THAT, AHAHAHAA," Alex clenched his stomach as if he had just heard the funniest joke in human history. The goblins encircling Alex looked at him in fear, all of them thinking the same thing:
'This giant ugly goblin must have lost his mind!'