The Goblin Nation 21 The Three Beas

"Yes, mama!" The child yelled back. That child was Shuja, and he was five years of age. He was outside playing on the road with the neighborhood children. The woman went back inside the house after watching once the children gathered around in a circle. A tall girl presented them with a bundle of straws. She tells them to pick one straw. The one with the shortest straw is the seeker, and everyone else hides.

Shuja pulled the last straw and presented it to the group. It was the longest one, while ███, Shuja's best friend, got the shortest straw. The children ran to their hiding spots once ███ started counting down from twenty with his face against the wall. Shuja ran to the basket court. He planned to climb and hide behind the backboard of the basketball ring. The ring was held high up by a series of steel pipes stuck together, forming an 'a' form ladder. Sadly, another kid already beat him to it. His second plan was to hide behind the pile of garbage bags, but when he got close to it, the repulsive smell pushed him away.

Shuja only has ten seconds left before ███ looks for them. He looked around the neighborhood, finding an alleyway with a small ca.n.a.l traveling along the right side. Across it was a crack on the wall big enough for Shuja to fit in. Shuja ran down the alley to the small wooden bridge crossing the ca.n.a.l.

He walked on the wooden bridge, slowly and carefully. The bridge rocked back and forth for every step Shuja take. A gust of wind blew by Shuja, making him nearly lose his balance. After readjusting his posture by leaning forward and bending his knees, he continued to walk until he reached the other side. He then ran to the crack opening. The small opening leads to an open desert field.

He squeezed in the tight opening facing the outside. He could barely fit inside, with his arms against the wall and legs standing straight. It was an uncomfortable position to be in. Across the ca.n.a.l were two children running away from ███. Shuja knows that he was the fastest kid on the block and that those two stand no chance at beating him. ███ managed to tag the two on the head, which comes as no surprise for Shuja.

Watching the two go back gave Shuja a sudden realization. He can't run away unless he squeezes himself further down until he exits behind the wall. While he was busy contemplating, ███'s face jumped out, scaring Shuja. "Found you!" He yelled.

Shuja moved further down the hole as ███'s hand try to reach him. Inch by inch, the s.p.a.ce around got him grew smaller until he finally he trips and falls to the sandy ground. He gets up to see a frustrated hand flail around trying to catch him. Shuja laughed proudly with tears of joy. But behind him was an even greater danger.

On top of the opening was a warning sign. Shuja looked up while wiping his tears and noticed the sign. It read 'beware of dog.' The sound of chains brushing the sand could be heard. Shuja turned around and saw an old run-down house. In front of it were three dogs with chain collars on. The dogs charged at him while barking. Shuja turned around to climb back in the crack, but it was sealed shut. One of the dogs jumped on Shuja's back. Shuja covered his neck to prevent it from getting bitten. The other dogs bit down on his shoes and pants, holding on to him, dragging him back to the old house.

Shuja tried to punch the dogs biting his pants and shoes. The dog on top of him bit his arm after noticing him punching one of the dog's snout. Shuja screamed from the pain, which took the dogs by surprise. The dogs got off Shuja, allowing him to stand back up. He ran to the wall, trying to climb the wall. "Wait for me!" ███ yelled.

Shuja turned around to see him getting attacked by the dogs. Shuja continued to scale the wall. "Shuja help!" He yelled again. Shuja reached the top. He pulled himself up with his arms. "Shuja!" His hands shake from the weight of his body and his conscious. He placed his legs on top of the wall and got up on his feet. He stared down at the dogs and ███. One of the dogs was grabbing onto ███'s sleeves, pinning him in place as the other dogs bite on his shoes and leg. "Hey, dogs!" Shuja yelled. "Let go of him!" Shuja leaps off the wall, landing on top of the dog that was grabbing his sleeve.

The ground liquifies after landing on the dog. The sandy ground turned into a shallow puddle of water. Shuja drank some of the water after landing. It tasted salty. The house, ███, and the two other dogs disappeared, leaving only him and the dog he landed on. The dog's skin started to peel off, revealing a body made out of cogs, pipes, and pumps. Shuja got off and crawled away from the dog. It turned to him with its bright red eyes. "Who are you?" The dog asked with a low, static voice.

"What? Who are you? Wait, no. What are you?"

"Irrelevant! You had trespa.s.sed. You must be terminated." The dog's mouth opened wide. In place of its canines were small b.a.l.l.s of fire. The water around him reverberated.

"Son, where have you been." Shuja turned around to see his mother walking to him. "Do you have any idea what time it is?" A load beeping sound was coming out of the dog's mouth. Shuja ran to her.

"Mama, get down." A beam of light blasted out of the dog's mouth, hitting both Shuja and his mom. Shuja's vision turned black, but a voice calls out to him, telling him to wake up. "Sun, wake up now."

Sun opens his eyes to see a goblin woman washing his arm with a wet rag. She carefully raised his arm out of the way to wipe his side. She continued to wash him down to his waist, making her way from his hip down the inner thigh. Her hand strokes were getting close to his crotch. "Excuse me, I think I can do that myself," Sun said. The lady looked at Sun with a fl.u.s.tered look on her face.

"You wake." She said.

She handed him the rag and scurried to the back room. Sun looked around the room. He was inside the slave women's quarters. His black hair grew longer, reaching his shoulders. He took the bucket full of water next to him, carried it to the front door. He grabbed his coat and hat and opened the door. He was met with a half-foot of snow surrounding the entrance. "What the h.e.l.l?" Sun said out loud. He turned around and walked back inside.

The goblin lady came back with Stick. "Sun, you're awake." Stick hugged Sun.

"Yeah, I'm awake."

Stick let go of Sun. "I'll get the others." Stick turned around and headed to the backroom. Sun grabbed his wrist.

"Wait, just wanted to ask when it started snowing?"

"It started to snow four days ago. Cloud predicted that another snowstorm would come tomorrow."

"Four days! Don't tell me I was out for four days." Sun yelled. He touched his shoulder and felt a scar. "How did this heal so fast?"

"Your mom healed you. She knows how to use a healing spell. No idea how it works, but it sure did look amazing."

"She can do what? Where is she?" Sun raised head looking for her.

"She's sleeping at her usual place." Sun headed to his mom's hiding place. He looked through the small opening and saw his mother sleeping peacefully under the blanket. Stick reached out to Sun. He turned around to look at Stick. "Does Flute know?"

"Yeah, she told everyone that knows about your mom's ability to keep quiet. Or she'll kill them."

Sun looked relieved. He sat down on the floor, staring at the fireplace. He reflected on his dream, wondering what it meant. The name Shuja filled his mind. It was his name before he was a goblin.