When Greg, carrying the female goblin on his back and Bog closely following him, reached the gate, someone called out to them.

  "Stop," the old chief said. "I can't let you go."

  "We don't have time for your shenanigans, old man," Bog quickly turned around. "I need to save my partner."

  "I am not stopping you from going," the chief clarified. "Just take more people with you, because the forest can be dangerous."

  He moved away, and from his faction, four muscular goblins stepped closer. They looked strong, and they were probably from the party that did the hunting and gathering for the village. They were not as tall as Greg, but they definitely looked experienced and ready to take a bullet for them.

  But that was obviously not true. Greg knew the old geezer was planning something, and it was blatantly visible through his actions; otherwise, why would he send his best men to "help" a common goblin like Bog who didn't bring much to the table?

  But Bog, being as naive as the others, immediately apologized. "I'm sorry, Chief. I acted out on emotions."

  "Don't worry about it," the almighty chief smiled and even hugged the young goblin. "Try to come back unharmed and with good news."

  The group of three plus four were later sent off by the whole village, and they soon disappeared into the forest. Greg was leading the group and they quickly reached the river that he could follow to reach the cave where the bubbling water was.

  "How did you find this magical place, Greg?" Bog asked, trying to keep the atmosphere alive.

  "Oh, I just stumbled into the cave and found the bubbling water. I even took a quick bath because I was so dirty." Greg laughed, but half his mind was focused on the four goblins that were walking behind them. They were trying to listen to every word he was saying and just laughed and tried to act normal.

  But anyone with any brain could see through their facade. Too bad these were just goblins, and they were not good at hiding their intentions that well. It was a funny comparison, but humans can be much craftier than them and be more cruel with simple actions.

  And you could say Greg knew a lot about betrayals. He never tried to think actively on this subject, but the day he had died was not because of some accident. Instead, he was pushed off the high-rise building, and he couldn't see who it was or how they were involved with the President.

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  Remember, Greg worked for a construction firm? But one day he found out about the corruption in the workplace. People were taking bribes, using bullying tactics to buy more land, and even had partnerships with gangs and the government to first get contracts.

  Greg had reported this all to the President using an anonymous email a week before, but they somehow had found out. He was just stupid enough to think that woman was not involved in it and just didn't know about the deep schemes growing in her company.

  But after his death, he was sure she ordered it. Or how else would the email leak? It was sent directly to her from an anonymous computer Greg had sent from a public computer.

  Well, enough about that. Greg came back to his senses when they had walked the way and were close to the cave entrance that was just behind the waterfall.

  "Be careful of giant spiders and centipedes after this point," Greg said and later showed them the hidden way that was behind all that water.

  Eka had lost consciousness by now and she was sleeping on his back. Bog from time to time checked her temperature and even wiped her head with a damp cloth he was carrying.

  The four male goblins had somehow gone silent after entering the cave, and they looked both alert and ready to run if something attacked or threatened their life. From their reaction, Greg knew they had never come here, and nobody they knew probably had ever made it out here alive.

  When Greg saw some trouble ahead, and it was those pesky centipedes blocking the way, he looked back. "Why don't you go protect us from them?" He asked, and the four goblins shook their heads in unison.

  "We were only told to fight if Sir Greg fights himself."

  "Yes, yes, I'll be joining you too," Greg chuckled, handing Eka's unconscious body to Bog and telling him to stay there. "Let's go."

  He said it, but the four didn't move. When the atmosphere was starting to become awkward, one of them stepped up and spoke. "Why don't you tell us the location of this magical water before we battle those overgrown creatures?"

  Greg raised an eyebrow. "And why should I do that?"

  "Well, if something happens to you..." The other enemy goblin said and never completed his word, because the other three had attacked Greg already.

  Bog, being the innocent he was, was taken aback by this betrayal and carefully tried to lay Eka's body down and maybe help his friend, but he stopped midway.

  "Just protect her! I can handle them," Greg said, jumping away.

  The centipedes had also noticed him and the four others attacking him, and quickly joined the fight. In a few seconds, the situation became chaotic and Greg was surrounded.

  From the front, four of those goblins were closing in on him, and from the back, two of the centipedes were rushing to eat everyone away. But at the opportune moment, Greg jumped out of the way and on top of a pillar and watched the stupid enemy panic.

  The four goblins sent by the chief directly came in the line of fire, and each one pulled out a stone-made dagger to defend themselves. They were probably planning to use these tools to ambush Greg after finding the bubbling water, but probably their patience ran out after they found the location of this cave.

  Maybe they thought now they knew the cave's location, they could just explore it on their own and kill the troublesome figure that had come to their village and was giving food for free. But they didn't know the strange goblin they were targeting was not only strong, but also possessed some strange, unexplainable abilities that they couldn't match.

  "Let the fun begin," Greg said while clapping.