The Goblin Warrior (Beneath Sands Book 2) by Emma Hamm (100 books to read txt) 📕

“I haven’t had much time to look it over. But, I believe it is blind.”

There was a part of her that would always want his approval. He had become a fatherly figure, though he would always make her uncomfortable. The doctor was the head of their field in all of the City. She would be crazy to not want to please him. No matter how uncomfortable it made her.

“Blind?”

Catherine cleared her throat. “Considering the size of the ears and the thin layers of skin, I would suggest that perhaps they do not spend much time in the sun. His skin is blistered and he appears thoroughly dehydrated. I would make an educated guess that this species lives underground.”

She watched as the doctor nodded his head. “Good. Very good observations, Catherine.”

The blush upon her cheeks both warmed her and disgusted her. “It is curious that the creature’s eyes are so large, while the rest is obviously suited for underground. Evolution usually makes eyes smaller in dark environments, but perhaps it is some kind of appealing quality. It is humanoid after all.”

The doctor’s hand waved in front of him. “I’m less concerned about their cultural qualities. I sent the creature to you because you have a way with animals. Do not let it confuse you my dear. This is not a human, however much it may look like us. Find out what you can. I want to know its pain levels. How its body functions. I want to know everything.”

Her throat constricted but she nodded. “Of course. It may take me a while.”

“Not a while, Catherine. You have one week.”

The screen turned black once more, and she turned back towards the creature. “One week.”

His head turned so that he could follow her movements. His eyes were never quite on her perfectly, but Catherine knew that he was trying to track her movements.

She walked back to the stretcher once more and her hand ghosted over the edge of his shoulder. “You look remarkably human to me.”

But she had a job to do. A life to live. Catherine needed this job. She was sick, like many people in the City, but she was lucky because she worked here. She was capable of seeking the medical attention that she needed to survive. Her body had never been meant to stay alive in the painful heat of their world. Her lungs couldn’t take it.

“I’m so sorry for what I have to do to you.” This time her hand stroked over the creature’s hair. “I’ll try to make it as painless as possible.”

“Ouch!”

Willow whipped around to glare at the little boy behind her. He was grinning nearly from ear to ear.

“Stop it.” She hissed at him before turning to look back at the front of the room.

As if she didn’t have enough problems as it was. She was here wasn’t she? School. This was where Luther wanted her to go. This was where he sent her as he told her to behave herself.

Don’t make anyone mad, Willow. Sit still, Willow. Wear your hair up in a bun, Willow.

Well that bun wasn’t doing her any good right now, was it? The little boy behind her was insistent upon leaning forward to snag any stray strands of hair and yank them out of her head.

Mere seconds after she turned around, he was yanking once more.

“Stop it!” She said, louder this time.

The teacher paused as she wrote on the board and turned. She was a severe looking woman. Her grey hair was tied back against her scalp and every hair was carefully gelled in place. Her nose was pushed against her face and her jaw was constantly crunching as she grit her teeth.

“Miss Penderghast? Is there a problem?”

Willow shook her head sullenly. She didn’t want to cause trouble for Luther. Again.

She was always getting into trouble in this place. Luther kept repeating that her actions reflected upon him. Even though that didn’t make sense to Willow, she tried to be good.

Unfortunately, the others like to pick on her more than they liked to mind their own business. She was a miner. One of the sand people that came from a dirty place. That meant she was dirty. That she was tainted.

Sometimes when they were at lunch, the girls would tease her by daring the others to touch her. Willow was clean. She knew she was clean because she scrubbed her skin very well every day. But that didn’t stop the other children from shrieking whenever they touched her. They would hold their fingers up high and say that there was dirt on them.

The teacher turned back towards the board and started writing again.

Willow hated it here. She hated everyone that lived here and everything about it. Everything was too shiny. Everything was too pristine. Every time she walked into a new building, she wanted to smudge her hands along the metal walls just to see something other than her own reflection.

The little boy reached forward and yanked another loose strand of hair free from her scalp.

This time she couldn’t control herself. Willow turned with a snarl and slammed her hands down hard onto the table in front of him. He flinched backwards and his eyes widened in fear as the tiny miner girl in front of him bared her teeth like an animal.

“I told you to stop touching me!”

“Miss Penderghast!”

The teacher’s voice was outraged this time. Willow knew that tone. She was going to be marched to the office. There was going to be more shouting, more rules instated.

Something inside her snapped. She was tired of people picking on her. She was tired of the looks, the stares, the giggles. The only way she knew how to stop it was to make a point.

No one else was going to help her but herself it seemed.

“You touch me one more time and I’m going to bite your finger off.”

She could hear the hard clips of the teacher’s heels walking towards them.

“You won’t.” The boy said back. But she could hear the