The Goblin Bride (Beneath Sands Book 1) by Emma Hamm (good short books TXT) 📕

rude to prod people in the eye, didn’t anyone ever teach you that? Those claws could have blinded me!”

She could see him. She could see the smug expression on his face and the wide stance with his crossed arms.

Jane blinked slowly, looking around them to try and understand why they had descended into the depths of the caves and somehow she could see him.

All around them was a soft blue light. She looked down at her feet, seeing the trails of glow from where her toes had marked the ground. One foot lifted to see the imprint on the ground, the other lifted likewise. There were marks on the wall from where he had slid down. She could see now that he had spread the light as far as he could so when she opened her eyes she could see.

He always seemed to do things like that. It was so unusual to find a man that thoughtful of a woman, let alone a creature from another species that just wanted to take care of her.

“Where are we?” She asked, looking around them further.

“Below.” He replied as an answer. It seemed they called a lot of things by that name.

Below was a good word for it. They were so far down that she could barely see the lights from above them. But where he had taken her seemed like a secret oasis. There was a stream nearby, she couldn’t quite see it but she could hear it. And every step that she took made even more light glow around her.

For him, it was like looking directly at the sun. Every movement she made had a burst of light that arched up over her. It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. She had a way of glowing under these lights that his own kind did not. Goblins reflected the blue, turning into the bioluminescent creatures themselves. But her… She was a creature all on her own.

Her skin rejected the blue, instead revealing colors he had only seen in their dyes. Purples and greens shimmered underneath her skin as the blood flowed through her veins. Golden strands twisted in the braid she kept long against her back, blue shimmers dancing as the light sparked against them.

“What is Below?”

His head jerked as he looked at her, clearing his throat as he reached out a hand for her to take.

“Where we do not live. Stone too hard to break.”

“Ah. But it is beautiful down here.” She slid her hand into his, allowing him to guide her further into the darkness.

“It is. Many do not come here. Some say it is…” He shook his head. “Bad. Energy.”

She could tell he was searching for a word. “Cursed?”

“Yes. Cursed.” The word tasted strange against his tongue.

It was difficult down here even for a goblin to pick his way through. The darkness was so heavy. Every step they took guided him though, and gently he lifted her over a large stone to the other side.

“Why do they think this place is cursed? It seems the same as everywhere else.”

He paused, trying to think of the words to answer her. “Death happens here. Children, people, sometimes fall.” He pointed up. “There is no help.”

She shivered. “Do you just leave them down here? Is it their spirits that you think haunt this place?”

“No.” He shook his head, guiding her over another tricky stone. “We take their bodies home. This is where we end.”

He meant this was where death claimed them. It was not unheard of for goblins to throw themselves down here. The fleeting moment of wind rushing past them and the sweet oblivion that greeted them was often a better choice than a life watching their species die. He had seen many goblins die in this way, young and old.

“That’s sad.” She said quietly. “It is such a beautiful place to be the host to so such sadness.”

He didn’t want her to think he had brought her here for that though. Ruric was quick to add another story to soften the blow.

“I came here. When I was a child.”

She paused for a moment, the light glowing around her. “You came down here? Wasn’t that dangerous?’”

“I am strong.” He replied, holding out a hand for her once more. “Climbing is easy. I was very careful.”

Somehow she doubted that. By the look of him, he had been a reckless youth that thought tossing himself into the depths of their most haunted place was a good idea. She had no idea how right she was.

“You must have been quite the troublemaker.”

“Yes.” He wasn’t going to deny it. Most goblin children were after all. “This place was… fun.”

“Fun? It’s hard to imagine you having fun at all.” She said, sliding down a rock and into his waiting arms. Strange how easily she trusted him with that. Anyone else and she would have insisted on finding a route on her own but with Ruric she knew he was big enough to catch her. Strong enough that he wasn’t going to let it topple both of them over.

“I was child once.”

“A child.” She corrected easily, wiping some of the algae off of the gown that was no doubt thoroughly ruined already. “Where are we going?”

“A cave.” He emphasized the words, clearly mocking her for correcting him.

“We are currently in a cave.” She responded.

“A secret cave.”

She paused, looking at his back as he seemed to pause to get his bearings. “Oh a secret cave. That’ll be so much better than the others.”

Jane was so tired of caves. The endless darkness, the stone walls. She longed for warm sands beneath her feet and the heat of the sun at her back. But, if she had to pick a cave to be wandering in, this one was not so bad. It truly was beautiful down here.

“Here.” His low rumble seemed to echo. It was unusually loud for a goblin whose ears were sensitive to sound. Perhaps it was excitement.

He held out a hand for her again,