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

to strain to hear it. The words warmed his heart as he knew the boy trusted the woman he called wife.

“She is with her people. We’re bringing them with us.”

“Who?”

“A few guards, doctors, those who want to come.”

Shusar stepped forward. There was a glint in his eye that Ruric knew meant he was going to attempt to use this to his advantage. “Are you afraid of them? We won’t bring anyone who harmed you.”

Ruric should have known. Shusar was a good man but he did not trust humans. The horrors he had seen in the City would only have strengthened that resolve.

He did not know if he could refuse Jane in this. The knowledge that her people were leaving their homes with only the few things they could carry weighed upon his shoulders. They did not know what waited for them at the goblin home, but they had agreed to travel.

Trust was so fragile an emotion. These humans could easily become the same as the others, or they could change the way the world worked.

Ruric was off balance. There were too many unknown factors in the foggy future that he had created with his warrior of a wife.

“No.” Juo’s voice was louder this time. “They should come with us.”

“Are you sure?” Shusar was gentle in this question.

“Yes. They did not want to hurt me.” As Juo shifted, he winced and closed his eyes tight. “Not all of them.”

It was enough for Ruric. He leaned down to scoop the boy into his arms though his own body was weak. He would carry him for a turn before passing the body to the next goblin.

Together, they walked towards the humans and ignored how many of them flinched away from them.

“Are you ready?” Jane asked. Her face was flushed and her eyes glittered brightly in the moonlight. Ruric knew all too well that this was where she was happiest. Not with her people, not with his own, but helping those who needed her.

He had forgotten to make certain she knew she was needed in the caves.

A sigh rippled along the length of his spine. “Yes.”

The journey across the sands was as long and as arduous as the first attempt. They traveled only by night so that the goblins were able to see. This was a fact that angered the humans. They wanted to travel during the heat of the day. They wanted to stop regularly. They wanted to not be sleeping next to monsters in the middle of the night.

There were a few who did not share these angry thoughts. Those that had treated the goblins found them to be fascinating. The journey was a fantastic opportunity to study the creatures in their natural environment.

Or at least what the scientists thought was their natural environment.

However, the goblins ignored the humans entirely. When they did pause for the day, they sectioned themselves as far away as possible.

Ruric didn’t want to scare the humans into running. He saw the way their eyes lingered upon the much larger forms of the goblins. Some of the humans still flinched when he walked towards them. It was a blow to his ego as much as it was to his pride. They should be afraid of him, but they should also know that he wouldn’t harm them.

They should trust Jane more than that.

Shusar wanted to remain away from the humans because he did not trust them. The older goblin was growing surly as exhaustion crept upon him. He did not wear sleepless nights well, and even Ruric was starting to grow tired of his behavior.

They were all tired. Trudging through the sands was more activity than many of these humans had experienced in their entire life. Though they were healthy enough, physical labor was not something any human in the City had seen often. The packs upon their shoulders bit into their soft flesh and their feet blistered in their shoes.

The doctors in the group did what they could for everyone. Supplies were precious to them, but they used what they dared on the people who were being pushed too far and too fast.

Jane tried to slow the pace, but it was like attempting to stop a horse from returning to its barn. The goblins were nearly running across the sands. They weren’t being chased. They had saved the boy. They had stopped a possible invasion.

And all they wanted to do was go home.

Every night, Jane felt as though she had to make a choice between her past and her future. Her brother and sister were in the same tent and they expected her to stay with them. There was so much for them to catch up on and they felt as though she owed them that.

The first few nights she stayed with them. Luther had settled into the sand with a soft sigh.

Jane looked in his direction and smiled.

“So you missed it did you?”

He scrunched his face. “No, of course not.”

“He did.” Willow flopped down next to him and started giggling. “You can tell!”

“I did not!”

“You did too! Look at you, you’re already wiggling into the sand like you never left!”

“I’m cold!”

“You keep lying like that and someone’s going to hang you up by your toes.”

“Says the Queen of lying!”

Jane grinned as her siblings started to argue as they always did. She had missed this so much. Even though they were yelling at each other as though shouting would help anything, the words still made her heart swell.

“Stop fighting you two.” She used to say the words with venom on her tongue. They had never stopped fighting and would likely argue into the night. But now, she said it with a laugh that bubbled up from the very depths of her soul.

Luther grumbled for a moment before admitting, “Alright maybe I missed it.”

“Sand’s more comfortable.” Willow said.

“No it’s not. The beds were more comfortable than this.”

“Well we’re missing the blankets.”

“Even with the blankets, beds are more comfortable.”

Willow stuck her cold toes in Luther’s back and laughed as he