Something was wrong.
I should say extra wrong.
Since everything seemed to be wrong lately.
The store was closed.
Silent.
Dark.
I approached carefully.
A fat goblin here knew something about me and magic.
So I wasn’t going anywhere.
I knocked.
One way or the other, I was going to work my shift.
The door creaked open ominously, the interior dark.
Without hesitation, I stepped through.
———-
A sputtering candle on Vaarg’s desk cast just enough shadow to hide every nook and cranny.
I creaked over to it.
Beneath the candle, a note.
On paper. Not on the back of a rat.
I’d take it as a good omen.
“Minion. Welcome to the night crew. Don’t worry - the store always closes on delivery night.”
For some reason, that didn’t make me feel better.
“Tonight, you’ll work with the AP team. Their greatest tool is anonymity. Don’t look too closely. Just follow.”
“What in the nine blazes,” I whispered, picking up the candle.
“You will find them at the end of Aisle Thirty-Two.”
—
The candle spluttered as I walked.
More than once a shelf creaked.
Each time causing my heart to stop.
The candle didn’t even provide enough light to see the shelves.
My feet carried me forward as my mind ran backwards.
Eventually…somehow…I made it to the end of Aisle Thirty-Two.
Which ended in a solid wall.
I softly placed a hand on the cold stone.
Only to feel it give beneath my hand, creaking forward to reveal a hidden doorway.
I’m going to be sacrificed, I thought.
Then I thought of the Rune.
Of the faint spiral of magic.
My magic.
I clenched my teeth and walked deeper.
The wall creaked shut behind me.
——
The closing wall blew out the candle.
Plunging me into absolute darkness.
If I had enough breath left in me, I would have screamed in terror.
Instead? I just slowly sunk to the ground, hugging my knees.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“It’s ok Beeg,” I whispered to myself.
I reached out to feel the edge of the wall, using it to guide myself forward.
A short walk (that felt like a very long walk) later, I found myself stumbling into a room dominated by a giant table.
The lantern in the middle of the table provided just enough light to illuminate the 5 goblins sitting in silence.
They wore all black. Faces covered, noses poking through.
These look like real goblins, I thought.
Wiry and silent.
They all looked at me in unison.
“Bout time,” one grunted.
I stifled a yelp.
“Sun’s dead. Cloudy night. Perfect for work. Put on the uniform, greenhorn.” The goblin at the head of the table gestured to the wall next to me.
I turned.
To find a vending machine.
A freaking vending machine.
Dealing in what looked like assassin clothing.
And the cost for one outfit?
One gold coin.
——-
A few minutes later, an entire gold coin lighter, and several curses aimed at my miserly Boss muttered - and I was seated at the table.
The outfit was kinda cool.
If an edge-lord is considered cool.
Except the mask. The mask was just plain cool.
“Alright greenhorn.”
I almost interrupted with “The name’s Beeg.”
Then I realized I liked greenhorn more.
I sighed.
Such is my life.
I looked up to find all of the goblins looking at me. I must have sighed way louder than I thought.
“Right, ye - go ahead,” I coughed.
“We have a lot of work to do. Jeff, Jim and Joe - you three are squad Alpha. Molly, Greenhorn, with me.”
The goblins all grunted in acknowledgement.
I nodded too. If we were gonna do the sneaky assassin vibe - I could get into it.
“Alpha, hit sector Charlie, we will start at Delta. Rendezvous here at 2100 hours.”
The teams split.
I scrambled after to keep up.
—-
By Vaarg’s warty backside, I screamed internally, sprinting through “Karla’s Spices and Wares” bagging everything I could.
Molly and Marlo - yes, they really split the teams by names - locked in a duel with two Kobold guards.
Asset Procurement ended up meaning steal everyone else’s stuff.
How did I even manage to get surprised by this? A crossbow bolt flew through the air, embedding itself into the wall beside me.
“Time to go, Greenhorn,” Molly called as she and Marlo shoved the guards off.
I scrambled out the back door with them.
Charlie and Delta turned out to be the stores one and two streets over.
By the time we hit Sectors Gold and Hotel, I’d stopped trying to keep track
And it wasn’t even midnight.
We were going to rob every store in the Lower Quarter.
Which was just great. Because I was the only one on the team obviously not a goblin.
Everyone was going to know who I was.
When we got back to the store, Team Lead Marlo gave me a thumbs up.
“You’re a natural, Greenhorn. Great work. We are making fantastic time.”
“I’m going to get mugged on my way home tonight!” I sobbed.
The five goblins turned to look at me in surprise.
“Why?” Asked the one I had learned was Joe.
I knew it was Joe, because he had the biggest wart on the end of his nose. “They all know we take their stuff. It’s the way it works. They get the stuff, we steal the stuff, we sell the stuff, the store doesn’t eat all the customers. Easy.”
“Ok yes but -“
Wait.
What?
There was a moment of silence as I processed that.
“What…what are the masks for then?” I asked bewildered.
“Uh…they’re cool?” Jeff responded with a shrug. His was the nose that was super hooked.
I don’t understand anything anymore.
“I..what about me? They know I’m not a goblin?” I asked weakly.
Molly looked at me for a moment, before heading over to a vending machine I hadn’t seen before.
It was labeled “Disguises”.
She kicked it, and a package rolled out.
Vaarg would flip about how Unsafe that vending machine is, I thought absently.
Molly then walked behind me and stuck the package to my back.
By.
The.
Ancients.
It was a fake lizard tail.
That was their solution. A lizard tail.
I stared at it.
Then at Molly.
She shrugged.
The AP team grunted and moved out.
I followed miserably.
