Maland\'s POV

I watched helplessly as Jake and Mike climbed into the portal and went out of my sight.

"Remember what Sofosys had said, he told you to protect me inside as well as outside this island." Jake had said.

His words echoed in my ears, but my mind was not allowing me to consider this option. Afterall, how can I follow them into Mafhaelore? I was dismissed from my lands, owing to my disability and had vowed to never return. Can I break a holy vow for Jake?

Mr Sofosys had instructed me to look after them. The rational part of my brain begged me not to follow, but the emotional part, the one I had worked so hard to suppress, nudged me to jump into the portal immediately. These Humans aren\'t worth breaking my word, I know, but what if something were to happen to them? How will I ever face Sofosys, knowing that I had deliberately shoved them into danger?

I inwardly cursed my sense of duty, as I jumped head first into the portal. I need to keep them safe, whatever be the consequences. I am sure the Queen would understand my plight, if she were to know of it…. though I wish she didn\'t. I will somehow have to persuade these humans to return, but for now I must follow them.

The portal sucked me in immediately, within it\'s gravity. I had experience of inter-realmtic transport before, nevertheless it wasn\'t very comfortable. Adding to that fact, Michael wasn\'t really skilled at this type of magic, so this portal was poorly made. However, I employed the well known trick, of holding my breath and trying to concentrate on a single point in my body, as I was transported to the Goblin lands.

My feet touched solid ground, and I immediately braced myself to absorb the impact. As a result, I didn\'t fall to the ground, as I remained stopped in a flexed posture. A smile came on my face, remembering all those years of military training that had made such manuevers come naturally to me.

However, as my vision returned, I immediately searched for the humans, and to my amusement found them sprawled on the ground.

"Never shall I attempt such a stunt again!" Jake was panting as he said, "Why couldn\'t you warn me that it would be like a rollar-coaster ride? I would have been prepared. All the while we were travelling, I was convinced that I was going to die!"

"I would have warned you if I had known myself!" Mike muttered as he prop himself up to a more dignified position.

Neither of them seemed to have noticed my presence. So, I cleared my throat a bit and Jake looked up at me.

"You!" He exclaimed, "Thank God you came!" He rushed forward and almost threw himself at me. Why does he try to hug me when he knows fully well how much I hate it? I shoved him away with my good hand, the displeasure evident on my face.

"How are you freaking standing after this disaster of a travel?" Jake asked me bewildered.

"I have practice." I said curtly.

"When I went to the Fairy land, it wasn\'t this unpleasant.." Mike said confused.

"Simple." I answered, "The fairy lands are actually much closer to Earth than the Goblin realms. So, the journey from the Earth to the Fairy lands isn\'t much uncomfortable."

Mike muttered something under his breath, clearly complaining that I should have told him that before he began travelling.

"Now…" I said disapprovingly, "Can you tell me how all this happened? How did you open this portal in the first place?"

Mike looked reluctant to share, but on Jake\'s encouragement, he opened up. He told me about his experiments with Genia that led to the discovery that he is a Half-Goblin.

"I think I might have a word with the librarian, she shouldn\'t be keeping such vital pieces of information from me." I frowned.

"Oh, give it a break!" Jake snapped, "you disapprove of everything! Come on, you have arrived in your homeland after such a long time, shouldn\'t you look around a bit and feel nostalgia?"

"Hardly." I said laconically, "I really think we should all return. This place isn\'t really safe, what with all the war that\'s going on between the Goblin countries. And, I don\'t really think Mike can be a Half-Goblin. If any Goblin from Mafhaelore would have had a human child, surely everyone would know."

"Hmmm….can he be from the other Kingdom?" Jake offered.

"Arphoelus!" I said horrified, "that\'s even worse! That would definitely make him our enemy."

Mike didn\'t seem to be enjoying our conversation.

"Guys! It\'s going to be dark soon and we are literally stranded out of nowhere. Don\'t you think we should find a shelter before you guys can continue arguing?" He said.

For once, I agreed with him and began taking a closer look upon my surroundings. And, almost immediately I was convinced that there\'s something wrong.

"This isn\'t Mafhaelore." I frowned, "the sky isn\'t as purple here and look at the landscape, the trees are all wrong."

"What do you mean?" Jake groaned, "after all our efforts, we have landed in the wrong place?"

"No." I said, "it\'s close to Mafhaelore, I can tell that. But I have no idea where the Queen and other Goblins may be. We have to find somewhere to stay for tonight, then we can go exploring. Although, it would be much easier if we just went back."

Looking at their faces, I could tell that it wasn\'t an option.

So, I sighed and said, "Okay, let\'s find a place to stay."

After walking a while, we came across a small hut with a thatched roof. A dwarf was sitting on the porch, smoking cigar and as soon as he saw us, he stood up and beckoned.

"My dear Sirs! How can I help you all?" He said way too cheerily.

I was reluctant to ask help from strangers, but before I could say anything, Jake leaped off to them and started shaking their hand amicably.

"Oh Thank God! We thought we were lost." Jake said, feigning relief, "Actually, we need somewhere to stay for the night, but I don\'t suppose there\'s any inn around here?"

"Oh no, sir!" The dwarf replied heartily, "This place is completely deserted for miles on end. But, you don\'t have to worry Sir, you all can stay at my place for as long as you want! I won\'t mind a thing!"

Jake looked elated and started shaking his hands more vigorously.

"I don\'t think we should accept your kind invitation." I said, cutting Jake off, "We should really be on our way and I am sure we will find a inn somewhere here."

Jake looked really pissed as he stared longingly at the comfortable hut before us, but I shot him a meaningful look.

But, the dwarf would have none of my excuses. He flinged Jake into his hut as he said, "We simply cannot allow you to return from our threshold! What will the people say? That we have no sense of hospitality? No, Sir.. I will not have it. You will have to stay here tonight."

"I don\'t see a lot of people here though." I replied curtly, "Why do you stay at such a deserted place anyway?"

A shadow passed across the dwarf\'s face but he answered quickly, "It\'s the war, Sir! It\'s everywhere..No place was safe for us to live in. So, we decided to stay at the outskirts of the Kingdom. You see, we are but humble farmers, all we need to survive is a little stretch of land to grow our crops on. And, there\'s ample land here."

"But I don\'t see any farmland here." I said suspiciously, looking around.

"No, Sir." The dwarf replied quickly, "the farms are some distance away from here actually. The soil here isn\'t very fertile, you know." He smiled cheekily, but for some reason I didn\'t like his look.

"I think you should go in. I mean he is offering us to say, it would be rude to deny." Mike whispered, "Moreover, I don\'t think we\'ll find a better shelter in such a deserted place."

I grunted, but agreeing with Mike,we all went in.

The first thing that struck me as I entered, was that the hut was too dark. Obviously, I didn\'t expect the sort of human illumination here, but still people from our lands are known to make surplus coal to illuminate all the households at a cheap price. So why was this any different?

My anxiety was further worsened by the extremely amicable behaviour shown by the dwarf\'s wife and children. I had studied that the dwarves were a recluse, grumpy sort, not much known for their hospitality. These people, on the other hand, were almost gleeful on meeting us, too eager to please and too perfect to be true.

I watched their behaviour closely but could find no other anomaly. We dined together, on some peculiarly shaped brinjals and cabbage soup that tasted funny. After that, everyone retired to bed, being exhausted from the day\'s work.

I went with them too, but found my mind too preoccupied to sleep. I was tossing and turning in my bed, something about this place didn\'t fare well with me. Ultimately, I got up and decided to stroll around a bit.

I came to the dwarf\'s drawing room and sat on the sofa, contemplating the day\'s activities. I still had found no excuse good enough to send these humans back on Earth. But, I will have to act fast…. alas, I am not as shrewd as Mr Sofosys is.

My eyes caught the fireplace, a few tinders were still burning from the fire that has long been put off. These tinders were strangely shaped, and almost out of curiosity, I went forth to examine them.

There were but a few left and I picked one up. These weren\'t coal, I frowned. It was shaped more like a….a finger bone!

I immediately dropped it down and closely inspected the rest of the fuel. All of them resembled some part of bones, charred but indistinguishable still. What is that supposed to mean?

I looked up in alarm, then immediately cursed myself for my stupidity. Of course, how could I have missed it all? Suddenly everything became crystal clear to me. A lonely existence among the deserted woods, no apparent sign of life anywhere around, peculiar food choices and the dark aura surrounding the house. These people aren\'t dwarves, they are Hobgoblins!

And our lives are in serious danger!