Sophia whimpered, then teared up, then began to weep. "Vral!" She threw herself at my companion. Falling to her knees, her long silky hair cascaded over the little goblin, who disappeared completely when the woman's arms wrapped around her.

  Ready for the imminent ass beating, I stepped back and waited for Vral's inevitable explosion. But it never came. Instead, two green arms popped out of Sophia's hair and wrapped around to her. I nearly fell over when I saw her start to stroke Sophia's back.

  "It's okay, Soph. Let it all out." Vral murmured.

  "I thought..." Her breath hitched. "I thought..." She pulled back and sniffled loudly. Tears flowed freely down her cheeks as she took Vral's face in her hands.. "I thought we were going to die here!" The woman pulled Vral into a tight hug. Vral squirmed as her face was buried in Sophia's bosom.

  Squirming like an overstimulated cat, Vral pushed against Sophia's shoulders, but it was no use. The woman wouldn't let go. After a few pitiful attempts to escape, Vral went limp, seemingly accepting her fate.

  Slowly, Sophia calmed down. Setting Vral down, she wiped her face and smiled.

  Again, my expectations were dashed. Vral smiled back!

  "So talk to me. What happened? Why the hell are you here?"

  "We..." she said between sobs, "they fought... to protect me... when..." Overtaken by emotion again, she nearly collapsed into a babbling mess on the floor and would have if it weren't for one of the ghouls catching her and guiding her softly to the ground.

  As she came unglued, the one that caught her stood and saluted. His lips parted, and the most inhuman, but still human, voice I'd ever heard sounded from his distended mouth. "Miss Vral. Good sir. Excuse my Lady. She has been through much."

  "What the hell's going on, Thadrian?" The little goblin growled back at him. Her face didn't reveal the same fondness for him as it did for Sophia.

  The creature's black eyes dropped. "Lord Hiberna's men... they would have slain her, or worse, had we not stolen her away in the night." His distended jaw set and his temples flared as he audibly ground his teeth. I got the impression he was saying quite a bit more in his head than he'd said out loud.

  "What's that sack of shit done this time?" Vral's face twisted. She really didn't like that guy.

  "Much. He is Duke now. I'm sure you can intuit what that means."

  "How are you alive then?"

  "Many died in order to secure Lady Sophia's escape. It's likely the others have already been executed for their efforts. Goddess preserve their souls."

  "We must help them!" The noblewoman moaned through tears and sniffles.

  One of the other knights knelt beside her and took her hand. "Our duty is to you. We all knew what would happen. They gladly sacrificed their lives to save yours."

  The woman wiped her cheeks and nodded. Standing, she brushed her dress with her hands. With a small bow of her head, she turned to me. "Thank you for saving us, sir knight." She bowed deeply. As she straightened, she reached out and took my hand in hers. "What is the name of my rescuer?"

  "Alex, milady." I had no idea how to address her, so I did my best, as cringy as milady sounded.

  Vral scoffed. "He hardly did anything, and he's certainly not a knight. He's just some dipshit traveler from a stupid place called Earth."

  Sophia's eyes fluttered. "Earth? Then you were sent here by the Goddess herself. It is by your hand that we will return to the light, traveler." She bowed again, far lower this time, too.

  Vral stomped her foot. "Enough of that. I said no more strays!"

  Sophia cocked her head. "Strays?"

  I shrugged. "It's a long story."

  "And you're not worth the breath. Now get talking. Why the hell are you here?"

  Sophia looked at both of us. I got the impression she was trying to evaluate our dynamic. After a moment, a small smile reached her lips, and she took a step backward. "Since you left, Uncle Peitre gained power in our lands. When Father's health took a turn, Uncle gained more support from the court. Several months ago, deep in the night, Father took his last breath. Within the hour, Uncle took Father's seat. When I protested, he threw me in the tower. I was forced to watch as they burned Father's corpse in the courtyard. I wasn't even allowed to hold his hand during his final moments in this world." Two tears fell down her cheeks.

  "But why? And why would your brother allow it?"

  All three knights pressed their fists to their chests behind her. "Brother died a year ago in a hunting accident." Her plump lips turned down into a deep frown. "He was with Uncle and several Barons. We believed it to be an accident back then, but we know now what truly occurred." I watched as her face morphed from sadness to rage.

  Vral cursed. "Sorry to hear it, Soph. He wasn't all that bad, for a human. And anyone would be more worthy of your title than your uncle."

  Sophia nodded. "When he ascended the throne, I believe Uncle intended to claim both the title and the line of succession through me. Neither of us singly has enough power to rein in the barons. However, if we were unified, we might." She wiped her cheeks. "Yet, when he demanded I take his hand, I refused. Without me, he has no true claim to the throne. It should mine by right, as loathe as I am to take it. Yet, here I am. And for my refusal to take his hand, Uncle exiled me for an entire year to the tower. After many refusals, I believe he would have killed me, if not for Thadrian, Dainar, Lucan, and many others." She swept her hand to the three ghouls. "I owe them everything." Her eyes grew misty again.

  Vral's eyes softened. "Your dad was a right cunt, but he and his didn't deserve all this."

  Sophia half giggled, half sobbed as fresh tears fell down her face.

  This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

  "Mind your tongue, goblin." One of the ghouls spat at Vral.

  Her only response was an eye roll.

  "And know your place. It's bad enough we have the displeasure of meeting again, but I'll not have you slander the late duke in Lady Sophia's presence." He bared his jagged teeth. A long black tongue lolled behind them.

  Vral gave the man her characteristic shit-eating smirk. "Nice to see you too, Lucan. How's the knee? I still remember it like yesterday, you sniffling on the ground, your leg all backward" She snickered at the man.

  "How's the clan? Still living on the streets? Or have they worked their way up to the brothels yet?" Lucan shot back.

  "Hah, yeah, that's funny, because we're all criminals and whores, huh?" Her eyes burned, but she managed to keep a straight face. "They're all dead, but thanks for asking. Guess I'm fortunate the Duke purchased me to be his daughter's training dummy as a kid. Else I'd have died on the streets." Vral clicked her tongue.

  Lucan's face dropped. "Well, I, uh..."

  Lifting her chin, she turned back to Sophia. "What brought you to this place, Sophia? Talk to me."

  Sophia shot daggers at Lucan, who deflated even further. "When we fled Arante, we traveled south. We passed through Llyn, but the baron there is a sympathizer, so we continued south. We considered Light's Hope, but we didn't want to bring any trouble to the priests. Thus, we thought of other solutions. Thadrian remembered stories about an old keep in the forest, so that's where we went. When we arrived, this place was abandoned, but it seemed safe enough. We found this chamber and locked ourselves within. I've remained ever since."

  "What happened to them?" I pointed to the knights."

  "After several weeks of hiding, we'd nearly run out of food. We tried to leave, but some fell power prevented us from escaping." She turned and looked at the Black Flame. "When we neared the end of our rations, these fine men gave me all that we had left. While grateful, I was forced to watch as..." her eyes teared up, but she looked toward the ceiling and continued, "as they passed on. Yet, within a day, each returned to my side as you see them now." She placed a hand on Thadrian's gauntlet.

  Despite being a literal ghoul, he seemed unperturbed by his condition. If anything, he looked pleased. "My sons and I swore an oath to protect you. Not even death could steal our honor."

  "But how? How are you able to abstain?" I asked. "From my readings, I understand that, while intelligent, ghouls aren't known for their temperance." A flicker of pride entered my heart. I remembered my studies. I'd have to thank Arden again when we got back to the temple.

  "We would never harm our Lady," Thadrian answered. His eyes told me there was more to it than loyalty. The ghoul was utterly devoted to her. They all were. "I have been by her side since she was a girl. She grew up with my boys. She's as like a daughter to me as either of these boys are." He placed his hands on his sons, the pride evident on his twisted face. "And when Miss Vral came, the four of them were fast friends."

  Lucan scoffed, but Dainar smacked him.

  "Okay, so you're the most devoted ghouls ever. Why didn't the other undead kill you when they saw you?"

  Sophia answered. "The thing is, those creatures only appeared after Lucan... after Lucan's body gave out. It was then that the horrible flame appeared, and with it, the other creatures. The undead cared little for my knights, and they never saw me."

  That made sense. Tristan's words from outside the keep popped into my head. I wondered if the Flame fed on their vita as they died. But what about her? "Then how did you survive?"

  "I've asked myself that question many times. My only conclusion is this." Sophia's fingers brushed a gold chain around her neck. Pulling on it, she revealed an exquisite golden amulet. "This amulet was given to me by my father when I was a girl. He told me to never take it off. I've come to learn that it has powerful protections woven into it. I believe his love protected me even after death." Her fingers stroked the golden object with tender affection.

  "If you couldn't escape, how come we got hired by a merchant to come out here then? He said three ghouls took off with his goods." Vral asked the group. When the men shifted, she squinted suspiciously at the three.

  Thadrian was the first to speak. "When we... turned, we learned that we could leave the keep, at least for a short while. We found we could be gone for a half day, but no more. Thus, when our supplies grew low, we resolved ourselves to find her more, no matter the cost. On one expedition, we happened upon a wagon and took what we needed to preserve Lady Sophia. As dishonorable as our actions were, they saved her. She's survived these past months with the food that that merchant provided to us."

  Something inside of me twinged at his words, but I couldn't figure out why.

  The final ghoul, Dainar, spoke. "Please, give them our apologies. We will recompense him in time."

  "Indeed. I will do my best to repay them. On my family's name." Sophia's fingers gripped her amulet tightly.

  "You can let them know once we get you out of here." I smiled and took her hand. "You won't sleep here another night."

  Vral grumbled and marched away to the zombies I'd killed. Turning, I watched as she knelt and searched their pockets one by one.

  "Little thief."

  I shot Lucan a look. "You don't get to talk about her like that. Got it?" When he looked like he was going to talk back, I took a step toward him. I stood at least six inches taller than him, so I let him feel my height. For a moment, his black eyes stayed on mine, but when I took another step forward, he broke eye contact.

  A pleased little squeak sounded from the goblin. Turning, I watched as Vral withdrew a key from the flamethrower zombie's robe. "What do we have here?" Scanning the room, her eyes locked on something in the back. With a grin, she skittered up the steps, pulled down a tapestry, and wiped the stone wall.

  I followed her to the wall. "What'd you find?"

  "Hopefully, treasure." She scraped at a spot on the wall until a little hole appeared. Placing the key into the hole, she turned, and a loud click sounded. The stone wall swung open, revealing a metal safe set into the wall.

  Inside was more gold than I'd ever seen in my entire life. "Holy shit, Vral. We're rich."

  She scoffed. "Yeah, if anyone still used gold. I don't even know where we'd find a buyer." She reached into the safe and began scooping the gold out. The sound of tinkling coins hitting the stone floor made my Earth heart shatter. Despite her words, I picked up several handfuls of the gleaming coins and threw them in my pack. When the safe was empty, she jumped up and wiggled half her body into the metal box. A minute later, she popped back out and said, "Help me up. There's a hidden door in the back."

  I reached down and grabbed her under her armpits.

  She pinched my hands, turned around, and glared at me. "Not like a kid, idiot. Grab my hips." She spoke with her usual raw confidence, but I was sure her cheeks got a little darker with the demand.

  Reaching down, I grabbed her by her hips and lifted her. Her top half disappeared into the safe, leaving only her wiggling ass and shapely thighs in my face. It wasn't a bad sight. Quite nice, in fact.

  I shook my head. Don't be weird, Alex.

  A pleased coo echoed out of the box. "Alright, pull me out."

  I did as asked. When she reappeared, she was holding an assortment of odds and ends. Rings, chains, amulets, a leather satchel, and what looked like a set of daggers. I set her down and asked, "What'd you find?"

  "All kinds of good shit. We can go over it all later." She threw off her pack and shoved the treasure inside.

  "I thought gold wasn't used anymore?"

  "It's not, but everyone loves jewelry. And look at these!" She held up the daggers so I could see them.

  Like the sword I found, they were of remarkable quality. She pulled one out of its sheath. Its blade was black as night save for what looked like a web motif etched into the surface and a series of purple runes running down the fuller. The crossguard looked like spider legs, and the grip and pommel looked just like a spider's body and head. The spider's fangs were two thin purple stones.

  "I'm finally getting a taste of the good life." She sheathed the dagger and patted my breastplate. "It really was a good idea joining up with you two." Her smile was wide and genuine. "Good job, Vral," she said to herself.

  "Oh, what, I get in trouble for getting a cool new weapon, but you get a pass?" I side-eyed her and pretended to be indignant.

  "Well, yeah. I'm awesome, and you're dumb. Unlike you, I'd never do the wrong thing, and I deserve something nice, don't you think?"

  I couldn't help but laugh at her raw confidence. "You sure do, Vral."

  "And this!" She held up a gossamer cloth mask. "I have no idea what it does, but I know it's got magic in it. I can smell it."

  "Maybe we'll try it out later. First, let's get these folks out of here."