A Goblin’s Evolution - Chapter 31 Side Story

A small creature, covered in red and green scales, huddled in a little corner of the dark cave. Its sole belongings were that of a furry kilt around its waist, and the broken spear in its hands.

Shouts, composed of anger and fury, desperation and hunger, and insanity and hysteria rung out from the corridors leading into this small cave room.

The little lizard quivered, something resembling sobs resounding from its cold lips, and salty tears trailing down its scaly cheeks. On its back, there was a long wound, oozing with crimson blood.

The pain was scalding, and the fear was insurmountable. For every second that passed, the shouts and wails grew louder, the sound of footsteps became ever more apparent, and the sense of dread came deeper.

Soon the lizard heard the sound of metal against metal. The pursuers were striking their weapons against their shields, thickening the aura of fear around the lizard. They were getting closer. Soon, it would all be over.

The lizard tried to crawl farther back, but its bloodied back touched against the wall. There was nowhere to run. Finally, the first face came through the corridor. One after the other, a small army of monsters entered the room.

There were unspeakable horrors that shouldn’t exist, creatures that looked dead, yet they still walked, fellow lizard people, and even a few wolves, with eyes redder than blood.

“P-please, let me go,” the little lizard begged, speaking in a raspy voice, with over pronounced ‘S’s. The creature in front, a monster with the snout of a pig, and tusks that grew below his chin started laughing.

“We’re going to kill you, and we’re going to eat you! You eat our food, and we eat you!” The beast spoke, his gravelly voice resounding through the room, and back into the corridor.

“No!” The lizard screamed as he burst forth with a bout of energy he didn’t know he had. There was only one little strand of hope in his grasp, and he went for it!

On the other side of the room, there was a small hole, leading into another corridor. But it was too small for anyone to fit through. Still, the lizard had to try.

Despite his small, seemingly weak stature, the little lizard moved with astounding speed. Whether it was the adrenaline or his light weight, it didn’t matter. The lizard shot straight past the pig man, towards the back wall.

“You little!” The pig man said as he followed the lizard with his ax. The pig didn’t seem to care about his surroundings, nor his companions. His tomahawk grazed past one of the other monsters, slicing his throat open.

The little, green, topless girl grasped at her throat, falling to her knees. At the sight, the pig man just groaned, as his ax slammed into the wall, causing a large crack to spread down.

“Simply more meat for us,” the pig said, as he gave the dead girl a last glance. Then, he turned back to the lizard, ready to kill him, once and for all.

However, what he saw next, displeased him to no end. His strike had put a large crack in the wall, breaking a large chunk off, making the hole already present, even larger. It was still far too small for the pig and most of those present to get through.

But it was a different story for the little, green and red lizard. Finally seeing some hope in his situation, he slipped right through the hole, and into the next room.

“Damn it! Go after him, lizards!” The pig man shouted. Now that the green girl was dead, the only people small enough to follow behind the lizard were the other lizard people.

“Y-yes!” The lizard said. They didn’t particularly want to kill one of their own, but they were afraid of what would happen to them if they disobeyed the pig. They might very well end up in the same state as the other lizard person.

They immediately climbed through the hole, but they were both a bit bigger than the first lizard. They spent a bit more time getting through, and by then, the lizard had already moved a sizable distance.

“Let’s go!” The pig shouted once more, before bursting back out the corridor. But there was a long way to run before they’d be able to catch up.

In the other corridor, the little lizard was running for his life. He was panting heavily, his chest heaving. His back stung, and his legs were hurting, but he wasn’t willing to give up.

The other lizards were still running behind him. He had to get away, now! Soon, he heard what might be another straw of hope. He could hear the sound of running water, nearby. A dozen or two meters, he could see an offshoot into another room. It seemed like the water was in there.

Taking a risk, he ran straight for the room. Inside, there was indeed a running river, and in the river, there were several, naked girls, bathing. The girls chuckled at the sight of the lizard, but he gave them no heed.

He jumped into one end of the river, and let it take him away.

The river was running through a small cave, but the lizard could fit. With all the energy he could muster, he climbed. There were several turns and twists in the underground river. He had to do a lot of climbing, since he was going against the stream, upwards.

But after a long, but unknown amount of time, the river started to widen. Eventually, he saw light. There was a blue sky in front of him, white clouds floating in the heavens. It was noisy, from the sounds of the waterfall.

Seeing no other path, he walked forwards, until he stood at the end. Below him, there was a large lake. In front of him, was nothing, but the beautiful skies.

“I guess there’s no other way,” the lizard mumbled. Finally, he took the last step.