Ziplocke, Graul, and Leandra hid among the jagged cliffs that rose high above the rolling red plains. Below them, nestled in a valley of onyx rocks and glass trees, was a twisted-looking castle made out of gray and black stone. Packs of Howlers roamed the area. Their discordant cries echoed ominously off the surrounding cliffs. In the air above the stronghold''s crooked ramparts were dozens of Lesser Fiends that flapped around on oversized bat wings like a flock of demonic birds.


    "Are you sure it was wise that we didn''t bring a bunch of the Lesser Goblins?" Graul, the bald Goblin with the jagged scar on his face, muttered.


    "Our invasion force! Our last stand against our oppressors!" Leandra, the slender blue-eyed Goblin, cried.


    "No, we can not lose any more of our kind!" Ziplocke snapped.


    "You are not sure?" Leandra asked.


    "What? No, I mean yes! I am sure," Ziplocke responded.


    Leandra muttered, "He is not sure."


    Graul snickered, "We are doomed."


    Leandra chuckled alongside her companion, and Ziplocke slapped his forehead. Goblins! They are so annoying! The three had followed the pack of Howlers that attacked their grove. The rat-like Demons led them back to their leader''s stronghold, a Greater Fiend named Modok.


    Graul stopped snickering and asked, "Why are we here again?"


    Ziplocke wanted to strangle the Greater Goblin. "We are going to steal the Gem of Magnificence from Modok," the Goblin Lord hissed.


    "Why?" Leandra asked.


    Ziplocke smacked his forehead and then rubbed his face. He has been doing that a lot lately, ever since he returned to the Abyssal plane. The Goblin Lord wondered if he had hand marks on his forehead, in between his two dark horns, from all the times he smacked himself. His companions snickered at his apparent annoyance. Ziplocke took a deep breath.


    "The Gem will allow one of you to evolve into a Goblin Lord," he responded.


    "Why would Modok keep such a gem?" Graul asked.


    Ziplocke''s eyes narrowed. "Did you two injure your heads while I was gone? I told you already! He created it so that he could become a Fiendish Lord."


    "If Modok did that, then why do you suppose he didn''t eat it already?" Leandra wondered.


    "Because I know him. He is fat and lazy," Ziplocke replied.


    "How do you know this?" Graul asked with narrowed eyes.


    Leandra answered, "Ziplocke was his slave."


    "Personal Assistant," the Goblin Lord snapped and added in a calmer voice, "I worked as a Personal Assistant to that Greater Fiend."


    "I bet they must have beaten you!" Graul said.


    "A lot!" Leandra added.


    The two Greater Goblins rolled on the floor, clutching their stomachs with laughter as they pictured a younger Ziplocke being whipped by Fiends. Ziplocke couldn''t help but snicker along with them. It was funny! He thought and then reflected with his ears pulled back. It was not really funny at the time. It was quite horrible, actually.


    "Enough!" Ziplocke snapped.


    His two colleagues listened. Their sudden somberness surprised Ziplocke, and it made him uneasy.


    "Are you sure the Gem of Magnificence will be there?" Leandra asked.


    "And Modok didn''t consume it?" Graul added.


    Ziplocke nodded. "Yes."


    Leandra crossed her arms and asked, "How are you certain?"


    "Modok sent the Howlers to the grove. He needed Soul energy to prepare his body," Ziplocke replied with a soft voice. He was tired.


    "Prepare his body?" Leandra hopped off the rock she was sitting on to stand closer.


    "You must be of sound Mind and Body to evolve to the Lord level. If you are not ready, then the Gem will kill you," Ziplocke explained.


    "You ate one?" Graul asked his question with a growl.


    "Yes," Ziplocke answered.


    "What was it like becoming a Goblin Lord?" Leandra wondered.


    "We don''t have time for this!" Ziplocke snapped. It was excruciatingly painful, but he kept that detail to himself.


    Graul leaned closer to Leandra and whispered loudly, "Someone is cranky."


    Leandra nodded and whispered back, "Maybe from all of his failures."


    The two snickered at the joke.


    "I could hear you," Ziplocke hissed.


    This only caused the other two to laugh more. Ziplocke slapped his forehead and rubbed his face. Goblins! He thought to himself. Was he like this with Jeze? Ziplocke wondered and felt a pang of sadness.


    "I hope she is doing well," He said to himself.


    "Huh?" Leandra and Graul asked.


    Ziplocke cleared his throat. "Nothing."


    "He is losing it," Graul whispered to Leandra.


    Leandra agreed and made swirling motions with her hands around her head and crossed her blue eyes together. Ziplocke scowled at them. Below them, the Howling subsided. The pack had moved to the other side of the Valley.


    "We go now," Ziplocke said.


    The trio Summoned and Shaped shadows around themselves and scampered down the jagged cliff into the Valley. They quickly loped on all fours toward the castle.


    "This way," Ziplocke directed them to splash into the murky waters of a nearby stream.


    The water was cold and oily, but the Goblins did not complain. They were Goblins, after all. The stream led to an iron grate set against the dark stone wall of the castle. The small Goblins were able to fit in between the bars. Ziplocke had some trouble, as he was bigger, but he managed to squeeze through.


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    Graul and Leandra snickered as they imagined if he couldn''t get through.


    "In that case, I would have melted the bars!" Ziplocke hissed.


    "Ooh, so powerful!" Graul stated.


    "Yea, our hero!" Leandra added.


    Ziplocke shushed them. "You will alert the guards," he growled.


    The other two Goblins snickered quietly. Graul Summoned and Shaped a flame to make a torch and the three continued on the damp tunnel. It took tremendous skill to contain the Fire aspect without it running out of control, and Graul did it with apparent ease. Ziplocke traveled this very same tunnel so many years ago but in the other direction. It was how he escaped with the Gem of Magnificence.


    "You sure this Modok made another?" Leandra asked when they stopped at a four-way intersection.


    "Huh?" Ziplocke said. He was distracted as he tried to recall which direction they should go.


    "This will be a waste of our time!" Graul declared.


    Leandra giggled as she imagined the look of shock on their faces when they failed. Or worse, if they were caught, tortured, and killed by the Fiends.


    "I''m sure. Modok is fat and lazy, but he is also very smart. He somehow discovered how to create the Gems. He made them for the other Fiends."


    "He did that?" Leandra asked. It surprised her that Fiends could be generous with each other.


    "Well, the other Fiends stole the Gems from him," Ziplocke explained.


    Graul snickered. "That poor fool! He makes these gems but is too fat and lazy to eat them! So others steal from him, and they become more powerful!"


    Ziplocke nodded. That was the truth. He snickered alongside his companions. Modok was fat and lazy but very crafty. Ziplocke paused. Modok was cunny and also spiteful. More so than other Fiends.


    "Be careful!" Leandra warned.


    Her colleagues froze in place. Graul''s foot was still in the air. Leandra crawled over and pointed. Just beneath the bald Goblin with the scarred face was a thin wire.


    "A trap," Leandra whispered.


    She then snickered as she imagined the look on Graul''s face when he triggered it. Looking up she saw that it would cause the tunnel to collapse on them. This made her laugh more.


    Graul stepped back and crossed his arms, "You didn''t mention anything about traps."


    Ziplocke snickered with glee. "That would have made it easy! Leandra would get the Gem!"


    Graul glared at the Goblin Lord, and then he chuckled as he imagined the look of surprise if Leandra was not ready to consume the gem and died. Leandra joined in with the laughter.


    "Okay, enough!" Ziplocke said and wiped a tear from his eye.


    He didn''t recall laughing so much. Despite being annoying, he had to admit, the Goblins were also quite funny! Ziplocke led them up a rusty ladder that ended with another heavy iron grate.


    "Wait!" Leandra warned.


    The others climbed down, and she climbed up the ladder. The Runes on the slender Goblin''s body lit up as she completed a few gestures. Faint Runes flared along the iron bars of the grate. A Rune trap!


    "That was clever," Leandra observed as she scratched at a rune with a long nail.


    "Modok is a sneaky one," Ziplocke explained.


    Graul picked the lock, and Ziplocke, with his Goblin Lord strength, slowly moved the grate to the side. It was heavy! He thought to himself and then missed Rolfe and Helga. They would have moved the grate with ease. For a second time, he wondered how Jeze and the Proven were doing. Would he see them again? Ziplocke shook his head. He had no time for fond recollections! He had an uprising to attend to! The trio wrapped themselves in Darkness and climbed out of the sewers. It was silent.


    "Should I create another torch?" Graul suggested.


    After a moment of consideration, Ziplocke answered, "Yes."


    Graul Summoned and Shaped a flame and it illuminated the chamber they were in. It was a grand entrance hall with two massive steel doors that were across from a spiraling double staircase with wide steps. Columns of twisted stone held up the high ceiling and their clawed feet touched a moldy gray carpet that might have once been red some time ago.


    "This place seems empty," Graul observed.


    "Was it always like this?" Leandra asked.


    "No," Ziplocke replied. "Something is wrong," he added.


    When he was here last time, the castle bustled with Demonic activity. Thrall servants cleaned the hallways, and Fiends would fly in and out. Even though Modok was not a Lord, he was still a Greater Fiend. He had some authority and wealth. Plus, he was cunning. Other Fiends would consult him for advice and request he craft enchanted items for them.


    "Do you think the Gem of Magnificence is still here?" Leandra asked.


    "Only one way to find out," Ziplocke replied and motioned for them to follow him. "This way."


    The trio climbed the wide steps that led to a balcony and a hallway where they discovered the first clues as to what happened here. Burnt bodies. Ziplocke recognized the remains of the heavy robes.


    "Are these humans?" Grual wondered.


    Ziplocke nodded and quietly said, "Cultists."


    "Fire Rune trap got them," Leandra explained. She pointed to the faint Runes along the dark stone walls. She deactivated the trap.


    "Why would they be killed?" Graul wondered.


    "Unless they were working against Modok," Ziplocke stated.


    Leandra giggled. "The plot thickens!" She rubbed her small hands together.


    "Can the mortals be so brave as to plot against the Fiends?" Graul wondered.


    "They betrayed Ziplocke," Leandra pointed out.


    The two Greater Goblins snickered at the memory of Ziplocke''s failure. "Cursed him to be a lesser Goblin!" Graul cried.


    Ziplocke shushed them a glare. Their laughter lowered to giggles. Ziplocke studied the bodies and it appeared that they were heading down the corridor.


    "Let''s see where they were going," Ziplocke said and then giggled, "Before it got too hot for them!"


    Graul and Leandra shook their heads without laughing. Ziplocke scowled, and they continued past the burnt corpses down the wide hallway made out of jagged stone.


    "You don''t remember this place?" Leandra asked.


    Ziplocke paused to study his surroundings. It was so long ago and the place appeared much different when it was empty. He never really traveled the main hallways. He could lead them through the slave passages. Ziplocke shook his head, he was curious to see what the Cultists were after.


    "I was not allowed to walk these hallways," Ziplocke explained.


    The other two snickered, and they continued on. At the edge of the flickering light from their torches, they saw the faint shapes of more bodies. Cautiously, they approached and discovered that it was a mixture of dead Cultists and Howlers.


    "Looks pretty recent," Graul observed.


    "But not too recent," Leandra added.


    The bodies didn''t smell anymore and the blood had dried. They were interlocked in the final throes of mortal combat.


    "Why were they fighting? The Cultists were supposed to serve the Fiends," Ziplocke wondered.


    "Perhaps another Fiend ordered them to attack Modok?" Leandra suggested.


    Graul snickered. "Good, let them fight amongst themselves."


    Ziplocke shook his head. "That does not add up. Modok was just a Greater Fiend. He posed no threat, and in some cases, he was useful."


    "But, if he were to turn into a Fiendish Lord…" Leandra stated.


    Now, that made sense to Ziplocke. They feared his potential growth. However, Modok was very lazy and didn''t put the effort needed to strengthen his Will and Body in order to survive the transformation. Unless, he changed since the last time Ziplocke saw him. Graul thumped him on his head.


    "Snap out of it! We can''t find answers just standing around," Graul said.


    Ziplocke scowled at the beefy Greater Goblin. But, he admitted to himself that his colleague was right. They continued on until they came to a wide set of double doors. Ziplocke knew that beyond was Modok''s throne room. He snickered to himself. Throne room? The fat Greater Fiend fancied himself a lord.


    "You open the door. We will wait here," Leandra said to Ziplocke.


    "What? Why me? You two should do it," he responded.


    Graul growled, "You are the mighty Goblin Lord."


    Ziplocke shot back, "It took lots of work to become a Goblin Lord!"


    "Good, that means you are not afraid of a little more effort, like, let''s say, opening a door?" Leandra retorted.


    Ziplocke glared at her. But he did talk himself into that one. "Fine!" He snapped.


    With trepidation, Ziplocke pushed against the heavy stone doors with his Goblin Lord might. They didn''t budge. He inhaled and pushed even harder. His green face turned red with the exertion. Nothing. Graul and Leandra snickered.


    "Stop laughing and help me!" Ziplocke snapped.


    "Yes, oh mighty Goblin Lord!" Graul replied.


    "We are but your humble servants and will do our best," Leandra added.


    The two laughed as they joined Ziplocke in pushing open the heavy metal doors. It creaked open slowly, and their laughter died upon what they saw. The corpse of a fat Great Fiend splayed out on his pathetic throne and an empty rune-covered pedestal. Surrounding the scene were more dead Howlers and Lesser Fiends. None of that mattered as Ziplocke''s eyes remained on the empty pedestal.


    "The Gem of Magnificence was stolen," he said.


    Leandra and Graul opened their eyes wide and exclaimed, "Our Goblin Lord is so wise!"


    The two laughed at their own joke, and Ziplocke smacked his forehead.