“What do we do now, oh wise leader?” Graul growled.


    Leandra snickered.


    “I’m thinking!” Ziplocke snapped.


    “Who would kill the fat-faced Modok? The Greater Fiend was not loved, but he was not hated either. Would the other Fiends fear his accession? Which one?” Leandra wondered.


    The blue eyed Goblin skipped about the room studying the jagged black walls and crooked ceiling. Through the warped windows they could hear the cries of the Howlers.


    “We best hurry,” Graul stated.


    “If the Howlers find us, it will be quite unpleasant,” Leandra added.


    Goblins snickered at the thought. Especially if they were ambushed or surprised by the rat-like Demons.


    “Can a Goblin Lord be torn limb from limb?” Graul hissed.


    Leandra studied Ziplocke’s face and snickered as she imagined his look of dismay if such a tragedy occurred.


    “Enough, you two!” Ziplocke cried and then giggled as he imagined that horrific fate. The taller Goblin stood straight and composed himself.


    “I’m a Goblin Lord. I can handle a few measly Howlers,” he stated with a hand to his chest.


    Leandra and Graul shared a look and laughed. Their small chest heaving up with the effort. Leandra wiped a tear from her eye and Graul’s laughter died down to rasping snickers.


    Ziplocke scowled, shook his head, and threw up his hands. He returned back to examining the room. The other two continued to laugh and share the possibilities of their failures. Ziplocke went over to the pedestal where the Gem of Magnificence once rested. There was an unusual amount of gore surrounding it. Initially, Ziplocke thought it was the normal splatter of bloodshed from a violent fight. Several bodies littered the floor, and all of them leaked fluids from their mortal wounds. But the gore around the pedestal was different. The body exploded, and Ziplocke determined that it belonged to a Cultist! He began snickering, and it grew into all-out raucous laughter.


    “That poor fool!” Ziplocke shrieked.


    Graul and Leandra stopped their giggling and came over to where Ziplocke was. They studied the pedestal like two curious cats. They sniffed, circled, and examined it.


    “What are you getting at?” Graul snapped.


    “This was a human? Yes, it was, but not a Thrall. One of the Cultists,” Leandra deduced to herself.


    Graul snickered and asked, “Did the human try to consume the Gem of Magnificence?”


    Ziplocke cackled, “Yes!”


    Leandra and Graul’s eyes went wide as they imagined the look on the poor human’s face when it tried to absorb power beyond their body’s limits. The gore was evidenced that the poor sap exploded. The look of shock on its face before its very violent death! All three Goblins laughed. It went on for several moments before subsiding.


    “Why would the human try that?” Leandra asked.


    Ziplocke answered, “For the very same reason we would. To ascend in power.”


    “To become a Lord? Like a Human Lord? Is that possible?” Graul rumbled.


    “They don’t call it that. They have a different ranking system, but the idea is the same,” Ziplocke replied.


    “So, there are Lesser Humans, Humans, Greater Humans, and Human Lords?” Leandra asked.


    She referenced the ranking system among the Demons. Ziplocke rubbed his face.


    “How do I explain this?” He wondered and took a deep breath. “It’s similar for us Demons but also very different.”


    “That makes total sense,” Graul said with a face that was as plain as a piece of wood. The Goblin with the scar shook his head and indicated that it made no sense.


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    “Humans naturally grow. They do not require a breakthrough until the Greater level,” Ziplocke answered.


    Leandra narrowed her blue eyes and asked, “Did you hurt your head in the Material Realm?”


    Ziplcoke slapped his forehead. “Look, you just need to visit the Material Realm, okay? Humans digest food for energy and grow naturally as long as they don’t starve.”


    “Like Bloodlings and Howlers? How barbaric!” Graul hissed.


    Goblins eat for pleasure, but for energy, they absorb essences. Leandra chuckled and then tapped her chin and glanced back at the pedestal.


    “So, to achieve the Greater rank, they need to break through somehow? Develop their body, Will, and Soul? Like Demons?” She asked.


    “Precisely!” Ziplocke exclaimed.


    “But, they won’t remain as Lesser Humans forever. They naturally turn into regular Humans?” Graul added.


    “Yes! You two are not morons after all!” Ziplocke cried.


    Leandra stated, “So odd.”


    Graul studied the remains of the exploded human and started to laugh again. His colleagues narrowed their eyes and wondered what he thought was so funny.


    “So, these Humans raided Modok’s castle for this gem. This poor bastard tried to steal it from his mates!” Graul replied.


    Ziplocke and Leandra snickered.


    “But the fool was not ready,” Leandra added.


    “Can’t fault the bastard for trying, though,” Graul said after he stopped laughing.


    “The other humans took the gem. Where would they go?” Ziplocke wondered.


    “Would they take a portal back?” Leandra asked.


    Ziplocke shook his head. “The only portals are through the Stronghold. Or if they have the Rift aspect. But they wouldn’t have that unless they made a Pact. Mortals can’t have it otherwise.”


    “If they have a Pact, then they are working for a Demon Lord. Which one? Has to be a Fiendish Lord, right?” Graul asked in his deep voice.


    Ziplocke sniffed the air around the throne room and shook his head. “I do not sense the Rift aspect.”


    “So they left on foot,” Graul added.


    Leandra tapped her delicate-looking chin. “They are not working for a Lord. Are they working for themselves?”


    “Escaped Thralls?” Graul asked with wide eyes.


    Ziplocke nodded. It was possible that the Human slaves could break free from their magical and physical restraints. Goblins never kept Thralls, so he was not for sure. But, living amongst humans in the Material plane has shown him that they were capable of anything. Even betrayal, as he learned first hand.


    “If they can’t use the Gem of Magnificence, then they would want to try to sell it. They can’t go to a Greater Fiend, they will be killed on sight,” Leandra mused and she perked up. “They will go to the Wayfare Market!”


    Graul muttered curses and growled, “I hate that place. We best go and hope we find them before they sell it. We can’t afford the Gem otherwise.” The scarred Goblin cracked his knuckles.


    The Howlers continued their discordant cries in the valley outside the castle. Ziplocke narrowed his eyes in thought.


    “Modok’s realm is unclaimed. There are a lot of Essence pools here. We can advance all of the Lesser Goblins to Goblins. Maybe a few to Greater,” he said.


    “We would have to fight the Lessar Fiends and Howlers,” Graul stated.


    Leandra shrugged her shoulders. “If we do this, then the other Greater Fiends will take notice of us. They will decide to wipe us out of existence.”


    “Would we be strong enough to fight them?” Graul wondered and he cracked his knuckles again. The red runes along his body flared red.


    “The Glass Forest is not enough for our kind to grow. We have to make a decision,” Ziplocke said.


    “We find the Gem of Magnificence and create a second Goblin Lord,” Leandra replied and snickered to herself. She pictured Graul exploding the poor human.


    As if the laughter was contiguous, the scarred Goblin joined her in laughter. Graul pictured Leandra exploding.


    Ziplocke slapped his forehead and rubbed his face. “Joking aside. Do you two think you have the capacity to grow into a Lord?”


    The snickering died down, and the two Greater Goblins shared a look. They shrugged their shoulders.


    “I suppose. But a Fiendish Lord is much stronger than a Goblin Lord. We learned this. Even if we have two, would that be enough?” Leandra replied.


    “Well, I never challenged a Fiendish Lord.” Ziplocke held up his fists.


    Graul snickered. “No, you tried to take control of the Stronghold. How did that work for you?”


    Leandra waved the thought away as if it was a mosquito. “Fiends are bigger and stronger. Let us accept that. But, we are more clever.”


    Graul narrowed his eyes and growled, “What are you thinking, Leandra? Spit it out already.”


    Leandra pointed at Ziplocke. “We have a Goblin Lord with a Hold Core. What if we had two Goblin Lords, a Greater Goblin, and a Hold Core?”


    Ziplocke’s eyes went wide. “We take control of the Stronghold!”


    Graul laughed loudly. His deep voice echoed off the chambers. “You two are insane! Most likely, one of us will explode trying to absorb the Gem of Magnificence! In either case, count me in!”


    Ziplocke narrowed his eyes and rubbed his hands together. The Proven were trying to defeat the Fiendish Lord, who was trapped at the top of the Stronghold. They believed that would save their realm. If they were successful, that would remove one major obstacle for Ziplocke. It would not be an easy task, but with the aid from the Goblins, they could tip the scales enough to succeed.


    “We go to the Wayfare Market. We must make haste!” Ziplocke cried.


    Leandra clapped her hands. She loved the idea of shopping! Graul moaned. Ziplocke’s hands crackled with the purple energy from the Rift aspect. He opened a portal. The three exited the chamber through the purple tear in reality.