I turned to confront the firmly sealed door, drawing in a deep breath and concentrating solely on what lay beyond it. The door ascended gradually, initially revealing nothing nothing happened until the door was up, and for a fleeting moment, I entertained the notion that the arena was empty.
How wrong I was. My assumption couldn't have been more mistaken. A colossal goblin materialized with a resounding thud, its posture hunched, and its eyes resembling large, round beads, presenting a repugnant spectacle, it was a foul sight.
It was then that I knew I had been sentenced to death, it became unmistakably clear to me that I had been condemned to meet my demise.
The entire assembly let out a collective gasp upon witnessing the grotesque creature. Goblins, notoriously formidable adversaries, posed a significant challenge, especially for someone as newly trained as I. It led me to believe that my impending demise had been orchestrated by someone with a death wish. Someone wanted me dead.
Lily directed a disapproving gaze at her father, uttering, "how could you?" she was disgusted by him. Lily knew that even the most skilled fighters would struggle, and she found herself pondering how they had managed to capture this loathsome beast. The King turned to his daughter, "I had no part in this; it was decided by the council", he confirmed.
The Princess was far from pleased with this response. "She doesn't need this absurd trial to demonstrate her readiness," she retorted vehemently. Her father, the King, appeared helpless, stating, "My hands are tied," as he was unable to intervene. Lily found it almost unbearable to watch.
The monstrous goblin, upon spotting me, immediately charged in my direction, brandishing its sword with lethal intent. I carefully anticipated its every move, strategizing how to weaken it while skillfully evading its menacing swings. The goblin towered over me, especially now that it had closed the distance. Swiftly, I ducked to evade its initial strike and managed to inflict a deep cut on its leg as I swiftly maneuvered past it.
The goblin's fury intensified, and an eerie silence enveloped the crowd. The council members observed the confrontation with bated breath. I continued to evade the goblin's attacks, employing a combination of jumps, ducks, and rolls. I managed to land a few more cuts on the creature, but they were not enough to significantly weaken it.
Our swordfight erupted into a frenetic exchange, a skill I had honed through rigorous training. I summoned every ounce of strength within me and swung my sword with unwavering determination, striking the goblin's weapon with such force that it was sent clattering to the ground. In that fleeting moment, victory seemed tantalizingly close.
I seized the opportunity, closing the distance between us with a determined step. My blade darted forward, finding its mark as it jabbed into the goblin's side, causing it to emit a guttural howl of pain. Yet, as my sword pierced its flesh, the goblin's iron grip clamped down on the hilt, thwarting my efforts to withdraw it for a finishing blow.
Desperation surged through me as I grappled with the recalcitrant sword. My fingers strained against the goblin's unyielding grasp, but it was unrelenting.
Suddenly, with a display of unearthly strength, the goblin seized me by my throat, hoisting me off the ground with an eerie ease. My gasps for breath went unheeded as I dangled helplessly in the air.
With a malevolent grin, the goblin yanked my sword free from its side, holding it menacingly aloft, its blade gleaming ominously in the arena's harsh light. The crowd watched in stunned silence as the goblin poised itself to deliver a potentially fatal blow, the outcome of our harrowing duel hanging in the balance.
Something hit the goblin's leg making it let go of me, I fell to the floor gasping for air, I got up quickly to go and reach for my sword realising it was Lily who had thrown a dagger at his leg, she was now in the arena fighting the goblin, I had tuned out the crowd and had not even realised they were chanting.
The goblin, armed with concealed daggers within its armor, unleashed fury, I recognized the urgency of the situation. Princess Lily, positioned perilously in the path of these deadly missiles, spurred me into immediate action. I sprinted towards the goblin, brandishing my sword like a shield to intercept the first dagger's deadly trajectory.
In a swift move, Lily seized the discarded dagger, returning fire with uncanny accuracy, striking the goblin squarely in the chest. It staggered, momentarily thrown off balance.
However, the goblin possessed a hidden and unexpected advantageâits elongated arms. With astonishing speed, it swiped at Lily, striking her in the stomach with tremendous force. Helplessly, she was sent hurtling to the unforgiving arena floor, her courageous charge thwarted.
I bellowed at the monstrous creature, "Over here, you wretched thing!" I had seen the cruel cut it had inflicted on Lily's face, and it fueled a blaze of protective instinct within me. I knew in that moment that I would willingly face any peril to shield her from harm, firmly convinced that she should never have been thrust into this perilous arena.
This was my fight.
As I swung for the goblin it grabbed my sword in its hands, I had never seen anything like it, it just stopped the sword in its tracks. It kicked me with its feet knocking me to the ground, I tried to keep hold of the sword as I fell but it flew to the right of me.
The goblin grabbed its other dagger and impaled me straight away into my shoulder. I could barely hear Princess Lily's screams in the background, I noticed another dagger on its belt, I reached for it and grabbed it, with what I had left I stabbed it in its chest, it only slowed the orc down as it pulled the dagger out and went to stab me again. I had nothing left, no weapons, I was bleeding out.
Lily got back up and ran towards the goblin just as it was about to strike again, she swung her sword and decapitated its head from its shoulders. The goblin's body fell over in slow motion, the blood spraying everywhere even onto me.
I crumpled to the unforgiving arena floor, the dagger still embedded in my shoulder, pain searing through me. Lily abandoned her sword, rushing to my side and cradling me in her arms. Tears welled up in her eyes as she whispered softly, "I am so sorry, Gabi. This should have never happened." Gently, she brushed a strand of hair from my face and then raised her voice, urgently summoning the healers.
Amid the hushed tension, a palpable disapproval emanated from certain members of the council, notably Thrael and Phistole. Their dissent was clear, stemming from their opposition to the training of a low elf to safeguard the Princess.
Gradually, the crowd fell into a solemn silence, affording the Princess the opportunity to address them. She spoke with conviction, her voice resolute, "Is this not proof enough that she would lay down her life to protect me?" Her words hung in the air, poised to continue, but I intervened, placing my hand atop hers. "Just get me out of here," I implored, my dignity already shattered by the humiliating ordeal.
I got to my feet with the help of the Princess, the healers were waiting on the edge of the arena as they followed us back to a room in the castle. By the look of it, I presumed this was Lily's room when she used to live here.
They lay me on the bed and carefully cut my top off to get to the wound. "Your Highness" I called to her as she was going to leave the room. She climbed onto the bed next to me, she tilted her head unsure as to why I called her by her title. "It's Lily, just Lily" she breathed. "Please don't go" my eyes watered.
The Princess Elf placed her hand in mine as she watched them peel back the last layer of clothing around the dagger. "okay, you need to hold her still, this is going to hurt" one of the healers spoke. Lily wrapped both of her arms around me to keep me still, I just thought about her smell, inhaling and exhaling deeply, I was in pain but I couldn't get enough. "Okay, 3, 2, 1" the healers spoke as they swiftly pulled the knife out.
The healer's skilled hands worked diligently to tend to my wound, while Lily remained by my side, providing soothing strokes and words of comfort. She whispered gently, "You did exceptionally well today," her voice tender and reassuring, though I couldn't help but feel like a failure in my own eyes.
"I failed, Lily," I confessed, but she hushed me with a reassuring touch. "You passed, Gabi, and everyone in that arena knows it. Just rest now," she insisted, her unwavering belief in my abilities warming my heart.
Together, we lay there, the tension of the day slowly fading away. By the time the healers arrived to check on me, I had drifted into a peaceful slumber. They advised Lily to keep me there for the night, assuring her that I could return home tomorrow.
Lily watched as I slept, tracing over the outline of my face, daring to move closer as she placed a kiss on my forehead.
The next day I woke up to Lily lying next to me fast asleep, her chest rose up and down, even asleep her beauty struck me, gold hair all around her, I leaned up to look at her more but groaned in agony due to the pain, it escaped my lips and stirred Lily, her eyes opening wide. "Lie back down, you need to rest", she carefully placed her hands on me and lay me back down, leaning over me to check everything.
I was frozen in time with her looking down at me but snapped out of it because I wanted to go home. I tried to get back up but screamed "arghhh", Lily frowned, "why do you keep trying to get up?" she asked. I lay defeated, "Because I want to go home", Lily placed a hand on my face and stroked me, "I will get you home as soon as you are ready".
I fell asleep to Lily's worried face and woke a few hours later to healers all around me looking at my wound. Lily was in the corner talking to the healer almost shouting at them. I looked down at the wound and realised straight away.
The dagger was poisoned, which explained why I was taking longer to heal. Lily came over to my side, "The healers are just gathering the herbs and plants they need, I am so sorry this has happened" she spoke sincerely. I was feeling weaker and more tired. I slipped back into a deep sleep.
It was the afternoon by the time the healers had what they needed and began their work, Lily never left the room once, her father had come by to check on them and demanded that Lily come and see Lord Elendriel but she had refused. They had both missed the market today which had not gone unnoticed, it had been the talk of the Kingdom about what had happened with the Goblin today.
The plants had rapidly started to heal my body by evening time, I had insisted that the Princess went out as I was sure she had more important things to do. I managed to sit up out of bed and stand up thanks to our fast healing abilities now the poison was out of my system.
I gathered my things and left her room in the castle to head home, it felt strange as I walked the streets in the evening, the other elves were coming to my side as soon as they recognised me, "are you okay Gabi?" others were telling me that I was some sort of hero. I didn't feel like one. If anything all I wanted to do was hide away in my house.