Swordcaster Hereward and the Floating City

The Kyakyak tribe had made their home under the Tartaros Mountains, where old abandoned mineshafts were laid to waste underground. A primitive colony had been established in one of the larger cave systems that connected to one of the entrances to the mineshafts. It had been like this when the first goblins retreated to the undergrounds when societies on the surface looked down upon them as dirt. Little green men trotted through the many damp tunnels as droplets can be heard from a distance as they echoed throughout the long hallways of the caves. Being greedy creatures, they looked for anything that shined gold in their faces. In their eyes, even the tiniest gold ore was worth a hundred goblins' lives. Treasure hunting was established as a dominant tradition for the goblins. Life underground had dwarfed most of the remaining intelligence the goblins had, making most of them simple-minded. They were so dumb that only one specific day was important to their shrimp minds: the day when they're 'promoted' by their chief. 'Promotion day' was an important ceremony in which younglings could earn their right to be placed amongst the adults of their tribe through chieftain approval. For centuries, the poor tribe had longed for riches deep below the mountains that would release them from this earthly prison. Deep below the old mineshafts, however, it is not a gold mine nor treasure trove that the tribe would stumble upon, but an entity that was other-worldly and perhaps divine.

Two goblins rummaged through an old metal cart with their backs stricken with sweat. They had once again found nothing of value. The older goblin, Krom, had finished digging from inside the cart. Having found nothing after a few hours, he released a small frustrated sigh after what felt like an eternity searching. The smaller and younger goblin, Kromis, was still scrabbling the leftovers on the ground that was thrown out from the cart by his older brother. Krom held his lantern and clicked his teeth at Kromis. He slightly shook his head towards his younger brother who halted his progress with a disheartened look. For hours, the pair had been scavenging in this cramped tunnel that was barely big enough to fit a boulder. It stretched for over a kilometre with darkness enshrouding both ends of the tunnel. Dust and dirt filled up the sides with piles of rubble stacked next to the cart in an attempt to tidy the area. Even their bodies were stained with dirt to the point where you could barely make out the olive and grey colours of their skin. The situation was dire.

Kromis looked for a nearby wall to rest. His joints cracked as he slowly sat down against the wall. He looked at the ground with his ears down. His body was exhausted and stunk of sweat from the constant digging.

"Stupid, stupid." Kromis complained.

"Shut it," grumbled Krom, "it is your fault that we got into this mess."

"It is not my fault, I trip accidently! A-and also it was big day for-"

"Well then," Krom said sarcastically, "it just had to be on your promotion day. All you ever had to do was just stay calm and not jump around like an idiotic little kid!"

Krom's rage-filled words hurt Kromis. His body started shaking a little bit as he fidgeted with his fingers. His throat tightened as he spoke nervously, "You don't mean that. Do you?"

"You ain't get it," said Krom in a frustrated manner, "you ain't promoted yet cause you broken the chief's most valuable treasure! His crown of gold!"

Krom picked up a pebble next to him, "and If we don't find any good treasure soon, the chief will take away more than just your 'promotion,'" he threw the pebble at the young goblin's head, yelling, "he will take your head!"

"No no," said Kromis with his body shaking more intensely, "he can't have my head!" The young goblin was shocked to find out that the possibility of losing his life was imminent. He held both his hands on his head in a desperate clutch, grinding his teeth. He became stressed to think that they may not have much time left until the chief sends the whole tribe after them. Kromis was never a smart goblin nor did he have the quick comprehension to grasp dire situations on the fly. He stood up quickly and rushed to scavenge random areas of the tunnel. "There has to be treasure here!" The young goblin was wasting his energy as the pair had already stripped most of the tunnel's loot. He kept desperately digging and scratching the ground all but in vain.