Orion was still looking straight at his hands. His face was full of shock and terror. "It's blood... I... I killed someone..." He uttered, his voice shaky and eyes tearing up.
He looked at the knife, which was lying on the ground, and he slowly stood up, looking around.
He spotted the keys, picked them up, and tossed them into the cage so Gorrak could open it. "There is no time for self-pity... Layla is what matters the most right now!"
Ignoring all the pain he felt in that moment, both physical and mental, he ran off into the dark tunnel without any hesitation.
"Hey! Orion, hold on! Wait for me!" Gorrak said as he was opening the cage from the inside.
The goblin looked around, a smile creeping onto his face as he stared at the other, dead goblins. "See, you brutes?!" He spat at the ground in disdain. "This is what you get for keeping me in that stupid cage for my entire life!" He started laughing out of joy, and then he sighed deeply. "Ahh... I will show you all... I mean not exactly you, because you're dead..." He groaned in frustration. "Awh! You know what I mean! And I'll show you a real goddamn goblin! One day I'll be the king! The strongest monster alive!" He laughed proudly. "But for now, bye-bye!" He ran off into the tunnel. "Wait for me, human! Please don't leave me there amongst those corpses! It's mean!" He yelled in frustration.
Orion heard the screams, but he didn't respond to them, not slowing down a bit because in that moment he was only thinking about one person--- about Layla.
"I'm almost there! Please be alright!"
Gorrak was clearly faster, catching up to Orion in no time.
After a minute, they reached the end of the tunnel. The stench was even more horrible than before; in fact, it was so bad that even Gorrak grimaced.
The goblin champion's head was lying on the ground near its huge body.
And there she was, lying among all the rubble, was Layla. Her body was covered in blood, scars, and bruises. She looked like a corpse.
"LAYLA!" Orion screamed in horror, immediately running up to her and lying her softly on the ground next to the broken dagger. "NO, NO, NO! PLEASE DON'T DO THAT TO ME! DON'T DIE! PLEASE!" He hugged her tightly, not even thinking about letting go.
Meanwhile, Gorrak examined the goblin champion. "No way... he's... really dead...?!" He then looked at Layla, his eyes wide in surprise. "There is no way in hell that a human girl so fragile and skinny could have pulled it off..."
Orion started crying, hugging her even tighter. "NO! PLEASE! LAYLA! LAYLA! WAKE UP! I KNOW YOU'RE STILL IN HERE! WAKE THE HELL UP!" He screamed in despair.
Gorrak sighed, ripping some of the goblin champion's robes off. He walked up to Orion and patted his shoulder reassuringly. "We should treat her wounds, she may still be alive, but if the wounds aren't treated, she will die." He said.
Orion looked up at him, and after a moment of hesitation, he softly placed her on the ground.
Gorrak stared at the girl for a moment, and then he pointed at her chest which was softly rising and falling, but it was barely noticeable. "Your friend is still breathing, human. Barely, but is."
"R-Really?!" Orion grabbed Gorrak's shoulders in joy.
The goblin was stunned. "Uhhmm... yes... yeah..."
Orion looked at Layla, crying even more, but this time out of happiness. "Oh, thank God! I... I couldn't imagine living without her... she's everything I have..."
Gorrak didn't know what to say. "I don't understand where humans get those feelings from... when I'm looking at the girl, I feel nothing... no sadness, no joy, just indifference..."
Suddenly, Layla's eyes opened, and the first thing she saw was Gorrak, who was lost in his thoughts.
Orion gasped, but before he could say anything, she grabbed the broken dagger, thrusting it in Gorrak's direction. No hesitation.
"Gorrak!" Orion pushed him away, getting himself stabbed in the shoulder.
Gorrak fell to the ground, his eyes wide in shock. "H-Huh?"
Layla gasped in surprise. "O-Orion?! No!" She quickly threw away the broken dagger, hugging him tightly.
Orion groaned in pain, tho the wound wasn't as deep as it seemed to be. "The hell?!" He asked in frustration, looking at her with confusion.
Gorrak stared at Orion in confusion. "Why did the human save me? He had no reason to..."
Orion's confusion changed into happiness, and he hugged her tightly, making her groan in pain. "It hurts! It hurts! My bones aren't alright!" She yelled, patting his back a couple of times.
He loosened the hug, but didn't break it. "I'm sorry, Layla! I'm sorry for leaving you there! I won't do it again, I swear!"
Layla blushed. "H-huh? What are you talking about? I told you to go away... wait..." Her silly expression turned into a furious one. "Why are you even here in the first place?! I told you to go!" She wanted to push him away, but she could barely move her limbs.
She looked at Gorrak. "And why did you take the hit that was meant for the goblin?! Aren't we supposed to kill monsters?! Are you out of your mind, Orion?!" She was very loud and didn't leave him a moment to explain anything.
"I'm not your enemy, human," Gorrak said calmly.
Layla's eyes widened in surprise. "IT SPOKE?!" She yelled in surprise.
Orion laughed softly. "Well... you see... Gorrak, here is a special case! And the truth is that without him we'd be dead, so apologize for trying to kill him~" Orion pulled her ear softly.
She looked down at the ground. "Hmph... sorry, I guess... and thanks..."
Gorrak stood up and smirked. "No problem, human. But you do realize that your wounds need to be treated as fast as possible?"
"H-huh?!" Her face flushed red, and she shifted closer to Orion. "I-I don't want a monster to touch me... no! A certain no! Nuh uh!" She shook her head.
"I wasn't planning on doing that. I have never done anything like that before, especially on a human." Gorrak rolled his eyes.
Layla smirked smugly and looked into Orion's eyes. "Finally a chance~"
Gorrak walked up to them and gave Orion the piece of cloth. "Come on, Orion." He sighed.
Layla made a pouty face, wiggling like a worm. "Just don't touch me inappropriately or else I'll be mad~!" She teased him.
Orion sighed. "Layla, we've been sleeping on the same mattress since always, even back at the orphanage, if I wanted to do that, then I'd do ita long time ago."
"Hmph... you know I was joking~!" This time, she pouted for real.
After a couple of minutes, Layla had many bandages made out of the goblin champion's clothing. She was sitting with her back against the wall, humming a song under her nose. Orion was sitting next to her in case anything happened.
Gorakk was kicking the rubble to kill off his boredom.
"So... why won't we just leave? There is a second path, right?" Layla asked curiously.
"Nope, there is only one chamber and it's the place where all the goblins were, including Gorakk," Orion said, a small amount of worry in his voice. "If the guild won't rescue us in time, then we'll starve to death..."
"Don't worry, humans. We won't starve to death because we can eat the goblins in case we are really doomed," he said and walked up to the goblin champion's body, kicking its hand softly. "This huge chunk of meat would feed a whole goblin village."
Layla's eyes glistened with amazement. "Wait a second... you two killed a group of goblins by yourselves?! Without any weapons!?" She yelled, a big smile on her face.
"Yeah... technically we did... but we were just kinda lucky, I guess?" Orion said with uncertainty.
Gorrak rolled his eyes. "Oh, please! Don't even try to be humble, human! You created something awesome! Like I threw it and it did a big boom, killing all the other goblins!" He then smiled widely. "We should name that thing!"
Layla looked at the ground. "Uhh... if it does a big boom... then maybe something simple... like uh... 'Bomb'?" She said quietly.
Orion looked at her with surprise. "Huh? A 'Bomb? That's actually... not that bad!" He smiled poking her cheek to annoy her.
She leaned her head on his shoulder, puffing out her cheeks. "Don't mess with me, you idiot! I'm already very, very hurt, and yet you want me to suffer even more? You are cruel!" She pouted, a big smile on her face.
Orion smiled, tho he slowly started falling asleep out of fatigue and the fungus toxins he breathed in earlier. "Sorry, sorry..." He yawned.
Gorrak stared at them and then looked at the goblin champion's head. "Is this what humans call love? I've lived my entire life trying to hide the fact that I'm more intelligent than my whole kind... and when they found out, they locked me up and wanted to eat me... why am I like this? Why am I more human... than a monster which I was supposed to be...?" He looked down at his hands and curled them into fists. "I know what I want... and it is to become stronger... and change all the monsters for the better..."
When Orion fell asleep, Layla gave Gorrak an icy glare. "Monster." She said coldly.
Gorrak looked at her, confused because of the changing tone. "What's wrong, human?" He asked.
"I won't kill you because Orion claims that he wouldn't have survived without you, but that doesn't mean the other Adventurers who will come here to save us would spare you." She paused for a moment. "I just wanted to ask... what will you do? How are you going to leave this place?"
Gorrak sighed. "For now, I don't know, and I won't think about it. I just want to watch and analyze the love you humans are sharing with each other." He said calmly.
"How can I be sure that you won't betray and kill us while we are asleep?" She asked coldly.
Gorrak couldn't deny it; she was intimidating and was acting like a totally different person than when Orion was still awake.
The goblin forced a smile. "Your friend Orion was the one who gave me a name and freed me from the chains of fate, taking an attack that was meant to kill me afterwards... He is the only person I respect and will always be the person I respect the most, no matter what. We monsters are known for our pride, and even tho I'm different than the others... I still feel that pride."
"You're talking about him, but what about me? How can I be sure you won't attack me after I tried to kill you?" She frowned.
"You are clearly very dear to Orion, saying that you're his drive would be an understatement. He put his life on the line as soon as he heard that there was the slightest chance you were alive." He sighed softly. "I wouldn't ever hurt anyone who he has so deeply in his heart."
Layla clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Pft... whatever... You wouldn't be able to hurt me anyway..." She then looked him dead in the eyes. "But try anything and you'll be sucking your shit from your guts, understood?"
Gorrak was afraid, tho he was able to keep his composure, nodding softly.
Layla closed her eyes, nuzzling into Orion's shoulder as if it were a pillow, falling asleep afterwards.
Gorrak sighed and leaned his back against the rubble, his heart beating fast, but he was relieved that she didn't do anything stupid.
A cockroach was crawling on the ground. "Wait a second..."