They really were impressive carrots—nothing like the sorts I was used to seeing. It must have been the power of the twins’ field. At some point, I’m not sure when exactly, they’d started telling me the field was “growing up.”
In any case, they got advice from their parents, they fertilized the fields with verdant leaf stones, and they never slacked when it came to their produce. Finally, all their hard work was starting to pay off for them.
“Eat one! Eat one!” cried Senai. “They’re delicious and nutritious!”
“Carrots are really easy to grow!” added Ayhan. “Everyone will like them, so everyone will be happy!”
“Everyone?” I replied. “It doesn’t sound like you’re talking about our villagers... Ah, you mean the horses, huh? Yeah, I’ve heard that horses just love carrots, but Aisha was never a big fan. I reckon you’ll be best off preparing her some fruit so she doesn’t get sulky.”
When I said that, the twins gasped as if they’d realized something, then got all serious.
“You’re right!” said Senai. “We’ll go get some from the forest later! But for now, carrots!”
“But it’s not just the horses!” said Ayhan. “The goblins will like them too! Make sure you pack some for them! But before that, a taste test!”
“All righty then,” I said, nodding. “They do look mighty tasty.”
That was all the twins needed to hear, and they dashed off to the laundry space to wash the carrots. I watched them work, and Narvant sidled up with a big fat grin on his face.
“You always know what those girls are talking about,” he said. “I had no idea they were talking about the horses—not until you said it. I guess that’s family for you.”
“You think? I was just talking with them like I always do,” I replied. “But yeah, I guess it helps that we live together. Ayhan has a bit of a lisp, but it’s getting better every day. They’re really shooting up... Won’t be long before we’re talking to them like adults, and then they’ll have more and more friends, and then eventually they’ll be all independent.”
Narvant’s smile deepened, and he didn’t say anything else. I wasn’t exactly sure what to make of the look on his face, but then the twins came back with their washed carrots. They handed one to me, and they handed the rest to Narvant and the other cavekin helping to check on the boat.
I had to say, the one I bit into was fantastic. No rotten parts or anything, a satisfying crunch, and it was full of flavor. Before I knew it I’d eaten the whole thing.
According to the twins, carrots lasted a little while if you wrapped them in baar fabric and kept them in a storage pot. They weren’t especially well suited to long periods like preserved foods, but they’d easily last the few days that it would take the goblins to get back to the ocean. That made them kind of perfect for the trip when I thought about it—they were delicious and good for you, they didn’t go bad quickly, and you didn’t have to cook them. There was of course the question of whether or not the goblins actually liked carrots, but we’d cooked with carrots before without them complaining, so I figured they’d be fine.
But I guess it pays to be sure...
I told the twins to come along with me and together we headed to the temple. Iberis and the other goblins had been offering prayers at the temple every day, but they also took lessons from Uncle Ben, who shared the temple’s teachings as well as things to be careful of in the kingdom proper.
The paladins spent a lot of time at the temple too, so the goblins had taken to learning team tactics from them. The goblins were masters of fighting in water, but on the land they still hadn’t quite found their feet, so to speak. The paladins excelled when they could fight together as a four-man unit, and the goblins wanted to hone that skill for themselves.
The twins and I headed down the road and eventually the pub came into view. The temple was about a stone’s throw from there, and when we arrived we caught the goblins in the midst of another training session with the paladins. The paladins all had wooden scepters and the goblins all had wooden spears. It was a squad-versus-squad battle, and it was the paladins who had the advantage on account of their experience.
The paladins weren’t just stronger; they were also a bit more capable and, like I said, they excelled at teamwork. Still, the goblins parried skillfully with their spears, and their reflexes were astounding. From my point of view, the goblins just needed to get their teamwork in order and then they’d be a real force to be reckoned with.
The goblins were smaller and lacked the paladins’ sheer strength, but they withstood the paladins’ attacks and parried them well. This was thanks to them having their big, long tail fins. They could drive those tail fins into the ground to act as a third leg, and sometimes they could even stand on their tail fins alone.
Whenever the goblins used their tail fins to help them out, it always took the paladins off guard, and for a brief second they weren’t sure how to react. The goblins used this to their advantage to launch surprise counterattacks. I couldn’t help thinking that with a little more teamwork and a few new tail techniques, they’d be a real menace on the battlefield.
As I was thinking about all of this, the paladins and the goblins finished up and Fendia came out with tea for all of them. She even had cups ready for me and the twins.
But when the twins saw Fendia passing out tea, they quickly followed her lead and started handing out carrots to everybody. The paladins and goblins looked a bit puzzled, but they took the carrots all the same, and when the twins told them to eat, they did just that. They must have liked what they ate too, because soon enough everybody was smiling and moments later everyone had polished them off.
“Now that’s a good carrot!” boomed Patrick.
“You remember those carrots we used to grow and eat back at the temple?” said one of the other paladins.
“I bet this would taste just as good grated,” said another.
The goblins, however, reacted a little differently. It looked a bit more like they were keeping their thoughts in—they were chewing slowly and staring up at the sky. This got the twins pretty worried that maybe the goblins didn’t like the carrots, but then Iberis let out a supremely satisfied sigh.
“Amazing...” he whispered.
If the twins’ expressions had been cloudy before, then this lit them up like the sun. Still, we couldn’t help but wonder why the goblins had reacted like that, so we asked Iberis.
“This journey has brought us countless experiences,” he said, “and it just brings a tear to all of our eyes. Our journey here was one for the history books, for starters. But then we encountered a god and met with the most generous hospitality we’ve ever known. Could anything make a goblin happier? What is this if not a blessing? We’ve learned to live upon the surface, and we’ve tasted so many different foods. We’ve found a home here and put down roots of a sort. The idea of going back is truly bittersweet. We love the ocean, and it will always be our home, but this place feels like a second home, and we can’t help feeling a little lonely at the idea of leaving.”
All the other goblins nodded in agreement, their gazes all turning skyward as they reflected on their time here. It made me think, and so I told them I’d be right back and headed to my yurt back in Iluk Village. I took a wooden box from one of the shelves and ran back to the temple. The goblins were still staring up at the sky when I got back.
“Duke, is that...?” asked Iberis when he saw me opening the box.
I knelt next to the goblin and took from the box a pendant.
“You’ve probably noticed that everybody here has one of these, so you might already know what they are, but just in case you don’t, these are pendants I make in my spare time. Every resident has one. Now, I realize that you hail from the ocean and that it’s your home. You might never be residents here quite like everybody else, but I imagine you’ll be back often for trade and whatnot, so you can think of these pendants as express permission to visit whenever you feel like. I want you to know that you’ll always have a place here, so there’s no reason to feel lonely or sad. You’ll always be welcome in Iluk.”
Iberis reached out with trembling hands to accept the pendant I held out to him, and I went around giving them out to the other goblins too. That said, the goblins had pretty thick necks—they were about as thick as their bodies, in fact, so we had to make the strings a bit longer. But in the end everything worked out and all the goblins had pendants.