The two goblins

"What do we do with him?"

"What we do to friends in trouble, we take him to our home."

The female goblin nodded, she rounded her short arm around Mark's torso only covering about half of it, she then tightened her grip, raised him, and placed him on her little shoulder.

If Mark was any better, he would have been in nothing but consternation for her strength, his thought that he could overpower them was long gone.

The female goblin went down the slope with a slide and intermittent jumps, her partner did the same, both howling with excitement while Mark tumbled on her shoulders struggling not to purge the content he had just swallowed.

She carried him along and they both went past their cart with the other pulling it by its handle.

Mark could feel the cool breeze on his sunburnt skin once they got close to the trees, he could hear the leaves rustling and the birds singing their different melodies.

His body juggled up and down as his carrier hopped, avoiding vines and prickly rocks, then they began conversing.

"Those darn orcs, too fast and too stupid." The male initiated.

"I think they're awesome. Isn't it romantic how they all compete for a lover? Hundreds of them and only one succeeds."

"Tch… Don't go on there having any ideas. We are the civilized ones of the forest and I would like for it to remain that way."

They spoke further of the rite they had been looking forward to, the race to catch the Arcadi cow and to secure a mate but for some reason, the orcs didn't pass their usual route and the two goblins missed out on trading their lemonade for whatever they had.

Yudar was upset, but from the looks of it, Mark's carrier couldn't care less.

"Hoho!" She let out and gazed above eyeing the large red apples that hung on the branches.

"Let's have a snack, I bet it would want one as well."

"Alright."

She placed Mark by the foot of the tree and climbed, digging her once retracted short sharp nails into the tree's bark and ascending. She swiftly plucked a bunch, and with a flip, she got back to the ground.

"You didn't have to take that many."

"Well, more for me." She immediately tossed him two large apples which he caught without trouble, immediately sinking his teeth in one, she then turned to the troubled earthling and handed him one.

Mark simply looked at her with his weak eyes, and after staring for a minute, she placed it on his opened right hand.

"I think our friend needs more lemonade." She said to Yudar who was now done with his share of the apples.

He released a belch, and beat lightly on his chest. He walked to the cart behind and hoisted the barrel of lemonade over the wooden cup Mark had used earlier, and he poured a little of the drink into it.

"Here." He brought it to his partner, holding it out.

She took the cup from him and moved closer to Mark, they were just a little above his head in terms of height as he sat.

"Drink." She placed the rim on his mouth and he drank, his throat gulping down the juice incessantly.

She wore a smile as she watched him drink. Soon, he emptied the cup and it was withdrawn from him.

He immediately let out a loud cough, he blinked his eyes and turned his face to the apple on hand, energy coursed through him– at least one enough to have him raise his hand.

He took a bite of the fruit, and his saviours simply watched the pinkish almost naked man chomp an apple.

"Another please." He asked.

"Here you go." She brought forward another apple and handed it to him, and he chomped on it again, only this time with more fervour, and he was fed another and another.

"Are you okay?" The goblin that had carried him asked.

"I wouldn't be if not for you two, that sun was crazy!"

The goblins paused and looked at each other, then they turned over to the man–the earthly creature in their midst.

They suddenly let out a crackle flailing their short arms.

Mark simply looked on, confused about their reaction.

"You sound strange, we can understand you but you sound funny, and you're clearly not from here. You also should know better than to stay beneath the sun around here, with skin as tender as yours, you'll turn to bones and the wolves will lick and eat your remains at sundown."

Mark felt a chill run down his spine, had he given up earlier, had he not escaped from the orcs then he would likely have died and be forgotten.

To come to a strange place and to die there in less than a day, was pathetic.

"Thank you for saving me." He said holding his hands together as one does during a prayer.

"You shouldn't thank us, you'll compensate later."

"Yudar!"

"What? He seems fine now, doesn't he? He's two times our size, I bet he has some tenacity inside him."

She simply shook her head and looked away.

"What are your names?" Mark asked.

"Meg" the female goblin answered.

And there was a silence, the two looked on to the goblin awaiting his answer, Meg gave him an angry look.

"What?! Tch… Yudar." He answered, looking away and crossing his arms.

Mark finally found the strength to get on his feet, and once he did, he realized once more how larger he was compared to the green creatures before him.

It was strange, green short hairless talking creatures in what seemed to be animal skin draped around their body aside from their limbs.

They looked like something from a fantasy book to Mark, and now that he was in his right state of mind, he could observe better, certain that he wasn't in a dream.

'Was I pulled into a book?'

He watched the goblins as they bickered with the one with a smaller face and stature scolding the other like she was his mother, however, Mark didn't sense that dynamic between them.

'They must be friends.'

Mark interrupted their bickering with a question, "Where am I?".

They stopped their bickering and Meg responded.

"You're at the Ansi forest as our people like to call it."

"The Ansi forest?"

"Yes, the Ansi forest. What do you call it?"

"I frankly don't know, I don't know anything."