Battle of the Labyrinth: The Goblin King's Queen

10: The Past Diving into the Present

The Past Diving into the Present {Lilia}

"What is the Goblin Kingdom?" I asked Galapagos as we walked further into the muggy fog and dry landscape.

"What do you think it is? It's exactly what I said; the Goblin Kingdom," Galapagos said from beside me.

"Goblins? Oh, wow. Next thing you know, I'll be meeting the Mad Hatter. How can I not be dreaming?" I pondered out loud, nearing hysterical laughter.

"What is a Mad Hatter?" He asked in his old, wizened voice.

I just shook my head. We traveled onward. I wondered how much farther we were going...

"How much farther till civilization?" I begged to know.

It was bad enough that I still didn't know exactly what I was getting into. But if I had to keep on going on this rough dirt with these boots that were making my feet sore, I don't think that I could make it. I mean, these things hurt!

"What are you speaking of? This is the Goblin Kingdom. We are in it," Galapagos said.

I looked around me. There was nothing in sight except for the thick, gray, fog and the purple-blue dirt. This was the supposed Goblin Kingdom? There was nothing here! Except....

Off in the distance I could see a dark shape, a little through the fog. As we got closer I discovered it was a tall dark green wall. Wait, it wasn't a wall....

"This is where I leave you," Galapagos said quietly.

"What? Why? You can't, Galapagos! I need you. I don't know where I am!" I exclaimed.

"You are in the Goblin Kingdom," He said tiredly.

"Yeah, I get that. You've said that. But I don't even know what this Goblin Kingdom is, and I don't know why I'm here, or where I should go," I said, starting to feel sorry for myself.

"I am the Keeper of the Gates of the Goblin Kingdom. I bring any passerby here, to the entrance of the Labyrinth. That is my job and my duty," He said.

I eyed the green plant wall before me. I blew out a big breath.

"But why do you do it?" I asked.

He sighed heavily. Then he lowered to where his underbelly was touching the ground and he said, "I knew you wouldn't just go about your blind business. You just had to ask so many questions."

"Near an eternity ago, the Goblin Kingdom was created. And we were created," He said.

"Kinda like the Earth and Adam and Eve and stuff," I said.

"Are you going to interrupt often?" He asked.

I decided to keep quiet.

"As I was saying, when the Goblin Kingdom was created, along with its inhabitants, we were each given our job, our duty. Mine is that of the Keeper of the Gates. I bring anyone who crosses my path to the Labyrinth. Because if a mortal enters our realm then they are here for a reason," He said.

I couldn't help but say, "But what is my reason?"

He shook his graying green head slowly, "I do not know. It is not my job to know."

He continued, "The Goblin Kingdom was a lively place, ruled by the Goblin King. I could bore your unwitting mortal mind with all the details, but I shall give you the short version because that is all you mortals seem to be able to handle. The Goblin King ruled over for many a year in mortal time. Then he discovered the way into the mortal world. He is said to have fallen in love with one of the mortals he watched. And so he brought her here. She defeated and outwitted him. And then she left. The Goblin King lost the respect of some of his kingdom, and in himself, it seems. And so now the Kingdom is a dark and gloomy place. It is no longer full of the life and culture it once was. In his new-found state of weakness, an enemy made his way onto the scene, the Dark Prince. Even now he opposes the Goblin King and so the Kingdom is not only dreary and dark but it is in chaos, torn between a long battle of power."

"How does this involve me?" I asked hesitantly.

"Of that, I have no idea. But I do know that you are the first mortal to enter the Kingdom in twenty or so years in mortal time; since the mortal of the King's affections came and went." He said.

I pondered this new information, and I stared at the entrance to the Labyrinth.

"I do not think this is a coincidence," Galapagos said, almost coyly.

I eyed him, trying to figure him out. But, alas, there seemed to be no way to understand anything here.

"What is at the center of this labyrinth?" I asked quietly.

"The Goblin City. And just past that, the Goblin King's castle. Which is, I believe where you must go," Galapagos said.

A sudden sense of dread and foreboding filled me as I stepped forward into the large stone doors entering the Labyrinth. I took one last glance at Galapagos. He was turning and slowly moving back towards the way we had come.

I took my first step into the Labyrinth.