Level Lands

Chapter 4

Blur covered his vision when Viktor opened his eyes. He quickly became accustomed to the new lighting which only consisted of a small lit lamp on the bedside table. What he saw was the inside of a cozy room. To the right of him was a bookshelf and to the left of him was the lamp.

He was lying in a bed on his back. How did I end up here?

Viktor looked up at the ceiling. It was night, he could tell because the room was overall dark and moonlight was streaming in over him from behind his head. Chilly night air touched his face, the only part of him not covered by the bedsheet. Not only was a window located behind him but it was also open.

The late hour was probably the reason no one else was in the room, he assumed. What had brought him here was most likely sleeping.

Viktor's memories ended when the fox had taken over their fight against the curse. There was no reason to complain of course, that he even was alive was more than he could ask for. He was just curious of what could have happened afterward.

Since he was awake, he should head out of the room and thank his savior properly. Is what he thought. In reality, he painfully remembered that he was missing a leg and had spent almost all of his magic energy, and as such was experiencing extreme fatigue. This basically meant that he couldn't move at all. What surprised him even more, was that he almost didn't feel any pain. He could feel soreness in his muscles and some minor pain strokes where his leg should've been attached, but apart from that, he felt fine. Exhaustion just hit him then and in combination with the soft bed put him back into dreaming.

The next time Viktor woke up, he found the room to be much brighter and sounds of voices and movement could be heard. From what he first saw he could distinguish two figures in the room, one of them short and the other tall. Correction, huge, the last one was huge.

They were goblins and the big one that was bent over him from his left side had to be a hobgoblin. The other goblin, thin and scrawny, was sitting in a wheelchair at the bed's end.

Except for that they both were male, grotesque, and had green skin, they were very different. The hobgoblin had a rounder face while the shorter one's was pointy and looked older. Well known differences between hobgoblins and goblins were size, pointiness of the face, and most importantly, intelligence. Goblins were a highly developed race, with lots of machines and gimmicks to facilitate life.

Both hobgoblins and goblins are categorized as the same race, simply called 'goblins', hobgoblins bringing the brawn and the smaller goblins the brain. This was because they could breed with each other and the offspring from any combination of parents could be either.

None of the two hanging over him seemed to be the types to care about their appearances. They both wore dull grey shirts with dark leather leggings of different styles, the goblins shirt was buttoned and a little fancier. He also had some type of utility belt around his waist.

The hobgoblin seemed to be taking measures of Viktor for some reason, currently at the stump where his left leg used to be. The smaller goblin was then writing down the results on a notepad in his hand. While Viktor was staring at the goblin, he looked up and their eyes met. At least Viktor thought their eyes had met, the goblin wore round goggles which had a green shine coming from them that made it impossible to see the actual eyes. The sight was off putting but Viktor kept a straight face.

"Awake I see, Viktor Fall of village 23." The goblin said as he moved the goggles above his eyes revealing a tired face. Viktor winced, how did the goblin know his name? Just as he had the thought, it struck him, they must have taken his summary card. He fumbled with his hands over his body, realizing for the first time that he was stripped to underwear and none of his old clothing could be seen in the room. The goblin noticed Viktors confusion and spoke again.