The Summer I Met The Goblin King (ONC 2023)

Chapter Fourteen: Stopping The Goblin King

Casey couldn't believe the information Hella told her. Elixir of Death? Someone had truly intended to kill the ant people. But it couldn't be her brother, could it? Calvin wasn't like that, he just wasn't yet—a part of Casey couldn't rest easy with that explanation. She hadn't seen her brother in years. A lot could change in that time.

Mel looked down at her. "Are you okay?"

Curling up into a ball and pulling her knees in, Casey shook her head. "All of this is awful and doesn't make any sense. My bro—the goblin king wouldn't do things like this, at least not within the time I've known him. There has to be more to it than this."

"From what I saw, the intention was clear." Hella sat down next to Casey. "No one just dumps an Elixir of Death by accident. The tunnels are being cleared out, the question is why? Maybe some sort of intensely diabolical plan now that would be fantastic!"

Mel and the other ant people stared at her super hard.

"I mean—" Hella put her hand to the back of her neck. "Awful, horrible, super bad and not at all fascinating." She shrugged and offered a fake smile, but it made her that much more suspicious.

Sir Godly and Gigi finished off their fight, coming back to join the rest of them.

Stumbling back, Sir Godly looked up at the ant lady. "Now that's something I never dreamed I'd find attractive." He chuckled with his deep, throaty laugh. "The more you know."

Meme and Jack came sprinting around the corner with a hooded figure close behind. That meant only Idola remained missing.

"Casey! This mission was rouse!" Meme cried as he panted and tried to catch his breath.

Casey looked between Jack, Sir Godly, and Meme, then facepalmed.

We all knew it was a rouse for Sir Godly. Why did I trust the dragon to keep a secret?

Meme caught what she meant. "I don't mean like that. I mean this whole thing, the mission in general was to get us stuck in these woods. Look." Meme motioned for Jack to take something out of his pocket.

The note was passed around the group until it got to Casey. "This isn't Calvin's handwriting. He got A's in cursive class for good penmanship and was an art major before he disappeared." Casey put the note in her pocket. "I think someone else is hiding behind the mask of the Goblin King."

"Calvin?" Sir Godly laughed. "Cursive class? The Goblin King is an artist named Calvin?" The knight fell over laughing. "And everyone fears him! Oh no, the mighty Goblin king might draw you an excellent portrait and get paint on your clothes." Then realization dawned on him. "How did you know his name?" Tension filled the air of the forest.

Idola came out from behind some tree. "There you all are, I've been looking for you all this time. The trees are quite rude here, always moving in the way of the path." Looking between Sir Godly and Casey, she cocked her head to the side. "Did I miss something?"

"Casey was just about to tell us why she knows so much about the Goblin King we were going on a quest to defeat." Sir Godly crossed his arms and glared down at her. "Go on."

Standing up to feel just a little bit less intimidated, Casey could feel everyone's eyes on her: Mel's, Idola's, Hella's, the random hooded guy. . . Who was that guy anyway?

Casey didn't know what to say, her tongue and her head did that weird spinning thing they do when you know that something that will cause trouble needs to come out but you don't know how to make it come out. So instead, what came out was: "Calvin used to change my diapers!"

Sir Godly quirked a brow. "You were raised by the goblin king? That explains a lot. . ."

"What's that supposed to mean?"