Chapter 21: The Children are Freed
Grinthal led them deep into the tunnels, into the suffocating belly of the mountains. The air grew thick with sulfur and stone dust, ringing with the rhythmic, exhausting clink... clink... clink of iron against rock. By the glittering light of the moonstones, Carlyle and Catherine saw them: dozens of children, small and hollow-cheeked, covered with dirt and dust, swinging pickaxes twice their size. Behind them stood the goblin overseers, their cruel whips snapping to keep the rhythm going.
“How terrible,” said Catherine.
“It is necessary,” Grinthal growled angrily. “We goblins do not like to do the work of mining ourselves. It is beneath our dignity, so we must find others to do it.”
“But it ends now,” insisted Catherine.
“Yes, yes! This is what you forced me to agree to,” Grinthal muttered. He stepped forward, raising his grating voice. “Stand down! All guards, lower your whips!”
The whips stopped snapping. The sudden silence in the cavern was deafening.
“You are all free now,” Catherine called out to the crowd of dirty, exhausted faces.“The goblins will not hurt you anymore. You may return to the surface with us.”
The children didn't move. They stood dazed, blinking through the dust, too conditioned by fear to believe her.
Suddenly, Alfred grabbed Carlyle’s arm, and pointed. “There he is,” said Aflred. “There’s Jack.”
“Who?” Carlyle asked, looking around the sea of grime-stained faces.
“Jack! You remember Jack.”
Because Carlyle was not expecting to hear that name, it took him a minute to register what Alfred was saying. “But Jack’s dead,” Carlyle responded.
“That’s what we thought,” said Alfred. “But Jack’s been a prisoner in the goblin mines this whole time. Along with all the other children who were captured from the mountains.” Alfred called out to him. “Hey Jack. Over here. It’s Alfred. I’m with Catherine and Carlyle.”
Jack was still holding the pickaxe. He looked cautiously at the goblin guards, afraid to move. “It’s okay,” said Alfred. “You can come over. Griinthal has freed all the children.” When Jack still hesitated, Alfred turned to Catherine. “Make the goblin say it again. They don't believe it.”
Catherine closed her eyes and began to hum a low, resonant note. Her fingertips started to glow.
Grinthal squealed. “All the children are free!” he shrieked into the cavern. “Put down your pickaxes. Get out of my tunnels.”
Slowly, a heavy iron pickaxe clattered to the stone floor. Then another. Jack dropped his tool, his eyes wide as he finally locked gaze with Alfred and Carlyle.
“Come with us,” Catherine said gently to the crowd. “We will take you back to the light.”
As they began the long march upward, Jack walked between his old friends, still looking as though he might wake up from a dream at any moment. He explained about the other children. “A few of us are from the mountains,” Jack said, his voice raspy from the mine dust. “Although probably nobody you recognize except me. The others got captured when they were very young. Like Anna over there. The rest are from the forest people. The goblins have tunnels that stretch all the way down to the forest.”
When they finally emerged from the tunnels into the robbers’ caves, the rest of the group was waiting. Lucas, Marcus, Paul, Stella, Gabriella, and Abby all crowded around. Gasps and cries of disbelief echoed through the cavern as they recognized Jack, with Alfred eagerly recounting how they had found him.
But the true shock came when they stepped out of the cave mouth. The children from the mines hadn't seen the sky in months—some for years. As the bright morning sun hit them, many shielded their eyes, weeping in a mixture of pain and awe. Carlyle and Catherine moved among them, gently guiding them into the grass of the clearing.
Once they had settled, Catherine stood before them. “I know you have been prisoners for a very long time,” she said, her voice carrying over the clearing. “The outside world might feel strange and overwhelming right now. But you don’t have to fear. You are welcome to stay with us for as long as you need. In time, we will help you find your families. Until then, this is your home.”
Jack looked around the clearing, squinting against the bright daylight. “Where are we?”
“These are the robbers’ caves,” Alfred said proudly.
Jack’s eyes widened. “But... where are the robbers? Aren't they dangerous?”
“They’re still here, but they answer to us now,” Alfred explained with a grin.
Jack couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “What has been happening while I’ve been gone?” he asked.
Alfred tried to explain it to him. “We’ve been trying to make the mountains safe,” he said. “Catherine has conquered the wolves, and made them her allies. Then we conquered the robbers, and made them listen to us. Now we have banished the goblins.”
“Wow,” Jack whispered, looking at Catherine and Carlyle with newfound reverence. He looked out over the vast, wild mountain range and frowned slightly. “But... the mountains are huge. And there are worse things out there than goblins.”
“We know,” Alfred admitted, his excitement tempering into a sober resolve. “There are still the ogres to deal with, and the witches in the crevices. We know Aefar the Vampire is still terrorizing the night, and monsters like Creseus the Minotaur, Garot the Bugbear, and the giant snake Serif are still out there terrorizing the peaks. We have a long way to go before the land is truly peaceful. But we aren't going to stop.”
“But why take on all of that?” Jack asked, looking tired but curious.
“Because the people here deserve to live without fear,” Alfred said. “That’s what Catherine and Carlyle taught us. We don’t have to let the monsters terrorize us. We can fight back, and we can build something safe.”
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