The curse

The first thing they noticed after entering was the smell. Or more accurately the lack of it. Any place smells, especially place like a city full of goblins. The air in this building was different, somewhat stiff and unmoving, sterile you could say. The air was still there, but it was somewhat unfriendly.

Blurtius led them through white corridors until they entered a strangely equipped room. There were black flat surfaces with unreadable text and drawings. A few tables and many, many books lying around—mostly on the floor, with a few lucky exceptions on the half-empty library by one wall. The room gave you the idea that whoever lived here wasn't much for cleaning.

Blurtius walked towards the only goblin in the room. It was an older-looking goblin, his hair white, and similarly to Blurtius, he wore thick glasses. He was sitting on the floor, surrounded by books and papers, mumbling something to himself. Blurtius stopped close to him and tried to get his attention, but the goblin was deaf to the world. He kept on reading, sometimes glancing at the other books spread around the floor. Here and there, he would take a piece of white rock and write something on the black flat surfaces.

After a few more minutes of this, Blurtius had had enough and coughed loudly enough to wake up an average corpse. Sadly, the goblin wasn't dead, so he ignored the cough.

Blurtius tried coughing a few more times, but seeing no results. He growled something. The other goblin was quiet, but then, as if the information came with a delay, he snarled something under his nose and waved his hand without taking his eyes from the paper.

Blurtius was getting agitated. He snarled and growled in a low tone. The other goblin didn't care, he kept on reading. Clearly fedup, Blurtius grabbed his shoulder and pointed at the adventurers.

This finally got the white-haired goblin's attention. He picked himself up, hurling the books to the side, and then walked towards them, along the way, successfully hitting a table and almost slipping on a paper.

He stopped in front of Ben, mumbling something, and Ben got a distinct impression he was measuring him. This impression increased when the goblin grabbed his arm and pulled up a measuring tape. He checked the arm length, then the forearm, followed by the forehead and the shoulder width. "3.4 molders horizontally, interesting… interesting…" the goblin mumbled as he continued his measurements. "…just one molder vertically. This shouldn't be normal for humans… he must be underdeveloped, too young, yes, yes. Young."

"Crudius," coughed Blurtius from behind them. "You are being rude to our guests."

"I am working Blurtius, this is a rare opportunity. Young necromancers are not common as you are surely aware," Crudius replied, not bothering to turn.

"Still," Blurtius insisted. "They are our guests and…" he hesitated. "I would rather like to move on with the ritual. The other humans seem to be rather on the edge." Blurtius glanced at Seth and Ola, who were standing a good distance behind smiling Ben.

"What are they saying!?" Whispered Ola to Ben.

"That you look uncomfortable," Ben half turned his head. He couldn't fully look at Ola since Crudius was holding one his legs and measuring the distance between the hip and the knee.

"Uncomfortable?" Ola hissed. "Maybe being who knows how deep underground, surrounded by goblins has something to do with it?!"

"It's fine," Ben smiled. "They seem friendly."

Ola gave him a look that very clearly said he had va ery different definition of the word friendly than her.

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Finally Blurtius managed to get Crudius away from Ben and they all moved towards one of the bigger tables in the room. There was a huge stone with crystals embedded into it's surface. Similarly as with the buildings, the smaller strings were dragged from the walls and connected to the device.

Through Ben, Blurtius explained that they simply need to put their hands on the blue crystals and wait.

"What does it do?" Ola circled the table suspiciously, never coming close enough to reach.

Blurtius snarled and Ben translated: "They believe it will break the curse on you."

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"How?" Ola asked, glancing from Ben to Blurtius and back.

But Ben just shrugged. "I am not too sure, it's a bit complicated…. Blurtius explained the basics and it has something to do with the curse not working on me."

"Is it safe?" Seth asked.

"There isn't much it can do," Ben nodded. "It doesn't have it's own source of power, look…" Ben pointed at the biggest crystal in the center. "It doesn't sparkle."

Both humans just stared at him. "So…" Seth hedged. "It's safe because it doesn't sparkle?" Seth looked at Ola, "do you?" But Ola just shook her head.

"I have no clue what he is talking about. Ben," Ola asked. "This sparkles? You can see magic in objects?"

"You can't?" Ben cocked his head.

Ola sighed and leaned against the table, then, realizing she was too close to the suspicious, non-sparkly, rock, she quickly stepped back and leaned against the wall instead. "No Ben. People don't just see sparkles in magical artefacts."

"Than how did you know what was safe to play with, when you were a kid?" Ben's round eyes suggested, he really did believe not knowing what to play with was the main concern.

"Ah- that- I…" Ola tried to answer, but her brain just couldn't process Ben at the moment.

"That's less of a concern now." Seth came to the rescue. "Just… people can't see magic in objects."

"Huh," Ben frowned, but then he brightened up again. "Anyway, it's not dangerous. You see see these," Ben pointed at the blue crystals. "It transfers the magic from the big one here." Ben pointed at the biggest crystal at the center. "Then the last one is for me." Ben walked around and pointed at the remaining green crystal. "I will push some of my magic into it. It will go to the big crystal and then to the green ones. So, it can't transfer you more magic than I push there, you see. "Ben smiled. "There is something going on with these…" Ben scratched his head as he looked at the strings attached to the wall. "But nothing strong goes through them."

"They don't sparkle, eh?" Ola said, rolling her eyes.

"Exactly," Ben smiled at her, completely missing her point.

"Are you completely sure?" Seth took a step towards the table, biting his lip.

"Yep!" Ben nodded.

"Fine…" Seth sighed and put his hand on the crystal.

"Ola?" Ben turned towards her.

Ola walked back and forward, holding her arm, stretching, biting her lip, and doing anything and everything that could help her distract herself. "I don't know Ben. Do we have to?" She threw her hands. "Why can't you just do the same thing as with the ghosts? That worked. We could understand them."

"That's kinda why we are here," Ben scratched his head. "It apparently wasn't supposed to happen. It should have just made them physical, but somehow it also removed the curse between the ghosts and the villagers. So…" Ben looked at Blurtius. "That's why Blurtius invited me here. He believes they can use my magic to remove the curse permanently."

Ola was quiet for a long while before she threw her hands again and kicked the wall. "Fine." She said, through her teeth. Then she walked next to Seth and put her hand on the other blue crystal.

Ben smiled at her and put both of his hands on the green crystal. Crudius, seeing this, moved behind the table and pulled up a smaller crystal and a notebook from his pocket. He looked at the crystal, mumbled something, and took a few notes.

Blurtius nodded at Ben, so Ben took a deep breath and slowly pushed the energy inside the crystal. The center crystal brightened with a green light, beginning to slowly pulsate. The pulsating frequency soon increased, and the small drops of energy traveled from the main crystal into the blue ones. Seth and Ola were touching. Ola shivered, but kept her hand in place. Soon, the pulsating stopped, and the smaragd light surrounded the two humans. Ola closed her eyes, forcing her muscles to stop shivering. Slowly, very slowly, she calmed her breath and stopped the shivering. Did it work? Was… was the curse broken?

"Ola?" She heard Ben's voice next to her. She opened her eyes. Nothing changed really, the room was about the same, the frowning goblin across table was still frowning, but now furiously scribbling something to his notebook. Next to her stood Ben, watching her carefully.

"I am fine," Ola mumbled, looking at the ground. She felt fine, mostly fine. How was she supposed to feel after something like this?

"Did it work?" Seth said from her side.

"I am not sure," Ben scratched his head, looking towards Blurtius.

The goblin opened his mouth and let out something Ola could describe only as a screech. I guess not. She mumbled to herself, surprisingly finding herself relieved. But then, she saw Seth taking a step closer to the goblin, his eyes wide with surprise.

"Seth," he pointed at himself. "I am Seth."

The goblin's eyes widened too, staring at Seth. he snarled and growled back, pointing at different parts of his body. Seth was frowning, his eyebrows so close together they looked like a single line. Sometimes he brightened and nodded saying the name of the body part the goblin pointed at, but most of the time, he just shook his head.

After this exchange finished, Seth turned to Ben and smiled. "It worked… I think. I-" He looked at Blurtius, then back to Ben. "I can't understand everything, but… I hear words. Not full sentences, but words. I think it worked." Seth's eyes shone with excitement. He was possibly the first human to communicate with monsters after a long, long time.

"I can't hear anything," Ola shook her head. "I just hear them growl and snarl, like they always did."

Blurtius spoke then, snarling something. Ben turned to Ola and translated: "Blurtius says, it may take time. He is actually surprised that Seth can already hear something. It may take a different time for different people."

"Lovely," Ola mumbled.

"Hey says," Ben continued. "Blurtius, I mean, that they prepared rooms for us and asked if we wanted to stay." Both of his friends nodded; they were tired after the journey. Ola just wanted to be alone, and Seth was too preoccupied with his new ability to focus on anything else. The next day, they would be able to finally visit the city, something no other human ever could.