Although that was what the miner identified herself as, ‘goblin’ wasn’t the true name of her race. It was the name the Tall Ones had forced upon her species. Their true name hadn’t been spoken in so long that it had been lost to history.

Many years ago, the ‘goblins’ lived a peaceful tribal life inhibiting the Great Forest. They lived alongside the race of elves who shared their love for the forest. But the elves eventually chose to venture beyond the forest’s boundaries.

When the elves returned, they had changed. They started using mysterious powers to summon new life in the forest and reshape it into a land that would accommodate their needs alone. As for the goblins, the elves no longer saw kindred spirits in them. Instead all they saw were primitive savages no better than vermin to be exterminated.

The elves hunted the goblins of the forest to extinction and imprisoned whoever was left to use as slaves to excavate precious metals and minerals from the elves’ mines.

The goblin now had her races history etched into her memory.

“Are you okay?” The goblin looked up to the light creature that spoke to her.

“Woo, aw, wha-“ The goblin tried to talk to the creature, but she now understood sounds she had never used herself and needed a moment to awaken her voice to the language. “Wha-who ah-re yoooou end Wha-ut, di-d you do to me?”

The goblin’s head spun as she lifted herself to her feet and reassumed her sloppy fighting stance.

“My name is Oto and I am sorry for the pain I put you in. But your intelligence levels were too low for you to properly communicate. The only way I could increase the levels was to force-upgrade your brain’s structure.”

“What iz thiz place?” The goblin asked as she tried use her increased knowledge to try to make sense of the strange space they were in.

“This is an isolated space between your world and the Cosmic Realm. Um. . .” Oto needed a moment to figure out a way to explain it to the goblin so she’d understand. “Okay, imagine me as a fishermen looking through the waters of a big lake to see the fish within it. I can see the fish, but can’t interact with them. Cosmics like me build spaces, like the one you are in now to be the boats that act as a space inside both the lake and outside world and bring denizens of the worlds into an equal stage.”

The miner didn’t understand a a lot about what Oto told her, but she reinforced her stance when she understood that the Oto was the one who had brought her to wherever she was.

“You brought me here. Why?”

Oto’s responded was weary and cautious. The goblin couldn’t hurt them, but this whole experience was still as new to them as it was for her.

“W-well I was observing your world and found the mine where you were being attacked, and wanted to help you.”