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Aly turned her gaze downward and nearly jumped as she found herself standing next to what looked like a—

Well, she couldn't really describe in a realistic sense, only that the creature reminded her of a goblin. It was small, with sharp, flat ears and beady black eyes and a flat nose. It wasn't green like the ones she’d seen in books, however, but a pale yellow instead, with dark swirls across its face.

And it had metal legs.

"When you are done gawking," the creature said, "why don't you go on and sit over there?" It pointed to a thick metal table on the other side of the ship with a set of metal chairs.

"Oh, um, I'm sorry. I didn't mean—"

"Yeah, yeah, sure." The creature waved. "Over there. Go on."

Aly pursed her lips then turned toward the table, eyeing the creature once more before cautiously making her way over. There was a circular grate in the middle of the table with a blue fire glowing underneath. A metal pot filled with boiling water sat on one side of the grate.

Without asking, the little creature came over and took up a small handleless cup on a shelf nearby, dropped a pill-like bag inside, then filled the cup with the hot water using a large spoon. He then plunked the cup in front of Aly.

"Drink that and wait here," it said.

Aly stared down at the steamy cup before her. "Um, what is this? And where am..."

She looked up and found the little creature already loping away, back to the ship. "Wait!" she called, scooping the cup up in her hands. She rushed after it and got in its way before it could disappear back into the ship. "Where am I?" she asked.

The goblin snorted, "Somewhere you shouldn't be, honestly." It moved around her to continue walking until Aly blocked it again.

"Am I still at the bottom?" she asked.

The goblin sighed. "Yes. Now, if you don't mind, I have a lot—"

"Why am I here?"

"Trust me, I wish I knew," the goblin mumbled, attempting to walk around her once more. "But that stubborn ass couldn't even give a straight answer."

Aly thought she knew who it spoke of. "So, this is where Blue lives?"

The goblin actually froze and looked back at her with a confused, albeit curious expression, and Aly's face heated as she realized her error. That nickname was supposed to be a private one.

"Who the hell is...wait, you are talking about Ryziel, right?"

Aly drew a lock of hair back behind her ear and shrugged. "I don't know his name. I only know him as the nillium who hides in the underground."

The goblin grunted and turned away. "Yeah, that's him. Funny name to give him, though, lady. A little too on the nose don't you think?"

So, that was his name. Ryziel. Aly felt like some great secret had been revealed to her. She clutched the cup in her hands tighter and brought it closer to her chest. "This is his home? Ryziel's?"

"Yeah." The goblin turned fully toward her and gave her a stern sort of look. "And if you so much as speak about what you saw here, you can bet I will force a memory pill straight down your throat. I would have done it as soon as you woke up, but I was ordered not to touch you, and right now, I don't really care to lose another limb, so..." It turned away and walked back into the ship. "So, just go sit down and wait for 'Blue' to show up."

Aly's face heated even more. She didn't try to stop it again. Instead, she turned back to the table and sat down. She would've asked more about the ship, but she could see the goblin wasn't in the mood to be bombarded by questions. Nor did it seem inclined to help her find clothes or anything else of the sort. She could go looking, but something told her it was better to wait. Wait for the nillium to return from wherever he was.

***

The enforcers lurked at the bottom for at least an hour before they gave up their search for the human woman. Ryziel watched them in the dark as their tracers scanned the area where a dead sluth lay, where the human's techbandshouldhave been but was nowhere to be seen, at least not by them.

"I see no trace of her," one said. A krull female. "We should just go back up. Judging by this sluth and the blood everywhere, I'd say she's a goner."

"We will have to make a full report," said another. A lygin with a scar across one eye. "The captain will want to know."

Ryziel's eyes narrowed, a sneer partially twisting his face.

It had driven him to near rage at first to learn that there were enforcers lurking not far from the lair. Even those on Lethe knew not to come down to the bottom. Whether by threat or payment, they had done well to stay far away. Until now.