Seth sees goblin

  Staring hard, he abruptly caught another flicker, a hand flashing briefly into view along with part of a leg. The body parts appeared out of nowhere and disappeared just as quickly. Seth cried out and stumbled away from the corner.

  Warren raced into the room. He stopped short, looking around. "Was that a drill?"

  Seth narrowed his eyes, staring hard. "I think there's something in the corner. "

  "That corner?" Warren asked.

  A full body pulsed temporarily into view--a tall, thin goblin with a knobby head, a shriveled nose, and jutting tusks. His skin was all shiny pinks and oranges, like burn scars. "See!" Seth yelled, jumping back again.

  "I didn't see anything," Warren said, producing a pair of knives, one longer than the other.

  Tanu stood in the doorway, a blowgun in his hand. "I don't see anything either. "

  "Either there is a goblin standing in that corner, or I'm going nuts," Seth insisted, voice quavering. The goblin was not currently visible.

  Holding both knives ready, Warren advanced toward the corner. The goblin flashed back into view, irregular nostrils flaring, glaring at Seth. "I see him again," Seth announced, pointing.

  Warren hurled the smaller knife at the corner. Twisting, the goblin sprang sideways, barely dodging the blade. The knife lodged in the wall. Wrenching the knife free, the goblin charged Warren.

  "The knife vanished!" Warren said.

  "Here he comes!" Seth warned. The goblin no longer pulsed in and out of view. Seth saw the creature clearly.

  Tanu came up beside Seth. "Where is he?"

  Warren backed away, blindly swinging his long knife.

  The goblin avoided the desperate swipes and slashed Warren across the chest. Warren lunged forward, but the goblin sidestepped the knife thrust and used Warren's momentum to hurl him to the floor.

Chapter 10