# For a little bit of kaja'mita Author: Paynalton Canonical source: Language: en Original publication: -Are you ready?... Now!- ordered Drizz in a whisper.

The crab moved stealthily among the rocks and positioned himself behind some boxes just at one end of the entrance to the kaja'mita mine, the main ingredient of the popular kaja'cola. The crab waited patiently for his master's signal, Drizz of the Steam, proud descendant of the Steam Clan, which a few years ago was one of the most recognized families in all of Kezzan.

Drizz, who was hiding behind a light pole, made a signal and the crab started to scratch one of the boxes, making an audible commotion that could be heard by anyone nearby.

-That damned crab again!- shouted the supervisor Mechamojada, who as always waited at the entrance of the mine to tally the outgoing shipments of kaja'mita.

Supervisor Mechamojada was a not very smart goblin, although he was certainly very grumpy and loud, and he only showed affection for one thing: his hat.

The old goblin ran to the crab to scold him. As he approached, the crab, which was considerably large, started digging a tunnel at full speed and disappeared into the earth's depths, leaving Mechamojada staring at an empty hole.

-What does that stupid crab have that every week it comes to try to open those boxes?!- he grumbled -One of these days I'll catch it and turn it into soup!-

The crab passed through the network of tunnels that extended beneath the mine and quickly reached the exit at the middle of the ramp that separated the quarry from the entrance to the mine, where Drizz was waiting after taking advantage of the distraction to infiltrate the mine's facilities. The first part of the plan had been a success, just like the last fifty times. Now they had to prepare for the next phase.

At a signal from Drizz, the crab mounted the goblin's back and stayed just long enough not to draw too much attention. Drizz slipped over a cloak and put on a hat identical to the ones worn by that goblin magnate, second in command of the Kajacola Commercial Society.

Keeping an arrogant step and a proud look, the goblin descended the ramp and approached fearlessly toward the two large monoliths that were the guards of access to the quarry. One of the Toscos Despots turned to him and smiled, welcoming him. Without hesitation, Drizz looked into his pocket for a candy and threw it at the guard, who didn't take long to devour it while his partner looked enviously. Definitely it was a great advantage for the Toscos that all goblins were the same, and the distraction of the candy prevented them from paying too much attention to the hump that differentiated this false chief from the real one.

The troll slaves in the quarry had no interest in who was the impostor or not, they just worked faster when they saw a goblin to avoid receiving an electric punishment that would leave them completely sore for weeks, so Drizz walked calmly to the entrance of one of the mine tunnels where he paused to let Sabroso, his pet crab, descend from his back.

He stored his disguise and then pulled out a small rifle from his pack and entered the mine with the crab walking beside him. Sometimes inside the mine one could find quite annoying tunnel worms, they seemed to have problems with the idea that someone else, besides themselves, was digging tunnels in those lands.


The tunnel worms were a problem for the mine owners, partly because of their abundance and partly because it was difficult to get rid of them. The worms weren't really worms, but forms of energy that covered themselves with the hardest rock pieces they could find, with which they formed floating circles around themselves. With large teeth, almost always made of adamantite, and a body without vital organs, they were a problem for any exterminator.

Nevertheless, for Drizz and Sabroso they were just a minor obstacle. Drizz shot at the worms to draw their attention and ran away from them while the crab approached from behind and, using its powerful claws, began removing the worms' rock rings one by one. When the worm, which didn't feel pain, realized the trap, the crab had already removed a good number of rings, then the energy at the center of the worm panicked and left the rest of the rings to escape, vanishing into one of the tunnel walls.

Today, however, they were lucky, they only found some abandoned circles, signs that someone had come to exterminate worms not long ago.

They reached the center of the mine where they found a nearly full cart of kaja'mita that would soon be sent by the rail system to the surface, in the surroundings one could only perceive the clinking of troll picks hitting the rock and the glow of artificial lights illuminating the mine.

Carefully, the goblin made space in his pack by taking out the disguise again, moving aside the three bottles of kaja'cola and the bag of candy, then filled the available space with kaja'mita he took from the cart. The glow of the kaja'mita illuminated the inside of the pack, overpowering the shine of the kaja'cola bottles and making everything have a beautiful emerald green gleam.

Taking the disguise again and closing the backpack tightly to prevent any light from giving him away, Drizz headed toward the exit.

Back at the entrance of the tunnel, an exhausted troll, marked all over the body by whip marks and electric shocks, completely dirty and smelly, with skin soaked in kaja'mita dust, lay exhausted, sleeping on the ground. It was very difficult to imagine that these trolls, now completely docile and repulsive, had once been the masters of the island Kezan and had kept goblins as slaves.

If this troll had been the real supervisor, he would have already received an electric shock, but Drizz was content to avoid causing a scandal and walked silently to not wake him. A few steps further ahead, it seemed to him that he heard the troll's voice whispering: "Thanks Tron," not screaming, but he went directly to the mine entrance, carrying his crab on his back under the disguise.

This time, as he passed by the guards again, he threw two candies to the same guard and continued walking. When he turned the first corner, he quickly removed the disguise, took out from the pack a carefully painted cloth to resemble the rock that composed the wall rising to the side of the ramp, found a crevice, and positioned himself in it, covering himself and the crab with the cloth.

"Give me!" was heard shouted by one of the Toscos from the bottom of the ramp. "No!" was heard again, followed by the sound of bodies being hit, more shouts and growls from both the Toscos and excited trolls enjoying the fun, then the sound of goblin feet running down and the shouts of Mechamojada "Quiet!... Quiet!... Where did you get that from?... Quiet!"

Already outside, Drizz and Sabroso descended the hill to the beach where Julia Puzzlellave was sunbathing, as always surrounded by her cats. They looked for a clean spot free of grease and machinery parts. Drizz lay down on the sand while Sabroso swam into the waves in search of the few fish that hadn't been mutated by the pollution to feed on.

Drizz closed his eyes content with the success and fell asleep. In his dreams, he was lying on a big bed, surrounded by luxuries, with Sabro, sleeping by his side, while mentally counting the day's earnings and listening to the noise of the workers making money for him while he rested.