Chapter 43: Chapter 43: Yuzuru

Yuzuru had to do something. If he didn’t, Gweyn’s entire left arm was as good as gone. But even as he repeatedly told himself that, he couldn’t make himself bring down the dagger.

On the bed, the slime creature continued working its way into Gweyn.

“Do something,” the girl screamed as her fingers passed right through the translucent monster. “Kill it, kill it, kill it!”

All the while, the door banged as goblins tried to force their way in.

Yuzuru clenched his teeth and stabbed the dagger into the slime. The sentient goo parted around the blade and he struck the table.

“You idiot,” Gweyn cried.

Yuzuru raised the dagger again, this time sawing at the creature. It was still no use. The slime entrapped whatever was inside it.

“Give it to me!” Gweyn reached around with her good hand, snatched the dagger from Yuzuru, and jammed it sideways into the blob. “Frost Touch!”

The blade glowed white. Icicles formed inside the slime, spreading and freezing it solid. The creature’s movements slowed, and when Gweyn yanked the dagger out, it shattered.

Yuzuru copied Gweyn’s idea. He stuck both hands into the rest of the goo. It was numbingly cold.

“Evaporate!”

The goo writhed as it began to disintegrate. Inch by inch, it retracted from Gweyn’s body, filling the room with a putrid smell before disappearing into bouts of black steam.

Gweyn rolled off the table, frozen shards of black and red falling off her skin. Yuzuru caught her before she could hit the ground.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Gweyn nodded. “Eventually."

“So you can do magic,” Yuzuru said, taking the dagger from Gweyn. He held her cold hands and tried to massage some blood back into them.

The door banged so hard things were falling off the shelves. Yuzuru settled Gweyn against the wall and tried to find something to block it. He came to the table. Blood and ice covered its surface, making it look like some twisted psychopath’s workstation. Yuzuru was all too happy to throw it onto its side and shove it against the door.

“Are those goblins outside?” Gweyn asked groggily. “Where the hell are we?”

Yuzuru took off his cloak and draped it over Gwyn. “Long story. How’s the shoulder?”

“Like I fell into a bonfire,” said Gweyn, grimacing. “I recall… falling. There was water.”

Did you recall almost kissing me? Yuzuru wanted to ask, but now was not the time. Instead, he said, “We ended up on the Red side of the lake. I carried you down the mountain where we were taken in by a village of goblins.”

“And now these goblins are trying to kill us?”

“Sounds like it.” Yuzuru paused to scratch the back of his head. “I guess it’s not actually a very long story, huh.”

The banging cut off abruptly. Then, they heard the sound of a lock clicking and the handle jiggling, but the door stopped against the overturned table.

“Is everything okay, my esteemed travelers?” The voice coming from the other side was the Baron’s. “You seemed to have barricaded yourselves in.”

“You tried to kill us, you crazy bastard!” Yuzuru yelled. “What was in that so-called potion?”

There was a pause, then the Baron chuckled. “A parasitic organism I created. I’m amazed you managed to break free from it.”

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“A child could do it,” Yuzuru replied. “If he could use magic, that is.” He got up and went to the part of the floor with the broken floorboard, picked it loose and threw it aside.

The door jiggled once more.

“Esteemed travelers? Are you injured?”

Gweyn sat up, holding onto Yuzuru cloak with her one good arm she called to the door, “Whoever you are, know that the moment I see you, I’m going to stick my dagger between your eyes.”

The hole in the ground was pitch black still. Yuzuru leaned into it and whispered, “Hello?”

He didn’t get an answer.

A sudden bang at the door made him jump. The goblin children were yelling again, chanting something he couldn’t understand.

“Looks like we’re making a stand here,” said Gweyn, smashing a bottle on the ground to make a weapon out of it. “It’s been an honor, Yuzuru.”

“If I didn’t know any better I’d say you’re looking forward to a fight,” Yuzuru said as he marched over to the shelves. Gweyn joined him in the push, and with bottles and jars falling around them, they shoved it against the table. Gweyn sat against it, panting.

“Got a better plan, then?”

“No,” Yuzuru admitted. “But I have an idea.” Picking up a jar, he went back to the hole and dropped it in. After a second, the bottle smashed to the ground.

Wind surged into Yuzuru’s face. He reeled back, pinching his nose from the smell.

“Do I want to know what’s down there?” Gweyn asked, and yelped as a tremendous force crashed against the door, pushing the table, shelf, and her an inch forward.

“No, but we don't have a choice,” Yuzuru said. He placed one hand against his chest and held the other out, palm open, and called for Pekorin’s power. The ghost girl responded at once. Light spilled into the room, brightening night to day as an ethereal blade materialized within Yuzuru’s hand. Without waiting for it to fully form, he plunged the blade deep into the hole.

“Let’s supersize it, Pekorin!”

As the sword grew, the materials around it began to melt away. Yuzuru held on until the weapon tripled its original size before twisting hard, cracking the ground wide open.

The house shook as its floor began caving into the room below. The roof split apart, raining dust and thatch.

“Come on.” Yuzuru helped Gweyn to stand. The hole was still getting larger, consuming furniture and coming for them.

“Wait.” Gweyn stumbled over to a nearby shelf. She grabbed a few tubes and pouches and tucked them in her pockets.

The door behind her exploded, knocking her forward into Yuzuru. He caught her but lost his footing, and pitched backward into the hole.

He barely had time to scream before the jelly at the bottom launched him back up. Yuzuru felt his stomach lurch as his head smacked against the roof.

And then he was on his back with Gweyn laying on top of him.

"Are you okay?" she asked him.

“Next time,” he groaned, “give me a heads up before you push us into an abyss.”

“Wasn’t planning on it,” Gweyn replied, climbing off him and pulling him to his feet. As soon as he was up, Yuzuru’s first action was to look behind them for the eyes. He remembered something looking up at him when he first found the loose floorboards, but they were surrounded by stone walls covered in oily putty, which ran down all across the ground.

Yuzuru lifted his feet. In the cone of light, his shoes were caked in the glop. It was thicker than the one which tried to attack Gweyn, but no less gross in the way it sloughed off with an audible smack.

“We need to go,” said Yuzuru at the same time Gweyn pointed above.

“Look.”

The ceiling had stopped falling, leaving a hole roughly the size of a small swimming pool. Around it were the faces of the goblins. Framed by light, they looked like tiny, grotesque angels.

Angels holding stone axes.

Gweyn pinched her dagger between her fingers, ready to throw. “Which is the leader?”

Yuzuru scanned the furious faces, but nowhere did he see the Baron with his hat of fruits.

Then, he heard another sound, a sort of heaving racket, like someone was breathing through a crumbled straw.

He turned around. The sound seemed to be coming from everywhere but there was one direction it was loudest. He pointed to the darkness and said, “Flame Touch.”

Tongues of fire leaped from his palm, slithering along the dripping walls until they reached an iron gate a few feet away. There, the flames scattered.

He was about to do it again when Gweyn grabbed hold of his arm.

“Don’t.”

“Why not? It’s one of the only spells I know.”

Gweyn shook her head. "Let me." She snapped her fingers and orange embers danced on her fingertips, illuminating their surroundings.

“Showoff,” said Yuzuru with a good-natured smile.

After finding the iron gate, Gweyn grabbed the bars with her flaming hand and said a spell Yuzuru never heard before.

“Acid Heat.”

White fire laced through the bars, melting the iron into a pooling of glowing metal.

“Now you’re just rubbing it in,” said Yuzuru.

Gweyn said nothing, but winked at him before stepping into the dark.

Yuzuru went to follow but he felt a pebble clatter against the top of his head. Up above, the goblins were dispersing. It was strange. The fall wasn’t high and the ground was caked in slime. He expected them to jump down with their axes swinging, but none did. One by one, the creatures disappeared until none remained.

Yuzuru felt an uneasiness settle. He preferred it if the goblins gave chase. That way, the enemy was clear, instead of whatever lay in the dark beyond. But there was no turning back. Gweyn’s fire was already getting smaller. She wasn’t giving him any time to hesitate, which was just as well. They were in this together now more than ever, and most importantly, Yuzuru was certain that as long as they were on the same team, they could overcome anything.

He hurried off after Gweyn, following her light.