Amber city

Ben walked uphill and stopped, looking around. It was a lovely day, quite perfect for a stroll towards a deadly dungeon. There were butterflies, a grassy field, sun shining in just the right spot, and a warm breeze. It was lovely, in fact, it was so lovely one would even think it's too lovely, almost a prelude—a trick of some sort, the fate was playing to put our mind at ease, so the upcoming events hit us even more terribly.

Ben wasn't bothered by this premonition and uncertain worry. He just enjoyed the weather. Some of us should take note from his book. Sometimes nice things are really just nice things.

Ben looked around, absorbing the beauty, and thought back on the time he was here for the first time. Back then, Wert tried to trick him, but he met Ola and Seth, his adventuring friends, so he supposed he should be grateful to Wert for trying to trick him? It was a complicated relationship. They even met Wert's group when they stopped by the tavern in Dratov's Helb, but he wasn't too interested in saying hello. Ben based that assumption on the fact that Wert shrieked and hid under the table the moment he saw them. Ben was right, in fact, after they left, Wert spent a good amount of time living back with his parents, trying to put together what remained of his nerves.

"So… he will be here?" Seth said after he finally climbed a hill after the two.

"Further in the dungeon, I think," Ben replied. "I met them in the first room."

"Rooms change around, though," Ola frowned. "The dungeons don't stay the same. Every time you enter, it has a different layout and different monsters. It's some spell, that's why we call them dungeons."

"How did that even happen?" Ben asked as they headed towards the hill with the dungeon door.

Ola just shrugged. "Always been that way."

"Not quite actually," Seth corrected her, ignoring Ola's eyeroll. "From what I… what I read. These spaces started appearing at the same time the monster's curse was casted. Adventurers called them dungeons much later, mainly because they are usually dark and remind them of castle dungeons." Seth coughed and side-eyed, making sure he wasn't losing his audience. Ben was listening intently, but Ola was looking to the other side as if she didn't care at all. Still, Seth noticed how her ears perked up when he started talking again.

"As to why it happens," Seth shrugged. "No one knows. Ola is right, the layout and monsters in these dungeons always change. About once a day from what I read…"

"From what your tutors said…" Ola jibed, elbowing Ben.

"Nevertheless," Seth's ears reddened, as his two friends laughed. "There are theories why that is, but no one knows. Some believe that dungeons are here as a punishment. And same with monsters. We lost the ability to communicate because of what humanity did."

"And what was that?" Ben asked.

"No one knows," Seth shrugged. "It's mainly a theological explanation. Different religions believe in different original sins. But most agree that's why dungeons and monsters exist. But," Seth scratched his chin. "There is an opposing view. Those dungeons are not here to hurt us, but to help us train, train to prepare for the final battle. The apocalypse, they call it."

"So," Ola looked at him critically. "No one knows."

"Pretty much," Seth shrugged. "Those two are the most common theories, but your guess is as good as anyone else's."

"Could have left it for a bedtime story, then," Ola mumbled. But before Seth could answer, Ben called out: "Blurtius!"

They both turned and saw Ben was already running towards a goblin in the distance. "Shall we then?" Seth said, eyeing Ola. They were both frowning, not quite about to attack the goblin, but their hands were certainly not very far from their weapons.

They saw Ben talking with the goblin. At least Ben was talking, the only thing they heard from the goblin was screeching and growling. Blurtius looked like Ben described him, he wore glasses and stood taller than most goblins, not because of his height, but because he simply didn't crouch as most of his species.

Ben turned to them as soon as they arrived, beaming and careless as usual. "Blurtius said, we should follow him. He will take us to the city."

"Goblins have a city here?" Seth asked, clearly alarmed.

"That's what he said," Ben nodded.

Meanwhile Blurtius eyed them as suspiciously as they watched him. He was moving his weight from feet to feet, playing with his fingers and flinching at any noise. Finally he pointed inside the dungeon and gestured them to follow him.

They passed the first few chambers before arriving in a small cave that didn't seem to be a part of the dungeon. It looked just a bit too natural, like any cave you ever saw, certainly not a cave that should be inside a dungeon. Bluertius led them towards one end and showed them to hop on a flat rock in one corner. They could barely fit there, and Seth had to bite his lip as Blurtius stood barely a few centimeters from him. *Trust Ben, Seth, trust Ben.* He had to keep repeating to himself. But then, all the worry was replaced by amazement.

Blurtius fiddled with some flat-looking rock and then, out of nowhere, they started moving down. Ola yelped and almost fell if it wasn't for Ben to offer support. She watched in horror as the they moved down below ground.

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At first first they didn't see much, simply a stone surrounding the flat rock that moved them down. As the light from the dungeon above decreased, they expected to be in complete darkness, but to their surprise the walls themselves emitted a blue-ish light, enough so they could see each other and the wall passing them.

They kept traveling like this for a few minutes, no one daring to think where this could take them, when it happened. At first the light from the walls decreased and then a view opened in front of them, a view none of them will ever forget.

The glowing stone disappeared, replaced by… nothing. Or almost nothing, there was a light glint reflecting from the transparent rock and through it; they saw the city.

They stopped breathing as they saw it for the first time. Neither of them has ever seen a city like this. It was… clean. Yes, clean is the closest word that came to mind. They were underground, but you couldn't tell from how bright and light the city was. Glowing stalagmites grew from the roof, lighting the buildings as well as the sun would. It wasn't a strange blue-ish light, like they saw in the elevator. It was yellow and pleasant, as if you weren't underground at all. And the buildings! There was something incredible about the buildings, they were smooth and tall, full of windows and strange, long lines connecting them all together.

There were tall buildings, taller than most castles; short buildings with flat roofs and other spaces build directly in the walls of the cave. Strangest was how natural it all looked, it was flat and artificial, but still felt as part of nature. It wasn't rough like caves tend to be, it was smooth and elegant, one could feel hands of true craftsmen proudly calling from every tiny detail.

As they descended further, they could recognize small shapes on the flat roofs, moving around or working. There were creatures everywhere, on streets, roofs, houses… "Goblins…" Seth whispered. "They are all goblins…" He turned and looked at his friends. "Goblins build this…"

Ben was about to answer when Blurtius patted him on the shoulder. He whispered something to his ear, then pointed at Ola and Seth. Ben nodded and grinned. Then, still smiling, he turned to Seth and Ola. "Welcome to the Amber-City. Blurtius says, We are the first humans to ever see the Goblinfolk first metropolis."

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Finally, they reached the bottom. The movement stopped, and Blurtius gestured them to follow him.

As they walked through the streets, they began gathering more and more attention. At first, only small children goblins came by, curious to see who descended. But when they realized the visitors were not goblins, the children called out, yelped, and ran away, calling for everyone. Soon, everyone in earshot came to look, and as they moved, a bigger and bigger crowd of goblins surrounded them. They kept their space; no one wanted to come close to the humans, but they were curious. Most of the goblin-folk never saw humans. Rarely do goblins venture out of their city to see the violent races living above. Every goblin knows how fatal that can be. But now… the humans were in the city. What does that mean? Most of them knew Blurtius; he was a prominent scientist, after all. But why did he bring humans here? By evening, it would be the most discussed topic in the city.

When the crowd began counting in hundreds and dozens, Ben finally noticed how uncomfortable his two friends were. Ola's hands weren't quite casting any magic yet, but they were clearly close enough to start at the moment notice. Seth was similar. He was a bit more curious, watching the architecture around him, his mouth half open in wonder, but still, Ben saw how his gaze flickered to the closeby goblins and back, his hands lightly brushing his coat on places Ben knew he had hidden knives.

Ben signed and raised his voice. "Excuse me! Goblins!" Everything went quiet. The until now murmuring crowd stopped and openly stared at Ben. Did that human just speak in goblin?

"Could you please let us through?" Ben continued, "We are just trying to pass by and help Blurtius with something."

The goblins looked at Blurtius, who nodded gravely and snarled something. Goblin-folk murmured between each other, this was unexpected. That human could talk, and he was even polite. How strange for a human. Finally, goblins started moving away leaving the group by themselves. Neither Ola nor Seth said anything, but Ben could see how their shoulders lighten.

After a few more minutes of walking, they finally reached the building Blurtius led them towards. It wasn't particularly tall, like those around it, but it had much bigger windows, and more importantly, a lot more of those hanging connections led to it. They connected all the buildings, but this one had a lot more of these strings connected to the roof.

Another Goblin opened the door for them. Blurtius exchanged a few snarls with him and they were led inside.