Chapter 17 - The Horde

Leah, Gabriel, and Ibbi descended a long series of stone steps, each one worn smooth by time. Regal torches flickered along the walls, casting long shadows as they moved downwards into the depths.

Eventually, the stairs opened into a large cavern. A stone bridge stretched through the centre, spanning a deep chasm, leading straight towards a towering double door embedded into the cavern’s far wall. In front of the door stood a massive hobgoblin, hulking and motionless. It stood as tall as the doors behind it, muscles like boulders beneath its skin, a massive warhammer resting heavily in one hand.

As the trio approached, the hobgoblin’s eyes snapped open. Its deep voice echoed off the cavern walls.

"Intruders…"

Leah didn’t break stride. Her expression stayed calm. But Gabriel and Ibbi immediately darted forward.

Gabriel grinned darkly, his claws already extended. He leapt high into the air. As the hobgoblin swung its free hand to swat him like a fly, Gabriel deftly twisted midair, used its arm as a springboard, and launched himself straight at its face. His claws raked across the hobgoblin’s eyes, ripping them out in a spray of gore.

The massive creature bellowed, reeling in pain as it staggered back. Gabriel flipped away, landing nimbly on the bridge.

Ibbi came next. Her boots thundered against the stone as she sprinted forward with her great axe already raised. She ducked under the hobgoblin’s wild swing and, with a roar, brought her weapon crashing into its knee. The blade bit deep into flesh and bone, splitting the leg nearly in two.

The hobgoblin roared again, stumbled, and fell forward. It tried to steady itself with its warhammer but it was too late. Its massive form slammed into the bridge with a quake-like crash.

Without hesitation, Ibbi stepped besides its twitching head and raised her axe once more. Then, with a savage heave, she brought it down, severing the creature’s neck in a single blow. Blood sprayed out in great arcs across the stone as the head rolled free.

Leah, unfazed, floated forward annd upwards above the corpse and landed on the other side of it. Her tendrils whipped out, pressing against the double doors, and pushed them open with a slow, echoing groan.

She entered a circular chamber with a single platform in the middle. Atop the platform sat a black chest.

Leah walked up and opened it. Inside, nestled within velvet lining, were three crimson vials. A window blinked into view in front of her.

[SYSTEM MESSAGE]

'You have obtained (3) Greater Healing Elixirs'

Leah picked them up and tucked them inside her cloak. She nodded at Ibbi and Gabriel, and together they crossed to the far end of the chamber. A wide tunnel awaited, dimly lit and stretching into the dark. They walked through it in silence, the only sound their footsteps echoing off stone.

Then, ahead, a glow started appearing. As they neared the tunnel’s end, their eyes widened. Below them stretched a vast underground city. Tall stone buildings, ancient and weathered, filled a massive cavern.

They descended carefully, eyes scanning.

Gabriel narrowed his eyes. "Where are all the goblins?"

Leah replied calmly, "Most of them were sacrificed to power the golem. This was bound to be empty."

Once they reached the bottom, the silence was thick, almost reverent.

Gabriel gestured ahead. "I saw a tunnel at the far end while we were coming down."

Without another word, they began making their way through the city.

They moved through the centre, walking the wide road that split the stone buildings like a spine. Minutes passed, and Leah’s frown deepened. Her steps slowed.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"Why haven’t we seen any of the goblins?" she said aloud, more to herself than to the others. "Even with the sacrifices, I expected to see at least a couple of them running around."

The only response was the sound of boots scraping stone. But then, the air changed.

Leah’s body froze. Her skin prickled. Her hair rose.

Ibbi stumbled to a stop behind her, groaned, and collapsed to one knee. She dug her fingers into the cracked stone, teeth clenched. "The mana... it just got heavier. A lot heavier."

Leah turned sharply toward her, but her attention snagged on something else. The ground.

White markings were beginning to spiderweb across the stone. Her eyes swept outwards. Every building around them was sprouting the same glowing sigils.

Gabriel’s eyes narrowed. "That’s not good."

Leah’s voice turned sharp. "It’s a trap."

She immediately sprouted two tendrils and lashed them around Gabriel and Ibbi. Her wings burst from her back, and she launched into the air, dragging them with her.

As they soared higher, the city below blazed. The markings flared all at once, and the city below turned white.

Leah didn’t stop. She pushed towards the distant tunnel, but the ground erupted. A column of searing light shot upwards with a deafening boom.

Her instincts took over. She produced more tendrils and formed a thick crimson cocoon around all three of them. The light slammed into it, swallowing them whole.

A long moment passed, then silence.

The aftermath was a choking haze. Dust, frost, and debris spun through the air like ash after a fire. The blood cocoon, now turned white with frost, fell from the sky. It hit the ground with a sharp crack, and shattered.

Ibbi spilled out first, crashing into the frozen stone. Her body was trembling, and her left hand was gone, shattered clean off. Her skin was pale, and her gear was frosted over.

Gabriel rolled out next, his cloak frozen stiff across his shoulders. His teeth chattered, and his fingers were blue.

"That almost killed us." He muttered.

Ibbi staggered to her feet, swaying as she walked over. "Where’s Master?"

Gabriel scanned the wreckage, pushing aside shards of frozen blood. Then he finally found her.

Leah lay half-fused to the icy shell. Her lower half was gone, cauterized and frozen away. Her skin was pale with cold, and her hair white with frost.

Gabriel knelt and hovered a finger beneath her nose.

"She’s alive," he said, voice low. "Barely."

He began chipping away at the ice, gently trying to free her.

Ibbi’s eyes snapped towards the distance. Something moved in the fog of dust. Her hand reached for her axe.

Then suddenly, three arrows tore through the air.

Ibbi raised her broken arm and blocked them with a growl. She lowered it slowly, then saw them. Goblins in black cloaks moved like shadows across the ground. One dashed forward across the rubble, twin daggers gleaming. Others held crossbows in their hand.

Ibbi leapt back to Gabriel, who had slung Leah over his back.

Ibbi let her axe head fall to the ground with a heavy clunk. Her eyes gleamed with fury.

"Let’s break out of here quickly."

Gabriel gave her a nod.

Ibbi surged forward, her boots cracking against the frost-covered stone, with Gabriel darting close behind. The first two goblins closed in from the sides, with daggers drawn. With a snarl, Ibbi swung her axe in a wide arc, forcing the goblins to leap back to avoid being cleaved in half.

They didn’t stop running. They ran, rubble scattering beneath them as a group of goblins emerged from the right. Crossbows were already raised, and they instantly shot out a volley of arrows.

As Gabriel jerked left with Leah, Ibbi leapt in between, using her forearm and axe to deflect the bolts aimed for Gabriel.

Splinters cracked against her armour as she grunted, and then she turned left and ran after Gabriel again.

Three more goblins rushed out in front of Gabriel. They lunged at him with their daggers. He twisted backwards, slipping past one strike after another. But before he could counter, Ibbi came crashing in. Her axe roared through the air and cut clean through the trio of attackers, their bodies thudding to the ground before her.

The next wave of goblins was already approaching.

"Go!" Ibbi shouted, and they broke into a sprint again. Goblin snarls echoed through the cavern as dozens gave chase.

Ibbi’s and Gabriel’s boots scrambled across the fractured stone, leaping over collapsed pillars and chunks of debris. Ibbi glanced at Gabriel, her brow furrowed. "Where are we now?"

Gabriel panted. "I think… the city floor that we were on before caved in. We’re deeper in the dungeon."

As they swerved around another crumbled structure, Gabriel’s eyes locked onto a set of tunnels carved into the far wall. He jabbed a clawed finger. "There! Run!"

They darted for it, but halfway across, the shadows within the tunnels began to move. More cloaked goblins spilled out, fanning into formation with blades drawn.

They skidded to a stop. They cursed and changed course, veering left, and heading for another cluster of tunnels they spotted. But again, more goblins emerged out of them.

The whole cavern was alive now with motion. Cloaked goblins poured in from every direction, their numbers swelling into the hundreds, then thousands.

Ibbi and Gabriel turned again, the only path left leading to the centre of the cavern. But once they reached it, they stopped. They were surrounded.

As goblins closed in from every side, Ibbi dropped into a stance, her great axe raised beside her. Gabriel shifted Leah’s weight on his back and raised his claws, his gaze scanning every angle.

The goblins howled as they surged forward.

Ibbi bared her teeth. "Bring it, you bastards."

Gabriel’s smile returned, savage and sharp.

They braced themselves for the onslaught.