At the far end of this captivating chamber, the tunnel meandered into a gentle incline. The soft echoes of their footfalls dimmed as the tunnel opened into a vast expanse. As they approached the edge of a cliff, a breathtaking scene dawned.
The rough-hewn ceiling was as unreachable as the star-studded sky on a cloudless night. Below, a scattering of countless campfires shivered in the darkness, their orange glow twinkling like earthbound constellations.
As his eyes adjusted to the light and shadows, Sydney began to discern movement in the spaces between the fires. Misshapen creatures - even more numerous than the fires they tended - moved with an unsettling ease that reflected their comfort in this gloomy domain.
In the center of the cavern loomed the lord of this endless night. At the base of the towering conflagration, a cadre of goblins bustled about their unholy work. Their leathery hides glistened with sweat as they labored tirelessly to feed the insatiable appetite of the flames, heaving great logs onto the pyre, their muscles straining with effort, their dedication unwavering.
Others stood motionless before the great fire, staring into the heart of the blaze with reverent awe, as if in anticipation of some profound revelation.
Meanwhile, several goblins, caught in the throes of some dark ecstasy, writhed and cavorted before the towering inferno. Their bodies twisted in grotesque genuflections, bowing and scraping before the fire as though it were a deity made manifest, spewing guttural cries and feverish exhortations that reverberated off the cavern walls.
This infernal bonfire stretched upwards as though it aspired to bore through the stone and earth to invade the world above, conquering additional supplicants for its reign.
Though duskflint declined participation in this nightmarish spectacle, none was necessary to reveal a narrow, sloping path down the cliffs surrounding this ominous domain. It sprouted from a crude palisade which formed a semi-circle, its rough-hewn logs creating a makeshift prison. Just outside of it lay an enormous pile of firewood. Inside it sat a child.
Several tunnels branched off of this central cavern. None hinted at which led to salvation, or to certain doom.
“We’re trapped,” Riven said. “How are we going to get past them? And even if we could - which way do we go?”
Sydney considered the cavern, with its enormous bonfire and numerous fiery children. “Are you not able to motivate the flames to our cause, as before?” he asked.
Riven glanced at Aelfric and then at the fire, his face lighting up.
“Actually, I do have something that might just do the trick,” he said.
He knelt down, unshouldered his worn leather pack. Moments later, he produced three hollow wooden cylinders, each carefully filled with a fine, exotic powder and bound together with simple twine. They were slender and precise, no longer than a man’s hand.
“May I borrow your bow?” he asked Aelfric.
Aelfric blinked, as if suddenly remembering the bow slung across his chest. He unstrapped it and handed it over along with a few arrows from his quiver. “Take it,” he said with a shrug. “It’s not much use to me, anyway.”
Riven took three arrows and fastened the cylinders to them. Sydney looked on, fascinated.
“That will not make it any easier to hit your mark,” Sydney said.
“Then it’s a good thing that my target is that big fire,” Riven said, a mischievous glint in his eye.
Below them, the cavern seethed with a kind of subdued, simmering chaos. Goblins scurried about for firewood. Some huddled around spits, turning the charred remains of some poor creature from the deep. Nearby, a pair of feistier ones erupted into a sudden, violent scuffle over a claim to a trinket almost certainly pilfered from above. As they wrestled around, dangerously close to a campfire, a third goblin picked up the disputed item. The act did not go unnoticed, and soon the cavern was alive with a second, equally feverish skirmish.
Riven stood and aimed at the dominant blaze. He fired.
At first, the towering bonfire absorbed Riven’s assembled contraption with little consequence. Colorful, benign sparks pirouetted like incandescent butterflies, spiraling up the column towards the stone sky. Many of the goblins stood gasping in reverent awe of their deity’s blessing.
And then, the outburst began.
Shrieking, scorching blasts launched in every direction, ricocheting off of the walls, ceiling, and several goblins. The bonfire crackled and thundered as it raged uncontrollably, bursting forth in random directions to swallow everything in its path. Terrified goblins stampeded mindlessly, trampling their kin and plunging through smaller fires in their desperation to escape the deafening, infernal retribution.
Their god was angry.
Riven fired two more arrows into the raging, tempestuous conflagration.
Goblins, wreathed in flame, careened into their brethren, spreading the conflagration like a plague. Some ran down the tunnels screaming, their burning bodies lighting their way. It was pandemonium.
Riven turned to Sydney. “Now’s the time.”
The surrounding mayhem masked their movements as they crept down the coiling path. The frenzied goblins, consumed by their own terror, remained ignorant of the intruders. Approaching the base of the path, Sydney made out the entrance to the palisade, near the woodpile. Sneaking over to the considerable stack of lumber and glancing around, he did not notice any guards. He quickly slipped inside. There, he saw the little girl.
“Hello, my name is Sydney. I’ve come to take you home.”
The little girl had long brown hair and a face dirty from tears and cave dust. She gazed at Sydney with a mixture of curiosity and hesitation, as if deciding whether this one-eyed stranger was friend or foe.
“I’m Jasmine.”
“Are you hurt?” Sydney asked.
Jasmine slowly shook her head from side to side.
Aelfric had entered the palisade. Jasmine watched the older child intently. Riven struggled to squeeze inside. Able to peek through a crack in-between two stakes, Sydney perceived no evidence that their intrusion had been noticed, which was good, considering that they had just voluntarily entered a cell.
“Do you remember which way they brought you?” Sydney asked. The girl nodded.
Sydney cast a hopeful glance at the others. He offered Jasmine his hand. “Here, come with me where we can see and point which way you came.”
She took his hand.
As they approached the palisade entrance, a loud thud reverberated through the barricade. Sydney saw that a goblin had crashed into the barrier and collapsed between it and the woodpile.
The goblin was on fire.
Sydney crept closer to the entrance, his good eye squinting as he spotted a band of six goblins gathered nearby, looking in their direction. One pointed, but whether at the burning goblin or the palisade itself, Sydney couldn’t tell.
Flames appeared underneath the stockade.
The girl instinctively stepped back but immediately found the cold stone wall. Riven and Aelfric moved in closer, their presence a small comfort in the encroaching peril.
“Steel yourselves. The enemy approaches,” Sydney said.
The air grew thick with tension and the acrid stench of smoke. Sydney’s blade sang as he unsheathed it. He hugged the palisade, the moment intensifying as the goblins and the flames drew nearer. Across the narrow entrance, Riven matched his stance, his knuckles white as he gripped his quarterstaff, the spark of mischief in his eyes replaced by grim determination. Aelfric drew his dagger and stood protectively beside the girl, ready to meet whatever came through the smoke and shadows.
The lead goblin pushed through the opening, but before he could register what lay before him, Sydney’s blade flashed in the dim light, slicing clean through his neck. The goblin’s head tumbled to the ground. His body crumpled a heartbeat later. The sight of this brought the advancing horde stumbling to a halt. Seizing the moment of confusion, Riven struck, his quarterstaff connecting with a satisfying crack against the nearest goblin’s skull. The creature collapsed in a heap, limbs twitching, life already draining from its eyes.
The remaining goblins backed away. They looked at each-other hesitantly, gnarled fingers tightening around the worn handles of their crude weaponry. Hand axes glinted dully in the flickering firelight, while morning stars bristled with malevolent spikes, pining for the taste of flesh and bone. One of them, apparently the leader, barked at the others in their guttural tongue.
Sydney watched in horror as the commanding goblin approached a nearby campfire and, without hesitation, plunged his gnarled hand into the flames, emerging with a smoldering log clutched in his calloused grip. The firelight danced across his mottled skin, casting grotesque shadows that seemed to writhe with a life of their own. A triumphant cackle erupted from his throat as he raised the burning log high, beckoning his comrades to follow his lead.
“They are going to burn us alive,” Sydney said.
He glanced between the two children and Riven, his face calm even as his eyes flickered with concern.
Sydney turned to Jasmine, his tone more measured now. “Do you remember which tunnel you came out of?”
The girl nodded, her expression steely with determination. “Yes.”
Sydney waved her over to the palisade entrance. “Show me.”
Jasmine came over and pointed to a tunnel not far from where they were.
In the distance, furious execrations still blared from the wrathful god. The majority of the goblins had scurried into the tunnels in search of shelter, though many lingered in the cavern. The ones nearby approached the palisade with burning logs, intent on spreading the blaze.
As the closest goblin bent down to bestow his smoldering gift, Sydney emerged, cutting the offending arm off of his body while bolting for Jasmine’s tunnel. The maimed creature, now bereft of both torch and appendage, unleashed a blood-curdling shriek that pierced the smoky air. Aelfric followed with the girl, Riven behind them.
The agonized wails of the mutilated goblin rang out across the cavern, drawing the attention of its distant brethren. Their beady eyes turned towards the commotion, catching sight of the intruders. Seized by a collective bloodlust, they gave chase with a fervor that belied their stunted forms.
Aelfric’s torch lit the way as he and Sydney dashed into the labyrinth. Seeing Jasmine falling behind, Riven swept her into his arms, hoisting her upon his back. Invigorated by his precious cargo, he hastened to rejoin his companions, the echoes of grotesque grunts growing louder behind them.
The twisting tunnel writhed before them like a serpent caught in the throes of madness, its walls slick with the perspiration of ancient stone. The rhythm of scrabbling claws and guttural cries spurred them onwards. With a sudden lurch, the tunnel began to climb, its floor tilting upward as if reaching for some distant, unseen light. Sydney’s heart skipped a beat as he narrowly avoided colliding with a tacky, stringy mesh attached to the entrance of a large chamber.
The torchlight shimmered across the silken strand. Sydney’s gaze traveled upward, following the delicate architecture only to find that the ceiling of the chamber lay hidden in a cloak of impenetrable darkness, as though the vastness of space hovered over them - an endless abyss ready to swallow them whole.
Behind them, Riven labored to catch his breath. He set Jasmine on the ground and guided her through the treacherous passage before squeezing through it himself, fragments of silk clinging to his clothes like ghostly fingers.
Turning to scan their surroundings, Riven’s eyes widened with a mix of wonder and trepidation.
“That’s an arachnid web,” he said between breaths.
Within seconds, angry firebrands and frenzied commotion signaled the arrival of their pursuers. The goblin in the lead charged through the cavern opening with torch in one hand and dirk in the other - or he would have, had he not barreled heedlessly into the web. The adhesive strings stretched towards them as they engulfed him in the center and then snapped back into place, swaying slightly. The pitiful, confused scoundrel dropped his torch and struggled in vain to free himself but merely succeeded in causing his trap to tremble along with him.
Suddenly, a huge hairy creature descended onto the quivering netting. Several pairs of appendages dexterously spun the sticky mass as the captured morsel disappeared into the spherical mesh. The cocoon swelled, pulsing obscenely as muffled shrieks grew ever fainter within. Seeing the fate of their comrade, the goblins dropped their weapons and bolted in the other direction.
Realizing the wisdom of goblins, Sydney took Aelfric by the hand and raced down the chamber, dodging stalagmites in the swinging torchlight. Riven followed with Jasmine on his back. Looking behind him, he glimpsed that the preposterously large spider had finished crafting its project and turned to find its next meal escaping. The monster gave chase, its scuttling appendages deftly navigating the stony pillars.
Hope flickered as Aelfric’s torch disappeared into the mouth of another passage, sloping sharply upward. Riven’s lungs burned as he dashed uphill. Not being able to resist, he stole another glance behind. The seething, horned, hairy abomination spun towards him, its eight legs absurdly scurrying on the entire perimeter of the subterranean corridor.
Up ahead, the tunnel turned yet again, its slope now a gentle incline. And while the flatter surface eased their gait, Sydney noticed that the passage constricted around them like the coils of a stone serpent. At the same time, an opening appeared in the distance. He led the charge through this suffocating artery of the earth, hope and despair increasing with every step.
He burst from the tunnel like a cork from a bottle. Aelfric followed immediately. Not much later, Jasmine slipped from Riven’s back, her tiny feet finding solid ground once more. But as the others tasted freedom, Riven found only the stone’s unyielding embrace. He struggled against the tunnel’s grasp, panic rising in his throat like bile, the spider’s chittering echoing behind him.
With grim determination, Sydney ran to Riven and grabbed his outstretched hands. Aelfric followed suit and they pulled with all their strength, muscles straining against the tunnel’s possessive hold. But it was in vain - Riven’s burly form remained a prisoner of the earth. He felt the vibrations of his approaching death in the stones that trapped him.
Jasmine came over, and with eyes glistening from unshed tears, wrapped her arms around his broad shoulder and pulled with all the might that her small frame could muster. Inspired by this, Riven pushed forward, willing to leave pieces of himself behind if it meant escape. The party grunted and strained, then, with a sound like tearing cloth, Riven burst free. He tumbled forward, bringing his companions down with him in a tangle of limbs and relief.
They watched the tunnel opening with bated breath. Surely it would not accommodate so large a creature. Their hearts pounded so fiercely they threatened to crack ribs. A thick silence hung in the air like the moment before the storm breaks.
And then, it broke.
The spider tore into the tunnel’s mouth like a birth gone horribly wrong. Chitinous legs, almost as thick as a man’s torso, scrabbled at the stone with a sound like nails on slate. Its maw, lined with daggers of bone, gnashed and frothed mere feet from where they lay.
Standing, Sydney drew his sword. The spider’s legs - the ones on this side of the tunnel - struggled to find purchase. They flailed at him with the supple elegance of a puppet with cut strings. Yet, even in their chaos, they played a melody of death. Sydney knew the tune well.
He struck, his sword a silver blur in the gloom. He aimed at a joint in the creature’s legs. But his vision betrayed him; the weapon skittered off of the creature like a leaf on stone. It only served to irritate the bucking monster. The earth groaned in protest, loosing a rain of pebbles from above.
Undaunted, Sydney prepared to strike again. But the creature, possessed of a sinister intelligence, snapped at him from both sides. Its legs became pincers, seeking to drag him into the churning maw that promised only oblivion.
Seeing this and clutching his quarterstaff, Riven gazed at the monster, its eyes reflecting nothing but the darkness from whence they came. As Sydney was being dragged towards its throbbing jaws, Riven swung at one of its eyes, whacking it smartly in the twitching orifice. The sound that followed was like the groan of a mountain, low and miserable, precipitating yet another shower of stones.
Suddenly free from the abomination’s grasp, and appraising the value of this strategy, Sydney tossed caution to the wind, and with a mighty leaping swing, buried his sword into another one of the monster’s fathomless eyes.
The spider recoiled, hissing venomously, its disoriented limbs flailing in confusion. In that split-second, Sydney seized the opportunity, rolling away from the fuming, spitting monstrosity. The spider lurched forward, its rage undiminished. The cave trembled in protest as onyx appendages strained to tear through the inadequate opening.
But the stony prison held fast.
Sensing the futility of its efforts, the monster let out one final, hate-filled screech before grudgingly retreating into its shadowy lair.
Hi Aiden! Very 'Sam and Frodo gaze into Mordor' vibes from the opening. Spooky!
I had a little trouble getting back into it at first, as after a week and varied other reading in between I forgot some details, like, what was special about the chamber, or who is duskflint and why doesn't he want to participate?
Up to you how much you want to pander to an old man's memory, but it might pay off to consider the effects of serializing on the work, and either append a summary up front, or re-read the transitions. The 'this' in the opening line has no clear referent, for example.
That aside, an exciting get-away.
I'm curious how far they are from human settlement now. The poor town at the edge of the woods probably doesn't know the terrors that lurk beneath! Perhaps that's where Jasmine is from, but I suspect she has a larger role to play.
It was interesting to see the druid turn to powders and such, rather than an incantation. Clearly there's fairies and such magic in your world, but Riven's skills seem a mix of natural knowledge with just a bit of mysticism.
Now that they have a chance to catch their breath, I expect it time to chart a course to the city of the elves, however far and harrowing a trek that ends up.