Chapter 23: The Goblin Lair

The two, now invisible, warriors crept as silently as possible around the bend in the tunnel, leaving the soft glow of Gretel’s magically lit staff and stepping into the flickering torchlight which apparently marked the entrance of the goblins’ lair. Lexi’s heart hammered in her chest as a pair of goblins came into sight, remembering how her last encounter with the filthy creatures has resulted in a brush far too close to death for comfort. In her mind she had faith in the efficacy of Gretel’s spell. But, it did not seem that her brain could convince the rest of her body that this was the case.

Left foot ... right foot, came the internal commands, one after the other, forcing the paladin forward towards the pair of goblins guarding the entrance to the creatures’ lair. Samantha seemed unperturbed by the oddity of the situation, but such was her demeanor’s stoic facade that Lexi figured she would not have been able to tell if the monk were truly as scared as she was. Not that it mattered much at this point anyway. Gretel’s spell had less than a minute remaining, so the two warriors were — for better or worse — locked into this present course of action.

Coming into the torchlight, Lexi was again struck by how childlike the goblins appeared at first glance. Had she not known better, the silhouettes would have definitely given her the impression that she and the monk were coming across two small human boys, not adult monsters. However, it took only a glance at the pitiless pools of wickedness behind their eyes to recall the truth. These were assuredly not children, but were the vilest beasts she had yet to come across in this world — a fact supported by the cruelly curved black scimitars slung casually over each guard’s shoulder.

The goblins looked well at ease in their stations, each posted up on either side of the wide tunnel opening. They were conversing in low muttered tones with one another, in what Lexi realized with a start must be their own language. She caught words that sounded like “kiimas” and “plika,” but dared not hazard any guess as to what this meant other than that these two were already distracted, and would probably be less likely to notice the sneak attack she and Samantha were planning.

The two warriors crept silently between the conversing pair of goblins without making so much as the slightest sound. Lexi immediately peeled off to the right, circling behind the goblin on that side, while Samantha did the same thing in the other direction. Once in place, the girls got to work without wasting a single second.

Lexi, her sword already drawn, delivered a single powerful thrust, driving the tip directly into the back of the goblin’s neck. The blade slid cleanly through, the tip exiting the unsuspecting creature’s throat in a spray of crimson blood. His throat severed, the only sound the goblin made in its death throes was a hissing gurgle, as his last breath feebly escaped his dying lungs.

As the exact same moment that Lexi’s blade slid between the right-hand goblin’s vertebrae, Samantha clasped both of her fists together, raised them both over her head and delivered an immensely powerful hammer strike to the top of her goblin’s skull. The creature was dead before it hit the floor, the only sound being the soft thump of its limp and lifeless body hitting the stone. When Lexi glanced over to examine her partner’s work, she was more than a bit shocked to see that the goblin’s skull had actually been deformed into something that looked more like a smushed mushroom than a skull — such was the raw power in the monk’s corded muscles.

Just as the pair of goblin guards collectively expired, Gretel’s spell wore off, leaving the two female fighters now visible over their first respective kills of the quest. Beyond the point at which the guards had been stationed, Lexi spied a rough-hewn staircase cut into the stone, which appeared to lead down into a large open cavern, itself similarly lit by the dancing flickers of torches. However, light was not the only thing which the adventurers perceived emanating from the cavern. The unmistakable sounds of flesh slapping against flesh, groans of male pleasure, and soft cries of female distress echoed up the stone staircase to reach their ears.

“Alright team,” Lexi whispered to her two companions. “I think we all know what we’re likely to find at the bottom of that staircase.”

The monk and mage eyed each other nervously, but steeled their resolves and nodded briskly to their leader in assent. Lexi continued, “The good news is that I think I can make out two different female voices. So, unless these filth just happen to have some other girl that they’ve kidnapped, this probably means that both Lady Eschenbach and Hilda are alive.”

“Although,” Gretel said with a shudder, remembering the horror of her own cruel rape at the hands of goblins. “They might be pretty close to the end by now. It’s been hours since the attack.”

Samantha’s eyes went wide as saucers, as the naive monk realized what exactly the goblins lad likely been doing with their captives for the past several hours. A wave of nausea passed over the monk, but she suppressed it with a slow, deep breath, intent that she would not fail either her companions or the hostages in this first quest of hers.

“That’s right,” Lexi said with a nod. “There’s a really good chance that any living hostages are going to need medic ... er... healing before we can get them out of there. Gretel, you’ve already used three spells so far to help us out. How many do you have left?”

“Two,” the mage replied, making a V sign with her index and forefinger.

“Anything offensive in your repertoire?”

“Actually, yes. I was hoping to get the chance to try out one of those, since that’s not the kind of thing you can really practice with.”

“Good,” Lexi nodded, clapping the mage on the back. “We don’t know exactly what we’re going to find down there, but as soon as we hit the bottom of the staircase, we’re going to have to move. Since Samantha and I are at full strength, I think we should go in first, and tackle the highest priority targets. That’ll leave you, Gretel, at the rear to clean up whatever else is left with whatever offensive spell you’ve got up your sleeve.”

“I approve of this plan,” Samantha said in her now familiar clipped and formal manner of speaking.