Chapter 9

There was some type of magical alarm built into the ground because as soon as we left the confines of the elevator, arrows came whizzing toward us.

We both hit the ground quickly.

“We’re under attack,” I spoke into the stone, then left it on the ground as I rolled toward Jamie, casting ‘Divine Armor’, which put protective shielding around us and bought us some time. I looked at Jamie and expected to see her frightened. She wasn’t. She was pissed. And she was holding up her orb.

“Acid Wave” she screamed, and sent a wave of acid in the direction where the arrows originated from.

It was overkill. The goblins (I assume they were goblins since nothing identifiable remained of them when we moved forward to investigate) were disintegrated.

“What if Ash was with them?”

Jamie’s face fell. Tears started welling up in her eyes.

“I-- I didn’t--” she started speaking.

“We don’t know. I doubt Ash was right there. We just have to be careful, babe, ok?”

She nodded, but I could still see that she was shaken a bit.

We got up and started to move cautiously further into the basement, or forest, or whatever it was. We passed by where Jamie had unleashed her spell, and there was no sign of Ash, which was a good thing. A distance back we heard some noise and stealthily approached.

It was a goblin, seriously wounded from the acid attack. I looked at him and met his eyes.

“She is ours.” He grunted at me.

I looked at Jamie with surprise written all across my face.

“You understood that?” she queried.

“Yes.” I understood Goblin. It was one of the languages I had chosen a long time ago. I never thought I would actually hear it spoken.

I looked back at the Goblin.

“I can make the pain go away.” I moved my hand to his body and he grabbed it and moved it quickly to his head, pressing my fingers against it. His grip was strong enough to keep it there.

Then I saw a vision. It was of Ash, dressed in a long, white dress, laying prone on some sort of sofa. She was unconscious. A solitary Goblin was sitting upon her, and a black horse was watching the Goblin, partially shrouded by some drapery.

The goblin let go of my hand, made a sound that was a cross between a laugh and a gurgle, and then died.

The lights started glowing brighter.

“Ten quatloos that the human named Jake does not survive.” This time it was Provider Three.

“Ten quatloos that the human named Ash does not survive,” said Provider Two.

A few seconds passed ... but an eternity for them.

“Bets accepted,” said Provider One.

“Where are you?” came the frantic call from Jake via the Sending Stone.

“We’re okay. We’re about 100 feet ahead of the elevator. Be careful. Ran into goblins.”

In a few moments, we heard a bird call that could only have been Raina. No one else would have gotten that close so quietly.

Jamie and I stood up and a couple of seconds later Raina revealed herself, just ten feet away. The bird call had come from a different location. She smiled, the whistled for the others, who moved up quickly.

Jamie and Raina and Sheila hugged while Guy, Jake, and I huddled up.

“We saw what happened,” said Jake, the understatement indicating he understood the overuse of force.

“More important. I saw Ash. In a vision. The dead goblin wanted me to see her. She seemed unharmed for the moment, though unconscious. She’s in some kind of room. I don’t think it is down here, though.”

We talked for a couple of more minutes, and then Raina dove for cover and yelled for the rest of us to do the same.

Just a brief second later dozens of arrows whizzed by us, crashing into nearby trees followed by spears, and then some lightning bolts. Guy had one graze the side of his body and howled. It appeared to do little damage, but, the effect it had on him was pronounced.

He got ... bigger. His muscles rippled. It reminded me a bit of the Incredible Hulk’s transformation, but nothing nearly that comical or severe. Guy just looked much more ... dangerous. And then it became obvious.

As a barbarian, he had “rage” powers, and when he raged, various things would happen to his character. Obviously, he was raging. This whole transformation from a role-playing game to real-life, or unreal-life, was bizarre.

Jake took charge.

“Raina, you and Guy flank from the left. Sheila and I will come in from the right. Jamie ... Frostburn. Bruce ... Purifying Fire. You first, then Jamie.”

Raina and Guy were already gone, and Jake and Sheila quickly followed, albeit in a different direction, going for the classic pincher movement.

I looked over at Jamie. “You ready?” She nodded.