by Ben Walsh
Chapter Nineteen
By the time the rest of the group had warily made their way down to them, Stan had heard enough goblin screams to last him a lifetime. The boulder covering the rock was thicker than a dragon’s skin, yet still did nothing to mask the screams as Gordon the Gruesome set to work on his victims.
The mood was one of victory, and the air seemed to be brimming with happiness. Hugs and handshakes occurred, before Maximus cut across the chatter and laughter with a stark warning.
“We may have defeated the goblins,” he began, his bushy eyebrows frowning, “but we need to get this emerald to the bottom of the mountain, now! This was just a small wave of the goblin forces, and Gustavo will be getting closer with each second we waste playing nice up here,” he snapped, jabbing his staff towards Loose and Roxie who were giggling, arms around one another.
“He is right,” Ponch added, with a cautious wisdom, “we must leave at once.”
Quickly, the group gathered any strewn clothing or weapons, and began to set off back down the mountain.
Marvin and Stan found themselves at the back of the group, and Stan was shocked by the transformation in his friend, who was singing merrily to himself and anyone else who would listen.
“Oh, home to Oadford,
The Greatest Village of all,
We’ll fish and kites will fly,
We’ll make merry on pieeeeee,
Oh, home to Oadford,
The Major he will rejoice,
And when he sees our great prize
His Village will once more rise!”
On and on his singing went, until eventually Stan shrugged in surrender at Roxie, and joined in, loudly and triumphantly. Roxie laughed, teasingly barging Stan into a mound of dirt.
“Oh, home to Oadford,
The Greatest Village of all,
We’ll fish and kites will fly,
We’ll make merry on pieeeeee,
Oh, home to Oadford,
The Major he will rejoice,
And when he sees our great prize
His Village will once more rise!”
As Stan, Marvin and Roxie became more excited and joyful, other members of the group began to chime in.
“Think of that nice, cold ale, Loose!” Worgan cried gleefully.
“Think of the many, many cold ales my brother!” He replied, “you too Ponch,” he added, jokingly shoving the quiet leader of the group, “you’ll come and drink with us when we’re back?”
“Why, of course, my friend!” He replied, leading to a loud chorus of cheers from the three, who raised imaginary glasses to each other. Even Maximus was beginning to enjoy himself. What wasn’t there to love? The sun was beating down, they were returning home, where they would shortly become heroes.
“Oh, home to Oadford,
The Greatest Village of all,
We’ll fish and kites will fly,
We’ll make merry on pieeeeee,
Oh, home to Oadford,
The Major he will rejoice,
And when he sees our great prize
His Village will -
“NEVER, EVER RISE!” Interrupted a sinister, booming voice from behind them.
As one, the group spun round, withdrawing weapons and adopting stance poses. They formed a tight circle, with their backs to backs, ready to protect one another. Stan saw nothing but trees and rocks ahead of him, and from the confused murmuring of the group, sensed that no one could see anything.
“You think I am that easy to see?” The voice asked, laughing in a shrill, knowing manner. This time the voice came from to their right, and from the vast emptiness that leered beyond the edge of the cliff. Ponch hurried over to the edge of the cliff and crawled onto his stomach, peering over. He saw nothing, and turned his head back to the group and shook it, confused.
“Oh, my friend, I cannot fly! Only my voice can do that!” The voice continued, this time from the direction of the mountain and the terrifying entrance to Gordon’s lair.
A panicked hush descended over the group, who turned to one another in fear. Maximus grabbed Marvin and Stan’s shoulders and pulled them around, so that the group formed a circle of sorts.
“Listen to me,” Maximus whispered urgently, “this is the work of Gustavo. He is trying to scare us, stall us into waiting and doing nothing. It means he is not yet here, but he must be close.”
“What do we do?” Stan asked.
Maximus glanced over his shoulder, nervously.
“The only way up for Gustavo is up the same mountain path we were heading down, so he must be there,” he began, stumbling on his words for once as he sought for the right way to phrase his solution, “we.. we must enter Gordon’s lair. It is the only way.”
Silence fell upon the group.
“Well, if it’s the only way…”Loose started, trying to rally the troops, while looking at Maximus questioningly.
“It is, I am afraid,” Maximus answered, wearily, “now Ponch you lead, everyone else stay close to him. I will be at the rear, ready to duel Gustavo if needs must.”
There was hesitancy and uncertainty, until Maximus began dragging people towards the mountain’s peak.
They ran quickly, although they had no desire to reach their location. Stan thought of the last time he had made these very same steps, recalling how they had joked and teased and how he had hated Edgar for the mean things he’d say to Marvin. The thought brought tears to his eyes, and he had to brush them away with the palm of his grubby hand. It was as he did so, he noticed their wetness, which brought confusion, until he realised it was sweat. He was terrified. He was running into a dragon’s lair, as the alternative was an army of angry goblins. Of course he was terrified.
Before Stan realised what was happening, the group had arrived back at the cave, where he had been so recently. The cave was as dimly lit as ever, and the group hung around the outside, wanting anything other than to enter.
“Do we really need to go in,” Marvin asked, “only it seems daft when we don’t know for definite that the goblins are still chasing us?”
There seemed a general consensus of agreement, but moments later a loud roar came echoing from the distance, and a single goblin came into sight. The group recoiled and stepped back in fear, awaiting the sight of an entire army behind the sole goblin. However, it did not come. The goblin simply grew closer and closer, until Roxie stepped forwards with her bow and arrow, aimed, loaded and waited. She waited as the goblin drew closer still, until she could see the whites of its eyes. Then she killed it.
The group cheered as the goblin slumped to the floor, although they dare not relax. Their caution was justified, as moments later a huge number of figures became visible on the horizon. In the distance, a trumpet like noise could be heard, and this was followed by the sickening, stomach churning sound of pounding feet.
“Inside, hurry,” Maximus beckoned, “Stan, Marvin, “he shouted, pulling them towards him, “you know the lair better than any others. Navigate it! Find safety, and remember, dragons hate goblins, even more than they hate humans.”
With this, he turned away and began to walk out to greet the goblins.
“Wait,” Stan tried desperately to shout, “where are you going?” but his voice was lost amongst the panic. He was picked up by Worgan, and half dragged towards the great door.
The door was still ajar from their first visit, and one by one they slipped through. Enough stories to last a life time had occurred since Stan had last been here, but he still remembered the walls, and the mind-blowing quantity of gold.
Once everybody had squeezed through, he called them round, in the quietest, most subtle voice he could manage.
“Gordon will still be up there with the goblins we trapped in,” he began, jabbing a finger upwards, “so if we hide, he shouldn’t find us, not until the goblins from out there,” he continued, jabbing a finger out towards where he knew Maximus would be meeting the pack of angry, hungry goblins, “are in here, making a lot
of noise and being begged to be killed.”
“Sounds a good plan,” Loose replied, nodding his head, which the rest of the group joined in with, something Stan was grateful for, even though he knew it was only due to a lack of other ideas.
“But where will we hide?” Worgan asked, looking around in a combination of awe and fear at the stacks and stacks of gold surrounding him.
Stan turned to Marvin with a wry smile. Marvin was initially confused, but within moments he understood what was being said, and nodded, with a knowing smile.
“Well,” Stan began, putting his arm around Marvin’s shoulder, “I think we know just the place.