“It is made mostly of goblins,” Fyron says, “but our goblin camp accepts all races, as long as they follow our rules, and pay the yearly tribute.”
“And how much is the yearly tribute?” the minotaur asks.
“It depends,” Fyron says. “On average, it is about one copper piece for each goblin.”
“Per year?” the minotaur asks, somewhat surprised.
“Per year,” Fyron says.
“And why is it that you are recruiting?” the minotaur asks. “Are you preparing for war?”
“That remains to be seen,” Fyron says. “For the moment, let’s just say that I like being cautious.”
The minotaur pauses for a bit, to consider the goblin’s words.
“We can negotiate the terms of your employment later, if you wish,” Fyron says. “The last thing I would want is to force you into this, by taking advantage of your current situation. All I want is your word that you will take my offer seriously, and that you will join me on my trip back to the goblin camp. I know how much minotaurs value honor, so as long as you give me your word, that is enough for me. We can discuss the details afterwards.”
“You are clearly a skilled diplomat, goblin,” the minotaur says. “You have a gift for finding the exact words that someone wants to hear, and you deliver them at just the right moment. Normally, my natural hatred for diplomats would make me not think twice before refusing your offer, but in this case, as you are well aware, I do not have much of a choice.”
He pauses again.
“Very well, general Fyron,” the minotaur says. “I give you my word. As long as you free me from here, I will accompany you to your goblin camp, and I will take your employment offer as seriously as I am able.”
“That is all I wanted to hear,” Fyron says, with a grin.
He then uses his staff to cast a spell on the panel outside the cell, which deactivates the paralysis spell, and opens the gate.
“How are you planning to get me out of these caverns?” the minotaur says, as he gets up from the ground and walks out of his cell.
“By using magic,” Fyron says. “It just so happens that Illuna and I are both rather adept at spell casting, and we both have the ability to teleport, within certain limitations.”
He then turns to Illuna.
“Illuna,” Fyron says. “Can you teleport the minotaur to the surface? As far as I know, your daily teleportation spell does not have a weight limit. Mine, on the other hand costs additional energy for every extra pound. I would rather you take the minotaur with you, since he is by far the heaviest of the group. I will be with you shortly, after I lead your friends to the secret passage I mentioned earlier.”
Illuna nods, and the goblin now turns towards the minotaur.
“Once you are on the surface, Illuna won’t be able to help you,” Fyron says. “Everyone in this city knows your face from the arena, so she can’t be seen fighting alongside you, unless she wants to get a criminal record. Don’t wait for us. As soon as you are out of the caverns, make a rush towards the city gates, smash right through them, and don’t stop until you reach the Mertram woods. We will meet you there.”
“I will be waiting,” the minotaur says.
“We should get going,” Illuna says, and she grabs the minotaur’s hand, in order to get ready for teleportation.
She gives us all one last look, stopping her gaze for a few seconds when her eyes meet mine.
“Don’t die,” she tells me, simply.
“I won’t,” I say.
She then casts her teleportation spell, and both her and the minotaur disappear from our sight.
“This way!” Fyron says, as he goes back the way we came from.
He then stops by a wall, and he taps it lightly three times with his staff, causing a secret door to open up, and to reveal a hidden passage.
“This tunnel will lead you back to the upper levels,” Fyron says. “I trust that you will be able to find your way back to your cells from there.”
“We’ll manage,” I say.
“I think I should also mention that the tunnel can only be opened from this side,” Fyron says. “Once you enter it, you won’t be able to go back.”
The goblin then turns to Leila.
“As far as I know,” he says, “Barry is required to return to his cell, unless he wants to get disqualified from the mage tournament. You, however, are bound by no such rules. If you want, I could give you a lift. There is enough energy in my staff remaining to teleport one extra person.”
“Thank you,” Leila writes, “but I’m fine. I will take the tunnel.”
“Are you sure?” the goblin asks. “I promise that I won’t charge you… much.”
“I’m positive,” Leila writes.
“Very well, then,” Fyron says, as he readies his staff, and he signals the tiger to come near him.
“Oh, there was one last thing I wanted to tell you,” Fyron says, as he looks towards me. “A few days ago, four goblins that I’d exiled from my camp came back, with the two copper pieces that they required in order to pay the yearly tribute. When I asked them where they got the money from, they said that they got it from a scrawny human, who was travelling with a dark-skinned warrior dressed in heavy armor, and with two other women. They also said that the warrior had an ‘X’ shaped scar on his forehead. Since the warrior they were talking about is clearly the healer in armor, I can only assume that the scrawny human was you?”
“Yeah, that was me,” I say.
“Hmm…” Fyron says, giving me a curious look for a few seconds. “Well, the four goblins said that they were very eager to meet you again, so if you ever find your way into our goblin camp, be sure to drop by their house. I’m certain that they will be of help to you in one way or another.”
“Sure thing,” I say. “If I ever have business there, I will pay them a visit.”
Fyron nods, and he prepares to cast his teleportation spell.
“I wish you both luck,” the goblin says. “Next time we meet, I hope it will be under better circumstances.”
He then casts his spell, and he vanishes into thin air, alongside the tiger. Leila and I waste no time, and we enter the secret tunnel, as the door shuts itself behind us.
“You have some very… unique friends,” Leila writes, smiling, as we walk through the dark corridor.
“You can say that again…” I tell her.
“I never thought that I’d ever travel in the company of so many monsters,” Leila writes. “At least, not unless I’d been captured by them.”
“To be fair,” I say. “I wasn’t expecting the goblin, either. But I guess that seeing a goblin is far less shocking than seeing two banshees on the same day.”
I pause for a few seconds, and then I change the subject.
“So, uh… why didn’t you accept the goblin’s offer, earlier?” I ask her. “Is it because you didn’t trust him?”
“Oh, no, it’s not that,” Leila writes. “It’s just that I never intended to break out of here.”
“Why not?” I say. “Couldn’t you just run past all the guards in the city, now that your wounds are healed?”
Leila shakes her head.
“The lessathi that framed my father are watching me carefully,” she writes. “As long as I survive the arena, the charges against me will be dropped, and they won’t be able to touch me, but if I escape illegally, they will use all of the means at their disposal to hunt me down. I would never make it to the city gates alive.”
“You are saying that you’d rather fight the creatures from the arena,” I say, “than have a direct confrontation with the lessathi from this city?”
“Yes,” Leila writes. “The lessathi have powerful artifacts that allow them to use magic, similar to the staff that the goblin general was using. At least in the arena nobody is allowed to use magic, so as long as I have my stat device, I can stand a chance.”
“Yeah, I guess I see your point,” I say. “Speaking of stat devices, I
think we should pull them out to light this place up a bit. The goblin did say that there might be traps around here, so we should watch our step.”
We walk down the dark tunnel for a few minutes, carefully checking every step of the way for traps, or enemy ambushes. As we step into a larger area, lit by the glowing blue crystals that we’ve seen before, we realize that all of our efforts to spot hidden ambushes have been wasted, because the enemy was waiting for us here, in this very room, without making any effort at hiding themselves.
A single troll stands between us and freedom. Unfortunately for us, it is the troll that we would have wanted to meet the least. It is the one that we managed to avoid earlier, thanks to Illuna’s golden cage spell. However, Illuna is not here now, and our chances of survival are looking slim.
The bulky troll grins triumphantly at us, like before, and he announces his presence by speaking as loudly as possible.
“Did you really think that you could get away that easily, after all you’ve done?” the troll says. “Unfortunately for you, the existence of this passage was never a secret to us. As soon as you triggered the alarm by freeing the minotaur from his cell, I knew at once that you would try to use this tunnel to escape! Now tell me, where is the minotaur?”
“He’s gone,” I tell him. “He teleported away with our friends. I doubt you’ll ever see him again.”
“You are lying!” the troll shouts, furiously. “You would have never went through the trouble of navigating the maze, if you could have just teleported in and out at your leisure. And if your friends really did teleport out of here, then they would have surely taken you with them. If you’re not going to tell me where the minotaur is, then I will just have to walk over your dead bodies, and search for him myself. You should know by now that you stand no chance against me. If you want this to be over quickly, then don’t move. I will be sure to grant you a merciful death.”
“That will not be necessary, Velgos,” we hear a voice coming from behind the troll.
The man who spoke shows himself to us, and we see that he is rather plump, with short black hair and a goatee, wearing clothes that appear to be made entirely out of silk. The way he looks and dresses would normally make me peg him as a noble, if it weren’t for the look in his eyes, which is similar to that of the goblin general’s. That look makes him seem more like a war veteran that has seen many battles in his lifetime, than a pampered rich person who’s lived his life in luxury.
“But, owner,” Velgos, the troll says, “these are the intruders who came here to free the minotaur! We need to eliminate them quick, before they let him escape to the surface!”
“The minotaur is already gone,” the man says. “I saw him teleport out of here with my own eyes. There is nothing else for you to do here. Return to your post.”
“I refuse!” Velgos says, baring his teeth at his master. “They are responsible for the deaths of many of my comrades. I am not going to let them go.”
“I’m not telling you to let them go,” the owner says. “I am only asking you to postpone your fight with them until the second round of the arena event. The minotaur is gone, and you are the only warrior we have who is on par with him, combat-wise. I will pay you handsomely if you join the fights in the arena, and you will also have your chance to avenge your fallen comrades, since these two will be participating in the fights. Wouldn’t that be a better alternative for you than to lose your job needlessly because you lacked patience?”
The troll grumbles, but he does not seem like he wants to continue the argument.
“They’d better not get killed by the creatures in the first round,” Velgos says, as he points towards us. “I want to kill them myself!”
“I wouldn’t worry too much about that,” the owner says. “I’d say that they have very good chances of making it to the second round alive, based on what I’ve seen so far. Now, get going. I need to lead our guests back to their cells.”
“Fine,” Velgos says. “We’ll discuss my payment later.”
With these final words, the troll walks away from us, and he disappears into the darkness of the caverns.
“You’re going to lead us back to our cells?” I ask the owner. “Not that I’m complaining, but aren’t you the arena’s owner? Why would you let us go so easily?”
“I’m not letting you go,” the owner says, as he knocks on one of the walls, and a secret door opens in front of him. “I simply think that it would be a great waste if the stars of the show got killed before the spectacle even started. Besides, it is well within your rights to come and sabotage the arena before the main event. In fact, I hear that this used to be something of a tradition before the still winter, when the lessathi were still in charge of this arena. It was even encouraged by the organizers. The secret trapdoor that led you from your cells to here is proof of that fact. Now, don’t just stand there, follow me. This tunnel will lead us to where we need to go.”
Leila and I exchange a look, and then we decide to follow the arena’s owner into the newly revealed secret tunnel.
“You know,” the owner says, as the door closes itself behind us, “I feel that I should thank you for the entertainment that you’ve provided me today.”
“You do?” I say.
“Yes,” the owner says. “It is not every day that you get to see Illuna of the sacred woods massacre, Arraka of the still winter and general Fyron of the free goblins wreak havoc through a monster filled dungeon. I realize that you weren’t the ones who brought them here, but I would never have found out about them, if I hadn’t followed the two of you since you fell into that lake.”
“You’ve been following us from the very beginning?” I ask him, shocked.
“Yes,” the owner says. “There is an ancient alarm system that has been set up since the age of the lessathi, meant to warn me if anyone triggers the trap from the arena cells. I found you while you were drying up by the fire, and I have been following you from afar ever since.”
“But how did you manage to remain undetected?” I ask him. “We even had Arraka with us, who could detect invisible enemies.”
“Your goblin friend is not the only one who knows about secret tunnels,” the owner says. “Over the years, I have built many such hidden corridors throughout these caverns, and I’ve had them covered with seredium dust, in order to make sure that I cannot be detected while I walk through them. I’ve also had an illusionist cast a spell on all the walls, which makes it so that you can see through them from inside the hidden tunnels, but not from the outside. This allowed me to watch the events unfold, without giving myself away.”
“So,” I say, “you’ve just been watching all this time, instead of stopping us? Why?”
“Because the show has already started,” the owner says. “I already told you, it is an old tradition of these arenas to have intruders attempting to sabotage the event, and I was not about to stop this from happening, when it was the first time that I’d seen any participants make it this far since I’ve inherited this arena from my late father. I only stopped the troll from killing you because I am expecting great things from you during the main event.”
“Why from us?” I say. “Why not from any of the other gladiators?”
“Because the two of you are the only ones using stat devices,” the owner says.
“Oh…” I say, not knowing exactly how to respond to this.
“Like I said, you are the stars of the show,” the owner says. “I’ve even had one of the high ranking lessathi tell me that I would lose my job if I didn’t confiscate the lessathi girl’s device. But why would I? I’ve already decided that this is to be the crowning moment of my career. I do not care what happens afterwards. All I want is for this one show to be perfect. And you are both going to help me achieve my dream.”
We make it out of the tunnel, and we find ourselves in a familiar setting, with a wooden cabin in front of us, and a lake further beyond.
“I don’t know if you’ve noticed or not,” the own
er says, “but beneath the lake that the two of you fell in, there is an old elevator, built by the lessathi hundreds of years ago. The elevator can only be activated with a spider shaped key that has been passed throughout my family for generations, but has never been used until now.”
He pulls a spider shaped statuette made from stone out of his pocket, and he hands it to me.
“The mechanism that requires this key is located at the bottom of the lake,” the owner says. “Simply insert the statuette into the spider shaped slot, and rotate it twice, in a clockwise direction. That should get the elevator going. Expect it to move a little slowly, though. It has not been used for centuries.”
I nod to him, and I jump into the water, with the statuette in my right hand. I tell Leila to wait for me by the shore, so I can come back for her once I’ve activated the elevator. After diving into the water, I head towards the spider shaped slot once more, and I do as the owner said, inserting the statuette into the hole and rotating it twice.
As I see the elevator start moving, I quickly swim back to the surface, and then all the way to Leila. She jumps into the water and grabs onto me, as I lead her right above the slowly elevating platform. Next, we wait in silence for a few minutes, while the platform gets out of the water and lifts us into the air, towards the ceiling. As we get close to the trapdoor that we initially fell through, the owner shouts his last words to us, from the lake’s shore.
“Remember that I have very high expectations from you!” the owner says. “Make sure that you do not let me down.”
Chapter 4
The trapdoor above us opens up, allowing the platform to slowly lift us through the thick layer of rock making up the cave’s ceiling. Once we get close to the height level of our division’s cells, a second trapdoor opens up, and the platform slows down to a halt, as we finally reach our destination. Almost immediately after it stops, the elevator changes its course, and it starts to descend back towards the lower levels. We jump off the platform and onto the cell’s floor, while the trapdoor closes itself back up, blocking the elevator from our view.
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