The Savage Caves - Chapter 10
Naull kept close to Regdar as they entered the cave, their footsteps echoing off the natural stone walls surrounding them. Backlit by the morning light, their shadows were long and strange - shifting, undefined forms that danced before them. Even before they reached the darkened drop down, the young mage could see that the slope before their group was just as steep as the hill had been tall; natural rock stretched out in a long, winding tunnel that seemed to veer off with no discernible pattern. “Oh, this is going to be a trip,” Regdar said in front of her, holding his hand out to stop the woman from moving past as he stopped. “The drop off is steep - we’ll need to go slow and be careful. Otherwise,” he kicked a small loose rock by his foot. It tumbled down, careening off the floor and continuing its drop further into nothingness.
They stood listening to it as it clattered. Soon Naull couldn’t hear it at all.
“It must,” Regdar started but Lidda held her hand up to silence him.
She strained forward, right beside Naull’s leg. “It’s still falling.”
“How can you be sure?” Jozan asked, shifting his light away when Lidda turned and nearly blinded herself with the direct beam. The priest had shuttered his hooded lantern and the metal slats focused the light from it into a single stream of white-yellow light.
“Agh, light, please.” She shook her head, responding to Regdar’s question. “It’s a halfling thing.”
“There, it stopped. Now, don’t think I’m an expert but I would guess it fell more than a hundred feet.” She pulled back, thinking. “I’m going to guess it bounced maybe…three times before it hit?”
“Then we need to be very careful,” Naull said. “My magic is potent but it can’t save us from a hundred foot fall.”
“No spell to turn us all into birds?” Lidda teased.
“Not quite birds, no,” Naul smiled in return. She didn’t mention what she could change into, though. Larktiss had taught her that shapechangers were often persecuted or accused of having lycanthropic blood. A dangerous accusation.
“You two didn’t bring any rope?” Lidda asked.
Jozan nodded. “It’s back with the horses, at the farm. Do you want to walk back to retrieve it?” The halfling shook her head quietly.
“Let’s go,” Regdar said. He shifted his boot down, slowly easing into the slope. He’d slung his shield onto his back as they’d entered the cave. Naull assumed he would need a free hand, just in case. The large man grabbed at the protruding rocks around him for stability, changing his grip several times and began the descent. Small stones shifted where he stepped and then fell away, tumbling off into shadow. She followed, tucking her staff underneath her arm awkwardly as she tried to keep at least one hand free.
“Keep the light on me, Naull.” Regdar’s voice sounded strained and even more deep in the confined space. Naull would need to remember that if she cast a spell - it would reverberate throughout the place. Or if they needed to talk without everything living in the cave being made aware of it.
Everything, she mused. Now that’s an unnerving thought.
Ancient places deep beneath the ground could hold many things, she knew. Books had taught her much about the worth of stones and gems drawn up from the deep places in the Flanaess. Treasures of the dwarves, lairs of beasts long forgotten to the living world. There was no telling what they might stumble upon outside of spiders. As she thought of the creatures, her hand grazed a patch of webbing and she instinctively withdrew it. She lost her footing, opening her mouth to cry out. Regdar shifted back and she fell against his body with a gasp. His outstretched arm held them both, though she could see the stone dig into his hand. Her lantern swayed and the shifting light seemed almost hypnotic.
“I’m sorry.” She steadied herself, pushing off against the man’s armored back. He was such a solid figure. She felt that even if she’d thrown her entire weight into the man, easily a foot or more taller than she was, that he wouldn’t budge.
“Don’t worry Naull,” Lidda quipped. Her voice took on a strange, hollow sounding quality in the caves. “You’ve got a wall in front of you - you won’t fall.”
“Unless the wall does too,” Regdar added, his tone obviously joking.
“Let’s keep going, I’m okay.” Naull shook her head and urged Regdar on with a gentle hand on his shoulder. He nodded and they moved forward again. The webbing began sparsely; patches here and there, obviously not created by the massive spiders they’d seen but larger than Naull might’ve expected from normal spiders. But this changed quickly - the walls of the cavernous place were soon coated in the thick, sticky strands and they had to stop. The termination of the drop off, and where they’d found the stone, was a flat area with webs dangling above them. They formed several large funnel shapes and looked similar to a wasp’s nest, the young mage thought.
She realized that she’d never picked her preserved spider’s web after she’d fallen. She cursed under her breath.
“I-I’d like to collect some of this, if I can.”
“For what?” Lidda asked loudly, a short hissing noise from Jozan causing her to shrug and speak more quietly. “For what?” The halfling turned to look at Jozan, her face a mix of annoyance and resignation.
“There’s a spell that will let me duplicate a spider’s web but the component I need is spider’s web - preferably a fresh one.” The mage placed her lantern on the ground, on a relatively clear patch of rock. She reached down, now on more level ground, and pulled the small knife she used for herbs from her boot. Regdar raised an eyebrow.
“Just in case. You never know when you might stumble on something useful.” She said. He shrugged in response.
Naull moved forward, her boots sticking to the webs. She had to put effort into pulling her legs away and found a thick strand of the stuff. She leaned her staff against a wall. The chamber they’d come into was tall; maybe ten meters high and it had several tunnel-like exits. Each had webbing coating it but not covering the entrance - so things could skitter and move through easily, Naull thought. It was difficult to gauge how far back the walls stretched, so thoroughly covered the place was in webs. She cut a strand of the silk and looked up, realizing that she was directly underneath one of the funnels. She admired the intricacy of the creature’s designs. The woven silk was beautiful. It reminded Naull of a basket that she’d seen visitors give as a payment to Larktiss for spell services. She’d thought it was a gift at the time. She was young. The lattice of the cocoon-like structures folded in on itself and had a rather wide opening; large enough that Lidda might be able to crawl inside of it. Small hairs on the back of her neck stood up. The light from the lanterns seemed to shift the deep shadows within and she suddenly felt unsafe standing beneath it. There was a deeper black at the back of the funnel, at least from what her limited vision could see. It might be a hole leading up - or a massive spider leering down, readying itself to pounce. She hurriedly moved away from it.
“Are you alright?” Regdar asked. She looked up into his brown eyes, filled with concern and nodded.
“Absolutely. I just thought better about, you know, tempting anything in the funnel web.” She smiled. Taking the clipping of the web, she wrapped it into a small cone and placed it inside of her component pouch. She’d need the proper tools and setting to preserve it, allowing her to use it multiple times before the item lost potency and the spell’s effect would consume it. Magic, as she’d so often been told, rarely comes with no price.
Balance in the universe, Larktiss’ voice rang out in her mind as a memory. She nodded to herself.
Regdar had turned to Naull, who bent to gather the lantern. It was stuck despite her best efforts to ensure it wasn’t touching any webbing. And she had to put weight behind lifting it up, the bottom now trailing strands of the incredibly sticky stuff. She looked at her staff and sighed deeply. Regdar looked as if he was going to say something when Lidda silenced him. The halfling’s sword was in her hand, and she strained to hear.
“There’s something moving,” she pointed to one of the exits in the chamber. A hole barely large enough for Regdar to move through. “Over there.” She shifted her blade to face it and Regdar held his sword out, at the ready. Jozan shifted behind Naull, coming around to her left side and holding his mace and the lantern out.
“If it’s just one spider we may be able to scare it off with the fire.” He said.
“If it’s just one-,” Regdar looked up at one of the funnel webs above them and cursed loudly. A spider scuttled out of the darkness shrouded webbing, dropping to the floor so fast that the surprised warrior barely had time to lift his sword up as a shield. There was a whistling hiss from the spider and it lunged over the feeble block, fangs scraping against the man’s heavy armor as he tumbled back from the force.
Lidda shouted, drawing Naull’s attention. “There’s way more than one!”
From three of the exits in the chamber, spiders crawled forth. They padded across the webbing without issue, climbing the walls and hissing at the intruders in their home. Naull turned just in time to see a spider lunge at her; black chitinous fangs reaching out like wicked barbs. She threw herself back, landing hard on the stone and cursed as she dropped the lantern. The glass shattered as it struck the floor and the light inside went out immediately. The room was now partially lit by Jozan’s own lantern, which shifted and lurched as he dodged two spiders - shadows melted and twisted around them as they fought. Naull looked to where Lidda was and the halfling had backed into a corner. It looked like she was trying to make herself as small as possible and for a moment Naull thought to rush to her side. She looked terrified.
Regdar screamed. The spider had shifted to the side and sank its fangs into an unprotected gap in his thigh. He roared, sounding painfully loud in the confined space, bringing his bastard sword around in a short downward cut that bisected the creature. It was like the weapon met no resistance as it cut cleanly through. The blade trailed blue, goopy blood as he whirled around and jumped towards Jozan. The spider, in two pieces, vainly shifted its legs and curled in on itself as its mouth parts continued to gnash at the air. Then it went still.
Naull looked up and watched another spider on the ceiling move around, as if trying to find a proper vantage point. It scuttled back and forth, watching her with its eight eyes and suddenly dropped from the ceiling. It turned midair, flipping to land on her. She tried to move but wasn’t fast enough. The spider collided with her and knocked the woman to the ground, even though it felt incredibly light. Its back legs shifted and it rose the front two up, baring its fangs lighting fast as it struck at the young mage.
Instinctively Naull drew her magic to protect herself, a warbling sound filling the chamber alongside the grunts of Regdar and Jozan.
“Yend!” A brilliant blue shield exploded before her; a barrier of magical energy. Its surface consisted of hundreds of arcane letters that shifted and flowed as if a great sea of knowledge was what protected her from the creature. The spider’s fangs glanced off of it - hissing and withdrawing several feet as if the impact had hurt it. Naull got to her feet, backing away as the thing shifted forward again. The spider’s form looked somewhat hazy through the blue magic; it gave the creature a strange, otherworldly appearance. The wizard narrowed her eyes. It swayed back and forth, its front legs lifting up again. Naull twisted her left hand into a claw as she spoke words of power. “Keer ureek, bwegeth.” Blue-black energy flowed over her fingertips and she readied herself. If she timed it correctly, the creature would strike the shield and she could place her hand on it - she needed to touch the thing to disrupt its life force. She could pass through her own shield without issue but others couldn’t. The spider reared back and a flash passed in front of it - a dagger slammed into the creature’s eyes, obliterating several of them as it sank hilt deep into the hissing creature. It flailed its legs, scuttling backwards and knocking into Regdar as he cleaved another spider in half. He turned, trying to swing but only managed to sever a forelimb. The wounded creature shifted to the right and backwards, scuttling up the ceiling once more. Lidda cursed, drawing another dagger from her leathers and grabbing the small blade by the tip. She took aim, twisting her hand deftly as she hurled the weapon at the thing. This landed in the back, a more shallow wound, but the beast lost its footing and fell to the floor. As Jozan smashed the last spider into a messy paste, the fallen spider with two daggers jutting from it curled up and died with a whispering hiss. Regdar moved over to Jozan and nearly collapsed as his leg gave out under his weight. Naull could see the bright blood from his wound dribbling down into his boot and his face had taken on an uncomfortable yellow pallor. Lidda shifted over, moving past Naull - the young wizard moved her clawed hand away from the halfling, feeling the powerful tug of her magic as a living creature moved close by. The spell wasn’t her most powerful - not by a full magnitude. But it was potent. More than enough to kill, if she wasn’t careful with how she used it. Jozan propped Regdar up, looking over at Lidda as she moved forward. “Lidda. Are you and Naull alright?” There was a genuine concern in Jozan’s voice. The halfling nodded. “I’m not looking forward to collecting those, though,” she said as she pointed to the daggers in the spider she’d killed. Blue blood oozed around them and Lidda made a disgusted face. Naull stepped forward, still keeping her hand back, and looked at the big warrior. “He’s been envenomed.” Jozan nodded. “Funnel spiders - it seems the cave is deadlier than we expected.” Lidda looked confused. “You mean worse than bugbears and goblins and regular giant spiders?” “Very much worse. Funnel spiders have a very potent venom,” Jozan said and he motioned for both women to help him lower the warrior to the ground. Regdar had started to sweat heavily. He moaned something but Naull couldn’t understand him. Lidda moved to help. “Naull?” Jozan asked when she didn’t step forward. The wizard took a moment, cursed and dismissed her spell; a simple flick of her fingers and the magic dissipated. Power wasted, she thought bitterly as she knelt and helped lay him down. Jozan rummaged in his small side pack and produced a little green vial. The glass was smoky, cheaply made Naull would guess, and the thin liquid sloshed as he broke the yellow wax seal. “Antitoxin,” he explained, tiling Regdar’s head up and pouring the tiniest amount into his mouth. “Why so little?” Naull asked and the warrior sputtered, spitting the liquid out almost immediately with a gagging noise. “Because it tastes fouler than rotting meat, I’ve heard.” He looked at Regdar and in a short, clear voice he spoke. “Do not spit it out, Regdar. This will help.” The priest fed the pale man the liquid and he grimaced, swallowing it down as quickly as he was able. “Gods above that's awful,” Regdar said and shuddered. “Better than the alternative. Naull, watch for more spiders. I can heal him, I just need some time.” “Alright.” She stood and drew out the white wand from her pack. She felt the smoothness of the wood and was surprised at how light the wand was in her slender hand. She marveled at the intricately affixed ruby stone at the tip. It was interwoven with the wood, clearly the work of magic, and was a perfect tear drop shape. She hadn’t had time to examine it fully and wouldn’t know how potent the spell within was until she used it. Or how valuable the ruby was.
“Oh shit,” Lidda said and she drew her shortsword.
Naull turned the wand to the creatures and spoke the command word to activate the item. Many magical items required a phrase or activation word to take effect. It was a failsafe often used by wizards to keep rivals from stealing their trinkets and then using them against their maker. Naull had heard Larktiss say the phrase only a few times but never when he activated the wand.
“Dunnawuln”, she said the dwarvish word clearly. The language wasn't familiar to Naull but she knew the word for “smoke”.
Four smokey lances of energy exploded from the ruby tip, which glowed bright enough to illuminate the entire room for a long breath. They raced out, striking the spiders - two bolts on the leading spider and one each for the others. As the spells struck, the creatures hissed and recoiled but the magic was stronger than their carapaces. It cracked their hard outer shells, the force of the magic sending the arachnids sprawling and leaving wispy trails of smoke floating off of their broken bodies. For a moment, Naull could’ve sworn the smoke trails looked like dancing foxes but they disappeared too quickly to be sure.
The wand in her hand felt warm to the touch after the discharge of magic.
“What was that?” Lidda asked as she turned to Naull.
“A gift from my mentor, Larktiss.” She smiled. The wand in her hand smoked from the release of magical energy.
The smile faded as she looked over to Jozan, who held his hands over Regdar’s chest and called prayers of healing into the man’s stricken body.
Jozan’s brow was furrowed in concentration, his hands glowing faintly golden in the darkness. Naull’s wand and his lantern, discarded but not broken, cast deep shadows all over the chamber. After a breath, the wand tip light faded. The priest ran a hand over Regdar’s wounded thigh and Naull watched in amazement as a strange milky white substance flowed from the place he’d been bitten. The priest shifted his hand, as if sculpting the liquid, shifting it away from Regdar’s body and sending it splashing to the floor beside him. Jozan let out a breath he was holding and Naull could see a little color returning to the warrior’s cheeks. He was still sweating heavily but he breathed a bit more easily.
Lidda poked the puddle of white fluid with the tip of her blade and made a gagging noise. “Oh, that’s nasty.”
“I cannot banish the venom from your body,” Jozan said as he helped Regdar stand. Naull kept her eyes on the tunnels but watched as the warrior lifted his sword from where it lay. “But I can ease the suffering and damage it causes. The antitoxin should help and Pelor’s grace will hold at bay the worst effects of the bite. Let’s try not to get bitten again, though - I only have a single antitoxin left, with perhaps a few uses, and they are very difficult to make.”
“I never intended to get bitten in the first place,” Regdar quipped but nodded regardless.
“We should get out of here,” Lidda suggested. She looked away as she tore the two daggers from the corpse of the spider. She wiped these on the webbing nearby, unsuccessfully, and then pulled hard to unstick them with a soft curse. “Too many places they can get to us.”
“Can you move?” Jozan asked Regdar. The taller warrior nodded.
“Good,” Jozan picked up his lantern and checked it. “I suppose that leaves us only one lantern.”
“I have a spell that could fix the lantern but it takes time.” Naull suggested, pulling her staff from the wall and brushing off the lingering web strands. They were beautiful, she thought, but they were annoying as well. “Or a sunrod.” Naull pulled another wand-like item from her pack. It looked similar to the wand of magic missiles but the citrine at the tip was dull and the gem was uncut. “I can strike this against a surface and it’ll glow like a torch for about six hours.”
“That’s precise.” Lidda commented as she flicked the goopy spider blood off of her daggers.
“But not limitless. I only have one - they’re expensive to make, though given enough time I can do so.” Naull handed the item to Regdar, who took it with a nod. He laced the thing into his belt.
“When we need it.” He smiled at her and she returned the smile.
“Okay, where are we going?” Lidda looked at their options and shook her head. “Nothing looks promising.”
“It stands to reason that we should continue downward, right?” Jozan asked. Regdar nodded.
“Any chance we could just turn around?” Lidda’s smile was not mirrored by anyone else in the group. She sighed. “Yeah, well, I didn’t think so. Damn it.”
Tazerg took a deep breath, hissing at Undreg in the goblin tongue to drop his weapon. He tossed his stone dagger to the floor of the cave chamber and his fearful companion complied. The clattering of the two weapons echoed deeply in the open space. Tazerg and Undreg both stood before twenty goblins; they looked sick, underfed and the sound of goblin young crying behind them let Tazerg know they’d been hungry for a long time. They had stone weapons, though, and numbers - Tazerg would need to be careful. There was no surprise here, no chance to catch them off guard. If they didn’t like what he had to offer, they’d kill him.
The large chamber was taller and wider than Tazerg’s eyes could see and covered in hundreds of rocky formations jutting from the ground; spiky stones, jagged from water running over them for untold years, had sharpened many to surprisingly fine points. There was plenty of lichen down here, as well, though Tazerg could see it grew too tall on the side of the cavern for the goblins to reach and eat. There were no low handholds or places to climb easily; a fall could be fatal and the goblins weren’t hungry enough yet to risk it.
Undreg made a soft whining sound beside him but Tazerg spoke in a clear, direct voice.
“Tazerg know goblins hungry. Hear goblin pups cry.” He kept his hands up. The motion made his side burn but he ignored it as best he could.
An older goblin stepped from the group, holding a club tied with spider silk. The end was a sharpened stone. The right side of that goblin’s face had been crushed in; the ragged skin flaps had crusted over with blood and gave him a horrible appearance. Tazerg thought he looked like a monster from a child’s dream; half-formed, melting away and ancient. He kept himself from shuddering. Tazerg knew this goblin - Nelnek. Though not chieftain, he was a respected goblin among the Cavedeep tribe and had resisted Rezrek’s claim to power along with Tazerg’s father - somehow, he’d survived the bugbear’s attack and fled with others.
The image of Rezrek smashing his father’s skull brought a snarl to his lips.
“Tazerg not care about goblins.” The elder’s voice was harsh and when he moved his mouth, the skin folds of his wound bled. He snarled and shook his stone club at the younger goblin.
“Tazerg let Rezrek kill goblins. Tazerg do nothing!” Nelnek shouted, his little voice bouncing off the far walls and reverberating in the chamber. The other goblins standing behind Nelnek nodded, though some looked uncertain at the elder’s words.
The words made Tazerg’s face hot - it made him angry. He clenched his little fists, feeling his tiny claws dig into his palms. Undreg whimpered behind him and Tazerg let his snarl fade away. He looked into the eyes of Nelnek; old, tired. Tazerg let his arms fall to his sides. He nodded.
“Tazerg do nothing.” Nelnek said, his voice soft but it still reached the other goblins. “Tazerg not fight, stop Rezrek. Let Rezrek hurt, kill goblins.” He shook his head. The disappointment in his tone hit Tazerg like a physical blow.
“Tazerg can fight Rezrek.” Tazerg took a step forward. The group of goblins didn’t move and Nelnek stood as tall as he could, almost defiantly. Tazerg scanned the goblins, looking each of them in the eyes as the silence stretched.
“How? Tazerg alone. No warriors. No hope.” Nelnek sneered.
Tazerg looked back at Undreg and shrugged. “Not all goblins serve Rezrek. Tazerg not serve Rezrek. Never.”
The old goblin looked at the marking Tazerg had on his chest.
Nelnek slapped his own chest. “Tazerg carry Rezrek mark.”
Tazerg shook his head. “Rezrek thinks Tazerg serve.” The little goblin tapped the side of his head, a clever smirk crawling over his small face. “Rezrek not know Tazerg’s hate. Tazerg can get other goblins, help to kill Rezrek and other bugbears! Take caves back for goblins. Take spiders back. Goblins rule caves!” He yelled this last part and that sent several of the group back, their shuffling steps uncertain as he raised his voice.
“Too weak,” Nelnek shook his head. He lowered his weapon. “Tazerg not have warriors.”
The son of the chieftain took a long look at the goblins in front of him. Only a few were young enough to be good warriors, though they were weak-looking. Nelnek shook his head.
“Goblins too weak. Too hungry.”
“Tazerg bring food. Bring mushrooms. Share with goblins.” He nodded. “Grow strong again. Help stop Rezrek and bugbears. Goblins strong together.”
Nelnek seemed to think. He turned to the other goblins and talked to them in whispered tones, many looking back at Tazerg. Undreg shifted uneasily behind Tazerg, biting his lower lip and nervously eyeing their weapons on the ground.
“They not trust Tazerg.” Undreg flexed his fingers, as if they itched to grab the spear he’d tossed to the cave floor.
Tazerg elbowed the goblin, knocking the wind from his lungs. The goblin sputtered and coughed as Tazerg nervously looked on. He needed help to kill Rezrek. He couldn’t do it alone. After a long time, Nelnek took a step forward and nodded.
“Tazerg kill Rezrek?” He asked.
“Yes.”
“And Ripper? And other bugbear?” He raised his misshapen eyebrow at the younger goblin.
“Yes. Tazerg kill all, with help from goblins. Can’t do alone - only together can goblins stop bugbears.” The inside of Tazerg’s mouth grew very dry and he felt slickness run down his back as he began to sweat. His side ached and he was tired.
Nelnek looked at the other goblins gathered and nodded. “Nelnek help Tazerg. Goblins follow Nelnek, follow Tazerg. Kill Rezrek.” The look on the old goblins face let Tazerg know he was ready to see the massive bugbear dead. “Tazerg have food now?” He shook his head and motioned to him and Undreg.
“Tazerg bring food when free. Must be clever. Rezrek watch, Rezrek kill if see Tazerg take food from bugbears.”
Nelnek nodded. “Have weapons,” he gestured to the dagger and spear on the ground before them. “Nelnek have more.”
“Good. Tazerg need Nelnek’s weapons and warriors.”
“Food first. Then fight.” The elder growled. “Hungry warriors fight bad.”
Tazerg nodded, moving forward to collect his weapon and Undreg’s spear. He handed the uncertain goblin his weapon, which he eagerly snatched back, and turned Undreg around. “Tazerg bring food.” Tazerg took a last look back and he sprinted off, knowing exactly where the pantry of the spiders was and how he just might not die if he stole a sheep from it.
Narkle and Regek dragged their exhausted bodies onto the shore of the massive underground lake. The water they’d fallen into had swiftly carried them, and the bodies of the other goblins, down the small inlet rivers beneath the mighty mountains and they’d swam for their lives; sputtering, flailing and screaming the entire time. Narkle screamed even louder when the dead body of Sard smacked against him in the water.
They fell onto their backs, heaving great breaths as they gulped air into their lungs. They shivered from the cold of the water, both having lost their modest coverings in the swift underground river, and managed to get on to their feet. The river had brought them deep, deep underground and both knew it would take a long time to get back to Rezrek. His chamber lay across this huge cavern and it was a rocky, treacherous and would require much climbing. But they were determined; Tazerg had tried to kill them and they’d make sure Rezrek got him first. Narkle took a step forward and motioned for Regek to follow him. The other goblin shook his head.
“Not that way, stupid Narkle.” He shook his head again and pointed in another direction. “Water run here. Follow water to Rezrek.” He moved over to one of the massive stalagmites, easily ten times his height, and pointed to where the underwater river flowed out. “We go this way.”
“No, Regek!” Narkle stamped his foot, still shivering. “You not know!”
“Yes, Regek know!” Came the yelled reply. Both goblins puffed their chests out, posturing and moving forward to growl and snarl at one another. They bared their little teeth, not quite fangs but still sharp, and circled. Narkle flexed his hands, shuddering and sneezing as Regek dropped lower, hissing and growling like a cornered rat. As the two goblins snarled at one another, neither noticed the long tendril snaking forward. It coiled through the gravel and dirt, like an impossibly thin snake altered to the presence of life nearby. It lay in wait, shifting ever so slightly as the two goblins took the measure of one another.
They exchanged insults, practically barking at each other.
Regek threw himself forward, claws and teeth bared, ready to fight Narkle into submission. The other goblin braced himself for the impact.
Narkle collapsed before Regek could get to him. The flying goblin stumbled forward, losing his footing in the loose gravel and falling hard on his chest. He gasped, turning around to see Narkle. The other goblin’s body shifted up, a thin strand of something slate grey coiling up and over his naked body. Regek’s eyes locked with Narkle’s and the goblin could see, though he wasn’t moving, Narkle’s eyes shifted back and forth. They were filled with terror. A thin line of drool dribbled from Narkle’s open mouth, his tongue hanging between his broken and sharp little teeth.
Regek watched as the goblin was spun around, very slowly, in the air by this long tendril. His body was completely limp, like he was dead. His legs swayed side to side and his arms dangled, like he didn’t have the strength to move them. Regek watched as Narkle continued to spin, soft whimpers coming out of his open mouth. The strand shifted impossibly quickly, whiplashing Narkle’s body backwards so fast that Regek had to blink. Narkle was gone, torn back into the black.
Regek strained to see in the deep darkness, though he did not approach. His heart beat hard in his chest and despite the chill from the water, he was sweating.
“Narkle?” He called out.
No answer came. He called out again, louder.
A raspy, hissing noise answered from the darkness. This was followed by a soft, whimpering moan noise.
Regek took an unsteady step away from the sound, then stopped. There was a loud, wet crunching noise that followed the hiss and then silence. The goblin decided he didn’t care what happened to Narkle. He turned to run. A lightning fast tendril exploded from the darkness, slamming into Regek’s side with enough force to send him to the ground. He gasped, the strength in his little body draining out instantly as tiny barbs at the end of the tendril pierced his skin. He could feel them burrowing into his body.
Regek collapsed, feebly trying to claw his way back to the river. His hands grasped rubble, pawing at it with the strength of a meowing kitten but he didn’t move an inch forward. The tendril wrapped around his leg, drawing him slowly towards the hungry sound of gnashing teeth hidden in that deep blackness. Regek screamed.
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