Chapter 34: A Roll of the Dice

I slipped back into the passage, alert and ready for danger, but detected no hostiles in the vicinity.

Tilting my head to the side, I strained my hearing. Further up the passage, I thought I heard guttural voices, but the sounds were too faint for me to be certain. Padding along the wall, I crept towards the half-heard sounds. As I drew closer, they became more distinct. Another guard squad was up ahead.

The goblins were not yet in sight, but I could hear them clearly now. Pausing, I listened. They were noisy and loud, and making no effort to be quiet. Some of the goblins were yelling, others moaned in pain, while yet others muttered senseless nonsense.

I smiled. The squad was in disarray. Was this the dire wolves doing? I wondered. Likely. I drew closer. Rounding a slight bend in the corridor, I finally caught sight of the goblins. There were eight of them.

Four huddled in a small circle of light of a dying torch. Bellowing loudly to each other, the goblins were in the midst of a heated argument. Every so often, one of them would scan the surrounding darkness. The goblins were afraid and uncertain of what to do next. They had obviously been recently attacked. I scanned the darkness myself, but could spot no sign of the dire wolves. The beasts had moved on.

My gaze flitted to the other four goblins. The nearest two were lying slumped on the ground, outside the light cast by the torch. Both appeared gravely injured.

The last pair were on the far side of the four goblins and looked to have been placed to guard their fellows. The wolves must have last been spotted on that side, I thought. The two goblins were doing a poor job of patrolling though. Nearly petrified to be outside the torchlight, they seemed more intent on whispering feverishly to each other than watching the passage.

I inched forward, intent on finishing what the wolves had started.

Eight hostile entities have failed to detect you! Your sneaking has increased to level 27.

I crept up unseen on the two injured goblins. Both were nearly senseless with pain. I edged up to the first. Clamping a hand down across the goblin’s mouth, I rammed my sword through his open wound.

With a final whimper, the goblin died. The second goblin was none the wiser. Dropping to his side, I pressed my hand against his mouth.

But I had miscalculated.

A hostile entity has detected you! You are no longer hidden.

Despite his writhing, my target was not as far gone as I had thought. The moment my hand clamped down on him, the goblin’s eyes snapped open and he shrieked.

Or tried to.

The resulting sound was muffled by my hand, but not entirely cut-off. A low moan escaped the warrior. The four goblins in the torchlight—already on edge—noticed immediately. “What that?” whispered one, setting his hands to his axe.

Biting down a curse, I pressed my left hand down harder on the goblin until no further sound escaped him and rammed the blade in my right hand through his throat.

The warrior did not die immediately. His limbs thrashed wildly and blood spurted all over me. Ignoring my target’s dying throes, I shoved my blade deeper until he stilled entirely.

You have killed a level 13 goblin warrior.

“Who there?” a second goblin yelled. Squinting his eyes, he was peering intently in my direction.

Still kneeling over my slain foe, I tensed. I was fully expecting the goblins to discover me and was ready to flee the moment they did. But much to my surprise, the goblin’s eyes passed over me sightlessly.

You are hidden once more.

Given the goblins’ failure to detect me, I was unsurprised at the Game message.

“Shuddup you fool!” a third goblin hissed to the one who had yelled. “It be the beasts. They back.”

“Enough yacking!” ordered the last. “Go find them!” But despite the command, neither the four goblins, nor the two beyond them made any move in my direction. Fear had them petrified.

Six hostile entities have failed to detect you! Your sneaking has increased to level 28.

The moments ticked by, and I relaxed from my tense pose. Inch by inch, I withdrew my blade from the corpse and rose warily to a crouch. My stealth held, and I smiled grimly. It seemed that my sneaking skill had improved to the point that even after I took hostile action, the goblins had trouble finding me. At least while I was cloaked in darkness.

I backed away from the two dead goblins and warily circled around the light cast by the torch. Its flame was sputtering. From the splatter of oil on the floor, I assumed the goblins had dropped the torch during their wolves’ ambush, and I expected it would not be much longer before the torch died entirely. Until then, the four goblins were safe from me.

Not so, the two on the far end.

I successfully maneuvered myself to the far side of the four goblins without being detected. Crouching down, I took a second to study my next two targets. Both had their back to me.

Like the four goblins safe in the light, the pair were staring fixedly in the direction of their recently deceased fellows and were oblivious of the danger at their back.

Perfect.

Padding forward, I crept up on the pair. Neither noticed me, right up until the moment, I yanked back the head of the first and plunged my blade through his throat.

Then only did the second react. Jumping back in fright, he scrambled to lift his sword. But it was too late. Dancing forward, I battered aside his weapon with one of my blades and skewered him with my second before he could fully register my presence.

You have killed a level 11 goblin warrior. You have reached level 12! Your dodging has increased to level 17. Your two weapon fighting has increased to level 19.

At the clang of blades and the wet gurgle of my two dying victims, the four remaining goblins spun around, their weapons raised. Refusing to budge from their position, they scanned the darkness fruitlessly.

Four hostile entities have failed to detect you! Your sneaking has increased to level 29.

“How beasts get around so quickly?” whispered one of the goblins.

“Those dogs be demons!” another exclaimed.

“Chief stoopid to try tame them,” agreed the first.

“Chief not stupid! Chief smart,” objected the third. “Wolves strong. Good mounts!”

The fourth goblin grunted. “Chief is fool. We goblins. We ride worgs. Not wolves. Now we pay price for chief’s mistake.”

I smiled in grim amusement. The goblins were not smart. Despite the audible clash of weapons, they still seemed to believe it was the dire wolves that had slain their fellows. Which, given the four’s visible fear of the beasts, I wasn’t going to complain about.

It would make killing them easier.

I tiptoed silently away from my latest victims and placed myself to the remaining goblins’ rear. With surprise on my side, I would back myself to triumph against the four even after being exposed by the torch, but there was no need to take any foolish risks.

So, crouching down on my haunches, I waited for the torchlight to expire. While I did, I idly pondered what had possessed the goblin chief to try taming the dire wolves. From my brief interaction with the beasts, I knew they were too intelligent and independent to be domesticated.

More importantly, where was this goblin chief I kept hearing off? He must be somewhere in this tunnel complex, I decided.

The torch flickered and died.

The goblins eyes grew round and they yelped in sudden fear as the encroaching darkness swallowed them. Muttering prayers to dark gods, they hastily repositioned themselves so that they stood with their backs to each other.

I almost snorted. That is not going to save them. Padding forward, I stopped until I was less than a yard away from the huddled figures. I was so close I could see the whites of goblins’ eyes.

Bending down, I picked up a few loose stones in one hand. Then flung it beyond the goblins. The stones ricocheted loudly in the silence.

Nearly as one, the four spun around and whispered nervously to each other as they tried to pick out the menace that stalked them from the darkness—albeit in the wrong direction.

I drew one of my blades and dashed forward.

My first target was the goblin on the far left. Yanking on his arm, I pulled him off balance and away from his fellows. With a shriek of alarm, the goblin stumbled and fell. Plunging my blade into the goblin’s chest, I silenced his cry abruptly and rolled away from the corpse.

The other three goblins were in an uproar. They still couldn’t see me, but they knew I was close. One shouted meaningless orders, while the other two swiped blindly at the darkness with their weapons. Cloaked in shadows, I circled the trio until I was on their opposite flank.

Then darted forward again.

Ducking under the goblin on the right’s wild slashes with his axe, I thrust my blades from below and ripped them upwards, tearing open his torso from hip to sternum. I spun away before the weapons of the other goblins could find me. But the surviving pair had had enough. Throwing down their weapons, they fled.

Or tried to.

In his blind panic, the first ran full tilt into the passage wall and staggered back in a daze. Ignoring him for now, I chased after the other.

Weighed down by both his armor and poor vision, the second goblin was easy to catch. Flying across the ground, I dove onto the fleeing goblin and bore him to the ground, before plunging my swords through his exposed back.

I rose to my feet and searched for my last target. He was sitting on the floor, lips working soundlessly and eyes staring sightlessly. I strode closer and stood over the goblin. He didn’t look up. The blow the warrior had taken to the head must have been harder than I thought.

“I’m sorry,” I murmured to the senseless goblin. “Mercy is a luxury I can ill-afford.” Raising my blades, I buried them in the defenseless goblin.