Chapter 84: Chaos Sorcery

As more goblins arrived at the archway, Olynka leaped nimbly down off the edge of the dais and landed on the main area of the floor below, and Brutus was just behind her. Leppie let herself down more cautiously, warhammer in hand.

“There’s a side tunnel to the left,” Alcar called out, “but be careful. There are... spiders...”. He hesitated, glancing behind him. He was the last of the companions. Shouldn’t he stop their pursuers from advancing before it was too late?

“Zek du manuhka!” he called out on impulse, raising his staff and focusing on an area just ahead of the advancing goblin spearmen. A black circle appeared in front of them; three charged right into it and vanished, but the others came to a halt, and began to edge around.

Simultaneously, Alcar felt a familiar ache begin to spread around the back and sides of his head.

But then, despite his attempts to maintain and widen the portal, it began to stretch apart, a hole appearing in its center, and then to slowly float up towards the ceiling. Everyone watched in awe for a moment as it rose towards the ancient stone brickwork, and then swallowed up one area of stone after another.

The great crack above the archway widened and then gave way with a tremendous crash. Before Alcar knew what was happening, a large section of wall between the two chambers had entirely disappeared into a pile of rubble and a cloud of dust.

There was no time to figure out how the horde of goblins would react to the destruction of part of their realm. Praying that events would at least distract and delay them, Alcar let himself down off the platform, ran towards Etienne who was just ahead, before pausing one more time again to look back.

As he looked on, he saw that one of the goblin warriors had made its way past the rubble. It paused, then threw a spear, which arced and dipped towards Olynka’s retreating back.

“Parohk al duphinoise!” Alcar shouted, and he pointed the tip of his staff towards the spear. As he cast the enchantment, the spear suddenly slowed, just like the lantern and the stone had when he had used the same words. It continued to move, but was falling much more gently as it completed its arc. And when Leppie called a warning to their companion, Olynka spotted the spear and moved to one side.

“Thanks guys,” she called out, then ran on towards the side door.

Just then, as it hit the stone floor, the spear transformed, twisted, and began to squirm, and as it landed gently on the ground near where Etienne had previously left his lantern, it took the form of a long, fanged, black snake.

“Holy shit,” said Etienne, leaping backwards, before circling around, giving the magical creature a wide berth. Brutus leaped right over it, narrowly missing a bite in response.

Moments later, the companions were all at the side door.

“This leads south, towards the great cavern,” grunted Alcar, rubbing at his head. And the others began to move through ahead of him.

Damn, he thought to himself... would the ‘Beginner’s guide to sorcery’ have anything to say about chaotic side-effects of sorcery under times of stress?

Or about headaches, and loss of consciousness?

He could really do without things like that happening, particularly in the minds of combat!

And it seemed to be getting worse, now, just when he had thought that perhaps he was getting the hang of these incantations. Perhaps he should take a flask of Dubasan whisky on his adventures, and doze up on that...

With the goblins still in hot pursuit, Leppie and Olynka were now running down the narrow corridor beyond the door, which – Alcar could now see – sloped upwards, leading in the direction of the upper reaches of the great cavern. A side tunnel to the right looped back towards the other areas of the Dungeon of van Zorika, meaning that they could have another chance to find the codex – provided that they escaped with their lives.

There were now eight angry goblins charging down the stairs at the side of the dais, and at least as many more behind. As Alcar hesitated at the side door, looking back, he wondered for a moment if he could shoot out some of the purple flame that he had once used on a troll. He must be running low on magical energy already, but it was all or nothing, now.

They had to get to safety.

But no, he told himself. If he sprayed flames across the room, it might injure a few of their pursuers, sure, but most would run right around or through it. And he knew well enough that many more goblins remained in the adjoining caverns, including the huge one that he assumed was their leader-slash-champion.

Then his eyes alighted on the upturned chair nearby. It was a poor obstacle at best, but with a bit of enhancement, then perhaps...

He nodded to himself grimly. Yes. It was time to try an enchantment that he had only used once before. He had better hope he remembered the words correctly.

Grabbing the chair with one hand, Alcar advanced through the wooden door into the corridor beyond, moved along a couple of yards, then turned and paused. He could hear his friends not much further on; they had stopped and were talking animatedly about something. But he would have to wait in order to find what that was.

Focusing, Alcar gripped his staff with one hand and held the other just above the chair.

“Rac sin trimannia!” he called out.

Now, just as with the small stone back at the lava-filled valley, a glimmering electrical shield appeared around the chair, giving it a blue-white appearance. He prodded towards it with the tip of his staff, and there was a zapping noise, and he was immediately jolted. He staggered backwards, his arm feeling numb.

Alcar then backed further away as the first spear-wielding goblin made it through the door and into the corridor in pursuit. The creature was his own height – considerably larger than a typical goblin – and obviously a seasoned warrior. It was dressed in a leather armor shirt, a black cloak and loose breeches, and it clutched a broadsword.

It snarled at him, then reached contemptuously for the chair, as if it was going to either throw the thing behind or smash it against the side wall. But when it made contact, the goblin too jerked backwards even more violently, then began twitching uncontrollably. It was as if a bolt of lightning had run through its body.

“Nice,” Alcar murmured with a grin, taking a further step away and towards his friends.

His satisfaction at both the idea and the execution of what he had done helped him to rise above the every increasing pain in his head, which had now been joined by an intensely irritating whirring noise between his ears.

All the same, the goblins would surely find a way past before long. Now it was time to rejoin the party.

He turned, ready to hurry on. In doing so, he had moved away just in time to get out of the way when the chair spontaneously exploded.

Maroon tendrils of flame blasted upwards and in both directions along the corridor. The electrocuted goblin was immediately engulfed, and two of its companions behind were both set on fire; they leaped away screaming, dropping their spears with a clatter and patting frantically at their clothing.

But now the chair obstacle was gone.

Not for the first time, Alcar turned and ran.