“The Orc tribes will enslave lesser creatures, using them as labor to construct their lairs and tunnels. The strongest of their slaves, they will press into their armies, driven to fight Orc commanders. A goblin army on its own can threaten a town, one led by Orcs can threaten a nation.”

“Bestiary guide: Illyrian Imperial Academy”

Chapter 16

Wil was falling into the dark chasm, no light could be seen as he fell. The only sensation he had was the wind rushing past him and the sinking feeling in his stomach as he tipped over the edge.

He scrambled for the lifesaving charm he had purchased, trying desperately to grab it out of his inner pocket, but he didn’t have enough time. After only a few seconds fall, Wil felt himself slam into freezing cold water.

In the dark, he couldn’t orientate himself on what was up and down, and he flailed about, attempting to reach the surface. Wil felt himself being swept by a strong current, tugging him deeper into the water and swiftly in different directions, like a leaf in strong wind.

The current briefly propelled him to the surface, his head breaking through the water. He coughed out the water in his lungs, before taking a deep breath. Wil still could not see, but he felt the water carrying him with the current, and he struggled to stay afloat.

As he bobbed in the swiftly moving water, he noticed a faint bluish green glow in the distance. His eyes straining for any light, Wil focused on it as he drew nearer. It came from the cave ceiling and walls, little spots of light like stars in the sky.

Wil knew he was deep underground, and he could see the stone cavern walls in the dim light. He had heard of insects and certain types of moss that glowed in the dark, he guessed that the light was from a similar source.

In the dim light, the current continued to carry Wil with it, until he finally found that the subterranean river had slowed significantly. It gently carried him towards a large open cavern, lit from the greenish blue glow emanating from the ceiling and walls.

The open cave held an entire lake of water, and had a rocky, shallower portion to his right.

Kicking his feet and using his one good arm, Wil swam to the shallow side of the lake. Finally, after struggling to swim, he was able to touch bottom. He dragged himself up onto a dry section of rock, exhausted and in agony from the knife wound.

Shivering from the cold, Wil channeled the last shreds of his mana and cast a spell to dry his clothing and equipment. He took out a blanket from his pack, which amazingly had stayed strapped to his back after the fall.

Warm, dry and completely drained, Wil was unable to stay awake any longer. Not caring of the danger, he fell asleep next the underground lake.

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Wil woke up with a groan, he had no idea how long he had slept. His mana had recovered, and his wounds were looking better after he changed his bandages.

Looking at this pack and satchel, Wil found that his spell book was still intact, the water had not made it through the oiled cloth and sealed bag. He pulled out one of the torches Hale had given him, a small tree limb with oiled cloth wrapped around one end.

Waving a hand at the torch, Wil used his magic to create a spark to ignite the cloth, the torch began to burn brightly, lighting the area.

He jammed the torch in a crevice in the rock and pulled out his spell book, he needed to review his spells, he was potentially trapped down here, and his torch may not last long. He reviewed several useful spell matrices, focusing on fire and light spells.

After preparing his spells, Wil was famished, so he pulled some rations and his water flask from his pack, the first he had eaten in hours. Devouring his food, he finally felt refreshed and ready to leave the caves.

He stood and grabbed the torch, adjusting his pack on his shoulder. With his belongings and sword secured, he began to look for an exit.

He walked around the clear water of the lake in the dim light from above and the small halo of light from his torch. Wil examined the walls, looking for a crack or passage out.

He did not want to enter the lake again, although he was sure there would be an exit beneath its surface from the running water. He didn’t know if he could hold his breath long enough to make it out, or if he would even fit.

Three quarters of the way around the lake, he began to worry if he would have to dive into the lake again. He knew of spells to allow underwater breathing, but they were beyond his abilities. He would rather not risk drowning in the lake if any other option was available.

Luckily, before he had to decide to risk the water, he discovered a narrow passage in the cavern wall. It was large enough for him to fit and seemed to lead out of the cavern.

Entering the passageway, Wil moved down the narrow tunnel, ducking occasionally under overhangs, and at other times forced to turn sideways and shuffle down the passage.

This section of the cave had not been used by the Goblins, at least not in a long time, Wil found large webs stretching across in front of him, which he would burn with his torch.

Wary of spiders, Wil examined the webs before he burned them, but they appeared old, the spiders long gone.

As he moved down the tunnel, he began to hear strange clicking noises, echoing through the cave. Wil thought it may be falling rocks or dripping water, but it was random and continued for too long.

He approached what he thought was the exit, the noise becoming louder the closer he came to leaving the passageway.

Wil exited the opening and entered a small cavern that held long stalagmites forming pillars, from the ceiling to the ground. The floor of the cave was uneven, and pools of water reflected the torchlight. He spotted large quantities of a white substance staining the ground.

He could make out small shadows that dotted along the ceiling, surrounding an even larger shadow in the center of the cave.

‘Bats’ He thought. They were hanging from the ceiling, hundreds of them, dark shadows flitting outside the torchlight, traveling from group to group.

With a screech, the large shadow in the center moved. It was a giant bat, unfolding its wings and flying towards Wil, claws outstretched and mouth open. Wil could see the sharp white teeth of the giant bat gleaming in the torchlight.

Wil channeled his mana, and a flame leapt into existence above Wil’s hand. He gripped it tightly, before hurling it at the Giant Bat, hitting it in the wing.

The bat, terrified of the flame it was hit with, but unable to stop its momentum, grazed Wil as it moved past, pushing him into the wall. Wil had been unable to judge the size of the bat in the dim light, but he could see that it was nearly as big as him.

Seeing the bat preparing to attack him again, Wil summoned another mote of flame, hurling it at the bat. The ball of fire rushed towards the bat, striking it directly in the face.

With a screech, the bat slammed into the ground, and rolled, before regaining its balance and lunging at Wil, trying to bite him. He leapt to the side, out of the way of the bat’s bite, but was hit by one of its flailing limbs, the claw striking him in his side. His armor prevented it from cutting him, but the force had knocked the wind out of him.

He scrambled out of the bat’s path and clutched at his injured side. Fighting through the pain, Wil cast a stream of fire, thrusting it into the bat’s face from close range.

The bat screeched in agony, rolling around on the ground, attempting to put out the flames, before it finally fell still.

Panting heavily, Wil knelt on one knee as the adrenaline left him shaking. He checked his side, his armor had stopped the claws, but he would have a nasty bruise until he could get it healed.

Getting up onto his feet, Wil held his torch high to search the area and scare the remaining bats away.

Warily he looked around, but aside from the guano on the ground, the cavern was empty. He moved towards the distant wall and looked for the exit, the bats had to have access to the outside, he reasoned.

High up on one wall, Wil could see a narrow opening, large enough for the giant bat to crawl through. He was roughly similar to it in size, he could wriggle through it as well.

Wil attempted to find a way to make it to the ledge but was unable reach it and he couldn’t find any handholds.

Taking out his pack, Will took out his length of rope and examined the opening. A large protrusion jutted out from the opening, enough that Wil could wrap his rope around it. Forming a loop in the rope, it took Wil several tries to get the rope around the rock.

Testing how secure it was, he pulled the rope tight and began to ‘walk’ up the wall, using all of his strength to pull himself up. His chest was throbbing from his knife wound, and he had trouble taking deep breaths from his wounded side, but he made it to the opening.

Bending down to pick up his rope, he knelt and began to crawl through the opening. It was narrow, but large enough for Wil to make his way, even with the pack on his back.

Crawling out of the hole, Wil lifted his torch and looked around. He was in a ruined structure, the walls intact, but the roof was missing, as well as most of the second floor. An old, rotten wooden door was leaning against an opening in the wall, the only exit to the room Wil was in.

Taking a moment to catch his breath, Wil lowered his torch to the ground and took off his pack.

He slowly made his way to the doorway, out of the torchlight. Sticking his head out the door, he looked around.

What he saw made him curse in his mind.