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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 3460113" data-attributes="member: 143">Chapter 147A TASTY TIDBITEven as Serah yelled and tumbled back into the river, her companions were quick to act.  Shay was off and sprinting down the far bank before the current had carried her fifteen feet.  As the cleric was dragged underwater by her still unidentified adversary, the scout leapt again, flying like a knife through the air before she hit the water about five feet ahead of where Serah had disappeared.  On the far bank, Baraka, Talen, and Dar likewise ran back along the route they had just hiked, while the rest of the company hurried after Shay on the other side.  Talen shucked his shield and looked ready to jump in himself, but Dar grabbed him by the shoulder and yanked him back.  “Don’t be an idiot,” he said.  “With all that plate, you’ll sink like a rock.”“Let go of me,” Talen said, his voice dangerous as he hand dropped to the hilt of his magical sword.  “Fine, but don’t expect me to jump in after you,” Dar said.  He released Talen, but as the knight turned back to the river, Shay’s head appeared near the far bank, followed a moment later by the still-struggling form of Serah.  The scout dragged herself and the cleric into the shallows, where the legionaries quickly pulled them out of the water.  Serah’s left leg was oozing blood from a series of nasty-looking gashes, but the cleric was conscious, and was able to help Allera as the healer examined the wounds. “What happened?” Talen yelled across the river. “Some kind of giant fish,” Shay replied.  “I stabbed it and it broke away, but it may come back.”“You could have mentioned giant killer fish before we took this little swim,” Travius said. “I did not encounter any last time,” Shay said, looking up at him.  “Can you make it across?” she yelled over at Talen. “I’ll be damned if a fish is going to make a snack out of me,” Dar said, as they returned to the rope.  The fighter was the first to tackle the rope, while the others shone their lights on the water, or trained loaded bows in waiting for signs of the creature’s return.  But Dar made it over without incident, and Talen and Baraka were both able to follow without being attacked.  Baraka rigged the rope so that they could tug it free once he’d crossed, enabling them to recover it.  They had brought a lot of rope with them, but a good percentage of that was still rigged up on the cliffs in the river gorge, awaiting their return. “Well, if the goblins don’t know we’re coming after all that, then they’re deaf and blind both,” Kalend said, once they’d gathered together again on the far bank of the river.  “Who cares,” Dar said.  “If they want to play, we’ll show them a few dances, eh Bullo?”“Right, sir,” the legionary chortled, as he tested the edge of his axe. “Whose idea was it to bring three more of him?” Allera said quietly, as an aside to Talen.“They know how to fight.  We’ll need them, where we’re going,” Talen replied, shaking out some of the water soaking his cloak.  It was a useless gesture, for the most part.  “All right, let’s get moving,” he told them, gesturing again for Shay and Baraka to take the lead.  But as Dar and the legionaries passed, he said, “Remember, we’re not looking for a fight if we can avoid it.  If the goblins know of a back way into Rappan Athuk, we’re far better off getting them to share that information with it, then having to fight our way through them.”“You worry too much, commander,” Dar said, with a grin.  “Gobbos or priests, either way, we’re ready to kick some ass.”The cavern wall loomed ahead of them, a vast shadow at the edges of their light sources.  Shay signaled back for them to wait, while she and Baraka stealthily approached to scout out the area.“It’s quiet, too quiet,” Allera said softly.  “If they’re mining, shouldn’t we hear the sounds of picks and shovels?”“Maybe they heard us coming, and are readying a reception,” Pella said. “Quiet,” Talen said.  “Shay’s coming back.”The scout returned with a dark look on her face.  “The place is deserted,” she told them.  “We found several mine shafts... they look like they were cleared out in a hurry.”“They probably heard us coming, and cleared out,” Dar said.  “Can’t blame them, really; gobbos aren’t much for a fair fight.”“No, I don’t think so,” Shay said.  “From the traces, it looks like they pulled out a few days ago, maybe.”  The scout glanced back over her shoulder, a troubled look on her face.“What is it, Shay?” Talen asked. “I don’t know.  But I have a bad feeling about this.”“Over here!” Baraka called, directing them to a sheltered area surrounded by a partial ring of stalagmites not far from the mine traces.  The place had been a camp of sorts; they could see some old wooden crates, a few ragged bedrolls, and other assorted trash.  A small, narrow wheelbarrow lay on its side nearby, its basket staved in.  “There was a battle here,” the ranger said, as the others joined him.  He pointed out several spots where bloodstains marked the ground, or were splattered on the rock formations.  “Who attacked them?”The ranger frowned.  “Not sure.  Never seen tracks like these...”“Colonel,” Kalend said.  The rogue held up something he’d found; it was a goblin shortsword, or what was left of it; the blade had been sheared off a few inches above the hilt.Dar took the blade.  “Cut clean through.”“No bodies,” Travius noted. “They might have been carried off,” Pella said.  “Or if the goblins won, maybe they took their dead with them.”“Spread out, take a look around,” Talen said.  “But everyone stay within line of sight.  Whatever attacked them may still be in the neighborhood.  Shay, Baraka, see if you can find some more tracks.”“What about the mine?” Varo asked.  “There may be enough room inside for a sheltered campsite.”“As soon as we’ve cleared the area,” Talen said.  “I want to know what happened here.”Shay headed to the north, with Dar and Bullo close at hand, while Baraka headed south, back in the direction of the river, in the company of Pella, Travius, and Kalend.  Talen and Varo remained near the goblin camp and the adjacent mine trailings, looking around more closely, while Allera stayed to check on Serah, who all but collapsed onto the ground, leaning against a convenient stalagmite for support.  The healer drew out her waterskin, and mixed herbs into a cup for the cleric to drink. “We will need to rest soon,” Varo said to Talen.  “The priestess is the worst off, but the others only manage to hide their weariness.”“What about you, Varo?  Do you get tired?”The cleric looked at the knight with eyes that shone faintly with the reflected glow of his everburning torch.  “I require rest to recover my spells.”Talen looked at him for a long moment, then started to turn away.  To his surprise, Varo spoke to him again.  “But if your question was intended in a more philosophical bent, knight of Camar... then the answer is yes.  I am tired indeed.  We are all going to be tired, tired of body and soul alike, before this is done.”Talen opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted as Baraka and Shay both returned to report.  Varo turned away, but remained close enough to hear their conversation. “We found goblin tracks in both directions,” Shay said.  “It looks like there has been a fair amount of traffic in this area.  In particular, there are trails that look like they were made by more of those little wheelbarrows leading both north and south from here.”“Any clue as to where the goblin city is located?”“Based on the footprints we saw near the wheel tracks, those going north were deeper, while those heading south were more shallow.”Talen nodded.  “So loaded carts go north, and the empty ones came back.  All right.  What about whatever attacked the goblins?”Baraka and Shay shared a quick but meaningful look.  “The most recent tracks were pretty jumbled,” the scout said.  “It looks like the goblins fled in almost every direction.  We found tracks obviously made by skeletons, bootprints from both small and human-sized creatures, and... something else.”“Something else?” “I’m not sure.  We found some traces that looked almost like tracks left by a snake, but somehow... wrong; it didn’t move like any snake I’d ever seen.” “Whatever it was, it was big,” Baraka said. “Good work,” Talen said.  “See if you can...”The knight was interrupted by a cry of alarm to the south.  “Giant bugs!” came Travius’s yell, accompanied by the thrum of Pella’s bow, and a high-pitched chittering noise that echoed off the cavern wall, followed almost immediately by cries of pain.</blockquote>

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