Gobbits 3

The drums had stopped.

The familiar beat of the “get ready” signal had been going on so long, the vibrations had just melded into the background. Now silence spread throughout the stone under his feet. Grimith scooted his sister out of his lap, and rolled over onto all fours, ears perked for the slightest sound. He spread out his fingers and toes along the smooth stone of the hidey’s floor, feeling, listening, searching for what should be coming soon.

“Grimmy?” said Anxia. “Why have the drums stopped?”

Grimith reached out in reply, in their old signal for silence. He waited, straining his awareness. The Bruderkin always responded to invaders the same way. Raise the alarm, make sure the vulnerable were out of harm’s way, then respond with overwhelming force. When everyone who felt the call to rise up was ready, the Stürmer would lead the way. They were the cleverest, strongest, and most capable of the Bruderkin. Grimith hoped to join them one day. But today, he just needed to keep Anxia out of their way. Who knows what would happen if she got underfoot.

“When the drums stop, it means everyone is ready,” said Grimith. “The Stürmer are coming.”

A small squeak of surprise came from Anxia. “Are they coming … here?”

“Of course, silly,” said Grimith. “Now sit still so I can tell which way they are coming from.”

Anxia sat on her haunches, her toy Snakey clutched to her chest. Grimith closed his eyes, concentrating. His mind churned through his inner map of twists and turns, chambers and passages that made up their home under the mountain. With the drums silent, he should be able to feel something if the Stürmer and all the clans were moving against the longbeard and whatever allies he had brought with him. Longbeards never traveled alone, but he couldn’t be with a large group. Grimith would have felt it if a great group of longbeards were tromping through their home.

Grimith waited, searching for the sound of the clan’s clawed feet clicking on stone. It was an unmistakable sound, once you knew what to listen for. Grimith was well practiced, as there was little to do but listen when you are huddled together with your little sister, far below in the Under.

The lack of movement meant that they still had time to get clear, they just had to head in the opposite direction that the longbeard went. That would be easy enough. The hidey they were in was connected by a series of small crevices to many different spaces under the mountain. He and Anxia could slip away, getting in some sideways distance before turning down to the Under.

Grimith reached out for his sister, only to find the space next to him completely empty.

Borin Flintbelt turned to face Akim and the rest of the small group. He could feel the weight of their expectation. After all, they had hired him for his expertise on goblin lairs. The dust from the tunnel collapse was still thick in the air. The diffused light from the flickering torches and Medee’s magelight erased the shadows and gave their faces a flat look. No one spoke. Even the blustery and argumentative Darrion kept quiet, waiting for the answer to Akim’s question. Which way should they go?

Borin was never prone to haste. Hasty decisions always lacked substance, and a lack of substance often leads to trouble. Since entering the Goblin’s lair, they had followed the primary tunnel deeper and deeper into the mountain.The cave system was a typical Karst, most of which had been formed long ago by the movement of water. There had been some side passages, but they all had led to an alcove, small chamber or some other dead-end.

There was some sign that the chamber they were in had been widened with tools. The side passage that led to some sort of … nursery … had also been worked, and there was obviously more to that space than what he had seen at first glance. The large, soft eyes of the girl child rose up in his mind. If time wasn’t of the essence, he would have stopped to take counsel with the others about his sighting.

The silence of the goblin drums could only mean one thing. An attack was imminent. Darrion had triggered a trap that was aimed at the foolishness of humans, those who stood head and shoulders above the height of even the tallest goblin. The resulting collapse had blocked the tunnel leading back to the surface. It had also caused a wall across from the nursery to crack open, revealing a tunnel that stretched off at a right angle to the primary passage.

The cracked stone shell that had covered the newly revealed tunnel was troubling. Nothing so far had suggested that the local goblin clan had a talent for shaper magic, but that was the only explanation for the seamless way this new passage had been hidden. Borin briefly considered everything he had observed so far. There was a chance that this new passage would lead to some clever, deadly trap. It was also clear that the tunnel’s construction was completely out of step with the rest of the Karst.

“I know not which passage is the best way forward,” said Borin to the rest of the party. “I only know that to stay here invites a goblin attack with no exit, and that this new tunnel was neither formed nor hidden by goblin hands.”

“Then we follow this new path, and we hope that it is as unfamiliar to the goblins as it is to us,” said Akim. “Steady now, this is no time to be caught unawares.”

Borin Flintbelt nodded to himself in agreement. He could respect a human who wasn’t prone to rushing about. The others collected up their torches and climbed through the crack in the wall. On the other side, a broad tunnel that fit two humans walking abreast stretched off into the distance. Borin let them pass. His darksight would be more valuable as a rearguard, and at the moment that was the most likely vector of attack.

As Medee and Corin were about 15 paces past, he slowly followed down the center of the tunnel, carefully straining his senses for signs of pursuit. Despite his heightened awareness, there was no way he could see the pair of large, soft eyes that were staring up at his retreating figure from across a dust-filled chamber.