Where does the rabbit hole lead? Right back to a whole village of goblins. I may have been okay with killing those warriors, but slaughtering a goblin village was completely different. It wasn’t long until I reached the first such village. I actually had a strong suspicion that it was the same village I had tried to sneak past originally, but it could have just been me imagining things since everything seemed similar.

I decided to do the opposite this time of what I attempted last time. Instead of trying to sneak through, I decided that I would stroll confidently through the center. It actually worked. I think they were all just too stunned and scared to do anything. As soon as I stepped into the light and I was seen, everything just stopped. It was more like a wave of people stopping what they were doing than an instantaneous stop, but it was quick and I felt impressive, but highly embarrassed at the same time, like I was about to give a speech.

Don’t chicken out now.

I stood as straight and tall as I could and started to walk right down the center of the village. They all parted for me as I walked. I tried to exude an air of confidence, but I made sure to constantly check my surroundings for danger. I noticed a few guards that weren’t as stunned with my passing as the others and they were surreptitiously whispering to other guards while eyeballing be. I could take these two guards, but I had no idea how many might come to their aid, and since I was surrounded by other types of goblins, I didn’t want to be mobbed. It was while observing one of these moments that I noticed another cave passageway at the side of the goblin town.

I didn’t think that the guards would let me walk all the way through this large cavern dwelling so I decided to go to the nearest exit that I could. From the edge of my vision, I saw them waving to some other guards down the length of the city and was doubly glad I decided to turn. As soon as I did turn, the guards I had been watching moved into action at my unexpected turn. As soon as they reacted, so did I. I rushed toward the town’s exit and into the small passageway.

The passageway was small for me, but it would be large for the diminutive goblins. Then again, I could still use it like a funnel and kill any that come after me. First though, I needed to know where it led as having them surround me would not be good.

The heat of the torch licked my face as I trotted down the twisting hallways. Unfortunately, when I say down, I meant it because it was consistently on a slight downslope. After a few minutes of travel, I came to a set of rough-hewn stairs that led even further down into the gloom. I pondered it for a moment while the only sound came from the burning of the torch. I didn’t know how long the torch would last, nor where this tunnel led. If I stayed here though, it would just be more goblins. However, if I didn’t “clear” the dungeon, I would be stuck in it forever. Unfortunately, I had no idea what the message prompt meant by “clear”.

I still hadn’t even checked my status yet. I almost forgot about it. The light of an advancing torch started to creep around the corner of the cavern’s passage. I was out of time, I could kill these goblins now, or go down the stairs and either kill them at the bottom or continue to flee. I decided to see what was at the bottom of the stairs first. If there are too many and they push me back, I will be forced to fight them on the stairs. Then, they will have the high ground and I know what happens when you don’t have the high ground.

I like my arms and legs, thank you very much.

With that, I headed deeper into the dungeon and the unknown depths.

After only a few paces, the steps became much rougher and it caused my progress to slow. It seemed that the small stair passageway was becoming more minuscule and I was forced to hunch over as I walked. It also started to become steeper. Another good intentioned, bad decision. Damn!

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

I was holding the torch in front of me so I could see where I was going to step next, but I didn’t see anywhere to go. My only choice was to go back and face the goblins, but I would be at a disadvantage. I would have to hack my way through who knows how many in an enclosed uphill fight.

As I turned, I could see a small goblin blocking my path. He had a bandana around his head and his fists and wrists were wrapped in cloth. The goblin stood in a fighting stance with his hands clenched tight.

“Looks like you brought fists to a spear fight,” I said and prepared to strike.

The goblin lifted his leg and slammed his foot onto the ground. A cracking sound echoed through the enclosed space and my left leg fell away as the ground underneath it did the same. A moment later, my right leg followed suit and I dropped the torch to reach out and grab the nearest ledge I could. The goblin slammed his foot down again and the small ledge I was holding crumbled away. As I fell down into the darkness, following the small pin of light caused by my torch, I was only capable of thinking one thing.

Did that goblin just earth bend on me?

Whether it did or not, didn’t really matter as I fell into the darkness. Once more, I felt that this was the end of my life, but after just a moment of falling in the pitch-black cave, I was surrounded by a luminous blue glow.

I continued to fall and the blue glow quickly shifted positions. The light sped past my vision and I could suddenly see a vast underground ecosystem spread out before my eyes with what looked like a glowing forest.

Of course there could be place like this. Well, Jules Verne, eat your heart out.

While I didn’t have much control over my body while it was in freefall, I was able to slightly twist and I could see the source of the light came from the top of the massive cavern I was falling through. The top of the cavern was covered in blue crystals that blazed with light.

The cavern I was falling through was huge in its expanse, but the ceiling itself wasn’t that high. Still, as I looked down to the rushing ground beneath me, I was glad to see that I was falling into a massive lake. Then I remembered that a fall into water from a great height is just as deadly as the ground. Then I saw a pirate ship…and an octopus? Then I slammed into the water.

Thankfully, it didn’t hurt as bad as I thought, which made sense. I could be stabbed or thrown through a tree and still be okay, so I had to be extremely tough. Also, I didn’t drop my spear as I fell or slammed into the water.

The water was bitterly cold and it surrounded me in its suffocating chill. As soon as the cold hit me, I immediately started to swim upward toward the light and surface. I broke the surface with a huge breath. I hadn’t been holding my breath for that long, but my chest was so tight from the icy water that it was a relief to get some air and expand my chest. I quickly looked around to gain my bearing. I could already feel my extremities losing feeling. I didn’t want to take too long to get my blood flowing, so I decided to move to the nearest object I could find, which was the pirate ship.

I started to paddle to the area, but trying to swim while holding on to a spear is difficult. Luckily, my boots were buoyant but it was still a challenge. I had to quickly move to a side paddling position but that didn’t work well either. It didn’t generate much warmth, so I flipped onto my back and then I started to move quicker. I focused on the ceiling as I kicked my legs for propulsion and warmth.

Crystals of many different sizes and shapes completely covered every square inch. Not only did they produce a cool blue light, but they also sparked in some spots, flickering between a darker blue and almost white. I looked back to see how much more distance I had to cover. I was generating some heat, but it wasn’t enough to ward off the cold. My fingers were going numb and it was a struggle to continue to hold onto my spear.

At least I got a bath. And I’m not being attacked.

I continued to kick and thought about my fall. It was crazy that there is a forest down there, and I wondered how a pirate ship got down there, but I hoped that it meant there was a way out.

As I thought about an exit, a dark shadow lifted from the water to my right like a pillar. It was then that I remembered the octopus I had seen while falling. I kicked a little harder but it didn’t mean much as the tentacle wrapped around my body and crushed me in its grip. The air was squeezed from my lungs as I was lifted higher in the air. I was spun more as the tentacle continued to wrap around me. Soon I was facing down and I got a clear look at the creature whose grasp I was in.