Chapter 12 - The River

Edna plunged down the waterfall.

The roar of water all around her was deafening. Her heart pounded in her ears, adrenaline coursing through her veins. She twisted her body, trying to get a glimpse of her companions, and saw Hildebrin and Makaik right beside her, their faces etched in fear.

Within just a few short seconds she saw the water below her, and Edna braced for the impact. The moment she hit the churning pool, the water enveloped, dragging her down. She struggled to orient herself, fighting a current that threatened to pull her under for good.

Edna kicked, pushing herself towards the surface. As her head broke through, she gasped for air, lungs burning. She could see Hildebrin and Makaik nearby, also fighting to stay afloat.

Hildebrin would surely drown with all that heavy armor on.

The underground river was a torrent of white water, swirling and churning. Edna fought to keep her head above the surface, her limbs aching from the strain. She spotted a rock outcropping, with exposed roots, and with a desperate lunge, she managed to grab hold of it, pulling herself closer to the shore.

Hildebrin and Makaik followed suit, their soaked forms clinging to the slippery stones. Edna could see the exhaustion in their faces, but there was a glimmer of relief in their eyes as well. They each clung to the roots of a dying tree, breathing heavily as the water rushed around their bodies.

Edna's muscles burned as she heaved herself up onto the rocky bank, water dripping from her soaked leathers. She collapsed onto the ground, her breath coming in ragged gasps.

Makaik dragged himself out next, followed by Hildebrin.

The half-Dwarf declared, "by the gods, I'm drenched to the bone!"

Hildebrin continued mumbling something Edna couldn't understand, and wiping the water from her face as her armor clanged against the rocks.

To her other side, Mikaik grunted in agreement, "I am tired of being soaking wet."

Makaik, robes clung to his slender frame, lay on his back and looked up at the dark ceiling. "I did not know this place would be so wet and dark," he muttered, wringing out some of the fabric.

Edna couldn't help but chuckle at their shared misery. "Welcome to the swamps of Keggma's Grotto, my friends. Where the rain never stops and the water seeps into every crevice."

Hildebrin laughed. "Hah!"

She shifted, grimacing as her sodden clothes rubbed against her skin. The tight adventuring leathers were still chafing in all the worst places.

Hildebrin snorted. "I'll take the bitter chill of the Dwarven mountains over this endless wet any day."

The trio fell silent for a minute, each lost in their own thoughts. Edna's mind drifted back to the task at hand, a temporary reprieve from goblins, and of finding Warfrost.

"We should rest for a moment," she said, "and then press on."

Hildebrin nodded, her expression grim. "Aye, and I'll not truly rest until I've crushed the life from every last goblin I can."

Makaik remained quiet, his eyes scanning their surroundings with a practiced eye. Edna admired the young monk's focus and discipline, even in the face of such adversity.

As they rested in silence, Edna couldn't help but reflect on the journey that had brought them to this point. The storm-lashed streets of Danvers, the treacherous descent into the goblin lair, and then jumping through a waterfall into a river.

This was only the beginning. They'd barely made it anywhere inside the goblin grotto, and they'd already become overwhelmed by the sheer number of enemies.

She glanced at her companions, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "You know, I haven't felt this alive in years. It's been a long time since I've had the chance to test my skills against enemies."

Hildebrin let out a gruff laugh. "Aye, and I'll wager it'll be quite interesting once we find that cat of yours."

Edna chuckled. "I hope so."

She looked into the pocket where she kept the soul stone. It still shined an orange light brightly into the dark space.

The half-Dwarf woman's eyes gleamed with a hint of mischief. "Aye, that's true enough. Though I doubt even I can match the sheer stubbornness of a determined cat-lover."

Makaik's lips quirked upward in a small smile. "I, for one, am glad to have such formidable allies at my side."

Edna reached out and gave the young monk's shoulder a gentle squeeze. "And we're glad to have you, Makaik. Now, we should probably move along before we get surrounded again."

With a renewed sense of purpose, the trio rose to their feet, their weary bodies protesting the movement. Edna took a deep breath, her gaze fixed on two different paths.

Makaik nodded, his youthful features hardened with focus. "Which way do we go, Edna? Upstream or down?"

Edna considered their options, weighing the potential risks and rewards of each path.

"If you were a cat," Edna asked, "which way would you go?"

Hildebrin said, "being a cat is impossible."

Makaik laughed, "literally, sure."

The half-Dwarf laughed in response.

Edna shook her head. "What I mean is to just think from a cat's perspective. The water has to be flowing somewhere, so would a cat follow the stream out to wherever it goes, or would a cat try to follow the stream up to its source?"

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Hildebrin and Makaik studied the wide path. It was well-worn and flat, following alongside the wide river as it meandered through a large underground tunnel.

The waterfall they'd jumped through to get here was just behind them, and was not the full source of the river. Wherever most of this underground water came from, it was far upstream in the darkness.

"If I was a cat," Makaik answered after a minute, "I think I would go downstream, because I would be trying to get away from this place."

"Aye, lad," Hildebrin said, "that's good logic. I agree with Makaik."

Edna nodded. This sounded like the most practical response to their situation. The goblins would surely be regrouping to come after them in the second level, if this was indeed part of the second level, and they needed to get a move on.

As they made their way downstream, Edna couldn't help but marvel at the strange, glowing fungi that clung to the walls. She reached out to touch one, fascinated by the way it seemed to pulse and glow in response to her touch. It was soft to her touch, but other than a faint glow, it seemed to be an ordinary mushroom.

"Curious, isn't it?" she murmured, glancing back at her companions. "I saw some of these on the way down into Keggma's Grotto."

Hildebrin snorted. "Aye, and I'd rather not linger to admire the scenery. Those goblins could be lurking in any one of those dark little tunnels, waiting to pounce."

Edna's focus shifted from the glowing fungi all over the cavern walls, and back to all the steep little paths disappearing into the darkness around them.

Winding little passageways vanished into crevices and rose up along the rough cavern stone. Skittering along tiny ledges, rats and other moving creatures caught their attention from time to time.

The trio continued their cautious advance, the sound of the rushing river and the faint scuttling of unseen creatures the only sounds that broke the eerie silence. Edna's senses were on high alert, her body tense and ready to react at the slightest sign of danger.

As they rounded a bend, Makaik suddenly held up a hand, signaling the others to stop. His eyes had spotted movement in one of the smaller tunnels, a flicker of movement that could only belong to a goblin. Edna and Hildebrin knew why he'd stopped.

"Get ready," Makaik whispered, his hands clenched, "I can sense a few goblins there."

Hildebrin and Edna immediately fell into defensive positions, their weapons at the ready. Edna could feel the anticipation building, the adrenaline coursing through her veins. They were each tired, but they had come here with a mission.

Suddenly, a dozen goblins came spilling out of the tunnel, their shrill cries echoing through the cavern. Makaik didn't hesitate, unleashing a flurry of punches and kicks that struck true, felling all of the creatures.

Edna and Hildebrin had no time at all to even attack, before Makaik had subdued all of them. Their broken bodies writhed on the dark wet ground around him.

Makaik sat down with a deep breath, looking extremely tired.

"Are you okay?" Edna asked.

The boy shook his head. "I am tiring so quickly. I don't know…"

Makaik trailed off, his mind deep in thought. Edna shared a knowing glance with Hildebrin. The boy was braver than most, and had been full of energy, but he was clearly not ready for a long, sustained journey through a dungeon.

Edna also felt very tired. This was not like anything she had done in decades. Although she knew Keggma's Grotto was a weak dungeon compared to many others out in the world, she was getting old, and she was not in her prime.

Hildebrin also looked very tired, and Edna had noticed that her swinging of the bent hammer had already lost some effectiveness. Doubt began to creep into her mind, but she shook her head and tried pushing the thought away.

Makaik finished his thought. "I don't know if I made the right choice."

The half-Dwarf put a supportive hand on one of his shoulders. "You're doing good. Great, actually. I believe in you, lad."

Edna nodded. "I as well. Your fighting and healing has proven very effective so far."

Makaik nodded, though he said nothing as he rested.

Edna considered the boy's words, thinking briefly that he might not have meant his decision to join them, but some other decision. Clearly, something had been weighing heavily on him, and she'd noticed whenever he stopped to look behind them in the swamps. They each had a past that was better left for future discussions.

Edna and Hildebrin looked about for another minute. They too needed more rest, but understood the longer they waited, the more goblins would once again surround them.

Glowing fungi provided just enough light to see, but the shadows had closed in around them the further they walked.

Makaik rose back to his feet after a minute. "I'm ready, although I do not know how much more fighting I can do for now."

"It's okay," Edna said, "come on."

The river twisted and turned through the cavern. The path they walked along grew wider. Twisted little steps meandered up to steep cliffs, with ledges and bridges high above them, barely lit by the faintly glowing fungi.

As they rounded a sharp bend, they each stopped simultaneously. Edna, Hildebrin, and Makaik all saw the same thing at the same time.

Some distance away, hundreds of goblins blocked their path. Their many short forms and squat heads with pointy ears fully filled the cavern far into the winding darkness beyond. Thousands of them were likely lined up there. They were even clung to the cavern walls and perched on treacherous ledges.

Edna cursed under her breath, her mind racing. They were trapped, with no clear path forward.

"By the gods," Hildebrin said grimly, her eyes meeting Makaik's. "This is getting old really quick."

Edna nodded her agreement, reaching for her shurikens.

Makaik said, "I feel something…familiar."

Edna and Hildebrin furrowed their eyebrows as Makaik began looking around. Since the horde of goblins had yet to start charging them, they both did the same, their eyes searching in the same direction the boy looked.

Squinting into the darkness high above, and back in the direction they'd just walked from, she could just make out a small, familiar shape. All three seemed to notice the tiny figure of an orange cat, perched precariously on a narrow ledge, and bathed in the eerie glow of the fungus.

Warfrost. He was so far away from them.

"Warfrost!" yelled, her heart leaping with a surge of hope. Her beloved cat was so close, yet still painfully out of reach.

The cat meowed down from high above. She could not see how he could have climbed along the cavern walls to get where he was.

Hildebrin said, "is that...?"

Edna nodded, her grip tightening on her shurikens. "It's him. We have to get to him, no matter what it takes."

Makaik's eyes widened as he also spotted the cat. "Then we must act quickly. Those goblins will not let us pass without a fight."

Edna knew he was right. The horde of goblins blocking their path would move forward at them any moment.

As if on cue, the goblins began chittering, their little bodies rustling. The horde of creatures caused a serious echo to rumble through the river tunnel. If the goblins started running, the three of them would be swarmed within a minute.

She looked between the goblin horde on the path ahead of them, and then back up into the darkness far behind them.

"Hold on, Warfrost!" she called out, her voice barely audible.

The noise of the goblin horde startling into action drowned out the river.

Warfrost's ears went back at the sounds, and the cat crouched, looking concerned. He watched them down below, eyes darting to the mass of green bodies flowing towards Edna and the other two adventurers.

Edna's breath caught in her throat as the goblins swarmed towards them once again. She'd finally found her cat, but it might have been too late. She wasn't exactly sure how the soul stone worked, but she believed they were too far away for it to work here. They had to get closer.

"Hold on, Warfrost," she murmured, her voice soft and reassuring. "I'm here, and I'm not leaving without you."

The cat's mouth moved, but she could not hear if he meowed or not. Warfrost leaped into motion and navigated the thin ledge he'd perched himself upon, running along the cavern wall back upstream from them. He disappeared from their sight.

Goblins poured down into the river tunnel from all sides, cascading down the tiny, treacherous paths.

"We…" Makaik said, pointing, "should probably follow the cat that way."

Hildebrin turned, laughing as she started running. "Aye! The lad has a good argument!"

The horde of goblins stomped forward, forcing them to turn and run back upstream the way they'd just come.

Edna, Makaik, and Hildebrin ran. They could have stood their ground and fought the goblins. They might even win. But at what cost? They were already growing tired, and another battle would completely drain their energies.

Warfrost had been found. They still had to get to him. He'd either run away into the darkness, or he was leading them somewhere.

A horde of angry goblins might be the death of them. They tried to outrun that possibility.