Ryan watched as the goblins went in the direction of the shouting.

"Yeah, the adventure party is here," Ryan said to herself as she got up from the ground and snook up to the entranceway of the small room she was resting in.

Ryan took a peek out the tattered door and saw a group of goblins gathered outside. They were engaging in a battle with seven other figures that looked like humans. They were a good distance away and she was having trouble making out who was in the party, even with Ryan’s ability to see in the dark.

"Um, well I might be able to sneak out thanks to my new decoys. Who are playing with the goblins," Ryan whispered to herself. She decided to tiptoe out behind the goblins that were glaring at the invaders. She made sure not to make a noise as she moved behind a rock on the opposite side of the room. Luckily they didn't notice her.

The battle had become far more fierce by the second as the goblins spawned the heavily armored warriors. The green-skinned freaks outnumbered the adventure party three to one. The goblins seemed to be holding their own, they even managed to land a few hits on a couple of the knights, here and there.

"So, they're only humans? I thought they would have a dwarf or something," Ryan joked to herself as she finally could see the group more clearly now as she hid behind one of the rocks near the far side wall of the cavern.

She saw a party of seven adventurers who seemed to finally be making a dent into the goblin horde that was swarming them. After a while, some of them started to relax. But then the hobgoblins came into the picture and entered the battle with the remaining goblins.

"Percy! Guard my flank!" yelled out a young man with golden eyes and dark red hair. He was wearing badass-looking armor that was mostly black, or more of a charcoal color but it had gold trim with all these intricate details.

'Damn! Mr. Golden Eyes, looks like he's royalty or something?' Ryan thought to herself.

"Yes, Your Highness." Said the other young man named Percy. He was firing off arrows to give support for his party. He looked like your everyday fantasy ranger. With his red cape, leather armor, and short sword. He was playing crowd control with his bow and arrows. He had hazel brown eyes and short brown hair. And upon second viewing Ryan noticed that he looked a little younger than Mister Golden Eyes.

'He must have a huge ego if he has a retainer named Percy!' Ryan thought to herself.

*Swish!*

*Clang!*

*Scrape!*

"Guh!" Grunted an older man wearing light armor. He resembled more of a knight, with the usual chainmail, the tunic with his country's banner colors on it and he was using a shield and a long sword. But four goblins came at him and one got him in the arm.

'Ew! He just got a piece taken out from him!' Ryan thought while she continued with her internal commentary. She witnessed the knight getting hacked by a goblin axe.

"RAH! Sir George! Get back and mend your wounds! HAH! I'll take on the front!" Mr. Golden Eyes ordered as he fought back three goblins and a Hobgoblin.

"I've had worse, my Lord!" Said Sir George as his face was filled with pain while the blood continued to flow out of the wound from his shield arm.

*Sling!*

*Splat!*

"George! You're better to me alive than dead! Mend yourself now! That's an order! Hah!" Mr. Golden Eyes yelled out again as he killed the Hobgoblin in front of him.

"Guh... As you command, Your Highness." Said Sir George as he tried to wrap his wound as quickly as possible.

'Huh? Looks like a few of them are not fully engaged in the fight. Why are they letting Mr. Golden Eyes do all the work?' Ryan pondered but she got a bad feeling about their predicament but she was interested to witness how it was going to play out.

"Marcus! What are you doing!? I need you in the front line!" Mr. Golden Eyes roared with anger in his voice.

*Clang!*

"I'm sorry cousin but this is where we must part ways. I hope you have a wonderful afterlife and I'll make sure to give your parents my regards," Marcus said with a shit-eating grin. He was a wiry guy and looked like a mage with his robe and silly-looking hat. He seemed to have three bodyguards or mercenaries that looked similar to Sir George's get-up. But they had a black rose on the front of their tunics.

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'Tsk! So cliche... It looks like Mr. Golden Eyes has a traitorous cousin. Anyway, not my problem.' Ryan reacted to the scene in front of her like it was a poorly written movie or TV show. Even though it was a real battle of life and death.

It was at this moment that Ryan decided to make her getaway. This was her opportunity to leave but after she turned away for a couple of seconds she could hear the fighting beginning again and for some reason, something within her compelled her to turn back. She needed to watch that man with the golden eyes as he struggled to keep himself and his comrades from dying, at the hands of the horde.

‘Fine! I’ll watch them for a few more minutes. It’s not like I can’t leave whenever I want... I just prefer to watch them for a little longer... Yeah, that's it,’ Ryan lied to herself as she returned to her discreet spot and continued observing the battle.

She couldn’t help but stare at Prince Quinus's (Mr. Golden Eyes) masterful fighting skills. He sliced and diced the foes in front of him with mesmerizing movements. He was so skilled with the blade that his enemies barely stood a chance. Ryan could tell that he had trained for a long time. But even the best warrior could only hold out so long against such odds.

'Damn, he’s good! Like, really good... And the way his body moves is so hypnotic. And his muscles are sooo…. so?' Ryan then shakes her head vigorously as she tries to shake those strange thoughts from her head. ‘What the fuck is wrong with me?’

***

"Tsk! Marcus! You traitorous dog!" Sir George yelled as he slashed a goblin with his sword and knocked the little monster into a big rock. "You're going to pay for this! HYAH!!"

Marcus just smirked as he ran down a different corridor with his three knights leaving them behind to their deaths.

"George, focus! We can't get my cousin if we die here right now? " Said Quinus as he continued to fight with the remaining goblins and a goblin shaman.

All of a sudden everyone can feel the cavern vibrate as the sound of a stampede seems to be coming their way.

"Prince Quinus! It's a monster stampede!" yelled Percy from behind the group.

“First Marcus and now this,” Quinus said with frustration.

The vibrations and the sound of stomping feet seemed to get stronger by the second until it became a deafening roar. Everyone's attention went to the entrance of the cave where they could see a green wall of goblins coming towards Quinus and his retainers.

'OH FUCK!' Ryan thought as she saw the tidal wave of goblins coming straight for them. 'Why didn’t I get out of here earlier?' She chastised herself for not leaving when she could have. All she can do now is watch the goblins come closer and closer to Quinus and his troops.

As the goblins come within striking range of Quinus. He takes one last look at Percy and remembers how he said "to never leave someone behind" as they lost many good knights to get here at this point. He draws his elegant longsword up in the air. It began to glow red like a fire. "LET THE SUN SMITE THEE!"

Quinus yells as the flame, which is as bright as the sun, flares out of his sword and he swings it in the direction of the goblin horde. The flames engulf the goblins before they can do anything about it. They scream, screech, and roll around on the ground, desperate to stop the pain as the army of goblins and hobgoblins fall to the magical flames. It takes only a few seconds before they burn to ash.

"WOW!" Ryan yelled out in awe of the raw power that Quinus just displayed.

Prince Quinus looks over to his comrades before he falls to one knee from exhaustion.

"Well, done, my Lord. We would have been in trouble if it wasn't for you... Are you fine," Sir George said as he hurried over to help him up.

"I’m fine, I just need time for my mana to come back into my body. Haah... I'm not sure how many more of those I can do that though," Quinus said to his retainers as he felt the stress on his body.

"Lord Quin, should we retreat and bring in more knights?" Percy asked with worry in his voice.

"No Percy! Marcus will use this against me for the Throne. He’ll say, I'm not fit to be king because we couldn’t stop the monster stampede, where he will. We have to finish this or our people will suffer," Quinus said with determination in his voice.

"You're right! Let's keep fighting!" said Sir George as he took a stand next to Quinus and looked at the horde of dead burnt corpses of the goblins' bodies or what was left of them.

"I wish I was able to do something with magic, my Lord, I feel like I'm nothing but a burden," said Percy looking down at his bow.

Sir George kneels down and puts his hand on Percy's shoulder. "You did well today. And there's no point in beating yourself up... Haah... I don't know about you, but I've been feeling sluggish after that one. I think we could all use a break. What do you say, my Lord? I think we have about four more floors to go through before we reach the core. And I think it would be best to rest for a moment."

Quinus looked around before speaking his mind. "Yeah... It would be best to take a breather. I doubt Marcus will make it that far with so many goblins running around."

Percy laughs and nods "Yeah. You're right. But how are we going to find the core without Marcus?"

Quinus looks over to Percy and shakes his head, "It's okay, Percy. We’ll figure it out when we get to that point."

Ryan started to relax once she knew that Mr. Golden Eyes was okay. It was bugging her that she was so invested in Quinus' wellbeing. But in the end, she just shrugged her shoulders and paid it no mind.

'Well, it seems they are safe for now. I really should leave. Huh? What is that?' While Ryan was looking around the cavern she heard some noises, coming from above. That's when she spotted a few hobgoblins climbing around the ceiling. They were holding onto the stalactites that were right above Quinus and his men.

"Shit, they're going to get jumped!" Ryan yelled out loud.

The Hobgoblin leader chuckled as he and his minions positioned themselves up in the ceiling and began to attack Quinus and his comrades.

"My Lord! Above us!" Sir George tried to alert everyone but it was too late as the hobgoblins jumped down onto the three of them, knocking their weapons away.

"ARH!?" Quinus yelled out as he was knocked onto his back.

"OOOAAAFFF!?" Percy grunted after getting punched in the face.

"GET OFF ME!" George screamed as he was tackled to the ground.

"MEATS ON THE MENU, BOYS!" yells one of the hobgoblins as they raise their weapons ready to attack them without mercy.