Lucas and his companions reached the mountain when the sun had only fallen halfway to the horizon, and still had another half to go. Of course, with the setting they found themselves in, their surroundings were already cast in the mountain's shadow and visibility was rapidly falling. So it was quite lucky for them that they found one of the [Hunter]'s trails Harry had spoken of so quickly, and began their final approach to the Dungeon's mountain pass.
With all his Class Skills finally maxed out, Lucas had little to focus on besides [Stealth] and making plans of rescue he'd inevitably have to revise later. The others, however, and particularly Harry as he had the lowest level next to Lucas himself, still got in some practice with their Skills as they hiked.
Belinda was a [Cook], not a [Mage] or [Warrior]--she wasn't typically a combatant at all, and it was merely their fortune that any of her Skills could be put toward that pursuit. With a brother amongst the village guards, she wasn't even somewhat practiced at pushing her abilities to violent ends, but she still made use of their journey to practice her telekinesis some more.
Harry, naturally, hadn't stopped working on his Skills since earlier. He was in a rather unique position, in that he had a higher Class level and evolution than Lucas, but because he recently switched out a number of Skills, his current abilities might be lesser. He, most of all, needed the time to grind out those Skills' initial levels.
Lucas's mom, Mary, didn't practice at all. Though, Lucas wasn't even entirely sure she needed it. He'd thought her a pure [Healer], with both of her Classes solely dedicated to that role, but then she used that paralyzing blast of lightning in the fight with the nilbog, and he was left to wonder.
The hike across the mountain face, following the trail, took nearly another two hours and in that time, the surroundings were well and truly cast into darkness. That is how they arrived at the overlook and first got eyes on the goblins camp.
Harry gave a warning when their group was close to reaching their destination, but it hardly proved necessary because the monsters were not trying to hide their presence at all. Raucous shouting and dissonant screeches could be heard echoing across the expanse several minutes before they arrived at that overlook, and the source of that pandemonium was made clear at the very first glance.
That...That is a horde, alright, Lucas thought as he laid prone and peeked out over the cliff's edge, and his eyes picked out one monster after another, illuminated even in the darkness by a multitude of bonfires. Shadows danced between the rough tents of the goblin camps, and in other areas the creatures were packed so close together that it was impossible to come up with an accurate count of their number. But one thing was clear, there were far, far too many for the four of them to deal with--maybe even too many to sneak past...
Lucas spared a glance off to his side to gauge the other three's reactions, and though he saw a reflection of his own grim thoughts in their expressions, they also appeared resolutely determined. Harry caught his eye and gave him a slow nod, then they both turned back down to the commotion below.
The mountain pass in which the goblin camp was situated stretched out to either side. The last dregs of the dying sunlight could still be seen at the western end, but the night came in full force from the east. In its entirety, the pass was quite large--practically a small valley in its own right--but the camp spread out as if to challenge that statement. Its one edge started not far from the pass's eastern mouth, and it did not stop till it came within a similar distance of the other.
Has to be larger than the village, Lucas decided.
The camp was more concentrated toward the center, however, and especially on the side opposite the overlook. Lucas couldn't tell exactly where the entrance to the Dungeon was supposed to be, but he could probably make a very good guess. For what reason the monsters decided to set up around the Dungeon, he did not know, but the structures also seemed much more permanent in that direction, and more complex than the ragged tents found elsewhere.
Amongst that area, there was a marked difference in the monsters. The goblins were larger, and their behavior ranged from being much wilder than their smaller kin, or much more tame. They reigned over the smaller monsters like commanders and kings, and Lucas had a bad feeling that each one was either a nilbog or of the corrupted variety. It did not bode well for their efforts, but he had gone into this expecting to face more corruption, so his resolve did not falter.
Lucas's final observation was perhaps the most concerning. In the middle of the pass, outside of the main cluster of structures erected by the goblins, was a stone altar much too large to have come about naturally. And though he couldn't make out a great many details on it from this distance and in the flickering light, he could easily make out the darker splotches on its surface. It looked suspiciously like blood...
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A light tap on his shoulder pulled his attention from the scene, and Lucas looked to see the others backing down the trail. Mary gestured for him to follow, so he crawled back, away from the edge until he was confident he would be out of sight, then stood to continue on his feet.
The four of them only backtracked a short distance before halting in a bend and drawing together. Lucas's mother was the first to break the silence, and she set the tone by doing so in a whisper, even though it was highly unlikely the monsters would hear us over their own noise. Sounds evidently carried in the region.
"Am I right in assuming the Dungeon entrance in the middle of that cluster?" she directed her question at Harry.
The [Hunter] answered her with a grim nod.
"Then let's hope we won't have to find our way in," Mary said, her tone equally grim. "Did any of you see any sign of the guards that went missing? Any idea where the monsters are holding them?"
Despite himself, Lucas's thoughts turned to that stone altar, and he felt as if he had swallowed a stone. There was no chance the others hadn't seen it though, and yet his mom still asked, so he didn't speak up.
"Some of those structures looked pretty large and solid," Belinda pointed out. "If they're not in the Dungeon, they could be in one of those?"
Mary grimaced. "Unfortunately, that is probably the case. Which means we'll have to find a way to sneak into the center of their camp and check each one."
"There's no way the four of us aren't spotted," Harry said immediately.
"Maybe," Mary nodded and her eyes flashed with the beginnings of a plan. Though from the way she grimaced, it was clearly not one to her liking, but still she shared it with them. "You're right that four of us sneaking around together would increase the chance that we are spotted," she looked each one of them in the eye, and said, "which is why we'll need to split up. Pairs of two would probably be best."
Together as one, Lucas, Belinda, and Harry all collectively swallowed. No one spoke for a moment, until Belinda finally broke the silence.
"If that's what we have to do, then that's what we have to do," she simply shrugged.
"We should have one [Healer] in each pair," Lucas looked at his mother and said. "That way, if anything goes wrong, we'll be able to recover. Me and Belinda, Mom and Harry?" he glanced between each individual as he suggested.
His mom hesitated and worry flitted across her expression, but a moment later she nodded. No one else raised up any objection, so Lucas moved on. There was one more thing he wanted to say before they passed the point of no return.
"Everyone needs to be very, very careful to stay away from any goblins--especially you two," he looked to his mom, then Harry. The boy gave him a flat stare and looked as if he was going to interrupt, but Lucas immediately continued. "There are almost definitely going to be some corrupted goblins down there, and if I'm not with you, I can't protect you from that."
A moment passed as they took that in, then Mary drew close to his side and wrapped her arm around him. "We'll be safe, Lu. Don't worry," she said as she squeezed.
It was an empty assurance, he knew, but still her words offered him some comfort. Lucas knew his mother was incredibly smart and capable--more than he knew, in fact. Now that she had knowledge of this strange corruption and what it could do to a person, he was sure she would be able to keep away.
No, he should truly be worrying about himself and Belinda going into this. Of the pairs, they were likely the ones least experienced at infiltration. He could only hope for the best, and prepare for the worst.
"Ok," Mary regathered everyone's attention, "the plan will be this: we sneak into the camp in those pairs and Harry and I check the structures on the east half of the camp, while Belinda and Lucas check the west side. In the event that neither pair finds our people, we need to press forward and converge on the Dungeon's entrance."
"I won't lie--if that is how things turn out, we will likely be in real trouble, as combat will be all but unavoidable," she spoke, serious as Lucas had ever seen her. "When one pair eventually locates our people, the other pair will need to cause a distraction on the other side of camp so they can be extracted. We'll all have to watch for the other's pair's signal as we move. Any questions?"
Lucas raised his hand and said, "What will the signal be, and how do we avoid alerting all the monsters?"
Mary thought for a moment, then said, "If you find our people, throw something atop that big, stone altar. Don't use any flashy magic, just hit the altar with something. That should be visible enough from any point in the camp for either pair to keep an eye on it."
Lucas nodded, "Ok."
His mom looked between everyone once more, and when no one came up with any more questions, she stood and brushed dirt from her pant-legs. "Alright," she looked back in the direction of the cliff, and the goblins' camp beyond it, "now how do we get down there?"
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Half an hour spent climbing down a sheer, treacherous cliff-face later, the four of them broke into their pairs and started moving forward, in the direction of the central cluster in the goblins' camp. On this side, opposite the Dungeon's entrance, there were neither very many tents nor bonfires for the goblins to gather around. That was both boon and misfortune, as it meant there was more open ground in the area that increased the chances of them being spotted, but also that there were fewer goblins to do the spotting.
Luckily, the last of the sunlight had now fully vanished, and it was proving to be a dark, starless night. Moreover, the bonfires that were in the area were small, pitiful things that did not cast all that much light to reveal them.
Lucas looked on and charted a path that would take him and Belinda near each structure they had to visit, whilst avoid the areas with the heaviest concentration of goblins. What he came up with was a winding, inefficient thing, but they just might be able to manage it.
He took a long, deep breath and slowly let it out, then stepped forward.
Into the belly of the beast, he thought to himself.