Leon stared at the ground, wondering what had happened. Darius always met him at this intersection. He was always early, waiting for Leon. Judging by the mix of black blood mixed in with the red spattered on the walls, darius had given as well as taken. The red became a trail as it led down to the Lower Rocks.  ‘Shit, it must have been goblins’ Leon thought to himself. They resembled the topsider orcish, but were leaner, shorter, and used their hearing and infrared vision to traverse the caves. With a dark green mottled skin that was almost black and a wiry strength that belied their smaller stature, they were ambush creatures -- and they reigned in the Lower Rocks if they got the drop on anything other than a well armoured human. But well armoured these days was hard to come by in the Dark. over 100 years ago, humans had been pushed from their lands into the deep cave system that spanned from the south sea to the north sea on the west side of the continent. What it would be like to go topside… Leon shook himself and started following the descending blood trail.

The cave continually narrowed until it was only feet above his head. This was the one offshoot they never took, as it led to goblin territory. Leon and Darius usually took one of the other tunnels, the no-man's lands in between goblin and human territory, where they could find lone goblins to kill. They did this for the training, but also for the eyes of the goblins. Granting temporary infrared vision, they were a sought after resource that paid very well. Unless one had a death wish, delves into the Dark required infrared vision. From gathering to hunting to exploring, his people paid well to be supplied with this enabling resource. He had eaten so many eyes that strangely by his 20th birthday the infrared vision had become permanent. Coupled with the slightly bioluminescent moss that covered most of the cave system, Leon’s infrared vision provided the unique combination of being able  to hunt everyday and sell all the eyes he acquired, which permitted him to equip himself well. He pulled out his daggers and crept silently along the descent. He moved for what felt like hours, but was likely only minutes. As the blood trail became less and less frequent, Leon felt vibrations. A rhythmic sound started to reach him, a single drum was beating.The sound became louder and louder as he reached an enormous underground chamber. He saw a river cutting through the left side of the cave till it reached the right, and realized that the vibrations were coming from a waterfall which dropped out of sight on the right side of the cave.

Gathered at the river's edge was a mob of the dark goblins. They watched as a tall goblin with bones adorning his skull cried in its guttural language, pointing with a knife to a body he held up roughly with his other hand. Darius! His body was prone, his head and chest raised off the ground as the goblin held him by his flaming red hair which was matted with blood. Panic gripped Leon's heart. He had never felt so powerless. He couldn't let this happen. ‘What am i supposed to do to a room of fifty of those shitters?’ he thought. ‘If I try to sneak up on the goblins my heat signature will give me away.’As he frantically searched the cave for something that would help him save his friend, he stared at the cold water as an idea came to him.

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Creeping along the left side of the cave, his hand running along the uneven wall, he moved as silently and swiftly as possible. His foot got caught on a rock as he reached the water, sending him into its cold hands with a small splash. He prayed silently that none of the goblins  had heard him. He lay in the water praying harder than he ever had that they wouldn't kill darius yet. He needed to move quickly, yet moving too soon would be his downfall. Laying still in the freezing water he clenched his hands around a rock so the current wouldn’t take him as he waited for his body temperature to cool. He waited as long as he dared, and hoped that his heat signature would be low enough due to the cold water that he could approach the chief goblin. He let go, and the fast current quickly took him towards the group of goblins. Leon took one final breath as he reached the outer ring of the monsters, about 15 feet away from the chief. Letting the water carry him, he eased out a dagger in his right hand and waited for the cries of those that spotted him that didn't come. Inching closer, he settled on the bank as near the surface as possible. “Please God” he whispered in his mind, before bursting out of the water. He rose up, left hand reaching to stabilize the chiefs body as his right whipped forward to slit the his throat. The chief, alerted by the sound of Leon leaving the water, started to duck and turn. Leon quickly entangled his left hand in the chiefs lank filthy hair and brought the dagger to the chiefs neck and ripped. He felt the strength leave the monsters body as something came away in his left hand. He didn't have time to check what it was or even if darius was alive as the mob surged towards him with hate in their eyes. Leon pushed the chief as he turned and grabbed Darius. “ SHIT! I didn't think this one through!” he yelled as he dove into the water with the redhead. Keeping his friends head above the water, the current started dragging them to the edge as Leon fought to try and reach the far bank. ‘We’re not gonna make it’ he realized as darius’ limp body carried them closer and closer to the fall. Leon wrapped his arms around him as the river sent them even deeper into the Dark.