“The Illyrian Empire is divided into five regions: the north, south, east, west and central regions. Each has its own culture, resources and challenges. To the East, raids by Orcs and Goblins are of constant concern. Although weak individually, they multiply quickly and are deadly when organized.”

“Bestiary guide: Illyrian Imperial Academy”

Chapter 17

Wil cursed quietly, he was back in the underground city!

Worse still, the river had brought him directly under it, he was now in the center of the town, the crumbling building where he was hiding was located on the bottom of the bowl-shaped ruins.

He was closer to the Goblins now than he had been when he and his companions had first come here, running away had actually brought him closer to danger!

Wil looked out of the ruined building he was hiding in. To his left were crumbling walls and piled debris, blocking that direction. To Wil’s right, he could make out a long street in the city’s dim torchlight. It was a slightly curving street, that had rundown and decrepit ruins lining it on both sides.

The road was filled with debris that Wil could use for cover, and as he examined his surroundings, he found that his location was in a depression, with progressively higher streets and buildings around him.

From Wil’s vantage point, it appeared as if the city was once relatively flat. Something had caused the entire center of the town to sink deeply, with its outskirts still being at the original height.

Wil couldn’t imagine what kind of disaster could cause an entire city to sink deep into the ground, burying it beneath the surface.

Turning back the building he was occupying, Wil collected his gear, while formulating a plan. He would try to escape the city, before the Goblins and Orcs spotted him in his hiding place.

Wil wasn’t the stealthiest person, but if he left his torch behind and stayed close to the ruins, he would at least be able to assess the area for an exit. If he couldn’t escape, then he would have to wait until the city cleared at Night. Most of the Goblins would be leaving the city to join on the raid, allowing him to slip out behind them.

Regardless, he would need to find a better hideout then where he currently was. The Giant Bat had used the opening behind him as an exit from their lair, more bats could come at any time. The building was also to exposed, with the roof missing and a doorway that couldn’t be secured.

His gear secure and mostly recovered from his climb, Wil slowly left the shelter of the ruined building, dousing his torch as to not draw attention to himself. He crept along the road, staying close to the crumbling buildings and large debris for cover.

After a short period of time, Wil got a whiff of a horrendous stench; it was coming from further up the street.

Breathing through his mouth, Wil had no choice but to keep going forward, approaching the source of the smell. As he walked down the street, the smell got worse with every step. He could even taste it on his tongue and had to fight the urge to vomit.

Rounding a corner, Wil found the source of the stench.

The Goblins had been using the street as a garbage dump and latrine. A large pile of garbage, rotten meat, bones and wreckage had been heaped on the path in front of Wil.

The goblins had thrown everything from a ledge above the garbage pile, he could make out the ledge in the dim light. The Goblins had standing torches burning, marking the dump. Wil could also see that a ladder had been placed near the pile, allowing the Goblins access to the lower levels.

Wil would have to approach the horrible remains in order to climb upwards.

Pulling out a handkerchief from his pack, Wil tied it around his mouth and nose. The cloth, having been laundered before he left the capital, smelled faintly of rose water. It would block some of the awful smell, although he made sure to breath through his mouth.

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Wil slowly approached the ladder, trying to avoid stepping in some of the most unpleasant of the Goblin’s garbage. He was forced to weave around some of the worst areas, including a pile of bones that looked to be human, and large smears of Goblin excrement.

As Wil shuffled along, he heard noises come from the pile, faith scratching and gnawing sounds. Turning away from the ladder and towards the garbage, Wil could see shadows moving on top of it, small bits of darkness in the dim torchlight.

Distracted in his walking, Wil accidently disturbed a large bone with his foot, sending it skittering down the path and making a sharp ‘crack’ noise as it hit the wall beside him.

Suddenly, Wil could see dozens of red eyes gleaming at him from the garbage pile. A particularly large set of eyes appeared, and a large black figure came rushing at him from the waste, followed by dozens of smaller ones.

Rats! Dozens of them, led by a giant rat the size of a small dog, were pouring out of the garbage pile towards Wil.

He turned and ran towards the ladder, but he could see that they would reach him before he could make it.

Spinning around to face the coming swarm, Wil formed a large spell matrix, pumping as much mana as it could hold into it, before thrusting both his hands through it towards the rats.

“Scorch!” Wil hissed the spell’s incantation as the fire leapt from between his fingers, engulfing the rats.

The wave of fire swept through the rats, lighting dozens of them aflame. The giant rat let out an unnaturally loud screech, knocking into its followers in an attempt to flee the flames.

Not waiting to see the results of the spell, Wil used the carnage brought about by his magic to reach the ladder and climb it. Finally reaching the top, Wil looked back down at the street below him, he could spot small burnt bodies littering the ground. The giant rat lay still, smoke rising from its charred body.

Turning away, Wil left the ledge and crept between the ruins, wary of any Goblins or Orcs that may be nearby.

As he walked, to his left he spotted an almost intact building, three stories tall, with an open door. He could use the large windows on each floor to look around the area for a way to escape.

Wil crept to the building, listening carefully for any signs of Goblins.

He was in luck, and the building was empty. On the first floor, he found some broken pieces of old wood, long rotten, and stone fallen from some of the walls.

The second floor was relatively intact, but the third floor had gaping holes in the both the ceiling and floor, requiring Wil to step carefully to the large windows.

He looked at the city from his high vantage point, taking care to not stand in the window and be seen from below.

He could see that he was almost in the direct center of the city, nearly a mile away from any of the cavern walls. Straight ahead, Wil could make out a large concentration of torchlight.

He assumed that was where the Goblins and Orcs had their main encampment. Torches were evenly placed from that area to the wall on Wil’s left, where he could faintly make out a large crack in the cavern.

‘That’s the main way out.’ Wil thought, assessing the exit.

From where he was, he could only faintly make out the exit, but from the moving torchlight nearby, he could guess that it would be heavily guarded and well used.

He wouldn’t be able to make it out that way, so Wil looked to the left, towards the wall where his companions and him had first entered. It would be difficult to make it to that exit as well, he would need to cover half of the city, and he could see moving torchlight from patrols guarding the entire area.

Moving to another window, Wil looked at the opposite direction of the Goblin camp, hoping to spot another way out. A large portion of the city was dark, with only an occasional patrol, but Wil could easily make his way to the wall in that direction.

Wil, not being able to tell the directions underground, called the well-lit exit the north wall, and the dark area behind him as south. The other exit he knew that existed would be west.

Wil decided he would travel south, to the poorly lit area, but he would have to risk lighting his torch. He wouldn’t be able to see in the dark southern area without it.

‘If I can’t find an exit south, then I’ll have to wait until most of the Goblins leave at Night and try one of the other exits.

Heading back down to the first floor, Wil relit his torch and started to make his way towards the dark section of the city. He traveled through the dark streets, moving carefully in and out of buildings when a street was blocked.

He didn’t encounter any enemies, he assumed the city was too large for the Goblins to patrol and secure the entire place, so they focused on the parts they occupied.

He walked for hours through the ruined city, being careful to avoid any areas of light and watching his footing. The crumbling streets and buildings would easily give way, or have dark, hidden crevices if he wasn’t careful.

Exhausted and hungry, Wil finally arrived at the distant southern wall of the city, his torchlight blocked from the Goblin occupied areas by the tall buildings.

Wil ran his hands over the smooth cavern wall, before turning to the left. He would inspect the wall for an exit until he was close to the occupied portion of the city, before turning around and going the other way. It would take hours, but he had no other choice.

With one hand on the cavern wall, Wil began to walk, hoping he could find a way out of the city without going through the Goblin guarded exits.