Thimbrand shook awake in a violent convulsion. Cold, wet air bit him as he struggled to slow his breath. To his shock, he was bound at his feet with his hands tied behind his back. He struggled to break his bonds but, he fell over and hit his head against the cold, stone floor. A memory flashed in his mind.

***

Get the runts, round them up! A harsh voice sliced through the morning air.

Wagons burning all around as people screamed. Those that did not escape on horseback were being dragged away by a company of goblins. Thimbrand held fast with a few sturdy soldiers. He surveyed the land and saw their opening to make a desperate rescue of the captives.

“On me, forward!” the tall man shouted as he held his sword high in the air.

They made a charge for a gap in the goblin bands and cut a few of them down in the assault.

Alive, alive, I want them alive! The voice of the creature’s chieftain shouted in furious anger.

They were cleaving the attackers down one by one. The captives were within steps of salvation…

***

“Ah,” Thimbrand winced as the pain in his knee flared. A broken arrow of crude make was lodged deep in the side of his leg.

The man pulled the hair back from his face as he looked around to try and figure out where he was. It was a dark cave, but faint light flickered in the distance. As his eyes adjusted, he could see a clearer picture of his surroundings.

Old, broken barrels and wooden structures decayed around him. As he peered into the darkness, he felt something tugging at his trousers. He kicked and it was answered by the squeak of a rat as it scurried away.

“Is someone there?” a deep voice of a man cut through the silent cavern.

Thimbrand went dead silent. He wanted to call back, but something in the back of his mind told him to remain quiet.

“P-please, I need help. My wife, my children… Where have they gone?” the voice began to quiver as the man whimpered.

“Shut up, rat,” a horrible command echoed in the cavern as a number of torches appeared.

There were three armor-clad goblins approaching from hole on the far side of the area. “Since you is whining, you can be next. A perfect gift to Dyurkan.”

Shrill screams penetrated Thimbrand’s ears as he tried to block it out. Terrible laughs and taunts echoed the cries as the man was carried away down the hole, leaving the cavern in darkness once more.

Fear took ahold of Thimbrand as he struggled to get loose from his bindings. As he struggled, he again fell to his side and broke some sticks that were scattered around him. He looked to his side and was horrified to see they were not sticks, but bones.

The man’s eyes darted around the cavern and he spotted the shine of a metallic object. With a great struggle, and pain in his leg, he slithered to the object to find what looked like the broken piece of a sword. Hope flowed through him as he turned around to grab the blade with his hands.

After feverishly sawing with the blunt metal, he was able to break his bonds on his hands and feet. Thimbrand then tried to grab at the arrow that was just above his knee, but the pain was too great. Instead, he took a piece of tattered clothing from the ground and tied it around his leg.

At least it is not bleeding very badly, he thought.

The thought was interrupted by a scream, followed by laughs and applause.

Must be the man from here, Thimbrand thought. Only a matter of time until…

Suddenly two clammy hands grabbed ahold of him. One around his mouth and the other at his arm.

“Shh, quiet,” a voice sneered in the dark.

Thimbrand’s heart shook as he struggled and threw the hands off of him. He landed on his side with a clang as old bones were thrown about. The man readied for a fight, but quickly saw it was not a goblin, but a woman.

She put her hands up and said, “Quiet or we are dead! Quickly, come with me.”

Thimbrand steadied his breath and started to crawl towards the woman in the faint light. The quiet was broken by a number of scurrying feet that hurried toward them. Lights once again appeared from the far hole.

Just before the goblins came back into the cavern, the woman led Thimbrand down the tight hole that slid into blackness. They could barely move in the tight space and Thimbrand tried to adjust himself. She just grabbed him and shook her head.

“I thought I heard someone skulking about,” a voice sneered.

“Where are the other prisoners?” a deep voice gurgled.

“Yeah, there should be more of them here. Maybe your bonds were not tight enough, Muzgal.”

“Nonsense, they are here somewhere,” the gurgling voice answered. “Probably hiding in all this mess.”

For the next minutes that seemed like hours, they threw around the rubble in a terrible rage. Thimbrand turned his head and tried to hold his breath. In his movement, a few pebbles rolled loose and drew the goblin’s attention.

“A little rat in a little hole,” one of the goblins teased as they licked their lips. A short, grey-skinned figured ran over with a bent back and long arms as it sniffed about.

It was coming closer, closer until the creature was right on them. One of the larger, fat goblins threw the debris away that was covering the hole. Then, all was silent as three sets of pale eyes peered down at the woman and Thimbrand.

The woman had pushed Thimbrand down into the dirt as he braced for their ghastly hands to grasp them and pull them away to whatever doom laid in the holes beyond.

No shout came. No grabbing happened. The pale eyes just started blankly at the two captives. Then, a noise from behind them stirred. It was followed by a groan.

“Hey, hey! There’s one little bird for the blaze!” a shrill voiced jeered and turned to a figure laying on the ground. The woman, who they found, screamed as she was dragged away.

When darkness and silence fell on the cavern once more, Thimbrand spoke, “They did not see us. Why?”

The woman got up off him and crawled out of the hole. She rubbed her hands as she said, “You are lucky to have been taken captive with a mage of the White Hand. My name is Astrid.”

Thimbrand studied the woman in the dark. She pulled back her white hair as she looked around with a vigilant gaze. In the darkness, the man noticed her skin was grey. Not the kind of greenish, smily grey of the goblins, but a deep, blue-grey that almost seemed to shimmer in the dim light.

“You are a Kuinan, aren’t you?” Thimbrand asked.

The woman laughed, “No thank you for casting that spell to save my life, no answer of a name yourself?”

Thimbrand shook his head to bring back his senses, “Sorry, I am Thimbrand. I am a mercenary, a sword for hire on the southern roads of Hailgalad.”

The woman looked around, “Did not do a very good job at protecting your group, eh?” She saw the man shoot daggers at her and she cocked a half smile. “I know it is not your fault. I mean I got myself caught by these bastards as well. It happens to the best of us, or in your case, you.”

Thimbrand shook his head as he looked around the cavern. There was a dim light, but it was hopeless to determine the best way out.

“Where should we head off to?” he asked. “You are the Kuinan, is it true you have excellent night vision?”

“Lucky for you, yes,” Astrid said with a smile as she stared intently across the way. “There seems to be a hole slightly smaller than the one the goblins keep coming out of to the left. We should follow that one for now.”

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Thimbrand began to walk, but fell down from the throbbing pain in his knee. Astrid turned and inspected the wound.

“You won’t get very far on that,” she said. “Besides, you will make such a ruckus that the goblins will be on us in an instant.”

She placed her hands on the wound and closed her eyes. Then, a green light radiated from her palms that soothed the mercenary’s leg.

“Thank you,” Thimbrand sighed. “Not fixed, but I should be able to push on.”

Astrid nodded in return, “Quietly.”

The two walked carefully through the field of broken items and bones.

“What is this place? Do you think it is a goblin settlement?” Thimbrand asked.

“We better hope not, or there is no way we get out of here undetected. It may be just one of their outpost holes where they bring their bounty and leave the bits that are of no use to them,” Astrid whispered back.

“We will be fine,” Thimbrand tried to reassure himself aloud. “We have your magic.”

“I am not that powerful,” she scoffed. “Maybe the head of my order, but I am just a novice.”

“Hence the capture?” Thimbrand jabbed as he continued to walk on the toes of his leather boots.

Another heart-stopping scream came from down the hall which was followed by more terrible laughter.

“Enough talk, keep moving,” the woman hissed.

***

They came to the hole that was curiously carved into a perfect circle. It diverted to two paths. The one to the right had flickering torchlight in the distance. The one to the left was completely black.

“To the darkness?” Thimbrand asked.

Astrid shook her head, “No light, no life. It also means it probably just goes deeper into the ground. We must risk the light to find the exit.”

Thimbrand looked at the darkness with uncertainty.

“Take whatever way you want, I am going right.”

The mercenary reluctantly followed his new companion down the hallway. In the distance, there was shouting and the clang of glasses. The path steadily rose as the light grew brighter and voices became louder.

The light was spilling into their passageway from a window-like opening. Astrid stopped and she looked appalled. Thimbrand followed her to the hole and peered out onto the scene.

They were a good ways above the area and were able to spy on their captors without much risk of being seen. Below, there was a great bonfire of pieces of wagons and boxes. Its flame was so intense that he could feel it on his face. Then he smelled something terrible. To his horror, he saw something else in the fire. There were bodies mangled and roasting in the orange and yellow blaze. Thimbrand fell back against the passageway wall shaking.

“Thought you were a mercenary,” Astrid said grimly.

“I protect people,” Thimbrand said as he shook his head in disbelief. “I have done my share of killing, but never for the sake of violence. Never like this. This is, this is…”

“Ritualistic sacrifice,” Astrid finished his thought. “The White Hand is an order of mages oath bound to defend life in the name of the Divine Order. We heard about goblins praising Dyurkan and capturing people to sacrifice them in his name. Normally goblins will steal people to ransom them for gold, but these are worshiping a dark god.”

“What happened?” Thimbrand asked as she saw her face worn with grief.

“I was sent here with a few other scouts when we saw the goblins moving out for another raid. One of our people was spotted and they took us. One by one they were taken away to be killed.”

“Except for you.”

“I was lucky enough to be last. By then, I escaped like you and have been looking for a chance to leave this place.”

“Why were you still in the cavern? How long were you down there?”

“Not much more than a few days,” she shrugged. “I tried a few routes that went nowhere. Then, they brought your people in and I thought I finally had my chance to escape with someone.”

“Why not try to save us all?” Thimbrand countered. “I thought you were bound by oath.”

“Bound by oath, not stupid,” Astrid shot back. “If I tried to save you all, they would have killed us. We had no other weapons than my magic. Better two of us to make it than none.”

Thimbrand’s stomach twisted as he thought of her cold and calculated logic. He knew her kind tended to be this way, but a member of the White Hand should have had more valor.

Then, from down below, there was shouting. The one they called Muzgal had returned from the cavern in a frenzy.

“No more prisoners tied up in there. I swore we had at least one more rat to roast,” he growled.

Another came up from behind him, he carried severed ropes in his hands as he lurched into the light of the bonfire.

“Look, one of ‘em has cut their bonds. That little sneak is around here skulking about.”

A chorus of hisses and snarls came from the company of goblins. They brandished their crude daggers and looked around like their lost captive was hiding in the shadows around them.

“Well, what are you waiting for? The boss ain’t gonna be happy with a perfectly good sacrifice getting loose. Off with ya!”

The goblins shouted and ran in every direction with their blades and torches. Thimbrand’s heart raced as he thought of the beasts scurrying up and down every hole in the cave.

Astrid held out her hand to help Thimbrand up. He paused for a second and she shook her head, “Judge me if you wish. You did not have to make the decisions to survive that I did. I did what I thought was right and I will have to live with those decisions. All that matters now is staying alive.”

He knew she was right as he took her hand and she hoisted the mercenary to his feet. They rushed down the passageway as feet could be heard above and below them in other various holes.

They turned a corner and came face to face with the fat goblin from the cavern. In a flash, Astrid casted a spell that froze the beast in place. Without hesitation, Thimbrand tackled it and wrestled the crude blade from its hands. With a swift move, he slashed the goblins throat, silencing it. They had dispatched the creature without it raising the alarm.

Thimbrand exhaled a sigh of relief as the cleaned off the blade. “Whatever that spell was, thank you.”

“You are welcome,” Astrid said. “We make a pretty good team. We might survive this yet.”

She doused the torch in a small, nearby puddle.

“Better to stay in the dark,” she said.

Thimbrand nodded, “Lead on.”

***

The two dashed through tunnel after tunnel with no avail. “Is there an exit to this place?” Thimbrand said in an exasperated tone.

“We will find it, this way,” Astrid said in return.

After a few more turns, they were headed downward.

“This does not feel right,” Thimbrand said unsure of their path.

Then, the stench hit him again and the tight corridor opened into a large area. It was the bonfire room.

Thimbrand’s heart sank as he turned around, “We went the wrong…”

Astrid was gone. He was alone as the fire crackled away and the stench grew to a nauseating rate. The mercenary became dizzy from the fumes and his growing anxiety.

“There you are you little rat,” a voice sent a shiver up Thimbrand’s spine. He turned to see Muzgal standing alone by the fire.

Thimbrand held his blade loosely in his hand as he crouched, ready for a fight.

The terrible goblin shrieked with laughter as others gathered around to watch the spectacle. “We have got a fighter, eh boys?”

His jeer was met with a clatter of horrible laughs and shrieks.

Thimbrand was beaten. He knew he could not fight every goblin here alone. He looked at the figure that stood stooping before him. His long arms and pointy ears. Crude and twisted iron armor spottily covered his body. Sharp, needle-like teeth made up his hideous smile.

The mercenary spat on the ground. “I haven’t got all day, slug. Come and finish me. That is, if you can.”

This infuriated the goblin chieftain and he held his long knife high and charged Thimbrand. The mercenary quickly picked up a piece of a wagon wheel and welded it like a shield as the goblin bounced off of him.

“Scared to fight back, little bird?” Muzgal taunted.

Thimbrand only responded with a clash of his blade and makeshift shield. The goblin charged once more, but this time he was thrown down by the flying wagon wheel. It struck him in the head and before the goblin could react, Thimbrand was on top of him, plunging his blade in his enemies chest. After a blood-curdling scream, the chieftain fell silent.

The other goblins shouted in anger and Thimbrand waiting for a flurry of blows to be his end, but it was stayed by a brilliant white flash.

“This way!” Astrid called from one of the holes in the wall.

Thimbrand was in shock. Without thinking, he did as she instructed and followed her as quickly as he could through the pain of the arrow in his knee.

***

As they ran on, Astrid turned around and ,with the flick of her wrist, caused a small cave in behind them. “That blast stunned them, but they will be following us with even more ferocity after what you did. That was amazing taking their chieftain like that.”

“Where were you?” Thimbrand countered, ignoring the praise.

“We got separated,” she responded. “I only found you as you took out their leader and I casted that spell so you could escape.”

Something did not sit right with Thimbrand, but they pushed on.

In a matter of moments, there was more light ahead. To Thimbrand’s joy, it was not the light from a fire, but from the sun.

“We did it,” he said as his joy pushed him past his companion.

The opening was unguarded and open for their escape. Just a few more strides and they would be free.

Then, Thimbrand found himself halted and stuck in place by some enchantment. To his horror, Astrid came striding up behind him with a smile. The man could move his face, but not his arms or legs.

“No, no, we are out! Why are you doing this?”

“Like I told you, I have had to do some things to survive. When I came here mere days ago, I came to kill the worshipers of a dark god. I soon realized, however, that this god will grant power to those who give him sacrifice. I have grown more in these few days than a year with the White Hand.”

“You are a disgrace,” Thimbrand spat.

“A disgrace to some, a worthy disciple to another,” she smiled with evil delight as many cold hands pawed at the mercenary, dragging him back into the cave.