"I'm going! I'm the caretaker, and I'm responsible! That's final! We gotta go!" Amelia said, actually stomping her foot in frustration.

"Fine. Here." Picker said, handing her a spear.

Amelia looked at the razor-sharp tip that was fastened securely to the pole. She gulped. The weapon brought home the severity of the situation, but she wasn't going to be left behind.

She'd thought they'd just quickly step through the trilithon and retrieve who ever had wandered through, but Lark and Quiet both convinced her otherwise. Elara was a hostile place, and difficult to navigate. The majority of it was a subterranean realm of caves and passages, filled with monsters. So time was spent carefully choosing who would go, and gathering appropriate equipment.

Amelia gripped her blue cloak tightly around her. It wasn't cold out, but she still felt momentarily chilled. She watched as the rest of the rescue crew assembled and loaded up. Quiet and Picker were coming, of course, as their most experienced explorers. Lark, who could get them home if the way closed before they returned. Whisper, who sank into Amelia's hair and refused to be dislodged. The last two were a surprise to her, but still welcome.

"Take the mutt, sweet cheeks. Hate to admit it, but that dog got a good nose. Could track a snowflake inna blizzard, sort of thing. And you never know, might need somethin' widdled on, and she's your girl for that."

Shock tackled the goat at the words, and slobbered all over his miniscule face.

"Blech! Easy, there, sister! I just said that to get rid of ya! Don't let it go to your head. Or tongue, as the case may be!"

The other addition was Bill. It turned out he was the only one available who knew any first aid, having trained as a technician with St John Ambulance. He gripped his own spear a little nervously, rifling through his shoulder bag of medical supplies with the other hand, sweat beading off his bald forehead.

They were all wearing padded knee-length jackets that Bert had spawned for them. According to Quiet, they offered the best combination of protection and maneuverability, and would also protect from the cold. Since it was currently a nice day, though, they were all baking in the sun. Amelia started to reconsider the cloak, but instead just threw both folds as far back over her shoulders as she could, and opened the jacket to the breeze.

"Ready." declared Picker, cinching up a large rucksack. He and Quiet both had large coils of rope worn over the shoulder and across their bodies, and the two goblins had packed climbing gear and other bits of equipment that Amelia didn't recognize. They all had water bottles and food, with lamps mounted to their mining helmets.

Shock snuffled around the ground in front of the standing stones, getting the scent of whoever had gone through. It took her only a moment, then she heaved one of her silent whuffs, her tail wagging frantically.

"Got the trail, girl? Good girl!" Amelia bent down and rubbed the puppy's ears.

"I shall lead the way into the realm, as I am able to make my way back. Stay close to me." declared Lark, as everyone hefted their packs and indicated they were good to go.

In single file, they passed through the arch made of the three massive stones, and it wasn't until they had passed all the way through the doorway that they could tell they had entered someplace else.

"Whoah!" exclaimed Bill, slack-jawed. He looked around in surprise, as did Amelia.

Unlike when she traveled to Whimsy, it was obvious this was no place like home. It had been late afternoon in the hollow, but it was dark on the other side of the gate. The beams of their head-mounted torches shone on stone walls and floor, the room perhaps thirty feet square. The rough-hewn ceiling was perhaps eight feet high, and Amelia and Bill had to take care not to hit the points of their spears on it as they moved around. Passages led off from each wall, with nothing to indicate where they led.

Lark landed in the center of the room as the others filed in, then flew to land on Amelia's shoulder so she could have a better view. The bird wasn't well suited for travel underground, so she would ride when she could.

"The entrance always leads to a different place in this realm. I have been here just once when I was learning my role. I do not recognize any of this."

"Okay, Shocky-poo, find 'em! Sniff 'em out, you can do it!" encouraged Amelia. The dog sniffed the ground in front of the gate, then wandered around the room for a moment, before stopping in front of the left-hand passage. She wagged her tail and looked back over her shoulder at the rest of the group. As soon as they started making their way that direction, she turned back and followed the trail along the passage.

Picker followed close behind the dog, his nose sniffing the air. He carefully scanned for anything untoward, eyes constantly moving. He occasionally tapped the ground or walls ahead of him with his own spear, before moving ahead. Amelia was right behind him, being careful not to rattle her weapon on the surfaces of the passage, which took more care than she had thought it would.

Behind Amelia came Bill, with Quiet bringing up the rear. Despite their best efforts, the two humans made a good deal of noise with their rattling equipment and heavy boots. The two goblins were considerably more silent, having much more practice in this sort of thing. Shock padded along, making almost no noise except for the sniffling sounds she made as she followed the scent trail. Quiet used a piece of chalk to mark the wall periodically, so they could find their way back easier.

The passage intersected several others multiple times and forked a few times. Amelia quickly realized she wouldn't be able to find her way back on her own, and was glad she was with the goblins.

At first, the trail had gone straight, but then after a few branches, it seemed to go into and out of multiple of the passages before continuing on. Picker summed up his suspicions in his usual fashion, saying only "Lost."

It did seem that that was the case. Amelia could imagine herself in the same situation, happily exploring the new space, and then turning around and not knowing which direction she had come from. The rambler must be scared, she thought. She would have been.

The puppy came to an abrupt stop, and the rumbling silence showed she was disturbed by something. The goblin knelt down and examined something on the floor, then stood back up and looked back at the group. "Slime." he said, then he and the dog continued tracking.

"What does that mean? Slime?" Amelia whispered, shooting a look back past Bill to Quiet. She knew Picker was unlikely to explain. She could see the glistening track on the floor, easily two feet wide. It reflected the light from her head torch crazily throughout the passage. They all were careful not to step in it.

"It means a creature is now pursuing our missing visitor. Hopefully, we can get to him before it does. Or something else finds his trail as well."

"So like a slug or a snail? How big we talking about?"

Quiet shook her head and glanced meaningfully at the size of the trail on the ground. Then gripped her spear tightly.

"Not small. Okay." She faced back forwards, closing her jacket fastenings with her free hand. It was decidedly cooler in here than it had been back home, and she was glad of the warmth. It wasn't cold enough yet to need the cloak, but if they stopped for long, she knew she'd be happy she had it.

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"Look!" called Picker. He pointed with his headlamp to something on the ground. It took her a moment to realize what it was.

"That's one of the flagons Scorper made, isn't it?"

The wooden vessel was smashed, and slime dripped from the broken side. The wood sizzled quietly as the caustic substance ate away at it.

Bill paled slightly as he realized what they were looking at, and shuffled his feet further away from the slick trail in the middle of the passageway.

Picker poked at the item with the butt of his weapon, then sniffed. "Close."

They continued on, and just as the goblin had said, they found their quarry.

The passageway they were in opened out into an extremely large circular room, with archways all around its periphery leading in other directions. In the center was a platform, raised several feet above the level of the rest of the floor. A trench or moat surrounded it, at least four feet wide. They couldn't see how deep it was from where they were standing, but it looked deep. Crouched at the center of the platform was a figure in a bright orange windcheater and green beanie. The man looked over at them as they entered the room cautiously.

"Watch out! That ... that ... thing is dangerous!" he pointed with his torch to one side, where a low mound was right at the edge of the moat. A pseudopod was extended out towards the platform, but couldn't quite seem to reach it. It flinched as the light shone on its eye stalks, but the illumination was dim and guttered a bit. The man pounded on the bottom of the torch with his palm, and the beam brightened slightly.

"Are you okay?" Amelia called. At the sound, one of the eye stalks turned their way, and the creature started slowly turning towards them.

"My hand's burned. I tried to drive it off with my mug, but it just smashed, and some of its guck got on me. It hurts. And I think I sprained my ankle or something when I jumped over here. I can't put any weight on it, not for long, anyways."

"Just stay put, okay? We're here to help." called out Bill reassuringly, although his attention was on the giant slug thing. He had his spear in both hands and was swallowing hard as he watched it start to undulate towards them. It was far enough away that their lights weren't bothering it yet, but were serving as a beacon to their location.

Amelia felt Lark grip her shoulder tighter with her claws, and the bird ruffled its wings, getting ready to fly if needed.

"We can handle one. When it gets close enough, our lamps will blind it, and it should keep its distance. My boy and I will keep it away, while you two get over there and help. Got it?" Quiet explained, looking at Bill and Amelia. They both nodded. "Take the dog with you. We don't want her trying to bite that thing."

Bill and Amelia circled around the platform away from the slowly moving slug, with Shock tucked under Amelia's arm. The puppy behaved for once, and didn't wriggle about and try to like her as she was carried.

Picker and Quiet moved to intercept the slug, and as they came close it flinched back from their lights. They were able to sort of herd it backwards, but it was slow-going.

"Can you make it across okay, Bill?"

"I think so. It isn't that far. Just don't want to fall!"

Now that they were at the edge of the moat, they could see it was very deep. Amelia wasn't sure how deep exactly, but falling in was not an option.

"Go when you're ready, and I'll pass Shock over."

"Careful!" called the rambler.

Bill tossed his spear gently onto the platform, then backed up a few steps. With the short run-up, he was easily able to leap across the gap, landing with bent knees. He sprawled forwards as he touched down, mostly so he wouldn't accidentally fall backwards.

Lark winged over and landed gently near the center of the platform, out of everyone's way. Whisper floated across after her, her glow particularly eerie in the dim light of the room.

After passing Shock across, Amelia made her own leap. It wasn't far, just a little awkward having to jump up a bit onto the far side. If it wasn't for the deep gap, it wouldn't have been very challenging at all.

"You guys from around here? I'm John, by the way. John Smith. Sure am lucky you guys came along. And that you speak English! How improbable is that?" The man babbled a bit, unnerved by the situation.

"Uh, we're from the hollows. You know, where you were walking? We came to find you. I'm Amelia, and this is Bill. And Lark and Shock. She tracked you. That's Picker and Quiet over there." Amelia patted the puppy's head, and the dog's tongue lolled out as she smiled.

"Really? The way you're dressed ... Are those kids gonna be okay over there with that thing?" He pointed towards the goblins.

"Yeah, they're fine. Not kids, by the way."

"Oh, yeah, okay. I see that now." He goggled at the two goblins for a bit.

"I have some medical training. I'm going to check you out, okay?" Bill said, kneeling down next to John.

"Sure. My hand and my ankle. I think everything else is okay."

"Got it. I have a few questions we like to ask, just routine. You gave us your name already. Can you tell me what day it is?"

Bill worked through a set of questions in a business-like fashion. Then he did a head-to-toe exam, making sure there weren't any other injuries. That done, he rolled up John's trouser leg and probed his ankle. It was tender but hadn't started swelling yet.

After wrapping the joint with an elastic bandage, he cleaned the raw wound on John's hand, coated it with burn ointment, then bandaged it as well.

"Thanks!" said John, passing Amelia back her water bottle. She stuffed it back into her rucksack.

"Best I can do without any ice for the swelling. I have some paracetamol if you need some."

"No, I'll be alright. Thanks. I really appreciate it!" He stood and tested putting weight on his foot, wincing. It would hold, but they'd have to help him back across, and back through the tunnels.

A whistle grabbed their attention, and they all looked over to Picker. He pointed towards one side of the room, where they could see several more of the slugs squelching out of different passages. One of them emerged from the passage they needed to take to get home.

"Uh oh! Now what?"

The two goblins answered her question by taking running leaps to hurtle onto the platform, both sprawling flat as they landed. It was a much harder jump when you were only a few feet tall.

Within moments, the platform was surrounded on all sides by the creatures.

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"I do not seem to be able to draw their attention." stated Lark, the bird landing back on the platform. She had tried to circle behind the slugs and draw them off, but they had mostly ignored her. She only just dodged a pseudopod when she flew too close, though.

"Thanks for trying, Lark. Anybody else got any ideas?" Amelia asked.

Bill shook his head, looking out at the pulsating masses surrounding them. They didn't seem coordinated, but all the same, they had effectively trapped the group on the platform.

John was wrapped in Amelia's cloak, the cold finally getting to him. His windcheater had been sufficient back in the hollow, but the damp cold was starting to get to all of them. Shock was cuddled against the man, trying to help keep him warm.

They had tried all pointing their torches at one of the slugs, and while it drove the creature back, the others just closed the gap slightly. They had to figure out a way to get all of the creatures to back off since it might take time to get the injured hiker across the trench and out of the room.

"[Water Jet]!"

The spray caused the monster to jerk back slightly, but otherwise, it didn't seem to mind being dampened.

Bill and John both watched Amelia with amazement when she had done that, delighted at the trick.

"If we had some oil or petrol or something I could light it with Candle Flame." She thought aloud.

Picker perked up at that and pulled the coil of rope from over his shoulder. He sliced off a few feet and handed it to Amelia, gesturing for her to light it.

"I don't think that'll do it, but okay. [Candle Flame]." The tongue of flame quickly ignited the end of the rope, and she handed it back.

The goblin gently twirled the smoldering end, making sure it was well alight, then tossed the chunk of rope between two of the slugs. Both of them jerked back violently from the fire, pseudopods thrashing. The slime trail ignited and started burning along the ground towards one of the creatures. It squelched away from the fire.

"That's it! It's working! Do that again!" cried Bill.

They worked quickly, and with a few dozen lengths of burning rope tossed across, they had a narrow corridor that separated the slugs.

"We're gonna have to be quick! That first piece is already almost burned up!"

They gathered their equipment, and Bill helped John to stand.

"Bill, why don't you jump across, and I'll help John from here. You can probably catch him better than I could when he jumps across." Amelia suggested.

Picker and Quiet leapt back across the gap, then used their spears to widen the clear space, moving the burning bits of rope closer to the slugs, who drew further away. The monsters weren't smart enough to realize they could just back up and go around the blazing barrier the group had made, luckily.

Bill carefully jumped across, but landed a little precariously and had to windmill his arms furiously to keep from falling over. But once he caught his balance, he turned to help steady John as the hiker made his way across. That almost ended in disaster as well, as the man's ankle rolled under him as he landed, and the two almost pitched over the flaming barrier. Picker's fast grab and push knocked them to the ground instead, and a pseudopod just missed them, flailing uselessly overhead.

Once the two had picked themselves back up, Amelia passed Shock and the weapons across, then jumped herself.

"Okay, let's go!" she said, taking her spear back from Bill.