Chapter 23 Killing Rats is Easy. Working in Groups is Hard.
Wincing at the crows’ continued cries, Lou braced himself for the sound of goblin feet. None came. He relaxed his shoulders a little. If there was a god above, or below, I’d pray hard right now, he thought. He resisted the typical bard’s urge to play an instrument while he thought. Guess the goblins are used to giant birds making a racket. Good thing.
Wish I could see, though. Most of the others could see well in the dark, but not him, no. He winced again at the thought of hanging on Autumnus’ arm again. I mean he’s handsome enough, but not my type. Too nice. He smirked to himself. Give me naughty, any day. His thoughts turned to Hafoc. Hm. Naughty, yes. Handsome, no. He sighed.
Cupping his hand to his mouth, he whispered loudly, “O, Kylia…would you be my sweet, pointy-eared guide?”
Lou heard a yell, “No!” But, to his surprise it wasn’t Kylia. Hala? Is she jealous? He grinned and reached out a hand. “Far be it for me to deny, you, darling Hala, just—“
“OEINNK” A loud squeal filled the tunnel, followed immediately by a thud.
Lou heard footsteps coming now. Not goblins. Too small. Then he heard it: chittering and squeaks. O, God. I hate this. If only I could effing see!
***
Autumnus's sense of darkvision allowed him to see well in the dimly-lit tunnel. It was easy for him to just make out some sort of a rudimentary goblin trap or alarm made of haphazardly nailed, ill-fastened wood. To one side of the tunnel, the contraption was loaded with small rocks balanced atop it. A wire ran from the wood plank, low to the other side the tunnel. It was obviously meant to trip passers by.
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He squinted in the darkness. The tunnel was long. It was impossible for him to see where it ended, but he could clearly see Viatape running towards the trap.
Apparently, Hala did, too. Her loud “No!” echoed in the tunnel around them. She held a hand out towards the boar. Then more quietly, “Come back! Don’t!
The boar squealed as he ran into the goblin trap. This won’t do. Autumnus sprang ahead to catch up with the writhing animal, who was now caught in wire. Luckily, it was a poorly made trap, and the rocks hadn’t fallen yet. He put a light hand on Viatape’s side as Hala, who was close behind him, calmed the small beast.
Autumnus attempted to dismantle the wire without letting the rocks and pebbles fall, which would surely alarm goblins of their arrival….He rubbed his chin as he thought. It’s a simple device to undo, but a precarious mechanism to release quietly. I know, I’ll simply remove the rocks.
Autumnus was deft as he was kind, but there were too many small rocks to balance as he tried to lower the board holding them aloft, and they soon crashed down on his horns.
The stones were just an annoyance to him as they bounced down to the floor. However, many of the rocks rolled down a slope in the tunnel floor that led to a large crack by the wall. Behind the wall the stones tumbled down, unseen, but with a loud, clang.
Then came the thumping of many tiny feet coming up from the crack.
***
Tine smiled when she caught the scent. Sure enough, after the goblin alarm rang out, rats came running out of crack. This I can handle. Rats are easy. Her ears pointed back and she sprang into action, claws bared.
The rats ran straight toward the group. Ilius, Kylia and Slade managed to keep them from running up their legs, initially. Hala, Lou and Vaitape were not as quick and began to yell with each rat bite. Autumnus, who was closest to where they entered the tunnel, and had three rats attacking him. He lit flames in his palms. The rats kept coming.
Tine was blinded a moment as here eyes adjusted to the light. Dead rat in hand, she paused.
Autumnus gave a shout. “Cover your ears!” Then he cast a thundering cone of fire towards the hole.
The fire singed Tine’s hair. She dropped the rat, woozy from the intense heat. It was bright, too bright. Will we make it out of this alive? Rats might be easy, but that blast—” She fell to the tunnel floor, unconscious.