Forest of Thorns’ Labyrinth (Part 2)

Chapter XXIV

Forest of Thorns’ Labyrinth (Part 2)

“Silma, now!” Skia jumped back, clearing the way for the fireball to enter the snake’s open mouth. The snake frantically thrashed, as its insides burned. If it were not for the earth bindings Sol had cast to restrain the snake, it would have destroyed all the trees around them.

The snake convulsed a few more times until, with a last quiver, it expired.

Skia helped Nilsei to her feet; they both had been attacking the monster with their swords while Pol released arrow after arrow, after Sol had it restrained.

Silma hurried to their side. “Are you hurt?”

Nilsei, rubbing her behind, replied, “Only my pride. That thing’s tongue slammed me to the ground.” She kicked the snake’s tongue, which lay next to her, where it had fallen after Skia cut it off.

Skia turned to Pol. “Douse it with water; we don’t want to start a fire.”

“I’m on it!” Pol began the long water incantation. Several glowing circles appeared on the snake’s body, and when he finished, a film of water enveloped the entire body of the monster. “I’m gonna need a rest.” Pol sat on the ground.

Sol had crouched before the small opening formed by the tangled roots of two trees. “It looks like Master Enji escaped through here.”

“Then he must have circled around and picked Popa...” They knew that Popa had been injured when they found blood at the entrance of the clearing. Sol’s tracking abilities let him identify who the blood belonged to.

Skia squatted next to Sol. “Have you picked their presence?”

“It is too faint; they must have traveled deeper into the labyrinth.”

“And the goblins you tracked?” Skia furrowed her brow.

“There were no struggle marks indicating they went unwillingly; it seems like they are travelling together.”

Skia rose to her feet. “Everything is possible when my worm is involved.”

Sol glanced at her; he had hidden the fact that the goblin was female, fearing her rage.

***

Oma led them through a wide pathway. Back at the goblin village, Enji and Popa had debated what to do; they could push forward to find the mages on their own or go back and try to reunite with the rest of the party. They decided on the former. Silma and Nilsei would prioritize looking for Enji, but since Skia was the captain, and her sense of duty so high, the party would probably have continued in search of the mages.

Oma had left her baby daughter with one of the village’s women. It was common for them to do so as they all contributed to the villagers’ well-being. The boy who had been with Oma when they met was not hers; he had wandered off from the village, and Oma was tasked with retrieving the boy.

They progressed fairly rapidly; Oma’s sense of direction and tracking proved to be an asset in the labyrinth. When they reached another clearing, Oma pulled a knife from its sheath and proceeded into it with caution. Enji drew his sword out, just like Popa with hers.

Before they left the village, Enji had gifted Oma with the knife she now carried. At first, she looked at it in awe, not daring to touch it, as if it were a divine instrument that would smite her dead. Popa, not wanting to be left behind, gave her one of her breast covering cloths and a bracelet.

The bracelet would have been enough, but Enji figured that Popa didn’t want him looking at the goblin woman’s bare chest.

“Some rest here.” Oma pointed to the blackened spot on the ground, where a fire had been lit to heat or cook a meal.

Enji crouched next to her. “Do you know how long ago?” He wanted to know if the traces belonged to the mages or his party.

Oma placed her hand on the extinguished fire pit. She opened her hand to show her fingers. “This many when black.” She pointed to the sky.

“Five nights ago... This was left by the guild mages. Oma, what way should we go?”

The goblin rose and inspected the two pathways opposite to the one they came from. “Follow here.” She pointed to the one on the right.

“Popa, if you please.”

Popa had been ripping pieces of her skirt to mark the entrance of the pathways they had been taking, so his party could know which way they went and follow.

Enji glanced at her. Her skirt is getting shorter. He shifted his sight when she caught him looking at her legs.

They proceeded on the chosen pathway.

***

Everyone avoided making any noise to avoid disturbing Sol’s concentration as he tried to detect the whereabouts of their missing party members. He paced along the perimeter of the clearing, stopping at times to listen, to feel, to sniff, and then continued, repeating the procedure several times. Finally, Sol stopped and sighed. “For a moment, I clearly felt Popa, then she was gone from my senses. The goblin’s presence is more defined. If we go by that, I would say that the three of them are moving deeper in that direction.” He pointed to one of several pathways.

“Then we follow after them,” Skia commanded.

Before entering the path opened between trees, Silma approached Skia. “I don’t understand how a lone goblin could have taken them prisoner.”

“To me, it looks like the opposite.”

Silma imagined a goblin tied up, being pulled by Enji and Popa through the maze. “Why could they capture a goblin?”

“Maybe it’s going with them willingly.”

They all turned to Pol, who had made the comment.

“Like a tamed animal,” Nilsei suggested.

“Does Master Enji’s magic include taming skills?” Sol asked.

“Like I have said before, my worm is a man of many surprises. Now let’s continue.”

She is pretty proud of Enji. Silma pouted; she didn’t like Skia calling Enji a worm, and even less taking possession of him with ‘my.’ She was also envious of Skia and Enji’s blood link. Link? “Skia, I’m curious, you said that you are bonded to Enji. Can you feel his presence?”

Skia gave her a stern look. “How I wished that to be true; it could make our job easier. But... our blood drinkers’ blood bond will only get stronger after... we mate.” Skia’s face turned red.

“Mate?” Nilsei exclaimed. She pushed Silama aside to face Skia.

“Let’s move!” Skia, shielding her face from her party members, hurried into the pathway.

Pol and Sol followed without commenting.

Nilsei grabbed the hand of the stunned Silma and pulled her to follow. “Don’t let it get to you. You, too, have a chance to be his wife.”

Wife?! Enji and I? Silma followed Nilsei with her head about to explode.

***

Popa sniffed the air. Her upper ears wriggled, and her tail wagged. “They are coming this way!” She pointed to one of the paths leading into the clearing they had just arrived at by a different route.

“Let’s check if this clearing is safe.” Enji strolled, scanning the top of the trees for anything suspicious, while Popa used her canine senses. Oma, too, meticulously examined their surroundings.

Once they were satisfied, there was no immediate danger; they dropped their alertness a little.

“Let’s wait at the center. Oma, you may rest now. Popa and I will keep watch.”

“Oma no tired.” She stood next to Enji with her knife ready.

“We’re all going to rest in turns, and I want you to start first.”

The goblin woman seemed upset, but she obeyed. She sat on a fallen log, and having nothing to do, she adjusted the cloth around her chest as it had become loose.

“Hey, Popa, I was wondering, your sense of smell is incredible, but don’t you get overwhelmed by all the odors around you. For example, I have sweated a lot and may be smelly.”

“Yes, Enji Lo, you need a bath, but I can block all the superfluous odors and just concentrate on the ones that I choose.”

“I see.” Enji moved a step away from her.

“They are here,” Popa stated, but immediately she looked at one of the other pathways. “Something feels different coming from over there.”

Enji faced where Popa had pointed.

The first to enter the clearing was Skia. “Enji! I mean, worm, I see you are well,” she tried to sound casual. “What are you looking at?”

The rest of the party emerged after her.

“Shh!” Popa gestured to everyone without taking her eyes from the pathway entrance. Everyone assumed their combat positions.

“Sol?” Skia inquired.

“Whatever it was, it’s gone.”

“Have you encountered any monsters? Skia asked Enji, while staring at the goblin that was trying to hide behind him.

“No. And she’s not a monster. Her contribution has been invaluable in avoiding them.” Enji put his hand on the goblin’s shoulder. “Her name is Oma.”

“Oma... Did you name it that?”

“No. She told me her name.”

“You mean that they can talk?” Nilsei asked, shocked.

Skia crouched to have a better look at the goblin. Oma, feeling uncomfortable with being stared at so close, grabbed Enji’s shirt and leaned closer to him.

Skia looked at the goblin’s almost exposed breasts and jolted up to face Enji. “You have another woman!”

“Huh? What? No. No, she helped us... She has a baby in...”

“Heh?” Skia stood frozen with her eyes wide open.

“You are having a baby!! Shouted Silma.

“My lord, were you in such a need? Popa, why did you let them? Did you watch?”

Popa shook her head and hands, denying their accusations.

Enji stomped his foot down. “That’s not it! She’s a widow. Monsters killed their men. They are good people; the women in the village cured Popa’s injury.”

“Master Enji, what you just said sounds implausible. Are you saying the goblins are capable of speech, intellect, and compassion?”

“Yes, Sol, that’s the truth.”

Nilsei approached the goblin woman, who kept hiding behind Enji. “Do you understand me? I’m Nilsei.” Nilsei pointed to her chest.

“Oma,” the goblin replied.

“She’s cute,” was the succinct evaluation from Nilsei.

Enji called the names of his party members as an introduction.

Skia cleared her throat after giving the goblin another look. “Worm, you have been heading deeper into the maze with her. Do you have an inkling of where the guild mages may be?”

“No, but Oma told us of a stone structure bigger than the one in their village further ahead, that might give us a hint.” He explained what he had learned about the effects of the structures on the labyrinth.

“Understood. Which way?”

“Oma, show us the way.”

The goblin woman chose one of the paths, the same one Popa had felt a presence.

“Popa, Nilsei, let’s move.”

When Popa walked beside her, Skia noticed her skirt. “Why is your skirt so short?”

Popa looked down. “Enji likes to look at my legs.”

Popa, no! Don’t stir up the anthill!

***

“It looks like a temple,” Enji commented when they arrived at the biggest clearing yet, of all the ones they had visited. The stone structure, indeed, looked like the ruins of a stone temple from a fantasy story. Vines had taken over the walls, and moss grew from the cracks in the paving and the stairs’ steps. Helam’s light filtered as individual rays through the foliage above, making it look like a surrealistic painting.

“Probably it is, or was,” Skia responded.

“Everyone, tread cautiously. In addition to the [sug], I feel something else emanating from it,” Sol warned.

“Oma, stay behind us,” Nilsei instructed the goblin woman who was approaching the structure. She obeyed.

Skia, Popa, and Pol approached the stairs. Pol, with an arrow, knocked on his bow. They reached the top and carefully advanced toward the entrance.

“Silma, cast a light ahead of us.”

Silma chanted a spell, and a luminous orb formed above the threshold.

“I see several bodies inside. The place must be booby-trapped,” Skia informed.

“Are they dead?” Nilsei asked.

Popa peered inside, without getting any closer. “No, I can hear them breathing. There are two women and two men.”

“It will account for four of the five mages who came into the labyrinth. Silma, climb up here and see if you can detect what type of magic caused this.”

“It could be a gas.”

Skia stared at Enji. “By gas, you mean like a vapor? Popa, do you smell anything funny?”

“Stone, plants, mold, and people who haven’t had a bath in days.”

“Some gases are odorless, like the methane used for the fire spells.” Enji climbed the stairs to join the others on the platform that led to the entryway. Nilsei and Oma followed.

“So, there’s no way to know if it’s a... gas,” Skia used Enji’s terminology.

“If it is methane or other flammable gas, a flame would ignite it, and the whole place would blow up.”

“Refrain from using any flame spells!” Skia ordered.

Silma took a step closer to the door. “Over the back, in what appears to be an altar, that’s where the [sug] is overwhelmingly strong,” Silma pointed out. “There’s something on top of the altar, I can’t make out what it is.”

“A cursed device?” Pol suggested.

“Are those common?”

“Mistress had dealt with some, and the Mage knows about them too,” Sol replied to Enji’s question.

“How are we going to rescue them?” Silma asked.

“If we had a rope, you could tie it around my waist to pull me out if anything seems wrong,” Enji suggested.

Everyone looked at each other.

“Worm, we are so used to using our skills and magic that sometimes we miss the obvious.”

“Oma rope!” The goblin woman unrolled the cloth around her chest and presented it to Enji.

“Ahg! She’s naked!” Silma blocked Oma’s body from the eyes of the three males in the group.

“Oh my, she does look like a woman,” Nilsai commented.

“She’s not a woman!” was Skia’s outburst.

“Well, she’s bigger than you, around th—”

Pol couldn’t continue; the point of Skia’s sword hung menacingly between his eyes.

Enji glanced at Skia. Compared to Silma and Popa, hers are on the modest side.

“What are you looking at?” Skia, red as beets, retracted her sword and covered her chest.

“My belt can be used.” Enji quickly changed the subject. He removed his belt.

They used everyone’s belts and spare clothing to fashion a long enough rope to reach the people inside. They deliberated as to who would step inside. Enji volunteered and was allowed to go in after much arguing, having convinced them that, since he couldn’t use magic, any magical trap couldn’t affect him. It was a weak statement; direct magic did affect him, but his only advantage was that the heaviness of the ‘sug’ in the temple didn’t bother him.

“If you feel anything, yell,” Skia told him. Enji could see the concern in her eyes.

“Yes.” Enji took a step beyond the threshold. Then another one. The place smelled of old mold. Luckily for him, he didn’t have Popa’s ultrafine sense of smell; he didn’t want to sniff the aroma of rancid underwear.

He squatted beside the person nearest to the door. It was a girl, young by what he could see of her, since she wore a magician’s robe that covered her entirely. Enji dragged her by the armpits to the entrance.

He repeated the process with the two other mages. One was a boy and the other a middle-aged man. Only one left.

The last one lay prone in front of the altar.

He pulled their hood back. Yes, it was the elf, Tona. By the position of her extended arm, Enji guessed she was reaching for whatever was on the altar. Enji dragged her too.

“I’m going back in.”

“Why? We have what we came for.”

“I want to see what is on the altar.”

Skia stared him in the eyes for a few seconds. “Don’t do anything crazy,” she whispered.

Enji approached the stone altar. The top was a perfectly flat flagstone slate, and on it lay what appeared to be a book and a dagger.

He couldn’t reach the items; the ‘rope’ wasn’t long enough. The sensible thing would have been to retreat or find a way to extend the rope, but... Enji just unhooked the belt around his waist and stepped closer, ignoring the protests and warnings from his party members.

Enji slowly reached for the items. He took the dagger without feeling anything abnormal. Then he lifted the old leather-bound book.

One word echoed in his mind: [Connected.]