Chapter 08 A Jurney To the Callosal Door

With a sickening lurch, the spider's sticky limb ensnared me, yanking me forcibly from our sanctuary. 

"It got me! Unhandme beast! Somebody, help! Gobbie friends! Help! Bad touch! Bad touch!" I desperately pleaded when suddenly the beast dropped me as its grip on me slipped.

My body tumbled through the air before colliding with the spider's grotesque head, where I struck its eyes, momentarily disorienting the abomination.

I crashed to the ground, filled with dread, and clawed my way back to my feet. Desperation fueled my ascent as I struggled to climb the feces-covered peak, aiming for a cluster of unhatched goblin eggs atop the mound before the spider could recover.

"Gragh...! Oh dear, oh dear, help me, save me! Hermit climb! Climb for your life! Grumblin' gobbies, not like this... I'll never complain 'bout eating maggots again, I promise! Spare me from this doom, I beg ya! Mumble-mumble, flee and be free, that's my plea... hurry, hurry!" I chanted nonsense to encourage myself.

"Oh, dear life, dear life! Why, oh why, did I wander here?" I muttered frantically as I scrambled up the treacherous feces mountain, my voice trembling with fear, "Please, oh great goblin spirits, protect me from this hairy terror!"

The relentless pursuit of the monstrous spider echoed behind me, its ominous hisses and clicks growing louder with every passing moment.

"No, no, no! Stay away, foul creature!" I pleaded, my words a jumbled mixture of prayer and desperation, "I promise, I won't disturb your web again! Just spare me this once!"

My feeble limbs ached with exhaustion as I clung desperately to the slippery, damp excrement, my fingers clawing for purchase. To my favor, the spider struggled on the same treacherous terrain. But its superior climbing prowess swiftly closed the gap between us.

"Oh nosies! No no no! It's catching up! I need to climb... faster Hermit... Keep climbing! Hairy legs, fangs so sharp... please, let me reach... the eggs, the eggs!"

With a brutal, sweeping motion of its legs, it struck my back and hurled me skyward, propelling me into a collision course with one of the goblin eggs.

"Ughh... Offf! My back... Ouchies! Ugh... what just happened? I'm dizzy..." I groaned as my back hit the eggshell and my head started to spin.

The impact was cataclysmic, setting off a chain reaction of tumbling eggs that slid down the fecal slope. The spider, overwhelmed by the tumbling eggs, succumbed to the crushing embrace of one such plummeting egg. The spider struggled beneath the weight of the goblin egg that had pinned it down. Its frenzied leg flails grew weaker with each passing moment as it was slowly submerged further under the mound of feces.

With a final, feeble twitch, the spider succumbed to its entrapment, disappearing entirely beneath the oppressive mass. The once-terrifying creature had been vanquished by a twist of fate.

With their hearts pounding and fear still coursing through their tiny goblin bodies, hatchlings sheepishly peeked their heads out of the cave. They exchanged nervous glances, their eyes wide with fear as they surveyed the scene.

One by one, they cowardly stepped outside Diggy's cave, each goblin cautiously making their way to the dung-covered spider. Together, they watched the slow demise of the pinned spider as it sunk deeper into the murky manure, its struggles growing weaker by the moment.

I slid down the slippery feces mountain with caution, joining my fellow goblin hatchlings. The tension in the air slowly began to ease as we realized the immediate threat was vanquished, but we knew we couldn't linger here for long.

Gruk, "Is it... is it gone for good? Is spider no more? Gobbies safe? Gobbie friends safe!"

 Slippinfeet, "Yepee, it's stuck real good in that poo! Big scary spider no more!" 

Muddlehead, "Haha! Goblin poo saves the day! Stink horrible but save the gobbies!"

 Farty, "But what if there are more, lurking around? Tiny spiders will be big spiders soon!"

 Daddy, "Me is scared! We need to get out of here, and fast!"

 Klutzfingers, "Where do we go? Where is safe? Here is not safe! Stink and dark and monster!"

 Spindlytoe, "Maybe we go... somewhere not full of spiders? Outside the door?"

 Bumblebelly, "Sounds smart! But is outside the door a not-spider place? Maybe more spiders? More spiders more scary and more ouchies! Bumble doesn't like ouchies."

 Munchkinsnout, "We go... away from the cave? Away from poo and the sniffer-burning stink? My sniffer is itching and hurting from all this stink... I say we leave stink behind."

 Dizzyhead, "Away from the cave, away from poo! Yes, good idea! No more stink, no more spiders. We find food too! Delicious food, not disgusting poop food! It tastes bad!" 

Gruk, "Alright, gobbie friends, let's gather some things and away from the cave, away from poop and stink!"

 Slippinfeet, "And away from more spiders! Big, small, any spiders. No more clickety clacks!"

 Muddlehead, "But what if there are spiders where we go? What if many spiders live behind the door?"

 Farty, "Ugh, don't say that, Muddlehead! Mountain of food and quenchers are behind the door!"

 Daddy, "No! No more spiders! I want Mama and Papa! Away from here, now!"

 Klutzfingers, "Away from the cave, away from poo, and away from spiders!"

 Spindlytoe, "Goodbye, smelly cave! Goodbye, spider poo! Goblins go on an adventure!" 

Gruk, "Adventure it is, then! Onward, my goblin friends! Gather things... umm... useful things, like... ummu... shrooms and moss... or... ahhh... maggots and flies!"

With our goblin bellies rumbling and the relentless grip of hunger gnawing at us, we roused ourselves from the comfort of our rocky cave floor. The looming specter of starvation drove us to set out in search of whatever meager supplies the bowels of our cave might yield.

Our initial scavenging efforts led us to a slimy moss, clinging stubbornly to the damp cave walls. It was an unappetizing find, its texture slick and its color a sickly green, but necessity left us with no choice. We gathered it in wads, occasionally dipping it into the urine lakes that had formed on the cave floor. The revolting liquid, though repulsive, served as our only crude source of hydration as we sucked on the moss to extract any moisture we could.

In the dim recesses of our cavern, we also stumbled upon tiny mushrooms, their caps barely larger than a goblin's fist. These small fungi offered a slight salvation from the gnawing hunger, their earthy taste providing a semblance of sustenance.

 But it was the abundance of writhing maggots, growing on the mountain of feces in our cave, that would become our most plentiful source of nourishment. We dared not ponder their origin too closely, instead plucking them from their dark hiding places and nibbling on their squirming forms.

These unappetizing provisions, as yucky as they were, would become our lifeline as we steeled ourselves to embark on a harrowing journey into the unknown.

Dizzyhead, "Hungry, Dizzyhead is! What do we find? I don't like ugly maggots, they move in my belly! Squirmy-woblies I don't like!"

 Klutzfingers, "Mushies! Look at glowy mushies! Eat them! Shroomies make my head fuzzy and funny."

 Farty, "Mmm... slimy moss too! Good for thirsty gobbies! Quenches the quench!" 

Slippinfeet, "Grab as much as you can, gobbies! We need plenty for us to walk."

Each of us, our tiny, naked bodies laden with the modest treasures we'd discovered, carried a small bundle of moss, a handful of those radiant mushrooms, and a few maggots. The faint glow of the mushrooms cast eerie shadows as we moved through the dark cave.

Muddlehead, "Mushies glow! Make dark not so scary!" 

Munchkinsnout, "Moss squishy, like goblin pillow!"

 Gruk, "Gobbies ready to go now?" 

Daddy, "Yes, ready to leave this spooky place!"

With these modest resources, we dared to embark on our perilous journey toward the colossal doors that loomed ominously at the far end of the cave. Our filthy, tiny feet squished through the muck and manure-soaked ground, the droppings clinging to our already grimy skin.

The doors, in comparison to our minuscule forms, were like a mountain, an insurmountable obstacle. We were no larger than apples in size, facing an impenetrable barrier that seemed to mock our size. Yet, we knew we had to press onward, for beyond those foreboding doors lay the unknown, and perhaps the chance for our tiny goblin tribe to find a safer, more welcoming home in this vast and unforgiving world.

Suddenly, the feces-soaked ground beneath our feet began to tremble in a rhythmic pattern. Our fragile bodies stirred and froze in place with fear, the world around us seemingly in turmoil.

 Our meaty ears perked up, straining to catch a sound that resembled chirping and clicking, similar to our own goblin language. However, it was muffled and incomprehensible to our tiny minds. We raised our ears skyward like grand ship sails, listening intently for the slightest hint of danger.

Gruk, "Uh, what that rumble? Like my belly but louder, like a lot!"

Farty, "Me no know, but it no feel right."

 Dizzyhead, "Me scared! Me no like dis place."

 Muddlehead, "Shh! Listen! It sounds like goblin talk, but not really. Listen, I hear somethin'! Chirpy-chirp, clicky-click! Clicky-click? That's goblin talk, ain't it?"

Diggy, "I want my tiny cave, tiny cave safe! Big dark open is scary not safe, not safe at all!" 

As we stood there, feet trembling on the squishy, poop-covered ground, our tiny goblin minds were befuddled. The rhythmic shaking made us wobble like jelly, and our goblin senses were on high alert.

Then, with a loud creak, the colossal doors swung open, revealing massive giants on the other side. As the colossal doors creaked open, a gust of fresh, cool air swept into the cave, hitting us tiny goblins like an unexpected storm blizzard. Our minuscule goblin lungs froze momentarily in astonishment. The cave had been warm, akin to a closed greenhouse on a sweltering summer day, with even the feces emitting steam and wisps of vapor rising against the ceiling. But this gust of fresh air carried a new sensation we had never experienced before.