~Alaric~
The goblin stood in front of us, silhouetted by the light shining behind him. His mouth opened, and a screech of excitement and warning echoed around us. Zach crouched in front of our new found enemy, but before he or I could react, a small woosh hit my ears and the goblins head separated neatly at the neck from its body, blood beginning to squirt out as its head fell to the floor with a meaty slap. I whirled around on Mino, who was already sprinting down the hallway while sheathing her short sword. "RUN, YOU FUCKING IDIOTS! EVEN I CAN'T TAKE ON THAT MANY!" was screeched at us
Her shout spurned Zach and I into action, and we both took off behind her like track stars running a race. All thoughts in my head were replaced by my sudden desire to get away from here as fast as I possibly could.
We rounded a corner to head back to the main cavern, and I could hear the slap of flesh on stone as hundreds of goblins began to funnel into the tunnel behind us. I pushed the thoughts of what they would do to us from my mind as we focused on Mino's receding back. My heart pounded in my ears as I pushed my legs to carry me faster than I had ever gone before.
Mino had already hit the main cavern and was throwing herself up the gravel slopes. I followed soon behind her, rushing past the tunnel entryway in a blur. But just as my foot hit the bottom of the hill, I glanced behind me and saw Zach still trailing. My heart sank as I realized that in my rush to save my own life, I had forgotten about his. I willed my body to turn around to go help him. But it didn't budge an inch.
I felt a blast of air fly past me as Mino leapt off the gravel hill and back into the tunnel. The rushing wall of goblins had almost caught up to Zach, a mere two meters away, when Mino leapt straight into them. I couldn't tell what happened next, I just knew that the frontline of goblins suddenly collapsed with gaping wounds spewing life onto the ground. It wasn't much of a dent in the army, but it was enough to give Zach time to reach the main cavern and begin the climb.
I reached the hole first, pushing myself out before turning around and offering Zach a hand. He grasped it gratefully, and I managed to haul him out. Mino followed suit barely five seconds later, leaping gracefully in one fluid motion into the sunlight. In unison, we all faced the hole and readied ourselves for battle, and for a second it seemed like we were going to get one. A single gnarled and clawed hand grasped the edge of the hole, but it slithered back down into the dark and ominous underground.
We stood there for several minutes, sweating dripping off the end of Zach and mine's noses. The hole was still, giving away nothing, and yet leaving us with the feeling of being watched by everything. Slowly Mino lowered her weapon before turning to us. "Little bastards must've known that to climb out would only mean death." She wiped her sword of blood before sliding it back into its scabbard.
Watching the hand grasping the stone, I was struck with the earlier exchange, where the goblins had rushed the hill and tried to get out. "Hey, Mino?" My voice came out meekly and weak from fear and exhaustion.
"Yeah, what is it?" her gruff response threw me off and my voice quivered ever so slightly. "I-if the monsters can get out, why don't they?" Mino didn't respond immediately, opting to instead look down at the dark abyss before her. Then she turned slowly towards me, and her eyes had hardened considerably. "Because for all the shit we give them, they're not stupid. They know that down in the darkness they have the advantage, and they know that as long as they don't become too aggressive, no strong Selected will come, and they will be supplied with a constant supply of weak ones, to feast on. At least, until now."
At that, a small smirk grew on her face, before a cascading of small pebbles echoed in the courtyard. The sound originated from the hole.
The three of us slowly turned to the darkness, as a human hand grasped the side. With a loud shout, Zach rushed forward and grasped the arm to whom the hand belonged to. He heaved the person up and out of the darkness with a huff. The two collapsed onto the ground in a tumble of limbs, before Zach untangled himself and rose to his feet in a hurry. In unison, the three of us stared at the newcomer as they coughed and screeched up blood onto the ground, the dark red stain slowly spreading towards us.
Mucus and yellow bits of body fluid followed suit after the blood. The person's whole body shook with the power of their coughs until finally they subsided. They glanced up at us, and I got a good look at their face. I could see that it was a boy, no older than fifteen, and his lips were dry and cracked to the point where the skin was peeling off in giant pieces. His eyes looked around wildly, darting from shadow to shadow, before finally resting on us. His lips quivered open, and a voice barely above a whisper reached our eyes. Two words.
"Attack coming".