Chương 100: Penicillium - Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine Cavendish's prediction that the goblins would eventually pull back was spot on. By the time the dead goblins by the entrance started to turn into a proper heap, the rest of the goblins started to wise-up about how this was going down. So far, no one on our side was hurt, and about twenty goblins were dead or dying before us. The rest of the goblins seemed a little more clever. They stood back, a few of them daring to toss pebbles our way, but they didn't charge in recklessly anymore.

Peeking out from between Grace and George, I was able to see some of the goblins in the camp grabbing a few items and running. Some of them seemed older, and they were often carrying some very small goblins with them. What a mess.

"Alright," Cavendish said. He jerked forwards as if he was going to charge and the nearest goblins scampered away while screaming.

"Let's move," he said. Everyone grabbed their gear and we did as he said, all of us rushing along the edge of the room until we slipped into a tunnel. Half the crew stayed by the mouth of it, weapons still out to prevent anything from hitting us in the back.

"Traps," George warned. He started to crouch-walk forward, then made a mark on the ground with his glowing chalk.

"Just pitfalls, but they're halfway hidden."

"I hate the next room," Grace said. She tugged a wet cloth from a small pocket on the side of her bag and used it to wipe her blade clean of goblin blood.

"Little creepy crawly assholes."

"What's in the next room?" I asked.

"Spiders," she said.

"Don't be a baby," Nathan said with a chuckle.

"It's one of the easiest rooms in the entire dungeon. And the one after it is a freebie."

"Alright, enough chit-chatting. You're not paid by the hour," Cavendish said.

"Any goblins trying to follow us?" Nathan stuck his head out into the room we'd just left.

"Doesn't look like it, boss."

"Good. Let's keep moving. The rest of the green bastards will be the next team's problem. We've done half the work for them already." The tunnel wasn't all that long, maybe ten metres or so, with a bit of a kink in the middle so that we couldn't see the far end. George marked out some places on the ground for us not to step on, and he undid a little tripwire trap which was at head-height... for an adult. I could walk right under it without a problem. Continuing the theme, the next room we reached was more ruins.

Walls made of stone, a few deep cracks along the floor, and absolutely no light. The crew pulled up their torches, flashing them across the space to reveal some old odds and ends left lying around. Chairs and a single long table, a few cabinets against the far wall and some shelves with the broken remains of dinnerware collecting dust. No goblins though. I held onto the grip of my knife and searched for motion, but nothing stood out. Somehow, that made it all the creepier.

"Exit's to the right," Cavendish said.

"Nathan, want to charge it? The rest of you, eyes peeled." Nathan raised his shield and walked at a quick, relentless pace across the room, boots thunking with every step until he was out into the next corridor where he turned and started to wave his hand before his shield. Spiderwebs! I looked around again, and caught sight of a few webs whispering down where Nathan had passed. All along the ceiling and floor, little eyes were staring out, likely awakened by his passing.

"Single-file, don't stop until you're at the other end," Cavendish said. Then he took off himself and the rest scrambled to follow. I stayed between Grace and Phillipe, which was made a little complicated when the woman kept pausing to stomp the ground and leave the crushed remains of spiders behind.

"I hate this room," she repeated. William chuckled.

"Once, about a month ago, a spider stayed on Grace and bit her rump."

"It was my lower back," Grace said. She shivered visibly.

"It left a lump the size of my fist."

"Only because you refused treatment," William said.

"I'm sure you just wanted to see my behind," Grace snapped back. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

"Grace, dear, if I wanted to see a shapely rear I have plenty of options," William replied. I glanced back at him, then nodded to myself. He was rather handsome, and he seemed well-off. I was certain he wasn't lying about that. We reached the next passage, this one a straight shot into the next room. The floor was buckled and crooked, but otherwise it seemed nicer than most of the connecting tunnels so far. George went ahead, tapping the ground with his stick.

"This one's loose," he said before poking at a flagstone that shifted to the side, then fell into a hole. It was only hanging on by two edges, and beneath it was a hole that looked like it was a couple of feet deep. Cavendish hung by the edge of the entrance and looked us all over as we passed. I saw him snap his hand out towards Tyro and flick something off the boy's shoulders.

"No spiders," he said once the last was past. We crossed the tunnel and arrived at another ruined room, this one with a few ancient, rotting chairs against the walls and not much else. There were three doors in this space, one in each direction save the one we'd come from.

"Freebie room," Nathan said.

"Nothing to fight here?" I asked. He nodded.

"That's right." We stepped into the room, and I looked around it one more time, now looking for spiders or anything else that might jump out at us, but it really did seem like a free room. I could live with that.

"I think this is where we part ways," Cavendish said to Phillipe. He extended a hand to the bigger man.

"We're heading off that way, and the stairs to the next floor down are over there. You know the way, I imagine."

"I do," Phillipe said. He took Cavendish' hand and shook.

"Thanks for the run so far. You saved us a bit of a walk."

"And you helped too," Cavendish said.

"I appreciate it, truly. Next time we see each other up top, the first drink's on me." Phillipe laughed, loud and boisterous.

"Thank you. I'll hold you to that, you cheapskate." Cavendish mock-glared back.

"I'm not cheap, I'm economical. It's different, but I won't waste words explaining it to the likes of you." They patted each other on the shoulder. I turned towards the others. I hardly knew any of them, really, but they seemed like nice folk, for the most part. Grace ruffled my hair.

"You keep safe, alright, Ginger? Maybe we should do the same if we see each other above, eh? Think you can afford to pay for my drinking?"

"Don't agree to that," Nathan said.

"You'll bankrupt yourself."

"Thanks. Besides, aren't I a little young for drinking?" I asked. Grace ruffled my hair again, which was starting to be a bit annoying.

"Never too young," she said.

"Pop on over to Old Miller's Pub one of these days, it's where all the best delvers hang out."

"I might just do that," I said. I had no idea where that was, but I imagined it wouldn't be hard to find. And maybe it would be an easier way for me to find new delvers to work with for cheap, instead of going through traditional guild channels. There certainly seemed to be a lot of... camaraderie going on. Competitive as it might be, I imagined it was easier to work with it than to work outside of it. Cavendish rounded up his team, then headed out, which left only three of us behind.

William, the last one out, shut the door behind him.

"Whelp," Phillipe said as he stretched his back out.

"Now we've got choices to make."

"What sort?" I asked. I grabbed my shirt and gave it a squeeze. How was I still wet? It had to have been an hour since I got out of the water.

"Do you want to continue on, or was this enough for you?" he asked. He eyed me carefully. Still jovial, but curious. I nodded.

"I want to keep going," I said.

"It won't get easier with fewer of us," he said.

"Maybe. But without anyone else around, I can let loose a little. That ought to help. We might need to take a few small breaks for me to regrow my supplies between floors, but otherwise... yeah, I want to try to keep going." He nodded.

"We'll revisit the question once we're at the end of this floor," he said.

"I'm quite certain I can reach the bottom all on my own, but having to keep two of you safe will be quite the challenge. We'll certainly not be moving as quickly as we have so far."

"I can live with that," I said.