Adventure begins at the library! Read the chapter and vote by 2pm each Saturday to influence which way the story should go. A new part of the story will be posted every Monday throughout the summer.
~ Chapter 5 ~
You now have a new goal: find the dragon the goblins work for. You and your band agree that all the signs point towards there being one, and the ranger even remembers a few old stories about a dragon living in the region. As to whether the goblins really do work for the dragon, you don’t really see anything else they could be doing. Goblins are notoriously greedy thieves, so it wouldn’t make sense for them to lose their hold on anything they stole unless they were forced to.
The three gremlin helpers immediately show their skills at navigating through the dungeon. You give them the map you found in the Bookwyrm’s lair, and they huddle around it, muttering among themselves. A few seconds later, they jump up and skitter away down a concealed tunnel on the wall of the cave, and you sprint after them. You are hard-pressed to keep them in sight—they move like squirrels, bounding through the tunnels, leaping around corners, screeching at each other to keep up the pace.
At one point, they pause, examining a patch in the dust on the tunnel floor. You ask what they’re doing, and they indicate the footprint they’ve discovered. It’s small, smaller than a human’s, and looks like it might have claws. A goblin footprint? The gremlins become more and more excited, chattering animatedly to each other. They say it looks a few days old, perhaps three. Made around the same time Arya’s box was stolen, you think to yourself. The gremlins resolve to look for other signs while they run, and you continue on.
Even with the map, the going isn’t easy. For one thing, whole sections of it are completely unreadable, as if someone had accidentally spilled water on the ink. For another, many of the tunnels listed have disappeared; perhaps caved in years ago. You are forced to find workarounds again and again, and you start to become less sure of the gremlins’ abilities. You can’t help wondering whether you’re lost again, and this time worse than before.
Then, you see a flickering light up ahead. Torches, or maybe a campfire. You and your group immediately stop, and you’re sure all of you are thinking the same thing: more goblins. You and one of the gremlins sneak ahead, leaving the rest of the party behind to wait. As you get closer, the light becomes stronger, and you begin to hear low voices.
You peek around the corner of the tunnel into a little bare cave, with a campfire flickering in the middle. Sitting in a circle around it are six goblins, talking. Another goblin stands guard over a large sack in the corner, as well as a box. The low light makes it hard to see, but it looks about the right size to be Arya’s box. Are they taking valuables to the dragon?
As you watch, they make as if to gather their belongings and leave. You: