Chapter 11

  There was no telling where they were going as the little grung led them through the dark, winding cavern tunnels. There was no need for idle chatter, and none would be offered from any of the members. They walked on in silence behind the timid grung who’s face of genuine anxiousness could not be detected as he walked in the front. They walked like this for a few minutes until Noah broke the silence.

  “It killed my family, you know…” he said, still facing forward as he walked on through the tunnels.

  “I’m sorry, Noah.” So-Nobu responded. He was also focused on the task at hand and his words fell short of genuine sympathy.

  Noah sighed heavily. He quietly shared the details of his rather extensive grung family pedigree with the members as they walked. He spoke of how they were tadpoles before they developed legs, much like frogs. He spoke of how his family was very tribal and only lived within the cavern. He spoke of how they had to learn to survive off of the insects and mossy growths within the cavern. Occasionally, bats and rats would make their way down there—some would become so desperate for food and survival that they would attack the grung.

  Very few grung fell to the hostile creature inhabitants over the years and most times the felled creatures would prove for a decent meal for the grung. As for their deceased grung brethren, they would have to carry them away from the pool which they resided as the corpses would surely contaminate the waters. The elderly grung would dismiss themselves and find a place away from the pool where they could lay their heads to eternal rest. Some of the elders offered themselves as tribute to “the monster” so that it would not become too hungry and come to feast on the rest of the family.

  They had to submerse themselves regularly as their skin was very sensitive and could dry out. So, the life the family created at the pool was vital. It had to stay protected. Darius, the eldest brother of Noah was in charge of training the male grung in ways of battle, which none really knew all that well—they were not a violent species, at least not until the crabs arrived.

  Noah referred to them as “clampers”, but Charlie figured out they were really just crabs. Giant crabs to be exact. These large crabs buried themselves in the mud and dirt beneath the murky waters of nearby pools. They would lay there in silence until a grung would pass by the area. The crabs were swift and surprisingly smart as they would emerge and clamp down on a passerby grung and drag it under the water.

  “I figured grungs could breathe underwater.” Andro chimed.

  “We can.” Noah responded.

  “So why would the crabs drown them?”

  “Grungs can’t drown…” Noah said grimly.

  The crabs (clampers) would grip the grungs with their giant pincers and slowly crush them to death under the water. They would often begin feasting on the clamped grung before it was even fully dead. Darius and Noah lost two brothers and one sister this way. Darius became furious and set a trap for one of the crabs. He created a grung dummy and used it to trick the crab into emerging. When it emerged, Darius and a few other grung he had trained, Noah included, wrapped a rope around the claw of the crab and began to pull. Their hopes were to pull the giant crab, who’s size was perhaps triple that of an average grung, out of the water and stab/beat it to death before it could go back under the water.

  What Darius failed to realize (not that he or any grung could have known this) was that the crab’s claw was an appendage that was easily torn from the arm-like ligament. As they pulled back on the crab’s arm, the claw popped off, tossing back every grung. This proved to be more detrimental to the grung than the crab, as a few other giant crabs emerged to the surface and began snatching the grung up one by one as they attempted to flee. Darius watched on in horror as his friends and family were slaughtered and devoured—crushed and tossed aside or left floating lifeless in the pool of crabs. Darius, by a matter of adrenaline and power of will, lifted the disembodied crab claw and used it to defend himself from attacks.

  Noah managed to scurry behind other grung during the attacks, each grung he hid behind would be snatched and crushed as he jumped from grung to grung. Finally, he leapt behind Darius who was wielding the giant crab claw, and the two of them managed to flee. When they returned to camp, Darius grabbed Noah by the arm and shook him violently.

  “You bloody dolt! You selfish bloody shit-for-brains! You left them all to die!” Darius’ eyes were wild as he stared into Noah’s very soul. Many grung surrounded them as Darius continued to berate and shake the poor, traumatized grung. Noah couldn’t speak a word to what happened. Over time, the grung had to simply move on from it—and most did, except for Darius. Darius and Noah were never the same again. Darius never treated him as a brother or even a fellow member of the grung tribe. Noah attempted a few times to apologize, but on his last attempt Darius made it very clear that an apology would never mend their relationship.

  “It should have been you. It should have been bloody you…”

  Noah prattled on for some time about his time exploring the caves and about the monster. The others listened but focused on the darkness not yet revealed in front of them.

  “The monster is bigger than the crabs, you know. It’s always hungry and it drools something awful. It has this great big club that it bashes creatures' skulls with. I seen it once when I wos hopping around on my own. It snatched a bat from out of the air and threw it to the ground. Squealing and flapping it’s wings it wos. Couldn’t fly though—monster had already bent a wing something awful, you know. And then, WHACK! Big club of his just smack right down on the bat’s little head, it did. Monster picks up the little bat, twitching and wot not, and bites his head clean off. Frozen, I wos, while it chewed. The crunching of the bones. Something awful.”

  “That does sound awful, Noah…” Charlie had a sour taste in her mouth as she spoke.

  “Oh, it wos. Finished the bat, it did. Then the monster falls back and goes right off to sleep. I knows it cos he starts his snoring. Awful loud, it wos. I run away then when I knew he wos asleep good and proper. I can still hear it from time to time, you know? Awful, awful snoring…”

  “Sometimes we hear things that aren’t there. It’s part of how we cope with trauma.” Charlie responded.

  “No really, I hear it loud and clear sometimes, you know. I hear it a lot. I hear it right now even, I do.”

  “I know, Noah. It’s hard to block out those kinds of memories. Sometimes you have to just tell yourself that it’s just not—“

  “Shh!” So-Nobu interrupted Charlie and held up his hand. “I hear it as well.”

  “Nobu, you can’t be encouraging his delusions like that. He’s clearly very—“

  “I hear it too.” Andro now interrupted Charlie.

  “We must be close.” So-Nobu added.

  Charlie listened. There it was. The sound of long, wheezy snoring. In and out with congested, squeaky nasal breathing. The rough motor sounds hummed loudly as it drew in and then whistled deep and echoey as it exhaled. Charlie could not detect what kind of beast it was from the sounds of it, in fact none of the party could. All they knew for certain was that whatever creature was making these snoring sounds, it was big. Very big.

  “Alright, listen up.” Andro spoke just above a whisper. “We don’t know exactly what this thing is, but I think it’s in our best interests if we use a little stealth and caution.”

  “I can be berry, berry sneaky sir.” Charlie’s words came out in a regal foreign accent as she spun around. Her skin and hair began to change before everyone’s eyes. Her long dark hair now became pixie short and white. Her skin turned from a dull tan to a pale white with a faint purple hue. Her nose became narrow and pointed while her ears tipped back further than normal. Noah watched in fascination and wonder while the other two did not seemed phased by this occurrence.

  “So that’s it, huh? You just assume all drow people are “sneaky”? Damn, Charlie that’s kinda racist…” Andro shook his head mocking disapproval.

  Charlie glared at him.

  “I do not think that all drow are sneaky people. I just…like how I look as a drow when I am being sneaky. That’s all.”

  “How did you—” Noah’s voice was less than a whisper.

  “Uh-huh. Sure…yea and all tieflings speak like farmhands? That was embarrassing.”

  “I took some artistic liberties with that one, ok? Jeez, you know you are the only one who can’t appreciate my abilities. My art.”

  “But didn’t she just—” Noah’s words were overshadowed by the constant bickering of Andro and Charlie.

  “Your art? What the fuck are you even talking about? It’s not art…it’s a testament to stereotypes.”

  “It’s an art you pompous boob! I take time and consideration into what I change into, and this one is very special to me. And you know this, Andro!”

  “Did she say change?” Again, Noah’s words fell upon deaf and distracted ears as the whispers now picked up in intensity.

  “Holy shit, do you hear yourself? You say that as if you have multiple identities or something. You give them names to?”

  Charlie opened her mouth to respond but quickly snapped it shut and looked away awkwardly.

  “Charlie?” So-Nobu now pried.

  “No way…you do? Don’t you? I can’t even begin to tell you how batshit insane that is.”

  Charlie began to blush through her purple cheeks.

  “It’s not that they have names…but they do have…well…identities?”

  Charlie realized exactly what she had said in this moment and stammered as she attempted to explain herself. The other two began to question and criticize in a louder than whisper volume. Noah had kept trying to ask questions but after having been dismissed and ignored so many times, he felt himself becoming frustrated. He squeezed his eyes shut tight and tried to hold back, but couldn’t any longer.

  His throat began to bulge like that of a frog and his head lurched back as it did. Then it happened.

  CrrrrrRREEEEEET!

  A long, rippling croaking sound emerged from the small grung. It sounded almost like a deep, whistle with high and low pitches emitting at the same time. The group froze in silence as this high-pitched croaking sound emitted from Noah’s small form. Noah rubbed his arm and looked down at the ground in embarrassment.

  “I’m sorry. I was just…I just wanted to know how she did that, you know?”

  The group stared for a moment longer at Noah. So-Nobu listened and heard the undisturbed sounds of the monster’s snoring. They all let out a quiet sigh of relief. Charlie spoke first to Noah.

  “I can see why you might be curious, Noah. Well since the cat’s out of the bag as they say, I might as well tell you that…I am a Changeling.”

  Noah looked at her with more confusion than understanding. Charlie continued.

  “I can change my appearance basically at any time to look basically like anyone. Kind of like…well, this.” She gestured to her appearance which now resembled that of a drow woman.

  Noah’s eyes widened in excitement. “Does this mean you can change into a grung??”

  Charlie’s face dropped in disappointment.

  “Sorry little friend. I can change into people with more…” Charlie looked at the grung up and down as she searched for the appropriate words. “…human appearances. No offense of course.”

  “For once…” Andro piped.

  Charlie glared once again at Andro.

  “I’m not racist…” She spoke through gritted teeth.

  “Enough you two. We have a task at hand. Can we please…?” So-Nobu was frustrated now and trying very hard to focus on the sounds of the snoring.

  “I have many more questions. Perhaps you can tell me more when we find the key, you know?” Noah’s curiosity always got the better of him.

  Charlie nodded her head to Noah and then motioned for him to continue onwards.

  “Remember. Stealth.” Andro whispered.

  Noah nodded and they walked further into the dark cavern where the loud snoring sounds continued. It only took them a minute or so of walking to notice that there was dim light coming from around the corner of one of the cavern walls. Charlie swatted her hand gently back and forth causing the dancing lights over Noah’s head to wisp away. Noah gulped heavily as the sound of snoring was at its loudest now and just around the corner. He looked back at the group, waiting for direction.

  So-Nobu spoke directly to Noah in a calm whisper.

  “Noah. You need to look around the corner and see if you notice any piles of excrement.”

  Noah looked confused.

  “Feces?” Charlie corrected in hopes Noah would understand better. He did not.

  “Shit. You need to look for piles of shit.” Andro whispered impatiently.

  Noah mouthed the word “oh” as he nodded his head slowly. He crept up to the corner of the cavern wall which was a few steps ahead of the group. He slowly peered around the corner and looked around. After a few moments, he looked back to the group and pointed towards the area and nodded his head.

  “Good. Good. Do you notice anything shiny?” So-Nobu whispered over to Noah.

  Noah looked around for a few more moments, not leaving the corner of the wall as the loud snoring continued. He turned back and shook his head.

  “Damn.” So-Nobu quieted his whisper to speak only to Charlie, Andro and Grogum now. “We may have to go in there ourselves and start digging…”

  “Ew. No thank you.” Charlie scrunched her face.

  “Yea, I’m with her. I don’t feel like digging through monster shit today.” Andro agreed.

  “Bugga. Bugg-bga.” Grogum added.

  “We could send the frog.” Andro motioned with his head towards Noah.

  “Andro, I am not sure that is the wisest—” So-Nobu started to speak but was interrupted as usual.

  “I am absolutely, positively NOT going in there!” Noah whispered emphatically. The young grung looked petrified at the idea and was panting.

  “Calm your emotions, Noah. We are still discussing how—“ So-Nobu was cut off before he could finish his sentence.

  “Noah,” Andro began in his typical, swaggered fashion, “You are the only one of us who can—nay—should be doing this.”

  Everyone turned and looked at Andro with skepticism and bewilderment. Andro smiled and shook his head confidently.

  “This is the defining moment for you to become a knight my friend. Not many people—“

  “Andro this is crazy.” Charlie attempted to intervene, but Andro continued without so much as a momentary pause.

  “Not many people get an opportunity like this so suddenly. And it would appear that fate…destiny has come to call upon you almost instantly. Steel yourself little man. You’re about to become a knight.”

  The party turned and looked at Noah, who still looked petrified but was clearly contemplating Andro’s suggestion. On the one hand, he did very much want to be a knight (though he still knew very little about what that meant exactly), but on the other hand it could be a guaranteed death trap featuring agonizing pain and potentially excruciating final moments. This was a very large task for a very small grung.

  “I’ll do it.” Noah declared.

  “Noah, you don’t have to do this…” Charlie’s voice sounded sympathetic if not somewhat guilty. She didn’t want to see this little grung’s life thrown away for some key—worse so, some hopeful chance that there even was a key.

  “I know. But…” Noah’s voice began to tremble. He began to recall his friends and family all falling victim to this large monster over the years. And the others who died to the crabs. He thought that their death’s may not be in vain if he could help just one person.

  “I need to do this.”

  Noah nodded his head conclusively and put his spear through a loop on the strap on his back. He crept up to the corner where he could see around it once again. He looked back and then hopped down the ledge onto the ground below. He landed with the softest thud as the snoring remained constant and undisturbed.

  So-Nobu began to walk carefully up to the corner to see around it, motioning for the others to follow. They reached the corner and looked around it. There was a landing below, not as dark as there were some very dimly lit torches staked into the ground. The torches were the size of large oak branches and were staked carelessly into the ground around the area. Their eyes traced along some of the crooked torches until they saw Noah creeping up to a very large pile of feces across the way.

  “Now that is some really big—” Andro began before being cut off.

  “Shit.” So-Nobu said. Except he was not finishing Andro’s sentence. He was looking to the left of Noah and the pile of feces he was pursuing. They all looked in that direction, and that’s when they saw it.

  A massive, hulking ogre snoozing away at the far end of the area. It was laying on its side and facing towards the wall, away from everyone. Its large, broad shoulders rose and fell with each long, snoring breath. It was clad in nothing more than a severely ripped cloth fixed around its waist, held up by a makeshift belt, which didn’t leave much to the imagination from their angle. Its skin was a mottled shade of earthy beige, textured like bark and stone—if they hadn’t heard the snoring, they may have mistaken it for just another large rock formation in the dark cavern.

  “Fucked…” Andro whispered.

  Their attention quickly went back to Noah as they could hear him quietly digging through the feces and making whispered disgusted audible reactions.

  “Guys, this is bad. We need to get him out of there.” Charlie watched as Noah continued to dig through the pile of ogre stool for a key.

  “Bg-bugga.” Grogum nodded in agreement.

  “Yea…I’m not going down there.” Andro contested.

  “Andro…” So-Nobu spoke as if Andro knew what he was going to say, but Andro did not acknowledge it.

  “Andro…” So-Nobu said a little more pressing this time. Andro still did not acknowledge it.

  “Andro!” So-Nobu spoke emphatically just above a whisper.

  “What?!” Andro replied impatiently.

  “You encouraged him to go down there. You need to be the one to get him back.”

  “Nobu. Come on man. All I said was this was an opportunity for him. He could have said no…”

  So-Nobu, Grogum and Charlie’s expressions were not amusing Andro’s weak defense. Andro let out a quick, bothered sigh and made his way to the ledge shaking his head and grumbling as he did. The ledge was roughly a ten-foot drop by what Andro could observe. He quietly climbed over the ledge and hung by his arms. He looked back to see if Noah was looking in their direction, hoping that he could flag him down instead of having to drop down and then somehow climb back up. Noah was nearly shoulder deep in the excrement still searching.

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  “Fucked.” Andro said and then let go of the ledge to drop to the landing below. Andro immediately began to tilt backwards as he dropped. His arms circled twice as he tried to upright himself in midair but failed to alter his current fall. He hit the ground with a thud and a grunt.

  The stagnant snoring turned into a broken rhythm of snorts and coughs as the giant ogre began to turn over onto its other side. Everyone froze as the monster turned over, smacked its lips a few times, and then settled back into laying on its side only now it was facing everyone. It fell almost instantly back into its deep sleep as the snoring commenced once again.

  Andro stayed frozen, as did Noah who was still up to his elbows in ogre feces. The ogre’s face, though rough and weathered, became relaxed in slumber—one heavy eyelid half-closed, a trail of drool sliding from the corner of its wide, tusked mouth and pooling into the dirt below. A crooked nose, slightly bent as if it had been broken more than once, twitched occasionally, as if reacting to some unseen dream.

  One huge arm was curled under its head like a makeshift pillow, the other draped across its belly, fingers the size of logs twitching now and then. Its legs were bent slightly, knees drawn up just a bit, giving it a surprisingly vulnerable appearance despite its size. Around its waist was a crude belt which looked to be made of leather and bones and nearby lay a massive club which looked to be crudely carved from some fallen tree.

  It was then that Noah finally turned slightly, pulling his arms out slowly from the pile of stool, and noticed Andro who was slowly getting up from the ground. Andro looked over at Noah and motioned at the grung to come over to him. The grung looked down at his brown stained arms and back up at Andro. The little grung shook his head and held up his arms to show Andro the mess, and then motioned with his head that he would go the opposite direction to wash himself off. Andro shook his head furiously and insisted in silence that Noah come to him.

  Noah again shook his head and motioned that he wanted to clean up at some nearby pool. Andro’s upper lip began to curl as he shook his head again. Andro glanced at the sleeping ogre, just at the other end of the landing, and then began walking towards Noah. He trudged quickly and quietly towards Noah. He was nearly in arms-length of the grung as he extened his hand out to grab the little creature when suddenly

  *CRUNCH*

  Andro froze; eyes widened as Noah’s eyes matched his. They both looked down under Andro’s foot where they noticed what had made the noise. His foot had caved in an old grung skull. They both slowly turned and looked at the ogre whose eyes were now wide open and looking directly at Andro and Noah. The color from their faces quickly faded away as they watched the ogre begin to pull himself up from his laid down positioning. The ogre reached over and grabbed the club with one hand, while the other hand lazily wiped a fraction of drool from its mouth. Its mouth twisted and curled up, showing large, crooked tusk-like fangs that filled out the front of its mouth. As it stood up, it began to let out a low, rumbling growl. The growl built up until it had completely stood up, towering over Andro and Noah who were frozen in fear. The ogre ceased growling and looked down at the two intruders.

  “RUN!” Charlie yelled from the top ledge.

  The ogre let out a roar which threw spit around accompanied by a rancid, hot breath in Noah and Andro’s faces. With that, they ran. They both ran to the right, towards the pile of feces, which offered very little room between it and the wall—there was just enough for them to squeeze behind the pile and hug the wall as they tried to find a way back up on the other side. The ogre slammed the club down hard on the ground, making the ground rumble. It started to take steps towards the two behind the poo. Its large strides carried it over the ground quicker than a creature of that size would normally move. It was just a step away from the large pile of feces that Noah and Andro were sandwiched behind when it halted after becoming distracted.

  Three small, circular dancing lights began to flitter and twirl just in front of the ogre’s face. The ogre scrunched up its face and began to swipe at the air with its free hand at the little lights. They bobbed and weaved around the hand like little flies, barely dodging the massive hand. Noah and Andro used this opportunity to start walking along the wall at a steady pace, hugging it with their backs.

  The lights continued to flitter around the ogre’s face until it turned to swat one and caught Charlie out of the corner of its eye. She was puppetting the lights with her hands from atop the ledge. The ogre swung his club ferociously in front of him in the direction of the ledge as it stomped towards Charlie and So-Nobu. Charlie tried desperately to move the lights around the ogre to pull its attention away from them, but it was no longer interested in the lights. Grogum sprinted back the way they came, disappearing into the darkness.

  “Charlie, JUMP!” So-Nobu yelled at Charlie as he vanished in a cloud of black smoke. Charlie hesitated a moment and then jumped just as the ogre’s club came smashing down on the raised ledge where she stood. Pieces of rock and cavern flew around her as she fell towards the ground. She landed and rolled up to one knee but grabbed her ribs as they felt like they were on fire. A piece of rock had caught her on the side, and she was bleeding, but not severely. She didn’t have much time to inspect the wound as the ogre now turned on its heel and swung its large club down towards Charlie.

  Charlie rolled out of the way just in time as the club came back down again. Three times she rolled and dodged the club, each time feeling that sting on her side. The ogre roared and began huffing frustratedly as he hoisted the club once more and took aim at Charlie who had not quite landed the last roll just right.

  *plish plish*

  Two watery orbs smacked the ogre in the face and dispersed, knocking him just slightly off balance. The ogre’s attention turned to see where the water came from and noticed Andro, now running towards it and Charlie. It opened its mouth to let out another roar when

  *plish plunf*

  Another watery orb smacked the ogre once on its cheek and the second went straight into its mouth. The ogre began hacking and wheezing as it lowered the club back to the ground.

  “Let’s go! Quickly!” Andro shouted to the rest of the group. He started sprinting to the far side of the area hoping to find some part of the large wall that offered an opening or ledge like the other side. Charlie scrambled to her feet and began to follow him with Noah trailing just behind.

  “There are no openings here!” So-Nobu was already at the other side where the rest of the party was making their way. He had time to investigate the area after using his misty step ability to reappear across the way.

  “What can we do?” Noah asked pleadingly.

  “We may have to just fight it.” Andro turned and faced the creature which was now finally regaining its composure after having been forced to swallow a fist-sized watery sphere.

  “Fight it? Are you nuts? That thing could crush us between its toes!” Charlie spoke frantically.

  “We may not have a choice!” So-Nobu watched as the ogre turned and noticed the group all collected at the other end by the rocky wall scape.

  The ogre bounded over as they all reluctantly got into position to send out their attacks. Andro unleashed a couple more water spheres at the ogre, but this time the ogre was not caught off guard and held a large hand up to block them. The water spheres themselves didn’t do much as far as damage goes to such a large creature as it swatted the second sphere away without missing a step in its pace—it was closing the gap between them and fast. The ogre’s club dragged along the dirt ground as it ran, kicking up dust and rock debris behind it.

  “Noah! Wait for my signal, then jump up on the ogre’s back!” So-Nobu called out.

  “Are you mad? He’ll squish me, you know!”

  “Get ready, Noah!” So-Nobu sprinted out to the ogre to meet it, passing by Charlie and Andro as he did.

  The ogre fixed his focus on So-Nobu who was charging back at him and raised his club to ready a potentially fatal blow. So-Nobu paid no attention to the club as he looked straight on at the creature’s feet. In a swift motion, he unsheathed both swords and dashed towards the ogre’s feet with them extended straight out at his sides.

  The ogre swung down with the club, still in stride, with all of its might. Rocks and debris flew into the air in a cloud of dust around the impact of the club. Suddenly, the ogre let out a shrill roar as its legs gave out from underneath it. So-Nobu had somehow evaded the club’s blow and sprinted underneath the ogre. He had sliced the ankles of both of the creature’s feet, causing it to begin to tumble to the ground.

  “Now, Noah!!” So-Nobu cried out, still sprinting across the area, away from the creature and back toward the ledge they once stood.

  Noah snapped to attention and, without having to think about it, leapt with his strong frog-like legs into the air towards the ogre. The ogre was lifting himself back up from bended knee, but Noah was just able to fling over its shoulder and latch onto its back with his somewhat sticky, webbed toes. Noah quickly unsheathed his spear and began stabbing repeatedly into the creature’s back. The creature wailed and roared and swung its free arm back around behind it.

  Noah was in the perfect place on its back that he could not be reached as he continued to stab into the creature’s back.

  “Hell yea, Noah! Don’t stop doing that! C’mon people, let’s give him some assistance!” Andro now sprinted towards the ogre with Charlie just behind him matching pace.

  The ogre tried a few more times to grab the little grung, but it was useless. The ogre, tired of being stabbed repeatedly and desperate to rid itself of the hitchhiker on its back, put its hand on the ground, and hunched itself further down. Like a coiled spring, the ogre lifted its legs and pushed off with its free hand to lurch itself backwards. It began to fall, backside down where Noah was still furiously stabbing.

  “Noah! Look out!” Charlie screamed for Noah. But it was too late.

  The ogre came down to the ground with a crash, smashing its back heavily into the ground and scraping it side to side for good measure. Andro, Charlie and So-Nobu froze—they had hoped that they would spot the little grung bounding along somewhere nearby having avoided the fall. But there was no grung to be seen. The ogre turned over on its side and began slowly lifting itself back up. The three hat salesmen stared at the ground where the ogre had fallen. There lie Noah, motionless.

  Charlie raised her hand and covered her mouth forcefully to stop herself from audibly grieving. So-Nobu fell to one knee, plunging a sword sharp-end down into the ground as he stared at the body. Andro’s lip curled up intensely as he shut his eyes tight. The ogre had finally gotten back up and began to huff and snarl at the others.

  “You bloody bastard!!”

  From over the ledge that had been broken by the ogre’s club bounded Darius with his crab claw halberd. He leapt once down to the landing, then immediately once more towards the ogre, landing just at his feet. In a single, swift motion, he plunged the sharpened crab claw into the foot of the ogre who let out a horrifying wail. Darius twisted and shoved the crab claw further into the giant creature’s bare foot as it started to lose balance again.

  Darius pulled the halberd out just in time as the ogre fell back once again to the ground, just missing landing on top of Noah’s body. The others watched as Darius wasted no time in leaping once again up onto the fallen ogre’s chest. He leapt high up once more, recoiling off of its large, barreled chest and brought the halberd down onto the forehead of the great beast. It plunged deep into the ogre’s head with a *schluck* as the beast gave out yet another agonizing wail.

  The ogre dropped its club and began kicking and slamming its fists into the ground like an infant having a tantrum. Each time it tried to grab up for the halberd, its arms would fail it and fall back to the ground. It was evident that the piercing blow had done some variable brain damage to the large creature. After a few moments, the ogre’s tantrum ceased and so did its breaths. The ogre lay motionless next to Noah’s equally motionless body.

  Darius left the halberd lodged in the ogre’s skull as he leapt off and over to his fallen grung younger brother. He knelt beside Noah and scooped the young grung’s limp body into his arms. The others had no time to react or even consider what was happening when Darius bounded in and dropped the ogre—they solemnly walked up to the grung, listening as Darius spoke quietly to Noah as he wept.

  “Dammit, Noah, you bloody putz. You gone and done it again haventcha? Bloody brave, stupid grung…”

  Andro, So-Nobu and Charlie finally gathered around Noah’s body. Charlie knelt down behind Darius while So-Nobu and Andro bowed their heads and looked down at the dirt ground.

  “I…I’m sorry, Darius.” Charlie managed.

  Darius shook his head.

  “You…you all…this is your bloody fault…”

  “Darius…” Charlie placed her hand on the grung’s shoulder. Darius quickly shook it off and placed Noah back on the ground as he did so. He whirled around and stood up facing Charlie at eye level since she stayed kneeling. He spat as he spoke.

  “You did this to him! You sent him to his bloody grave. And for wot?”

  “It was…erm…well a key, actually. He said he knew where it was and—”

  “And wot? You tell him to go fetch it while you all sit back and enjoy the bloody show?? You bloody cowards. You bloody ingrates. You bloody con artists!” Darius began to pace back towards the fallen ogre as he ranted. Spit and tears blended at the corners of his mouth and dripped off the bottom of his cheeks. He grabbed on to one of the large fingers of the ogre as if needing it to hold himself up—the grief was taking hold of him immensely.

  So-Nobu showed frustration on his face as he turned and looked towards Darius.

  “Call us whatever you wish, but it was you who sent Noah away. You abandoned your kin—left him to fend for himself. You showed no appreciation for his existence then, why now do you decide to express it?” So-Nobu’s words echoed through the landing area in which they stood.

  “You don’t bloody get it…” Darius sniffled and sucked in staggered breaths as he tried to continue. “He’s all I had left...He may not have been very bloody smart, but I hoped that maybe he’d get smart if he was on his own. Figure things out his own bloody self, you know? I didn’t want him around. But I didn’t want him to bloody die…”

  Darius broke down in intense grief as he fell to the ground, still grasping a single finger of the fallen ogre. The others sat silently, not knowing what else could, or even should, be said.

  “BUG BUGGAH!” Grogum called down from the high ledge where they had once dropped down and waved to the group. He held up his other hand high in the air revealing something shiny—a key. The key, in fact. His excited waves and exclamations quickly ceased when he noticed the little grung, lying limp on the ground. He brought his hand down and rubbed the back of his furry head with shame.

  Charlie, So-Nobu and Andro walked over to the base of the ledge to get a closer look at Grogum and the key.

  “Nice work, buddy. Where’d you find it?” Andro’s words lacked any source of enthusiasm.

  “Bug. Buggah bugg bg-bgah, bug bugga bug bugg. Buggah bug bg, buggah bug bg-bug buggah.”

  “Buddy...I have no clue what you just said. But I’m glad you found it. Let’s get some rope down here so we can get ourselves and those two out of here. Anyone have any rope on them?”

  They searched their packs and persons for some rope. As they did this they heard Darius cry out.

  “Noah?! He—he’s alive! He’s bloody alive!!” Darius jumped over to Noah who was now letting out some weak coughs.

  “D-Darius? Is that you?” Noah’s voice was very weak.

  “You bet your bloody green arse it is, mate. I thought you wos a goner, I did.”

  Noah coughed a few more times—blood came up around the corners of his mouth and on his chest as he lay back in the same position.

  “Darius…I-I…”

  “Shh. Don’t you be speaking so much now, you hear? You had one hell of a bloody fall, mate. But everything is gonna be ok, you hear me?”

  “I…I’m sorry for everything…I failed our friends. Our family. I failed you…”

  “I won’t be hearing that now. You were bloody brave. Reckless, you wos, but bloody brave.”

  Noah managed a faint smile which Darius returned tenfold with tears still in his eyes. Noah’s eyes were half-opened and looking weak as they wandered from Darius to the ogre behind him. It was then that Noah’s eyes sprung wide open at what he saw.

  So-Nobu had been the first to notice the ogre’s hand twitching and beginning to move towards Darius who had his back turned to it.

  “DARIUS! BEHIND YOU!!” So-Nobu cried out.

  Darius began to turn around, but as he did so the ogre’s hand wrapped around his body. He twisted and squirmed as the ogre began to slowly sit up. Andro, Charlie and So-Nobu grabbed for their weapons and sprinted towards the ogre. Darius let out a scream of pain as the sounds of bones crunching and snapping came from his body. His scream became one of gurgling agony as blood began to fill his mouth and dribble out.

  Noah could barely move but managed to turn on his side slightly and weakly reach out towards Darius who was being hoisted in the air, and up to the face of the large creature. Darius’ eyes met Noah’s, and in that moment Darius disappeared into the mouth of the foul ogre. The ogre began to chew as more crunching noises and blood produced from between the gaps in its large, pointed teeth. And then it swallowed what remained.

  “NOOOO!” Andro yelled. He twisted his hands together and formed a large watery sphere within them. Quickly pushing them straight out while opening them up, he sent the large sphere hurling towards the ogre’s eyes. It began to disperse over them, freezing as it did. The sharp icicles that covered the ogre’s eyes made it wail in pain—it began clawing and scratching at the ice covering its eyes. As the creature cried tears of blood, hoping to rip the ice which was very much stuck to its eyes, Charlie and So-Nobu moved around either side of the creature to flank it.

  So-Nobu reached its right leg and began hacking and slashing with rhythmic, repetitive motions at its ankle and achilles. The ogre for a moment retreated a hand from its icy eyes to reach out for its leg, but pulled it back up to its eyes and continued to claw at them instead.

  Charlie dashed up the other leg and leapt up, holding two daggers above her head. The daggers came plunging down into the beast’s stomach as she used them to climb up the ogre’s chest. She dug into the ogre with her daggers, pulling herself further up the creature with each strike.

  Andro created two more watery spheres in his hands and sent them hurling once again towards the ogre’s face. The first one splashed against the ogre’s hand which continued to scrape against the ice that blinded it while the other managed to bump the crab claw halberd that was still embedded in the creature’s forehead. The sudden jolt of the halberd caused the ogre to seize up and freeze in a contorted position. His hands curled in and stayed frozen by the sides of his shoulders while his head tucked into his neck and left shoulder. The creature’s grimace and posture kept it in place, still sitting up, as Charlie continued to climb.

  Finally, Charlie planted two daggers deep into the upper chest of the ogre who was still frozen in place, while its eyes began twitching furiously and barely opening. She pulled herself up in a swift motion, landing and balancing her feet on both daggers.

  “Charlie! Here!” So-Nobu threw one of his katana swords with precision and grace up towards Charlie.

  “Oh shit.” She watched in panic as the sword hurled towards her, pointed-end first, and then at the last moment flipped back around. She snagged the handle of the sword almost losing her balance for a moment. She looked back at the seizing ogre and gripped the katana tightly with both hands. Her brow dropped low over her eyes as she focused and felt enraged.

  “Fuck it. I’ve always wanted to try this thing anyways.”

  She raised the katana and brought it down swiftly across the side of the ogre’s vulnerable neck. It sliced into it with ease as blood began to spurt liberally out of the creature’s neck. Charlie flipped backwards off the daggers. As her body quickly flipped back upright, she sunk the blade into the ogre’s chest. The blade slowed Charlie’s fall and sliced the creature open down to the waist before Charlie pushed off and landed back on the ground. The creature fell back to the ground with a sound that resembled that of a whining dog. The impact of the ogre hitting the ground made the cavern shake.

  Sharp, pointed rock formations that littered the ceiling began to sway and break off. Smaller rock spears pelted the landing area around them all, just barely missing them and Noah. Some spears landed on the ogre and stuck into his legs and arms. One large piece swayed just over the ogre before finally snapping off. It fell straight down onto the ogre, impaling its face completely. Finally, everything subsided.

  Charlie was the first to reach Noah as the three of them ran over to the wounded creature.

  “Noah, are you still with us? Oh, please don’t be dead.” Charlie scooped up the grung gently just above the ground.

  The grung’s eyes opened into little slits.

  “Is Darius…?” the grung whispered weakly.

  Charlie looked up to Andro and So-Nobu desperately for an answer. Andro looked away while So-Nobu shook his head slowly. Charlie’s eyes began to fill with tears as she looked back at Noah.

  “Noah…I’m…I’m so—”

  “He did what he had to, right? He died keeping us safe?”

  Charlie opened her mouth but spoke no words as she fought back the urge to bawl.

  “Was he…was he a knight?”

  Charlie couldn’t hold back the tears anymore. They streamed down the sides of her face as her lips quivered.

  “Yes, Noah. He was a knight.”

  “I knew it…” Noah gave a faint smile as he closed his eyes.

  It took them an hour to get themselves and the unconscious Noah hoisted up the ledge. Andro had cut the rope necklace off the ogre and used it to help them make their way back up to Grogum who still had the key.

  Grogum went digging through his large satchel and pulled out a needle and a vial. He gave Noah an injection and then pulled out a strange tonic that swirled with loose leaf and plant particles. He and Charlie managed to get most of it down the grung’s throat before Grogum lifted the small creature and carried him gently over one shoulder like a sleeping child.

  “That won’t do him any more good.” Andro pointed to the broken spear on Noah’s back. He walked up and carefully removed it from the loop. He tossed it away and dusted off his hands.

  “We will have to get him a new one once we get to…wherever we’re goin.” Andro continued.

  “Wait!” Charlie turned around and hurried back to the edge of the ledge. She extended her arm and hand outwards as if reaching for something. A purple, spectral hand floated out of her own and drifted down to the landing. It picked up the crab claw halberd which had dislodged itself from the ogre’s head once the sharp rock had impaled it. With the halberd in hand, it floated back up to Charlie’s hand. Charlie gripped it with both hands and inspected it.

  “He would have wanted it this way…at least, I think he would?” Charlie was unsure if this was an appropriate thing to do.

  So-Nobu nodded, “Yes. This feels right.”

  “Bloody right he would’ve.” Andro added respectfully.

  The group made their way back to the door with the key. Grogum held it out to Andro who took it and walked briskly up the stairs to the door. Before putting it in the key slot, he stopped and took a deep breath.

  “Let’s hope the other side of this door is kinder to us,” Andro looked back at Noah who was still slumped over Grogum’s shoulder. “All of us.” He turned the key and heard a *click* as the door unlocked. He pulled the ring of the door and the others watched as it creaked open.

  A dim light shone at the top of a very old, wooden staircase surrounded tightly by cavern walls that seemed carved around it. The top of the stairs could not be seen as the overhead ceiling was cut low, but not so low that Grogum would have to duck.

  “Be careful.” Charlie whispered to the group as they began to ascend the stairs.

  There were roughly thirty to forty steps as they noticed the light glowing brighter—it seemed to be from a small torch or candle by the way it shifted and bounced around on the walls. When they reached the top, they saw that the light was in fact a small candle placed on a little table in the middle of a dark room. From what they could see, they could make out a couple of bookshelves on either side of the room and drawn curtains in the back of the room which hid the two larger windows behind them.

  The room was not particularly large. It was roughly the size of Grogum’s domicile, if not slightly smaller and far more organized.

  The back of the room was pitch black and even So-Nobu and Charlie could not see through it. Something was creating this darkness—something magic.

  “My, my, my…” a voice spoke cryptically from the darkness. “You all have come a very long way to find little, old me…to what do I owe the pleasure?”

  They could hear the words seep through a wide smile that was more mischievous than it was friendly. It sounded playful and masculine, yet something seemed oddly familiar in its tone.

  “Show yourself. We will not hesitate to—” So-Nobu began.

  “Strike me down? Oh, come now, So-Nobu. In all your years of meditations, did it never once occur to you that manners are a matter of formality? Even when addressing a potential foe. Not that I wish to be one of those to you, of course…” the voice continued playfully.

  “Listen, punk—” Andro’s teeth were clenched as tightly as his fists.

  “Ahhh yes. The ever-angry Andro, isn’t it?”

  Andro’s teeth clenched tighter as he felt Charlie’s hand pull his shoulder back slightly.

  “We are here to speak with someone. My guess is you are that someone?” Charlie responded.

  “Sent by the anal-attentive arachnid. Yes, yes don’t bore me with details we all already know.” The voice now spoke with a tone of distaste and impatience.

  The curtains began to draw back slowly, letting in powerful sunlight from outside. The darkness began to dissipate, and the group could make out a silhouette of a figure sitting in a chair behind the table as they squinted from the light. As their visions came back to normal, they could see the figure more clearly. It was a man sitting with one leg crossed over the other, twirling a small dagger in his fingers by his lap. His other arm hung lazily down by his side. He wore striped jester’s attire with a jester’s cap atop his head. The bells jingled from the dangling points of his hat as he gave his head a playful shake. A tight-lipped smile wiped across his face as he looked up at the group–a cheeky look of confidence that almost dared one of them to do something rash.

  So-Nobu recognized him almost instantly. Though he did not know his name, he knew for certain he had seen him before when they were in the tunnels visiting the Spider’s lair. This was the jester that was hiding behind the door, spying on them from the darkness. Then the fool continued to speak.

  “Ok, here’s the deal. I was expecting you all, though the large hairy one that reeks of booze and the passed-out frog-child are a bit of a surprise, and now you’re here. You probably have many questions for me, and goodness knows I have almost all the answers…”

  As the jester spoke this, his eyes rolled across the ceiling playfully as if he may or may not be telling the whole truth. The curtains finally finished drawing back as he continued.

  “But I have a question for all of you…” He leaned forward in his chair tilting his head and raising a brow. His smile shifted over to one corner of his mouth as his eyes narrowed.

  “How much do you know about the Underground Circuit?”