-1-
The young guardian soldier’s snores echoed across the vast, dim cavern below him. His leather armor hung loose around his chest and his sword lay neglected across his lap. With his eyes open, he could have seen for a mile across the shadowy plains of UnderEarth. But the towering subterranean fortress wall built into the sheer rock cliff had not been so much as spat upon by an enemy in more than a year, and so there seemed no reason to keep his eyes open.
Twang-ang-ang!
He woke slowly and stared in sleepy wonder at a crooked shaft vibrating in the wall just above his head. How strange, he thought. Then he realized it was an arrow. He gasped and leapt for the huge warning bell a short distance away. It hung ready, promising to alert the rest of the soldiers and bring help, but as he ran toward it, more crooked arrows pelted the wall in his path.
Whap! Whap! Whap! An arrow glanced off his helmet. He twisted and fell. Another zipped past his nose, so close that he could hear it slice the air. He scrambled back the way he’d come and ducked behind a battlement, not daring to stick his head out again.
A primitive grappling hook flew over the wall and landed beside him, trailed by a rope. The hook lodged in the wall and the rope went taut. He couldn’t leave his shelter to dislodge it. Instead, he stretched his arm out and tilted a dark, steaming cauldron toward the wall. Boiling oil poured over the edge, and an inhuman yelp exploded from the other side, then fell away.
He glanced about, wide-eyed. There was no other route off the wall. He tried for the bell again, but another hail of wobbly arrows kept him from it. His cauldron was empty. More hooks cleared the battlements, landing all around him. They were coming.
The young guardian closed his eyes again, hoping for a moment it was all a nightmare. But when a large, furry paw reached over the battlement and its powerful grip closed on his neck, he knew for certain it was not just a bad dream. Unable to reach the bell, he tried to shout a last desperate warning to his fellow soldiers guarding the exit to the unsuspecting upper world. But just as he opened his mouth, the furry arm hauled him off his feet and over the edge, and his cry faded unheard into the cavern below.
“Gobliiiiiins!”
– End Chapter One –
