Chapter 521: The Captives

Mason stopped when he heard a rasping breath from near the goblin throne. He turned and stepped over, not sure he wanted to see, knowing what he’d find.

The near dead goblin king lay on the stone, half stripped of flesh, pale and shaking with suffering.

“Is she…dead?” the creature whispered, staring up at Mason with glassy eyes. He nodded, and the goblin lay back and coughed, or maybe laughed. “Tricked. Tricked. Many promises.”

Mason had intended to ask the creature questions, but looking at it now, he felt too much pity to do anything but give it a quick death. He summoned a Claw and came forward.

“Wait.” The goblin licked cracked lips with a swollen tongue. “Younglings. Children. In vault.”

Mason raised an eyebrow. Did it mean there were goblin hostages?

“Why would I help you with anything? Your court has your own people cut up on those tables.”

The goblin shook its head. “Demon. Madness. Please. The vault.” The goblin shuddered and failed to breathe when it tried to say more, lying back before it closed its eyes.

Mason banished his blade, watching the thing’s organs fail with his Ranger’s Mark. It would be more humane just to let it suffocate.

He sighed, glancing at his Wayfinder map. He had no idea where a ‘vault’ might be. But he supposed it might hold more valuable things than just goblin children.

He searched the rest of the king’s hall, putting down a few hiding demons and crazed goblins as he searched for a map, or anything useful.

The only thing halfway close was some kind of royal seal near the king’s chair. It showed a picture of the mountain with several caverns that lined up with Mason’s map. But they weren’t labeled. He needed living goblin to help him identify what was what. Though it almost looked like there was a central road or series of tunnels that connected things. This lined up with what Ikit told him.

“I thought we were almost done with this place,” he muttered, pocketing the seal. He went back to the others and explained, showing them the image. Then he rounded up Phuong and the others, finding them around a scattered series of corpses leading to a wide tunnel.

“Escape route,” Phuong explained, then grinned. “Very few made it.”

“Shit.” Mason tried to look down into the darkness but just saw greyish stone wall. “I don’t suppose you kept any…”

“We have one prisoner.” Phuong half lifted some pitiful looking wretch from the ground. The creature slumped like a corpse. “I thought you might want one. But I think I stunned him a bit too hard…”

“He’ll wake up. Good work. Let’s gather with the others. I think this place is bigger than I expected.”

He winced, not at all happy with the delay. Was it possible Jeong and his people were already scheming to get at Nassau? That they already crossed somewhere?

“We might be here for a day or two,” he said, hearing the frustration in his voice, “unless we push hard or get lucky.”

“We solve our problems as they arise,” Phuong said, with an encouraging smile. “The decision to come here was still a wise one, I believe. We’re doing fine, Patron. The east isn’t going anywhere. The variables haven’t changed.”

Mason took a breath, very happy to accept the old soldier’s wisdom and opinion. He was right. If Jeong took a Nexus there’d be some system announcement in the sky. And without it, they couldn’t easily cross continents safely.

The two men were alone—the other players a bit behind joking around the hall entrance as they waited.

“Sometimes I wonder why you’re not in charge,” Mason said quietly. “You have a hell of a lot more experience with violence. With leadership. Sometimes I…I’m really just…”

“You are right where you belong, my young friend,” Phuong said, coming closer and putting a hand on Mason’s shoulder. “I was a good soldier, but never a leader outside of that. And it is very easy to criticize, to second-guess. You are the man in the arena, Mason. Remember that. There is no point wondering what might have been, this is what

is

.”

Mason nodded, patting the old man’s hand.

“And besides.” Phuong grinned. “This way, everything is your fault.”

Mason grunted, then glanced at the goblin’s drunken, swaying head as it groaned back to consciousness. He lifted the creature by the front of its filth covered shirt and held it up as he stared.

When it looked at his face and eyes it started screaming in terror. Mason waited in silence until it stopped, then held up the king’s seal.

“If you’re done, I want directions. Tell me what all these caves are, and how to get to them, and you might even live.”

The goblin swallowed and stared with wide eyes, then nodded.

**

Turned out the goblin king wasn’t lying about his people being crazy. The terrified goblin captive said a lot of words, but not many made sense. Even so, after a few minutes of interrogation, he managed to point at different caves and identify them. Probably.

After that, he got useless fast. His main concern seemed to be explaining a recipe for roasted goblin feet.

“I’m not certain we should release such a creature,” Phuong was saying. “At the very least we might consider using rope and…”

Mason beheaded the babbling captive in a single stroke, and marched back towards the others.

“I said he

might

live,” he growled, trying not to enjoy the feel of the kill as the force hummed up his arm. He’d seen enough in the goblin hall to strip away any mercy. The creature was still stained from its ‘feasting’.

Did the presence of some demon take away its guilt? Mason thought not. He sometimes still remembered ignoring the people in his tutorial, people he might have saved. He’d been afraid, focused on saving Blake, and almost a different person then. But it didn’t excuse him. He knew he should have tried.

Something Dariya said during her ‘oracle vision’ came drifting back in his thoughts as he walked on, ignoring his players eyes:

the first lesson of the inferno, there are no innocents here.

Mason wondered if you might exchange ‘inferno’ with ‘great game’. But he’d worry about his soul when he had the time.

For now he’d gained a few names on the cavern map. ‘The Warrens’, which sounded like it might be where most of the mountain goblins were. ‘Highborn’, which was obviously where the king’s kin and servants lived. And in proper goblin fashion, ‘The Engineering Guild’.

The other caves were uninhabited, or else the crazed goblin couldn’t or wouldn’t say what they were. He’d leave those for later, and hopefully not need to explore them at all.

If he had to guess, and he supposed he did, he would have figured some kind of ‘vault’ was where the highborn were. Rich people didn’t like to go too far from their valuables. And rich goblins were probably even more paranoid than rich humans.

On the other hand, maybe the ‘vault’ was more like a warehouse full of engineering toys. And anyway, he wasn’t there for some vault, he was there to destroy a demon infestation. But he had no idea where the ‘final boss’ might be.

He got back to his players and waited until everyone was gathered and paying attention, then described the situation.

“We should verify the new goblin’s information,” Phuong said, and Mason nodded. “If he’s right about one, then the other caves are likely correct.”

“None of that screams ‘final demon overlord’,” Carl said from his spot on the ground, still nursing his ribs.

“No.” Mason sighed, thinking about their little friend ‘Ikit’ again. “And I trust that first shit who sent us here less by the second. But at the end of the day, I’m happy killing demons. I don’t really care who benefits or why they want it. When we’re finished, maybe we deal with the goblins, too. Any other thoughts?”

“Just that it’s weird hearin’ you talk in wolf face,” Seamus said. After a few scoffs or glares he shrugged. “Well it is, like. You’re all thinking it. Oh don’t act like you haven’t said it quiet. Right buncha cowards.”

“Any

useful

thoughts?”

Everyone shook their heads or stayed silent. Mason tried to give each a glance or a nod of encouragement. He intended to push them on until the casters were pretty much drained. It was risky, but they had plenty of melee to carry on no matter what, plus Rosa’s healing potions.

His instinct was to press on even while the others rested, but he knew it wasn’t wise. They weren’t here to watch the Mason show. They were here to learn and grow as much as anything, and that meant handling the problems as a team, and facing the consequences. He took them back to the branching tunnels and matched it against his map.

“Engineers, or highborn?” he said as Phuong and Carl walked up beside him.

“We could have Seamus flip a coin or something,” Carl said. “He’s got the best luck. Though mine’s pretty good, too.”

“Luck runs out,” Phuong said with a scowl. “I suggest the highborn. Whatever goblin leadership is left will likely be there. They should be used, or dealt with. Perhaps we can gain temporary allies to use against the demons.”

Mason preferred Phuong’s solution, and Carl shrugged like he didn’t care either way.

“Highborn it is. Know the way without my map?”

Phuong pointed the correct way, and Carl acted like he knew, too. Mason snorted and led them on, grinning at the sound of the many footsteps behind him. Another useful part of the raid, he decided—getting all his players to fight as a team.

It may not be long before they had to do it again. Except next time it might be against other players.