Chapter 91: Sprint Into The Dark
Arthur’s question hung in the grove, and nobody answered it.
Raku shook his head slowly, eyes still fixed on Voro’s massive, unmoving form. "I have guided Goblins for decades," he said quietly. "But Spirits are something different. Even after becoming a guide, I don’t know anything."
Luka lowered her eyes to the ground. "For generations," she said, "we prayed to him. We thanked him. We brought him flowers." Her voice grew smaller. "Nobody ever imagined a day when we would have to save him instead."
The weight of that settled over the grove, heavy and complete.
Then Luka stepped forward.
She knelt toward all of them, her eyes moving across each face in turn, Arthur, Vedas, Athena, Sun, and finally Mithra. Tears began falling before she spoke. "Please," she said.
Nobody moved.
"Help us save our Guardian Spirit."
Arthur clenched his fist at his side before looking around.
And then his eyes widened when he saw Vedas took one instinctive step forward. His hands tightened around his spear and he looked toward Voro.
Then toward the children sleeping beside him. "We’ll save him."
Arthur blinked before smiling.
Vedas rarely made promises but when he did, he always pushed to keep them.
Sun scratches his head. "...I’ve got nothing."
Mithra quietly says, "Me neither."
Then...
Athena freezes. "Wait."
Everyone looked at her.
She adjusted her glasses, thinking out loud as the pieces came together. "We don’t know anything about spirits, let alone a Guardian one" She paused, eyes drifting toward the ceiling of the grove like she could see straight through the stone to the ruins above. "But someone did."
She looked at Arthur. "The Trial."
"The ancient Goblin civilization."
"The murals."
"The relics."
"The carvings."
"If there’s anywhere that still has answers... It’ll be there."
Arthur turned toward Voro.
The King’s Mark suddenly grew warm.
He looked down to see golden light spread across his hand.
"Arthur?" Sun noticed it first.
"The mark is glowing again." Mithra’s eyes widened.
"The Trial..." Athena looked around. "...The door."
Then she froze.
As every flower in the grove was glowing.
Melo slowly stood and her ears lifted. She looked toward the flowers and then her eyes glanced at the stone wall.
"Kyu..."
And then without any wind or burst of magic. The flower began blooming before all of their eyes.
One after another.
Until the entire grove was covered in color.
Nobody moved.
Even Raku stared. "...I’ve never seen this before."
The roots beneath Voro began to glow. Golden light spread through the ground.
Across the grove.
Toward an ancient stone wall.
The wall trembled.
A deep rumble echoed through the grove as dust fell from the ceiling. Slowly, a massive stone door rose from the ground.
Everyone watched it happen without a word.
When the door finally stopped, carved into the stone above the opening was an image none of them had seen before.
Nobody looked at the doorway first.
Everyone looked up.
Silence filled the grove.
Not because of the doorway but because of what stood above it.
Five enormous Guardian Spirits.
They were different shapes and sizes. Each standing proudly with one Goblin standing behind them. The Goblin King. Had one hand resting gently on the nearest Guardian while its other hand held a hammer.
Arthur stared up at the carving, voice barely above a whisper. "Five?"
Luka blinked and muttered. "I’ve never seen this."
Even Raku looked genuinely surprised, eyes narrowing as he studied the mural more closely, clearly searching his memory for anything that matched and coming up empty.
Arthur looks back toward the Su Goblin tribe childrens, and then toward Luka.
"If this place has the answer. I’ll find it." Arthur took one slow breath. "I’m going."
Vedas stepped beside him immediately. "...Me too."
"I already planned to," Athena said.
Sun sighed. "I knew you were going to say that."
Mithra smiled. "I wasn’t staying behind anyway."
Melo nodded her head, while Athy puffed her chest out, and Kong beat on his.
Arthur laughed. "I figured you’d all say that."
Luka shook her head immediately when he glanced at her. "I won’t leave him," she said, eyes already back on Voro.
Raku settled beside the Guardian too, his staff planted firmly in the ground. "I’ll stay with her," he said.
Then Mara rose to her feet.
"I’m coming," she said.
Everyone turned to look at her.
"I’ve spent years studying this place," she continued. "I know the old relics better than anyone else here." She met Arthur’s eyes steadily. "If there’s something inside that can save him. I’ll recognize it."
Arthur smiled. "Then come with us," he said.
Mara looked back toward Voro one last time. Her smile disappeared. "...I’ve spent years studying these ruins." She quietly clenched her fists. "I always thought I was piecing back together our history."
She looked back toward Arthur. "I never imagined I’d be using it to help save him."
Arthur nodded once. "Well I’m thankful because they may just be the key."
Mara smiled before walking over to them.
Luka watched her go, and despite everything, something like pride crossed her exhausted face.
"Mara..."
"Yeah?"
"Come back."
Raku nodded and said. "And also be careful... And–"
"Dad, everything will be fine." Mara said with a sigh before giving a big grin.
Raku nodded with a smile.
...
Arthur stepped through the doorway first.
The others followed close behind, one after another, into a dark corridor lined with ancient stone.
The corridor was dark with dust covering the floor. It looked untouched for centuries and the King’s Mark was the only light.
Arthur glanced back once before the passage curved and Voro disappeared from view entirely. Behind them, the massive doors had already begun sliding shut, sealing the grove away from the corridor they now stood in.
Just before the doors closed completely, Mara looked back one last time.
For one impossible second...
Voro’s finger twitched.
It was barley, almost too small to notice and he wasn’t waking. But... It felt like an answer.
Mara’s eyes filled with tears, and she smiled through them. "Hold on," she whispered.
Then the doors shut completely.
Silence settled over the corridor.
Only Arthur’s glowing hand lit the darkness ahead. And he saw Ancient carvings covering both walls.
Goblins.
Guardian Spirits.
And cities.
He blinked when he saw how it focused on them, building new homes. Then it showed them teaching new goblins and somehow growing forests.
"This is amazing." Arthur muttered.
Athena nodded rapidly as she quickly wrote down things. "I didn’t think they also worked on their environment."
Arthur’s eyes drifted lower across the wall. Near the bottom of one carving a faint golden handprint shimmered into existence.
He stopped walking. "...Did anyone else see that?"
"See what?" Sun asked.
Arthur frowned.
The handprint was already fading.
Almost without thinking...
He reached toward it.
The moment his fingers touched the stone, the King’s Mark grew warm again.
The golden handprint disappeared completely.
Arthur looked down at his own hand. "What was that?"
Nobody answered.
Athena immediately began writing.
"Another reaction..."
Arthur slowly lowered his hand before continuing forward. The group had barely covered any distance into the corridor when a sudden chill ran through all of them at once.
Sun looked around. "...This place is creepy."
"And is it cold?" Athena furrowed her brows.
"No... It’s something different." Mithra muttered.
Arthur slowed beside another mural. It showed Goblins kneeling around a tiny sapling no taller than his knee. The next carving showed the sapling had become a forest stretching beyond the edge of the stone itself.
Athena stopped writing. "That’s impossible."
Mara quietly stepped closer. "I’ve seen this symbol before." She pointed toward several runes carved beneath the trees. "...But nobody has ever translated them."
Arthur stared for another second.
Then he stepped forward to find more.
Click.
Spectral spikes erupted from the floor without warning, followed instantly by more from the walls and ceiling, converging from every direction at once.
Arthur threw his spear up just in time, knocking three spikes aside. Vedas shattered another before it could reach him. The others scattered through the barrage, dodging between attacks while Mithra cut down every spike that came too close.
Just as suddenly as it began...
Everything stopped.
Nobody lowered their weapon.
The ruins were still alive.
They were still defending themselves.
Then the entire corridor began to shake.
Massive stone boulders rolled toward them from somewhere deeper in the passage, gaining speed with every second, filling the corridor wall to wall.
Arthur laughed despite himself. "Seriously?" he said.
There was no time to think beyond that. He drove his spear forward, catching the leading edge of the nearest boulder and launching it backward with a burst of focused force.
Vedas mirrored the motion beside him, shattering another boulder into fragments that scattered harmlessly against the walls.
Mithra flashed forward in a blur, her sword cutting cleanly through five boulders in rapid succession, each splitting neatly in half before it could reach anyone.
Kong let out a roar and smashed another boulder apart with both fists, sending stone chips flying in every direction.
For a brief moment, it looked like they’d made it through.
Then the walls behind them began to open.
Above their heads, ancient vents slid apart with a grinding groan of stone against stone. A deep roar echoed down the length of the corridor, and orange light spilled through the widening gaps, growing brighter with every second.
Flames surged into view, licking along the ceiling and rushing toward them faster than any of them had expected.
Arthur blinked at the sight and then he laughed again. "Of course it wouldn’t be easy," he said. He pointed straight ahead, down the length of the corridor.
"Run!"
"Stop laughing!" Sun shouted.
"This isn’t funny!" Athena yelled.
"I mean we should have expected this!" Vedas shouted.
Sun groaned. "I hate your right... Damn it why must every ancient civilization have trap problems."
"But that just makes it more interesting!"
"No, it doesn’t!"
Athena didn’t even look back. "Keep running and stop enjoying this!"
Mithra laughed. "At least he’s having fun."
Arthur grinned. "Someone has to."
The group sprinted down the corridor as flames chased them through the darkness.
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