As the girl clutched at the ledge above her, a hand suddenly grasped her wrist. It was joined by another, hauling her up out of the blackness of the river and into the passage. As the girl tumbled onto the dry stone, she looked down at herself, expecting the river’s oily waters to have marked her somehow, but found her skin not even wet.
As soon as the girl had managed to pull herself up, her savior had scuttled back, plopping himself down against the wall. It was an ugly, goblin-like little creature, its skin an off-putting greenish gray. His nose was too big, his eyes too small, ears large and floppy. A dull, threadbare red hat sat on the crown of his head. Not necessarily the most attractive image, but hardly threatening.
“You wouldn’t be, of course.” The goblin creature said. “Wet, I mean. Things don’t work that way here. Either you’re in the river or out of it, but there’s none of those nonsensical in-betweens.”
Then the fire wouldn’t have burned after all?
“Oh, I didn’t say that. I imagine it would have. Would’ve been unthinkably painful too, I expect. Would’ve sunk right into the lava, and there’s no swimming through that.”
The girl started, not realizing she had been thinking aloud. And what lava was that the goblin talking about?
The girl then remembered how the river seemed to pour into the flames… pouring into a lava river? A river of darkness, of liquid ice, turned to a river of fire.
“Quite right.”
The girl was sure she had not spoken aloud. The goblin could hear her thoughts?
“A bright one, aren’t you?” The goblin grinned, showcasing a mouthful of sharp, malicious-looking little teeth. The girl was feared him for the first time. Though the goblin was small, he must have been strong to pull her from the river. Could it eat her?
“Do I really look like that type? I suppose so. Nevertheless, I might say the same of you.”
In reply to the girl’s bewildered expression, the goblin grinned wickedly. “Nothing should be judged be its appearance. Particularly here. You would do well to remember that.”
The girl considered this, then wondered, why had the goblin bothered to save her?
“Because you asked, and whatever you might think of me, I do consider myself a decent fellow.” Had she asked for help? Perhaps she had thought it, but the girl had not been aware of herself crying out. Of course, the goblin could hear thoughts…
“Whether it was worth my time remains to be seen,” the goblin was grumbling.
The girl was still baffled by the goblin, but more so by the boat riding the black river, riding into a wall of flame to be consumed in a river of lava, along with the girl, had she opted to ride with it. What was the point?
“No reason in particular, so far as I can see.” The goblin replied to her thoughts.
Then what about the tests? Wasn’t everything supposed to be some kind of trial? “Well, of course, there is that,” the goblin agreed, then studied her. “Would that make it better? If everything was a test? What do you think will happen if you pass? Do you think you’ll be permitted to leave?”
The girl had no answer. Still, had she failed to pass any of the tests, she would have had to endure her failure indefinitely. At least she had made progress. She was able to go on… that was something, wasn’t it?
“An admirable psychology. Optimistic. However, mark my words, as you continue with your trials, the only gratification you’ll receive will come from within. Otherwise, pain is the most you’ll receive, pass or fail. The only other prize triumph will present you with is another test. Endlessly. Are you confident that you’ll be able to pass them indefinitely?”
If anything could be passed by pure determination, the girl could surely pass any test set before her. For a test, by definition, required at least the potential for victory, did it not? Who was the designer of these tests, anyway?
“I’ll be interested to see where your path leads,” a crude smile yet lingered on the goblin’s lips, but his horrible teeth were, thankfully, no longer visible. “As to the maker of the tests, well, I would think you might realize that much. One might think that, as this is Hell, the trials are designed as punishment. Given the nature of their designer, though, who has no love of any justice but his own, I’d say he makes them for pure entertainment,” the goblin grinned. “This is his game, and all souls that enter are the pieces. The rule being, naturally, that the Lord of the old hole never loses. Of course, he may occasionally take an interest in those souls which appear to have an aptitude for his tests. Some of these he may take under his service, but more often, he will make it his personal priority to break them. ”
However the goblin intended the information, the girl found challenge in it. She had come this far, why not play in this Devil’s game?
The goblin said to this, “I see I cannot dissuade you. Should you wish to follow it, your path lies that way.” The goblin gestured into the shadow of the passage ahead of them.
Was this not the only path?
“Why, it is… but is there ever more than one path?”
Once again, the goblin’s statement bewildered the girl. Then didn’t souls even have the luxury of choice?
“It’s not that there are not multiple paths to be had, it is only that each soul will tend to choose a certain path. In this way, all paths are the same, and yet its own. Have you any more questions?”
The girl supposed not. She moved to leave.
“Before you go, I feel I should give you a final piece of advice. Hell is the domain of broken souls, and only the broken are to be found here. No soul can remain here, for any length of time, and endure as it was,” Until now, the goblin’s manner had been largely flippant, casual, but here, his smile seemed ironic, and for a moment the girl saw in his eyes something deeper… a sadness, a grief as old as time. How old must the goblin be? Just who was this mysterious stranger? Oddly enough, the girl almost felt that it hadn’t been her first encounter with the creature.
The goblin looked up, his previous countenance restored, though his smile seemed more tired now. “I am merely an old and useless scrap of time. I have been tested, worn down, forgotten. I am but a shadow of a memory, lurking here and there on the in the dusty recesses of a past all but lost to the present. I’ll be recalled for a moment and then fade again. Though I am all this, you will find no more answers with me. Your future, for woe or not, can only be revealed by progressing on your path, by moving on, as you said before. You have your advice; I have no more to offer.”
Had the goblins puzzling assertions been advice?
“Weren’t they?” The goblin smiled to himself, settling himself against the wall, his eyes obscured in the shadow of that bizarre red hat. The girl’s view of him was lost around the next bend.
