Entering the Labyrinth

The Sixth Hour

Alexis startles on reflex instead of genuine fear, her nerves too fried to even process stimuli for a response. The trio close in together, needing support not against the stature of this new threat but against the number. Five Goblins stand around the trio, dressed in patchy garbs with dirt all over, even more so than the average Goblin. It seems like there are four boys and a girl in the group, and the girl stands farther front, indicating she is the group's leader. They are all pretty small, small enough that Alexis can step over them if she needs to get away from them, and she already knows she will have to escape them. The King wouldn't have sent them here to get massages and pedicures.

"Ah, the new pickers are here! Wonderful, let's get you started," one of them says, already trying to mush them along. Alexis tries to protest with a bewildered voice. The goblins attempt to approach Cleo to push her toward the orchard,  but the low rumble she makes has them backing off.

"No, we are not here to be apple pickers," Master Bhia explains. "We are on a journey to the Goblin city."

"Well, no one comes here unless you're a thief, an apple picker, or a guard. And you all would be horrible thieves," the female Goblin comments.

"A bunch of apple trees need security? From who?" Alexis questions.

"Lady, these are the finest apples in the entire Underground! They make the best desserts, salads, and ciders you'll ever have. So, many other creatures come and try to steal the apples." Master Bhia is humming along as they speak, and Alexis is unsure if it was old goblin noises or thinking of the delicious items they were describing. Cleo's face clearly shows daydreaming of delicious foods, but Alexis is not interested.

"Well, we're not here for anything. The Goblin King sent us here to mess with us, and we're trying to make it to the castle," Alexis explains, her frustration with the circular reasoning growing.

"Lady, you're not listening. If you're here, then you're working. Cry about it on your own time," another goblin says with a snooty attitude. Cleo gives a loud squawk of refusal, and Alexis throws up her hands in exasperation. As she winds up to say more, Master Bhia raises his hand to silence the group.

"Well then, we challenge you to a game!" he exclaims. Alexis immediately feels her nerves light up at the thought of doing another game and tries to stop Master Bhia from saying more,  but he continues as if he doesn't notice her. Which maybe he actually didn't. "A game... of tag. If we win, then we get to leave here." Master Bhia states.

A thousand worst-case scenarios around an innocent game of tag flood her mind, half ending in harm, half ending in death, all ending with not leaving this orchard. Alexis feels her jaw clench with the thought of challenging any more creatures to a game, but she tries to balance the fear with the acceptance that the damage has already been done. Besides, they needed to find some way to escape, and the guise of tag might be their way out. As her reasoning skills become more online, she wonders if Bhia was a secret wise man after all. 

"And when we win, you're gonna pick all the apples for us while we sit back and drink apple juice!" the female goblinette exclaims, and her group gives excited hollars in agreement. "Alright, here is how this game will work: in the orchard, there is a single blue apple tree, the rarest and juiciest apples ever. If you make it there without being tagged by us, you win. And, everyone can use whatever means they have to win for their side. Everything goes," the girl explains a little too eagerly. 

The option to use all means was great and terrifying to Alexis all at the same time, being reminiscent of the trick they tried to pull with the Watatas and how that ended. But, if everyone is playing that way, then at least they can't be punished for that and will be on an even-ish playing field. "Ok, and since your group has the advantage of knowing where this blue apple tree is, you all cannot hover around it to keep us from reaching it," Alexis throws in. A few of the goblins groan, showing they already had that trick in mind, but the female goblin leader nods in agreement and extends her hand out to shake.