I Must Defend the Dungeon

Chapter 2: Part 2

Six hours passed, and I was scouting. The sun's position showed it was afternoon. A knife rested on the strap of my loincloth, a bow lay in my fist, and a quiver of arrows hung on my back. 

We stood atop the largest hill in an area populated by large boulders, bushes, tall grass, and smaller hills. This hill offered the best view, but there were still so many obstructions that sneaking past us would be easy if we stayed still. So my partner and I moved down after a minute.

Our section leader was a different goblin this time. He looked like one of the indoor archers from a previous life, but now he held the iron spear. 

The previous spear-wielder had been reborn in the dirty, crowded room with the rest of us. She had been sent to patrol the copper mines armed with copper daggers. I guessed she had been demoted after all her failures, though by whom I did not know.

Still, it was a relief to know that the chance of betrayal had decreased. The new spear-wielder had not been asleep any of the times I had gone back to report.

"We should report back soon," I said. My partner sighed and nodded lazily. Several times today, he had tried to get me to take a break and nap for a while, but I refused each time and said I would report him if he did so. Rather than react with strong anger as I had come to expect, he just kept sighing, like he did not have the energy to even get angry. He was the epitome of goblin slothfulness, always slow, needing to be coerced into every action, and fortunately for me, too tired to even argue back. Naturally, in my head, I had begun to call him Sloth.

His attitude angered me, but at least he did as I asked, which was more than I might expect from most of the others. Still, it was hard to get used to the constant sound of sighing behind me.

Walking painstakingly slowly back to base, we came across a pair of sleeping goblins laying in the grass, snoring loudly. Rage once again sprouted within me, but understanding I would likely be attacked if I woke them up directly, I walked past.

Twenty feet later, having reached the curve of the mountain that led back to the dungeon, I bent over to pick up a rock the size of my fist, and threw it at the tree. I could just hear the thumping sound over the wind, and saw the two goblins jolt up. A few leaves fell from above them. Before they noticed me, I ducked behind the ridge and easily caught up to the trudging Sloth with a slight grin on my face.

As we approached the cave, I realized something was wrong. There were no guards at the door. Damn it. Did Traitor attack the new spear-wielder too? I wondered. I picked up my pace. But as we got closer, I saw that the guards had not left their posts, but were slumped over in front of the entrance, their bodies partially hidden by the tall grass.

"Shit!" I said, then softly added, "be on guard," to my lagging partner. Pulling out my bow, I knelt down and gazed into the cavern. I could not make out any movement, nor hear any sound. However, the difference in brightness between the outside and inside made it difficult to see into the cave at all. 

They got past me. I failed again! I chastised myself, but kept an eye out. Slowly I approached the bodies and felt that they were still warm. One of them had an undamaged wooden shield which I grabbed for myself.

I began to sneak off to the side, preparing to get to the wall and hide out of sight until I reached the mouth of the cave, but to my side, Sloth was standing straight up and walking directly toward it.

Fool, I wanted to shout, but he was already close enough that I worried about giving us away if the enemy was still there. Instead, callously, I watched him go, and if the idiot died, so be it.