"Should we send Runt for help?" Twix asked.
"No, not yet. I think we should explore further," said the cleric. "Perhaps there is a hidden exit from this maze, a secret door or something."
They decided to explore beyond the six other doors. They opened the north door, figuring they would start there and move clockwise.
The tunnel they found themselves in ran fairly straight for a while, then began to twist and turn like a snake. All was quiet except for the sounds of their boots hitting the floor, the jangling of their armor and weapons, and the squeaking of unseen rats ahead.
The tunnels twisted, turned, sloped up, and sloped down. Sometimes other passages intersected them, leading to other tunnels or caves. Each door they took inevitably led them back to the chute chamber. The north door brought them through the southeast door. The east door brought them to a dead end.
They searched for secret doors, the dwarf instructing the others on what to look for. They found nothing, so retraced their steps. The northeast door brought them through the west door.
There was only one more door to open, the southern one. Its tunnel curved to the right, and up ahead they saw a passage intersecting it from the left. The sound of squishing and squelching came from this tunnel, and when Deft looked down it, he saw something filling the passage that looked like a mass of transparent jelly. It was slowly moving down the tunnel.
"What in the Hells is that?" Bloom cried in disgust.
"You know," Twix said, "I've heard of this thing. It's called a gelatinous ooze. It was created long ago by a demented wizard, I think. He had a thing for jams and jellies."
"Is it dangerous?" Deft asked.
"It could be, if we went near it. If it touches us, we'll be paralyzed, and then it will gobble us up!"
"Good thing it's moving away," Bloom said. "Maybe it's an omen. Should we follow it?"
They all looked to Ganth, who shrugged. "Why the hell not? At this point it does not really matter. I am starting to get weary of these tunnels. If we do not find a way out soon, I say we implement Runt's plan."
The going was slow, because the ooze moved at half their walking speed. They kept a safe distance from it. They passed by a side tunnel, ignoring it. They had a feeling that if there was a way out of this maze, the cube would know it.
They soon reached the end of the passage, set with a wooden door. The ooze stopped, squeezing itself up against the wall. Once it realized it could go no further, and began moving the opposite way. The party had no choice but to retrace their steps. They ducked down the side tunnel and waited for the ooze to pass, hoping it didn't turn and come after them.
Their luck held, and the ooze passed them by. They walked to the door, and Bloom listened, her ear pressed to the wood.
"This can't be a door that leads to the chute room," Runt observed. "We left each door open as we passed through."
"Unless someone or something came in an closed them all," Ganth said.
"We'll soon find out," Bloom said. "I don't hear anything.
Twix opened the door, and they entered an octagonal room with eight doors, one at each point of the compass.
"You have got to be kidding me!" Ganth snarled. "There is magic at work here!"
Bloom grinned at him. "Nope. Look at the ceiling."
The dwarf craned his neck and frowned. "No chute."
"Exactly. This room looks exactly like the other one. No chute, and no bodies. Maybe this is why those guys are confused and can't find their way out of here."
They were all tired of walking down the humid tunnels, and it seemed that they had to do it all over again. They sat on the floor, eating some food and drinking some water. Twix examined his bandora. It had taken some damage in the fall down the chute.
'Oh no! There's a crack in it! Just like my butt!"
The bard launched into a bawdy tavern song.
I went into the chandler's shop, some candles for to buy.
I looked around the chandler's shop, but no one did I spy.
I was disappointed and some angry words I said.
Then I heard the sound of knock, knock, knock, above my head.
Well, I was slick and I was quick, and up the stairs I sped.
And much to my surprise I found the chandler's wife in bed.
And with her was another man of most gigantic size.
And they were having a knock, knock, knock, right before my eyes.
When the fun was over and done and the lady raised her head.
She was quite surprised to find me standing by the bed.
"If you will be discreet, my lad, and if you would be so kind,
I'll let you come up for some knock, knock, knock, whenever you feel inclined."
So many a day and many a night, when the chandler wasn't home,
To get myself some candles to the chandler's shop I'd roam.
But nary a one she gave to me, but gave to me instead,
A little bit more of the knock, knock, knock, to light my way to bed.
So, all you married men take heed, if you ever come to town,
If you must leave your woman alone, be sure to tie her down.
Or if you would be kind to her, just sit her on the floor.
Give her so much of that knock, knock, knock that she never needs no more!
They all laughed uproariously at the song, everyone except Ganth.
"What's the matter, Sir Ganth?" the halfling grinned. "Did you lose your sense of humor?"
"That was not funny. It is a filthy tune."
"Everyone else thought it was funny, so there!" Twix stuck his tongue out at the cleric.
A bard's magic is in his music, and the song washed away their fears, worries, and frustrations, and bolstered their courage. They all felt ready to tackle the maze again, even Ganth, although he would never admit it.
They rested for a bit before continuing to search for a way out of the tunnels.
"I promise you all this," Deft. "We'll all be singing that song tonight in the Lion's Den Inn!"
They decided to go counter clockwise this time, and started down the southwest tunnel. It ran for thirty yards and then turned sharply to the left.
Suddenly the floor fell out from beneath Deft and Twix, who were in the lead, and they both plunged into a dark pit. Ganth and Gareth were right behind them, and they nearly fell in after them. Bloom reached out and grabbed them both, pulling them back away from the edge of the pit.
"Not again," the thief muttered. She stared down into the pit. Due to Deft's flaming sword, she could see that the pit was only ten feet deep.
"You guys all right?" she called.
The fighter and the bard lay groaning on the floor of the pit. They managed to pull out some of the healing raspberries, and munched them down, feeling the pain of their wounds lessen.
"At least I didn't land on my bandora this time," the bard muttered, standing up. He stared up at the others. "We still don't any rope, do we?"
"If you get on my shoulders, you'll be able to get out," said Deft. "As for me…"
"We can haul you out of there," Bloom said.
"I suggest that Master Twix climbs out on the far side of the pit," Runt said. "Perhaps the way out of this labyrinth lies beyond that corner. It makes sense. Otherwise, why would someone bother to put a pit trap down here?"
The bard set down his backpack, bandora, and axe, and clambered up Deft's back. It was easy for the lithe halfling to get on his shoulders. From there, he had an equally easy time of pulling himself out of the pit. Deft tossed his flaming sword up to him.
"You may need the light."
Twix grinned down at the fighter. "Thanks, Deft! Let me go take a look, see where this tunnel goes. Hopefully it goes to freedom!"
The bard turned the corner, and came right back, frowning. "Nope. Just a dead end."
"Check for secret doors!" Ganth called. "Like I showed you!"
"I know how to check for secret doors," the halfling muttered, but he did as the cleric asked.
"Nothing! If there's one here, it's well-hidden!"
Bloom turned to Ganth. "Do you want to go check yourself?"
The dwarf frowned. "I am not much for clambering in and out of pits. We can always come back here, if we do not find any other way out."
"Hey Bloom!" Twix cried. "How much you wanna bet I can jump clear across this pit?"
"No!" Deft cried. "Don't do it, you goof! You'll end up breaking your neck."
"Aww…all right. Coming down!"
The bard hung down the side of the pit, and Deft was able to safely grab him. Twix strapped on his pack and got back on the fighter's shoulders, and Ganth pulled the halfling out of the pit.
Deft tried to jump and grab the lip of the pit, but he couldn't reach.
Since Bloom was the second tallest, she lay down and hung her hands down into the pit. Deft tossed Cinder up to Gareth, who gave it to Runt to hold. The fighter grabbed Bloom's hands, and the dwarfs pulled the thief's body upwards and back. Bloom felt like her arms were going to rip out of their sockets, but after a few seconds, Deft had escaped the pit and released his grip.
He sat up. "Whew. I think I've had enough of falling down pits for a while."
"You're lucky it wasn't lined with spikes," the thief smiled. "You know, Bladehaft, I didn't think you'd last this long. I guess you're tougher than I thought."
The fighter bowed mockingly. "You wound me sore, madam."
They made their way back to the octagonal room and took the southern tunnel. This for fifty yards before suddenly ending.
Again they searched for secret door, but could find none. Exasperated, they retraced their steps, and took the southeastern passage.
This twisting tunnel took them to a vast cavern. To their right, a waterfall spilled into a placid stream before them, which meandered out of sight to their right. Green, phosphorescent lichen grew along the walls bounding the stream, bathing the area in an eerie, green light. They stood on a rocky shelf that ran the northern length of the chasm.
"Now we are getting somewhere!" Ganth cried.
"Maybe," said Deft. "If this stream goes anywhere."
He held Cinder close to the water. It was clear, and only one to two feet deep. The bottom of the stream was smooth sand and fine gravel.
The fighter jumped into the water and sloshed around, moving to the far side of the chasm. The depth of the water remained relatively the same.
"There's not much of a current," Deft reported. "We should explore downstream."
The others assented, and they all plunged into the cold waters. Twix and Runt were submerged up to their chest, and were soon shivering. They clutched their friends' cloaks or arms, for if anyone were to be washed downstream, it would be them, the smallest and lightest members of the party.
They sloshed through the stream. The depth varied, between one and three feet. When they got to the deep areas, Twix climbed up Gareth's back, and Bloom picked up Runt, carrying him like she would a small child.
They passed five rocky shelves as they followed the stream, and after about a furlong, they turned a corner and saw a large cavern about thirty yards ahead to their left. A small humanoid figure stood near the river, leaning on a spear.
It was only about the size of Twix and Runt, and looked like a small bipedal dragon with no wings. It had red scales and a dragon's tail, with white horns protruding from its head. In an alcove set into the rocky wall, two other creatures lay napping.
Both parties were surprised. Deft had enough presence of mind to extinguish the flames on his sword, but it was too late.
The creature hurried to his fellows, shaking them awake. All three ran south into the darkness.
"Great!" Deft snarled. "Kobolds. Why would escaping this maze be easy?"
"If we move downstream, they may not come after us," Bloom said.
"Unfortunately, that is not an option." Ganth pointed downstream. Thirty yards downriver, the cavern roof sloped down dramatically, below the level of the water. Anyone continuing that way would have to hold their breath, and they had no way of knowing how far they would have to swim until they found air again.
"Then it's either go back, or go forward," Bloom said. "They're just kobolds, after all."
The dwarf frowned. "Just kobolds. They breed like rats. We could be facing a tribe of between forty and four hundred!"
They all knew what they faced. Kobolds were small, but they were numerous. Related to dragons, they were fierce, territorial, resourceful, and full of hatred for every other race in the world. They were fond of setting traps and ambushes for their victims, and swarming them in great numbers. Those taken prisoner by the kobolds were tortured, killed, and eaten.
Bloom turned to the goblin. "Runt, do you have any good spells left?"
The magic-user glanced up at her and gulped, his eyes blinking and watering. "I am afraid not. I have used up my Web and Stinking Cloud spells for the day."
"I say we at least try," said Twix. "See how many there are. If there are too many, we can always run back upstream."
"With four hundred kobolds at our backs," the cleric grumbled.
"I agree with Twix," said the fighter.
"So do I," Bloom said.
"And I," said the goblin.
Ganth glanced at his cousin, who nodded his head. "I also agree with the bard."
Just then, they heard the sound of a war horn echoing from deep inside the cavern.