Chapter Twenty-Nine
The Goblin Underworld
There was fog on Glastonbury Tor that morning. Jennifer's mood in many ways matched the gloomy visage, her thoughts lingering on the tender farewell with Severus. Boulderdash too seemed quiet and thoughtful as they approached the entrance, and only Severus' third choice for the party, Harry Potter, seemed at all interested in the adventure ahead.
"I swear we have enough supplies on us for a month," Harry said. "More if you count what all is stored in Jennifer's cloak. Do you suppose the door is guarded?"
"Hardly reason," Boulderdash said. "It is difficult to find if one doesn't know how to look for it, and it isn't as if anyone could get past the maze besides a goblin." A moment later they had found the door, and silently they slipped in, lighting torches and lanterns. "You'll need to stay close. If you have trouble keeping up, we'll tie ropes around our waists and go that way. Goblin mazes can be tricky."
"As I found out my last visit," Jennifer agreed.
The goblin's path seemed made no sense at all. Often he'd go part of the way only to turn around again, or go around four right corners before taking the straight way. It made Jennifer grit her teeth to try to figure out if they were making any progress, but it wasn't long before Jennifer asked a more important question.
"Are you sure you know how we can get back out from here?" Jennifer asked. Boulderdash blinked at her in surprise.
"You don't want to give up already?" he asked. Jennifer shook her head.
"We were just wondering is all," Harry said. "We are both a tad claustrophobic."
"I thought you got over it," Jennifer said to Harry.
"Not completely," Harry admitted. "Do you blame me?"
"Hardly," Jennifer grinned weakly back.
"Here I am, on the road thought once traveled by Gwyn ap Nudd, with who but a witch and a wizard who would rather be anywhere else," Boulderdash muttered to himself.
"This isn't the first time we've been in this position, is it, Jennifer?" Harry said, trying to keep his tone light.
"Ah yes, of course, your trials in Salazar's Tomb," Boulderdash said.
"Only that wasn't full of Dementors," Jennifer said, feeling a bit cold.
"If it's any consolation, they hate me as much as they hate you, so we'll probably have an equal chance at being targets," Harry pointed out.
"I guess I haven't thanked you yet for coming, either, have I?" Jennifer said.
"Wouldn't have missed it," Harry grinned. "Besides, Severus thanked me enough for the both of you."
"Really?"
"No, but I'm sure he meant to."
"Hm, this part of the maze has been damaged," Boulderdash mused, pausing. "We'll have to try to go around."
"I wonder if this is where we were when Ciardoth met us the last time," Jennifer murmured, watching Boulderdash carefully. He seemed to be taking single steps in each direction as if looking for something.
"We need to be careful. I think this way will lead through, but the cavern doesn't look stable. Stay away from the walls, and best keep silent until I give you the word," Boulderdash said.
His words didn't do much to boost Jennifer's confidence. To her, the passage looked no different from every other. Sight, it seemed, was not an advantage in the maze. How was he finding his way? Sense? Smell? Probably both, Jennifer mused, as they continued. But a loose stone made her lose her footing, and as Harry reached to steady her he leaned against the wall causing a rain of dirt to shower down on them.
Quickly Jennifer covered her head, gritting her teeth to steady her nerves, while Boulderdash paused and hissed back, asking if they were all right.
"Wait, please, I've lost a contact," Harry said softly.
"A what?" Jennifer whispered.
"A little piece of plastic…never mind, even if I find it, it'll most likely be damaged," Harry said, seemingly rubbing one of his eyes. "Just a moment."
"There's ust a little farther until there's stable ground. Follow," Boulderdash ordered. Carefully Jennifer helped Harry to where Boulderdash was before Harry took out his other lens and fished his glasses out, putting them on.
"There, I'm ready now," Harry said, glancing over at Jennifer. "What are you staring at?"
"A student I just remembered I had. All came back to me the moment you put on your glasses," Jennifer said with a smile, and then blinked. "My goodness, I must be getting old."
"You're as beautiful as ever. Not as beautiful as Ginny, of course. No offense."
"None taken," Jennifer grinned.
"You both sound like you're more on an outing than a rescue mission," Boulderdash complained.
"We're just keeping our heads from sinking, Boulderdash. I doubt you'd want me fainting right now," Jennifer said, painfully aware of how close the ceiling was. "But I won't make any promises."
"Don't worry, I expect the both of you will be recovering soon," Boulderdash said calmly, gazing back at them from where he stood.
"And why's that?" Harry said.
"Because I've found the end of the maze," Boulderdash said. He took a step forward and the other two followed, and then stopped in stunned silence. A huge cavern, five times larger than the system Mykrinbrek was in, stretched for as far as they could see, the rounded ceiling held in place by the stone skeletons of tall buildings, lining both sides of the cavern. "Welcome to Fellbrek, also called Annwnlyll, once the jewel of the Goblin Empire."
"Incredible," Jennifer whispered with awe. "Look at these buildings…like office buildings in London and yet these were built over a thousand years ago!"
"We need to be cautious now. Chances are anything moving about in the ruins will see us before we see them," Boulderdash said. Jennifer dimmed the glow of the chain around her neck, which had been providing extra light.
"I can scout ahead," Harry volunteered. "Where would they be?"
"In mines," Jennifer said, the other two looking at her. "It was merely a dream, but I saw them working in mines. Making things."
"Head right along the cavern edge, Harry. Do not go far," Boulderdash advised.
"Wait here, and I'll let you know when its safe to move," Harry said, pulling out a second cloak hidden beneath his first one, Harry switched to his invisibility cloak and disappeared.
"Handy item," Boulderdash mused.
"Wait until you meet my other son next year," Jennifer said.
Boulderdash had been right in that the large cavern didn't seem so suffocating. In fact, if Jennifer did not look up she could almost imagine walking in the bowl of a caldera, or perhaps through a steep mountain pass. The foundation of a stone wall marked what might have once been a small garden with a ditch that provided a source of water. How sad of a place it was, so dead and lifeless, and Jennifer couldn't help but wish that she could have seen it as it once was before the conquest. It was not a home of demons or angels at all, or even savagery… but of a once great people of building and industry.
"All right, Jennifer?"
"Yes, just listening," Jennifer admitted. Harry appeared and signaled them so they walked to the next safe point and Harry left to scout ahead again. "It's strange, but I feel as if I can almost hear what it was like to live here, the water flowing, the people bustling by busy about their daily lives… working their gardens or fixing their houses and tending the children, the tapping of hammers and chisels. It doesn't seem like a place of war to me."
"It wasn't in the later days," Boulderdash said in a low voice. "Perhaps if it had been, it might have survived. But I know what you mean about it seeming to have a sound of its own."
They grew quiet again, and it was then that Jennifer realized that one of the sounds stood out from the others. As they took more steps forward, it became increasingly clear the that sounds of the hammers were a real sound, and not just a ghost of the caverns.
"Jennifer, slow down," Boulderdash hissed, falling behind.
"We're close now, I can hear it and feel it," Jennifer said, her eyes ever forward as she followed the sound to a wide tunnel. Just then she was pushed back by a sudden force, which shoved her around the corner.
"Keep back!" Harry's voice whispered as a pair of Dementors suddenly came out of the tunnel, a wake of pure fear following them. It was then that world started spinning, the cavern around her swaying slightly as if threatening to crumble. A second later, Jennifer had a piece of chocolate shoved in her mouth, her head starting to clear.
"Thank you," Jennifer said softly.
"Don't mention it," Harry said. "They're in there... the Fomorians, the Dementors, some goblins too."
"Goblins?"
"I suspect they sent a party or two to try and see what was down here and got enslaved along with them," Harry whispered.
"Any sign of Ciardoth?"
"I couldn't get far enough in. I think the Dementors must have sensed me and came to investigate," Harry said.
"We need to figure out a way to get past them," Jennifer whispered.
"Let's find a safe place for you to try and make this potion. Let me worry about how to get past them." But as they backtracked to where they had last been with Boulderdash, Boulderdash was nowhere to be seen. "Great. I hope he noticed the Dementors."
"It's my fault, I shouldn't have run ahead," Jennifer sighed. "Perhaps we should try that closest building."
"Let's go," he agreed, pulling back his cloak a bit so he could follow her, his wand out and ready as they climbed over rubble near the open door. There was no sign of anything, except plain, empty rooms with only stone debris and pottery chips to show for anyone having been there, while a strange blackened niche to one side must have served as a sort of fireplace, consisting of a long stone cylinder with many small slots running up the side of the building. "Are you going to need a fire?"
"No, the Cauldron is its own source," Jennifer said, carefully pulling the Cauldron out and getting it to its proper size. True enough, the porridge inside was boiling. "But I shouldn't start this until we're sure of a water source. It'll only last twenty minutes."
"Where on earth did that goblin go?" Harry asked with annoyance.
"Or under earth," Jennifer asked dryly.
Boulderdash had hardly been idle. As the Dementors appeared to search the front, the goblin had found another tunnel, which stank of fear and hammers echoed within it. Quickly he scurried in without a lantern, staying to the shadows as he followed his senses closer to the source. As he turned a blind corner he paused, his goblin eyes quickly adjusting to a boiling white light in the center of a cavern being used as a smelting room. Giant Fomorians murmured spells while working with the hot metals, while enchanted goblin daggers and huge swords were stockpiled to one side of the room. Goblins, too, came in and out with ore on their backs or in carts, working endlessly to help supply the forge as Dementors encircled them menacingly. Every now and then one of the workers would stop and wail at apparently nothing as their fears took hold, but then something would compel them to get up again and continue with their work.
Making up his mind, Boulderdash searched around until he found an abandoned sack and grabbed it then walked into the room, feeling the breath on him like a weight on his heart. But the Dementors did not react to another goblin in the mix. Easily Boulderdash was able to blend in, finding a pick and wandering into the mine where goblins and Fomorians worked side by side to draw the ore out of the stone.
"Nipchaw," Boulderdash said as he recognized one of the goblins. The goblin jumped in terror when he was touched, swinging his pick around until his wild eyes met the other goblin's.
"Boulderdash," Nipchaw quivered. "They are sending scholars now?"
"I wasn't sent, I came," Boulderdash growled. "Goblins should not cower like rats."
"You must not have been here long. You do not know. Look out! They're coming again!" He cowered back and began beating fervently at the wall, Boulderdash taking up a hammer beside him.
A moment later, another pair of Dementors came through and with them another wave of fear pushed through with them. But Boulderdash was too angry for the fear to affect him as it had the others, angry at seeing his people, his friends, reduced to cowering, mindless workers.
"How are you fed, watered?" Boulderdash said after they had passed. But it was some time before Nipchaw finally had the courage to point him further.
"Water from the aqueducts. There is no food."
"What?" Boulderdash snapped.
"The Fomorians create what we eat from the useless stone, but it is matter without sustenance. It's barely enough to keep us alive. She does not care, she only wants her army." Nipchaw rasped before falling into silence again. Boulderdash patted his friend gently, waiting for his opportunity to move again. Picking up some of the loose stone and stuffing it in his pack, he snuck further into the mine.
Harry appeared back in the building with a sigh, Jennifer immediately heading over to him to make sure he was all right.
"This cloak is next to useless here. The Dementors sense me and change direction any time I'm near. I thought I was nearly caught there for a moment," Harry said with frustration.
"Any luck finding Boulderdash?"
"Yes… well, I'm not sure. There was a goblin in the mines I could have sworn was him, but he was carrying a pick and working along side them," Harry said.
"You don't think he was caught?" Jennifer asked.
"I think if he was they'd be looking for us more frequently than they are. But I did find the water source; it's a large basin fed by a pipe system running through the caverns, probably was used to feed the city. We'll have to cut the water to drain it. But the main problem is going to be actually doing it without getting caught. Dementors guard it, and unless they're distracted, they're going to know we've done it," Harry explained.
"That means that one of us is going to need to get caught to pull this off," Jennifer said, studying his face. Harry sighed.
"I don't see any way around it," he admitted.
"Then it's going to have to be me," Jennifer said, pulling out her kit to finish the potion.
"No, I don't think so. It's your potion, I'll be the decoy," Harry said.
"Ciardoth doesn't care about you or how you die, Harry!" Jennifer said. "She cares about me. She wants me to suffer a long death, buried alive." Her voice faltered a moment, and Jennifer pretended that she was much too busy combining the potion, dripping three drops of Wine into the Cauldron. "That means that chances are, she'd keep me alive longer to enjoy me suffering. That'll give the potion more time to work and hopefully the Fomorians and other goblins will come to our aid. I have to be the decoy."
"If something goes wrong," Harry said slowly. "I'm going to just concentrate getting us out. I'm not going to let you die."
"I know that," Jennifer said, not looking away from the Cauldron. "You didn't then and you won't now. And I won't let you die either."
"I know that," Harry said. "Which is probably why we're both insane enough to do this. How long?"
"The last ingredient is in now. It needs to simmer for about ten minutes to reach potency, then we've got twenty minutes to get it over there and in as much of the prisoners as possible," Jennifer said. But just then, they felt a strange wave of fear and heard a breathy cry.
"Dementors," Harry said, rushing outside to the back of the building with his wand out to take a look. Jennifer quickly took hers out and followed, peering around the corner before slipping around it, cautiously towards the wall. The fear was very strong now, tipping Jennifer's head with the thought of avalanches from every direction, but neither of them saw the cause. "Perhaps they missed us," Harry whispered softly, but made no move to put away his wand.
Suddenly, four Dementors came out of the shadows and straight at them, and left with no choice, the two of them cast their patronuses, a Unicorn and a large buck rampaging out of their wands. A loud cry went up as the patronuses hit their marks, and the two of them hurried for cover in a tunnel behind the building they had just been in. A swarm of Dementors came out, hovering near where the others had found them and were searching the area as Harry pulled Jennifer further away.
"I think they know we're here," Harry said.
"The potion! The Cauldron is still back there!" Jennifer protested.
"They smell fear, not smelly concoctions," Harry said, "We just need to wait for them to clear out and we'll go get it."
"But Harry, when it's done brewing, we have only twenty minutes! And that was the last of the Wine, I don't have any more!" Jennifer said. Harry looked over at her thoughtfully, trying to come up with some solution, leaning a hand against the tunnel. But as a rain of dust came down on them again, Jennifer felt her normal panic, and then before the moment had passed, it had been magnified stronger and stronger. Harry looked at her face, unsure at first what was happening, until she finally managed to get out a small squeak of warning. As Harry turned to look through the entrance, the swarm of Dementors came hurrying towards them, able to easily sense their victim.
"Expecto Patronum!" Harry cried out, as another huge buck thundered out, crashing into the Dementors as Harry grabbed Jennifer's arm and fled down the tunnel. The clutching fear finally left Jennifer as they scrambled past the mining prisoners who didn't even look up at their passing, and as they met another pair she was ready again, calling out her patronus at the same time as Harry, chasing them away with another airy scream.
As Jennifer was getting her bearings, she saw something that got her full attention. It was long, high cavern lined with tables where Fomorian nobles stood, hazy eyed, crafting what appeared to be bracelets, rings and staves lined with symbols and spells of the elements. But what had truly caught her attention was the figure shackled to the far wall, his robes of office ripped and body beaten, perhaps with the very staves his people forged, weak but still very much alive.
"Great stars, Harry, it's the Magus!" Jennifer said, hurrying into the room before he could stop her. He turned then to watch her back, but no Dementors seemed to be in there at the moment, only the Fomorian lords who didn't even look up when they came in. "Magus!"
The Magus snapped at them in his own language, and it sounded much like a warning.
"He's not under her control, Harry, that's why he's up here," Jennifer said quickly, glancing back. "Let's get him out."
"Jennifer!" Harry warned, and she turned around to see a horde of Dementors enter the room, the lords moaning in pain as the Dementors moved in like a wave. Spells flashed as they found themselves back-to-back against each other, but as strong as their patronuses were, the ones that were defeated were quickly replaced, and the constant barrage of fear was taking its toll.
Finally, Jennifer felt as if she couldn't cast anymore, lowering her wand enough that the group in front of her was able to get closer, reaching for their hoods.
"Wait!" a woman's cold voice called out like a knife thrown from the darkness. "We mustn't make it too easy for them, must we?" The Dementors were very reluctant to stop, their raspy whispers clearly displaying their unhappiness with that order. "Placate yourselves on some goblins," Ciardoth said. "I will deal with these… two?" she said, looking curiously at Harry. "Oh it's you!" She said, laughing maniacally in sheer delight. "I recognize this now, but where is your furry friend? The enemy that came with you?" She asked. Both of them looked at her with bewilderment. Boulderdash an enemy? Boulderdash furry? Jennifer wasn't quite sure which one she had more trouble with, but it was evident that Ciardoth knew someone else was with them. "No matter. I shall enjoy this day, Craw, but I doubt you will. I remember what today is. Today is the day you both die."
"Then perhaps it is your last day as well," Harry replied. Ciardoth glided around to look at him, pushing the tip of his wand down with one finger and giving him a knowing smile.
"When I die, I will take the world with me," Ciardoth said. "I promise you that, my dead opponent."
"If we are dead as you say," Harry challenged, "How is it do you think we die?"
"You will be injured and buried alive, of course, perhaps beneath this very chamber," she said with her lips pursed thoughtfully, glancing around.
"Good," Harry said. "Then if it's not by your own hand, we have nothing to fear from you or the Dementors, do we?" he said, raising his wand again. "And I for one intend to fight as long as I can."
"So do I," Jennifer agreed, turning her back on the Dementors and focusing her attention on Ciardoth.
"Fools!" Ciardoth laughed. "Do you really want to play with me? Very well," she said, raising a cold hand in the air in a signal of dismissal. Slowly the Dementors and Fomorians cleared the room, all except the Magus, who obviously had no choice in the matter. "Let us see if you can withstand my true power."
Lightning filled the chamber and Jennifer and Harry quickly took defensive stances, calling up temporary shields to guard them as they cast their spells. Shrieks from Jennifer's wand descended upon Ciardoth, but her hands reached out as if cupping the spells as they came in, forcing them towards the ceiling. The cavern began to shake at the power of the spells, chunks of it coming loose and falling to the floor. Jennifer and Harry paused and looked at each other as she broke into laughter.
"Care to try that again?"
"We still may be able to take her down with us," Jennifer murmured.
"Then I say we take her down without us," Harry said, casting a spell at the ceiling directly above her, causing more chunks of rock to come down, nearly landing on her head.
"You fool! What are you doing?" Ciardoth said angrily.
"I think you're wrong, Ciardoth. I think it's you getting buried alive today, not us," Harry said, casting a spell at a stone pillar that crumbled and toppled over, debris falling in its wake.
"Oh do you?" Ciardoth laughed. "Perhaps this will convince you otherwise," she said, pointing her hands over the floor, murmuring a single word. In less than a second, the pillar, rocks and debris lifted off the ground, and as she waved her arms, the debris suddenly shot towards them.
Jennifer cast a shield spell and pushed Harry to the ground just as the largest of the rocks came tumbling over them, and within seconds found themselves nearly completely covered, Ciardoth's laughter ringing out as she sent another pillar crashing down over the pile.
"This is rather fun! I do so hope you're uncomfortable," Ciardoth said. "You know, I think I will just bury the entire room. I really had hoped to use Magus as insurance for a little while longer, but I suppose I can always find another," she mused.
"You leave alone!" A woman's voice shouted.
Suddenly, the debris above Jennifer and Harry began to shift as if a giant hand had scooped them away, giving them a place to crawl out. Wands still in hand, the two of them carefully pulled themselves out of the pile, and both could not be more stunned when they realized who had cast the spell that released them.
"You? Ah yes, I remember you," Ciardoth said. "I see that the Magus' dear daughter has returned from her quest."
"Thera!" The Magus shouted, standing up with renewed strength, struggling against his bonds. Thera said something in her own language that the Magus responded to in like kind.
"She's a Fomorian!" Jennifer said in amazement. "She must have been the scout sent ahead to find the cup!"
"So? Did you not find the cup as I said you would?" Ciardoth asked, mockingly polite.
"Yes. But is not part of bargain. You are traitor," Thera said.
"Such harsh words for such broken language. Condemn me in your own language, I'm sure you can do better," Ciardoth toyed. "And then you can join the others in the mines, unless you'd like to stay and watch your father die. I'm sure that can be arranged."
"There is only one problem with that," a familiar voice said as a lone goblin came to stand with Thera. But he wasn't alone for long, for a large group of goblins appeared behind him, carrying the newly fashioned enchanted daggers. "We're not in the mines anymore."
"Boulderdash! Where have you been?" Jennifer said.
"Busy distributing your cure, of course. Doesn't a Potion Master know better than to just leave something like that Cauldron lying around for anyone to pick up?" Boulderdash said. "By the way, never tick off a Fomorian. They are fighting Dementors at the moment, and it's not pretty, for the Dementors, that is."
"In that case, it sounds like you're a bit outnumbered, Ciardoth," Harry said cheerfully, managing to get to his feet again.
"No. You will die!" Ciardoth said with a growl. "I saw it! I will bury you all!" Her hands reached straight up as another flash of lightning came down, taking Ciardoth with it and starting a rumble within the hill, an earthquake shaking the foundations of the Tor itself as she disappeared.
The Magus shouted something and Thera quickly hurried to one of the tables.
"Quick! Items must not be left!" Thera shouted. But Jennifer wasn't about to save the items and leave the Magus where he was. Staggering over, she raised her wand, unshackling the Fomorian from the wall.
"We've got to get out of here, the entire hill is coming down!" Harry shouted over the rumble.
"Why do I keep getting myself into these kinds of situations?" Jennifer asked herself as they hurried out of the room.
As quick as they could, the two Fomorians, goblins, witch and wizard tumbled through the shaking tunnels, passing strangely charred cloaks as they pushed their way into the main cavern. Remains of Dementors still aflame littered the ground like trail markers to where hundreds of Fomorians stood in the center of the caverns with their arms raised and humming some sort of mantra.
Jennifer and Harry watched in awe as Thera and the Magus joined the other Fomorians, suddenly aware that the main cavern wasn't shaking like the ones surrounding them. One by one, the tunnels around them began to collapse, even the entrance to the maze. But after quite some time had passed, the trembling finally silenced, the clouds of dust began to clear, and finally the mantra of the Fomorians ceased. All at once the giants began to move, hugging their children or each other and talking excitedly to each other in relief. The goblins seemed content to merely have a moment to sit down and enjoy a moment of being out of the mines.
Jennifer wasn't sharing the same enthusiasm as the others. All of their exits were gone and she couldn't help wondering how much damage it would cause if they had to burrow through the earth as the Magus had done the first time. But Harry was smiling and not thinking about that at all, waiting until he finally caught Jennifer's gaze.
"Do you know when I knew we had her?" Harry said.
"Hm?" Jennifer said distractedly, glancing at the maze and wondering if the goblins could dig their way through.
"The moment Ciardoth asked where our furry enemy was who came with us," Harry said. Jennifer gazed at him thoughtfully. "Jennifer, she was talking about Peter Pettigrew." Jennifer stared at him. "That night in the Forbidden Tomb, you came to as close to death as anyone could get. Perhaps in a way you did die, but Dumbledore caught you before you could truly leave," Harry said. "Don't you see? Ciardoth can't tell the difference between her future memories and her past memories, and she has no sense of age. All this time she thought that was our true deaths! And if that is the only death she's seen for us, then I'd say she doesn't see our deaths. We're going to outlive her."
"Harry, are you sure?" Jennifer asked.
"No," he admitted, "But good reasoning, don't you think?"
"Then I suppose we must get out of here somehow," Jennifer said hopefully. "Any ideas?"
"Nope," Harry said. "But I bet they have some," he said, looking over to where the Fomorians were busy forming a series of circles.
Thera, back to Fomorian size and standing in the center, was beckoning them and the goblins forward. Soon Jennifer and Harry found themselves standing with her, surrounded by the giant forms of the Fomorians who stood quietly waiting for something. She glanced over at her father the Magus, also back to his normal size, and he nodded gently to her and then gazed thoughtfully at Jennifer and Harry, nodding to them as well.
"It is time to return," Thera said. "To our home, to your home. I will speak of your efforts. Our people thank you," Thera said carefully in English as she took out something from her robes. It was the Cup of Hebe, and as she very delicately held it between two fingers, the cup began to grow, until at last she could fit her hand around the stem of the goblet.
"Now how did she get that again?" Harry wondered.
"I don't know. Severus returned it to the Ministry," Jennifer said.
"Honestly, he ought to know better than that by now," Harry said.
But before either could say another word, Thera set the cup at her feet, gently toppling it over. At first, nothing seemed to happen. But then Jennifer began to hear the distinctive sound of the sea, its waves rushing past her ears as if it were crashing on a shore. A moment later, salt water began to pour out of the empty cup. It came out at a very alarming rate, making Jennifer wonder if she were going to be able to keep her footing.
"Um, I know this is probably a bad time to ask, but do you happen to have any Gillyweed on you?" Harry asked Jennifer. For the water began pouring at such an enormous rate the cavern had begun to flood, already above their toes.
"Do not worry," Thera told them simply.
"Easy for her to say, she's a lot farther from the ground than we are," Boulderdash said. Jennifer grabbed a hold of Harry and Boulderdash's hands, who in turned grabbed hold of the hands of the goblins next to them, forming a ring of their own as the water washed over them, over their heads, mouths and noses and up higher and higher. Strangely enough, Jennifer found that she didn't feel the pressure of water on her chest, nor did she feel the need to breathe, only a floating sensation as it took hold of them, lifting them upward, faster and faster until Jennifer was quite sure she was going to hit the top of the cavern.
But that moment never came. Instead she found herself pushing to the surface of a lake, gasping for breath as if she had been holding it. Harry and Boulderdash were beside her but their hands had let go trying to keep afloat, the other goblins doing the same as they pushed for shore in the light of a sunset. But what could not be mistaken was where they were… they were still at the base of Glastonbury Tor.
Water had filled the entire basin, and the tower of the Tor reflected in the pool as if it were a mirror or polished glass. No doubt the locals would be wondering about this one, Jennifer grinned as she began to paddle to shore.
"Where do you suppose the Fomorians went?" Boulderdash asked as they neared the shore.
"Home, I think," Harry smiled. "Right where they belong."
