The Forest Dragon
Down in the chamber, inside the cage the trio sat bored and miserable. Kiff had been snarling and crawling back and forth restlessly but ten minutes after the goblins had gone he settled down.
"We have to get out of here." Silana stood and banged on the cage bars.
"How?" Linta asked hopelessly.
Kiff got up again and tried to find a way out of the cage but the bars were in steady and too close together, and the top of the cage was too close to the ceiling even if they could reach it. He growled low then lifted his ear up to listen. Hearing no one near he lifted his sword pendant from his neck. Fire and electricity surrounded the pendant and it grew to a shiny silver sword. Carved into each side was a dragon, one of shadow the other of fire.
"I think we have our way out." Silana said pleased. Kiff started hacking at the bars and after twenty minutes three of the bars were missing their lower halves. They slipped out of the cage carefully. Kiff led in front with his sword ready. They crept out of the chamber into the tunnels watching out for goblins. Outside there were three dark muddy tunnels. They had been brought down the middle tunnel but that had been teaming with goblins so they took the left tunnel. Only a very few sparse torches lit their way. Goblin noises could be heard all around them but none could be seen. The unknown darkness and the noises were making them edgy and nervous. Elsewhere in an unseen chamber a rather large goblin sat on a throne. He was pigging out ripping large pieces of meat off a bone and chewing it noisily with his mouth open. Feeble knocking on his huge door gave him pause. A raggedy goblin that looked half starved and quite beaten dragged himself and his limp left leg until he was at the foot of the throne.
"Sire three strangers have been captured." He said pathetically.
"SO!!" roared the gluttonous goblin before kicking the shabby peasant away. "You know what we do with trespassers. Get out!" he ordered then went back to his meal as the servant retreated. The three travelers came to a corner that led to a dead end except for a rope ladder. Silana gestured for the others to wait then climbed the ladder she slowly raised her head so her third eye could see over the top. She could see no goblins so she waved the guys up. When all three were at the top they looked at the room confused. On a stone slab table was a large statue of an earth-based dragon, green glowing stones and weird markings surrounded it. The orb on Kiff's ginto shone green and a dark feeling washed over him.
//we have to destroy this. \\ Kiff said seriously. As he lifted his sword he failed to notice the steady lighting of the sword on his ginto.
//what is that? \\ Linta asked.
"A shrine" a voice replied out of nowhere. A whip caught Kiff's wrists as he was bringing the sword down on the statue and was pulled back off his feet. The trio looked back and rows of goblins greeted them. One of the goblins picked up Kiff's fallen sword and it instantly turned back into the pendant, the goblin put it around his neck. Kiff growled but stopped when the whip was snapped and his wrists were released. He got up slowly and looked at his ginto, the orb and the sword were shining.
"That shrine what does it do?" Silana asked the goblin with the whip.
"Lets us move through the Sento forest without the forest dragons disturbing us." The goblin answered.
"Parasites." She snarled.
"Drop the packs and get moving down." They dropped their luggage and walked towards the ladder. On his way down Linta lost his footing. He fell from the second top step to the ground.
"Linta!" Silana cried and rushed down to kneel next to him. She lifted his head and found a rock underneath. She was relieved to find he was only unconscious but worried now about what the goblins would do. A few of them picked him up and carried him off after the direction Kiff and Silana were shoved in. the three were forced to a side of one of the pits where two of the huge monsters waited inside. Goblins surrounded the pit. They seemed excited, jumping up and down and screeching in frenzy. Six of them started pushing Kiff away and down another tunnel. Silana knelt down by Linta's side but he was still out cold. The goblins started cheering down at something in th4e pit and Silana crawled to the side, her mind covered in dread.
"Kiff!" she screamed. Down at the bottom of the pit Kiff was being pushed out of a wooded cage tunnel into the pit with the beasts. Down in the pit Kiff was understandably worried. No amount of body amour would protect him if there were a direct hit from one of those spiked tail balls. Two goblins forced Kiff out of the tunnel and a wooden slab came down behind him. The beasts above him drooled and growled. Kiff looked up at Silana then leaped out of the way of the right monsters foot. It roared angrily and raised its huge arm with its clawed fingers spread wide. He watched as it came down from above its head with escalating speed and collided with the ground, Kiff barely rolled from the impacted area. As it raked the ground some of the disturbed dirt was thrown into Kiff's eyes. He stood carefully and tried to rub the offending particles from his eyes unsuccessfully. Silana saw that Kiff's vision had been impaired as he didn't seem aware that he was still in the pit with those beasts or that one was aiming its tail at him.
"Kiff! PFTZ SMNC!" she yelled down to him.
Huh oh jump left. Wah!! he recollected the newly learned words and quickly obeyed as he was reminded of the situation he was in. he narrowly missed being squashed and torn to pieces by the monsters tail end as it was dragged along the ground before being lifted up again.
"Ha Ha!!" Silana yelled urgently. Kiff raised an eyebrow then clambered forward from being pulverized by the beast's second and third tail end. The second beast growled then shoved the other aside and lifted his foot prepared to stomp on Kiff but couldn't find him. While they had been fighting Kiff had hidden behind the first monsters heel. The two dim-witted creatures stood still locking around them for Kiff. Above them the goblins were going crazy pointing at Kiff's hiding place and yelling. Silana was in hysterics worrying, but no one noticed as Linta slowly stirred awake. He lay still and took in what was going on. All the goblins jumping and screeching down into the pit and Silana was watching something inside the pit intently, but there was no sign of Kiff. Linta's eyes bulged and began panicking as he realized where Kiff was. He closed his eyes when one of the goblins turned to check on him. It seemed like there was nothing he could do to help till he spotted the back of Kiff's necklace on one of the goblins neck. Slowly and incredibly nervously he rose to his feet then charged into the goblin sending him and the two next to him down into the pit. "Yeah alright Linta!" Silana cheered. A gobbling growled and stood next to Linta ready to strike him until Silana grabbed his arm and flipped him into the pit.
"Linta get my pack will ya." She told him as she as she pulled him to his feet. Down the immense hole Kiff's sight had cleared and he watched as the four goblins fell down and hit the dirt-covered floor, hard. The two huge beasts made quick snacks out of the goblins. He smiled up at the top of the pit where Silana was fighting. Something shiny caught his eye. His pendant! It lay across the pit in clear sight of the creatures. He looked at his clawed glove then dug his claws into the back of the creatures heel and ran his hand down to the bottom of its foot tearing the horrid green skin and making the creature scream and start turning. Both the monsters reached for him crashing against each other as he ran across the pit floor and grabbed his pendant. The silver sword emerged allowing Kiff to slice one of the monsters palms before it managed to grab him. The beast recoiled in pain making room for the second creature to attack. It whirled its tail around then tried to bring it down on top of Kiff but when it lifted its huge spiky tail end there was no sign of him anywhere. While one of the other tail ends were close to the ground he had taken hold of one of the many spikes and allowed the monster to simply hoist him off the ground. He held his sword above the hard-shelled orb and drove it down into the creature. After what could have only been a foot the sword started to slide in.
Its hollow Kiff thought then looked at the beast, his attack seemed to have no impact for the monster was still searching for him on the pit floor. Bothered by his failure he climbed to the other side of the orb where it attacked to its tail from there he could see where all three of the spiked spheres connected. He pounced upon it and severed the tail with the swing of his sword. The beast gave a huge shocked scream then started running around the pit in a futile attempt to escape the pain. The creatures bounding around removed Kiff of his grip making him land in front of the other monster, which was licking its wounded hand till it saw Kiff. Its eyes narrowed and it brought its fisted hands down in an attempt to crush him. Kiff ran forward and slashed the exposed underfoot of its foot. The creature shrieked in agony and tried to shove itself back from Kiff. Yelling at the pit entrance caught Kiff's attention as a swarm of goblins pushed through onto the pit floor. Kiff looked back at the beast then gestured to the goblins with both arms. The monster grinned then crawled over to the angry growling crowd, which upon seeing the beast coming their way commenced to run, and started eating them one by one. Kiff grinned at the other creature who was still running around and had stepped on a couple of goblins making them flatter than paper in the process. Up at the top Linta had scuttled his way to their pile of bags and was pulling open Silana's huge backpack but his task was made difficult by his nervousness and by the fact he had to frequently look up to see if any goblins were coming for him. After finely getting the pack open he dug around for the items he knew Silana wanted or more to the point needed now. The goblins were crazed as some did their best to attack, others to flee, and some even sat still and watched. Silana was becoming aggravated since the goblins kept trying to pile up or use knives and daggers to cut at her ankles.
"Silana I found them!!" Linta called from where he sat huddled with a small package held up. Silana was about to tell him to toss it to her but knowing Linta he'd miss by miles, so she forced her way by kicking and stomping on the goblins. Linta had just handed the package over when an awful screeching wine started and four ugly things emerged from the tunnels. The majority of the goblins cleared from the area. They stood taller at least by a foot than Silana and had a small horn followed by a longer horn on the top of their sharp curved beaks. An eye stuck out slightly on each side of their heads. They were each led by a goblin with a leash. The goblin that held the whip cackled evilly.
"Dasterbamon attack!" he ordered. The goblins quickly unleashed their creatures then sent them forward. The Dasterbamon squealed and lowered their horns. Silana glared and undid the package. Inside were two metallic looking boxing gloves, which she hurriedly put on. "Its danburite fisting time." She said as she stood. Silana looked down on Linta who was crouched cowering by her side.
If I can move one of the dasters then I can get Linta to safety. She stepped forward in front of Linta and got her fists ready. Dark eyes focused on her from the sides of their heads. Two of them looked at each other then ran at her. They flipped their heads up trying to catch Silana with the tips of their horns. One of them managed to cut Silana's shirt and belly while the other narrowly missed her arm. The one on the right snapped at her with its pointed beak before she brought her fist up under its chin and grabbed its collar. The other turned its head sideways to give one eye a full view just in time to have Silana punch it then pull the others collar so they slammed into each other and ended up in a heap on the floor. Silana hoisted Linta up by his shirt and pushed to the far wall. None of the dasters paid him any mind as they closed in on Silana. Down into the pit Kiff had finely cut into the side of the cage entrance. He was about to climb through the hole he had made but was shocked back when a huge foot replaced the cage. Kiff looked up at the monster, whose tail he had sliced, it stood tall wit its two dark ugly eyes looking down at him. Kiff's expression turned strangely serious then snarled and readied his sword. There was a flash of fire in his left eye. As the monster raised its arm Kiff brought his sword down as though he were slicing through the beast. The creature had gone stiller than a statue, a huge guttural roar ripped out of the beast's throat and a red line made its way down the creature's torso. The line suddenly flashed into fire. The creature roared in anguish then collapsed backwards and lay unmoving. Kiff relaxed his stance then walked over to the entrance the cold icy look still in his eyes. Past the broken bits of the wooden tunnel through the dark archway and in front of the stairway, he stopped when he heard goblin shrieking coming closer from up the curving stairs. His right eye flashed a dark blue like lightening and he backed against a shadow-covered wall. Kiff closed his eyes and his body sunk into the wall. A shadow moved across the stairs like it was alive. It stopped in another shadow far up the stairs as the goblins passed then continued on its way. At the top of the stairs Kiff's eyes appeared and the rest of his body followed. He tracked the sounds of Silana's outraged insults to where Silana had one of the dasters head under her right foot, another held tight under her arm while keeping the other back with threatening waves of her left fist. Shocked Kiff started to laugh.
"Oi stop laughing AND START HELPING ME!!!!" Silana screamed at him. Kiff didn't understand but he could easily guess what had been said. He dashed and sliced through the Dasterbamon back that Silana had been keeping at bay. Silana released the one from under her arm and punched its eye. The dastermon shrieked and clutched its wounded eye then struck out with its twin clawed hand at Silana. The hand never reached its target and the daster collapsed to the ground with a huge lump on the top of its head where Silana had brought her fist down.
"I have enough holes in my shirt to fix already." She smirked.
Linta meanwhile was crouched beside a wall praying that none of the beasts would notice him. He felt alone and scared until he felt like there was someone behind him. He rose slowly to his feet and turned to see nothing but the dirt wall. He sensed a small breeze that somehow gave him the impression that he was being urged.
The shrine. The words were whispered into his ear he could have sworn not an inch away but when he turned again, there was no one near him. The small wind insisted again and this time he didn't falter to obey. Linta quickly and quietly made his way to where the shrine had been. He then very nervously made his way up the ladder to the once again empty shrine room. He stood before the statue of the dragon, and looking at it he felt the air around him became somehow angry. He tried to pull the statue forward off the table but he wasn't strong enough. The wind compelled him to try again. He leaned against the table and tried to push the statue off. Slowly he felt the stone tilt and fall off the back. It landed with a satisfying smash and he leaned over to look at the broken pieces. Linta felt the air cheering him, a huge smile spread over his face.
The stones the voice whispered and to his mind the voice sounded pleased with him. He picked up the ordinary looking stones that also wore the similar strange symbols first and threw them against the already broken statue causing each of them to break on impact. When he picked up one of the green gemstones the wind immediately crackled with an upset alertness and the voice howled No!
The sudden changes scared Linta and what felt like an electric shiver crawled down his spine.
"Linta! Linta where are you?!" Silana's calling for him startled him from his fear-induced trance. He started to leave but felt called back to the shrine. Confused and agitated he quickly packed the gems into his satchel. As the last one was taken the wind changed to hurry him from the room. Back in the tunnel Kiff and Silana had beaten the four Dasterbamon and were trying to keep back the swell of goblins that had begun to surge seconds after their victory.
"Silana!" he called to her, letting them know he was there.
"Linta where have you been? Oh never mind just get over there were leaving!" Silana responded while fighting. Kiff and Silana gave one last shove backwards, causing the goblins to topple over, before turning and running. Silana grabbed Linta's wrist and pulled him along hastily picking up their bags before taking off into one of the tunnels. After running what must have been over ten miles through the dark maze and loosing the goblins, the three leaned back against the earth walls.
"well that's great were lost"
//Let me guess she's whining about being lost?\\ Kiff asked Linta exasperated.
//Yeah.\\ Linta confirmed sadly. He was going to let himself slide down the wall to sit when he felt the strange alive wind again. It called to him beckoning him to follow it. Linta hesitated but again the air called harder.
"come on, kate av!" he yelled to both of the others before he took off chasing the wind. Silana followed hollering after him. Kiff stayed where he was completely confused until he remembered kate meant come and started after the others. Linta led the two through tunnel after tunnel and luckily without running into any of the goblins or the creatures they kept. Kiff and Silana repeatedly asked him where he was going but he knew that if he told them about the alive wind they wouldn't believe him and would stop.
STOP!!! a voice screamed in his head causing him to "Linta what the heck has gotten into you!?" Silana yelled as she skidded to a halt behind him. Kiff soon turned up behind them, still confused. The wind shushed at Linta then slowly drew him around another corner. He almost cried out in fright for after a five-meter landing there were hundreds of dastermon and goblins scattered about. The wind drew his attention to a landing that lay over a thin foot wide bridge twenty meters over the lower level filled with the beasts below to another ledge on the other side, what looked like sunlight peaked out from behind a large wooden door that stood a few meters behind the ledge. Linta took a good look at the goblins, they all seemed completely preoccupied with keeping the dasters pushing large carts of dirt and rock back and forth, for the tunnels Linta guessed. With a heavy sigh he turned back.
"um Silana I found a way out." He said nervously.
"but" she encouraged ready to yell at him.
"but but we have to cross a narrow bridge over some goblins." He said quietly.
"is that all? Huh fine tell slow poke over there to keep his trap shut and lets go." Silana ordered bewildering Linta with her calmness.
//Kiff. I've found a way out but I need you to be seriously quiet okay.\\ Linta informed Kiff, who nodded, then led them slowly to the ledge. The three tiptoed cautiously over the narrow bridge thanking the gods that the wood was not creaky and praying that in the next seconds none of the goblins would look up. When they passed what appeared to be the halfway point they began to breath a little easier. Not more than four meters from the next ledge the three were almost grinning until Kiff slipped and fell flat on the board. Their hearts hammered loudly as they looked around the room, but none of the goblins had heard over the screeching of the Dasterbamon. Silana made a fist at Kiff before turning back. Kiff started to rise when he felt a familiar itch in his nose. Desperately he tried to hold his breath and pinch his nose but he couldn't prevent it, he sneezed, he sneezed a fireball that blasted a group of goblins then exploded. Every eye in the room was on him. From shocked to enraged the goblins set their dasters onto the trio. Silana took hold of Kiff's arm and dragged him to his feet and the rest of the way while also pushing Linta. They sped off down the short passageway towards the beam of sunlight as the dasters climbed the sides of the ledge. Ramming open the door none of the three stopped running even as they squeezed their eyes shut against the brightness. Silana, now confident that Kiff was running on his own, let go of his arm. When they could see again they found themselves still in the forest. The dasters screeching was coming closer, also climbing and running through the trees was quickly tiring out the three making for a desperate situation in Silana's mind.
"Linta ask Kiff if he can find Twoterona!" Silana yelled as she climbed over a matted floor of roots.
//Kiff! Can you find Twoterona?!\\ Kiff climbed down the trunk of one of the many trees and held up his ginto. Sure enough there was a blue light ahead of them.
//yeah she's straight forward\
"Silana she's in front of us, why"
"just keep running"
Kiff ran beside Linta and him a questioning look to which Linta shrugged his shoulders. Linta kept his eyes on Silana ahead of him trying not to think about his aching lungs and not noticing as Kiff climbed back up into the trees. At the edge of the forest before the span of grassland and Pico, Linta stopped for breath. He stood bent over wheezing then hastily started running again when he heard a dasters scream, and what sounded like something bigger than a daster roared coming from not too far away. up above in the branches Kiff had seen Linta stop so he too paused to make sure Linta wasn't attacked. When Linta took off again Kiff started along the branch. Out of nowhere a goblin climbed onto the branch. It held a short serrated sword and pointed it menacingly at Kiff. Kiff stared at the goblin and his eyes became dark blue then his left turned a bright red. The goblin started to sweat as Kiff's red eye became brighter. The goblins breathing came in short gasps, his hold on his weapon became unsteady then he fainted. Within a blinks time Kiff's eyes were normal again. He climbed over the unconscious goblin and took off running through the branches ended he leaped o the ground and got up on his legs to run. Linta was only a few yards ahead of him but Silana was half way to Pico. Silana turned her head in time to see goblins, dasters, and even a few of the giant creatures from the pits come crashing out of the forests, eyes wide with fear she turned back to looking forward. Kiff caught up to the Linta who was having hard time breathing and was clutching the side of his stomach. As they neared Pico Linta was wheezing badly and his running was slowing, awkward, and looked as though he could collapse any second. Linta started to stumble but was suddenly steadied by Kiff who had taken hold of his hand and was pulling him the last few meters to Silana and Pico.
"hold on Linta well be safe soon," Silana assured him "lady Twoterona we humbly asked if e may take short refuge in your territory? In exchange we offer you the band of monsters behind us!" she yelled.
"you are welcome" came the quiet yet dark velvet reply. The three entered Pico and made their way to the mist trying not to think about the huge group of goblins, dasters, and giants that were closing in behind them. Kiff and Silana supported Linta as they climbed down the side of Pico and into the parting mist. The roaring group of beasts halted before Pico's visible boundary staring nervously at the supposedly cursed land in front of them. Inside Pico the three had found a long dead tree trunk to sit Linta on and rest.
"they're not following." Twoterona hissed.
"they will. Stay here you guys." Silana instructed as she started to walk away.
"what are you gonna do?" Linta asked, still wheezing but not as heavily as before.
"I'm going to draw them in. if they think were safe in Pico they'll follow." She answered as she left. Kiff started up but Linta shook his head. Back at the edge of Pico the gang still stood warily.
"what's going on?! Why aren't you still after them!?" the goblin with the whip yelled angrily as he came up behind the cluster of beasts. He was the goblin that had stopped Kiff and stood like a leader.
"those brats have the dragon emeralds and I want them back NOW!!!" he bellowed enraged. The collection of monsters looked at each other but none of them moved forward.
"hey uglies!" Silana called at as she emerged out of the mist. "why I didn't know you were that cowardly but then again I am pretty ferocious! Ha hahaha!" Silana laughed merrily at them making them growl and snarl with growing anger.
"well" the annoyed goblin said as he rolled his eyes. The group swarmed down after Silana who raced back into the folds of the mist. She heard what could only have been Twoterona's giggling but didn't look back just kept on running towards where she believed Linta and Kiff were, no matter what yells roars or screeches she heard. After a few minutes of searching Silana still couldn't locate the others, by then most of the painful noises had ceased.
"Kiff, Linta where are you"
"were over here Silana!" Linta called from not too far away. Silana walked over in the direction of Linta's voice and sure enough the two boys were sitting on the log. She sat down with them and sighed. She was about to speak but the loud crack of a hip silenced her. From out of the mist leaped the goblin leader. The three fell back off the log horrified looks masking their faces. He snarled viciously at them. He stood on the log they had been sitting on and raised the whip.
"Twoterona." Linta whispered pleadingly. As though the mist itself had heard him it wormed around the goblin surrounding him from all sides. The creature lowered and dropped the whip and his eyes became wide and panicked. it didn't move for fear of touching the mist. Slowly small tentacles formed and reached out to the goblin. He wailed as the tentacles touched him. His wail turned into a gurgle and blue light filled the mist around him. It was soon impossible to see him, the light started to travel through the mist to somewhere unknown. The gurgling started to sound dry and soon stopped. The light faded and the mist seeped away to reveal nothing.
"is it safe to get up now?" Linta asked in a shivering whisper. On either side of him Kiff and Silana sat up and looked over the log to the pile of dry bones. Kiff's eyes stayed fixed on the skull while Silana hauled Linta up, keeping him facing away from the piled skeleton. Silana's hand on his shoulder broke Kiff out of his daze and he joined Linta in being led out of Pico. The three stared straight ahead not wanting to see what might be at their feet. They trudged their way back to the forest they had no clue. In amongst the trees they found a patch of grass and flopped down upon it. Exhausted the three teenagers slipped into sleep, a well-earned rest considering. In the hours that passed the light steadily faded till the sky as a purpling orange. Kiff was woken, he sat on his haunches alert to find what had disturbed him. He felt more than heard the low hum of a dragons welcoming call. In a careful silence Kiff woke the others.
//a dragon is calling us in welcome.\\ Kiff told Linta before he crawled over to a tree and placed his ear against it listening for the calling. Linta translated to Silana. "what the heck. Tell the dragon hound to track it." Silana said in resignation.
//can you track the calls Kiff\
//easily.\\ Kiff replied then started walking. They walked tiredly through the woods following Kiff and the dragon calls. They traveled down into a valley covered in green leafy plants. They swayed lightly in an unfelt breeze. As the three walked the plants moved out of the way so as not to be stood on. An arched tunnel of thin gray trees stood at the end of the valley. A curtain of hanging loose branches covered in cream flowers and black leaves hung between them and where the dragon was. The three looked at each other, the Lanarin nervous the Enfon only slightly. They nodded to one another then walked through the curtains. Inside was a huge hollow sphere made of leaves and branches woven to make an almost perfect roundness. the opening from which they came from was halfway from the bottom. The Lanarin could hear the humming now like a vibration it resounded around the sphere. The branches on the ground and in front of them came alive and together formed a bridge to a centre platform. Kiff sure of his safety crawled to the centre. The others followed and stood close behind him. The far wall started to open up and a load of branches reached through the hole. Together they created a skeleton frame of a large dragons head and neck. Leaves grew and made up the dragons scales, from the tiny horns on its eyebrows to the large plated back of its head. The hollows of the dragon's eye sockets glowed with green light then formed into the large white and green slitted eyes of the Great Forest Dragon. It smiled at them warmly.
hello young ones he spoke telepathically into their minds so all three would understand.
"you're the great forest dragon." Silana stated amazed.
Mmmhmm. He confirmed.
//thank you for inviting us here.\\ Kiff said pleased to meat yet another dragon.
your welcome but I really called you here to ask a favor. He said sincerely.
"what kind of favor?" Silana asked.
Linta the stones you took from the goblins I would be most obliged if you would turn them over.
Linta took one out of his bag.
"what are they"
they are enchanted stones. Sapphires made purely of earth energy; the symbol written upon them is mine and my family's sacred spirit names. I have no idea how the goblins got our names but with them they cast a spell and created the shrine to control us. They've been tunneling and mining our forest for the last five weeks the little horrors. He explained kindly with an ancient tone of a grandfather. Linta stood forward at the edge of the platform his bag in one hand and with the other began to toss the magic stones down. Before any of the stones could hit the plant wall a different dragon each time came up and swallowed them. When Linta threw a particularly large gem the great forest dragon himself swallowed it. When all the enchanted stones were gone Linta stood back in-between Kiff and Silana.
ahh thank you young ones if you'd kindly stay here while me and my family take care of those ugly little invaders and what they did Ill be back shortly. The dragon spoke in a cheerfully sinister voice before retreating out of sight. Skeptical expressions covered all three of their faces.
Back in the tunnels next to one of the pits where near five hundred goblins occupied the area a loud roaring started. Many more roars added to the solo making the goblins tremble and become nervous wrecks. When the ground began to shake the miniature beasts commenced to shriek and panic. In the rough throne room the master goblin sat, the sounds of the angry dragons reached his ears just as the little servant scrambled in panting. "lord the dragons they are attacking. The strangers escaped and stole the stones." "what?!! How did this happen"
"one of them was an Enfon he had a sword it came from fire and dark clouds, he commanded his guards to him then ducked behind his throne into a secret exit. Back in the tunnels the goblins were scattering like crazy as the dragons began their assault on the intruders. Their tails struck the sides and roofs of the tunnels causing them to collapse. Their claws raked the ground and any unfortunate creatures to be caught were pulled into the solid depths of rock and dirt. A fear struck crowd gang wayed it down a wide passage towards an exit but were interfered by a largely horned head rising out of the ground its mouth gaped open and blasted an incinerating stream of fire. The dragons continued their attack against the goblins and their unwanted tunnels. Any successful mines they had were soon swallowed once again by the earth. Topside a few very lucky goblins made it out of an exit and fled rapidly from the forest, but a short distance away a slab of stone was lifted and the goblin that had sat on the throne climbed out from beneath followed by his guards.
"Lord we should leave the forest quickly." Advised one of the frightened guards pointing off in the direction the others had run.
"no the two masters will hunt us down if we disappear besides revenge is a plan they will help us with" the goblin lord sneered and walked off in another direction his seven followers close behind.
Back with the trio Silana was once again becoming impatient while Linta sat silently thinking of the things he wished to ask the great forest dragon. Kiff, though, stood looking in the direction of where all the dragons were with a large grin on his face. He listened gleefully to the dragons attacking and roaring. Kiff turned as he heard the dragon return from battle. Humming a victorious tune the great dragon remerged smiling his toothy grin.
Ah haha now that those rotten mangy little rats are out of my forest its time to take care of you three. He said with a slight scowl causing the trio to become confused and agitated.
"How?" Linta asked hopelessly.
Kiff got up again and tried to find a way out of the cage but the bars were in steady and too close together, and the top of the cage was too close to the ceiling even if they could reach it. He growled low then lifted his ear up to listen. Hearing no one near he lifted his sword pendant from his neck. Fire and electricity surrounded the pendant and it grew to a shiny silver sword. Carved into each side was a dragon, one of shadow the other of fire.
"I think we have our way out." Silana said pleased. Kiff started hacking at the bars and after twenty minutes three of the bars were missing their lower halves. They slipped out of the cage carefully. Kiff led in front with his sword ready. They crept out of the chamber into the tunnels watching out for goblins. Outside there were three dark muddy tunnels. They had been brought down the middle tunnel but that had been teaming with goblins so they took the left tunnel. Only a very few sparse torches lit their way. Goblin noises could be heard all around them but none could be seen. The unknown darkness and the noises were making them edgy and nervous. Elsewhere in an unseen chamber a rather large goblin sat on a throne. He was pigging out ripping large pieces of meat off a bone and chewing it noisily with his mouth open. Feeble knocking on his huge door gave him pause. A raggedy goblin that looked half starved and quite beaten dragged himself and his limp left leg until he was at the foot of the throne.
"Sire three strangers have been captured." He said pathetically.
"SO!!" roared the gluttonous goblin before kicking the shabby peasant away. "You know what we do with trespassers. Get out!" he ordered then went back to his meal as the servant retreated. The three travelers came to a corner that led to a dead end except for a rope ladder. Silana gestured for the others to wait then climbed the ladder she slowly raised her head so her third eye could see over the top. She could see no goblins so she waved the guys up. When all three were at the top they looked at the room confused. On a stone slab table was a large statue of an earth-based dragon, green glowing stones and weird markings surrounded it. The orb on Kiff's ginto shone green and a dark feeling washed over him.
//we have to destroy this. \\ Kiff said seriously. As he lifted his sword he failed to notice the steady lighting of the sword on his ginto.
//what is that? \\ Linta asked.
"A shrine" a voice replied out of nowhere. A whip caught Kiff's wrists as he was bringing the sword down on the statue and was pulled back off his feet. The trio looked back and rows of goblins greeted them. One of the goblins picked up Kiff's fallen sword and it instantly turned back into the pendant, the goblin put it around his neck. Kiff growled but stopped when the whip was snapped and his wrists were released. He got up slowly and looked at his ginto, the orb and the sword were shining.
"That shrine what does it do?" Silana asked the goblin with the whip.
"Lets us move through the Sento forest without the forest dragons disturbing us." The goblin answered.
"Parasites." She snarled.
"Drop the packs and get moving down." They dropped their luggage and walked towards the ladder. On his way down Linta lost his footing. He fell from the second top step to the ground.
"Linta!" Silana cried and rushed down to kneel next to him. She lifted his head and found a rock underneath. She was relieved to find he was only unconscious but worried now about what the goblins would do. A few of them picked him up and carried him off after the direction Kiff and Silana were shoved in. the three were forced to a side of one of the pits where two of the huge monsters waited inside. Goblins surrounded the pit. They seemed excited, jumping up and down and screeching in frenzy. Six of them started pushing Kiff away and down another tunnel. Silana knelt down by Linta's side but he was still out cold. The goblins started cheering down at something in th4e pit and Silana crawled to the side, her mind covered in dread.
"Kiff!" she screamed. Down at the bottom of the pit Kiff was being pushed out of a wooded cage tunnel into the pit with the beasts. Down in the pit Kiff was understandably worried. No amount of body amour would protect him if there were a direct hit from one of those spiked tail balls. Two goblins forced Kiff out of the tunnel and a wooden slab came down behind him. The beasts above him drooled and growled. Kiff looked up at Silana then leaped out of the way of the right monsters foot. It roared angrily and raised its huge arm with its clawed fingers spread wide. He watched as it came down from above its head with escalating speed and collided with the ground, Kiff barely rolled from the impacted area. As it raked the ground some of the disturbed dirt was thrown into Kiff's eyes. He stood carefully and tried to rub the offending particles from his eyes unsuccessfully. Silana saw that Kiff's vision had been impaired as he didn't seem aware that he was still in the pit with those beasts or that one was aiming its tail at him.
"Kiff! PFTZ SMNC!" she yelled down to him.
Huh oh jump left. Wah!! he recollected the newly learned words and quickly obeyed as he was reminded of the situation he was in. he narrowly missed being squashed and torn to pieces by the monsters tail end as it was dragged along the ground before being lifted up again.
"Ha Ha!!" Silana yelled urgently. Kiff raised an eyebrow then clambered forward from being pulverized by the beast's second and third tail end. The second beast growled then shoved the other aside and lifted his foot prepared to stomp on Kiff but couldn't find him. While they had been fighting Kiff had hidden behind the first monsters heel. The two dim-witted creatures stood still locking around them for Kiff. Above them the goblins were going crazy pointing at Kiff's hiding place and yelling. Silana was in hysterics worrying, but no one noticed as Linta slowly stirred awake. He lay still and took in what was going on. All the goblins jumping and screeching down into the pit and Silana was watching something inside the pit intently, but there was no sign of Kiff. Linta's eyes bulged and began panicking as he realized where Kiff was. He closed his eyes when one of the goblins turned to check on him. It seemed like there was nothing he could do to help till he spotted the back of Kiff's necklace on one of the goblins neck. Slowly and incredibly nervously he rose to his feet then charged into the goblin sending him and the two next to him down into the pit. "Yeah alright Linta!" Silana cheered. A gobbling growled and stood next to Linta ready to strike him until Silana grabbed his arm and flipped him into the pit.
"Linta get my pack will ya." She told him as she as she pulled him to his feet. Down the immense hole Kiff's sight had cleared and he watched as the four goblins fell down and hit the dirt-covered floor, hard. The two huge beasts made quick snacks out of the goblins. He smiled up at the top of the pit where Silana was fighting. Something shiny caught his eye. His pendant! It lay across the pit in clear sight of the creatures. He looked at his clawed glove then dug his claws into the back of the creatures heel and ran his hand down to the bottom of its foot tearing the horrid green skin and making the creature scream and start turning. Both the monsters reached for him crashing against each other as he ran across the pit floor and grabbed his pendant. The silver sword emerged allowing Kiff to slice one of the monsters palms before it managed to grab him. The beast recoiled in pain making room for the second creature to attack. It whirled its tail around then tried to bring it down on top of Kiff but when it lifted its huge spiky tail end there was no sign of him anywhere. While one of the other tail ends were close to the ground he had taken hold of one of the many spikes and allowed the monster to simply hoist him off the ground. He held his sword above the hard-shelled orb and drove it down into the creature. After what could have only been a foot the sword started to slide in.
Its hollow Kiff thought then looked at the beast, his attack seemed to have no impact for the monster was still searching for him on the pit floor. Bothered by his failure he climbed to the other side of the orb where it attacked to its tail from there he could see where all three of the spiked spheres connected. He pounced upon it and severed the tail with the swing of his sword. The beast gave a huge shocked scream then started running around the pit in a futile attempt to escape the pain. The creatures bounding around removed Kiff of his grip making him land in front of the other monster, which was licking its wounded hand till it saw Kiff. Its eyes narrowed and it brought its fisted hands down in an attempt to crush him. Kiff ran forward and slashed the exposed underfoot of its foot. The creature shrieked in agony and tried to shove itself back from Kiff. Yelling at the pit entrance caught Kiff's attention as a swarm of goblins pushed through onto the pit floor. Kiff looked back at the beast then gestured to the goblins with both arms. The monster grinned then crawled over to the angry growling crowd, which upon seeing the beast coming their way commenced to run, and started eating them one by one. Kiff grinned at the other creature who was still running around and had stepped on a couple of goblins making them flatter than paper in the process. Up at the top Linta had scuttled his way to their pile of bags and was pulling open Silana's huge backpack but his task was made difficult by his nervousness and by the fact he had to frequently look up to see if any goblins were coming for him. After finely getting the pack open he dug around for the items he knew Silana wanted or more to the point needed now. The goblins were crazed as some did their best to attack, others to flee, and some even sat still and watched. Silana was becoming aggravated since the goblins kept trying to pile up or use knives and daggers to cut at her ankles.
"Silana I found them!!" Linta called from where he sat huddled with a small package held up. Silana was about to tell him to toss it to her but knowing Linta he'd miss by miles, so she forced her way by kicking and stomping on the goblins. Linta had just handed the package over when an awful screeching wine started and four ugly things emerged from the tunnels. The majority of the goblins cleared from the area. They stood taller at least by a foot than Silana and had a small horn followed by a longer horn on the top of their sharp curved beaks. An eye stuck out slightly on each side of their heads. They were each led by a goblin with a leash. The goblin that held the whip cackled evilly.
"Dasterbamon attack!" he ordered. The goblins quickly unleashed their creatures then sent them forward. The Dasterbamon squealed and lowered their horns. Silana glared and undid the package. Inside were two metallic looking boxing gloves, which she hurriedly put on. "Its danburite fisting time." She said as she stood. Silana looked down on Linta who was crouched cowering by her side.
If I can move one of the dasters then I can get Linta to safety. She stepped forward in front of Linta and got her fists ready. Dark eyes focused on her from the sides of their heads. Two of them looked at each other then ran at her. They flipped their heads up trying to catch Silana with the tips of their horns. One of them managed to cut Silana's shirt and belly while the other narrowly missed her arm. The one on the right snapped at her with its pointed beak before she brought her fist up under its chin and grabbed its collar. The other turned its head sideways to give one eye a full view just in time to have Silana punch it then pull the others collar so they slammed into each other and ended up in a heap on the floor. Silana hoisted Linta up by his shirt and pushed to the far wall. None of the dasters paid him any mind as they closed in on Silana. Down into the pit Kiff had finely cut into the side of the cage entrance. He was about to climb through the hole he had made but was shocked back when a huge foot replaced the cage. Kiff looked up at the monster, whose tail he had sliced, it stood tall wit its two dark ugly eyes looking down at him. Kiff's expression turned strangely serious then snarled and readied his sword. There was a flash of fire in his left eye. As the monster raised its arm Kiff brought his sword down as though he were slicing through the beast. The creature had gone stiller than a statue, a huge guttural roar ripped out of the beast's throat and a red line made its way down the creature's torso. The line suddenly flashed into fire. The creature roared in anguish then collapsed backwards and lay unmoving. Kiff relaxed his stance then walked over to the entrance the cold icy look still in his eyes. Past the broken bits of the wooden tunnel through the dark archway and in front of the stairway, he stopped when he heard goblin shrieking coming closer from up the curving stairs. His right eye flashed a dark blue like lightening and he backed against a shadow-covered wall. Kiff closed his eyes and his body sunk into the wall. A shadow moved across the stairs like it was alive. It stopped in another shadow far up the stairs as the goblins passed then continued on its way. At the top of the stairs Kiff's eyes appeared and the rest of his body followed. He tracked the sounds of Silana's outraged insults to where Silana had one of the dasters head under her right foot, another held tight under her arm while keeping the other back with threatening waves of her left fist. Shocked Kiff started to laugh.
"Oi stop laughing AND START HELPING ME!!!!" Silana screamed at him. Kiff didn't understand but he could easily guess what had been said. He dashed and sliced through the Dasterbamon back that Silana had been keeping at bay. Silana released the one from under her arm and punched its eye. The dastermon shrieked and clutched its wounded eye then struck out with its twin clawed hand at Silana. The hand never reached its target and the daster collapsed to the ground with a huge lump on the top of its head where Silana had brought her fist down.
"I have enough holes in my shirt to fix already." She smirked.
Linta meanwhile was crouched beside a wall praying that none of the beasts would notice him. He felt alone and scared until he felt like there was someone behind him. He rose slowly to his feet and turned to see nothing but the dirt wall. He sensed a small breeze that somehow gave him the impression that he was being urged.
The shrine. The words were whispered into his ear he could have sworn not an inch away but when he turned again, there was no one near him. The small wind insisted again and this time he didn't falter to obey. Linta quickly and quietly made his way to where the shrine had been. He then very nervously made his way up the ladder to the once again empty shrine room. He stood before the statue of the dragon, and looking at it he felt the air around him became somehow angry. He tried to pull the statue forward off the table but he wasn't strong enough. The wind compelled him to try again. He leaned against the table and tried to push the statue off. Slowly he felt the stone tilt and fall off the back. It landed with a satisfying smash and he leaned over to look at the broken pieces. Linta felt the air cheering him, a huge smile spread over his face.
The stones the voice whispered and to his mind the voice sounded pleased with him. He picked up the ordinary looking stones that also wore the similar strange symbols first and threw them against the already broken statue causing each of them to break on impact. When he picked up one of the green gemstones the wind immediately crackled with an upset alertness and the voice howled No!
The sudden changes scared Linta and what felt like an electric shiver crawled down his spine.
"Linta! Linta where are you?!" Silana's calling for him startled him from his fear-induced trance. He started to leave but felt called back to the shrine. Confused and agitated he quickly packed the gems into his satchel. As the last one was taken the wind changed to hurry him from the room. Back in the tunnel Kiff and Silana had beaten the four Dasterbamon and were trying to keep back the swell of goblins that had begun to surge seconds after their victory.
"Silana!" he called to her, letting them know he was there.
"Linta where have you been? Oh never mind just get over there were leaving!" Silana responded while fighting. Kiff and Silana gave one last shove backwards, causing the goblins to topple over, before turning and running. Silana grabbed Linta's wrist and pulled him along hastily picking up their bags before taking off into one of the tunnels. After running what must have been over ten miles through the dark maze and loosing the goblins, the three leaned back against the earth walls.
"well that's great were lost"
//Let me guess she's whining about being lost?\\ Kiff asked Linta exasperated.
//Yeah.\\ Linta confirmed sadly. He was going to let himself slide down the wall to sit when he felt the strange alive wind again. It called to him beckoning him to follow it. Linta hesitated but again the air called harder.
"come on, kate av!" he yelled to both of the others before he took off chasing the wind. Silana followed hollering after him. Kiff stayed where he was completely confused until he remembered kate meant come and started after the others. Linta led the two through tunnel after tunnel and luckily without running into any of the goblins or the creatures they kept. Kiff and Silana repeatedly asked him where he was going but he knew that if he told them about the alive wind they wouldn't believe him and would stop.
STOP!!! a voice screamed in his head causing him to "Linta what the heck has gotten into you!?" Silana yelled as she skidded to a halt behind him. Kiff soon turned up behind them, still confused. The wind shushed at Linta then slowly drew him around another corner. He almost cried out in fright for after a five-meter landing there were hundreds of dastermon and goblins scattered about. The wind drew his attention to a landing that lay over a thin foot wide bridge twenty meters over the lower level filled with the beasts below to another ledge on the other side, what looked like sunlight peaked out from behind a large wooden door that stood a few meters behind the ledge. Linta took a good look at the goblins, they all seemed completely preoccupied with keeping the dasters pushing large carts of dirt and rock back and forth, for the tunnels Linta guessed. With a heavy sigh he turned back.
"um Silana I found a way out." He said nervously.
"but" she encouraged ready to yell at him.
"but but we have to cross a narrow bridge over some goblins." He said quietly.
"is that all? Huh fine tell slow poke over there to keep his trap shut and lets go." Silana ordered bewildering Linta with her calmness.
//Kiff. I've found a way out but I need you to be seriously quiet okay.\\ Linta informed Kiff, who nodded, then led them slowly to the ledge. The three tiptoed cautiously over the narrow bridge thanking the gods that the wood was not creaky and praying that in the next seconds none of the goblins would look up. When they passed what appeared to be the halfway point they began to breath a little easier. Not more than four meters from the next ledge the three were almost grinning until Kiff slipped and fell flat on the board. Their hearts hammered loudly as they looked around the room, but none of the goblins had heard over the screeching of the Dasterbamon. Silana made a fist at Kiff before turning back. Kiff started to rise when he felt a familiar itch in his nose. Desperately he tried to hold his breath and pinch his nose but he couldn't prevent it, he sneezed, he sneezed a fireball that blasted a group of goblins then exploded. Every eye in the room was on him. From shocked to enraged the goblins set their dasters onto the trio. Silana took hold of Kiff's arm and dragged him to his feet and the rest of the way while also pushing Linta. They sped off down the short passageway towards the beam of sunlight as the dasters climbed the sides of the ledge. Ramming open the door none of the three stopped running even as they squeezed their eyes shut against the brightness. Silana, now confident that Kiff was running on his own, let go of his arm. When they could see again they found themselves still in the forest. The dasters screeching was coming closer, also climbing and running through the trees was quickly tiring out the three making for a desperate situation in Silana's mind.
"Linta ask Kiff if he can find Twoterona!" Silana yelled as she climbed over a matted floor of roots.
//Kiff! Can you find Twoterona?!\\ Kiff climbed down the trunk of one of the many trees and held up his ginto. Sure enough there was a blue light ahead of them.
//yeah she's straight forward\
"Silana she's in front of us, why"
"just keep running"
Kiff ran beside Linta and him a questioning look to which Linta shrugged his shoulders. Linta kept his eyes on Silana ahead of him trying not to think about his aching lungs and not noticing as Kiff climbed back up into the trees. At the edge of the forest before the span of grassland and Pico, Linta stopped for breath. He stood bent over wheezing then hastily started running again when he heard a dasters scream, and what sounded like something bigger than a daster roared coming from not too far away. up above in the branches Kiff had seen Linta stop so he too paused to make sure Linta wasn't attacked. When Linta took off again Kiff started along the branch. Out of nowhere a goblin climbed onto the branch. It held a short serrated sword and pointed it menacingly at Kiff. Kiff stared at the goblin and his eyes became dark blue then his left turned a bright red. The goblin started to sweat as Kiff's red eye became brighter. The goblins breathing came in short gasps, his hold on his weapon became unsteady then he fainted. Within a blinks time Kiff's eyes were normal again. He climbed over the unconscious goblin and took off running through the branches ended he leaped o the ground and got up on his legs to run. Linta was only a few yards ahead of him but Silana was half way to Pico. Silana turned her head in time to see goblins, dasters, and even a few of the giant creatures from the pits come crashing out of the forests, eyes wide with fear she turned back to looking forward. Kiff caught up to the Linta who was having hard time breathing and was clutching the side of his stomach. As they neared Pico Linta was wheezing badly and his running was slowing, awkward, and looked as though he could collapse any second. Linta started to stumble but was suddenly steadied by Kiff who had taken hold of his hand and was pulling him the last few meters to Silana and Pico.
"hold on Linta well be safe soon," Silana assured him "lady Twoterona we humbly asked if e may take short refuge in your territory? In exchange we offer you the band of monsters behind us!" she yelled.
"you are welcome" came the quiet yet dark velvet reply. The three entered Pico and made their way to the mist trying not to think about the huge group of goblins, dasters, and giants that were closing in behind them. Kiff and Silana supported Linta as they climbed down the side of Pico and into the parting mist. The roaring group of beasts halted before Pico's visible boundary staring nervously at the supposedly cursed land in front of them. Inside Pico the three had found a long dead tree trunk to sit Linta on and rest.
"they're not following." Twoterona hissed.
"they will. Stay here you guys." Silana instructed as she started to walk away.
"what are you gonna do?" Linta asked, still wheezing but not as heavily as before.
"I'm going to draw them in. if they think were safe in Pico they'll follow." She answered as she left. Kiff started up but Linta shook his head. Back at the edge of Pico the gang still stood warily.
"what's going on?! Why aren't you still after them!?" the goblin with the whip yelled angrily as he came up behind the cluster of beasts. He was the goblin that had stopped Kiff and stood like a leader.
"those brats have the dragon emeralds and I want them back NOW!!!" he bellowed enraged. The collection of monsters looked at each other but none of them moved forward.
"hey uglies!" Silana called at as she emerged out of the mist. "why I didn't know you were that cowardly but then again I am pretty ferocious! Ha hahaha!" Silana laughed merrily at them making them growl and snarl with growing anger.
"well" the annoyed goblin said as he rolled his eyes. The group swarmed down after Silana who raced back into the folds of the mist. She heard what could only have been Twoterona's giggling but didn't look back just kept on running towards where she believed Linta and Kiff were, no matter what yells roars or screeches she heard. After a few minutes of searching Silana still couldn't locate the others, by then most of the painful noises had ceased.
"Kiff, Linta where are you"
"were over here Silana!" Linta called from not too far away. Silana walked over in the direction of Linta's voice and sure enough the two boys were sitting on the log. She sat down with them and sighed. She was about to speak but the loud crack of a hip silenced her. From out of the mist leaped the goblin leader. The three fell back off the log horrified looks masking their faces. He snarled viciously at them. He stood on the log they had been sitting on and raised the whip.
"Twoterona." Linta whispered pleadingly. As though the mist itself had heard him it wormed around the goblin surrounding him from all sides. The creature lowered and dropped the whip and his eyes became wide and panicked. it didn't move for fear of touching the mist. Slowly small tentacles formed and reached out to the goblin. He wailed as the tentacles touched him. His wail turned into a gurgle and blue light filled the mist around him. It was soon impossible to see him, the light started to travel through the mist to somewhere unknown. The gurgling started to sound dry and soon stopped. The light faded and the mist seeped away to reveal nothing.
"is it safe to get up now?" Linta asked in a shivering whisper. On either side of him Kiff and Silana sat up and looked over the log to the pile of dry bones. Kiff's eyes stayed fixed on the skull while Silana hauled Linta up, keeping him facing away from the piled skeleton. Silana's hand on his shoulder broke Kiff out of his daze and he joined Linta in being led out of Pico. The three stared straight ahead not wanting to see what might be at their feet. They trudged their way back to the forest they had no clue. In amongst the trees they found a patch of grass and flopped down upon it. Exhausted the three teenagers slipped into sleep, a well-earned rest considering. In the hours that passed the light steadily faded till the sky as a purpling orange. Kiff was woken, he sat on his haunches alert to find what had disturbed him. He felt more than heard the low hum of a dragons welcoming call. In a careful silence Kiff woke the others.
//a dragon is calling us in welcome.\\ Kiff told Linta before he crawled over to a tree and placed his ear against it listening for the calling. Linta translated to Silana. "what the heck. Tell the dragon hound to track it." Silana said in resignation.
//can you track the calls Kiff\
//easily.\\ Kiff replied then started walking. They walked tiredly through the woods following Kiff and the dragon calls. They traveled down into a valley covered in green leafy plants. They swayed lightly in an unfelt breeze. As the three walked the plants moved out of the way so as not to be stood on. An arched tunnel of thin gray trees stood at the end of the valley. A curtain of hanging loose branches covered in cream flowers and black leaves hung between them and where the dragon was. The three looked at each other, the Lanarin nervous the Enfon only slightly. They nodded to one another then walked through the curtains. Inside was a huge hollow sphere made of leaves and branches woven to make an almost perfect roundness. the opening from which they came from was halfway from the bottom. The Lanarin could hear the humming now like a vibration it resounded around the sphere. The branches on the ground and in front of them came alive and together formed a bridge to a centre platform. Kiff sure of his safety crawled to the centre. The others followed and stood close behind him. The far wall started to open up and a load of branches reached through the hole. Together they created a skeleton frame of a large dragons head and neck. Leaves grew and made up the dragons scales, from the tiny horns on its eyebrows to the large plated back of its head. The hollows of the dragon's eye sockets glowed with green light then formed into the large white and green slitted eyes of the Great Forest Dragon. It smiled at them warmly.
hello young ones he spoke telepathically into their minds so all three would understand.
"you're the great forest dragon." Silana stated amazed.
Mmmhmm. He confirmed.
//thank you for inviting us here.\\ Kiff said pleased to meat yet another dragon.
your welcome but I really called you here to ask a favor. He said sincerely.
"what kind of favor?" Silana asked.
Linta the stones you took from the goblins I would be most obliged if you would turn them over.
Linta took one out of his bag.
"what are they"
they are enchanted stones. Sapphires made purely of earth energy; the symbol written upon them is mine and my family's sacred spirit names. I have no idea how the goblins got our names but with them they cast a spell and created the shrine to control us. They've been tunneling and mining our forest for the last five weeks the little horrors. He explained kindly with an ancient tone of a grandfather. Linta stood forward at the edge of the platform his bag in one hand and with the other began to toss the magic stones down. Before any of the stones could hit the plant wall a different dragon each time came up and swallowed them. When Linta threw a particularly large gem the great forest dragon himself swallowed it. When all the enchanted stones were gone Linta stood back in-between Kiff and Silana.
ahh thank you young ones if you'd kindly stay here while me and my family take care of those ugly little invaders and what they did Ill be back shortly. The dragon spoke in a cheerfully sinister voice before retreating out of sight. Skeptical expressions covered all three of their faces.
Back in the tunnels next to one of the pits where near five hundred goblins occupied the area a loud roaring started. Many more roars added to the solo making the goblins tremble and become nervous wrecks. When the ground began to shake the miniature beasts commenced to shriek and panic. In the rough throne room the master goblin sat, the sounds of the angry dragons reached his ears just as the little servant scrambled in panting. "lord the dragons they are attacking. The strangers escaped and stole the stones." "what?!! How did this happen"
"one of them was an Enfon he had a sword it came from fire and dark clouds, he commanded his guards to him then ducked behind his throne into a secret exit. Back in the tunnels the goblins were scattering like crazy as the dragons began their assault on the intruders. Their tails struck the sides and roofs of the tunnels causing them to collapse. Their claws raked the ground and any unfortunate creatures to be caught were pulled into the solid depths of rock and dirt. A fear struck crowd gang wayed it down a wide passage towards an exit but were interfered by a largely horned head rising out of the ground its mouth gaped open and blasted an incinerating stream of fire. The dragons continued their attack against the goblins and their unwanted tunnels. Any successful mines they had were soon swallowed once again by the earth. Topside a few very lucky goblins made it out of an exit and fled rapidly from the forest, but a short distance away a slab of stone was lifted and the goblin that had sat on the throne climbed out from beneath followed by his guards.
"Lord we should leave the forest quickly." Advised one of the frightened guards pointing off in the direction the others had run.
"no the two masters will hunt us down if we disappear besides revenge is a plan they will help us with" the goblin lord sneered and walked off in another direction his seven followers close behind.
Back with the trio Silana was once again becoming impatient while Linta sat silently thinking of the things he wished to ask the great forest dragon. Kiff, though, stood looking in the direction of where all the dragons were with a large grin on his face. He listened gleefully to the dragons attacking and roaring. Kiff turned as he heard the dragon return from battle. Humming a victorious tune the great dragon remerged smiling his toothy grin.
Ah haha now that those rotten mangy little rats are out of my forest its time to take care of you three. He said with a slight scowl causing the trio to become confused and agitated.
Is the great forest dragon going to attack them? Who are these masters the goblin lord talked about? Who or what was leading Linta in the tunnel? Is Kiff dragon or Enfon born? And why did Silana run to Twoterona?