On Winter''s Wings 4


    The mob of giant crabs scuttled over the rocks that littered the cavern floor as they headed straight for cknails party. The hobgoblin guards that hade along eyed them nervously. The creatures werent that tall, but they had thick carapaces, and ws that were powerful enough to crush limbs. Even with spears, they would be dangerous opponents for normal hobgoblins.


    Want me to blow them up, boss? Imp asked as he held his glowing staff up high. Its white light was illuminating the depths of the cave around them.


    No, I got this, cknail answered confidently as he began walking forward alone. No one tried to stop him as he headed down the rocky incline, and he hadnt expected them to.


    The sound of moving water filled cknails ears as the underground river in the middle of the cave continued to ebb and flow. Now that he was in the huge cavern, the cool energy that had drawn him here was even stronger. It washed over him, making him feel stronger and invigorated. As a result, confidence filled cknail. There was an excited grin on his face as he drew his de and stepped forward to meet the first crab.


    The creature made an angry gurgling sound as it shed at cknails chest with an open w. However, the w snapped shut on open air. cknail easily sidestepped the blow. He then leaned forward and stabbed the tip of his sword into the creatures mouth. It tore through what little shell was there with ease and then sank deep into the crabs flesh. Grunting with effort, cknail pushed forward, and his de slid even deeper. The crab instantly quivered and began to fall as its insides were shredded by sharp steel, so cknail withdrew his de and jumped back. As he moved, a w swipe from another crab missed him by a hair. The stupid things were faster than they looked.


    However, cknails movement were even more quick and powerful. He was still drawing in the energy around him, and it was making up for hisck of Elixir. Actually, it felt somewhat simr. Jumping sideways to avoid two charging crabs, cknail shed at a third. His de sliced into its arm at the joint - where there was no carapace to protect it  and the creatures w was cut right off.


    Unfortunately, the other crabs had used this time to surge forward and surround cknail. The hobgoblin just grinned, though. He wasnt worried. The unknown power had seeped into cknails body. It pooled in his blood in a familiar way, so he used it. With an act of will, cknail ignited the energy in his blood and pulled it up into his head. He then pushed it out as an invisible wave, which washed over the gathered crabs. The result was exactly as if hed been using Elixir. The magic tore into the beasts minds, filling them with unnatural terror. cknail could feel the power go to work.


    Inhuman hissing filled the air as the crabs began stumbling backwards. Two of the creatures even collided and fought briefly as they hurried away from cknail as fast as they could. Soon, the entire mob was scuttling away at top speed. As he watched, the crabs separated and disappeared back into shadows or slipped into the river.


    Ferrar made his way down to cknails side and picked up a severed crab arm. I bet these taste great if you cook them right.


    He was swiftly followed by the other hobgoblins, including Imp. Now that it was safe, they all descended the rocky incline and made their way to their chief.


    Why did wee down here, boss? Imp asked as he joined cknail. The mines are the other way.


    cknail had been studying the far reaches of the cavern, but now he turned to face the other hobgoblin. I wanted to explore. There is something here, and were going to find it.


    There were some openings in the wall over to cknails left, so that was where he headed. The cavern he was in had plenty of passages leading out of it, but many of them were on the other side of the river and crossing that waterway would be dangerous. Not only would it be a treacherous ce to swim, but it was full of strange creatures such as crabs and giant predatory smanders. There might even be much worse things that had yet to reveal themselves.


    Thankfully, the crabs kept their distance as cknails group crossed the cave. When they reached the passages there, cknail studied them. One was a short dead-end, while the second just felt wrong. The third looked promising though, so he jumped over the rocks in front of it and then helped Imp up. As his minions climbed after him, cknail then headed inside.


    The passage was tall but tight and the walls were a smooth rock that was so dark it was almost ck. Water had worn channels in the floor but only a few small stctites hung from the ceiling. Imp followed right behind cknail, but the winding nature of the tunnel meant they couldnt see too far ahead. However, after a few minutes, the passage widened significantly until the entire group could have walked through it side-by-side. Natural shelves appeared on the walls, and most of them werent empty. A colorful assortment of mushrooms grew from heaps of dirt that had been piled on them. The light from Imps staff also glinted off the shiny rainbow-colored shells of harvester beetles as they moved among the fungus or flew through the air.


    Ive seen these bugs up in the forest, eating leaves, a hobgoblin observed as he leaned down to study a cluster of mushrooms. You cant eat them.


    cknail snorted before haughtily correcting his ignorant minion. They dont eat leaves. Harvesters bring stuff down here to make these piles, then they eat the mushrooms that grow. Also, you should watch out. Sometimes bigger bugs with venomous tails hide in those mushrooms.


    Oh, you sure are smart, boss, the hobgoblin replied as he carefully stepped back.


    Of course, I am. Im the smartest, cknail exined as he looked around.


    He hadnte down this passage to look for harvesters, and now the energy hed been feeling was weaker. They must have gone the wrong way. cknail turned to head back the way theyde, but Ferrar stopped him.


    Look, there on the ground; tracks, the hobgoblin said as he pointed at a spot up ahead.


    Frowning, cknail leaned down to get a better look. He almost immediately saw what Ferrar was talking about. The ground here was very dusty - probably because of the harvesters dragging dirt in  and there were some obvious scuff marks. Some of the them resembled footprints. In fact, they sort of looked like goblin tracks.


    Do goblins live down here? cknail wondered aloud. Hed never seen any.


    None of my workers have mentioned seeing ferals down here, Ferrar replied.


    None of our goblins would evere here. Theyd get eaten, Imp added helpfully. Several hobgoblins nodded along. They seemed worried about getting eaten themselves.


    cknail sighed. Of course, none of his minions were helpful. He had to do and learn everything himself. Leaning down, cknail sniffed the ground, but all he could smell was rotting nt matter, dung, and mushrooms. The rich scent of the harvester farms was too strong.


    Well follow these tracks for a bit before heading back. Be silent; were hunting, he told his minions as he began walking further down the tunnel. There was really only one way the makers of the tracks could havee from.


    Moving with stealth now, cknails party crept forward through the tunnel. Imp fell to the back of the group and dimmed his light until it was only a meagerest of glows. Hobgoblins had great night vision, but they couldnt see when there was no light at all. Around them, some of the mushrooms began to give off their own glows in response to the return of darkness. It was still difficult to see in such dim light, though. cknail listened intently as he carefully navigated through the maze of shadows and rocks. His ears twitched overtime the heard a drip of water or a tiny critter skittering through the dark, but he stayed focused.


    They continued on this way for several minutes, until cknail thought he detected a hint of light up ahead. Motioning for Imp to stay behind, he stalked forward through the dark until he reached the end of the passage. Anotherrge cave chamber opened up in front of him, so he hid himself behind arge rock and peered out.


    Thankfully, cknails eyes had grown used to the gloom, so he was able to study the scene before him. It was arge cavern, and it looked to be full of huge mushrooms, some of which were glowing. The size of the fungus surprised cknail. Hed never even heard of anything like it. It was difficult to see, since only a few of the mushrooms were glowing, but some of them had to be as tall as people. As he watched, cknail also saw small dark figures move among the shadowy forest of fungus, but he couldnt tell what they were. They were about the right size for goblins, though. Weird.


    After a few moments, cknails minions joined him, including Imp, whodpletely shut off his staff. cknail considered his options for a moment, but then decided hed seen all that he could from here. It was also unlikely that hed be able to sneak closer undetected, so he turned to Imp and signaled for the mage to light the way. With a nod of acknowledgement, Imp did as he was told. He raised his staff and it burst to life. Bright white light radiated forth, lighting up the cavern before them.


    Shielding his eyes to protect his vision, cknail quickly stepped out from behind his rock and looked around. He was now able to see a lot more of the fungal forest. Mushrooms of all forms and sizes rose up from a dark mass of rich-looking dirt that covered the floor of the cave. Above them, shinning droplets of water dripped down from stctites. However, cknail was looking for movement. The sudden burst of light had startled the inhabitants of the cave, sending them running. cknail was only briefly able to glimpse a bunch of pale grey forms before they dashed away. He hadnt gotten a very good look, but theyd been vaguely goblin-like, even if they were the wrong color. All the goblins hed seen had been some shade of green.


    Were those goblins? a hobgoblin asked.


    I dont know, cknail replied as he walked forward to study the mushrooms.


    Almost the entire cave was full of towering fungus. A few skinny tubr ones were almost twice as tall as a hobgoblin, and they were a startling purple color. There were also plenty of capped mushrooms of various colors, and even a few big white balls that were too perfectly spherical to be rocks.


    Thats a lot of mushrooms, Ferrar remarked in an impressed tone. cknail nodded in agreement. He wondered if they could be used as an emergency food supply.


    Do any of you want to try eating some mushrooms? he asked his minions.


    Which ones are poisonous, boss? one of the guards asked.


    I have no idea, cknail admitted. He wasnt sure if these giant mushrooms were the same as the smaller type, just bigger, or if they werepletely different.


    In the end, no one decided to try eating any of the fungus, so cknail led his party back the way theyde. There was no way they were going to run down any of the pale creature snow, so there was no point in sticking around. He still wanted to track down the source of the energy as well, and this was definitely the wrong way for that. The energy was even weaker now, although it was still around. Underground, it never seemed to vanishpletely.


    A brief hike led them back to the river chamber, and once there, cknail selected another passage to try exploring. This one was wider and wetter. The ceiling dripped, and as a result pools of water were scattered around the floor. However, using Imps light, they were able to navigate it easily, while only getting a little damp. As they walked, it soon became obvious that the tunnel sloped downward, deeper into the earth. cknail also quickly realized hed chosen the right passage. The energy in the air grew noticeably stronger as they headed down. It felt good.


    How far are we going? Ferrar asked nervously after a while.


    Im the leader. We go until we find what Im looking for, cknail replied testily without slowing.


    Soon after that, cknail saw the light of Imps staff reflect off something in the wall. Excited, he peered at the object. It was a blue crystal, and it was growing straight out of the wall.


    A mana crystal, Imp observed. He sounded excited as well.


    Yes, cknail agreed as he turned to peer down the tunnel in front of them. He thought he saw more glints of light up ahead, so be began walking again.


    Sure enough, the walls of the cave further down were studded with small crystals. cknail briefly looked them over as he walked past. Imp and the others were forced to hurry after him, and soon they came to the end of the tunnel. A rocky round chamber about the size of a housey in front of them. There was no way to continue on, but there was arge crack in one of the walls. It was surrounded by crystals, and it was obviously the source of the strange energy. The air was thick with power here. It tingled cknails skin as it washed over him.


    The crack was too tight for anything thicker than a finger to fit through. cknail studied it for a moment from afar and then began to walk over to get a closer look, but then a noise caught his attention. There was tter of falling stones from the opposite side of the cave. cknail turned to look, and saw a huge white smander slide out from behind some rocks. Hed been too focused on the crevice to notice it, and its skin had camouged it in with the stone.


    cknail had seen the predatory smanders that lived in these caves before, but this one was different. While it was the same pale white as the others andpletelycked eyes, this smander was much bigger. It looked to be at least three time the weight of a hobgoblin. The reason for its size was obvious. It had a rows of translucent crystal spikes running down its back. It was a mutant, and undoubtedly it had been drawn here by the same energy as cknail.


    There was silence as the hobgoblins studied this new threat. Then, all the minions began backing up slowly. Apparently, theyd decided to let their chief deal with the problem. cknail red at them for a moment, but then had to turn and focus on the smander. What a bunch of useless cowards. Well, whatever. They wouldnt be much help anyway, and cknail was feeling confident. The energy from fissure was flowing through him, and he wanted to test out his new body. He felt like pushing his limits would help him grow. Also, if he started losing, he could always order Imp to st the thing into bloody pulp.


    Stepping forward, cknail drew his de and met the smanders gaze. They stared each other down, like beasts before a kill. Er cknail stared at where the creatures eyes would have been if it hadnt been born eyeless. It knew he was there, right? cknail was going to feel silly if he was posturing for no reason.


    Suddenly, the creature reared up and hissed at cknail, revealing rows of needle-like teeth. Apparently, it could sense the hobgoblins location. cknail had mixed feelings about that.


    Stay back, cknail told his minions before lunging toward the mutant.


    The hobgoblin chief held his de ready as he charged at his foe. The smander reacted by hissing again and then rearing back as if to strike. However, before cknail got anywhere near its striking range, the mutants head jerked forward, and it opened its mouth. Confused, cknail stared at its countless pointy teeth and pink gums. What? That posture was just making the smander vulnerable


    Then, as the hobgoblin continued to move closer, the empty space between the beasts jaws began to ripple and glow. cknail reacted instantly. He stopped his charge and threw himself to the side. He was just in time. A st of green flew through the space hed been upying a second ago and hit the cave wall. The power sshed against the stone and started sizzling as it dripped down. As cknail rolled to the side, he nced over and saw the green liquid begin to bubble as it ate through the rock. He instantly decided that not getting hit by that sludge was his new number one priority.


    cknail jumped to his feet and raised his sword, but the blind smander hadnt remained still afterunching its first attack. With eerie precision, its eyeless head tracked cknails movements, and then it opened it jaws again. cknail was paying attention. The second he saw the air distort, he jumped to the side. Another green missile shot past him as he charged the smander again.


    The mutant apparently couldnt fire its magical sts in quick session, because cknail was able to close the distance without having to dodge again. The smander just hissed and readied itself to meet him. Running past several tall rocks, cknail raised his de and then shed down at the creatures head. It reared back and opened its mouth, as if to try and bite down on the de, so cknail adjusted his swing. The hobgoblin grinned as his sword sliced right toward the mutants exposed neck. It didnt connect. Without warning, he smanders tail came out of nowhere. The long appendage mmed into cknails side with a loud crack that knocked the air from his lungs, and he was sent flying away.