They were running again. After losing a member of their party they were running down the long tunnels toward where Pork Chop had seen the other goblins. Adam felt a tug at his heart. It was a small voice in the back of Adam’s mind that made him aware of this. The constant battle since they entered, the fighting and killing, and the death. It was a small thing at first, but as they ran it grew in him. Who would make a world like this? Why would they choose to come to this place? What were they thinking?


    He tried to stamp out the thoughts, but it was like pushing against a stone wall. It would budge this time. The loss of Snowball suddenly made it all so real. He stopped running. They were following one of the wolves so he was toward the back of the group. Only Josh noticed him slow.


    “What’s up?” asked Josh as they came to a stop. They weren’t even breathing heavily after full sprinting for what must have been at least 2 miles.


    “I-I don’t know. It’s hard to put into words. Like what are we doing?”


    “I know what you mean,” said Josh with a sigh. “This is all too real.”


    “It is real. They have feelings, thoughts, and free will. This is not some program running on a loop. This is insane.”


    Adam felt his legs go weak and his stomach lurch slightly. The thoughts were making him physically ill. He sat down on the ground. Josh moved over and crouched down in front of him.


    “I’ve been thinking,” said Josh. “Do you think they will be better off without us? Do you think it’s better for us to disappear? Do you think you’d feel okay with that? I know I wouldn’t. We chose to be here, but they were born here. This is their home, their world. Right now it’s full of pain and death and loss, but wasn’t our world full of that too?”


    “So, you’re saying no matter where we go we’ll be miserable?”


    “No, I’m saying the difference is we can actually change things here.”


    “How? We’re not special. We’re not geniuses. We’re just two normal people.”


    “Does this look normal to you?” asked Josh. He smacked Adam in the face with his tail. Adam felt a sting in his face, but it faded as quickly as it came. “We can run for miles without tiring, we can fight with weapons, and we can use magic. Nothing about us is normal anymore. All we have to do is make the choice.”


    “What choice?” Adam looked into his friend’s eyes. His friend was no longer human, but he was no doubt still Josh.


    “To fight against the word or fight for the world. I, for one, want to fight for something. I want to make a difference this time. I don’t think being another nameless face in the crowd is going to work for me this time.”


    “There will be more loss,” said Adam. “I know there will be.”


    “What do you say? We all have to die somehow? Well I know that if we’re fighting for our friends. If we’re fighting to help this world. Then I don’t think anyone would mind dying for a cause like that.”


    Adam let out a harsh laugh. “What happened to the guy who said ‘they’re just NPCs’?”


    “He listened to his friend,”


    Josh put out his hand toward Adam. For a moment Adam only stared at the red skin covered in black lines that looked like cooled down lava mixed with rolling magma. Then, he nodded. Adam reached up and took his friend’s hand as Josh pulled him to his feet.


    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    “Let’s go,” said Adam and the two raced down the tunnel to catch up.


    As they ran down the tunnel the smooth brown stone that was becoming all too familiar suddenly changed. The walls were now a gray stone, one of lightly colored bricks and even lighter mortar. Each stone was half the size of a full grown man. Adam could only guess at how thick they might be.


    The darkness was fought back by the dim lights of the glowing stones that were still lining the walls and ceiling. It was not bright in the tunnel, but neither was it dark. It was like the sun was hiding behind deep clouds, but threatening to break through at every passing moment.


    That was why the bright blue light was instantly noticeable to Adam and Josh. They saw it brightening the tunnel as it raced toward them. It took only a moment for them to understand as the flying gems rushed into their bodies. The rest of their party had just finished off so monsters.


    You have gained 200 experience points!


    The notification made the two men redouble their sprint and it wasn’t long before their party came into view. Mina, Drox, and the two wolves stood in the middle of the tunnel watching Skyeyes. His hands were clutching long vertical metal bars that dug into stone on either side. The bars were set on the side of the tunnel looking out at more stone. The were spaced only inches apart. Skyeyes’ eyes shined bright with tears of joy as his mouth moved fast.


    “–ere come. See me. Am f-family.”


    Adam and Josh stopped short of the group and walked slowly forward sensing the quietness in the tunnel. Only Skyeyes’ voice was present and it was little more than a whisper. The bars were in full view now. Deep within was darkness.


    Light was absent in this place; only shadows were cast down from the glowing stones on the outside of the prison cell. The light fought against the darkness in a losing battle gaining but a foot within the square room in the endless battle of light versus dark.


    Adam’s eyes adjusted quickly though and he saw that it was a room that spanned at least ten feet deep and just as wide. In the back corner huddle a group of shapes. He could feel as much as see the fear in them. They shook almost as a whole with frightened, violent tremors.


    Skyeyes gently coaxed them forward a word a time. “Come. No hurt. Family.” He urged them forward until finally one broke away and swept into the light. This one was not shaking but instead limped with each step as if it hurt to walk. When she came into the light her long silver hair was the first thing Adam noticed. Then he saw that she was as still as stone as she stood in front of Skyeyes. Her deep green eyes were surrounded by wrinkles, but they stared at Skyeyes with age.


    She moved forward and a scratchy wizened voice came in a quiet whisper from her lips. “Y-you are not corrupted.” It was no question. It was a statement.


    “Yes yes. Here to help.”


    She looked up with her huge green eyes that shined even in the dim light. There was a sadness there like an acceptance of fate. “There is no help.”


    Adam noticed the speech pattern of the small goblin almost instantly. She sounded nothing like Skyeyes. Her words came out in clear sentences. Her speech was slow and methodical like she was chewing on each word before she spoke it.


    “I-I help. Friends. They help.” Skyeyes’ eyes were wild. Adam could see the desperation even before he spoke.


    “The Jailer is not alone,” said the old goblin. “When one tries to enter the Jailer’s home,” she paused for a moment looking back toward the others still huddled in a corner before continuing. “More come. They come from other places. They are led by one of the massive ones. The only way to free us is to defeat the Jailer. The only way to kill the Jailer is to kill them all.” With that she moved back to the shadows. Skyeyes continued to call for her, but she just huddled into the corner with the rest.


    Adam thought about what she said. The Jailer was obviously the boss of this wing of the dungeon, but he couldn’t understand what she meant by the last part.


    “What did you see in the other tunnel?” asked Josh before Adam had a chance.


    Skyeyes turned around. His eyes were frantic. When he spoke it sounded as fast as a deer running from lightning. “Nothing. Doors and doors. No handles. Just big metal doors.”


    “So,” said Adam. “When we go toward the Jailer’s door, or enter the room or whatever we’ll trigger that other room. Assuming that’s the case we’ll be in for a hell of a fight against two of these big bastards and who knows how many corrupted goblins.”


    “Yep,” said Josh, “sounds like some sort of swarming trap.”


    “Should we try the other tunnel?” asked Mina.


    “No,” Skyeyes practically yelled. “No leave. My people. Family.”


    “Okay,” said Mina, holding her hands up. She started again in a calming tone like talking to someone who was in pain. “Okay, we will not leave them. We have to be careful though. It will do no good if we all die here.”


    Josh was pacing around with his hand on his chin. Adam noticed and saw him stop dead. It was so quick that Adam looked around expecting danger until a massive grin split across Josh’s face.


    “I think I have an idea,” said Josh.


    “What?” asked Adam.


    “It’s time for us to set a little trap of our own.”