Chapter 89: Elin Alone
The sounds of stone grating against stone woke Elin up with a start. She wasn't sure what had happened, only that she was still surrounded by darkness, and there had been a loud noise a moment ago.
She felt her heart hammering in her chest, unsure if she should do anything. She wanted to run, but couldn't remember the curvature of the stairs, and so couldn't be sure she wouldn't fall off. She also couldn't be sure what had caused the loud noise and couldn't see enough to adequately do anything about it.
Yet, as she did her best to calm her heart down, she started to hear other noises. Not anything she'd come to associate with the dungeon or that was similar to the noise she'd heard a moment ago, but rather like someone was whispering. She couldn't say what was being said, largely because the small amount she could catch clearly weren't in a language that she knew.
While she suspected it was goblins, she couldn't be sure and she also couldn't be sure if they were aware of her presence or not. Maybe if she understood what was being said she'd know, but it wasn't like she'd be able to do anything about it if she could understand them.
Yet, a light appeared nearby, silhouetting the stairs as well as figures down below her. As she found herself able to see now, she realized she was around two thirds of the way down the stairs, apparently too high for whoever had lit the light to be aware of her presence, but close enough that she could see them with the light they had going.
She watched them as they walked towards a hole in the ground, that she didn't remember being in the room before. Yet, she didn't try to get closer to the goblins at the moment. If nothing else, she wanted to be sure how many there were. She didn't know what was going on, but didn't want to do anything if it meant she was putting herself in more danger than she realized.
She watched, trying to keep her breathing as quiet as possible as she watched the goblins approach the hole. When they stopped to gaze down into it, she could only see five goblins. Four who were by the hole and one who seemed to be the leader, in that he seemed to be barking orders while standing away from the hole himself. She also couldn't help but notice he was the one holding the torch that gave her enough light to see.
She was happy that there didn't seem to be a bugbear around, and so was relieved at the situation. She might be able to stand a chance against them. At the very least, she suspected she need to act quickly, while they were still around the hole.
She didn't know how deep it was, but thought if she could knock some of the goblins into it, then she might be able to improve the odds against her significantly. Yet, the only way she could think of would be to use her magic and she'd have to say something verbal to cast any spell.