Chapter 3

You seem to be walking down the steps for ages before your eyes adjust to the darkness. Eventually you reach the bottom, the staircase hallway opens up into a large stone room seemingly lit by a mysterious feint blueish glow. You can just make out another pathway at the far end and there are large cracks and broken stone along the walls. The air is thick with an unusual smell, not entirely unpleasant but it reminds you of the older men in the village when they haven't bathed in a while.

You grip your meager sword tightly as you walk into the room, ready for anything. Just as you reach the center of the cold dark room you spot something out of the corner of your eye. A creature emerges slowly from one of the deep cracks in the wall. You quickly clock it as a goblin, a short green-skinned monster. They are somewhat intelligent, often working in groups, laying traps for hunters and robbing them. However one goblin on it's own is barely a threat to someone as heavily trained as you have been all your teen years. You turn and face the goblin as it rushes you with a particularly fierce look in it's eyes. It is wearing only a tattered piece of cloth over it's waist, and it's body is covered in a layer of dirt and grime.

The creature is faster than you expect, and it's on you in a flash. You just as quickly get your guard up as it slashes at you with a dagger. Your blades meet with a clash and you are staggered and the surprisingly powerful blow from the tiny goblin. The room briefly fills with light as sparks fly and when the temporary blindness subsides you look at your sword and see it has shattered. How has this lone stout goblin hit you with such power? Are the monsters in the dungeon stronger than those on the surface?

Your training kicks in and you switch stances to defend yourself unarmed, but you fear you will not even survive the first night in the dungeon. You think, how have all the warriors sent in here survived, how have the monster in here not just left the dungeon. This goblin was so close to the entrance with nothing blocking it's path, why did it remain inside?

With another flash the goblin grabs one of your legs and yanks it out from under you. You are momentarily dazed when your head slams back against the hard dungeon floor. The goblin leaps up on top of your, pinning you to the cold stone. It holds it's rough dagger to your throat, and you expect this to be where you die...