“I’ll come back if I can’t get them out on my own,” I whispered to Ersabet and Delen. “You two just sit tight for a few minutes. Keep an eye on the left tunnel in case any of those goblins wake up.”

  They nodded, and I turned away and walked into the central tunnel. Like the last one, this tunnel had a steady descent, bringing me closer to the heart of the earth. I didn’t want to think about how many tons of dirt and rocks rested above me.

  As I travelled, I could faintly hear some evidence of goblins ahead. The tunnel was long and not even close to straight, but I closed the distance as quickly as I could. I was hearing two different sounds. One was nearby – two or three goblins in conversation – the other was a distant clamor of many.

  The tunnel turned to the left in a few yards, and I heard the voices coming from just around the corner. It was now or never.

  I activated Enshrouded, and my body, including the sword I held, became swathed in shadow. In these dark tunnels, I would be nearly invisible. I summoned my Redoubter’s Blade for this, which gave me one more daily use of all my skills, so it would buy me another thirty seconds of Enshrouded if I needed it.

  In shadow form, I slowly rounded the corner and saw two goblins arguing. They were about ten yards away.

  “You promise night fun two moons ago!” one of the goblins exclaimed. I think this goblin was a female.

  “I was tired. Tired!” the other goblin replied. “We go. We missing sacrifice.”

  She slapped him hard in the face. “We go to my bed. Then watch sacrifice.” She pointedly looked down, and the male goblin followed her eyes where a dagger was held tip-first against his precious jewels.

  He grunted a response, which she took as yes, and the two began to walk my way.

  I had a decision to make. If I let these two pass, then Ersabet and Delen would have to deal with them. It would also put an enemy to my back, which I very much did not want. The idea of cold-blooded murder made me feel terrible, but I did hear them mention the word ‘sacrifice,’ and I knew just what that meant. It had to be now. If I didn’t kill them, Ersabet would.

  I let them pass me. I took out the female goblin first with a hard slice to the back of her neck. By the time the male goblin noticed that his toxic lover was toppling to the ground, he was dead too.

  Killing them was so easy. I wanted to feel bad about it, like I had expected I would, but I didn’t. I did what had to be done. Mercy was always worth seeking, except when it came to saving the life of someone I cared about. Mercy could take a hike today.

  I didn’t feel like rummaging around in their meager pockets, so I let them lie where they were. If other goblins came this way, I’d just kill them too. And I wasn’t worried about anyone coming up from behind with Ersabet watching my back. And Delen was there too, I guess.

  My cautious but quick journey continued, racing against the clock. Val informed me I had fifteen seconds of shadow left, so I picked up my pace.

  “Enemies ahead,” Val said. “In large numbers. Be cautious.”

  I followed her advice and crouched low. Looking ahead down the long tunnel, I could see a hazy blue light at the end. There was movement – goblins backlit by the strange light. Reminding myself that I was nearly invisible, I pushed forward. As I did, the silhouette of the few goblins I had seen vanished as they stepped out of view.

  The sound of chattering goblins increased, and the tunnel widened with each step until it opened into a large, underground cavern. Another goblin passed by about ten yards ahead of me, following a path downward into the base of the cavern.

  When I reached the cavern’s threshold, I could see that it was lined with tiered pathways spiraling downward, and I spotted a few more dark entrances to other tunnels connected to the cavern. A gentle blue light illuminated the entire cavern and everything within; the source was a massive, glowing crystal, at least thirty feet tall, resting at the cavern's base. A horde of goblins surrounded it, some fighting for position, some chanting in unison, while others bowed to the crystal in supplication.

  Near the base of the crystal were my two friends, Kitz and Tabby – their hands and feet crudely bound. The goblins around them danced with a ritualistic glee.

  My first charge of Enshrouded expired, and I reactivated it immediately. Then, I turned around and sprinted back toward Ersabet and Delen. I couldn’t pull this off alone.

  It took me less than a minute to reach them, and when I did, I scared the piss out of them. My shadow expired about ten seconds ago, so they didn’t notice me until I was close. The sight of me appearing out of nowhere, sprinting toward them as fast as I could, gave them both a fright. But they didn’t scream, so credit for that.

  “We’re in trouble,” I said. “There are about a hundred goblins gathered in a cave down there. One of these glowing crystals is in it, but the thing is huge, at least twenty feet tall. I’m pretty sure they worship it, and I have a bad feeling our friends are the next offering. The goblins have them tied up on the ground near the crystal.”

  “Hundreds?” Ersabet asked. “That is far too many for us to handle.”

  “I know, okay.’ I took a breath to calm myself. “Come see for yourselves. The path is safe, and we’ll be able to stay hidden for the most part. We have to at least try to come up with a plan before we abandon them. I have two more uses of Enshrouded by the way.”

  Ersabet seemed to be considering when Delen surprised me. “Let’s go,” he said. “It sounds like we should hurry, too.”

  “We should.” Without waiting for Ersabet to answer, I started my quiet jog back down the tunnel. Delen followed, and although her footfalls were gentle, I could hear her coming from behind. As I wasn’t sprinting this time, it took about two minutes to reach the cavern.

  We stood where the tunnel mouth opened into the rocky cavern. There were no goblins nearby, as all of them were further below, among the tiered walkways leading down to their holy gem.

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  Things had changed in my absence. No longer were my friends lying on the ground. No, they were now being strung up by their wrists, hung from a makeshift frame.

  We had to act fast. “Any ideas?” I whispered.

  “I’m sorry, John,” Ersabet said, ‘there is nothing we can do that won’t endanger us all.”

  “I hate to admit it, but the blue one is right,” Delen said. “There are just too many of them. If we tried to fight our way down, we’d be dead before we made it halfway.”

  They were right, and I knew it. I had known this was the case before I had run back to them. I guessed I had just wanted to hear someone else say it. We couldn’t save Kitz and Tabby. They were going to cut open right before my eyes.

  Just like Tara.

  I grit my teeth in anger. I wouldn’t let that happen again. There was always a way. There had to be!

  “Val, if you’re hiding any abilities or can help in any way, now’s the time to do so.”

  “Ethan, you know that my ability to physically interact with the world is minimal. Furthermore, I resent your accusation that I have been hiding abilities from you. I don’t know what you’re mushy mind considers an ‘ability’ until I do it.”

  “You have access to the zero-point energy field. At least locally. I know this about you, Val. I’m sure it means you can do all sorts of magic. You once told me that you could enhance my skills and abilities, remember? Can you do that now? Make my Enshrouded ability last longer?”

  “If I had the energy to do so, yes, I could,” she said, “but as you know, I am running on fumes. I can’t enhance your abilities right now. I’m sorry, Ethan.”

  My mind spun with potential ideas. There had to be something Val could do.

  “Can you make it to where others can see you?” I thought quickly to her.

  “That would require a substantial amount of power, and even then, it would not be easy. While in your mind, I can alter a few neurons to make you see me, but to be visually present in the real world, I would have to shape the light and particles in the surrounding air to create my avatar. As you can imagine, that would be most difficult.”

  She had just given me an idea, but it was going to be a hard sell. “Can you do it now? There’s light everywhere from that crystal. Can’t you redirect it and scare the goblins away?

  She sighed. “Since I have promised to be honest with you, even if it’s a bad idea, I will say this. Yes, I could do something like that, but from then on, I would be of no use whatsoever. I could use the last of my power to attempt the feat, but what’s a light going to do? They’ll be more likely to bow down to the light than to run.”

  She was right, of course. “What about a voice? Can you create sound?”

  “Hmmph, that is a tall order, Ethan. Sound cannot be created from light or particles. Sound is a vibration, a mechanical wave. It can’t be created out of thin air, I would need…”

  Val stopped talking, and I held my breath. She was thinking long and hard about something.

  “I can surmise,” she finally said, “that it would be possible to create sound in this room by altering the frequency at which all the crystals in this cave vibrate. In theory, I could control those vibrations to speak to the goblins.”

  ” Well, there we go,” I thought to her. “Do it.”

  “No.”

  “Yes.”

  “This will require me to use up the last of my energy reserves. Anything useful I can do for you now, like locating enemies, would no longer be possible for me to do. The main quest must come first.”

  I stood and walked back toward the tunnel, not wanting to be silently scowling next to Delen and Ersabet. “You are going to do this, Val. You have to!”

  “Why?” Val asked. “Tell me why I must do this?”

  “Because it’s the right thing to do, Val.”

  A hand landed on my shoulder. It was Ersabet with deep concern in her eyes.

  “Don’t worry about me right now,” I said. “Just give me a minute.”

  “The right thing to do,” Val countered, ‘would be to leave this place, focus on your mission, and allow me to remain useful.”

  I couldn’t take it. I crouched down and gripped my hair. There had to be some way to get through to her!

  “I know you don’t want to hear this,” Val said. “But if I did as you ask, it would surely reveal my presence to the others, and that is unacceptable.”

  I snorted a derisive laugh. “No, letting our friends die is unacceptable. Val, if you have grown to care for me in any way, please do this. If this somehow leads them to know you exist, we’ll make sure they keep their mouths shut. And, I understand that any effort on your part will weaken you, but I’ll pick up the slack. I’ll be careful, Val. I’ll keep us safe until you’re recharged. I promise.”

  “That is not a promise you can keep, Ethan.”

  “It’s all I can give you, Val.” I felt tears growing in my eyes. “Please,” I whispered. “I need you. We all do.”

  I felt a familiar hand land on my shoulder again. “I’m here, John,” Ersabet said. “What do you need?”

  Before I could speak, the light in our immediate area was swept away, like dust caught in a vacuum. As darkness surrounded us, I followed the trail of light to the top of the crystal, where more tendrils of blue light met it.

  My mouth hung open in shock, and I slowly came to my feet, Ersabet rising with me.

  “What’s happening?” she asked, a touch of fear in her voice.

  I barely heard her as I watched the coalescing light above the crystal take on a familiar form.

  The goblins below us were frozen in place, shocked that their apparent deity was actually doing something for once.

  The light continued to shape itself in Val’s likeness, making the venomous redhead look like an angelic being born of starlight.

  Delen took a few steps back, but his eyes never left the scene before him. By now, nearly all the goblins were bowed down in supplication.

  The air around us began to hum, and I swore I could feel a strange energy vibrating throughout the cave.

  Val’s shining simulacrum raised her arms. “Fear not, my children, and listen.” Her voice sounded alien, ethereal, and her words echoed throughout the cave. “In darkness you were born, yet you sought the light. I have witnessed your devotion. You have brought sacrifices, which pleases me, but I require more of you. I require your obedience. Obey me, and in light you shall live for eternity.”

  Val paused and surveyed her audience. Each and every goblin had their face pressed firmly to the ground, unwilling to gaze upon their god.

  “If you wish to be one with the light, then lift your head and see me,” Val said.

  One by one, the goblins lifted their heads from the ground and looked upward. Many had to hold a hand up to shade their eyes from Val’s brilliance.

  “I have no more need of sacrifices. Untie and let loose those you have captured. Do this, and I will know you truly wish to serve me.”

  Immediately, the closest goblins rushed to Kitz and Tabby and cut them free. So many goblins were trying to help those closest to my friends that they had to form a ring around them while they finished unbinding them. Once that was done, the goblins fled a safe distance from the two humans and bowed in prostration to their glowing god.

  Tabby and Kitz stood there for a few seconds, unsure of what to do, but eventually Tabby grabbed Kitz by the hand and started running up the nearest pathway, one of many that circled the cavern.

  Ersabet pointedly looked at me, and I couldn’t ignore it, so I turned my gaze to her.

  “This is you,” she said. “How are you doing this?”

  “What?” Delen said. “I’ve seen John’s magic, and it’s nothing compared to this.”

  “It is him,” she hissed as she stared daggers into my eyes.

  “Not now,” I said. “I’m going to get our friends, and we’re getting the hell out of here. Don’t move.”

  I activated Enshrouded and ran down the winding path to catch Tabby and Kitz before they went out a different tunnel. I almost missed a turn, but realized at the last minute that it would take me to the same platform they were on.

  I stopped in front of them just as my shadows expired.

  They both skidded to a stop and stared at me in shock. Tabby lunged forward, embracing me in a tight hug.

  “No time,” I whispered. I grabbed her hand and then Kitz’s, and we ran away as fast as we could.