Ch 20
Matt felt liberated as he savored what he knew was destined to be just a fleeting moment of peace while he walked toward the spot where they had first discovered the riverbed. The fact that he managed to cover this distance in half the time it had taken the previous day highlighted several issues. Foremost among them was the sluggish pace at which the group moved, which would make escaping an attacker a challenging endeavor. Additionally, it made Matt worry that he might be doing himself more harm than good by assisting the women, yet he couldn't envision abandoning them either.
Still, that's precisely what he had done when he accepted the deal with Tempormr, now that he had the time to reflect on his choices. Sure, the help he had received, which had awakened the women early, was necessary for the rescue to be fully successful, but it was beginning to feel empty. This was a first for Matt as he attempted to unravel his emotions about the situation. What he lacked was the realization that he had never before felt responsible for anyone else's well-being in his life. It was something he had unconsciously avoided throughout his life. Even with Bob, the bobcat, he had never felt accountable for its well-being; the animal was its own master, and in Matt's mind, they merely worked together for mutual benefit.
Matt's introspection was so intense that he found himself questioning his intentions toward a few of the women as he passed the spot where Maria had been rescued. Fortunately, by that point, more pressing matters occupied his mind as he fled from a small horde of monsters pursuing him. The fact that the rats, rabbits, boars, and even a few birds the size of his torso seemed more than happy to ignore each other and target only him was enough to confirm that the world's mechanics were fundamentally flawed. After all, at the very least, if the birds were hungry, the rats would make for a much easier and quicker meal than he would.
Yet, he was glad that things unfolded the way they did as he led the monsters on a wild chase, hoping to attract more pursuers along the way. If the women had been in a condition that Matt thought could handle a fight like this, he might have doubled back to let them gain some experience. However, they weren't ready for such a battle. Instead, he focused on the idea of forcing the goblins to clash with the monsters, following the path he had created during the attempted kidnapping. This was easier said than done, Matt found himself pushing his abilities to the limit, dodging the birds’ swooping attacks while staying ahead of the others.
This relentless pursuit continued as Matt covered one mile after another, feeling the sweat accumulating on his body. He cast his mind back to the days when he had first looked at enlisting in the army and pushed himself to persevere through those initial two-mile runs. Though he was never a particularly bad runner, he never felt the need to run two miles without reason. Yet there he was, motivated by the prospect of earning an extra $88 each month by passing a test that included push-ups, sit-ups, and a two-mile run. Driven by his tendency to push himself to extremes, he found himself chanting in his head that he would stop only when he was dead, placing one foot in front of the other repeatedly.
While Matt's military career had been short-lived, he never failed to live up to that mantra. No matter what challenges life threw at him, he just kept moving forward, one step at a time. He acknowledged it wasn’t the healthiest way to live, but it had worked for him, and he wasn't about to change something that was effective. He even found a bit of humor in the fact that, for the first time, there was a literal truth to the mantra: if he stopped now, he would likely die, as more and more monsters joined the chase.
Finally, he passed the area where the final clashes had taken place and continued onward, clueless about what awaited him. He had expected to encounter a large cave or even a cluster of huts built behind a shabby wall—not a modest hole in the ground that he had noticed only because a goblin emerged from it just as he rounded a corner. That goblin was followed by three more, who started to charge at Matt, only to freeze in terror when they caught sight of the massive number of monsters chasing him. Although this sight brought a brief smile to his face, a pressing question remained: Was this opening truly the entrance to the goblins’ settlement or merely a resting spot for the four goblins?
With only a few seconds to decide, Matt took the risk; knowing he was nearly at his limit, he barreled past the goblins and slid into the hole. Fortunately, it opened up almost immediately, revealing a subterranean cave spacious enough for three people to stand side by side. The cave clearly descended further as he heard the agonized cries of goblins who for some reason had chosen to stand their ground above him. That provided Matt just enough time—a mere half-second—to catch his breath before noticing the first of the rat monsters following him into the darkness, silently signaling him to keep moving.
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After a run roughly equivalent to a football field, Matt found himself confronted by a crude wall with a gate set in its center. The wall appeared to be constructed from fallen branches woven together in a circular pattern, with the gate's center designed to open if pushed or pulled with the right force. Although no guard was in sight, the structure was so effectively embedded in the cave that it blocked the path entirely. If there were any guards, Matt suspected they would be stationed at the opposite side of the entrance, busy operating the crude door as goblins came and went. Hoping that his charge would be enough to break through, he angled himself carefully to concentrate as much momentum as possible on his shoulder as he rammed into the center of the barrier.
When the collision occurred, Matt felt and heard several things simultaneously. First was the intense pain shooting from his shoulder, rendering it limp and spreading through the rest of his body. Next came the crunching sound as the gate flexed, splintered, and then held firm against his attempt to force it open. Then came a shout of surprise from the goblin who, for some reason Matt could only wonder at, opened the gate a moment later, shouting threats and brandishing a short spear. Matt couldn't have cared less, as he saw his chance for salvation and leapt through, receiving the spear to his limp arm as a thank-you before shoving the goblin out into the trailing pack of monsters.
The shrieks that followed were lost to Matt as he found himself facing three other goblins, each holding their own short spears. The pause that ensued lasted only a second as Matt noticed that beyond them, the path continued. He hurried to slip by just as a rat managed to climb into the area, quickly followed by three more. It didn’t matter that Matt was sure he was officially in over his head; he had no choice but to use the chaos of the situation to move forward. If he tried to retreat, he was certain he'd be eaten alive by rats, but if he moved forward, perhaps the rats and goblins would deal with each other for him.
That thought lasted only about 30 seconds as Matt broke into a massive opening that looked like it could have fit an entire football stadium inside it. Had he been in such a stadium, he would have been in the rafters, while below lay the seating area and field, both teeming with movement as tens of thousands of goblins swarmed. The noise from the chaos below was so overwhelming that by the time it reached Matt, it reminded him of the few times he had been dragged to a major sporting event by his father when he was younger. There was something about the sound of so many things blending together, transforming into nothing but white noise.
Still, this situation meant that the issues with the goblins were on a completely different scale than what he had considered possible. Moreover, it forced him to reconsider his entire perspective of what they truly were and how their society was structured. Yet one thought in his mind remained unshaken: these creatures were his enemies, and it was highly likely that for him to regain his freedom, many of them would need to die—even as he began to question whether such a course of action was realistic. However, none of that matters as he focused on deciding his next move.
At that moment, his options appeared stark: he could follow a path leading down to the massive crowd, retrace his steps to confront the monsters waiting behind him, or simply stand his ground and fight as they approached. Ultimately, he saw only one path that might grant him an eventual escape—and it was none of the obvious choices. Instead, Matt felt that hiding and waiting for the monsters to pass by was the safest and most prudent course. An added advantage was that this delay might give his minor regenerative abilities time to mend his injured arm and shoulder.
By a fortunate chance, he spotted a narrow path just wide enough for him to squeeze through, leading away from the overwhelming mass below. If he had to guess, he believed the path descended at about a 20-degree angle, and when compared with the route he’d taken to get there, the two formed roughly a 30-degree divergence. Without hesitation, Matt hurried down the passage, scanning his surroundings for a potential place to conceal himself. Only instead he heard the sounds of a group of goblins approaching further down the path, their raucous laughter mingling with the eerie echo of their steps.
Frantically Matt searched until at last in a secluded corner, he discovered a small square table adorned with various stone jars, roughly the size of a modest card table. What made it particularly suitable as a hiding place was that it appeared to have been hewn directly from the mountain, with the area beneath it purposefully hollowed out. A quick glance confirmed that the space was empty, and with all the speed he could manage, Matt dragged a lone stone stool halfway back into position just as the goblins arrived. They were carrying a strange, glowing light that added to the tense atmosphere as Matt tried to not even breathe as he waited for them to pass.
