A few moments ago.
"QUEEII!"
The goblin screech echoed from the cavern depths.
"UGHAA!"
SLICE!
A wet, tearing sound followed.
"This way, my lady,"
A woman's voice cut through the chaos.
"I... Haa!... can't... keep... up," another female gasped for breath.
The first woman, who just slew two goblins that were trying to ambush her and her companion, didn't wait for a reply. Her long, raven black hair, tied back in a practical, if messy, braid, whipped around as she scanned the tunnel ahead. Her face, streaked with dirt and sweat, was sharp with determination.
"You must!" she insisted, grabbing the other's arm.
"We need to find a way out of here," she said as she pulled her friend along.
"But... but... the goblins..." The second woman, a blonde with a terrified expression, stammered, her eyes wide as she looked back down the dark tunnel they'd just fled.
"Stay with me, my lady," the dark-haired woman urged, her voice a low, urgent whisper. Her purple eyes, visible even in the gloom, held a glint of steel that belied her ragged appearance. "Focus on my steps. We can lose them in the lower tunnels if we're lucky."
"I'm scared," the blonde whimpered, her grip on the other woman's arm tightening.
The dark-haired woman sighed, a flash of frustration crossing her features before being replaced by a weary resolve.
"Fear is a luxury we can't afford right now. Now, move!"
She practically dragged the blonde behind her, their bare feet slapping against the cold, damp stone floor of the goblin warren. The air grew thicker, the stench of unwashed bodies and stale food heavy in their lungs.
"Sylvana... I think I hear them again," the blonde whimpered.
Sylvana, for that was her name, risked a glance over her shoulder. Nothing but darkness.
"Keep moving," she said, her tone leaving no room for argument.
They had to keep moving; they had to escape this hellhole.
Sylvana's mind raced, trying to make sense of the events that led to here.
Everything was fine two days ago. She and her lady, the princess, were on their way to the capital for her wedding. The carriage was passing through a forest when suddenly they were attacked.
A normal bandit attack that got repelled with ease. The princess's guards were elite soldiers.
However, just as they were about to finish off the last bandit, a strange light engulfed the carriage where she and the princess were.
The world twisted.
The next thing she knew, they were in a thick forest with massive trees.
The guards were gone. The carriage was gone, and only she and the princess were standing in the open with nothing but the equipment Sylvana had on her.
The princess was a kind soul, a noble-born who had never known hardship. But the cold forest didn't care about the nobility.
They stumbled through the alien wilderness for half a day, hungry and freezing. Sylvana, using the survival skills her father had forced upon her, managed to find some edible roots and build a small, pathetic fire inside a cave that was hidden behind a thick bush.
They had found shelter, a chance to survive the night.
But the cave wasn't empty.
It was a trap.
At the first light of dawn, before they could even realize what had happened, a hunting party of goblins found them.
Sylvana didn't take the goblins seriously at first.
Why would she? She was an elite, and they were the lowest of the low, a pest, a nuisance. She had cut down dozens of them during her training.
She was wrong.
These goblins were ten times stronger than the ones she faced back home. And they were smart. Just the rocks they threw were like cannonballs; their crude weapons felt like steel in their hands.
They were easily overpowered.
Sylvana fought with everything she had, her sword a blur of motion, but for every goblin she cut down, two more seemed to take its place. And the princess... poor thing, she tried her best to support, but she was a noble, not a fighter.
Sylvana was injured, a deep gash on her thigh bled freely, staining her trousers a dark red. Her sword arm was getting heavy.
Fortunately, she knew a few earth spells and managed to seal the entrance of the cave and found a tunnel that led deeper underground, and now they were trying to find another way out.
Sylvana held the princess's arm, pulling her forward, her mind racing.
"We must keep moving, my lady," she said, her voice steady despite the exhaustion gnawing at her. "The tunnel slopes down here. If we can find a fissure, a way to the surface, we might be able to escape."
The princess, her face pale and tear-streaked, nodded mutely. Her silk dress, once a symbol of her status, was now torn and muddy, a sad mockery of her former self.
Suddenly, Sylvana stopped dead. She held up a hand, signaling for silence.
There were two paths ahead, both were dark, and unable to see the end.
"We need to choose," Sylvana whispered. "Left or right."
The princess looked between the two tunnels, her face a mask of terror.
"I... I don't know. They both look the same."
"Trust me," Sylvana said, her purple eyes narrowing. She closed her eyes and focused on the subtle drafts of air, the faint scents that wafted from each tunnel.
The left path smelled of damp earth, of mold, of wet stone. The stench of the goblin warren. But the right path… it had a different scent. Fainter. A hint of pine needles, of fresh air.
"This way," she decided, pointing to the right. "I think it leads up."
She pulled the princess forward, her heart pounding in her chest. Every instinct screamed at her to run, to flee, but she forced herself to move with a deliberate, quiet pace. They were prey in a hunter's den, and noise was a death sentence.
The tunnel was narrow, the ceiling low. Sylvana had to crouch, her muscles protesting. The princess whimpered behind her, her fear a palpable wave of heat against Sylvana's back.
They moved for what felt like an eternity, the silence broken only by their ragged breaths and the distant, echoing drips of water. Then, they saw it.
A flicker of light ahead. Faint, but unmistakable.
Hope, a dangerous and fragile thing, bloomed in Sylvana's chest.
"The surface!" she whispered, a new surge of energy in her limbs. "Come on, my lady! We're almost there!"
They broke into a desperate run, their bare feet slapping against the cold stone. The light grew brighter, the scent of pine and fresh air stronger.
But sadly, they let their guard down a little and failed to see that the ground beneath them had ended.
The princess, running blindly, didn't see the sudden drop. She let out a terrified shriek as she plunged into the darkness.
"PRINCESS!!!" Sylvana screamed.
Without a second thought, Sylvana lunged forward, her hand shooting out to grab her lady's arm. Her fingers brushed against silk, then found purchase. She managed to shield the princess as they fell onto a sloped path that led into a wide, open cavern.
The impact was jarring. Sylvana gritted her teeth, her shoulder taking the brunt of the fall as she twisted to protect the princess. Pain flared up in her back, but she ignored it, her focus solely on the whimpering noblewoman beneath her.
They slid down the rough-hewn slope, a tangle of limbs and torn fabric, until they came to a stop in a heap at the bottom of a vast, circular cavern. The ceiling was high, lost in shadows.
Fortunately, the fall wasn't that high, or else they both would be dead.
Unfortunately...
"QUEEII!"
The goblins were waiting for them.
At least a dozen of the green-skinned vermin emerged from the tunnels around the cavern, their yellow eyes gleaming with cruel delight. They were armed with a motley collection of rusty swords, jagged spears, and crude clubs. A particularly large one, wearing a mismatched set of dented armor plates, stood in the center, a wicked-looking cleaver in its hand.
The chief.
Sylvana gritted her teeth and used the last bit of her mana to cast a small earth spell.
The spell was used to create a small hole in the wall, enough for one person to hide in.
"Princess, in here! Now!" she yelled.
She shoved the princess into the small hole.
"Don't come out until I say so, or I'll tie you to a tree myself for a week."
"But..."
She didn't let the princess finish. She sealed the hole with an earth wall, trapping the noblewoman inside. Only a small hole at the top was left for air.
Sylvana stood up, her face set like stone. She took a deep breath, ignoring the pain in her thigh and the exhaustion that was a heavy blanket on her soul.
She was a protector. And she would protect her princess, even if it cost her her life.
"Come at me, you green pieces of shit," she spat, raising her sword, its edge gleaming faintly in the dim light of the glowing fungi that dotted the cavern walls.
"I'll have your heads as a trophy."