"S-Sis! HEEEEELP!"
A noise I'll never forget comes in that moment. One which freezes even my frozen heart. The little cackle of a goblin disappears along with the echoes of Rita's scream.
It has her.
"RITA!" Twin cries come from Tepis and Sierra and even I try to call out, only to succumb to coughs. Someone gets a Solar Gem out and baths the area in light. We stare out at each other, covered in white dust, like ghosts. Rita's nowhere to be found. All that's left is a trail on the dusty floor which very clearly shows a pair of little four-toed feet and a long skid mark. Desperate handprints in the rubble show where Rita tried to hold on. I watch Tepis and Sierra. The older sister doesn't think. She just goes after her family.
I don't blame her.
Tepis is frozen as she leaves. He looks at me as if asking for permission. Forcing myself to dry swallow the dust, I raise my hand and give him a thumbs up.
"I'm sorry. We'll meet up again later."
Then with an apologetic expression, he runs off into the darkness after the girls. I'm left alone in the debris, nursing a sore throat, and very bruised hands. Taking a sip of water to clear my mouth, I gaze up and narrow my eyes. Something's not right...
Hold on...did we fall through more than one floor?!
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My gaze sharpens and unfocuses over and over, trying to make out the edges in the dark. I don't have one of the Solar Gems with me, and a lot of the orange lamps, which light the dungeon, were damaged during the cave-ins. Just barely, I think I can make out multiple lines above the rubble. If I'm not mistaken then,
I think we're on the 4th Floor!
Technically, that's a good thing. I mean we were trying to get to the lower levels anyway. But Tepis doesn't know that...damnit I have to warn them! If there were mutants up there, who knows what's down here!
Quickly, I use Basic Tracking to navigate in-between the distant puddles of lamplight. Following the most minute scuffs in the white dust on the floor, I run after the others. However, they have a head start, and their levels are higher. Without a light to guide me, it's slow going. I hustle along as best as I can, trying not to imagine what the goblins would do with a small human child like Rita.
Is it cannibalism if we're not the same species?
Thoughts run through my head, keeping my company on my mad quest. I mentally check off a list of potential enemies we might run into, trying to recall some of the bosses and elite variants which people reported to me. It's been so long since I've fought goblins that I've forgotten. In my past life, I quickly slaughtered a few and moved on to hunting bigger prey. But I've heard the stories of what happens if a goblin nest which is mutating manages to successfully reach full maturity.
Evolution.
Hive Evolution.
If a leader type is born, it'll seek to leave the dungeon and conquer other territories. The worst fear of newbie towns. How did any sort of evolved variants manage to survive this long undetected? The Guilds should have been keeping a close watch on any goblin dungeons in the area. Even if it's early in the Calamity, they should be aware of the possibility by now.
The dusty tracks turn left and right as Sierra and Tepis try to keep up with Rita's kidnapper. A small spot of fresh blood appears like black juice under the low lighting. It's smeared on the corner of a sharp rock and I wince.
