Fantasy and Myth

The Goblin Gate

The door had a do not enter sign posted behind crossing diagonal lines of yellow caution tape. Considering it was a haunted house on Halloween, Trey ignored the sign and went through the door. A swirling red mist wrapped around him as he crossed the threshold and stumbled blindly forward, crashing to the ground painfully on his shoulder.

When he got back to his feet, Trey quickly realized he'd ended up somewhere else entirely. Glowing crystals of bright reddish-orange grew from the walls and lit the surrounding cave in the color of molten rock. He reached out and touched one wall to be certain it was real and not a reproduction for the sake of the haunted house; it felt real.

Shaking his head at his stupidity in thinking he'd been transported somewhere, Trey decided to look around and see what this portion of the haunted house had to offer. The stone of the ground had either formed naturally or had been skillfully cut into terraces, allowing him to go down a series of levels resembling wide steps. The passage turned, and a portion of the wall was open into another chamber.

Trey's breath caught in his throat as he beheld a massive city. Built underneath the largest of the glowing crystal formations, the city was a mass of jagged metal structures and thin bridges of wood crisscrossing between buildings and towers in a manner similar to the slender lines of a spider web. Not all of the buildings rose from the ground as some of the hung from the ceiling, only connected to the rest of the city by the bridges and the occasional spiral staircase.

Throughout the city were tiny folk. Three to four feet tall, the green-skinned beings had glowing red eyes, rounded heads, and elongated ears narrowing to a point. The fiendish smiles some of them wore were nearly as wide as their entire face, and the grins revealed dozens of needle sharp teeth. From the fantasy games he'd played online, Trey recognized them as goblins. A few of the goblins wore metal armor, but the vast majority were clothed in tattered cloth or flexible leathers.

He realized this was not part of the haunted house and he'd somehow stumbled into a goblin city. Turning around to go back the way he'd come, Trey found the pathway blocked by a goblin. Staring at him with its smoldering gaze, the goblin carried a staff in one of its clawed hands. Hanging by thin chains from crosspieces near the top of the staff were trinkets and small skulls of birds and rodents that rattled whenever the goblin moved the staff. Dressed in a hooded robe of blood red, the short creature had the look of a shaman.

A thunderous crash of a gong sounded across the city below, startling Trey. He glanced back quickly before returning his gaze to the shaman. Nothing was happening that he could see, but his desire to leave was growing in urgency.

The shaman waved a hand at the stone wall, a green energy mist wrapping around its claws. The rock pulled back like a curtain to open a passage that hadn't existed a moment before. The shaman entered the tunnel, and motion for Trey to follow.

Trey was about to ignore the invitation, but the sound of running feet coming down the pathway from the door changed his mind. Hurrying after the shaman, he took shelter in the tunnel, ducking down in order to follow, for at near six feet in height, he was much taller than the goblin.

The shaman closed the passage almost entirely, leaving a small gap for Trey to see out of and watch as hundreds of goblins swarmed down from the door between their realm and the haunted house.

The shaman was speaking while holding a glowing stone. The stone changed color, and when it shifted to green, the goblin's words became understandable.

"Is this your language?" the shaman asked.

"Yes," Trey confirmed.

"A gateway opens between our worlds once a year," the shaman explained. "It's now dawn, and the gate is sealed until next year."

"What?" Trey questioned in horror. "I'm stuck here for a year?"

"Yes," the shaman confirmed, nodded his head slowly. "A human crossing to our realm may be important. Come with me."

The shaman used his magic to push back the wall and create a tunnel deeper into the rock. He walked steadily onward, and Trey saw little choice but to follow.

Author's Note:  Halloween Vault Winner - Day 22 Challenge: Stranded on the Other Side