Squib Ep.19 - Nightmare of Nightmares
(Start at the beginning here)
As the strange girl went about her strange business, Squib clung to the shadows of a nearby nook. The old places of the swamp, with their old gods, and even older mysteries were things best left alone. There had been no shortage of curious Goblin who’d met his end toying with places, powers, or things that no Goblin had any right to be toying with. Not that the flow was ever stemmed, but Squib at least had survived on nothing if not his principles.
More concerning for Squib was not those things with which he had the ability to refrain from involving himself, but rather those things that might insist on involving themselves with him. He knew the human girl was largely ignorant of the Bogger threat that infested this place but for Squib it was not so easily ignored. Perhaps that had something to do with his past encounters with the little devils. They were a menace even by Goblin standards- the Goblin of Goblins if he should deign to bless them with such high praise in villainy. They were small in stature, and beyond stupid much of the time, but the sheer number of them, and with a fanatical aggression for anyone not of their own kind, the swarms that could spring out of the ruin could wake a goblin out of his madness. Their claws were needly, their teeth razor sharp, and they had noses capable of discerning night from day.
Squib hated that last feature most given much of a smart Goblins plan was based in the safety of shadows. Which was why he’d sooner be done with this place than delay any unnecessary minutes. Boggers were the things of nightmares, and a Goblin never dreamed sourly of anything else before. As assuredly as Squib was now hiding in shadow, there was always a chance of finding a Bogger hiding in the shadow of that shadow.
Nervously, Squib checked that place, and not for the first time. He considered calling out, prompting the girl to work faster, maybe threatening to leave her here altogether. But it wouldn't serve him to abandon her now. The additional noise wouldn't help, though by now, Squib was sure it wouldn't hurt either. Undoubtedly some stray Bogger had come upon their trail through the halls of the ruin, sniffed eagerly at the foreign scent of a human, and the more familiar scent of a goblin. Gotten curious and bristled with contempt, and even now was edging ever closer to discover them in this chamber. Squib checked the entryway just to make sure but found it devoid of activity.
“Must hurry!” Squibs hushed voice echoed around the room, drawing Bandana’s attention in a moment of alarm that faded with the comprehension of what she’d heard. Without response she returned to her investigation. Squib weighed the woman's dagger, and began twirling it nervously about his fingers.
He heard the softest of scraping noises, the subtle sniffing of air. Small spindly fingers curled around the edge of the entryway as a squat little Bogger edged quietly into the room. The dagger in ceased its tumbling, coming to rest handle first in the tight grip of Squib’s hand. He held his breath, becoming silent as the air and still as the walls. His eyes narrowed, the mask of dog-like murder transforming his features.
The Bogger moved cautiously into the room, quiet as a cat, casually, with curiosity, and the confidence of prowling its own territory. Completely unaware of Squib waiting in the wing of its demise. It’s eyes were focused on the woman working by the statues- She, even less aware than the Bogger for all that was about to unfold.
“Ah-ha!” Bandana’s soft voice carried across the room causing the Bogger to slink back a fraction, reconsider its approach, and edge slightly closer to one side of the room where the pool of torchlight was weaker. “It’s The Lady,” She announced, as though explaining something for Squib to hear. “Definitely The Lady!” Squib was not well accustomed to ‘The Lady’, nor did he care right now as he stalked the errant Bogger with his eyes. He tracked the little demons path, glancing at Bandana, and doing calculates that conjured up predictions of events in his mind.
Bandana, meanwhile, was busy considering the outstretched hand of The Lady’s statue, and running something over in her mind. Squib slipped from his shadow, soft as a shift of fabric hanging in a calm breeze, and the stalker suddenly became himself stalked by a monster worthy of its own nightmare.
“Yes,” Bandana seemed to assure herself. She placed something on the hand and turned triumphantly to inspect the altar. The faintest shimmering of an incandescent light sparkled across its surface, reflecting in equal measure off the round orbs of the Boggers bedazzled eyes. Squib found himself equally distracted but only for an instant as the event presented itself as no better opportunity. He darted forward, lunging through the air to come down on the Boggers back with both hands and feet. Two sudden strikes with the dagger between its shoulder blades, and a quick drawing of the knife's edge around the throat with its head pulled back to silence any screams. It was over in an instant with barely any time for Bandana to react.
Squib and Bandana exchanged a momentary glance before the coalescing energy across the alter formed into a central ball of power. The room dimmed, then burst in a brilliant radiance of light that, for an instant, returned the room to some semblance of its former glory. As Bandana stared at the altar, blinking away the exposure to lay eyes on a trinket that had spontaneously appeared, Squib’s eyes now roamed the walls and ceilings above. Where before he had seen unique craftsmanship fitting the broader design of the temple, and the deceptive shadows of dancing firelight forming strange but unalarming shapes, he now saw a dozen stunned and star struck Boggers, clinging to the stonework, and rubbing their eyes.
“Boggers!” Squib growled, pointing. “Run now, fly now!”
(Continue to Ep.20)
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