It was the fire that had given them away. Three goblins were lazing around it, watching the deer carcass that was suspended over the flames on a stick slowly blacken.

“Where’s the rest of them?” Bordan whispered. They were in good cover and downwind of the creatures, but they still had to be cautious. Goblin ears were sharp.

“Maybe out hunting?” Salissa suggested.

In that moment one of the goblins yawned, then stood up and walked away from the fire. As he approached a large tree, he suddenly leaned down and disappeared.

“They must have a cave of some sort.” Leodin said. “Look how trampled the grass is over there, there’s definitely a lot of traffic.”

“Another nest?” Bordan asked, tensing.

“I doubt it.” Edwin said. “From what Gerrit said, it wouldn’t make sense for two to be in the same area, and we killed the shaman. My guess is the hunters found it, or maybe they took over the burrow of a direbeast.”

“Well, that’s good, right?” Leodin asked. “All we need to do is kill those two, then we can just sit by the hole and take them out one by one as they climb out.”

Bordan examined the area and didn’t answer. Instead, Edwin spoke up.

“If it’s a direbeast burrow, it might well have other exits. Also, some of them might still be out hunting and return when they hear a commotion. Let’s take out those two, then go in. We’ll see if we can get the drop on the rest of them. They might even be asleep.”

“They’ll have an advantage in there.” Bordan said. “It’ll be dark, probably narrow.”

“If it’s too narrow to fight, we’ll go back out again.” Edwin said. “But our job is to get rid of the ones that got away, and if they flee again, we’ll be chasing them around forever. We’ll go in, see if it’s big enough to fight in. If it is, the tunnels might work for us too, because they won’t be able to surround us like they could out here.”

Bordan didn’t look convinced.

“I can make light.” Salissa suddenly offered. “So we don’t need torches.”

Edwin was surprised, although he knew he shouldn’t be. Light was the first spell a mage learned, the one they practiced with. He had just gotten so used to her not being able to do the things he considered normal that he hadn’t thought of it.

“Why didn’t you use it before?” Bordan asked, curious.

“I can’t do it quickly, and we never really needed it. Lighting a torch was faster. But you probably don’t want to fight with a torch in hand, right? Especially if it’s narrow.”

“Good thinking.” Edwin praised her with a smile. “What do you say, Bordan?”

The former soldier sighed.

“Fine, we can go in. Let’s take out these two first, maybe that will raise the alarm anyway. Leodin, can you take one?”

The young marksman grimaced.

“I’m down to a handful of bolts. I could, but I’d rather save them…”

“Alright.” Bordan nodded. “We’ll just sneak up on them. Let’s go around wide, then towards that tree. We can attack from the direction of the hole so they can’t flee in there. Everybody happy with that?”

--- ----- ---

One goblin was leaning against a tree with his eyes closed, the other one was watching the meat with a bored expression. Finally, it looked like the bottom had reached the appropriate amount of char, and it walked over to flip it.

As it fiddled with the improvised spit, it heard leaves rustling from the direction of the hole. Expecting their other companion, it threw a look over its shoulder, opening its mouth to tell it that the meat would take a little longer, when the words got stuck in its throat.

Instead of their third, there was a human with a spear bearing down on it. It tried to shout an alarm, but the human’s weapon flashed forward, easily slipping through the ribs under its raised arm, piercing both lungs and the heart.

The other goblin heard a strange, wet gargle, and opened its eyes in annoyance. Was its companion trying to sneak in a bite of meat before it was ready? It paused when it saw the other goblin’s lifeless body slide off the human’s spear. Freshly awoken from a pleasant snooze, it never even got the chance to shake off the cobwebs when the point of a dagger slammed into its ear.

--- ----- ---

“Easy enough.” Edwin said as he stepped onto the clearing, wiping his dagger on the grass.

“No sentries.” Bordan said with a nod. “Nothing like the nest. No discipline, which means bad leadership.”

“Reassuring.” Edwin agreed, stepping up to the hole and peering down. It was wide enough for him to fit and led into the earth at an angle. Roots stuck out from the ceiling and sides, and with the darkness, he couldn’t see very far in.

“Definitely need light.” Edwin said. He turned to Salissa, offering his mace. “Do this one please.”

She had been correct; it took her a long time. Way longer than it reasonably should, but Edwin didn’t mind. It was probably mostly a lack of practice. Spells were tricky, and if you didn’t do them perfectly right, they failed. Not as spectacularly as rituals did, but still. Finally, the metal mace head began to glow in a pale blue light. Salissa expelled the breath she’d held unconsciously and opened her eyes, smiling at her handiwork.

“Would you look at that.” Bordan said appreciatively. “Much handier than a torch. Can you do my spear next?”

--- ----- ---

A few minutes later, the party was stacked up at the hole. Edwin went first, holding his glowing mace behind his shield so it wouldn’t give them away immediately. He climbed into the hole and slid down on his back. He had to help out with his hands and feet, as the hole was neither steep nor slippery enough, when suddenly his leg scraped against something hard. He scrabbled down a bit further, and the tunnel began to widen.

His eyes were starting to get used to the darkness, broken only by the dim light that escaped from behind his shield. Where higher up the walls had mostly been dirt, here they looked like they were made entirely of roots, ranging in thickness from as wide as his finger to as thick as his leg. The tree above had been large, but not this large…

As Bordan scrabbled out of the tight hole behind him, Edwin looked around with a frown. The roots seemed natural at first glance, snaking around each other randomly, but as he looked down the tunnel, he noticed that the walls were almost pefectly even, forming a straight passage. The large roots that made up the floor were strangely flat, running from side to side almost like…stairs…

Edwin pulled his mace out from behind his shield, the magical light brightening the tunnel.

“Edwin?” Bordan asked, seeing the strange look on his face as the large man turned around.

Edwin shone his light along the side of the tunnel, the weird roots forming a perfect wall without openings. Laying his hand against the roots, he felt the cold, hard material. He ran his fingers higher, to the point where the tunnel walls changed from the roots to dirt and slid them in the gap where the two materials met. The top of the wall was perfectly flat. Edwin took a deep breath.

“Edwin, what’s going on?” Bordan asked. The other two had also arrived, and they were huddled together at the top of the stairs.

“This isn’t a burrow, Bordan.” Edwin said, carefully running his fingers along the roots, so perfectly crafted. “They’re Pioneer ruins.”

The others looked around, speechless.

“…are you sure?” Bordan finally asked.

“Definitely.” Edwin nodded. “What looks like roots is a stairwell, made from Magestone. And look here.” He pointed back to the top of the structure, pulling out a handful of dirt.

“See the perfect, flat surface? I guarantee you, this is Pioneer-built.”

“What does that mean?” Leodin asked, voice nervous. “Do we keep going?”

Bordan shook himself, returning to the present. “Let’s climb back out, reevaluate the situation. We need to…”

A chittering of goblin speech came from further down the stairs. The adventurers whirled around. Edwin’s sharp eyes could barely make out the figure of a goblin standing on the stairs, looking at the humans with big, confused eyes. As Edwin turned towards it, the light of his mace illuminated their faces.

The goblin screeched, turning around and bounding down the stairs into the darkness. Edwin cursed, charging after the monster. Now that he was inside the stairwell, he had plenty of space. The ceiling was easily high enough, and the stairs were wide enough for two of him to walk side-by-side without issues.

He took several steps at once, catching up to the fleeing creature just as it reached the bottom of the stairs. It spit them out into a hallway leading left and right. The goblin had to slow down to take the corner, which finally got Edwin in range. His mace swung, and the goblin was smashed forwards into the wall, slumping down.

“Edwin!” Bordan hissed as his teammates came running down behind him.

From the right, the way the goblin had tried to run, several goblin voices rose in questioning tones. Then, one of them screeched. Edwin turned, shining the light of his mace through the doorway. It opened into a large room. What caught Edwin’s attention wasn’t the intricate designs of the walls or the high ceiling, however, but the sea of goblin eyes that reflected his light back to him.

He took his stance, lowering his shield as Bordan stepped up next to him, glowing spear at the ready. The former soldier was all business now, any trace of doubt gone from his voice.

“Leodin, cover our back. Salissa, ready yourself.”

The goblins charged, screaming bloody murder. The adventurers were happy to oblige.