Chapter 22: Goblin Slaying Time!

 I had never played ‘Red Light, Green Light’ on a slide before.

I tried to cast some ice barriers on the parts that I want to slide down to shield me when the statue turns its head, but it turns out that magic doesn’t work on this slide. The statue turns its head to me again, I don’t want to find out what will happen if it catches me moving.

I’m not a master at this children’s game, but at least I know how it works. Of course, you can move when ‘It’ shouts “Green Light”, and you will have to stop when ‘It’ shouts “Red Light”. Well, I’m not sure on how to stop when the statue shouts “Red Light”.

I tried on counting on how long does the ‘Green Light’ lasts. The statue turns its head to the wall, “Green Light…” It spoke.

One second has passed…

Two seconds has passed…

Three seconds has passed…

Four seconds has passed…

Five seconds has passed…

“Red Light!” The statue said as it turned its head to me. So, now I know that I have five seconds to move. I am good at standing still like a boulder, but I’m not sure that I am good at standing upright on a slide.

I decided to squat and move down the slide slowly, I have to pray that I won’t slip and fall as the statue shouts “Red Light”. The slide was slippery for me to slide down if I made a wrong move, I started to walk down at the corners, grabbing onto any part of the wall to sustain me. And it is difficult to prevent myself from slipping when it is ‘Red Light’.

So far, everything is going horribly smooth.

At this pace, I can move about a meter on every green light. And the statue will take exactly five seconds as well to check on my movements. And during those five seconds, my heart felt like it was going to drop out from my chest. I kept moving, praying at every moment that I won’t slip and slide. I don’t want to know what will happen if I do.

After ten or so ‘Green Lights’ (yes, I know that I’m a slow car), I am halfway down the slide. I might actually make it! The statue turns its head to the wall, I started to move again, way quicker this time. And at that moment, my balance decided to fail me.

I slipped down, it all seemed to happen in slow motion. I slid down about ten times the speed of my ‘squatting down’ strategy. The good news? This is faster, I am in fact almost down there. The bad news? I can’t stop myself, and the statue is turning its head to me.

Come on, come on, I need to make it! I can’t fail now! “Red Light!” The statue turned its head. I reached the bottom, but with the statue looking at me as I did it.

This is bad, I thought.

The statues’ eyes now glowed blood red. It raised its hand, which sprung out a glowing spear. And I didn’t stay to find out what will it do to me.

I rushed to the door, with a five-meter-tall statue right behind me. I kept sprinting down the stairs leading deeper into the dungeons. I heard loud footsteps behind me, I think that the statue had managed to get through the doors, despite it being way taller than the doors.

I had reached a dead end, and the statue’s footsteps are getting closer. Think, Edward, Think. How do I face something that huge? This isn’t like Pyro Rhinoceros; the statue is way intelligent. And I am literally cornered right now.

Thud.

I had stepped on something wooden… I looked down, and noticed that I am stepping on a wooden hatch. I opened it, and there is nothing but darkness down there. Well, compared to getting attacked by an angry statue, this is way better.

I leaped into the darkness, with which I predicted, with the statue stomping the floor, humiliated that I managed to get away. I fell into a pool of freezing water. It isn’t deep, but it is deep enough to break my fall. I swam out to warm land, I shivered and sighed in relief. I am really deep into the dungeons of the palace right now.

There are torches illuminating the darkness here, so I wouldn’t need the torchlight that I had made. I have a feeling that the Orb of Wishes is somewhere down here, I had gotten past so many obstacles now, even though that was very easy, I don’t want to know what is next if there are any. A faint white light appeared at the end of the hall. I sprinted towards the light; I have a feeling that the intruder is here right now.

I was about to say “DROP YOUR WEAPONS! HANDS IN THE AIR!”, until I saw the intruder.

“I think you guys had scammed me.” A raspy voice spoke, “This operation is not as thrilling as the vampire said.” I crept behind the closest rock as listened. “We will never scam.” Another voice replied, “Now, did you manage to find the Orb yet?” “Oh yeah!” The raspy voice replied. I crept along to see the intruder, “You see that? That glowing piece of crystal?”

I almost yelped when I saw his appearance, the intruder was short, about the height of a ten-year-old child, he had pointy ears and nose, he had pale grey skin, and has eyes similar to animals like frogs. The intruder, isn’t human. He is a goblin.

He seemed to be talking to a campfire that he had made, a small circle from stones that surrounded a fire. “Well done, Oleander.” The voice in the fire spoke. “Bring it to us, and you will participate in more thrilling missions.” Oleander the goblin chuckled, “Copy that, boss!” “Do not call me boss.” The voice complained. The goblin waved his hand, and the fire vanished.

I followed the goblin, and my eyes widened from what I saw, a round crystal, it glowed in the rhythm like a heartbeat. It gave off some sort of vibe, it made me have a feeling of kicking the goblin away and take the crystal for myself. The goblin was about to take the Orb of Wishes.

I shouldn’t be sitting here! I have to stop him!

“Hey!” I yelled at the goblin, he turned his eyes to me, he tilted his head curiously. “My, my. Hello there little one! Did your teacher bring your class down here for a field trip?” This is our first meeting, and he has already pushed my ‘anger button’. “I’m thirteen.” I growled, “And you’re not getting your hands on the Orb of Wishes.”

Oleander narrowed his eyes on me, “Aren’t you too young to be a thief?” He asked sarcastically. “I am not here to steal it; I am here to protect it!” I answered. “How upsetting,” Oleander sighed, and gave me a look of false pity. “I can’t believe THE Twelve Protectors will risk a young teens’ life just to defend this magical and precious Orb.”

My heart rate was getting faster, I feel that my vessels are starting to pop. I can’t stand this creature. “I came down here, because I wanted to stop you. Not because the Twelve Protectors forced me to do so.” I raised my staff and pointed it at the goblin. “I will bring justice to you!” Oleander clapped his hands like a child, “Oh! You must be a strong one huh?” He stepped away from the Orb of Wishes, which was exactly what I wanted him to do. “Such brave courage! Now this could be exciting!”

Oleander raised his hand, and pointed at me. For some reason, I started to smell like fire, my spot has started to get hotter and hotter within milliseconds. My reflexes acted before the worst can happen. I leaped away from where I stood, now a fire burst out from the spot that I had once been. I can imagine what would have happened if I weren’t fast enough, and thanks to those trainings that I had with Claude, I was able to avoid being turned into a fried-Edward.

“Impressive.” The goblin admitted, “Civilians and amateurs like you would have been burned when I did that, and yet, you managed to sense that immediately. You must had gone through some serious training to get that!”

He pointed at me again, and I leaped away, I am able to dodge those attacks. And I know that can’t be defending all the time, it’s my turn to go on the offensive. After one last dodge, I charged at Oleander. “Element of Ice, Third Position, Zero Creation!” Before I can craft anything, the goblin already has a plan for a counter-attack.

The goblin snapped his fingers, and a fire burst in front of me, I slipped and fell, that move had actually caught me off guard. “Not so confident now!” Oleander taunted, he snapped his fingers again and another fire lit up behind me. And after three seconds, I am now surrounded by fire. My eyes stung; the air now smelled of a hundred cigarettes. “And now! For the last piece…”

“Frozen Tower!” The floor that I stood on, raised until it was a few centimetres higher than the fire. I leaped off of it, and towards the now shocked and awestruck Oleander. “You shouldn’t, underestimate us, both humans and magicians!” As I fell towards the goblin, I managed to use my staff to give him a good smack in the face.

Both of us toppled over, my left arm sadly absorbed most of the impact, and it did it with a crack.