I climbed down the steep path after Gurloin. I did not like the idea of following a smooger into a hole. The small mud tunnel sloped steeply into the ground. I crawled and squirmed my way through. I stared at the yellow soles of Gurloin’s feet. He grunted in the darkness ahead of me. After a while, the mud beneath me gave way to carved stone. We slid on our bellies over smooth, wide stones. The sides of the tunnel opened up wider. From ahead came the gurgle of water. There was no light. I could not see a thing. After several minutes I slid into Gurloin’s feet. My nose pressed against his toes for a second. They smelled like cheese. I shivered and shuffled backwards.

“Careful young Telle, we have reached Kraken’s drop,” he said. His feet slid forward. Grunting echoed in the chasm ahead.

“Telle,” he said. “Telle…Telle…Telle…” My name echoed over and over in the darkness.

“Reach forward and find a rope ladder,” Gurloin said. I felt the smooth flat stones in front of me. My right hand brushed something. I grabbed a thick, knotted rope.

“Hold on to the ladder, push yourself over the edge and climb down,” he said. “Down…down…down…” echoed in the darkness.

I took hold of the rope. I ran my fingers over the rough strands. I realized it was tied into a ladder. I grabbed the top rung and crawled forward on my belly. I paused where the stone ended. I could only see black in front of me. Far below, water echoed.

“Now Telle…Telle…Telle…” Gurloin said. I prayed to Kraken and tightened my grip on the rope. I blinked in the dark and pushed myself forward with my feet.

I slid off the edge, clinging to the ladder as I flipped against the wall. I grunted as I dangled in the black air. The sounds of my breathing bounced off the walls and echoed in the chasm around me. I nearly panicked. I focused on what Gurloin had said. I carefully felt for the next rung with my feet. My arms burned as I hung on to the rope. I found the rung beneath me, stood on it, and rested. When my arms stopped hurting, I climbed down until I felt hard rock under my feet.

“Prepare yourself, young Telle. We are in Kraken’s antechamber.” Gurloin’s voice echoed in the darkness.

“By Kraken’s might, in his house, give us light,” he said. There was a whoosh and then flames licked the walls all around us. I blinked in the sudden brightness. When my eyes adjusted, I saw Gurloin prostrated before a wall. Five carved peices of wood, joined into a perfect sculpture of Kraken were on the wall above him. It looked like the Idol I had carved myself on the river, but it was bigger than me. It was bigger than a stilt. This was a cavernous room. The whole thing was tilted on a slight grade. Most of the floor was underwater, but the waterline ended near us, below the wall where Kraken's statue hung. There were two dark hallways on either side of the room. On the base of all the walls, there was a mural of smooger graffiti. The air throbbed with power that radiated from the sculpture of Kraken.

“Oh Kraken, I bring a disciple who has traveled a great distance to worship in your home,” Gurloin said. He raised his hands and then dipped them in the water under the sculpture. He began to chant. He said a long prayer to Kraken. The power in the room pulsed through the air. He chanted in rhythm to the pulsing of the power. The energy pumped through my body. My heart beat in time to the pulsing. I recognized it. It was the power that had been beating in my heart my entire life. I dropped to my knees before the sculpture.

“Good bread, Good meat, Good Kraken, Let’s eat,” I said. It was the only prayer I could remember, awed as I was. We said it before meals in my home when I was young.

Gurloin touched his forehead to the stone floor and prayed for a long time. I sat and felt the power of His Horn surge through and around me. I reveled in His presence.

“Let us bathe in the water of Kraken,” he said. He stood and held out his hand. I took it, not even realizing that I was touching a smooger, and walked with him toward the deeper water. Gurloin lowered himself in. A smile spread across his dark yellow face. I slid into the water. The warm water tingled across my skin. My heart pumped faster, stronger. My body craved the water. I ducked my head under and swallowed. The water gushed down my throat. It seeped through my guts and into my veins. My heart pumped the water of Kraken through my body. I felt His power. I felt His strength.

I rose from the water. Gurloin sat beside me. He grinned like an animal. His purple tongue hung from the side of his mouth. He nodded to the hallways to his left and right. They bent towards the same direction.

“That way lies the resting place of Kraken,” he said.

“There's more temple over there?” I asked.

“Yes, and Kraken sleeps beyond. To awaken him would bring his horn down upon us all." Gurloin said. The energy pulsed through me. Below the big Kraken Statue were the most illuminated Goblin scribblings . The painted letters were very large at the beginning, but compressed into smaller scrawls towards the floor, as if the writers had quickly run out of room. The main writings were surrounded by various graffiti and addendums. It was a big mess.

Gurloin saw me looking at the words. He pointed to a column of more smooger scratches.

“That is the history of heroes,” he said. He turned to some large messy scratches.

“That is the history of existence,” Gurloin said. He read aloud. “We wandered in grass, we, a starving mass. We flee the fire of past. Many time pass without food. Everybody died except some people. Some people help us but they leave. Grandma Blatt fall in hole and everybody happy. Kraken keep us safe. Grandma Blatt dig for grubs but find big relics of Kraken in dirt. He tells her- make my picture! with great relics. Kraken make Grandma Blatt clean and strong. She say we are Town."

“What does it mean?” I asked.

“There was a time before we knew Kraken when our people suffered a great fire. We starved for many years. Kraken chose us to survive,” he said. "I read you more.."

"Gramma Blatt had young friend Kraggy become great Kraggy of Kraken temple. He was nice. He had son was smart named Karpo. Karpo said- dont touch stupid! But then other people did and then mostly died because of the flood. But smart Karpo goes back to the world and squints because it is bright, but everybody goes upstairs and it is dry." Gurloin was teary-eyed from the writings. "Please, please, I will read to you more.."

He got out of the water and walked toward the writings. He turned to the History of Heroes. His naked body glistened in the flickering light.

“These are the heroes of Town! From Theo at the beginning of existance to Theek who not that long ago found Kraken himself"

“Found Kraken?" I asked. The power pulsed and crackled in my blood.

"Yes! Theek found him! Praise Kraken!" Gurloin was exultant. "Look at this, some of the earliest writing, from near the beginning of existance! This is why I have brought you down here, young Telle"

"Smooger scratch?" I said.

He pointed to the largest writings. "Everybody is dead but it would be worse and we wanted to write this to thanks to THEO. Thank you THEO the Great and Small you are a funny person and we thank you because we are not dead. We are very sorry Brogh called you theo the smooth and bald but you look like that. Hope you having a good trip home."

"You see?" Gurloin said.

I wasn't listening. I was realizing the situation.

"So all this is Kraken's will to you?" I said.

“Kraken’s will is that goblins survive. He saved our tribe from so much, young Telle, that is why we the goblins of Town are the chosen ones. You must have been drawn here to aid us! To answer Kraken's call, like Theo the great and small did at the beginning of existance!” he said. He smiled. My stomach knotted. I clenched my fists and walked slowly toward him.

“Oh, I’ll answer Kraken’s call,” I said. I looked around for a rock or a stick. “You smoogers have some crazy idea that Kraken is all yours! That’s why you attacked my people!” I said. My voice bounced down the halls. The power of Kraken was in my heart. It urged me on. I found a floating stick, fallen from the hole above. I grabbed it and swung. Gurloin yelped and stumbled backwards. The stick whished over his head.

“Young Telle! Stop! Kraken does not want this!” He said. He scrambled towards the rope ladder.

“You could never know what Kraken wants!” I said. I swung again. “I am the vessel of Kraken! Not you! I am!” I said.

The stick barely missed Gurloin’s foot. He nimbly climbed the rope ladder. He was fast for his age. I had to drop the stick to climb the ladder. It clattered on the stones. By the time I got two rungs up, Gurloin had vanished in the darkness above me. I scrambled up the ladder. When I reached the top there was no sound of Gurloin. I crawled into the tunnel. It was dark. I felt the power of the room, the power of Kraken drain away. I lay exhausted in the mud. I grit my teeth and crawled forward.

When I popped out of the hole. Freya stood before me. She blinked tiredly and rubbed her eyes.

“What’s going on Telle?” She asked. Gurloin stood behind her. Smoogers swarmed out of their holes and surrounded us.

“These smoogers stole Kraken!” I cried. The sky was dark. Stars shone above us. The yellow eyes of smoogers blinked in the grass around us.

“What now?” Reese asked. He stumbled towards us.

“These smoogers killed my people,” I said.

“That’s an interesting theory, Telle,” Jenna said. She followed Drexel. She carried the Book of Lengnil with her.

“What makes you think these goblins had anything to do with Pusstown?” She asked.

“They’re smoogers!” I said.

“And?” She asked. Her ears flattened against the sides of her head.

“And they worship Kraken. He is the god of Pusstown. My God! How else could they have even known about Him? They bastardized my religion. They have infested this holy place. That’s why Kraken has kept me alive, that’s why I’m here. I must clean these yellowtoes from Kraken’s holiest temple!” I shouted.

Goblins gathered around us.

“Anybody mind if I go back to bed?” Drexel asked.

“Young Telle, try to calm down,” Gurloin said. A young goblin peeked at us from behind a pile of dead grass.

“You smoogers have infested this holy ground!,” I said in Goblin. I whistled for Sheesha. She barked and ran to me from where we’d been sleeping.

“Sheesha! Fetch!” I said. I pointed at the little smooger. Sheesha barked and bounded over to the child. It raised its arms around its head in fear. Sheesha growled and pounced. She clamped her jaws on the smooger’s right ankle. The child fell with a shriek. Sheesha pushed herself backwards playfully and dragged the screaming smooger to my feet.

“Good girl,” I said. I rubbed her neck and kicked the little smooger in the teeth.

“Young Telle, you must not do this!” Gurloin said. He ran and stood over the child. The whimpering smooger crawled behind him.

“Telle, stop this right now,” Freya said. She looked much more awake. She walked toward me.

“No!” I said. “You don’t understand. It’s what smoogers do! They invade, they…” I looked around at the blinking yellow animals that surrounded us. “They infest!” I said.

“Infest what?” Jenna asked.

“Haven’t you heard what I’m saying?” I asked. “Kraken's Temple! This is his place. That yellow toed smooger showed me everything!” I said. I pointed at Gurloin. He moved to stand behind Freya.

“What in the name of all cuisine are you talking about?” Freya asked.

“This hole leads to a temple. It’s full of Kraken's power!,” I said. I pointed at the hole. Drexel looked at Chastity. Reese sighed.

“Show them.” I said to Gurloin. I pointed at the hole. “He’ll show you the sculpture that he showed me.” I said to the others.

“The temple is sacred,” he said. “Young Telle, try to calm down.”

“Show them or I swear by Kraken I’ll find a way to kill you all,” I said. Gurloin winced and ducked. He looked around.

“Young Telle, I brought you to the temple so you could find peace with Kraken,” he said. He walked toward me with his hands outstretched.

“In the hole!” I said. I pointed. “I want my friends to see Kraken, to feel his power, understand?”

He stepped back.

Gurloin rubbed his chin and looked around.

“I must show our guests the temple,” he said. A murmur rose among the smoogers. “I know there are many of you who have yet to be allowed,” Gurloin said. “But it is in the interest of peace that I do this. It is Kraken’s will,” he said.

“He’s going to show us the temple.” I said to Jenna.

“Can’t this wait till morning?” Reese asked.

“Telle, that is not a temple, it is a hole in the dirt.” Freya said. Reese scratched at his legs.

“Stupid fleas,” he said.

“Is this temple a very sacred place?” Drexel asked.

“Of course!” I said.

“With sacred and valuable relics, perhaps?" He asked.

“You know about the relics?” I asked. I looked at Gurloin and back at Drexel.

“What would a temple be without relics?” Chastity asked.

“This may merit our investigation,” Drexel said.

“If we want to make it to Falstaag in time, we best do this now,” Chastity said.

“We’re not robbing Kraken’s temple!” I said.

“We’d be delivering the relics from the hands of the smoogers,” Drexel said. I thought of the sculpture that hung on the wall. I pictured generations of smoogers bowing before his holy form. I shuddered.

“You’re right,” I said.

Jenna walked over to Freya. Freya bent down and Jenna whispered something to her. Freya nodded.

“Fine,” Reese said. “Let’s go into this stupid hole.”

“Take us down.” I said to Gurloin. He smiled.

“Kraken will show you the truth. He’s led you this far,” he said. He squirmed through the hole. I had to go behind Chastity to push her through the small tunnel. The tunnel narrowed.

“I can’t breathe!” Chastity cried.

“Relax, we’re almost there,” I said. I pushed. She wriggled forward. Reese complained loudly behind me.

“I’m losing skin on these walls,” he said. We wriggled through the dirt until it gave way to stone. The passage widened. Gurloin led Freya to the rope-ladder. Light flickered up from below. Long shadows shot across the walls. Gurloin’s yellow eyes glowed in the dim light. His yellow skin was reddened by the glow of the torches far below.

“Chastity, you’re going first,” Freya said. Her voice bounced off the walls.

“I’m not jumping off a cliff in the dark,” Chastity said.

“It’s not as dark as it was,” I said.

“I can’t see anything,” she said.

“Stilt eyes aren’t very good in the dark,” Grundy said.

“You can all see in this? What is going on?” Chastity asked.

“Calm down. I’m putting your hands on a rope ladder. Do you feel that?” Freya asked.

We each made our way to the chamber at the bottom. The flames flickered.

“I can see now,” Chastity said. She frowned at the scribbles across the wall and the statue of Kraken.

“Kraken, I have brought guests to your home,” Gurloin said. He raised his arms, “Guide us Horned One” He said. I kneeled before the sculpture of Kraken. Again I felt the power surge through me. The water lapped out of the hallways on the ends of the room. My heart beat in time with the pulse. The others looked around. Jenna’s ears vibrated.

Gurloin lowered himself into the bath. We crowded in.

I let the water close over my head. Kraken’s energy flowed down my throat. I surfaced.

“My legs stopped itching,” Reese said. Drexel floated on his back with a smile on his face. The scratches on Reese’s legs healed in the water.

“What’s all this writing?” Jenna asked. She pointed to scribbles on the wall below the sculpture of Kraken.

“It’s the history of these smoogers,” I said. “The smoogers wandered around, probably stealing and killing, until they found this temple and infested it.” I explained.

“Great history lesson,” Reese said.

“What's this list?” Jenna asked. She pointed to a long list of names that bent and shrank as it neared the floor.

“It’s a list of smooger looters who explored this place.” I told her.

"More specifically, Telle?" She asked.

“Whats that?" I asked Gurloin. I translated for the others. Jenna followed the translation closely, trying to learn the language.

"It is the leaders of each generation of Town since existance began." Gurloin said. "Blatt, Kraggy, Karpo, Kroop, Boron, Bleat, Froka, Grap, Goob, Karpox, Gark, Karpof, Bagmush, Baik, Torpor, Flech, Kealin"

"Enough already!" I said.

"Almost done, Gerka, Brabak, Hornsby, Theek, Spax and Gurloin" He smiled.

"Gurloin? Hey his name's on the wall" Chastity said.

"He looks real proud of himself" Gurdy said.

Gurloin excitedly waved his arms at Jenna, splashed across the room, and knelt down next to some small, cramped writing near the floor.

"This is the story your friend wanted to hear" Gurloin said, pointing at Jenna

"What is he trying to show me, Telle?" she said.

I rolled my eyes. "Read it" I said to him. I translated again.

"Sister Kealin and her sister were both named Kealin. They were nice. They just left again. The time they were here it was bad later on. Nobody had any food and it was extra hot. They went to look for the oldest hero of them all because he could help get food maybe. Then they never came back. But then, they did come back and they brought so much food it was great. We had food already because when they never came back it rained a lot. But it was great because they brought better food. We all praised Kraken. Then everybody made beads. We were all happy to give to give beads to Kealin and they would do magic tricks. Then they made nice belts and everybody praised Kraken. Kaelin left anyway. And now they never came back."

Jenna thought for a moment, then said, "I really didn't need to know that."

"Shall I read more?" Gurloin asked me.

"No."

“Telle, can you ask him why some of the names on this list are outlined in red?” Jenna asked. I did.

“They are the leaders who tried to reach Kraken at the end of the temple." Gurloin said,"All perished. It has been many years since any have dared awaken our lord,” he said.

“What do you mean, ‘Awaken'?” I asked. “You talk like he actually lives here.”

“But he does young Telle,” Gurloin said. “At the far end of the temple, Kraken sleeps. He was awoken once, when I was young, by Theek. His horn was mighty, it’s in the scriptures.” He pointed near the bottom of the wall. "This part was written by my father, he was in the temple, listening to the screams when Kraken's Horn struck Theek." Gurloin struggled to read the tiny writing.

“Theek reached Kraken! He followed Krakens call farther than any before him. And Kraken did awake. His horn did not miss Theek." He read aloud.

“This is a joke", I said, "Im sure there's plenty of Kraken temples out there, Kraken doesn't live here” I said. I laughed.

“Stupid smoogers.” I said to the others. Jenna’s ears pricked up.

“He actually thinks Kraken lives in this temple. Really lives here,” I said.

“Any temple is the home of the god who is worshipped there,” Jenna said.

“That’s what I told him,” I said.

“Kraken is everywhere, his is with us all, for always.” I said to Gurloin. “That doesn’t mean he really actually lives in a temple.” I laughed.

“Telle, you are young. You do not yet understand. Kraken does live here, he can be awoken. His horn is mighty. This temple is filled with the horrors of his powers. I believe it is his will that you meet him. Why else have you been brought to us?” Gurloin asked. I looked at the lines around the warts on the old smooger’s face. Dark yellow hollows under his eyes showed how tired he was. Strands of gray hairs sprung from the bumps on his neck. I sat back in the water of Kraken. I looked at the sculpture of Kraken on the wall. I prayed for understanding, what does He want me to do?. A thought bubbled up from the confusion in my mind.

“Awaken Him.” I thought. I looked around me. The smoogers’ scribbles around Kraken’s image were hideous. Finally, it all made sense.

“I must awaken Kraken,” I said. “That’s why I was taken by Goblins. Why I survived.” My voice echoed off the walls.

“Telle you're delirous again” Freya said.

“I must meet my maker,” I said.

“You believe that Kraken lives here?” Jenna asked.

“Jenna, I feel him here. It makes sense. Everything makes sense! The Gnomes of Pusstown sat idly by and let His Home become infested by filthy animals. Kraken's horn came down upon us all. I survived so that I would learn to speak smooger, learn their ways, and infiltrate this place. Kraken kept me alive all that horrible time in the pit so that I could find his home and awaken his spirit. Gurloin said it himself, I’m here to awaken Kraken! Kraken’s temple is infested. He has called upon ME to be his liberator, and burn these pests out of his nest!” I said. I rose from the water.

"Little buddy, I think you might be jumpin to conclusions" Gurdy said.

"This isnt a family decision." I said, "You people are welcome to climb right back up that rope-ladder"

“Take us to Kraken.” I said to Gurloin. Although he hadn't understood my tirade, fear flickered in his tired eyes.

“I will lead you,” he said. “I believe that Kraken summons you for a reason,” he said. He glanced at the sculpture. He looked over the smooger scribbles on the wall. I smiled.

“So do I,” I said. He got out of the water and bowed.

"We're coming with you Telle" Freya said. Her eyes were narrow.

“Be careful to step only where I step,” Gurloin said. “Kraken punishes the unbelievers.” He walked to one of the hallways that led out of the room, "Both hallways lead to the fire-pit room, where my ancestors lived. The hallways are dangerous, Kraken's horn is near."

“We have to follow exactly where he steps.” I told the others. The water was up to my waist at the corridor's entrance, but shallowed as the hallway continued. He danced down the hallway, hopping from place to place. I followed behind him. It was difficult to mimic his dance, but I did the best I could. Reese was behind me. I looked back to see him stroll idly into the corridor. He made no attempt to dance.

With a whir, arrows shot from small holes in the walls. Freya jumped forward in a blur and snatched an arrow from the air. The other arrows clattered off the stones around us. Freya held the arrow where she’d caught it. The tip was inches from Reese’s throat.

“Did you not tell them what I said?” Gurloin asked me. His voice bounced around the chamber.

“Hey, guys,” Grundy said. I turned around.

“Poor Grundy,” Chastity said. The shaft of an arrow stuck from his thigh.

“It ain’t as bad as it looks,” he said.

“Drexel, would you mind?” He bent over. Drexel turned his head away and grabbed the shaft of the arrow. He yanked it out. Grundy limped over to the water and scooped some out. He rubbed it onto his leg.

“Ahhhh…” he said. The wound closed.

We followed Gurloin down the hall. We were careful to step exactly where he did. It opened into a wide chamber.

“Kraken, bring light!” Gurloin said. His voice boomed off the walls. Flames sprung from iron pots that hung from thick black chains high over our heads. The flames made our shadows flicker and dance across the floor. The room was filled with mounds of rags, broken pots, and smooger bones. Smooger scribbles covered the walls. The corners were blackened from fires. The walls were black with soot. The Goblin's writings and drawings only reached a few feet up on the tall walls. At the top of the walls, by the ceiling, different characters stood out from the soot and grime. The letters were utterly clean. The symbols ran along the top of each wall.

“Our people lived for many years in this room,” Gurloin said. “Before it was safe to live above, we took refuge in Kraken’s temple, and his water alone sustained us.”

Jenna looked at the designs along the top of the walls. She whispered to Freya. Freya looked at me.

“What?” I asked.

“Someone was here before the goblins,” Freya said.

“Gnomes! But how did you know that?” I asked.

“Up there,” Jenna said. She pointed to the designs along the top of the walls.

“It’s not gnomish writing,” she said.

I squinted to see the writing above us. “It's not goblin either. What does it say?” I asked. Freya scratched her neck and looked back up at the designs.

“It’s hard to make out exactly,” Jenna said.

“But it’s neither gnome nor goblin.” Freya added.

"It must be the language of Kraken himself!" I said. I was in awe.

Gurloin stepped gingerly over the garbage that was strewn around the great room. He stopped and prayed at various mounds of trash.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“These are the relics of our people,” he said.

“After the fire, after Theo. Kraken gave us our only home. These were the things our people brought with them, and the remains of those lost in the flood.” he said. He knelt before a pile of broken clay pots and touched his forehead to floor.

“Those are the relics of the smoogers.” I told them.

“These are the relics!” Drexel said.

“the goblin's relics," Jenna said.

“Oh, right.” Drexel said.

“Where do we go from here?” Reese asked. I looked around the room. Behind us, parallel to the hall we had come was the other hall to the statue chamber. Across the room, opposite our entrance, was a narrow archway.

“What’s through there?” I asked Gurloin.

He hesitated. He mumbled another prayer. He sucked his teeth. Then he spoke.

“This is the furthest I’ve been in the temple. The lore instructs us how to pass, but all have died on the journey to see Kraken.”

“You chickening out?” I asked.

“Do not misunderstand me young Telle. I do this for you. Kraken must have led you here, I seek only to fulfill his will,” he said.

“Of course,” I said. “Let’s go then.”

Gurloin approached the hallway at the far end of the chamber. He dug into a pile of debris. He pulled out a tiny gilmic pig skeleton.

“Tell them to gather,” he said.

“Over here,” I said. Everyone surrounded Gurloin.

“Oh, how cute, a little skeleton.” Chastity said.

“A miniature gilmic,” Grundy said. “They're extinct.”

Gurloin rubbed his head against the tiny gilmic pig skeleton. A spark flew, the skeleton twitched and began to move. Chastity gasped. He dropped it on the floor. It staggered around and sniffed its way along the floor. Gurloin stamped his foot. The startled pig skittered into the hallway before us. There was a brief grinding sound and then a portcullis slammed down from a hidden opening above. The pig was chopped in half. Chastity screamed. The spiked iron bars closed off the opening.

“This was where Bleat died, wrenched in metal,” Gurloin said. A rattle sounded above us. Then came a grinding sound. The portcullis slowly rose.

“Quickly,” Gurloin said. He ducked under the rising spikes and into the next room.

We followed. Soon we were all in the next room. The spikes were gone, back into their hidden slot above. Only the chopped pig remained. Its short tailbone twitched and slapped against the stone floor.

“Beware not to tread on that spot. The metal will come down again,” Gurloin said. We shuffled into a giant room with very few goblin scribbles the walls. A crystal chandelier hung above an ornately patterned rug in the center of the room. A magic glow from the chandelier lit the room in a yellow light. The walls of this room were not scorched by fires like the one before.

“It is beautiful,” Gurloin said. He ran to the side of the room and read the smooger scratches. “Few of our people have reached this sacred room, I have only heard tales of it's words,” he said. He ran his yellow fingers over the stone walls. “Here are the last words of Theek!" He read silently.

"He must have retreated this far from Kraken's mighty Horn. He spent his last moments painting these words for our knowledge,” he said. He dropped to his knees and read aloud. “With a dead hand I woke Kraken. His horn missed me. Thank Kraken. Oh no here he comes.” Gurloin mumbled a prayer.

“And over here, the final words of Bagmush,” he said. He ran to another place along the wall and read aloud. “Kraken has sent me a beautiful bride. She is mine. I will visit Kraken another time. Now I stay here with woman.” Gurloin rubbed the warts on his neck.

“What’s he mumbling?” Drexel asked.

“He’s reading the history of the smoogers in this place,” I said. “It’s stupid smooger stuff.”

“He seems to know his way around,” Jenna said.

I laughed.

“After dozens of smoogers died in here, I guess they learned a trick or two,” I said.

“Anything about riches?” Drexel asked.

“Lets keep moving,” I said. Jenna was straining to look at more odd letters on the ceiling.

“Can you read that stuff?” I asked.

“A little,” she said. Her ears smoothed back against her head.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Some runes in an old, old language,” she said.

“What kind of runes?” I asked.

“Can we get moving? It stinks in here,” Reese said.

“Tell your friend it’s time to move on,” Chastity said.

“He’s not my friend,” I said. I turned to Gurloin. “Let’s go meet Kraken,” I said. He finished his prayers.

“There is danger ahead Telle. We must be very careful,” he said. He walked slowly to the end of the room. We followed. A square passageway led into darkness. We looked into the dark tunnel. A cool breeze blew from the opening. Dank, moist air swirled past. I shivered. Behind us came a grinding sound. Metal scraped on stone. We all spun around at once.

“Help me. Please.” A half-naked gnome woman lay on the ground next to the split gilmic pig. With both hands she held the portcullis barely above her throat. Her arms shook under the strain. A rusted spike nearly touched her skin.

“I can’t hold it much longer,” she said. Reese sprinted toward the opening.

“No, he must not!” Gurloin shouted.

Reese grabbed the metal and helped the woman lift the gate a few inches higher. She wriggled under the spikes. He let the spikes drop as soon as she was past. They slammed into the stone. The clanking came from deep in the stone as they slowly rose.

“You saved me,” the woman said. She reached behind Reese’s neck with one hand and pulled him into a kiss. He moaned as she kissed him deeply. His arms dropped to his side.

“Reese!” Freya said. She ran toward him. He dropped to his knees. The woman lowered him to the floor, never breaking the kiss. Reese’s body stiffened. His legs extended.

“Just like poor Bagmush,” Gurloin said.

“Reese. No!” Freya shouted. She flipped and tumbled toward them in a blur. The woman dropped Reese. He made a sucking sound as if he were coming up for air.

“Pryyyaaack.” The woman screeched at Freya. She swung her hand toward Freya. Her fingernails were longer than they looked. Freya tried to duck, but the nails made four red lines across Freya’s neck. Reese moaned on the floor. Freya grabbed her neck and staggered away. The cuts had been deep. The beautiful gnome woman looked down at Reese. His lips were blue. He panted for air. She glared at us.

“Pryaaaak!” She screeched.