Brooke Lee's Arc

Chapter 3 of 3

Cold air kept rising from the shaft. Brooke shone her flashlight down and saw no bottom. Whatever dug this hole was still below, and she had no way to seal it. Guests arrived in five days. She could not board over a pit and pretend it was a floor. She had to know what lived down there before it climbed up into her cleared rooms. "I'm going down," she said. Tia crouched at the edge, sword across her knees. "You'll get stuck. It's tight." She looked at Brooke's soft middle, then away. "No offense." "None taken." Brooke tied a rope to the pipe and looped it under her arms. "You anchor. Moonflower watches the top." Moonflower knelt with her glass box. Inside, a butterfly turned, wings shedding rainbow specks. "Take some," she said. She tipped shimmering dust into a small jar. "Throw it if something comes at you. It makes them slow and dreamy." She said it like a fact, not a suggestion, and pressed the jar into Brooke's hand. Brooke went down. The rope bit into her arms. The walls scraped her shoulders. Ten feet, twenty. Then the shaft opened into a noisy, technicolor chamber full of smoke and lights, her boots touched packed dirt. Gold caught her light first. A goblin sat on a heap of stolen watches and rings, fat and grinning, wrapped in a purple suit. A peacock feather bent from his wide hat. He raised a jeweled cup and a golden cane like a king greeting a guest. "You broke my roof," he said. His voice was thick with smoke. "Rude." Brooke's stomach dropped. This one hadn't dug the shaft to hide. He'd claimed it. Behind him, more tunnels branched into the dark. This wasn't the end of the goblins. It was their whole kingdom, and the four Tia beat were the least of it. He stood and pointed the cane at her. “Welcome to my crib, cutie,” the large goblin said excitedly with a slightly slurred greeting. Small shapes stirred in the tunnel mouths. Dozens of eyes shone. “You’re just in time for the party!” he said with bombastic laughter. “Don’t be shy, come on in, let loose and have some fun!” Brooke's hand held onto the jar tightly and tucked it away into her satchel. “I may need this later, hopefully not, but…” she thought to herself. The rainbow powder hung in the air. The gilded goblin breathed it in and swayed. His grin went loose. "Come here and let me get a good look at you," he said softly, and sat back down on his jewel-covered throne. “My, my, my, you are a very beautiful lady, I must say,” the goblin said. “What brings a lovely thing like you down here?” "Ummm.." Brooke mumbled, thinking fast she addressed the large goblin. “I was just curious where the hole in the floor of my hotel led to,” she said honestly with a disbelieving yet forced composure. “I don’t know what I expected to find but” Brooke held out her arms and gestured around the room. “A goblin club wasn’t anywhere near the top of my list. Honestly, it wasn’t even on the list.” The rope jerked. Tia was getting worried. Brooke stood gobsmacked at the spectacle around her. The goblin puffed up with pride. “It really is something, isn’t it?” He laughed hard and smiled wildly, showing more than a few golden teeth. “I wanted a place to just have fun and maybe do a little business, if you know what I mean?” He winked at Brooke. “So what’s your pleasure? Dancing, music, whatever it is, I have it, and if I don’t, I can get it,” he proclaimed with great pride, and then leaned down toward Brooke. With suspicion, he said, “Can I get you anything, a drink or something else? Something rarer?” A sly smile played on his lips. “Uh oh…” Brooke thought, she may be in over her head.