They followed Kirsten as she led them down the alley away from the main street. She stopped near the center.
“What are you doing? We need to keep moving,” Britt urged.
Bending over, Kirsten pulled up on a metal lid in the center of the cobblestone alley. “Hurry,” she said motioning them to climb down into the hole she’d uncovered.
“Seriously?” Max asked, “Isn’t there another way?”
“Not if you don’t want to be mauled by goblins and kurr,” Kirsten said. “Now come on, let’s go.” She hopped into the hole. The others followed.
“Eew,” Bo gasped once they’d landed. “What’s that smell?”
“Human excrement,” Max said pinching his nose closed with his fingers.
Kirsten pulled the crystal from her pocket. Its light-blue light brightened the tunnel so they could see. A steady flow of ankle-deep sludge ran along the tunnel floor.
“Aw, man,” Bo said disappointedly upon seeing where they were standing. “We’re in the sewer.”
“It’s safe down here,” Kirsten said.
“How are we going to navigate?” Thomas asked her. “I’ve never been down here before, have you?”
Kirsten shook her head, “But we have this.” She held up the orb she’d taken from Rankstine’s room. “Using the crystal for light and this map, we should be able to navigate our way to the edge of town.”
“Brilliant,” Britt commented wide-eyed. “And where’d you get those?”
“No time to explain,” Kirsten said, leading them through the maze of tunnels winding under Grandwood. After ten minutes she noticed the smell wasn’t burning her nostrils as severely as it had at first. She stopped when they had reached the edge of town. Kirsten looked up and saw a faint ring of light encircling another street cover. This was their exit.
She held the orb out and said to the group, “It doesn’t look like anyone’s near. It should be safe.”
“Wait,” Max said, holding out his hand. “That thing probably doesn’t show goblins.”
“What do you mean?” Kirsten said.
“Goblins are magical creatures. They can conceal themselves from being sensed. They did it to Ivan once on our journey to Brookside and that must be why Rankstine didn’t see them coming. Just because it doesn’t show people out there, doesn’t mean there aren’t any goblins.”
Kirsten thought for a moment and said, “I’m going to risk it. I’ll let you know if it’s safe.”
“Kirsten, wait,” Thomas said. “I’ll go with you.”
“Let me go first. If there are goblins that pop out at us, I have the crystal and can wave it at them,” she said.
“Will that work?” Thomas asked.
“It did on the goblin in Rankstine’s room,” she said with a smile.
“Okay, you first,” Thomas said.
Kirsten slowly pushed open the heavy metal disc covering the hole to the sewer. She waited a moment with the crystal at the ready. Nothing attacked the hole, so she popped her head just above ground level and scanned the area. Not seeing anything, she climbed out. Thomas followed her. Searching the area quickly to make sure no goblins were close, they motioned to the others to join them.
With no trouble, the five of them made it back to the road to Highborn Bay. They jogged as they left the sounds of the goblin attack far behind. Kirsten kept checking the orb to make sure no one was following them.
Reaching the house, Britt said, “We need to take this opportunity to try to escape.”
“We’ve searched nearly the entire perimeter and haven’t found a two-way portal,” Max said discouraged.
Kirsten held out the crystal in her hand and said, “What if the crystal is the key?”
They looked at her. She continued, “What if you need to have the crystal to get in and out of the barrier?”
“It’s worth a try,” Thomas said.
Britt and Bo nodded. They looked at Max.
“What? I’m always up for something new,” he said.
Kirsten and Thomas quickly filled travel packs with extra clothes, food and some camping supplies. Setting off on foot, they hiked their way through the forest to the place where they’d seen the kurr entering.
“This is the only place, other than the docks, where we know things have come through. If the crystal is the key, then we should be able to leave through here,” Kirsten said. “Who wants to go first?”
When nobody jumped at the offer, Britt took the crystal and said, “I’ll do it.”
They watched from a distance as Britt walked up to the edge of the barrier, stopped in front of it, took several deep breaths, and walked right at it. She wasn’t blocked as they had been before. She passed through without effort. Waving them over, the others came close. Still holding the crystal, Britt stuck her arm through the invisible barrier and began to pull them through one at a time.
Thomas went first, then Max and Bo. When it was Kirsten’s turn, she held her breath as she grabbed hold of Britt’s. Just as she was being pulled through the barrier, something grabbed hold of her other side, stopping her. She looked back to see a goblin grabbing her arm and clawing at the orb she held. Kirsten began to scream and kick at the creature that had taken hold of her.
Britt and the others pulled at Kirsten, but the goblin held onto her arm, keeping her halfway in and halfway out of the barrier. In a desperate effort to free herself from the goblin’s grip, Kirsten tried to hit the goblin in the head with the orb. Before she could make contact with the creature, it saw what she was trying to do and bit down on her shoulder. Kirsten let out a cry as the goblin’s teeth sunk deep into her shoulder. She dropped the orb. The creature had given way to their pulling when it bit down on her. They managed to pull Kirsten through the barrier. As soon as she’d made it all the way through, Britt let go of her. The goblin’s teeth still sunk deep onto Kirsten’s muscles. When Britt released Kirsten, the crystal’s connection holding the barrier open was severed. The invisible barrier closed on the goblin, splitting it in two as it was dragged through. Its upper body fell to the ground on the outside of the barrier and its lower half remained trapped on the inside next to the orb.
Kirsten writhed in pain as she rolled on the ground gripping her shoulder where the goblin had bitten her. Britt and Thomas rushed to her side. They attempted to hold her still and examine the wound.
