Two goblins were killed during the eighth expedition.
The first expedition was too slow in its speed of travel; with thirteen minutes between entrance and being at the back wall of the habitation zone, the scouts met them at the restrictive space and I will not review once again the scenes of the battle. What I will relate is the events that occurred after the battle; of Skrit standing against the stone wall, of when she got here in relation to when the rest of the clan returned from the depths below; of when she arrived here, and how she did not wait.
She placed her hands flat against the stone wall; they were not placed there in a gentle "reading" manner but rather in an aggressive "demanding" manner, and she spoke.
Skrit:
"Prith is dead."
The wall: warm, held. (Yes. I know.)
Skrit:
"You could not stop them."
I held the warmth. (Yes. I could not.)
Skrit:
"Your walls moved. Your water moved. Was not enough."
Still warm and not signaling anything - just stating presence. (I am here with you.)
Skrit:
"They will be back, Old Stone; they are always back: More next time, better prepared. You know you will not be able to keep moving your walls fast enough."
There was a short moment of silence. There was no signal given to her from me, and she was not yet asking an either answerable or unanswerable question at this time.
Skrit:
"We need a trap of some nature to stop them before they reach us. We setup a pit trap at a southern inter-change, and when they fall in they go back and tell all the other creatures about this cave that is killing people in it. Therefore, they will become afraid of coming to this cave."
After a length of silence on the wall and pushing against it further, she continued.
Skrit:
"I know you can hear me. Could you please answer?"
I cooled the wall slowly. Not a sharp cold, not danger; but a gradual cool, the signal I had been developing for no, but listen.
Skrit:
"No!"
Cool wall. (No.)
Skrit:
"Why not???"
So, I again warmed the wall. Then I kept the wall warm, and then once again I sent the footstep vibration (human approach sound) but this time sent it much slower than normal, and to add some surprise/intrigue to her, this time I sent the vibration twice. One was sent as per normal, the second was sent with a different rhythm; lighter and slower, and this rhythm was designed to be the same rhythm I had performed for some of the expedition members who had approached me, but did so with hesitancy (had taken notes instead of pulling out their weapons).
Skrit:
"You're telling me about the different ones. The ones who are not all the same?"
Warm wall replied, (That's right), then there was a pause.
Skrit:
"Prith is dead, Old Stone."
The wall held at the warm-yes, and I do not know if that was the right choice. I only know I made it.
Skrit:
"You think if we put a trap in the southern passage and kill one of them, the ones who are different will never come. You think the killing will make it so none of the good ones ever walks through here."
Because of this, I continuously increased the temperature at the wall. (Yes. Exactly that.)
Skrit:
"That is a gamble. "
The wall stayed warm.
Skrit:
"A gamble with our lives. not for you; for me, for us!"
The wall cooled a little, with a warm signal that said no; however, I wanted Skrit to be aware that I knew the truth of what was presented to me by Skrit.
Grib had appeared in the doorway of the chamber and had been standing at a distance in the corridor listening, looking at Skrit, then at the wall; he had a look as if trying to determine when or how to speak.
Grib:
"Skrit."
Skrit:
"Not now, Grib."
Grib:
"I just want to say one thing."
Skrit:
"Then say it fast."
Grib:
"We had three choices when we arrived; first , the southern ridge which had humans in it . Second; the high caves , which had been damaged by storms with no habitability . Third; here , which is where we ended up simply because the other two locations were both bad choices. We survived this long solely due to something in the wall making a choice about us before we made a choice about it ."
Skrit glanced up toward him.
Grib:
"It appears Old Stone has made another decision. My understanding of Old Stone's previous decisions, however, is good."
Skrit then defended herself.
Skrit:
"And how can I accept your word on this with Prith dead?"
Grib (affirmed):
"Prith is dead, yes. You and I on the other hand are not."
Silence filled the room as Skrit turned to the wall. When Skrit spoke to Grib this time, the tone of her voice was different than before. It was now the type of voice someone would use when they held something they had a choice to keep, or hold, or give up.
Skrit:
"You are putting us and everything we are on the chance that Old Stone may make a better decision. I want you to know that I am aware of this fact, and I want you to know that I am putting my faith in this because of Grib, who has a good understanding of Old Stone's past, as he said."
She took her hands off the wall.
Skrit:
"Do not make me regret it."
The wall was warm. Not a yes. Just warm, the way home is warm, not because it is answering a question but because it is simply where the heat is.
Grib looked up at the ceiling in the way he did when he was checking in rather than asking something.
Grib:
"You heard that, right, Old Stone? She's trusting you. Don't waste it."
I warmed the floor under both their feet. That was all I had.
It was, I thought, enough for tonight.