The companions gazed on in dread as both of the goblins writhed tortuously on the posts for a few moments before finally going limp again.

Kristius spit on the ground. “What sort of fucked-up AI could design shit like that?” he growled.

“I got a feeling we found the trail to the hut,” Arabella said in a subdued tone, "Starting to think that witch stuff might be true after all."

“Yeah, let’s just hope we get a better welcome than the gobbos here.” Niko slapped Kristius on a beefy shoulder, “Lead on, gob-stopper.”

“Sometimes me being so awesome sucks,” the brawny man grumbled as he eased past the grisly goblins. They began squirming again at his presence, and reached weakly for him as he passed.

“Couldn’t we put them out of their misery or something?” Arabella whispered dolefully as she slid carefully between the wretched creatures after Niko. She sounded on the verge of tears.

He glanced at her over his shoulder, not without sympathy. “Might be the humane thing to do, ‘Bella, but I’m not ready to be their replacement if doing it pisses someone off.” Lucius’ eyes went wide in alarm, and he nodded vigorously in agreement.

They moved cautiously along the narrow trail for several hundred yards, winding ever deeper into the gloomy woods, with thick thorny bushes pushing in close from both sides now. Every so often, the group came across the decaying remains of goblins, twisted into positions that suggested they had died in considerable agony. In one spot they found a pile of charred and broken bones in the middle of a blackened, sooty circle. No one spoke, and the sense of foreboding intensified, settling over them like a dark shroud.

After fifteen minutes or so of silent travel, they finally broke out into a rough clearing, in the center of which stood a crude little hut. It was maybe 20 feet in diameter and barely as tall as a man’s height, with walls made of layered dried mud and sticks, and a thick layer of thatch for a roof. There were tree branches stuck in the ground randomly around the clearing, each bearing a goblin’s skull atop it. A greenish-yellow hide hung over the only visible opening in the walls of the hut.

“Ah, dude, that’s a gobbo hide, I’m pretty sure,” Kristius observed quietly, gripping his axe tightly enough to make the handle creak, “Whoever these Cranton folks are, they for sure do not like gobbos.”

“Let’s hope they like other people,” Arabella whispered anxiously.

Niko made a ‘stay back’ gesture at the others and took a few steps towards the hut. ”Hello? Is anyone here?”

“Wh-who are you?” sounded a tremulous young voice from inside, ”Go away! Leave me alone!”

“Timm, is that you? My name is Niko. I found your note.” He tried to make his voice sound friendly and reassuring, “We’re here to try and help.”

“Y-you found my note and came? No one ever came before. My meemaw is gone.” The hide door twitched aside a bit, and a young boy’s face peered warily around its edge. He had large dark eyes over a button nose, and a small cherub’s mouth. An overgrown mop of unkempt brown hair covered his head. Niko figured he might be eight years old. The little boy’s chin quivered along with his voice as he spoke, "Meemaw has been gone a really long time. She said she would come right back, but she didn't. I went into town and put the note up, but no one came. I'm hungry. I want my meemaw back." Tears washed clean tracks down the boy’s dirty face, and he wiped his nose on a grimy shirt sleeve, "I'm scared, and no one will help. They throw rocks at us when we try to go into town. I had to sneak in at night to put my note up on that board, but no one reads it ‘cause I can't pay them. Everyone wants money, but me and meemaw don't have any!" He was crying openly now, "P-please, can you find my meemaw? She could give you something if you find her! She teaches people stuff sometimes, she could teach you something!"

A pair of messages popped up in Niko’s sight:

You have completed the quest: OK Laddy, Find Timmy!

You have gained 1950 experience (1500 + 30% bonus)

You have been offered a continuation of the quest chain: Missing Meemaw

Risk: Moderate to high

Reward: Experience (amount based on performance), undisclosed reward from Meemaw Cranton

Penalty for failure: None

Accept? Yes/No

Niko looked back at his partners, who had all gathered around as Timm told his story. They favored him with a trio of ‘What are you waiting for?’ expressions, so he accepted the quest.

He knelt on one knee to be eye-level with the boy, "Ok Timm, we'll try to find your meemaw. Where was she going when she left, do you know?"

Timm’s tear-stained eyes brightened and he gave Niko a shy smile as he stepped out of the hut. His clothes were worn and dirty, and he seemed too slender for his size. He came forward and hugged Niko around the neck.

"Thank you, mister! Thank you a lot!" He stood back and looked at Niko, "I can show you where she went!" He grabbed Niko’s hand and started tugging, "There's a trail out behind our house. It leads to a cave where Meemaw goes sometimes to get some kind of mushroom that she says has ‘proper-tees’, whatever that means. Most of the time she comes back before the sun goes down, but this time she didn't. She's been gone for three days now! She says the green smelly critters are there sometimes, but they don't scare her. She won't let me go along, ‘cause she's afraid the green men will hurt me. They don't scare me though, I'm almost as big as they are!" he continued to tug at Niko’s hand as he babbled, leading the group around to the back of the cottage. A trail smaller than the one they had followed to get here wound between the trees into darkness. Niko was about to speak when Kristius stepped up beside him.

"Yeah dude, I know. Mr. Awesome leads the way again." The burly fighter swung his axe up on his shoulder and started off down the trail, ducking low-hanging limbs as he went. Timm tugged Niko along behind Kristius, with Arabella and Lucius following closely. The trees thinned out a bit as they walked, and the terrain grew more irregular, with ridges and rocky outcrops jutting out overhead. They had travelled for about a half hour when they came upon a low ridge, where Kristius abruptly squatted and motioned for everyone to get down. He held up two fingers and pointed to the hillock ahead.

“That’s where the cave is,” Timm whispered to Niko, ”Meemaw says there's special mushrooms in there that she uses to talk to dead people. She says she can go to where they are when she eats the mushrooms.”

Niko told Timm to stay where he was and crawled silently up next to Kristius. He peered out through the brush, where he saw the dark mouth of a cave opening in the side of the ridge. Two of the marauder goblins were standing in front of it, glaring suspiciously out at the deepening dusk. Rather than being unarmed or carrying makeshift clubs like the others they’d encountered up to now, each of these guards carried rusty, jagged swords which they held loosely at their sides. Like the others, all they wore for clothing was a filthy strip of cloth tied around their waists, exposing blotchy green flesh riddled with scars. There was a small cleared spot just in front of the cavern, with brush pushing in close from both sides of the path.

Kristius leaned down to speak in Niko’s ear, “At least this cave looks tall enough I won’t have to duck walk this time,” he observed, ”So, what’s the plan, mighty bald one?”

Niko didn’t reply as he crouched in place and watched the cave entrance for a short while. He didn’t see any sign that there might be more guards nearby, so he motioned for Kristius to follow him back to the others.

Speaking in a low tone, he outlined his plan to his companions, “Ok, so let’s try this. Kristius swings around to the right, then gets their attention. Meantime, the rest of us will swing out left. When they turn their backs on us to face Kristius, I’ll jump the closest one while Kristius engages the other. Lucius, you help Kristius finish his, then switch to mine. Arabella, keep an eye on health bars and heal anyone who needs it. Timm, I need you you stay here and keep watch. Stay out of sight and yell out if anyone comes down the trail, ok?” The youngster nodded happily, delighted to be included in the plans. Niko turned to Kristius, ”Once you’re set, let us know in group chat, and then count to thirty before jumping out to make sure we’re in position. Everyone got it?” He received a chorus of nods and rubbed his hand across the top of his head. “Ok, let’s do this.”

Everyone slid through the brush as quietly as possible. To Niko’s ears, the rustling of brush and snapping of twigs seemed thunderous, but luckily the guards didn’t seem to notice. The trio found what they judged to be a favorable spot, and hunkered down to wait. The seconds ticked by with agonizing slowness.

After an eternity, “Ready for blast off!” popped up in their peripheral vision. Thirty seconds later, Kristius burst out of the thicket on the far side of the clearing, snarling and brandishing his axe.

“Behold my awesomeness!” the dark warrior rumbled menacingly, as he swung his axe in a sweeping overhead blow at the nearest goblin. Despite the surprise attack, the stocky creature reacted quickly enough to twist aside, and the descending blade glanced off of his shoulder with little more than a scrape. The second goblin turned towards their attacker, and Niko bolted out of concealment behind it. He wrapped his left arm around its neck and gripped his right bicep, while locking his right hand behind its head. The creature struggled against him with unexpected strength. He pulled its head back as he slammed his right knee into its lower back, driving the breath out of the creature while he clamped down harder on its throat. Forcing the goblin over into an awkward backbend, he held on tightly as it began desperately trying to buck him off. A bolt of flame shot past him, engulfing Kristius’ opponent in that oddly clinging fire. The monster screamed and beat futilely at the flames, and Kristius brought his heavy axe around in a powerful swing, driving it into the side of the goblin’s head and nearly cleaving off the top of its skull. It flew sideways from the impact and flipped over on the ground, flames still flickering across its blackening skin.

Niko held his leverage on the second goblin, forcing it to stay bent over backwards. He gritted his teeth against the pain when the beast gouged at his arm with thick, dirty nails, leaving deep bloody furrows in his skin. He activated Focus Energy and concentrated his strength into crushing the goblin’s neck, when Kristius drove his axe into its chest with a meaty thunk! It stopped struggling and went limp, dark gore oozing down its belly. Lowering the lifeless body to the ground, Niko felt a wave of healing warmth wash over his burning arm as Arabella repaired the damage the goblin had done.

End of combat log:

You have gained 182 experience (140 base plus 30% bonus)"

They looted the corpses, coming up with a grand total of two tatty ears, 11 tarnished copper coins, and two poorly made and ill-kept iron short swords. As they gathered in front of the cave, Timm crept out of the brush and stood beside them, staring down at the goblin bodies. His lips twisted with loathing.

“I hate them! They keep trying to get to my meemaw and me. She keeps them scared away, but with her gone I don’t know what’s gonna happen. Please, Mister Niko, you have to find her,” he begged, grabbing Niko’s hand, eyes shimmering with tears.

“We’ll do our best. You need to stay out here and keep hidden until we get back, okay?” He herded Timm gently toward the surrounding thicket, ”Stay there and stay quiet. We’ll be back as soon as we can.” The boy looked up at Niko worshipfully, nodded, and disappeared into the thicket.

Niko rejoined the others and they peered cautiously into the opening. In the deepening twilight, they could now see a faint luminescence given off by some sort of moss growing on the walls and ceiling. When their eyes adjusted to the dark, it seemed that it might be enough light that they wouldn’t need torches. ”Lead on, big boy,” Niko directed. There was a momentary gleam of white teeth in the gloom, and then Kristius ducked slightly and entered the cave with his axe held at the ready. The others followed him into the mouth of darkness.

As soon as they entered the cave, a glowing message shimmered up in front of the party:

You are at the entrance to The Goblin’s Lair dungeon. Recommended four or five players of 7th level or greater. If you continue, on your first time through you will be allowed only one attempt for the successful completion of this adventure. If a party member dies, that character will not be allowed to re-enter the dungeon until the remainder of the group has either died or left the dungeon.

Difficulty: Hard

Reward: This is the first attempt to negotiate this dungeon. There will be a 30% experience bonus, plus one item of superior or better quality for each surviving member of the group. While in the dungeon, there is a 25% increase in treasures found, a 25% greater chance to find items of uncommon or higher quality, and a 25% greater chance to find herbs of uncommon or higher quality.

Penalty for failure: Loss of all experience and treasure bonuses.

Do you wish to enter the dungeon? Yes/No

Niko surveyed his companions, who all nodded at him in varying degrees of excitement and apprehension. He blinked at the Yes, and the air shimmered oddly around the group for a brief moment before returning to normal. They all quickly checked their surroundings, but the only thing that appeared to have changed was that a cloudy haze now covered the cave opening. Niko reached out a hand, and it passed harmlessly through the fog.

Do you wish to exit the dungeon: The Goblins Lair? Experience and treasure gained within will be forfeited.

Yes/No

He hurriedly selected No and then did a slow turnabout, inspecting the immediate area. The chamber they were in he guessed was about twelve feet across, and seemed to be a natural cavern. Niko remembered reading in the manual that all of the dungeons had a safe ‘jump-off’ point at the beginning. Far in the back of the room, a tunnel led down into the rocky ground, a dark maw waiting with the ageless patience of eternal stone to swallow them up. The area was dimly lit with a weak, sickly green light emanating from clumps of moss clinging in irregular patches to the walls and ceiling. The floor was stone and hard-packed dirt, which meant there would be no tracks — both a blessing and a curse.

Niko was surprised when Kristius incongruously stuffed his huge battle axe into his satchel and pulled out two wicked-looking hand axes. Kristius noticed Niko’s expression of confusion and executed a showy flourish with the axes.

Stolen story; please report.

“No room to swing the big chopper in close quarters like that,” he pointed over his shoulder at the tunnel, “We got lucky back there in the dog cave, but I wouldn’t count on that happening every time.”

Arabella cast Armored Body on the party, and Kristius took up his customary position in the lead. He started off down the tunnel, with Niko close behind, followed by Arabella, and Lucius nervously taking up rear guard.

They followed the tunnel for about fifty paces when it split in a fork, right and left. Kristius paused for a moment, head swiveling, and then — for reasons only Kristius knew — continued along the left branch. A short distance later, Kristius flapped a hand back at them, and pressed himself back against the stone wall so everyone could get a glimpse ahead. The narrow tunnel opened out into a little alcove about twenty feet wide. The interior was lit up by a tiny campfire, and four of the grunt goblins were seated around it, eating and gibbering at one another.

Kristius surveyed the scene a short while, then silently mouthed ”grunts” at the others. He pointed at himself and held up two thick fingers, pointed at Niko and held up one, then pointed in turn at Lucius and held up one finger. The others nodded their understanding, and he turned and crept forward towards the opening. When the two goblins facing him across the fire caught sight of him, he charged. He leapt over the fire and landed neatly between the two goblins, who were gabbling and clumsily trying to jump to their feet, and buried a hatchet in the shoulder of each one.

Following close on the heels of his comrade’s charge, Niko swerved slightly to the right to attack one of the grunts that was just surging to its feet to help the other two. As he came up behind it, he dropped down on his left heel and and spun around, using his extended right leg to kick the goblin’s feet out from under it and dropping it to the ground. The goblin frantically scrambled back up to its hands and knees, and Niko grabbed its head in both hands and drove his knee repeatedly into its face. When he felt the creature go limp, he dropped it to the floor, pulled out his dagger, and finished it off with a quick stab to the side of the neck.

Whirling around, Niko found that Kristius had already dispatched one of his foes, who was bleeding out on the floor. He watched as Kristius blocked a clumsy dagger thrust from the remaining grunt using one of his hatchets, then chopped the creature’s hand clean off with the other. The goblin staggered back, mewling and clutching the bleeding stump, and Kristius spun and hurled an axe across the firepit, striking the goblin that Lucius and Arabella were sparring with squarely in the back. The creature turned, howling, and Arabella brought her staff down across its skull. It stopped, dazed and reeling, and Lucius stabbed it in the ribs with his dagger, dropping it to the floor. Turning back, Kristius hurled his other hatchet at the goblin with the missing hand, hitting it in the chest and finishing it off.

End of combat log:

You have gained 320 experience (200 base plus 30% pain bonus plus 30% first run bonus)

The four looted the dead goblins, garnering yet more scruffy ears and a handful of silver coins. Niko cocked an inquisitive eye at Lucius, ”What happened?”

“Resisted spell,” the mage replied, shrugging.

“Guess that can happen from time to time,” Niko frowned, shaking his head. “I should probably wait and make sure your spell goes off before I attack. That could’ve turned bad pretty quick. Sorry.”

“Not your fault, Niko, stuff happens. We survived,” Arabella replied, as she tended to a few minor wounds on Lucius.

“Three iron daggers, poor quality, and seven silver. Not a bad haul!” Kristius reported, as he rubbed his hands together, ”And these are just the little guys!” He retrieved his hatchets while Arabella re-buffed the group’s magical armor bonus, and then led them back the way they’d come. He grinned back over his shoulder, ”Now let's go see what the big boys are carrying.”

They returned to the fork in the tunnel and took the other branch, following it in a slightly downward slope. It jagged back and forth, and they explored several side branches that turned out to be dead ends.

Eventually the tunnel opened into a wider area up ahead, and Kristius and Niko crept stealthily forward to scout the area. The tunnel let out into a large grotto, almost one hundred feet across, with a ceiling about twenty-five feet overhead. Numerous other tunnel openings dotted the walls around the chamber. There were no fires in here, but the glowing lichen on the ceiling and walls shed enough light that they could make out most of the den. There were piles of refuse heaped in various spots around the floor, some of them empty and others occupied by sleeping goblins. More goblins wandered around the grotto, mostly in groups of two or three.

Niko counted a total of twelve goblins: eight grunts and four of the stronger marauders. Kristius elbowed him in the ribs and silently pointed out a thirteenth goblin, a huge brute who was sitting on a rock at the far side of the chamber near one of the exits. It was gnawing greedily on something unrecognizable, and appeared to be wearing some sort of armor. Having been brought to his attention, Niko identified the unfamiliar-looking goblin.

Zajet, 8th level Goblin Warrior

Special abilities:

Able to see in complete darkness

Stun

???

Special Weakness: Bright Light

“Oh joy, that one has a name… probably a mini-boss,” he whispered to Kristius, ”And stun t’boot. Let's back up and figure this out.” They moved quietly back, collected Arabella and Lucius, and retreated back to the nearest side tunnel. Niko summarized what they’d seen to the others, then polled them each with a glance, “Ideas, anyone?”

“Oh yeah, dude, I got a great idea! That barmaid Megan and a jar of peanut butter, though if they don’t have peanut butter in this game I could make it work with honey, ya know?” Kristius stopped abruptly when Niko thumped him hard in the chest. ”Jeez dude! Don’t ask for ideas if you don’t want to hear them… rude!” he grumbled in an affronted tone.

Niko glared at Kristius and asked, ”Anyone have any ideas that will help our current situation?” He held up a warning finger at Kristius, who had opened his mouth to reply, only to snap it shut again.

“The only thing I can think to do, short of a suicide charge, would be to try and lure a few of them at a time back to this side tunnel, where we can ambush them. They don’t seem all too bright, so if one of us eases in and gets the attention of a group of them and then runs out, we might be able to whittle them down before any of them catches on. If we can manage to get that warrior solo, we should be able to handle him. Niko, I suggest you be the one to lure them out,” Arabella proposed, ”You have the stealth and speed to make it work.”

Niko mulled Arabella’s recommendation for a moment, then made a sour face, ”Yeah, I guess it’d have to be me. OK, so I’ll try to creep up and grab one of the wandering groups. Once I have them after me, I’ll lead them here and Kristius does what Kristius does best, and then — hopefully — it’s just a tank-and-spank like we’ve been doing all along. Lucius, this time you help me finish mine off quick while Arabella keeps Kristius up and fighting.” He acknowledged Arabella with a nod, “Good strategy.” She blushed and ducked her head, and Niko headed out to the main tunnel. “Now, let’s kick some goblin ass!”

He crept up as close to the grotto as he dared, and watched the groups roaming around inside for a short while, trying to get a sense of their movements. When one of the groups eventually wandered close to his hiding place with no others near enough to see, he picked up a loose rock from the ground and flung it at one of the goblins, smacking it neatly in the head. The grunt… well, grunted, and turned to see where the stone had come from, and his buddies turned to see what he was looking at. Niko stepped out of hiding just enough for them to spot him, he hoped without alerting any of the others inside the cavern. He turned and ran back up the tunnel towards his friends, with the angry goblins close on his heels.

As he ran past the fork, Niko heard Kristius surge out of the side tunnel and body slam into the second goblin in line, driving it into the stone wall with bone cracking force. Niko stopped abruptly, planted his feet, and drove an elbow backwards into the face of the goblin right behind him, crushing its nose and making a bloody wreck of its mouth. It reeled back, stunned and wobbling on its feet. Niko activated Stone Fist and threw several blows to the goblin’s mangled face, then grabbed its head in both hands and slammed it twice against the tunnel wall, smashing its skull. He spun around and looked back down the tunnel in time to see Kristius finish off the last goblin — scorched and still smoking from Lucius’ handiwork — with his hatchets.

They collected their loot, and Niko peripherally noted the combat log reporting that he’d gained another 195 experience points. He blinked the log away and saw Kristius staring at him with a peculiar expression on his face.

(6878 tot)

“What?”

“Dude, you're like a serious badass, you know that? I mean, no weapons, no shoes, and no hair, yet you still kick ass without looking like you’re gonna toss your cookies anymore! Kinda brings a tear to my eye… ” the big man sniffled and wiped a thick forefinger under his eye.

Niko scowled up at the fighter. “You know, sometimes I hate you, I really do,” he grumped as Arabella re-cast Armored Body. He trudged back down the tunnel, ”I'll go get the next group.”

“They grow up so fast, don’t they?” Kristius asked Arabella, sniffing again.

“You really aren’t right, are you?”’ she replied, eyeing him warily.

They took out another group of goblins in much the same way as the first, and then decided they were going to have to get some rest before very much longer. At Kristius’ suggestion, the party retreated back to the first dead-end corridor, where they’d encountered the goblins sitting around the campfire. Taking turns standing watch, they were each able to get a refreshing nap without any incident. Revitalized, they had a cold and tasteless breakfast of trail rations before returning to their chosen ambush site to start the cycle again.

The stronger goblin marauders were somewhat more challenging, and Arabella wound up having to use several extra healing spells on everyone in the party when they faced those. After what seemed like days of brutal fighting, they finally managed to rid the grotto of all its occupants — including a few stragglers that had showed up in the interim — save one.

The companions moved cautiously into the open chamber, taking up a defensive stance, and stood watching the big goblin warrior guardedly. Zajet remained seated nonchalantly on his stone, apparently unconcerned by their intrusion, and continued to gnaw on some bloody bones heaped at his feet. He wore ill-fitting bronze armor, dented, stained, and tarnished, and there was a heavy helmet on his head.

Niko spoke in low, terse tones, “Well, here’s my plan: Lucius, you get close enough to blast him with your fire-bolt, while Kristius charges him and gets up in his face. I’ll give Kristius a few seconds to really get the goon pissed off, then I’ll jump in. Not sure what that stun ability is gonna do, but I can promise we’re not going to like it. Lucius, keep blasting it with fire whenever it starts dying out. Arabella, you be sure to stay back at maximum range for healing, plus keep watch for any stragglers to come in out of those side tunnels. If they do, holler and I’ll break off and grab them, at which point Kristius will have to keep the boss tied up while Lucius and I burn down the add-ons. Lucius, only hit the ones I’m fighting so they don’t come after you. Sound good?”

“Yup.”

“Got it.”

“Lucius, I can’t hear your head rattle.”

“Hrmph!”

Having established a course of action, the companions threaded their way carefully across the cavern, navigating around piles of stones and scattered heaps of stinking garbage. The odor was so horrible that it took a conscious effort not to retch on the spot. When they had approached to within about fifty feet of Zajet, he finally deigned to look up at them. He tossed away the bone he’d been chewing on and favored them with a vicious, snaggle-toothed grin as he slowly stood up. His scar-laden arms showed an alarming amount of muscle as he casually bent and picked up a battered shield and a dingy-looking sword from the litter at his feet, and then he started a leisurely walk toward the four adventurers, still sporting that nasty grin.

When he’d gotten about twenty feet away, Lucius flung a gout of fire at the warrior, which he deftly caught on his shield, setting it ablaze. Kristius had withdrawn his battle axe back out of his satchel, and he hurled one of his hatchets at the monster as he charged forward. Zajet swatted the hatchet harmlessly aside with his sword and ran at Kristius, and the two slammed into each other like a pair of angry bulls. Niko dashed around the two fighters and came in on Zajet’s left flank. He activated Stone Fist and punched the goblin where his kidney ought to be, eliciting a pained grunt from the beast. Kristius spun his battle axe in dizzying patterns, trying to break through Zajet’s defense, only to be blocked or parried with every assault. On the rare occasions that he did successfully land a blow, the goblin warrior twisted and dodged so quickly that the blows did little damage.

Zajet turned slightly, keeping both of his adversaries within his view. He blocked the majority of Niko’s strikes with the shield, while he continued to parry Kristius and his battle axe with a cunningly wielded sword, and still managed a telling strike or two against his opponents besides. One of the blows from the goblin’s shield hit Niko with a shock like a bolt of lightning, leaving him dazed and immobile for several crucial moments, and only a desperate flurry of lunging attacks from Kristius kept Niko from losing his head. Lucius continually worked his way around the sparring trio, and managed to set the goblin afire twice, but the frenetic motion of the fighting prevented him from targeting the creature accurately without harming his allies.

The three of them badgered the warrior as relentlessly as they could, though not without some painful retaliations, and the injuries on Zajet finally began to take a toll. Taking them all by surprise, Zajet suddenly leapt back out of striking range and let out an ear-piercing bellow, which was immediately answered from one of the side tunnels. Three more of the marauder goblins came charging into the room, snarling in challenge.

“Adds!” Arabella screamed in alarm, scrambling out of the way of the new threat.

Niko and Lucius broke away from Zajet, hoping that Kristius would be able to stand up against the beast in its now-weakened state. They ran to intercept the charging goblins, quickly interposing themselves between the marauders and their vulnerable healer. Niko activated Focus Energy and slammed headlong into the lead goblin, sending it tumbling across the ground. As he sidestepped that one, the second goblin stabbed at Niko’s head with a rusted dagger. Niko managed to duck the thrust, but it gouged a shallow, stinging cut across his cheek. Meanwhile, Lucius hit the third attacker with a Flame Gout, causing it to lose its desire to fight while it howled and rolled on the ground, slapping at the flames.

When the one facing Niko tried to stab him again, he caught its wrist with both hands, spun around, and pulled the creature’s distended arm down across his shoulder, breaking it with a loud crack. The goblin screamed and dropped its weapon. Maintaining his grip, Niko spun the rest of the way around, using the broken arm as leverage to drive his opponent to its knees. He released the wrist with one hand and grabbed a fistful of the goblin’s greasy hair, yanking down hard while driving his knee into its head with bone-crushing force.

The goblin fell, unconscious or dead, and Niko suddenly screamed out in pain when the first marauder recovered its wits and buried its teeth in the monk’s calf, causing him to lose balance and fall to the floor. Lucius was busy trying to finish his flaming goblin off with a dagger, and was unable to offer any help. Rolling around with the goblin’s teeth clenched firmly in his calf sent searing lances of agony shooting up his leg. Niko fumbled out his own dagger and stabbed blindly down at the creature, managing to cut it across one eye and making it let go. He flipped over and threw himself on top of his foe, and drove his forehead into the goblin’s face repeatedly, pulping its lips and nose while at the same time garnering several cuts on his face and head. Finally, he drove his dagger up under the marauder’s chin and into its brain, and it collapsed beneath him. Panting heavily and favoring his mauled leg, he dragged himself to his feet and, making sure that Lucius had his adversary under control, staggered back toward Kristius and Zajet.

Kristius was breathing in great, wheezing gasps, and was bleeding heavily from multiple cuts. His group life bar showed him at 42% health, while Niko’s own was at 38%. Even as he watched, his own life bar surged up to 70% as a wave of warmth from Arabella's healing spell washed over him. She danced nimbly up behind Kristius, chanting, and his bar jumped up to 68% as she threw a heal on him, too. On the plus side, Zajet was looking pretty battered by this time as well.

A bolt of flame shot past Niko’s ear and hit Zajet in the side, telling him that Lucius had finished his foe and was back in the fight. Timing the surging to-and-fro of the struggling warriors, Niko chose his moment and dashed forward to leap on Zajet’s back. He wrapped an arm around the goblin’s thick neck and drove his dagger up to the hilt in the monster’s back, just between the ribs. Zajet arched up and back, screaming in pain, then swung his shield at Kristius faster than the big man could dodge out of the way. The blow caught the fighter on the side of the head with stunning force, and Kristius staggered to a standstill, swaying unsteadily, with his eyes unfocused.

Zajet spun around in circles, trying to toss Niko off, swatting ineffectively at his back with his sword. Niko wrapped his legs around the goblin’s waist and tightened his grip on the beast’s neck, and managed to stab it again. Enraged and desperate, Zajet threw himself backwards against a wall, slamming Niko against the stone with bone-jarring force. His vision dimmed as the breath whooshed out of his lungs, and his grip around Zajet’s throat loosened. The goblin whirled around again, flinging Niko off his back and sending him rolling gracelessly across the floor. Barely conscious, Niko didn’t have the breath or the strength to defend himself as Zajet stalked over to loom above him, raising his sword over his head to deliver the killing blow.

Before the goblin could finish Niko off, he was sent staggering back by another blaze of fire. Zajet dropped his sword and fell back against the cavern wall, flapping weakly at the flames, and slid slowly to the floor, dead. Niko wearily closed his eyes and uttered a heartfelt groan. “Way too old for this shit… ” he grumbled to himself.

He felt the welcomed warmth of a healing spell wash across him, relieving much of the pain he felt. He opened his eyes to a grinning Lucius standing over him, holding out a hand to help him up. Arabella was next to him, looking spent. Niko grabbed the proffered hand and dragged himself up to his feet. They all went over to check up on Kristius, who had mostly recovered from the stunning blow and was standing, leaning on his axe.

“Dudes, I always heard you saw stars when you get hit in the head like that, but I didn’t. I saw, like, these little leprechauns who were dancing some sort of celtic jig, and there were fiddles,” he shook his head muzzily, ”It was way cool!”

Niko, Arabella, and Lucius exchanged looks, and Niko grinned, “As I said, not right.” Arabella rolled her eyes, and Lucius just nodded solemnly. Their combat log popped up, reporting that they’d gained another 325 points of experience.

The party looted all of the bodies and found one gold and eight silver coins. Zajet’s shabby-looking sword turned out to be an uncommon quality sword that just hadn’t been cleaned off in a long while, and Lucius kept it. The goblin warrior’s mail was made up of bronze discs overlaid on a leather cuirass, which Arabella took, at Niko’s insistence. They also found a small brass key in a pouch on Zajet’s belt. They ransacked the room, and finally found a little jewelry box buried under one of the piles of debris. Using the key to open it, to their collective delight, they found a red gem, a green gem, and two yellow ones. They stowed away the treasure they’d found before turning their attention to the tunnel that Zajet had been guarding.