“Get his body and then let’s head back and try one of the other corridors.” The sheriff said in a strained voice.

“Shouldn’t we just head back to town?” One of the hunters said looking around frantically.

“No, we would have to come back later anyway. Be careful and keep an eye out for any more traps.” The sheriff said while looking up at the ceiling carefully.

Oddly the one that seemed to be handling the situation the best was Professor Hanson. “Fascinating. I didn’t think those goblins would be able to set such skillful traps. How did they even get those rocks up there? That and they managed to get them to go off at the same time that the pit was triggered.” She said looking at the ceiling like it was the greatest mystery in the world.

The sheriff furrowed his brow a bit thinking about what she had said. “Are you saying the traps weren’t set by the goblins?” He asked.

The professor shrugged. “It’s possible. Then again there have been a lot of odd things. All of you have at least looked at the shop, right?” The men all nodded. “Maybe the goblins have something similar that lets them set up traps.” The professor said.

The sheriff nodded at the explanation. “Okay, so it’s possible we are just dealing with goblins. It’s also possible there is something more dangerous deeper in the cave. Either way we need to take care of it. We can’t have something that dangerous close to town.” The sheriff said.

The men managed to get the body out of the pit and back to the goblin room. None of them liked it but the sheriff had them leave the body while they continued to explore. Carrying a body around with them would impede them if they ran into more goblins.

The sheriff led the group to the correct corridor this time. A couple dozen feet and they were in what I had referred to as the garden room. The professor looked like she wanted to rush past all the men and look at the new plants. Surprisingly this time she held herself back as the men searched the room. The death of the deputy must have tempered her eagerness a bit.

The men spread out and started examining the room. A few of them moved into the various trees and bushes. I smiled as the first one brushed against a spore shroom. A puff went up and the man started coughing and backing away quickly. Of course he managed to move back under a tree where I had placed a concentration of strangle vines. One of them wrapped around his arm while another wrapped around his neck.

One of his buddies moved forward with a knife but when he went to cut his friend free he brushed against a third vine. It wrapped around his arm that was holding the knife. The man struggled to get free as his friend choked. More men moved forward to help. In their haste one of them brushed against another spore shroom.

Meanwhile on the other side of the room the men didn’t encounter any dangerous plants. I was hoping without the plants attacking them they would move deeper into the room. By chance the professor and sheriff were both on that side of the room. The professor was bent over the plants taking samples and making notes.

A shout went up from the men that were having trouble and most of the men on this side turned to see what was going on. At that exact time I closed the trap and sent my goblins charging forward. The men were distracted enough that they normally wouldn’t have noticed the goblins. Unfortunately my goblins still hadn’t learned how to be quiet.

Fortunately for me the foliage was dense enough that the men didn’t have much visibility. There was a sheriff, a deputy, and three hunters on this side of the room. Only four of them got a shot off before over a dozen goblins closed with them. And only the sheriff managed to get more than one shot off. Three goblins had died closing the distance, but that left the rest with better than two to one odds.

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Plus I had joined the goblins. I was wearing camo hunter gear over my leather armor so the men didn’t notice me sneaking up on them. My warhammer slammed into one of the hunters sending him flying into a tree. I had to admit the enchantment on the warhammer was impressive.

Meanwhile another of the hunters had fallen to my goblins after only managing to kill one more goblin. The deputy may have survived if he had been only facing two goblins. By the time he killed two of them the third drove a spear into his chest. The third hunter and sheriff managed to kill all four goblins they were facing. Then a blast of magic from Shaman Skullshaker slammed into the hunter knocking him to the ground. One of the goblins happened to be nearby and slammed an axe into the hunters head right before the sheriff shot him half a dozen times.

Another blast of magic knocked the sheriff off his feet. It also threw him into the middle of the room though. The last two goblins and Chief Sharpstick chased after him.

Meanwhile I looked over at the professor. She appeared to be in shock and was looking at the dead deputy that had a spear still sticking out of his chest. Suddenly I had an excellent idea.

A few seconds later I grinned and walked up to her. She didn’t notice me until I was just a couple feet away. By then it was too late as I reached out and grabbed her. Then she screamed in fear.

A collar appeared in my hand as I created it. She tried to fight back but my orc avatar was far tougher than the typical human. Her fists beating against my arms and chest didn’t even bruise me.

The collar latched and I smiled. “Be quiet. Stop trying to hurt me.” The professor’s eyes widened as she cut off mid scream and she involuntarily stopped hitting me. She reached up to try to grab the collar but her fingers stopped a few inches short of touching it. Then I noticed her eyes flicker to the side and realized she was thinking of running.

“You won’t be able to leave the dungeon. Go that way and wait for me in the next room.” I ordered her, pointing to the side where the entrance to the next room was. I smiled happily as she obeyed my orders and headed deeper into the dungeon.

I turned back to where the sheriff was and noticed that the men on the other side of the room had rallied and come to his rescue. The sheriff hadn’t gotten off completely uninjured before the other men saved him. The park ranger was trying to staunch the blood flowing from a wound on his right bicep while the sheriff himself held bandages against a wound in his calf. Meanwhile the remaining deputy and the last two hunters stood guard.

“Anyone seen the professor or the other men.” The sheriff asked in a voice that was surprisingly calm considering the situation.

“No sir.” The deputy answered as he watched all the bushes.

I considered charging them and looked at the last goblin near me. It happened to be the shaman. If he had a bit more magic it may be possible for me to take them out. Instead I’d have to wait until more of them assembled. It had been a mistake to not attack them with all my goblins.

“Dammit. I have no idea how many goblins there are in this cave, but there were at least a dozen that attacked us. We need to get back to town. I’m sure the governor has activated the national guard. Maybe we can get some actual soldiers to come and take care of this.” The sheriff said.

“There are a couple veterans in town. Maybe they would have better luck sheriff.” One of the hunters suggested.

“No, most of them have been out of the military for years. Plus they don’t have as much equipment as the military does. I think we need some grenades, flamethrowers, and a few automatic rifles to take out this mess.” The sheriff said.

“I’ve got the bleeding stopped but we need to get you back to town Joe.” The park ranger said. The sheriff nodded and the ranger helped him to stand up on his good foot. I watched closely as they carefully headed back the way they had come.

The shaman and I carefully crept forward. The deputy took point while the two hunters followed and kept their guns trained back the way they had come. Meanwhile the sheriff and park ranger were in the center without any weapons in their hands.

It was taking forever for my goblins to finish assembling. By the time they finished the sheriff and the rest of the men would be long gone. My best shot at finishing them off would be while they were still in the garden room.