The head goblin only shrugged and signalled his men to advance cautiously. As they moved down the tunnel cautiously the light grew brighter and steadier. They came around another bend and there, at the end of the tunnel was a shattered door with a golden light emanating from it and the sound of voices. Human voices. Atros stepped aside as the goblin captain and his soldiers advanced.
At the cell door, Kenneth stared down the corridor and fretted. It was bad enough that the Sparrow hadn’t turned off his seeker ball now that they had found the hedge-witch. Worse he was clinched with her and he wasn’t making any effort to get them away. Kenneth’s well-developed sense of danger had been nagging ever since they entered the dungeons and now the nagging had grown to a full scream. If they stayed here much longer they were going to run into something they could not handle. Kenneth had no doubt at all these passages were full of things like that.
He frowned and squinted down the way they had come, careful not to expose his body with the light behind him. Was it his imagination or had he just heard a scuffling sound, like something heavy trying to move quietly?
Well, one way to find out,
he thought to himself. Silently he nocked the arrow he was carrying in his bow hand. Then he drew and loosed a shaft down the corridor.
He was rewarded with a shout and the sound of running feet.
“Attackers!”
Kenneth yelled, and fired another arrow. Donal was at his side instantly, his sword at the ready.
“Lord, light the corridor and douse that globe!”
Wiz jerked his head up at Kenneth’s cry. “Right,” he said and snatched up his staff. “backslashlightexe “ he yelled, pointing the staff down the corridor. Moira gaped at him. Instantly the whole corridor lit up blue, revealing a packed mass of goblins thundering down on them.
“For-tuna,” Donal breathed and grasped his sword more tightly.
Kenneth’s bowstring thrummed twice more and two more goblins fell. The last one to go down was the goblin commander who dropped kicking and writhing with an arow in his eye. His momentum carried him nearly two paces further.
The combination of the light and the loss of their commander was too much for the goblins. They broke and fled back down the tunnel. Kenneth got one more as they rounded the bend.
“Magic, Master! We must have magic!” The goblin soldier was breathing hard and foam slavered down his chin as he knelt before Atros.
“Fools! Buffoons!” roared Atros. “Must I do your work for you? There is no magic here. Only two humans. Finish them. Now.”
“Magic, Master!” the goblin soldier begged.
“Idiot!” Atros kicked the creature in the face, sending him sprawling. The other goblins shifted and muttered. Atros realized he was dangerously close to overplaying his hand with these servants.
“Attack again,” he ordered. “Attack now. If they use magic then I will loose my powers against them.”
The goblins muttered more but they began to sort themselves out for an attack.
Atros watched, frowning. He still wasn’t sure the alien wizard was with this group and he didn’t want to use his magic unnecessarily. Whatever was going on in the City of Night was nullifying or weakening spells. Demons were not responding reliably to his call, so he could not learn the identity of his adversary. He did not know his strengths or weaknesses and the feel of the magic was maddeningly unfamiliar. Worse, he could not establish contact with his fellow wizards. He was on his own and deprived of his most reliable weapons.
If the wizard was in that room, then he would crush him. But there was no sign of great power and if the wizard was not there, Atros would rather sacrifice this band of goblins than reveal and weaken himself.
He stood aside as the goblins formed up, ignoring their sidelong glances and their mutterings. One more attack and he would have those humans. Then he would know.
“Lord, we have to get out of here,” Kenneth said over his shoulder. “They’re reforming just around the bend.”