He smiled a grim, wicked smile. Gebo had known that the vile creatures would forget about chasing down the scribe if they thought they had a chance of getting hold of the dwarf, one of their historical and most hated of enemies. He moved farther into the clearing, slowly swinging his axe back and forth, taunting the goblins, drawing them in as close as possible.

They were spread out a bit more than he would have liked, but he couldn't wait much longer. For all he knew, this band could be a forward scouting party and more goblins could be coming up the trail, even now. Gebo moved over a bit more to his right, drawing the goblins with him, the creature on his extreme left moving closer to the brush at the edge of the clearing, probably thinking it could duck in and come up behind him.

There was a thin whistle and then the goblin's head was lofted across the clearing, dark blood spraying out in an arc behind it. Gondar-Nor, his long blade now dripping goblin blood, charged from the brush to Gebo's left, a battle cry on his lips. Startled, the goblins lost a precious instant as they viewed this new apparition, along with the head of their comrade as it splattered onto the grass. It was just long enough for Gebo to reach the closest goblin and cleave his skull, even as it was turning back toward him.

One of the remaining goblins made the foolhardy mistake of attempting to stand before the rage of the Dragon Lord and he brought his short sword up to parry the blow delivered by Gondar-Nor. The mighty, two handed sword came down and shattered the smaller weapon as if it had been match wood and kept on going, cutting into the surprised goblin between his right shoulder and neck, slicing completely through the creature. The blade exited his body just above the left hip and stopped only when the bloodied metal was buried deep in the ground. The two halves of the stricken goblin slowly fell apart, crumpling to the grass. The Dragon Lord and dwarf both looked up from their dead opponents to the last of their former attackers.

The goblin stood its ground for a heartbeat, sword raised defiantly, then hissed and turned his back on them, running for its life.

"Blast," Gebo said. "We can't let it get away."

"I know," Gondar-Nor agreed, coming up to the dwarf as he wiped black blood from his sword with a handful of grass. "So, which of us shall give chase, then?"

By this time, Magway and Gilder had joined the two warriors and Gilder,who had been watching the fleeing goblin, shouted, "Look!"