Damn Marissa and her spell of enchantment! Taen had given her his trust, and he'd meant it when he told her so, but he found their whole situation, as well as their relationship, completely frustrating. She was like a raging river, always moving on her own path, slowly wearing down anything, or anyone, that stood in her way.

The sound of footfalls padding lightly up the corridor drew Taen's attention. Cavan let out a soft growl then settled down. The half-elf relaxed at that, for at the first sign of danger, the war-dog would have immediately alerted Roberc.

"Passage ahead is clear," Borovazk whispered, "though we found signs of goblins moving through to eastern caves."

"Man right," Yurz confirmed. "Tribe patrols just passed. Yurz thinks we have only short time before they return. We must move."

Taen gestured and a soft light floated a few feet before him, scattering the darkness. He blinked a few times to adjust his vision then moved forward, following the enchanted goblin. The others fell in behind them quickly, bypassing several small side passages that ran off of the main tunnel. The uneven stone passage twisted and turned, undulating through the mountain depths like a stone serpent.

Taen doggedly followed their swift-footed goblin guide along the sharply sloping trail and across a series of thin stone ledges. Finally, after nearly half a candle's journey, Yurz stopped their march. The tunnel through which they had been traversing ended abruptly in a jagged wall of stone. Taen traced his hands across the length of the interposing stone while the others caught their breath, but the half-elf found nothing.

"You've lead us into a dead end, Yurz," he said to the goblin, not quite keeping the accusation from his voice.

Yurz shook its head violently in denial as the others gathered around. "No, elfling," the creature whined piteously. "Me not lead Pretty Lady and friends to dead end. We now at entrance to upper caverns," he said, pointing toward the ceiling.

Taen followed the direction of the creature's finger, eventually discovering a roughly circular hole that opened into the tunnel's ceiling where it met the jagged wall. Walking carefully beneath the hole, he peered up into its depths and swore softly. What had at first looked like nothing more than a heavily shadowed section of the tunnel was actually a naturally occurring chimney leading up into darkness. He would probably never have found it were it not for Yurz's knowledge of the area.

"Well, so it is," Taen said, returning to the group. "So it is." He placed a hand upon the goblin's shoulder. "Good work, Yurz."

The creature beamed, its orange skin flushing a deeper tone in the dim light. "We go up and soon see Big Chief!"

"That will be nice, Yurz," Marissa said as she drew close to the goblin, "but before we enjoy your Big Chief's hospitality, we'd like to see the inside of the citadel."

Taen watched the creature's eyes widen. "Oh no," Yurz replied hastily. "Pretty Lady not want to visit man-castle. Ugly One there." The goblin shook his head as if to emphasize the point.

Marissa sighed heavily and Taen could see her arrange her face in mock sadness. "I understand, Yurz," she said. "It's just that I so wanted to see the citadel. You wouldn't consider letting us see it as a favor to me, would you?"

Taen almost felt sorry for the hapless goblin as he watched the creature's face trace the battle of fear and awe waged in his enchanted heart. It was clear which side had won when Yurz reached out a grime-covered hand to Marissa.

"Pretty Lady no worry," he said with eyes glistening with eagerness. "Yurz will lead her to man-castle. First we go to upper caverns then over bridge to the place of the dead. Then we be in man-castle pretty quick."

"Thank you, Yurz," Marissa said. "You are certainly a brave friend."

Taen was forced to turn away at the look of pure devotion that crossed the goblin's craggy face. As he did so, the half-elf noticed Borovazk and Roberc staring up into the chimney.

"Borovazk no engineer," the ranger said, "but he does not think that climbing up dark hole will be easy."

Taen looked at the massive-shouldered Rashemi then back at the chimney opening, and he had to agree. Though the stone inside the chimney was rough and uneven, providing several possible hand- and footholds, the width of the opening itself would make the climb very difficult for the large human. Taen thought about it for a moment. Their best possible bet was probably to send an unarmored Roberc up through the vertical passageway first. Once up there, he could find a nearby stalagmite or outcropping of rock to secure their rope to and lower the rest of the rope down the chimney. They could then go up one at a time-though Cavan did present a bit of a logistical problem.

Taen was about to verbalize his plan when Marissa strode forward with Yurz. "Listen," she said softly. "Yurz believes that there could be some sentries near the entrance to the chimney. Let me climb through the passageway in another form. I can move swiftly and remain unseen by whatever guards the entrance to the upper caverns."

Taen nodded at the druid's suggestion and noticed the others doing likewise. Within moments, the air around Marissa began to shimmer and ripple, as if folding in upon itself. One moment Taen saw the druid clearly, and the next, a large spider, almost the size of his two hands, scuttled forward from the space where she had just stood. Yurz leaped backward at the sight of the spider, and the creature would have let out a shriek had not Borovazk moved swiftly to clamp a meaty hand over the goblin's face.

Taen reached down and lifted up the spider, carrying it to the wall just beneath the chimney. Within moments, the transformed druid had crawled into the darkness of the chimney. He whispered a quick prayer of safety to any god who would care to hear.

It was at that moment that Cavan leaped up from where he was lying down on the uneven floor of the cavern and growled a warning. Instantly, Roberc had drawn his sword and peered out into the shadows. Out of the corner of his eye, Taen caught Borovazk releasing the goblin to draw his own axe. Yurz fell backward, whimpering softly as he crawled to his feet.

Several bulbous-headed shapes resolved out of the darkness, padding closer on light feet. Taen swore again as he caught sight of them. Goblins-about ten of them. They stood about twenty feet from Taen and his companions with crude crossbows pointed in their direction.

"Stop! Intruders," one of them shouted in a voice so like that of Yurz that Taen cast a quick look behind him at the quivering goblin.

Taen could see his companions frozen, not in fear, but in preparation for explosive action; their muscles were coiled and tensed like a panther's before it springs down on its prey. The coiling expanse of the underground tunnel would, Taen suspected, likely carry the sounds of any combat to sensitive goblin ears-and that was a discovery they could ill afford. The half-elf reached slowly into his belt pouch, pulling out a small handful of dust. As the goblin sentries drew closer, crossbows firmly pointed at the intruders, Taen whispered the words to an old spell, and he gathered the arcane power at his command. Eldritch energy flooded his senses, swelling like a river pent up behind a dam. At the exact moment when Taen felt that the dam would break, he released the power, scattering sand over the heads of the approaching goblins. The tiny granules spattered and sparked when the spell activated.

First one then another of the goblins jerked as if struck sharply from behind, their bodies pitching forward, bereft of consciousness. The measured sound of goblin snoring filled the tunnel.

"That was well done," remarked Roberc, "though I do wish that you could have left one or two for the rest of us."