Chapter I - In the Deep End

As the last of the goblins fell dead to the ground Slobba turned instinctively to find a new foe.  Seeing none he hurried over to where Elvis lay writhing on the ground in pain, his right thigh laid open by the wicked blade of his now dead goblin opponent.  The Cleric knelt next to his wounded companion and quickly muttered a prayer to his Deity Thor, the God of Thunder, and the wound closed over.

The Bard sighed his thanks then slowly pulled himself to his feet as the fading sunlight reflected brightly off the sequins on his white jump suit. 

The Elven Warrior Wizard Shyne cleaned the blood off his enormous two handed sword by wiping it on the body of the goblin that he had just slain.  Behind him Llona the Elven Rogue was busily searching the goblins bodies for whatever coins or valuable items that she could find.  She snorted in disgust at the pitiful amount that she found before she too cleaned her weapons on a goblins corpse.

“It was just as the little weasel predicted” said Shyne as he re-sheathed his great sword and slipped the harness over his shoulder and onto his back “Goblins in the gate house and the buildings beyond.”

“Yes but that was all the information he had” replied Slobba as he readjusted his plate mail breast plate.

The small group had been hired by a representative of the Duke of Van Drewman’s to liberate a small mine from a tribe of goblins that had chased out the miners over two months before.  There were originally 6 in their party but Alyse the Ranger and Grumpy the Dwarf had been on private business before the job had been offered, and the rest of the group had decided to press on without them and meet up afterwards. 

After they had crept into the gate house and dealt with the goblins there they had cleared the stables and the barracks that lay inside the walls; however as they had made their way across the courtyard they had been caught in the open by a group of goblins that had charged at them from one of the two remaining buildings in the compound. 

The battle had been brief but fierce and they were now ready to search the remaining two buildings before moving onto the mine itself. 

“What’s that over there?” asked Elvis as he turned his handsome deeply tanned face to the left at a hint of movement that had caught his eye.  “I can see something moving” he said pointing his lithe yet incredibly muscular right arm in a southerly direction. 

About 100 feet away the party could see a large white wolf chained to a post outside the most southerly building.  As the group moved cautiously towards it they could see clouds of white breathe ominously pouring from its mouth.

"That's one big wolf" said Shyne as he slipped his great sword off his back and drew it from its sheath.

"It'd make a good throw rug' mused Slobba.

"It looks hungry" said Elvis in his deep booming masculine voice.  "Let’s feed it a dead goblin".

"That’s disgusting" said Llona as she shot the Bard a withering glance.

Elvis ignored the Elf and, along with Slobba, walked over to where a few goblin bodies were laying on the ground, selected a relatively plump one and dragged it between them over to where the wolf was chained.

"Are you hungry?" asked Elvis, a trickle of sweat sliding down his chiseled jaw.

"I have not eaten in days" growled the wolf in broken common.

Slobba took a step back as he was startled by the response.  Elvis briefly furrowed his brow.  "Hmmmm, just as I suspected" he thought to himself.

The two friends picked up the body and, on a count of 3 swung it towards the wolf who pounced on it and began tearing off chunks of flesh as soon as it hit the ground.

At that exact moment the door to the building next to them burst open and armour clad Troll wielding a huge sword charged out towards Slobba.  Whirling his spear about his head the blonde haired Lorsian Cleric dropped to one knee and rammed his spear into the Trolls belly.  Shyne pulled out his bow and pumped an arrow into the beast while Llona manoeuvred herself into a position to enable her to get a thrust into the Trolls vital organs. 

Thinking quickly Elvis turned to the wolf "If I release you will you fight the Troll with us?" he asked.

"Yes” exclaimed the wolf “This one has kept me chained to this post and I would see it dead”.  Elvis moved to the spike that held the chain in place and released the wolf.  With a massive bound it launched itself at the Troll, only to find itself hurtled back to the ground as the Troll hit it with the flat of his sword.  With the Troll being outnumbered 5 to 1 the battle could only end one way and soon it was lying dead at their feet.

“I thank you for my freedom.  If I see you again I will kill you” said the wolf before it bounded towards the open gates and into the wilderness beyond.

Authors Note:  When I first started this story the original first chapter was lame.  Very lame.  Fortunately I've found the time to re-write it.  I hope you enjoy it.

As long as you keep reading I'll keep writing.

Prux