Gabriel took his sword off the wall and strapped it to his waist. He walked over to his desk and unlocked the top left drawer. He drew out a dragon claw on a necklace, it was his lucky charm, a memento from one of his father's many futile attempts to track down live dragons. The claw had always brought good luck to him, he hoped it still had some luck left in it. A dagger in his boot, two glowstones in his pocket, and a bottle of flashfire in his vest, Gabriel looked at himself and smirked, this was stupid.

Elanna lit another incense cone and continued her sweet melodic chanting. Sitting on a shelf was Elannadi, Elvish Goddess of Love and Elanna's namesake. She prayed to the small idol, normally she gave religion a wide berth, a person's destiny is decided by them, not the acts of ethereal powers. But tonight she prayed, she prayed for her friends, she prayed for her mother, and she prayed for herself. Elanna continued her chanting until the two incense cones dissolved into nothing. Elanna got up and pulled her panties out of her butt before slipping on her favorite black silk bodice. She pulled on her favorite clothes and took her sword belt from the dresser. She tied it on and made sure both the sword and the dagger were snug in their sheaths, she put the small throwing daggers in their little leather loops across the belt. She pulled her flowing purple hair back and tied it into a tight pony tail, she hated her hair getting pulled. Elanna took one last look at Elannadi and left her room.

Elsenor rubbed Sebastian's back, she didn't want him to go but he convinced her that while dangerous wasn't nearly as crazy as it sounded. Elsenor knew it was crazy but seeing Sebastian work she knew he was at his best in crazy times. The small clock on Sebastian's nightstand chimed, it was time. Sebastian got up and dressed, " Don't worry" said Sebastian, " we'll be back before dawn and after he dump the statue off with Schwartzenselbe we'll go on vacation, just the two of us to a spa."
" I would love that" said Elsenor, her naked body glowing in the dying sun light, " I just want you to come back, I'm embarrassed to say that in all my years I have never felt this close to anyone."
Sebastian kissed Elsenor's tears away, " I'll be back before you know it" he said, " don't worry, it will put wrinkles in your wings."
Elsenor got up and took Sebastian's swords off the wall and tied them to his waist. " I love you" whispered Elsenor, " now go get your statue."

Tanis took his warhammer off the wall and rubbed the red runes on the head until they glowed bright. " Aye, we're going Goblyn hunting" he told the hammer, " your thirst for their damned green blood will be slaked tonight."
Tanis opened a cabinet and took out a bandolier of grenades and a fat cigar in which to light them off of when the time came. Tanis stretched his compact muscular body and smiled, battle was coming and it would be in the tunnels where a Dwarf belonged. Tanis left the gun deck and climbed up two decks to the open air of the early evening.
The entire crew was there, Sebastian giving Sam instructions, Elsenor trying her best to let Sebastian go. Audrey and Alexis were talking to Elanna and Gabriel, the sisters probably discussing who gets Elanna's clothes afterward. " We ready?" asked Tanis.
" As we'll ever be" said Elanna.
" Okay, once we get on the ground the entrance should be only a few hundred yards away" said Tanis.
" How well is it hidden?" asked Gabriel.
" Dwarven doors can be made invisible in rock" said Tanis, " unless you know what you're looking for."
Tanis took the rope, " Shall we go meet destiny?" he asked, an excited gleam in his eye.
" Before you go" said Elsenor, " I have to ask, how you lost your eye?"
" Your mother ever tell you that playing dangerous games will put your eye our? She was right" said Tanis.
Elsenor smirked and waved bye as Tanis silent slid down the rope to the ground below. One by one each slid down the rope and silently landed on the ground. The moment Sebastian's feet hit the ground the Esmeraldas' Triumph slowly sailed north again to hide and wait for the signal to pick them up. Tanis led the way through the low brush into the forest that was between the cliff wall and the river. Tanis led them through the forest and straight to the cliff wall. Tanis slowly began to run his hand along the cliff wall. He stopped at a blank section of the wall that looked remarkably like the rest of the cliff and began to run his hand along the wall, " Where is the damn trigger" he gruffed to himself.
Tanis finally pressed a section of the cliff and everyone watched as the rock slowly slid in. There was a soft click and a door appeared in the cliff wall and slowly swung open. The only problem was the door was only four feet tall, just enough that Tanis could walk through without ducking. The other slowly crawled through the opening. Once Sebastian got through the hole Tanis slowly pulled the door closed leaving the small passage pitch black.
They took out their glowstones and illuminated the passage. It was barely wide enough for them to crawl abreast and still only four feet high, but the wall were perfectly smooth, a testament to Dwarven workmanship. " Does this get better?" asked Elanna.
" About fifty feet ahead" said Tanis, the secret passage comes out in an auxiliary cellar where we use to store the winter rations."
The four started down the tunnel silently moving. They reached the end of the tunnel and froze, there were voices coming from the other side of the end of the tunnel. Tanis pressed his ear against the wall, and raised his hand. He showed the others three stubby fingers. Sebastian nodded to Tanis, who pushed the door open and carefully slipped out of the passage.
He found himself behind several large barrel of what smelled like swamp oil. The vile smelled filled his nostrils. " Why are we hauling so much up?" asked the first Goblyn voice.
" The boss is planning something" said the second, " he wants the watch fires burning all night."
" Yah but he isn't the one hauling this shit up every hour" said the third.
" Just shut up and do it" said the first.
Tanis peered around the last barrel and saw two of the Goblyns were leaving the room and the other had his back to him. Tanis took his dagger out and grabbed the Goblyn by his pointy nose. The deed was gone quickly and silently. Tanis dragged the body behind the barrel. The rest came out of the hidden passage as Tanis rolled the body into the passage. " Now where?" asked Elanna.
" Down this passage, we'll have to pass the kitchen and then up a back stair" said Tanis.
" Then?" asked Sebastian.
" One thing at a time" said Tanis.
The group slipped to the doorway, the hallway was clear several doorways lead into other storage rooms, some with more barrels of swamp oil, the rest stacked full with food. Tanis led the way down the hallway, the closer they came to the intersection they began to hear noises. The intersection split the hallway into two halls, one led into a large kitchen, open fires where large beasts were slowly being turned on spits, dozens of Goblyns hurried about preparing food for a large feast. Tanis darted across the hall first ducking into a room down the hall away from the kitchen. Elanna went next, then followed by Gabriel, and then Sebastian. As Sebastian entered the room he saw Elanna boosting Tanis through a small window at the top of the far wall. " Its clear" he said, " those Goblyn bastards have been remodeling."
They slipped through the small window into a narrow room with a spiral staircase cut from the rock. " Now it is going to get hard from here" said Tanis, " the foreman's offices were on the upper level, we have to go through a few rather large areas."
" Like the barracks?" asked Gabriel.
" Probably" said Tanis.
One by one they started up the stairs, they were half way up when they heard footsteps coming down. Tanis pressed his back up against the inside wall and Elanna on the outer wall further down.
Two Goblyns came down the steps, as the first rounded the corner Tanis' warhammer smashed into his face, as the other stood in shock a throwing dagger lodged in his throat. Gabriel and Sebastian caught both Goblyns before either could fall too far down the stairs. They carried the bodies down to the foot of the steps and continued on their way. The stairs led up four levels and came to a blank wall. " Dead end?" asked Elanna.
Tanis gave the wall a push, " Yep, damn Goblyns been changing everything" said Tanis.
" Is there a way around?" asked Sebastian.
" Yah, through the armoury" said Tanis.
" Great" said Elanna, " let's go."
They went down the stairs to the floor below and slipped through several rooms filled with weaponry and finally to the weapon forge. Several Goblyns were hard at work, the forges were blazing making weapons for another Goblyn attack. Great Cave Trolls stoked the massive fires under the whips of their masters. " I have an idea" said Elanna.
Elanna slipped around racks of freshly made weapons and gracefully leapt up to the roof beams like the fifteen foot jump was nothing. Elanna slipped along the beams, the heat of the forges was intense and making her sweat like a bear in a sauna. Her hands became wet and her balance on the wooden beam became more treacherous. Elanna crept closer and closer to the forges, the heat making her head start to swim. Elanna reached the opposite side, just inches above the Cave Trolls' heads.
One of the Cave Trolls stopped feeding the fire and began to sniff in the air. He had never smelled anything this sweet, and addictive before. The Goblyn Troll Driver began to shout in their native tongue and lash the Cave Troll's grey hide to get him back to work. The Cave Troll roared at the Driver and went back to work. Elanna slowly exhaled, she was only six inches from the trolls now. Elanna inched her way across the beam to the large ring on the wall that held the Cave Troll's chains to the wall. Elanna unlaced her shirt and took out the vile of metal eating acid Audrey had given her before they left and gently pulled the cork out with her teeth. Elanna gently poured the acid over the ring. She watched as the acid began to eat the ring away. Elanna was feeling very woozy and only prayed she could hang on a little longer, the sweat was dripping off her face in big drops now. Elanna watched as the top of the ring was eaten through, now she hoped one of the Cave Trolls would try something now.
The Goblyn Driver lashed another of the Trolls hard and howled at him to get to work. The Cave Troll turned and there was a loud metallic clang. The Driver watched in shock as the chains on all four Cave Trolls fell to the floor. The first Cave Trolls lifted his coal shovel and slammed it into the Driver throwing his broken body across the forge and into the wall with a wet crunch. Cries of alarm went up all across the forge as the Cave Trolls began to lumber towards the wall, and an escape from the brutal heat. Any Goblyn that tried to stop them was either smashed with the Cave Trolls' coal shovels or simply stepped on. The first Cave Troll crashed through the wall and started lumbering on, raising a bigger alarm.
Elanna climbed off the roof beam and stumbled on the landing. " Okay?" asked Gabriel, helping the very sweaty Elanna up.
Elanna nodded, " I'm not use to the heat" she said.
" Let's hurry" said Tanis, " the Cave Trolls will be a great distraction for awhile."
The four hurried through the forge, by now the alarm bells were ringing and armed Goblyns were racing about trying to organize to capture the escaped Cave Trolls. The chaos caused by the escaped Cave Trolls was enough that they were able to sneak through the barracks and make it into the mines with only running into two more Goblyns which were quickly dispatched. The mines were much cooler and they helped Elanna cool down as they made their way up a small ladder towards a pinprick of light way at the top which was the foreman's office and now the throne room of Twang Nosepicker.

Twang was sitting on his throne a large smile on his lips. His shamans were readying for the ceremony. The fire had been set and he watched as they added ingredient after ingredient into the fire. It first turned yellow, then as the next ingredient was added a great plume of purple smoke rose from the fire and the flames turned blue. " Is it ready yet?" asked Twang.
" Not yet" said the elder shaman, " this takes time."
Twang sat back and started drumming his long boney fingers on his throne. He had searched for years for this treasure and now that he had it he wanted to use it now. Twang stood up and strode to the window that looked down at the mines, while he hated Dwarves like nothing else, he had to admire their ability to build these complex structures so perfectly. " It is time" said the elder shaman, " we are ready to perform the ceremony."
Twang turned, a wicked grin on his face, " Make me a god" he said.

" What does he mean?" asked Elanna, crotched with the others underneath the window.
Tanis shrugged, " His ego has finally gotten big enough that it is eating itself?" he suggested.
The four peeked up again and saw the Statue of Lamech being brought into the room. " Bring forth the Soul of Gurg the Undying" said the elder shaman.
" Impossible" whispered Elanna.
" What?" asked Sebastian.
" They believe the jewel in the statue is the one that holds the soul of Gurg the Undying" said Elanna.
" The Immortal Goblyn that once ravaged the Elven Kingdoms" said Tanis, " they say he had made a deal with the old gods to give him immortality in exchange for 25,000 Goblyn lives."
" The legends say his soul was stolen and imprisoned in a jewel" said Elanna, " but that can't be it."
" Let's get grab it before he gets the chance" said Gabriel.
The group first boosted Tanis through the window and the others followed.

" Gurg the Undying, father of fathers" said the elder shaman, " come forth and answer our call."
Suddenly the jewel began to glow, " I Gurg the Undying, slayer of the Elves of Long Forest, Pillager of the town of Silverglade" came a deep Goblyn voice, " I hear your call, step forth Twang Nosepicker. For freeing me from my prison I will accept your body as the vessel of our union. Together we will set this world a lit with chaos."
One shaman turned and saw Tanis and Elanna slipping through the window. He shouted, " Intruders!"
The shamans drew long curved blades and rushed towards the pair. Tanis smashed the first in the stomach with the head of his warhammer and parried the attacks of another shaman. Elanna drew her blade and cut one shaman down before two more rushed her. Elanna desperately parried their frenzied attacks as Sebastian and Gabriel climbed in. The four quickly slew the eight shamans and started for the fire.
The elder shaman tore the jewel from the statue and threw it into the fire. A blinding flash of light illuminated the room and the sounds of 25,000 Goblyns in their death throes filled everyone's ears.