Chapter 14

The next thing Vennoa knew, Agate was kneeling beside her, holding an empty potion flask in his hand. He must have poured some into Vennoa’s mouth when she was out.

“Can you fight?” Agate asked urgently.

Vennoa nodded. “Tempest?”

Agate looked sad. “He’s down. He broke free of the spell and charged at the orc, but the orc dispatched him. He managed to take the orc down with him though.”

Vennoa wailed. Then, she asked, “Can you give him a potion of healing, like you did for me?”

Agate replied, “I don’t have any more, and I used his on him previously. Fender might have one, but she’s all the way back there.”

Vennoa looked back, and saw that the battle was underway. The goblin in robes laid on the ground nearby, while the gnome was busy fending off attacks from Pua, who must have taken care of the robed goblin too.

The two armored goblins were still battle-fit. One was heading towards the sleeping kobolds, while the other was heading to Fender.

“Enough,” The gnome bellowed in a loud, deep voice. “I hope you see we mean business. We don’t have to fight.” The gnome smirked, as if he had more tricks up his sleeve.

While everyone momentarily paused, the gnome continued, “There is a powerful surge of magic in this area, centered on Tensia. We will leave once we find what we came for.”

“What’s in it for us to just leave?” Fender yelled from the distance.

The gnome chuckled. “Your lives, of course,” he said. “But let me sweeten the pot a little.”

The gnome reached inside his robe, and pulled out a bulging sack of gold. It wasn’t clear where that sack had been hiding in his robe previously. The gnome untied the string securing the sack, and gold pieces could be seen glittering inside the sack.

The gnome smirked, and poured the gold pieces on the ground in front of him. “Take it, and go,” he said.

“Let’s just get the gold and go,” Fender said to the party. “We were asked to investigate this place, not lose our lives over it.”

“Your friend speaks the truth,” the gnome said.

“How can we trust you?” Agate asked.

“You can’t,” the gnome replied. “Then again, I could easily just kill you anyway.”

Kill him. He killed your friend. Vennoa screamed. She raised her arm at the gnome, and the streaks of fire flew out again.

The gnome was not prepared for the sudden attack, and all three rays of fire hit him squarely in his body. The gnome shrieked and fell to the ground. Parts of his body had gaping holes, and the surrounding tissue was charred.

In his dying breath, the gnome said, “I foresaw this. This changes nothing.” His eyes had a strange sparkle before the light left his eyes and he died.

Upon the death of the gnome, the two armored goblins suddenly stopped moving. They shook their heads, as if awakening from a deep sleep. They looked around the area and saw the numerous dead bodies around them. With a small glance at each other, they took off in opposite directions in fear.