Part III: Jester Precaution

"Stay away from me you little sh..."

"But I thought we were friends," whined Gubbinz, sobbing theatrically as he did so.

"You set your bloody dog on me!" shouted Trogdar, advancing menacingly on the diminutive jester.

"HELP! HELP ME!" screamed Gubbinz, cowering further into the corner.

"What is going on in here?" said Short-arse as she entered the corridor.

"Oh thank goodness!" said Gubbinz, running between Trogdar's legs and aiming a kick at his shin. "You'll be my friend, won't you?"

Short-arse looked from Gubbinz to Trogdar and back, her face a mask of bewilderment.

"Don't you, err", she began, "don't you have any Orc friends or anything?"

"As if that were possible," said Jandyr as he casually sauntered past the stricken Dwarf, the Wizard following closely behind stuffing troll parts into a large sack.

"They booted me out of court," said Gubbinz, miserably. "Warboss Gorgut has a mean streak when he wants to."

"And where is Warboss Gorgut?" asked Short-arse as kindly as she could manage.

"He's through there," said Gubbinz, pointing a bony finger to an unexplored end of the corridor.

"Let's go see him then," Short-arse said, shooting a severe look at Trogdar.

"Just keep the little bugger out of my way," said Trogdar, marching towards the darkened end of the corridor.

"You might not want to do that," said Gubbinz, tottering after the sulking Barbarian.

"What did you say?" said Trogdar, rounding on Gubbinz and aiming a mace swing at his head.

"Your funeral," muttered Gubbinz, neatly dodging the wild blow and sheltering next to Short-arse. "Stay back," he whispered.

"What?" asked Short-arse, puzzled.

"What's happened here?" said Trogdar, holding the lantern high to reveal a severely collapsed corridor with but a single narrow path remaining through it.

"Stay back!" whispered Gubbinz with more urgency, pulling the Dwarf away from the corridor.

The whistle of an arrow followed by a yelp of pain from Jandyr preceded a strange whipping sound which grew louder and more frequent.

"What in Grungni's name is that?" whispered Short-arse to her new best friend.

Emerging from the darkness came a small figure in black robes being dizzingly hurled round by a heavy ball and chain he refused to let go of.

"Goblins sometimes eat the purple mushrooms," replied Gubbinz as he cowered, pulling the recalcitrant Dwarf with him. "This is what happens if you give them a toy to play wiv."

Short-arse looked knowingly at the Wizard as she was yanked down, the surprised yelps of her comrades reverberating in the corridor beyond. "I must remember to try that later," she said.