“Yeah, no problem,” Delphine croaked as she pulled herself to her feet the pain in her ribs firmly informing her they would really rather she didn’t. The goblin’s words seemed like insane gibberish. Jaque was dead wasn’t he? Unless the goblin meant someone else, and how many Jaques was a goblin warlord likely to know? Placing aside such academic concerns she moved on to the practical ones which were, unfortunately, numerous. Her sword was still lodged between the ogre’s shoulder blades and driven so deeply into the beast that it would take a veritable sacred king to retrieve it. She still had her bow but her arrows had been scattered from the quiver at some point in her ogre inspired gymnastics. Her magicka too was sadly depleted and she reached into her pouch to withdraw her last mana potion. The shards of glass cut her fingers and she jerked her hand back, finding it bleeding from new cuts and covered with spilled potion.


“Oh come on!” she whined the unfairness of it all seeming momentarily worse than the deadly peril. She touched her hand to Amal’s back and incanted, forcing the last dregs of her power to restore his body and energy, her fingertips sparking as the spell fizzled and died after a few seconds. The goblin threw back its head and charged iron axe held high. Amal stepped to the side to meet it and Delphine drew her knife. It wasn’t a weapon for fighting, just a simple knife for cutting herbs. As a weapon it ranked pathetic which was still a considerable improvement on nothing. She ducked and the fist of the goblin as it reached her and drove the blade down into its thigh between greave and hip, the dull point biting only a few inches. The goblin kicked her in the stomach driving the wind from her and sending her tumbling across the room to hit the corpse of the ogre, covering her in a mix of its spreading blood and dust in the process. She could hear the sound of weapons clashing, although it was possible it was just the ringing in her ears. It would be so very nice just to lay down here and catch her breath she thought but the sight of her spilled arrows a few feet away convinced her to dig deep and crawl over to the pile of fletched staves. She unslung her bow and knocked an arrow turning to see Amal’s saber flashing as he battered away the axe, weaving a complex web of steel with his blade. Delphine’s hands trembled with pain and exhaustion as she drew back the bow. Praying to Dibella that she didn’t hit Amal she didn’t so much loose the shot as lose control of her fingers. The arrow arced across the cavern and hit, bouncing off the iron currais with an audible but very unedifying click. Amal feinted and made a savage cut, the goblin screamed as green fingers flew from the goblins off hand. The beast headbutted the redguard and sent him staggering back against the cavern wall. Wailing with homicidal glee it followed, catching Amal by the throat. The redguard lifted his boot and kicked down hard, driving the sole into the hilt of Delphine’s knife with a horrible squelching sound. The goblin howled and staggered backwards, letting Amal go and dropping its axe. It tore the knife free but blood was gouting from the wound, pouring down its leg.

“Jaque! Curse you!” it screamed, then pitched forward onto its face in the dirt, the knife clattering free of it’s hand to roll across the stone floor. Delphine’s arrow hit it in the side of the head, though the corpse didn’t so much as flinch.

“Still counts,” Delphine said before falling onto her ass in utter exhaustion.