would drown first, or if the whirlpool would batter them to a bloody pulp.
Something slipped out of the water and began to crawl toward them. Oh yes, that was the third possibility. They could all die from lizard-fish poison before they even made it to the lake.
“Lizard-fish,” Jig yelled, hopping and pointing and scanning the shore for others.
“Ugly things, aren’t they?” Darnak drew his club and calmly waited while the lizard-fish crawled closer.
Jig had never seen a living lizard-fish before. This one was as long as his arm, with clawed front feet and webbed rear feet that dragged behind in the sand. The round head had slits for a nose and a wide mouth filled with needle-sharp teeth that could rip flesh from the body so cleanly you wouldn’t even notice. The eyes bulged like white bubbles that had been stuck to the skull as an afterthought. Most dangerous, Jig knew, was the line of two-inch spines that started at the back of the skull and ran all the way to the tip of the lizard-fish’s long tail.
“The spines are poison!”
Darnak ignored him. The dwarf watched as the lizard-fish drew nearer. When it was only a few feet away from the dwarf, it raised its head and hissed. The blue tongue flicked out, and the spines lifted threateningly.
Threatening or not, Darnak didn’t appear to care. He waited for the lizard-fish to finish hissing, then calmly stomped its skull into the rock. “Stupid little beasts, too.”
Stupid they might be, Jig thought, but there were a lot more lizard-fish than there were adventurers. Even as he watched, several more emerged from the water and crawled toward the dwarf. Barius stepped forward to join him. His sword impaled one of the creatures and flipped it back into the water. Another attacked with a sudden burst of speed, only to die beneath Darnak’s heavy boot. Even as Darnak wiped lizard-fish guts from his boot, however, more were racing forward to attack.
“Back,” Barius shouted. Jig rolled his eyes. He and Riana had already retreated to safety.
The others joined them farther up the tunnel. Nothing followed. The lizard-fish wouldn’t come this far from the water, it appeared.
“We could stand there until we were hip-deep in the things,” Darnak grumbled. “They’d still keep coming. Not a brain in the lot of ’em.”
Like goblins, Jig thought suddenly. Swarming to their death and hoping to overwhelm the enemy with sheer numbers. But he said nothing.
“All it takes is one slip, one moment of carelessness, and those spines would be the end of us,” said Barius.
“Then I guess we’d better stay on our toes, eh boys?” Darnak grinned.
I was right, Jig realized. They won’t turn back. They probably don’t know how to retreat. As they continued to discuss how to get past the lizard-fish, Jig walked to the end of the tunnel and stared at the beach. The lizard-fish had returned to the water, leaving the dead bodies behind to rot. Something else would no doubt come along to feast on the remains. Carrion-worms, perhaps. Or maybe some other creature scavenged the lakeshore. That was how the cycle worked.
At least that was the way things were back home. Who knew what life might be like lower down? No goblins had ever explored much beyond their own territory. Nor had anything from the lower depths ever emerged into Jig’s world. Which was probably a good thing. In fact, for all Jig knew, the lizard-fish might be there as much to keep the monsters of the lower caverns trapped below as to keep those from the surface out.
Still, he wondered if things would be different there. Jig’s world was a constant battle for territory between goblins, hobgoblins, and the other creatures. But the world below belonged to the Necromancer. Maybe he would keep the creatures under his control from charging off to be senselessly slaughtered every time something came through the entrance. The monsters there might actually win battles from time to time. Jig’s imagination
Something slipped out of the water and began to crawl toward them. Oh yes, that was the third possibility. They could all die from lizard-fish poison before they even made it to the lake.
“Lizard-fish,” Jig yelled, hopping and pointing and scanning the shore for others.
“Ugly things, aren’t they?” Darnak drew his club and calmly waited while the lizard-fish crawled closer.
Jig had never seen a living lizard-fish before. This one was as long as his arm, with clawed front feet and webbed rear feet that dragged behind in the sand. The round head had slits for a nose and a wide mouth filled with needle-sharp teeth that could rip flesh from the body so cleanly you wouldn’t even notice. The eyes bulged like white bubbles that had been stuck to the skull as an afterthought. Most dangerous, Jig knew, was the line of two-inch spines that started at the back of the skull and ran all the way to the tip of the lizard-fish’s long tail.
“The spines are poison!”
Darnak ignored him. The dwarf watched as the lizard-fish drew nearer. When it was only a few feet away from the dwarf, it raised its head and hissed. The blue tongue flicked out, and the spines lifted threateningly.
Threatening or not, Darnak didn’t appear to care. He waited for the lizard-fish to finish hissing, then calmly stomped its skull into the rock. “Stupid little beasts, too.”
Stupid they might be, Jig thought, but there were a lot more lizard-fish than there were adventurers. Even as he watched, several more emerged from the water and crawled toward the dwarf. Barius stepped forward to join him. His sword impaled one of the creatures and flipped it back into the water. Another attacked with a sudden burst of speed, only to die beneath Darnak’s heavy boot. Even as Darnak wiped lizard-fish guts from his boot, however, more were racing forward to attack.
“Back,” Barius shouted. Jig rolled his eyes. He and Riana had already retreated to safety.
The others joined them farther up the tunnel. Nothing followed. The lizard-fish wouldn’t come this far from the water, it appeared.
“We could stand there until we were hip-deep in the things,” Darnak grumbled. “They’d still keep coming. Not a brain in the lot of ’em.”
Like goblins, Jig thought suddenly. Swarming to their death and hoping to overwhelm the enemy with sheer numbers. But he said nothing.
“All it takes is one slip, one moment of carelessness, and those spines would be the end of us,” said Barius.
“Then I guess we’d better stay on our toes, eh boys?” Darnak grinned.
I was right, Jig realized. They won’t turn back. They probably don’t know how to retreat. As they continued to discuss how to get past the lizard-fish, Jig walked to the end of the tunnel and stared at the beach. The lizard-fish had returned to the water, leaving the dead bodies behind to rot. Something else would no doubt come along to feast on the remains. Carrion-worms, perhaps. Or maybe some other creature scavenged the lakeshore. That was how the cycle worked.
At least that was the way things were back home. Who knew what life might be like lower down? No goblins had ever explored much beyond their own territory. Nor had anything from the lower depths ever emerged into Jig’s world. Which was probably a good thing. In fact, for all Jig knew, the lizard-fish might be there as much to keep the monsters of the lower caverns trapped below as to keep those from the surface out.
Still, he wondered if things would be different there. Jig’s world was a constant battle for territory between goblins, hobgoblins, and the other creatures. But the world below belonged to the Necromancer. Maybe he would keep the creatures under his control from charging off to be senselessly slaughtered every time something came through the entrance. The monsters there might actually win battles from time to time. Jig’s imagination
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