The arrow whizzed past my nose, and two more thudded into the dwarf’s shield. “Get ’em!” the dwarf shouted as he charged toward the little creatures. Grabbing an arrow from my quiver, I nocked my bow and took aim. The missile flew true, taking out the closest goblin. “That was my kill,” the dwarf shouted as he charged forward.

“Brace yourself, dwarf,” I shouted, leaping onto his shoulder, then high into the air.

At almost the same time, the tabaxi placed a dagger in his paw and cast a spell. The blade flew through the air as though on its own. It struck a goblin in the shoulder. The creature stumbled, cursing in its guttural language, but soon the dwarf hacked its stomach open, and it fell to the ground. The last of the goblins, seeing his advantage of surprise foiled, dashed to a cave not far from the rocks.

We followed him in, while the dwarf mumbled something about cowards. The cave was narrow, with not a lot of room for us. I took up the rear and could barely see inside the narrow cavern. “Guys, I can’t see anything in here,” I said.

“How is it that a blasted elf can’t see in the dark?” the dwarf grumbled, as he hacked the goblin’s back, pinning it to the cave floor. A taller goblin loomed out of the dark, probably a bugbear. It lifted its spear, getting ready to thrust it into the dwarf’s lowered guard. The bard started playing his lute. Three orbs of light illuminated the cavern, revealing several goblins getting ready to charge in.

I had already killed one of the little guys, and although I didn’t want to kill more, it looked like an us-or-them situation. I darted forward, stepping up onto the side of the walls, arching over my companions and letting loose an arrow, striking the bugbear under the shoulder and then leaping behind it. The dwarf slashed up and gashed the goblinoid under the chin, finishing it off. He then dashed past me, shouldering the body of the bugbear out of the way.

I ran with him into the wider area of the cave. “Brace yourself, dwarf,” I shouted, leaping onto his shoulder, then high into the air. When I had attained enough height, I used my natural genasi ability to levitate and floated into the air, then shot another goblin right on its crown.

The dwarf charged forward, catching arrows in his shield, and cut down the closest archer. A dagger shot into the room from the cavern entrance, speeding straight into another goblin. The melody from the bard picked up, and I felt inspired. A female goblin wearing bones and feathers cast a spell that streaked a line of fire toward the cave entrance. One of my arrows pierced the spellcaster through the eye, and the other goblins started to flee deeper into the cave, while another bugbear came roaring out. The dwarf intercepted its charge, hacking its knees out from under it, and I finished it off with an arrow.

The goblins dispatched, the dwarf went about cutting off their ears. “What are you doing?” I asked, aghast, as I floated back to the ground.

“We need proof that we did the job. Aye, it’s grisly, but we don’t get paid without ’em.”

I shook my head and started looking for something else the goblins may have left behind. I had just found a chest and commenced digging through it, when the ground began to shake.

“Everyone out!” the dwarf shouted. I ran for the exit as the ceiling started coming down.

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