Free Goblin Hero by Jim C. Hines

to come mostly from the lower set. The wings had an oily shimmer around the edges. Otherwise they were clear as glass, save for faint yellow lines that spread through them like veins on a leaf.
    Black cloth crossed around his chest, cinched into a knot at his waist. His black trousers were decorated with red beads that took on an orange shine when they caught the light from his wings.
    The pixie gave Walland one swift kick, then flew into the air. “Where have your friends run off to, ogre?”
    A low growl made Veka jump, but it wasn’t Walland. The sound came from an enormous dog that sniffed the air as it approached the dead ogre. It walked with a limp, and one of its rear legs was matted, probably with old blood. Gaps in its fur showed older scars, mostly near the throat. Strings of drool swung from its flat, wrinkled face as it bared its teeth and snarled at the pixie.
    The pixie barely hesitated, glancing back only long enough to swing one hand in a lazy gesture.
    The dog took a few more steps, snapping at the sparks falling from the pixie’s wings, before giving a sharp, pained yelp. As the pixie flew through the branches and disappeared, the dog sat and began to gnaw at its rear paws.
    “What happened?” Veka whispered. Slash’s jaw tightened, but he said nothing.
    The dog snarled, attacking its own legs with even greater ferocity. The pixie didn’t appear to be coming back, so Veka crawled out from behind the tree.
    “That dog will rip you apart,” Slash warned.
    Veka was more curious than afraid. What had the pixie done?
    She was almost at Walland’s body when she saw. The roots of the nearby trees had coiled around the dog’s paws, anchoring it to the ground. Smooth black bark crept up its legs. Blood and splinters sprayed from its panicked jaws, but the pixie’s magic was too strong. No matter how the dog struggled, the bark continued to spread. It had reached its hips by the time Slash joined her. The dog’s yelps grew higher in pitch, and foam dripped from its mouth as it panicked. Slash reached for the dog and nearly lost his fingers.
    “That’s no way to die,” Slash said. “Can you stop this?”
    Veka shook her head, too fascinated to lie.
    He grabbed the end of his weapon and swung it like an oversize club against the dog’s neck. There was a loud crack, and the dog dropped.
    “Stupid pixies.” Slash nudged Walland’s body with his toe. “The dog was just looking for a meal.”
    “How did it get down here?” Veka asked. “I’ve never seen a dog like that before.”
    “Probably came with a group of adventurers.” He pointed to a worn scrap of leather buckled around the dog’s neck. A few rusted spikes protruded from the collar, though most had torn away over time. “They bring their animals along on their little quests, get themselves killed, and their pets either wind up in some other creature’s belly, or they go feral like this poor thing. I remember one fellow who carried around a pair of trained ferrets who could disarm traps, chew through knots, all sorts of tricks.”
    “What happened to them?” Veka asked.
    “We caught one of his companions and tied her up for the tunnel cats. Sure enough, he sent his ferrets to free her while he fought the cats.” He grinned. “He should have taught them to be sure nobody had spread poison on the ropes they chewed.”
    Veka turned her attention back to the dog. By now the tree had nearly consumed the body. Only the wrinkled face and one ear still showed, and soon those too disappeared. Tiny branches began to sprout from the dog-shaped stump.
    The pixie had done this with nothing more than a wave of his hand. No wonder the ogres were so desperate for help.
    Slash gave the wooden head a sympathetic pat. “What now?”
    Veka didn’t hesitate. “Walland said they had taken over Straum’s lair. We’ll sneak into the lair and discover their secrets. That should give us the key to destroying them.”
    For a long time Slash simply