Free Taker Of Skulls (Book 5) by William King

have to talk about with my friends here.”
    Jonas Tegel said, “Kind of strange that you show up at the same time as this Goblin King appears and starts making threats that only you understand.” There were some mutters of agreement to that. This could easily turn nasty, Kormak realised.
    “What did you think Graghur was saying?” Sasha asked. “You think he was inviting us all to his wedding?”
    “I am just saying.”
    “You saying Kormak and the others are in league with the goblins? He killed a lot more of them last night than you did, and Karnea here saved a lot of lives.” The crowd’s mood seemed to be turning again as this was pointed out to them.
    “I’m just passing through here,” said Kormak. “You want to stay, stay. You want to go, go. It makes no difference to me.”
    “Like I said, I am going,” said Heidi. “And I thank you all for the company and good times, but it’s time to head back, make some sales and spend some money.”
    She suited actions to words and made her way back to her pitch and began stowing gear. The others did the same. Among them were the survivors of Otto’s little group. They all avoided looking at Kormak now, although whether out of shame or fear he could not tell.

    “What’s the damage?” Kormak asked Boreas, once the meeting had broken up and the prospectors gone their separate ways. Their campsite was a mess and it looked like their cache of supplies had been attacked.
    “Could be worse,” said Boreas although his expression told a different story. “The pony and mules have been driven off and there was no sign of them. Tracks are hard to follow over this terrain. Best guess is that they’re in the belly of some goblin runts right now. A couple of our supply sacks have been grabbed. I beat the little bastards away but there was so many of them they got round me. I couldn’t be everywhere at once.”
    The words hung in the air. Kormak wondered whether Boreas was trying to justify the loss of the supplies to himself or shift the blame to Kormak for running off into the battle. Maybe it was a little of both. It was hard to tell from the man’s tone.
    “I’ve used up most of my healing herbs and a lot of the medical supplies on the wounded,” said Karnea, “but I don’t see how in good conscience I could have done anything else. I was not going to just let those people die.”
    “You used more than healing herbs,” said Kormak. “I felt my Elder Sign glow.”
    She shrugged. “I was subtle about it and like I said, I was not about to see folks die when I could save them.”
    “You must be exhausted then,” said Kormak. He knew that working magic drained people more than running leagues in full armour.
    Karnea looked pale and there were black rings under her eyes. Her movements were slow and she staggered a little. “I can move if we need to,” she said. “You said we needed to talk about something back there at the meeting and I can guess what.”
    “You saw Graghur. You saw the number of goblins he had with him. You still want to go below?” Kormak kept his voice level.
    “You scared, Guardian?” Boreas sounded more curious than mocking.
    “There’s four of us. Down in the depths there’s a whole tribe of goblins, packs of dire wolves, an Old One and the Holy Sun alone knows what else. What do you think?”
    “That you’re more sensible than I thought. I’ve never seen a man charge an Old One and his pack of bodyguards before.”
    “Let’s hope you don’t see it happen again.”
    Karnea looked thoughtful. “I expected danger,” she said. “But nothing on this scale.”
    “You want to turn back?” Kormak asked. “We don’t need to go below.”
    Karnea slumped to the ground beside the remains of the fire. Her hand moved to the rune she wore beneath her sleeve. Her fingers stroked it, seemingly unconsciously. “If we turn back now, we may never get another chance to find what we’re looking for,” she said. “The goblins will