Free Knights: Book 02 - The Hand of Tharnin by Robert E. Keller Page A

the grove of pines. Lannon waited, hardly daring to breathe. Moments later, Taris and Thrake returned, their faces grim.
    "Whatever was there," said Thrake, "departed rather quickly. We found the remains of a deer, and it looks as if the creature was feasting. It could have simply been a stray Goblin from the Bloodlands--or perhaps even a wolf or bear."
    "My instincts tell me otherwise," said Taris.   "I could feel a lingering aura of evil in the air--the stench of a powerful Goblin."
    "It wasn't a natural animal," said Lannon. "It was something dark and strange--something that was plotting evil. I could sense that much, at least."
    "The demon man?" asked Jace.
    "I don't think so," said Lannon. "It was like nothing I've ever seen or felt, like a creature made of smaller creatures."
    Jace frowned, as if puzzled. "If it's a Goblin, then it's one I've never heard of. Or perhaps I've forgotten. There are so many..."
    The company rode on. Lannon caught no more glimpses of danger, and he started to relax a bit. The Greywind he rode seemed to know exactly where to go, and Lannon let the horse keep its own pace.
    But as they neared the bottom of the mountain, along a stretch of the trail where no houses stood--just trees and rocks--a dark figure slipped from the mist and blocked their path. The figure seemed to be a mass of shifting darkness with two yellow eyes. It was clearly some kind of Goblin, but Lannon had never seen anything like it. The Eye of Divinity seemed to falter and shy away from it.
    "Halt!" Jace cried out to the company. "Do not move a muscle!"   Jace's voice was tense--almost desperate sounding.
    The riders came to a stop. "What is it?" asked Taris, his stone dagger burning with the green fire of sorcery.
    "I think this is a Host Goblin," said Jace. "If I'm right, it will use smaller Goblins as projectile weapons. Beware of flying objects!"
    The shadowy creature simply stood in the trail watching them, its flesh squirming as if in agitation. Lannon tried again to focus the Eye on it, but again he was turned away. He suspected the creature was shielding itself from him somehow. He could sense great danger, but the Goblin didn't look very powerful. In fact, it looked small and weak, hunched over as if with age.
    "No one must move except to defend," Jace called back. He signaled to the archers to hold back. "If you move, you will be attacked. Taris and I will handle this. The goal is to flank the creature. I'll move closer and allow myself to be attacked. Then Taris will move closer. And slowly we will close in on it!"
    "I hope it can't understand speech," said Taris, rolling his eyes.
    Jace didn't reply. He guided his horse toward the Goblin. Immediately, the Goblin hurled something at Jace with blinding speed. Jace batted the projectile away--a shadowy centipede that landed unharmed and scuttled off into the fog. He slowly wiped sweat from his brow. "Taris," he said, "move around to its right side--just a couple of yards for now. Be prepared."
    Holding his burning dagger in front of him with one hand, Taris prompted his horse forward. Immediately, the Goblin plucked a squirming Centipede off itself and threw it at him. The projectile's speed was arrow fast, but it struck the dagger's green flames and disintegrated.
    "Excellent," Jace said calmly. "This is going very well." His face was tense, sweat dripping from it. Jace started forward, but this time he was a bit too slow in blocking the Goblin's throw. A Centipede struck him in the face and knocked him off his horse into the mud.
    Lannon's heart sank, but he dared not move to help Jace. He felt terribly helpless, like a prisoner confined to the saddle while his friends faced death.
    "Hold your position--all of you!" Jace called from where he lay. A moment later, he jumped up and batted aside another Centipede projectile. His face was streaked with blood.
    "How badly are you injured?" asked Thrake Wolfaxe. The Red Knight held his battle axe in one shaking