It was late by the time Elvish and Grimly found the goblins. They had moved cautiously and quietly along the narrow path. The density of the trees meant there was no alternative route through the forest. This was both a good thing and a bad thing, Elvish reasoned. It was good because there was no fear of them not running into the goblins, presuming they had decided to camp and not press onwards through the night. It was bad, though, because the risk of ambush was greater, although there hadn’t been any reports of bandits that Elvish knew of. Wild dogs, however, were another matter.

Despite the venison pie he’d wolfed down earlier, Elvish started to feel pangs of hunger and could hear his stomach rumbling beneath his chainmail and leather belt. He wondered about Grimly. His friend never seemed to eat. Nor did he recall having seen anyone else eat anything. Was it just Elvish that needed to eat? His thoughts were interrupted by crackling sounds ahead of them. This was accompanied by the flickering of light. The goblins must have lit a fire.

“Shhh” Elvish whispered in his companion’s ear,” that must be them up ahead.”

The two adventurers dismounted and Grimly left the dappled white mare tied to a tree as they edged cautiously forward on foot and approached what they believed was a clearing in the forest.

Hiding behind a cluster of trees at the edge of the clearing, they saw four small filthy olive-green humanoids clustered around an open fire near the outer edge of the clearing. They were larger than the goblins they usually encountered and were eating supper.

“There be four of them, not two.” whispered Grimly in his friend’s ear. “That wizard said there’d be two.”

“Yes, I can count, Grimly.” replied Elvish, “Can you hear what they’re saying?” Elvish knew his friend spoke their language as well as Common and Elvish. He himself didn’t speak a word of the foul tongue.

“Not from here. I be moving a little closer.” Grimly, being a thief, was apparently well-trained in hiding in the shadows and stealth. He moved away from his friend, edging alongside the tree line, heading towards the group of goblins. Before long, Grimly had disappeared. Elvish took the longbow from his back and readied an arrow just in case. He observed the four dirty-green creatures in the clearing. If Grimly was discovered, he’d have to act quickly.

He needn’t have worried. It looked like the four goblins were finishing off the remains of their supper. Two of them were clutching a meat-covered bone and were jostling with each other to retain hold of the prize. One of the others was licking out the pot while the fourth creature, the largest of the four looked up to the tree tops and belched.

“Those be our goblins,” whispered Grimly, reappearing out of nowhere, “One of them said he deserved what was left of the dog’s leg they be fighting over because he be the one who actually took the tome.”

“Where is it? Do you know?”

“The fatter one won the argument, so he be chewing the meat off it now.”

“Not the dog’s leg, for the love of gruel, the spell book.”

“They most likely dug a hole near where they set up camp and hid it. I think that be what goblins do with anything they steal.”

“Damn!” said Elvish. “I was hoping you’d be able to lift it from them without them knowing so we wouldn’t have to fight the dirty sods.”

“What about…” Grimly started and then seemed to have second thoughts.

“Yes? Go on. Let’s hear your cunning plan.”

“…I sneak up on one of them from behind and be holding my dagger at his throat while you be pointing your arrows at the others? That way they be frightened into giving the spell book to us?”

Elvish didn’t think much of the plan but didn’t have a better idea. He was no expert, but he knew goblins were unlikely to give up their hoard without a fight and had no respect for the lives of other goblins. He liked the bit about him hanging back with his longbow. The further away from those rotten-smelling vermin the better he thought.

Grimly sneaked back into the shadows while Elvish took an arrow from his quiver and nocked it on his bow. He got ready to step out into the clearing, to show he meant business.

The next Elvish heard was a goblin’s curdling scream as the largest of the four noticed Grimly sneaking up behind him. He saw the dirty green-brown creature reach for his wooden club. Elvish stepped out into the clearing and wailed to distract the other goblins. He raised his bow, pointing the arrow at them and they turned towards him.

Meanwhile, Grimly awkwardly thrust his long stiletto dagger at the goblin with the club. He missed and Elvish saw his friend awkwardly offering up his unprotected head as a clear target for the goblin. Taking advantage of the moment, the goblin swung his club from right to left and there was a definitive clonk when it made contact with Grimly’s noggin. Maximum damage thought Elvish as he saw his friend keel over. Dazed and confused, Grimly passed out and lay at the goblin’s feet. Elvish was on his own.

Clearly fearless, the other three goblins sprang into action and scrabbled for their weapons. Elvish loosed the arrow but his poor dexterity meant it whistled past the ear of the goblin who had, some minutes previously, lost ownership of the dog’s leg to his friend. There were now three of the ugly creatures hurtling towards Elvish.

It was at this point Elvish wondered if he should draw his sword. He reckoned he’d have time to shoot one more arrow at them before they reached his position if he stuck with the bow. It was a moot point, however, as he felt a tingling in his blue-booted feet and he involuntarily cast the bow aside and started dancing. That was it, he thought. He would be the next animal in the goblin’s cooking pot, and there was enough of him to mean they wouldn’t have to fight over who ate the flesh from his leg bones.

This was also the moment that a vision came to Elvish. He wondered at first if it had something to do with that cliché about his life flashing before his eyes just before he died. It didn’t seem to be anything he’d seen before though. The vision was a misty picture of a group of oddly-dressed characters clustered around a table full of papers and small figurines. There was a map on the table that looked familiar. One of the characters was standing and he was shaking dice, about to roll. The others were attentive, waiting for the result. Then, Elvish caught sight of the title of a book by this man’s side. There, in white lettering written over an illustration of Elvish himself were the words ‘ELVISH PARSLEY AND THE UNSAVOURY GRUEL’. It was only a momentary flash. His attention was soon back in the forest with the goblins, but it felt memorable, significant in some bizarre way.