The Creeps

   "He will redeploy his goblins into the closest alcoves, keeping the rest in the cavern to prepare for your attack. The barricades will be reinforced and the goblins will be set for the charge. Neem will undoubtably have saved his most devastating spells for last." Her answer disturbed the gnomes. She knew the hobgoblin commander best, so they took her word. Zigny had to admit it wasn't far from what he had expected or would do himself in that situation. Reke nodded slowly to himself, thinking his way through the defenses. Zigny's mind chewed through the problem. His thoughts drifted through the last few minutes. He suddenly looked up in time to see a small grin creep into the edges of Reke's mouth.
   "Xini," Zigny called to the gnome mage, "you caused that breeze, right?" The young svirf moved to the fore and nodded sheepishly, a slight grin graced his hairless face. "Those creatures you spend so much time with, how much control do you have over them?" Xini stuttered briefly, then cleared his throat and spoke in a small voice.
   "I don't have control over them," he answered.
   "But you do have charmed some of them, right?" asked Reke, seeing where his leader's thoughts were going. Xini just nodded, still looking perplexed. "Can you contact them or get any help from them without having to enter the cavern?" Xini thought for a moment, then grinned.
   "I think so. The mother of the small nest has been allowing me to play with her newest litter. I can call some of them, now that they're bigger," he answered, producing a small silver whistle. "If some come out to play, others of the large warren will follow."
   "That will be all we need to distract a few for a moment," said Reke, getting excited again, "and I have an idea on how to handle with the alcove goblins."
   The Svirfguard of the Doorway were getting impatient, shuffling their feet and adjusting straps and belts. Zigny turned and called them to order. They tightened up into a small group, three wide and fifteen deep.
   "First row take the left alcove, second row take the right," ordered Zigny, with a gesture to Yshtra, he continued, "Our ally will handle the upper ledge-" Reke interrupted him at this point.
   "Unneccesary, I'll handle the ledge," Reke said, patting one of his pouches.
   "I lead the charge," Zigny went on to say, "Xini, wait until we reach the barricade, then call the weasels." Yshtra who had been silent throughout the conversation, winced at the mention of weasels. She didn't know what they were talking about, but had heard that gnomes kept giant weasels as pets and guardians.

   Any appearance of weasels, giant or otherwise, would send the goblins into hysterics. They lived among rats, the weasels in their homeland had been known to steal young goblins and kill their pet rats. They were trained from a very young age to kill any weasels and ferrets they might encounter.
   "I'll take your flank," said Reke.
   "As will I," Yshtra chimed in. Zigny looked at her, standing nearly twice his height she would take up too much tunnel to allow him to freely maneuver.
   "No, you lead the second group. When we reach the barricade, I'll need you to crash through it. Reke and I will fire over the furniture into the goblins, but without the barricade being removed we won't last long," responded Zigny. Yshtra nodded, seeing the logic to his argument. It would take too much time for the short gnomes to remove the furniture, leaving them open to ranged attacks, however with her size and strength she could quickly break through the hastily erected barricade.
   "Are we ready?" Nods and grumbled affirmations answered Zigny's rhetorical question. Reke handed him back his pick and a small fireglow gem, his family's namesake. Also called faerie-stones, the gems glowed with red and orange light, appearing to be engulfed in flame. Zigny understood it's use. With a silent gesture, he ordered the svirfguard forward.
   The gnomes started slowly at a walk, then sped to a jog. Reke and Zigny broke into a full run by the time they reached the curves in the tunnel. So far they had encountered no resistance, but several had stepped on remaining caltrops, releasing more of the sleep gas. Reke and Zigny managed to avoid stepping on any, knowing if a large puff of the gas hit Yshtra she would be knocked unconscious before she could help them break through the barricade.
   Around the next turn, Zigny leveled his crossbow uncertain of whether there would be any goblins in the alcove which lay directly ahead of them. No movement was seen inside the alcove and no arrows greeted them, so the Master saved his bolt for the goblins of the cavern. Into the last turn, the Master and his Sergeant pushed themselves to run as fast as they could. They needed to sprint through the kill-zone from the upper ledge.
   Reke pulled a small paper sack from his pouch and threw it up into the overhang. The sack held stun powder and burst as it hit a goblin poised to fire. Though several arrows skittered off the stone floor, only Yshtra was hit by an arrow before the stun powder incapacitated the waiting goblins. Not one goblin was able to make a noise before the sack burst and knocked them motionless.