"Nobody's going anywhere." Jack had said, but Kirkley did not hear the man.

  Something else had caught the goblin's attention. He let his borrowed cloak slip off his shoulders unknowingly, clouds of snow lifted into the air as it hit the ground and chills ran through his naked green arms. His heart was about to leap out of his chest, he could feel the drumming it was causing in his ears.

  His eyes widened in shock. Right there on the powdered floor were a cluster of footprints, small and naked and sharp, and they were many. Kirkley could tell because where the footprints would end near the wall they would continue on it; roughly dug-out footholds and armholds leading steadily upward.

  Instinctively, the tiny goblin's head began to veer up, following the tracks across the ice as they twisted and climbed further up, but he suddenly stopped himself after twenty feet. What if something or somethings were up there? They hadn't seen anything when they first entered the cavern but that might have been a result of the dimness, even the light from Kirkley's glow orb wasn't enough to illuminate the higher and darker hollows between the stalactites. If something was small enough and perhaps of a color to blend in with the walls of the cave it could go unnoticed by a group of travelers too cold and senseless to pay them any mind.

  "You're acting mad, Jack," Fitz said with worry in his tone. "What's this about?"

  Kirkley's head shot in their direction, he'd forgotten about the other two. He saw Jack holding the red point of Dhim'faris below Fitz's chin, blood running down the length of the blade past his fingers and into the dragon's maw at the pommel where it continued to drip on the floor. The horse lay on the ground next to his feet, blood streaming from a hole in its neck like a red river flowing across a white field.

  What was going on? Kirkley wanted to know, just as much as he wanted to run out of this cave. Why was Jack pointing his sword at Fitz? Why was the horse dead? It didn't matter, whatever the case Kirkley had to do something; they had to get out of this cave as soon as possible.

  "That's funny, and here I thought you had a stutter, or maybe it just goes away when you're afraid," Jack said, his eyes never leaving Fitz. "Did you really think we were so stupid that we wouldn't eventually find out about you, about this job, about the drugs?"

  When Fitz didn't respond Kirkley knew something was wrong. He saw his eyes turn icy-cold, his tense shoulders loosening, and his raised hands lowering. Fitz then sighed and said, "Part of my job was to prevent you four from figuring out the truth . . ." His lips curled into a smirk, "and the other part was to kill you if you did."

  "I think it's a bit late for you to do that." Jack said.

  Fitz licked his lips, "You never know, the tides may just change in my favor."

  "Don't count on it."

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  A sprinkle of snow fell on top of Kirkley's nose, the sudden sensation of cold caught him by surprise and his head jolted up. His eyes narrowed and that's when he saw them; close to five dozen maybe, no . . . more like a hundred. He saw a hundred orbs red and glowing and all of them staring down at them. Kirkley's eyes went wide as reached for his lute and the orbs shifted in response, spiraling downwards around the spindles of ice.

  "Jack!" Kirkley screamed.

  High pitched yells rang above them and Kirkley saw the little monsters fall down. Jack's eyes shot up and back at Fitz, but even that was enough: before Kirkley knew it, the human had slipped past the dark blade, a dagger drawn up in his right hand. Jack tried to take a step back and bring his sword down; too late, Fitz was already on him. The human held the wrist of his sword hand and thrusted his dagger forward. Jack groaned as the steel entered his flank where the breastplate didn't cover his skin and the same time the beasts fell all over them.

  Half a dozen surrounded Kirkley, they were smaller than him he saw. With red bulging eyes, and stubs where their noses should be. White fur covered the rest of their compact bodies while their faces remained naked. They snarled at him with pointy and jagged teeth like a row of spikes, and began to approach him from all sides. Kirkley's eyes shifted to the others for a split second and saw that the majority were around the other two; three of them hung on Jack's shoulders, one on his head and several wrapped around his arms and legs, Fitz had one on each shoulder, one gnawing on a leather-protected shoulder and the other pulling on his straw hair, and Kirkley even saw a group of them surrounding the horse, tearing away at dead flesh.

  Fitz grimaced and tried to pull away but Jack held onto the wrist he had just stabbed him with. He tried to pull again and again as the beasts tore into them, "Bastard! Do you want us both to die together!?

  A bloody smile appeared on Jack's face and he pulled Fitz towards him almost in some forceful hug, his arms wrapping tightly around him. The man struggled and tried whatever he could to slip away but Jack wouldn't let go. At first Kirkley thought the drakarian might have been trying to crush Fitz but then Jack's scales began to glow an orange tint. Then suddenly flames appearing out of thin air engulfed him. The flames lashed out from scales, hungry and eager, turning from a deep crimson glow to an angry, crackling inferno. The heat was suffocating, almost like a living thing, pressing against skin and flesh, curling it, blistering it in moments. Screams erupted, raw and animalistic, as skin blackened, split, and melted like wax under a torch.

  Fitz and monsters alike tossed and yelled as the bonfire that was Jack Nightbane burned them alive. Some jumped off the body of fire and began to roll on the ground, like little hair balls caught on fire, and wailed as their flesh seared and turned black. All the rest backed away from the light and watched the spectacle, the little goblin with them.

  Kirkley didn't know whether he was scared or in awe; Jack was on fire!

  Soon the whole cavern was filled by the echoes of the dying, the final moments of the living.

  And then, silence.

  Jack let go of the charred corpse and looked over to Kirkley, "To the tunnel, NOW."

  Kirkley's body sprung into action, he dashed past the stunned creatures and entered the dark passageway. He ran and ran, sweat trickling down his forehead, until all light began to disappear from the tunnel. Then as he was turning to look back, his feet caught on something and Kirkley plummeted to the ground. His ears perked up; something was coming in his direction and fast! He tried to get up to his feet but the thing had already caught him.

  Kirkley was pulled up to his feet as he heard Jack shout, "Keep running!" And the two ran down the tunnel without another word.