The team stands in a precarious spot, on a trail winding up the side of the Stone Tooth. A sheer cliff drops off to one side, down to the forest below, while on the other side the stone face of mountain rises nearly straight up. They have decided to replace Wicklow’s wooden shield with the battle-ready steel of their fallen hobgoblin foe. They are about to hurl the body off the side of the cliff, when they receive twin unexpected alerts. Wicklow whispers to them, “Guys, I think something’s coming up the trail!” At nearly the same moment, Sartan hears the familiar voice in his ear, of Demon’s Bane, “Hey, boss… I’m not sure… but I’m catching a little whiff of demon. It’s faint, but it’s making me hungry!”

The group crouches and looks down at the trail below, where it snakes through the forest before climbing up the face of the Stone Tooth. Sure enough, in the gathering gloom, they spot what appears to be a group of four figures, on foot, dragging a fourth. As they wait, uncertain of what to do, they pick up the sound of rough voices. Davros is the only one who can understand. “They’re speaking goblin,” he reports. Roughly translated they are speaking about having been in a fight while being out on patrol, and bringing back something interesting for the Great Ulfe.

Pinned between going back up the trail where the other guard had fled, and directly confronting the approaching patrol, they again decide to try and hide in the cave-like depression they had found. It is a very tight fit for all of them to get out of the line of sight and into the shadows. But, as the patrol climbs wearily past them, it seems as if their stealth might work. All the veterans (and the dead hobgoblin) remain quiet. But, Wicklow, in his nervous excitement rattles his shaking sword against his new metal shield and gives the party away. Four surprised hobgoblins turn in alarm, but before they can draw weapons, the party attacks.

It is a short but fierce fight. The adventurers dominate the hobgoblins who have clearly been in a scrape already. They are battered and weary, and three of them fall quickly. Cycek grabs the uselessly flailing Wicklow and swings him like a ram. He collides into one of the hobgoblins hard, knocking him into his fellow. The two hobgoblins fall to the ground, where they are easily overpowered by Davros and Mishok. Their leader is another matter. He is larger, stronger, and more skilled. He takes on Sartan in one-on-one melee. Cycek comes to his aid. He runs and springs up off one of the fallen corpses, attempting to kick the goblin patrol chief down. He slips in the blood, flying clumsily through the air, and delivers a much less effective attack than hoped. But it is enough. Sartan delivers the killing blow. A moment later, Wicklow steps out and awkwardly slashes at the dead hobgoblin with his sword. Sartan, exasperated, chews him out.

Again surveying the aftermath of a skirmish, they are surprised to realize that the hobgoblins had been dragging the hewn body of a demon… of a kind that they had encountered before. It’s what they knew as a cackler… a small creature outfitted with barbed chains, which when killed would emit a hellish, disturbing peal of laughter. It is slashed up and it appears dead, but Demon’s Bane is uncertain. “Just let me stab it, to be sure!” the sword pleads. But Sartan has another idea. Grabbing the creature and bearing it like a shield, he moves up the trail to explore what is around the corner. Rounding that shoulder of rock where the other guard had fled, he sees rough stairs leading down into darkness. An arrow whistles out of nowhere, but misses him. He determines that it has come from a small opening in the stone wall. He moves as close as he can to the wall, so as to get out of the line of sight. He heads down the stairs into darkness, and another pair of arrows whistle past him from unseen sources. As he prepares to dump the demonic body, another arrow strikes it, and the demon, apparently not having yet died, released a blood-curdling horrific laugh. Sartan puts his hands to his ears and flees back up the stairs. He reports what he has seen. It is clear that stealth is no longer an option. That laugh did not go unnoticed.

It is getting dark. The team is still crouched on the mountain path, and must decide what to do.