The goblins were busy and the guards were not very good.

The swordswoman without her sword slowly crept around the perimeter of the cavern with Ariane in tow. They stuck to the shadows as much as she could, but no one of the goblins or bandits were paying much attention to their surroundings, far to busy with the fight for leadership.

Khala spotted the two women emerging from the big tent and let out a sigh of relief, glad her friends were alright and free. She sneaked over to the **** cages to meet them half-way. The half-elf waited in their path and called to them when they got close, “Hey, over here, girls.”

Mira had to look twice to see her, even with knowing where the voice came from, “Khala? I didn’t even notice you.”

The rogue giggled, “That’s the general idea of stealth. You two are like ogres in a pottery shop. But the goblins are too busy to notice. C’mon, there are only two guards at the cages, we can take them easily.”

The three armed themselves with shovels at a nearby barrel and then went on the hunt for goblin guards.

In the middle of the cavern, the fight was getting heated. A great clamouring and hollering of excited goblins raged throughout the cavern. Grakh and his challenger were exchanging blows with their bare fists. and it seemed that a clear preference among the goblins emerged. One group kept hollering when Grakh held the upper hand, wrestling his opponent to the ground. The other gnashed their teeth as their favourite candidate struggled.

Lex observed the scene from his perch, unsure what to make of the goblin’s customs. His keen eyes spotted the two nude beauties from the bandit leader’s tent as well. With a smile on his lips, he followed their path from his perch and readied his bow to silence anyone, who might threaten them.

When they arrived at the cages, it became obvious that the guards there were distracted too. They were standing on their toes and craning their necks to see who was winning in the fighting pit. Khala nodded to Mira, both of them understanding each other’s meaning without a word. The sneaked behind them and some of the **** women noticed their approach. Mira raised her finger to her lips silently to stop them from saying anything. They came up behind the two goblins and raised their shovels to knock them out at the same time. A fairly loud clank went through the cavern as they went to the ground like sacks of potatoes. Khala and Mira stood behind them, shovels in hand and a grin on their lips. The half-elf wasted no time and grabbed the keys from one of the guards. She went over the cages, “Shhh, quiet now. We’ll get you out of here.”

Many of the women looked at her with fear in their eyes, not believing two naked girls could save them. Some nodded their heads, eager to get out of there and slowly emerged from the cages as Khala opened the gates for them.

The nobleman’s daughter looked to the scared women who refused to move and said, “Come on, do you want to die here? This might be our only chance!” She shoved them out of her cage and followed behind.

“I’ll take lead, you two bring up the rear,” Mira said and started to lead the throng of women to the secret passage. They rejoined Ariane and the noblewoman recognised the elf, “You are the girl they brought to the mage’s camp… I’m sorry.”

Ariane was reminded of the stinging wounds on her back, but shook her head, “Not your fault, I’ll live. Let’s focus on getting the hell out of here.”

Lex had watched them free the women, he was not expecting them to be so successful and extremely impressed at what they had achieved.

They slowly but surely made their way to the tunnel leading to the secret passage, where Lex was watching the cavern front.
The half-elf ranger quietly spoke to Mira as she approached, “Looks like my plan worked.”

Mira grimaced up at him, reminded of what she had to do to make it work, “Yes… we’ll have to have a word about that when we get the chance. Give me my stuff back.”

Before he could do so, the clamouring in the cave became deafening. Their heads all whipped to the centre of the cavern. The unthinkable had happened: both Grakh and Chaka fell in the pit, neither standing back up again. Confused and leaderless the goblins were on edge. The mage tried to calm some of them but they were having none of it. Any spark could light that powder keg.

“Lex, can you hit the mage from up there?” Mira asked.

He chuckled, “I like your thinking, I’ll give it my best shot.” He had observed the scene a while and already estimated the range to the fighting pit. Notching an arrow and taking aim, Lex drew back his bowstring and let the arrow fly.