Off went the arrow, zipping between the two standing nearby and over the head of the third, to strike the lead goblin in the back.

"The descent is steep there, and the lead goblins will be at full speed and in range of any bows the merchants might have," she explained.

The lead goblins were in sight now, running hard around a bend in the road.

They put up token resistance at the ford, firing a few bursts of arrows at the lead goblins just to slow the ranks long enough for the heaviest and slowest ships to clear the harbor and reach the safety of Maer Dualdon.

Tanis fired at the outline of the lead goblin.

Not that the lead goblins even had time to register the scene.

The fleeing band's lead goblin scrambled through the thick underbrush, desperate to leave the slaughter behind.

An arrow thudded into the back of an orog; another bolt followed its flight just a split second later, and the remaining two orogs shoved the lead goblin into the fog.

"You come out first, reacting to a predetermined event, such as the lead goblins passing a specific tree," Brother Julius went on.

Crossbows twanged from concealed nooks, and a group of dwarves rushed out to meet the lead goblins.