The goblins came at him from both sides.
Elias didn't move right away. He stood in the middle of the tunnel crossing and watched them come. The chattering. The torches. The rusted blades catching the light.
He exhaled slowly.
Then he dropped the short blade he had taken from the treasury.
It hit the stone floor with a clang.
The goblins slowed for a half second. Confused by it. A man throwing away his weapon in front of them. Some of them looked at each other. The chattering dropped in pitch for a moment then picked back up again angrier than before.
Elias reached up and unclasped the front of his traveling coat and let it fall off his shoulders onto the ground. Underneath he had a plain shirt. Simple. Nothing remarkable about it. He rolled the sleeves up to his elbows slowly and deliberately like a man preparing for work he had done many times before.
He looked at his own hands for a moment.
Then he looked up.
The goblins started moving again.
