"Let it go. Find something else. Stay alive."
***
Rhys tried to pull the spear free.
It was stuck fast in the creature's ribcage. The point had caught on something. Probably one of the broken ribs. No amount of tugging would dislodge it.
He put his foot on the hobgoblin's chest. Felt the dying heat of its body through the sole of his boot. Yanked with both hands. Threw his whole weight into the effort.
The weapon wouldn't budge.
The ashwood creaked ominously under the strain. Threatening to snap if he pulled any harder.
The second hobgoblin saw his predicament.
It smiled.
The expression was horrible. Made even more horrible by the needle-sharp teeth that filled its mouth from corner to corner. Row after row of them like a shark's maw rendered in yellowed ivory.
Its eyes gleamed with malicious intelligence. The kind of look a cat gave a mouse it had cornered against a wall.
It knew he was defenseless.
Knew his weapon was trapped.
