"I was afraid of that. Then loft him alone, and I'll assume large serpent form and fight my way out of it as well as I can."

"But you can't hope to—" Electra protested.

"Then you will make the deal to free Che from Godiva," Nada said. "Before you marry Dolph."

"Maybe I could sneak in to untie him," Electra said.

"No. You can't change size or form. But you can help by carrying me to the horde, so that I can rest and sleep and be at my best when I have to be."

Electra looked unhappy, but she had to agree that this was best. Still, she had an objection. "That wand can keep him high only while Godiva wields it. The goblins will soon see her, and if they catch her—"

"True," Godiva said. "Just as the two of you overcame me. I must concentrate on the wand when I am using it; I will be pretty much helpless. But I might hide in a tree, and they would not see me. My three henchmen could decoy them away."

"Awww—" one of the males protested.

"Quiet, Moron," Godiva snapped.

"It isn't nice to call him that," Electra said.

"That's his name," Godiva replied. "They are Moron, Idiot, and Imbecile—all stalwart examples of their kind."

"Oh." Electra was embarrassed. "But you can only loft Che so far, from one fixed place, and those goblins of the horde will be all over."

Godiva sighed. "I know. It is not an ideal situation. But we must do what we can. If it comes to nothing, then you must signal your friends, as there will by then be nothing to be lost by alerting the horde."

"I'm not satisfied with it," Electra said.

"If you can improve on it, welcome," the gobliness said. "I think now we should get started, as I believe the horde is some distance away. We must move as quietly as possible, hoping to approach them undetected."

"I'll look for a pineapple plantation or something," Electra said. "There has to be something to cause some extra mischief for those mean things."

"Good idea." Godiva turned to the three males. "Spread out, look for anything like that, and report to a female if you find it."

"But we'd rather use the path!" one protested.

"That's the first place the horde will set an ambush, Imbecile."

Imbecile dropped his protest.

"But how will we find each other?" Nada asked, still just a bit uneasy about Godiva's intentions.

"Idiot can whistle like a bird," the gobliness said. "Idiot, do the bird-in-hand call."

The male goblin pursed his ugly lips and whistled. The sound was a trilling cadence that sounded almost like "I got it! I got it! It's mine!"

Nada was impressed. "But suppose there's a real bird here?"

"There may be. It wouldn't make sense to use a call that the horde knew was foreign. But a real bird will not remain for the rendezvous, while Idiot will."