He sighed. "You know, if it was exactly like that, it wouldn't be easy to solve. I can't make up my mind which girl to marry. Maybe Che can't make up his mind which girl should be his companion."

"Maybe," she said doubtfully. "But I should think he would do it quickly enough, if he knew that goblins and monsters would be fighting and dying if he didn't. He's a centaur, after all; he has logical thought processes, unlike the rest of us."

"Maybe we should ask a centaur!" Dolph exclaimed.

But then a motion on the ground caught his eye. "Oops—there's a dragon!"

She peered down so avidly she almost fell off his back. It didn't matter, for she would merely spread her wings and fly back. "Oh, yes! A big smoker!"

"A smoker? I saw a steamer!"

In a moment and a half they had spied a whole slew of dragons. A slew was a measurement that applied only to big fearsome things, and was a standard unit for monsters. Normally it was sufficient for whatever purpose was intended; Dolph had never heard of a situation requiring two slews.

The dragons were tramping north from the land of the dragons, toward Goblin Mountain. There was no doubt about it: the goblins' claim was true.

"Aren't you flying rather low, Dolph?" Gloha asked.

Dolph discovered that he was. He flapped his wings harder, but continued to descend. "Oops—my lightness is running out!" he exclaimed, realizing.

Then Cheiron spied what was happening and swooped down. He flicked Dolph with his tail as he passed, and suddenly Dolph lurched up, light again. As he chased down his equilibrium, he saw tiny Grundy Golem clinging to Cheiron's mane. Grundy was serving as translator for the assorted monsters.

"So it was no bluff," Cheiron remarked, unsurprised. "Well, we had better consider what to do while we fly back to the mountain. Those dragons won't arrive until tomorrow, so we have some time to play with."

"We think there's something funny about Che's position," Dolph said. "That there's some reason he can't make a decision, maybe like the way I can't decide between Betrothees. If we knew that reason, maybe we'd be able to help him decide." "There is only one decision," Cheiron said. "He is not remaining captive in that mountain."

"Uh, we're not sure he is captive," Dolph said. "I mean, if he tells them no, they'll let him go."

Cheiron glanced sharply at him. "Then why doesn't he tell them no?"

"There's something, some reason—we thought maybe you would be able to figure it out."

"It seems like duress to me. Perhaps they have threatened to kill the elf girl if he says no."

Gloha made a horrified peep, and Dolph was taken severely aback. They had not thought of that!