But they did not let her finish the question. James grabbed her by the arm and pulled her along. “We have to keep moving,” he explained.

Cerys did not fight him. She passed through the gate, and watched Sir Carter lock it behind them. The lead star could have easily passed through the bars of the gate, but she did not try. She got close to the bars and stopped, screeching at the goblin, hissing at him a couple of times, and then turning away as Sir Carter pulled him along. She glanced back one more time to ensure that he was leaving, then she turned back to the smaller bats and went about trying to settle them down.

The cave they were now in was a clever disguise for the tunnel. Anyone on the outside would have assumed that it was just a regular cave, filled with all sorts of undesirable beasts. True, it did have a goblin in it, and a whole brood of bats, but anyone else would have a feeling that there were also things like bears, kobolds, or other monsters. Between that and the gate, it was unlikely that anyone would be clever enough to know that it led to the tunnel, or that anyone who was willing to follow a tunnel would have gotten in. They seemed rather safe from unwanted visitors.

“Didn’t you say that bigger monsters sometimes get in?” Cerys asked. “How do they get through the gate?”