The dark way

The first arrow struck the goblin king in the neck. He rose, and tried to shout out a command, but all that issued forth from his mouth was a turrent of black blood.
The second bolt struck him solidly in the gut. He staggered and fell from his small dias with clatter, as his crown rolled from his head.
The rest of the goblins screeched and turned to face the party, which now spilled from their hiding place.
Nemon killed one with with a swift blow to the head. another went down to Gruffydd's hammer.
The rest of the goblins, terrified at this surprise attack, ran for the door. The sentry squeaked a warning, but to no avail. His brethren threw him aside and unbolted the door.
No sooner were they out the door, than a loud roar announced the arrival of the manticore. It tore threw the goblins with ease. Black blood splattered the walls.
"Now!", Gruffydd shouted, "while it's distracted".
rather than search the room as usual, the party took the chance to slip past the beast while it gorged on goblin flesh.
They raced down now familiar hallways and up unguarded steps, never looking back, for fear of seeing the manticore in pursuit. They decided to take the dark way, through the caves that emptied on the side of the river's ravine. Up ahead could be seen the last dying light of the day as it came through the open cave mouth.
But suddenly, the opening darkened. A large silhouette filled the opening. A figure barred their way.

The King

With no apparent outlet, they back tracked.
It didn't take long before a few loose pieces of gravel and a scrape on the floor led to a secret door. It was small. Nemon would have to strip off his armor before he could squeeze through, but it was their only choice short of facing the Manticore. A meeting they would not likely survive.
Miss Adventure went first. The other side of the door turned out to be a small altar carved into the wall. It was probably a bowl for purified water at one time. But the small temple room was now a foul smelling bedchamber off a larger room. She could hear raised voices coming from the other side of a tattered blanket that separated the two spaces.
She crept up to the door and looked through one of the many holes in the blanket.
A half a dozen goblins filled the roughly square room. They were shouting. One goblin guarded the only door out of the chamber. He peered nervously through a metal grill in the door.
The rest were poking two dead lizardmen on the floor. These must have been the wayward lizards that had led the party here, caught while sneaking about.
Above them all sat a massive yellow skinned goblin in an oversized chair. He was twice the size of the rest, almost man sized. He wore ill kept armor and a massive gold chain around his neck. Upon his head rested a crude iron crown.

Dead End

Every step was taken with care. Every stone making up the floor could be a potential trigger. A trigger ready to drop an avalanche of rocks from above, or storm of poison darts from hidden crevices.
They approached single file with Gruffydd in the lead. He toed each stone before putting his weight on it. The others behind were careful only to step where he stepped.
After what seemed like an enormous amount of time they reached the door unscathed. Miss Adventure hurried to the front to put an ear to the door and check the lock. The lock wasn't trapped, and she put stuck her tongue in and out rapidly, miming a snake, to show she heard lizardmen on the other side.
She ducked just in time to have Nemon smash the door in.
He crashed inside, crushing one lizardman under the door. The rest hissed and charged the door.
One fell to a crossbow bolt from Mellion, another to Gruffydd's hammer.
It was a cramped, chaotic melee in the dark room. No one escaped without some sort of cut or scrape. When it was over, eight lizardmen littered the filthy floor.
In a corner, Miss Adventure found a chest and too large bags. The bags were full of jewels, the chest stuffed with coins.

"This is great", said Nemon, "but we still have to find a way out of here."
After a quick a search for hidden doors by Miss Adventure and Gruffydd, the dwarf spoke. "Hmmm, no doors, but there are fewer lizards here than we faced in the passage. We didn't pass any on the way here, so they had to go somewhere."
Gear was gathered. Wounds were bound and the last crumbs of rations eaten.
And somewhere in the dark, the manticore roared.....

The Door

There was a loud CRACK as Gruffydd's great hammer struck home. The skull helmet of the Lizardman shattered and the great scaled creature dropped like a puppet with its string cut, lifeless to the ground.
Several of the lizardmen, now leaderless, sprinted down a dark hallway. The rest were trapped and fought like demons against the party.
Nemon skewered a few on his blade while the rest died from elven arrows.
There was no sound now except the heavy breathing of the group, and the constant drip of moisture on the stone walls.
Gruffydd searched the lizardman leader. Under his bone breastplate was an enormous ruby necklace. It was of ancient design. The gold necklace that held the ruby was woven like a great rope, and the ruby itself positioned to look like a great eye.
The party was exhausted. It was time to leave the Well of Souls once again, but how? The way back was blocked by the enraged Manticore. The only way left was down the passage the Lizardmen had taken.
They were down to their last few torches, whose light revealed a passage made from interlocked river stones. The sides were slick with moss, while the floor had been worn with use.
After a hard right turn, which the Dwarf Gruffydd guessed was north, they found a door at the end of a long hallway.
Miss Adventure whispered, "I don't know about the rest of you, but I smell a trap".

Scales

Lizardmen seemed to pour from every dark crevice. Them approached slowly in a low crouch, all the while emitting a low hiss. They came from both ends of the tunnel, a least a dozen.
Then, suddenly, the hissing stopped as well as the advancing reptiles. For a moment, no one moved.
"Well," Gruffydd shouted, "come on then!"
Beyond the edge of the light of their torches, something big moved. Some of the lizrdmen shuffled aside. Into the light stepped a giant Lizardman.
He was brighter in color than the rest. He had great spines protruding from his head and back. His helmet was made from a great serpent, fangs and all. Bones made his breast plate. He carried a great axe made of sharpened stone.
The great beast flicked a bright blue tongue to taste the air.
Then, with a great war cry, Gruffyd attacked.

Desperation

With an enraged Manticore behind them, and a horde of goblins in front, the battle became a desperate affair. Fueled by fear, fear of losing what they had gained, and most of all, fear of death in a dark place, the party fought with reckless courage. Goblins were killed in batches and groups. The party was cut and jabbed, but always they pressed forward. One room, then another, until battered and bruised the last goblin dropped to the floor. But now, they were trapped again. This room ended in no exits. They could already hear the manticore tearing at the door two rooms away.
It wouldn't hold long.
Wounds were bandaged. Weapons were ready. A last stand it would be.
They heard scraping behind them. Gruffydd turned and saw Miss Adventure on the floor, behind a chest scraping at a stone with her short sword. Suddenly, the stone moved! A secret passage.
Nemon was the last to squeeze through the hole in his bulky plate armor.
They lay scattered down a damp, narrow hallway. A small trickle of water gathered in the tunnel's lowest points.
The passage had been dug by hand. It had a strange, unpleasant stink about it. In the distant they heard a "thunk" as the manticore broke into the distant room beyond their secret door. Everyone held their breath. In the silent they heard a low hiss.
Turning, their torches showed a low scaled form....

No way out

Before the roar had even faded, they were stuffing every bag, sack and empty container full of coins. Even the bag with their provisions was emptied on the floor and filled to the brim with coins.
When they could carry no more, they ran for the door on the opposite wall. It lead to room that could only be the Manticore's lair. What furnishings that existed before were now smashed to bits. The room was full of bones of various humanoids and remnants of clothes. Another loud bellow from the darkness and they quickly moved to the next room.
The smell hit the party first. This room was covered in dried blood and festering corpses. Piles of offal filled every corner. Retching, they moved to a closed door.
They emerged in the long hallway they had been to before. When another roar came, it was close enough to fee reverberating from the walls. They ran. Coins clanked and clinked on the floor behind them  leaving a glittering trail.
When they came to an intersection they turned left an ended up facing a barred door. It was iron bound and sturdy.
Another roar. This one filled with pain and hate. The monster had found it's mate. No where to run. No time to listen at the door. Nemon and Gruffydd hacked and smashed at the door. It gave in with a crash.
They poured into the room fearing the other manticore was right behind.
This room was full of Goblins. Lots of goblins....