The Incompleat Nifft — Michael Shea

THIS TIME, THEY WOULD MAKE A KILLING

Join master thief Nifft the Lean with his companion-atarms, mighty barbarian Barnar Hammer-Hand, as they trust to their wits and their luck. Once Nifft and Barnar were hired by the ghost of a dead woman to kidnap the man who betrayed her and drag him down to hell to join her. A simple task--or so they thought at first....

Another time, the pair lucked into an even more lucrative proposition, when they were shipwrecked on the way to work in Costard's sap mine--very dangerous and sometimes nauseating work far below ground--and were hired by Bunt to bring back twenty gills of the ichor exuded only by the monstrous insectile queen. It seemed like easy money--they wouldn't have to go to hell! Of course, the best laid plans sometimes do go astray, but this time they were sure they would ... make a killing.