by Jeff Inlo
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With a crossbow draped over his back and a leather chest guard snapped securely to his upper body, Joel went back to the basement stairs and bounded up to the ground floor of the house that stored his cache of weapons. He quickly moved to the hole in the wall where he entered the house, but stayed clear of the opening. He pulled out his spy glass and peered through it.
“Nasty buggers are closing in on me,” he mumbled to himself. “Ok, don’t want to get caught in here, but need a plan. Blast, need to know what in blazes is going on is what I need. Blasted creatures never attacked like this before.”
Through the spyscope he could see groupings of goblins making coordinated movements up several different streets. When they reached a crossroad, they secured each corner and then waved to their flanks. Immediately, another group of goblins would then appear and press forward beyond their position.
He watched with great concern toward the goblin efficiency when he witnessed the goblins force a young human male out of hiding from an old merchant’s store. Crossbow fire took out the victim’s legs first. When he crumpled to the ground, three ran up to him and took hold of the arrows that stuck out of his thighs. When he tried to pull away, they twisted the arrow rods over, causing apparent agony in their victim. A fourth goblin took hold of the victim’s head, mouthed something that Joel could not make out. The victim shook his head. With that, the fourth goblin jabbed a dagger in the young man’s throat. With the man gurgling blood in death throws, the four goblins released him and left him to die in the street.
Joel grimaced as he considered his own plight. “Ok, they’re cleaning out buildings. They’re not taking prisoners and it won’t do to be forced out into the open. Can’t stay here, and just can’t run without knowing what I’m running toward. Ok, one step at a time.”
He poked his head out the hole in the wall and looked skyward. He could hear the hook hawk screeching in the distance.
“Other side of town. Good.”
Joel did not waste the chance. He extricated himself out of the hole, kept to the side of the house, and rounded the back corner. He then sprinted as fast as his old legs could carry him across the small back yard to a hedge that served as a natural fence. He dove to the ground and rolled deep into the overgrowth of weeds. With the hedges and weeds serving cover, he took out his scope once more.
“Ok, think this thing out,” he whispered to himself. “Don’t want to get trapped in a building, shags can smell me out if I try to hide. Can’t just keep moving in the open, hook hawk will make it back here eventually. I can break for the woods, but no telling how many goblins are waiting in the trees. Blazes, not a good choice to make.”
Joel shook his head as he considered his dwindling options. “Not leaving, that’s that. Ok, where to go? Northwest bridge. River rogue there ain’t going to be happy if goblins try to move into its territory, ’specially goblins with a shag in tow. Probably already ticked off at the hook hawk flying around so close. Might not be happy to see me, so can’t let that happen. Still, it’s going to try to fight off any goblins, even the shag. Maybe the safest place to be. Ok, best I can think of.”
He took a moment to take another look overhead. “Now, how do I get there? Tree lined paths through the old park and then the cemetery, that’s a good bet. Seems like goblins are sticking to the roads, just don’t know which roads, sounds like all of them. Ok, one block at a time. Shortest path to park is that way,” and he nodded his head due north.
As silently as he could, he pressed aside a series of branches that made up the lower portion of the hedge in front of him. It was not an easy fit, but he made it through. Once on the other side of the hedge he wasted no time in jumping to his feet and running to the back of a newer home that was now in front of him. He clung to the wall and with his back against it, slid his way to the corner.
This house faced a newer street, a wider street, and with no trees lining either side. It was open ground and he could hear goblin movements in almost every direction. He had no idea where his enemies might be at the moment.
“Not going to just trust luck,” he grumbled. He took the crossbow from his back, loaded a bolt, and aimed at the back of another home a good distance down the road to his left. “Have to hope they hear the glass and not the sound of the bow. I guess if they’re close enough to distinguish that, then I’m as good as dead anyway.”
Joel pulled the trigger and watched hopefully as the bolt made a long arc through the air. The window was a large target but it was far in the distance. It almost seemed as if the bolt was traveling in slow motion. Thankfully, it hit its mark and the glass shattered. Joel did not pause to watch through his spyscope. He crouched low, and hustled off in the opposite direction toward the neighboring house to his right. He bounded around the corner, down the side and front yards, and finally across the street. He almost expected to feel the stinging pain of arrows piercing his legs, but he made it to the cover of an overgrown flower bed and dropped to the ground. He looked up and down the street and saw nothing. He didn’t know if his diversion made any difference, but at least it felt better than simply running and hoping for the best.
He had to make it across several more streets closer to the center of town before he could make it to the park, but thankfully it was quieter there. He could still hear the sounds of skirmishes in almost every direction, but the alleys he now traveled remained still. He kept to the sides of buildings and had to dodge for cover twice when he heard the hook hawk closing in on his position. Eventually, he made it to the park and turned westward.
Though it was dormant season, the ground here was free of snow and ice. It had been dry so far this season and Joel was thankful for this. Still, the ground remained hard and frozen as the sun hung low in the horizon and direct light could not break the shadows of the thicker rows of trees. Evergreens allowed for greater cover and Joel used them to his advantage. He made it through the park in quicker time and stopped to gauge his next path.
A stone fence separated the park from the cemetery. He would have to jump it. It was only a few feet high, but his body did not look forward to the task. Right now, he felt every year of his age. His lungs fought harder for air and his lower back throbbed. An arthritic knee let him know it wasn’t happy, either. His hands bled from various scrapes and cuts, but this wasn’t the time for bandages. He stood under a large spruce and gauged the distance to the stone wall and then the terrain of the ground beyond.
The cemetery would be open ground around the headstones, not the best place to travel. The stone wall also stood mostly in open space, but there was enough overhang from trees in the park to give him sufficient cover there. He could travel the wall along the park border until it turned at the back end of the cemetery. Along this rear border, the wall changed over to a wrought iron fence. Most of the fence and back paths were lined with trees. Unless the goblins had taken position along the fence, Joel believed a clear path now existed to the northwestern part of town that bordered the river.
With a little luck he could make it to the north bridge and perhaps find a store house to hide in. It would be dangerous, basically caught between the attackers and the river rogue, but hopefully they would all be concerned with each other. Enough different scents in the air and he might be able to conceal himself until nightfall at least. It was as good as plan as any.
When he made his first step out from under the pine tree, his plan changed drastically.
The ground rumbled before him and dirt shattered up in his face. He could feel his feet begin to slip under him in loose dirt. Luckily, his foot caught the stability of a large root near the surface and he avoided falling forward. He leapt back toward the trunk of the pine he had previously used for cover and grabbed its trunk. The ground continued to crack and crumble and even more dirt flew into the air. In the next instant, a black as pitch mound rose up from the ground. It was the rounded, humped back of a rock beetle and it was looking for a meal.
Joel’s eye
s widened in terror as glistening pinchers covered in hair and filth jutted out from the front of this disgusting creature. Multiple legs pitched the gigantic insect from the earth as the rest of its body broke from the surrounding soil. Joel didn’t need to see anymore. He took off back to the other end of the park, hoping he could outrun this thing.