by Jeff Inlo
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With the goblins in disarray, Joel watched with less worry over being spotted in the merchant shop. He peered through the broken window and watched as the goblins scattered in different directions. He raised the crossbow several more times and fired bolts into their midst. He never hit his mark now that they moved in haphazard fashion. He tried to lead a target, but the goblins turned and twisted with each racing step they took. He never guessed correctly which way his target would turn and thus all his bolts ended up lodging into the walls of surrounding structures or the sides of emptied carts. Still, the continued crossbow fire added to the commotion. He noted that several more goblins began to appear in his view both further off to the north and south of his current position.
“Ok, they’re starting to take notice and they’re moving in from other directions to see what’s going on. If I’m going to find an opening, it should be soon.”
He crouched low as he tossed the crossbow back over his shoulder and made a path to the back of the store. He kicked away a loose panel that blocked his way to the rear warehouse and pushed through the litter of this larger open space. Before he leapt out into the alley, he leaned out slightly to take a quick look up and down the path. He saw nothing other than the debris of broken barrels and crates. Just as he took his first step out into the open, he heard the shriek of the hook hawk.
“Not good!” Joel shook his head. The alley was narrow, but most of the buildings in this area were only one story high and offered little cover overhead. “Can’t change it now, and can’t get caught here.”
Joel took off in a slow trot to the south, clinging to walls as best he could while still keeping a respectable pace. He needed to create some distance between himself and the point where the goblins were now congregating. He believed if he could get at least three blocks down, he might have a chance to turn out of the alley and make a break toward his home.
Another shriek of the hook hawk turned his skin cold. He braved a look up and back over his shoulder. He caught the spiraling shadow of a large winged creature. The sun was low in the southwestern sky, and with the shadow behind him, he calculated the beast to be flying very low and almost directly over his head. He stopped dead in his tracks. He believed he could actually hear the wind ruffling through twisted feathers very nearby, much too close to give him anything other then a sense of his own mortality. He flattened himself against the wall, offering as little a target to the sky as possible. A breeze struck his face and he tensed, expecting to feel the cold hard talons pierce his shoulders, but the pain never came.
The hook hawk shrieked a third time. This time the sound came further off to his right. He heard the terrified squeal of a goblin in the same area. Joel moved away from the side of the building and toward the center of the alley to risk taking a better look. Into the sights of the sun, he saw the darkened outline of the hawk swooping further up into the sky. He then saw the shadow pass along the ground in front of him and made out the outline of a small figure clasped in the talons of the bird.
“Bad luck for that goblin, good luck for me. That had to scatter the others over there. If I have a chance, it’s now. OK, just have to make it over there as fast as I can.”
Joel decided to bet the commotion of the hook hawk and his previous crossbow fire might have distracted and confused the goblins enough to offer him his best chance at a break through their lines. With the hook hawk now more interested in a meal than watching the ground, he believed there was no better time for a quick sprint out of the alley and toward his home. As he bounded out into an open street, the sight of the monstrous shag running right toward him dissolved any confidence he had gained.