by M E Robinson
Tamira shook her head, “Not until you apologize and give us back our stuff.”
Growing angry, Eric shook his head, “I already told you. I didn’t kill you, someone else did. You were hit from behind while looking at me. Isn’t it obvious I wasn’t the killer?”
“They were your accomplice. Otherwise, how’d you get away? You didn’t show up at the resurrection point.”
“They weren’t that strong - they got you with a sneak attack. I just defeated them and moved on,” said Eric, only half lying. Seryllia had been strong, but there was no point telling Tamira that.
“How do we know you’re telling the truth? There’s no one else who was there except her,” Alexnir spoke up.
“You’re just going to have to believe me. Now please, move out of the way, we need to get back to the village now.”
“Give us back our stuff.”
“Even if I did have it, to the victor goes the spoils. Move. Before I force you to.”
“Not a chance,” Tamira responded, readying her spear.
“Fine, don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Eric growled.
As Tamira watched, a magic circle appeared under Eric’s fingers.
“Kat, now!” She screamed, charging towards Eric with her spear at the ready. As she did so, Alexnir moved closer to protect Katzy who raised her wand to cast the spell she had readied. Unfortunately, Eric reacted first, firing an Arcane Strike towards her, forcing her to cancel the spell as she dodged aside.
“Need help?” Owin asked as more howls resounded through the woods.
“I’m good. This won’t take long,” responded Eric.
Unsheathing his sword, he mirrored Tamira’s charge, dashing across the grass towards the furious spearwoman. As she stabbed her spear towards him, he dropped to his knees in a controlled slide, batting her spear aside with his sword and slamming into her, taking her out at the knees. As Tamira collapsed into an unruly heap behind him he rolled to his feet, his right leg lancing out like a piston behind him to catch the approaching Alexnir unawares. As Alexnir raised his blade in an overhead strike, Eric’s foot smashed into his stomach, the fighter’s wool overshirt doing nothing to protect him from the blow. With a coughing sound, Alexnir was sent flying backwards, tracing a beautiful arc through the air before crashing into the ground, the wind literally knocked out of him.
Turning towards Katzy, Eric dashed towards the mage as she attempted to prepare a spell with a frightened expression. Bringing up his left hand, Eric fired the second arcane strike he’d prepared, hitting the terrified mage in the shoulder. Wincing, Katzy’s spell fizzled for the second time in as many minutes as Eric approached.
Panicking, Katzy attempted to pull out her dagger. With a contemptuous look on his face, Eric slashed heavily at her wrist, forcing her to drop the dagger as she retreated. With another stride, he caught up with her, spinning her around and forcing his blade against her throat.
“Stop fighting if you want her to live,” he snarled at the approaching Tamira.
With that, the fight was over, Alexnir was still attempting to relearn how to breathe and struggling to his feet while Tamira was even angrier than she’d been before the fight. Her humiliation at how easily she’d been taken out causing her skin to flush a deeper shade of red than her hair.
“Now then, I think it’s about time you listened to reason. I am not the one who killed your party. But don’t think that means I won’t become that person if you continue to be unreasonable,” said Eric, bringing the blade he held a bit closer to Katzy’s neck for emphasis. Seeing that there were no interruptions he continued.
“This man is a scout with valuable information for Captain Alistair. If it wasn’t for your distraction we would have been able to get this information safely to Tonbura village. Instead, you have delayed us long enough for our pursuers, a band of goblins, to catch up. They should arrive soon. Now you have a choice, either I can slaughter the three of you and you will be deemed traitors to the Novanalba Militia should Owin here survive.”
Owin nodded at this with a dangerous glint in his eye. Eric continued, “Or you can aid us in killing these goblins. Now which will it be?”
“Release Katzy and we’ll talk,” Alexnir panted, leaning upon his shield.
“Not a chance, this is no longer a negotiation,” said Eric, eyes narrowing. “I won’t make you do it for free if that’s what you’re worried about. Agree to help us and you’ll all receive the quest rewards with me once we finish escorting Owin to Tonbura village.”
Seeing them hesitate, Eric sweetened the deal, “Tell you what, I’ll teach your mage here a new spell if you cooperate. Surely a brand new skill and increased reputation with the militia are okay rewards for being allowed to experience fighting new monsters before other players?”
As Eric spoke, more howls could be heard coming from the woods. Closer than before.
“I agree,” a timid voice said.
Looking between Tamira and Alexnir, Eric suddenly realized that it was the mage he still held captive in his arms who had spoken up.
“Katzy! He’s a murderer!” Tamira yelled.
“If he was a murderer, he’d have killed us already, Tammy! He’s offering me a new spell. This will make our entire party stronger. Plus you’re not the one with a goddamned sword to your neck here!” Katzy yelled back, her timidness forgotten as she admonished her friend.
“She’s right, Tam. This isn’t a bad deal for us,” said Alexnir. Looking at Eric, he sheathed his sword, “I’m willing to help you. Release Kat.”
Eric looked at Tamira, “And your fearless leader over there?”
“Fine. But don’t expect me to believe you didn’t do it just because you didn’t kill us this time,” she spat. Eric rolled his eyes. This one would probably never like him, he thought with a small sigh as he lowered his blade and allowed Katzy to rejoin her companions.
Seeing that the fight was over, Owin moved to his side, “Alright we don’t have long before they arrive. I suggest we take shelter at that rock formation over there. We can use it to limit their mounts mobility and prevent them from swarming us,” he explained, pointing as he did to a small rocky hill nearby.
Nodding, the party began to make their way towards the hill as Owin watched the trees nervously. Dropping to the back of the party, Eric glanced at Owin with an apologetic look in his eyes.
“Sorry about this, didn’t think my personal problems would put your mission at risk,” he apologized sheepishly.
“This might turn out in our favour. I’m not sure if we could have made it all the way to Tonbura village before they caught up to us,” Owin responded. Pausing briefly he looked at Eric strangely, “What was with those moves there? I thought you sucked at fighting in close quarters.”
Scratching his head sheepishly, Eric explained, “That’s against beasts and monsters such as wolves. Or when I’ve got to use the sword as a sword. I’ve trained in martial arts for almost a decade now. People I can read, beasts not so much. Against untrained fighters like these who are more used to stabbing rabbits and wolves, I can read them like a book. Against you it wouldn’t have been so easy.”
Owin grinned at this, “Good, that makes things easier. Goblins fight like humans. So hopefully I won’t have to worry about you in this fight.”
Eric grinned, playfully punching Owin in the shoulder, “Just focus on staying alive yourself. I don’t want to have done all this work for nothing.” Owin laughed at this and said nothing.
As they arrived at the rocky hill, Owin began to put them into a rudimentary formation, with himself and the two fighters from Tamira’s party taking up defensive positions halfway up the hill, while Eric and Katzy were stationed at the top where they could rain magic down upon their opponents.
Taking advantage of the momentary lull, Eric began to teach Katzy the rune for Wind Strike. The Blade rune he would keep as his personal trump card for now, but allowing Katzy to use elemental spells without setting the forest on
fire would definitely help to increase the party’s firepower.
Katzy proved to be a quick learner, as long as no one was attacking her directly she was actually pretty talented at magic. But she fell apart under pressure as Eric had discovered earlier. As long as their line of melee fighters could hold strong she should be able to cast spells unrestricted.
Further down the hill, Owin was giving quick pointers to Alexnir and Tamira. Trying to ensure that their fight against the goblin scouting party wouldn’t be as embarrassing as the display they’d shown against Eric. As the sun rose above the trees, slowly driving away the watery dew of morning, the first worg dashed out from the trees, an ugly green goblin seated atop of the wolf steering it towards the hill.
- Chapter Thirty-Four -
Battle of Stony Hill
Seeing the group ready for battle, the goblin raised its chipped saber high. “Chiit chiit chee!” it chittered, the cry echoing through the forest as six more riders emerged from the trees.
Approaching fast, the goblins began to come into view, allowing Eric to make out more of their features. They certainly are ugly little brutes, he thought in disgust. From what he could see they appeared to be between three and four feet tall, with oversized ears, bulbous noses, and spindly arms. Their long fingers were topped with sharp claws which wrapped around their sabers, oversized for their frames at roughly two feet long.
Their armour - if you could call it that - was comprised of patchy leather covering a wool shirt, similar to Eric’s own, with nothing covering their shins. In their other hand, each goblin held a whip which they used to encourage their wolf mounts to go faster, the wolves tearing up the ground as they pelted ahead at full speed towards the rocky hill.
“Steady,” Owin warned them, readying his sword as the first worg rider approached.
Nocking his penultimate arrow, Eric took aim and fired at the largest goblin, hitting him in the chest and knocking him from his mount. Unfortunately, the goblin got back to his feet and resumed its charge on foot, whipping the wolf as it turned to nip at its rider. The goblin’s healthbar had been diminished by a large amount, but it was still alive.
“Damn video game balancing,” Eric muttered as he nocked his last arrow. Beside him, Katzy fired a Wind Strike towards another goblin, striking its mount instead which rewarded her with a loud yelp.
Uttering fearsome warcries, the remaining goblins reached the hill, their worg mounts scrabbling for purchase on the rough rocks. Aiming at the lead wolf, Eric activated Charged Shot, his final arrow piercing through the air and embedding itself in the wolf’s eye. Collapsing, the wolf’s corpse skidded across the rocks. Its rider attempted to hang on but was thrown off, landing at the feet of Tamira who stabbed her spear into its throat. Gurgling, the goblin attempted to hack at her shins, but Alexnir slammed his sword into its chest, putting an end to its death throes.
As the two party members finished off the lead goblin, the remaining five mounted goblins reached the fighters, the unmounted goblin trailing along behind. One peeled off the group, heading towards Eric and Katzy’s position while the other four assaulted Owin, Tamira, and Alexnir’s position, forcing them to rely on the terrain to survive.
“Aim for the goblins attacking your friends, I’ll deal with this one,” Eric instructed Katzy, who nodded in response.
Trusting her to provide support for the fighters, Eric put his bow down and unsheathed his sword, staring at the worg rider making its way up the hill. Fortunately, the rocky terrain hindered the wolf, its claws skittering off the smooth rocks and sharp ridges cutting at its paws.
Holding his sword in his left hand, Eric carefully constructed the runes for Wind Blade, preparing to fire the spell for the first time. Feeling the mana coalesce into the form of the spell, he grinned, launching it at the oncoming Goblin’s mount as it reached the four meter mark from his position.
With the howl, a two-foot long scar of wind appeared in the air, screaming towards the goblin’s worg mount. The blood draining from its face, the goblin attempted to force its mount to dodge, but the distance and the treacherous terrain prevented the wolf from leaping aside, forcing it to take the spell head on.
With a small sonic boom, the blade of wind slammed into the wolf, causing blood to spurt out in a huge arc as it let out a pained howl. As its mount collapsed, the goblin jumped off the wolf, using his mount’s momentum to launch himself towards Eric, saber raised high to slash him from head to toe.
Transferring his sword back to his right hand, Eric met the goblin with a kick, sending it flying backwards. As it climbed to its feet, a bolt of arcane energy filled its vision, Eric’s arcane strike slamming into the goblin’s face. Clutching its eyes for a moment, the goblin’s blade lowered, allowing Eric to leap forward, his blade slashing across its neck. With a small gurgling sound, the goblin’s healthbar emptied, its saber clattering to the ground as it died.
Burying his blade into the slowly stirring wolf, Eric returned to the top of the hill to survey the situation from above. Owin had forced the unmounted goblin to temporarily retreat but was now fighting against two goblin riders on his own while Tamira and Alexnir fought one each. The wolf that had originally been the injured goblin’s mount lay dead at Owin’s feet.
Unlike Eric who’d been free to pursue the opening he’d created and finish off his opponent, the goblins below worked together. Attacking as a group and covering each other’s flanks. This prevented the group from finishing off any goblins they wounded.
Even worse, the wolf mounts were making life difficult for the group, nipping at limbs and using their claws to attack while their riders distracted their human opponents. Katzy had a spell prepared but was hesitating.
“What are you waiting for? Shoot at the goblins!” Eric shouted at her, preparing his own spell.
“But what if I hit them instead of the monsters?”
“Wait for them to repel a monster, then fire. Like this,” Eric demonstrated, firing a Wind Strike at the mounted goblin that Owin had just injured with a light slash to the leg. As its wolf pranced backwards, the wind blade slammed into the goblin, toppling it from the wolf which howled and leapt at Owin. Alone, the wolf couldn’t stand up to the experienced scout who merely stepped aside and brought his blade down upon the luckless animal.
With a yelp, the wolf stumbled backwards, an enormous wound now visible on its back. Before the wolf could run away, its rider directed his whip at it, the whip cracking inches above the wounded monster’s head. Cowed into submission, the goblin mounted his injured mount, ignoring the yelps of pain as his body applied pressure to the wolf’s wound.
Raising her hands, Katzy fired a Wind Strike, aiming for the goblin fighting with Tamira. Seeing the wind strike coming, the goblin commanded its wolf to attack, intercepting the spell with his saber. Taking advantage of the distracted worg rider, Tamira stabbed her spear at the wolf, inflicting a heavy wound on the animal. With a yelp, the wolf reared, forcing its rider to hang on for dear life as the wolf attempted to claw at Tamira.
Bashing his opponent with his shield, Alexnir lent her a hand, slashing the wolf with his sword and forcing it to retreat. As it did so, Alexnir’s opponent lunged forward, slashing him across the back with its saber. Stumbling forward, Alexnir tripped on the rough rocks, falling to one knee. Tamira attempted to cover for her comrade but was forced to turn back to deal with her own opponent, as the goblin spurred his injured mount forward, forcing it to ignore its wounds and press the attack, joined by the unmounted goblin that Owin had repelled earlier.
As Katzy watched on with a horrified expression, the wolf and rider leapt at Alexnir, just beginning to rise. Latching on to his back with its claws, the wolf began to tear and bite at the fighter’s unprotected back while the goblin used its saber to attack his head and shoulders. Alexnir did his best to use his shield to protect his head, but the wolf’s fangs and claws were taking its toll, his healthbar dropping rapidly.
Closing her eyes, Katzy was about
to turn away when she heard the sound of wind howling next to her. Opening her eyes again, she watched as an enormous Wind Blade nearly a meter long coalesced in front of Eric who pointed his arm towards Alexnir’s assailant.
“Get f*cked,” he whispered, firing the spell at the unsuspecting goblin.
With a loud howl, the wind blade slashed through the air towards the worg rider, still intent on finishing off its downed opponent. With a slicing sound, the wind blade slashed into both mount and rider, killing the wolf and throwing the goblin several feet to the side.
The momentary reprieve was just what Alexnir needed, allowing him to get back to his feet and charge the downed goblin, thrusting his sword into its stunned body. Over and over again, the sword descended upon the helpless goblin’s form, as Alexnir vented his frustrations upon the hapless monster.
Turning away from the vengeful warrior, Eric looked back towards the larger battle. The fight continued to rage on, with both Tamira and Owin engaging two opponents each. Tamira had it easier as her opponents were the unmounted goblin that still had the remnants of Eric’s initial arrow jutting from his chest, and a goblin whose mount was on the verge of collapse. As Eric watched Tamira finished off her opponent’s mount, forcing the goblins to engage her on foot.
Judging that Katzy should be safe without his assistance, Eric switched his sword back to his right hand.
“You help Red over there,” he directed Katzy who nodded, preparing a spell with her wand.
“What about you?”
“I’m going to help my friend,” he explained, dashing down the hill towards Owin’s position. Preparing a quick arcane strike as he ran towards the melee.
Owin was still fighting against two mounted goblins on his own, relying on the terrain and his superior sword skills to prevent the goblins from overwhelming him with their number advantage. Over and over, the two forced their mounts to charge in, a storm of fangs, claws, and sabers descending towards the scout. With deft footwork, Owin avoided the attacks of one goblin, blocking the other and responding with well aimed strikes of his own to break his opponent’s offense, forcing it to use its saber to defend itself. Jumping back, Owin suddenly turned and darted up a small ridge on the hill, forcing the goblins to stop their pincer attack. Undeterred at having lost their number advantage, one goblin pressed the attack while the other had his mount flank around the hill, attempting to approach Owin from above.