Then again, he was an NPC and would probably want whatever she wanted, and she wanted these malevolent little jerks to pay. But how could she do it? She looked at all elements of the situation and tried to figure out how to use it to her advantage. An idea came to her.
Sphiel looked at Shiva and mimed that she was going to sing. Sphiel looked at her with wide eyes and shook her head, to which the elf replied by pointing to her temple. The troll shrugged and nodded.
Sphiel sang a few notes and imagined birds flying toward the goblins. A few heeded her call and flew at them. One of the goblins picked up a mallet and hammered against the gong, and the resultant ringing echoed through the forest. Sphiel mouthed the word “hide” and quietly found an out of the way place to hide herself where she could still see the hill.
Three goblins ran down the hill and searched the surrounding wood. More goblins came up to investigate. After fifteen minutes of looking they gave up and went back to their post. Sphiel waited until the goblins were out of sight before she let out a few more notes and took up another hiding place.
Predictably, the goblins banged the gong again and came looking for them. Sphiel found a small nook that was underneath the roots of a large tree. She crawled into it and waited.
More goblins came down, at least a dozen this time, and searched the area. She saw the tattered clothes that covered the large goblin feet as they passed. Her heart thundered in her chest as the goblins looked and she shook violently. But she was in complete control of her senses this time. A half-hour passed this time before the goblins gave up the search and went back to their posts.
Sphiel did this three more times, singing out just a few notes before going back into hiding. More goblins came the third time, but after the fourth and fifth, there were fewer. The last time she saw a larger goblin yelling at the gong ringer, bludgeoning his ears with harsh words. She didn’t know what was said but it was probably along the lines of “this isn’t a toy, ring it again and I’ll tear your ears off.
She waited for the goblins to go back before she retook her original position at the edge of the pathway, behind a large tree. She sang out a few notes and this stopped. The gong ringer picked up his mallet, but he hesitated. Sphiel smiled.
The four goblins talked among each other before two came down the pathway. Shiva appeared on the other side and winked at the elf. Sphiel knew she was on the same page and what to do next. One goblin walked into the trees on one side and one on the other. The elf pressed herself against a tree and waited for the goblin that came on her side to come close. When he did she lashed out with her sword and stabbed him in the throat. He fell to the ground quietly.
The elf retook her position as did Shiva. The troll drew a line across her neck, signalling that she took out her goblin.
The other goblins on the hill waited for a few minutes before another decided to come down. He entered Shiva’s side of the woods and his face was soon met by her poisonous mace. When Shiva signalled he was dead, Sphiel sang again. This time she held her song.
Birds swooped down from the trees at the final goblin. He shrieked and picked up his mallet. He hit the gong plate twice before he was surrounded by avians. He swung his mallet against the birds to little effect.
Shiva sprang from the trees and quickly crested the hill. She was on the goblin in a flash and crushed his skull with her mace. She then picked up the mallet and hit it a few more times before picking up the dead goblin’s body, running back down hill and leaping into the trees.
Sphiel cut off her song and shrugged at the troll, as if asking why she hit the gong again. Shiva pointed to her temple and held up a finger. The goblin that berated the first gong ringer and five others answered the gong’s call.
The goblins looked at each other, bewildered by the absence of the goblins. The largest goblin sighed and pointed out at the woods. His five subordinates walked out to investigate. They fanned out. Two pushing into each side of the woods while one stood on the path.
When the two goblins came close to Sphiel jumped from behind a tree and quickly thrust her sword at them. They were dead before they could even draw their weapons.
Your skill with One Handed Swords has grown to 17!
Sphiel looked at the goblin standing on the dirty causeway, looking up at the sky, waiting for the fellows that wouldn’t be coming back. She couldn’t walk to the treeline to make contact with Shiva gain without being seen by this goblin. She strained her eyes but she couldn’t see beyond the curtain of trees on the other side of the path. She would just have to act and hope the troll would have an idea of what to do.
The elf tiptoed toward the goblin on the path as he absent mindedly looked at the sky. She quickly glanced at the ground with each step, making sure not to step on a leaf or a twig and give herself away. When she was within a few feet, the goblin cupped his hand to his mouth and called out to his comrades.
His eyes met Sphiel’s and the elf sprinted around two trees and leapt at him. He drew his mace and parried her first sword blow but the second and third slashed bloody lines across his face. He stumbled back against a tree and was ended when the elf thrust her sword through his heart.
The larger goblin was stunned for a moment when he saw the elf. He picked up the mallet and banged the gong, but his hesitation gave Shiva enough time to scale up the hill again. The large goblin turned to see the even larger troll standing over him. She grabbed him by his shoulders, turned him around and bashed his head against the post that held the gong twice. She grinned and ran back into the woods.
Sphiel and Shiva waited for several minutes for more goblins to show up, but none did. The troll pointed up to the hill and the elf nodded.
TWENTY FIVE
Sphiel and Shiva laid on their stomachs and snuck a peek over the hill. Barbed wire surrounded by a fence made of several wooden stakes out of the ground forming an “X” with a wooden pole placed between them to hold them together. A few goblins marched around the uneven ground while two guards stood at each entry point that led into the city.
“What now?” Sphiel whispered. “Do we bring them to us and take them out a few at a time like we’ve been doing?”
“Hmmm,” Shiva stroked her chin and smiled. “I think I have an idea. It’s strange, but it might work.”
“What is it?”
“Come with me.”
Shiva slid down the mountain and Sphiel followed. They walked into the portion of the woods the troll initially hid in and went a few meters until they came to a hollow log. The troll looked at Sphiel, then at the large log and nodded. “If you squeeze, you’d probably be able to fit in it.”
Sphiel looked down at the many bugs and slimy worms crawling around the rotten wood. She made a face. “You expect me to get in that thing?”
“Yes. My idea is for you to get into it and I’ll roll you down the hill. When you come to a stop, you get out and try to get into the city.”
“I don’t know if I like that plan.”
“You have any other ideas?”
Sphiel conceded the point and Shiva picked up one end of the log and drug it to the path and up the hill. When they were just below the crest the troll motioned for the elf to get into the log. She crawled in feet first. She felt a sundry of slimy and furry things on her way down. The elf didn’t know what her body was brushing against and she tried not to think about it. She tried to take her buckler with her, but it wouldn’t fit within the tight confines of the log.
When her head was hidden Sphiel looked to her friend. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to serve as the distraction.”
Shiva rolled the log atop the hill and waited for the right moment when a pair of sentries were rounding in her direction. When the goblins came to the exact point, Shiva rolled the log down the hill.
Sphiel closed her eyes as the forest swirled into a whirlwind of color. She tucked her shoulders close to her chest and clenched her teeth as the vertigo from the spinning log sent her sto
mach tumbling in circles.
Every bump and jostle rocked her body on the way down. There was a scream and a heavy thud beneath her that sent her into the air for a moment before she came back down and crashed into something that mercifully stopped the unbearable spinning. The elf blinked a couple of times and did her best to stabilize her swirling vision.
“Hey ass holes. I’m coming to invade your village,” Sphiel heard Shiva say. “So bring out your armies and meet me on the field of battle, you cowards!”
There was a shout and the hammering of feet against the ground as they ran toward the direction of the voice. The elf poked her head out of the log to see a large number of goblins rushing toward the troll who was standing on top of the hill, holding her mace and giving all the goblin warriors a rude gesture. One goblin reached her and was clobbered before he managed to strike. Two more came and Shiva pushed them back down the hill.
Two goblins were lying on the ground halfway down the hill groaning and struggling to get up. She remembered taking flight during her roll down the hill and reasoned her log hit them on the way down.
Sphiel looked behind her. The log she was in crashed into the gate. The goblins posted there were already charging toward her friend. She could see into the village. Other goblins were there, but they were smaller, assumedly non-combatants, and ran to hide in their huts. The elf ducked back into the log when she saw a large number of goblins run toward her. They hopped the log and joined the goblin charge. When they passed, she slipped out of the log and dashed into the city.
Sphiel made it a few feet in before she found a flash of green coming around a corner. She jumped between two dirt huts and pressed herself against the wall. The goblin trudged down the footpath. When he came into view he yawned and leaned against his spear. The elf grabbed the creature by the neck and slammed him, face first, into the wall. She did this three times before he slid into unconsciousness.
She grabbed his spear and ran into the street. She ran heard goblin voices coming down the main pathway so she slipped into a cul-de-sac created by huts built closely together.
When the goblins walked by one of them saw her out of the corner of her eye and turned to face the elf. Sphiel was ready. She lunged forward with her spear. The goblin blocked it with her shield, but the elf planted her foot against the wooden buckler and the goblin fell against her friend who toppled over.
Sphiel stabbed at the goblin’s exposed belly. The goblin moved her shield down to block it but was surprised when the spearpoint came up and buried itself into her skull. The other goblin screamed.
Sphiel jumped on him. He held up his shield and stuck his sword out. The elf easily knocked the sword aside with her short sword and hopped up to slam her knees into the goblin’s stomach. She grabbed the rim of his shield and lowered it enough to bury her sword into his head.
Goblins came running for her in all directions. Sphiel ran into one of the dirt huts and ducked down. There was a goblin mother inside tending to her two children. All three looked up at all three. Their eyes bugged out and they huddled together.
“I won’t hurt you,” Sphiel whispered.
“Okay, you might want to hurt her though,” the goblin mother pointed at the door.
A goblin female that would’ve come up to Sphiel’s chest if she were standing up, lunged at the elf with a spear. The elf turned to the side and the point embedded itself into her arm.
Sphiel Lvl. 11
Health 90% (-10%)
Stamina 79%
Mana 100%
Character Status
Healthy
Fire surged through her skin. Sphiel gritted her teeth and slashed her sword and the goblin’s face. The goblin warrior backed away and pulled her spear out of her opponent’s arm. Another bout of pain hit the elf like a wall of lava, but she kept herself together. She slashed at the goblin, she the tall female kept her away.
Sphiel cursed herself for having to leave her shield behind as the spearpoint of her opponent’s weapon came dangerously close to her heart. She knocked the blow back and dodged another one before attempting to lunge in, only to be stopped by a kick in the shin from the goblin.
Sphiel Lvl. 11
Health 89% (-1%)
Stamina 79%
Mana 100%
Character Status
Healthy
Sphiel stumbled back and the goblin jabbed her weapon forward. The elf planted her foot and spun around. The spear missed her groin and ended up scraping across her thigh, ripping her breeches.
Sphiel Lvl. 11
Health 86% (-3%)
Stamina 76%
Mana 100%
Character Status
Healthy
The elf hopped back and managed to catch her balance in time to knock aside another strike. The goblin slashed down with her spear and Sphiel caught the head with the flat of her sword. She slid her blade down to goblin’s hand and cut her fingers.
The warrior let go of the spear and howled and took two steps back. She jumped up and thrust the spear tip at Sphiel’s chin, but the elf gracefully ducked down and rammed her sword up at the goblin. She stabbed an exposed spot in the goblin’s leather greaves and the goblin screamed out again.
The elf grabbed the spear shaft and ripped it from her grasp. The goblin ran for the door but a quick thrust in the neck caused the goblin female to fall dead.
A chubby goblin ran through the door. He saw his dead comrade then the elf and brought up his shield to block an attack. He sliced at Sphiel but she blocked the blow and thrust into the goblin’s face. His shield didn’t get in the way in time and she stabbed him through the eye.
Three goblins running down the pathway saw her and ran toward the door. Sphiel backed away as all three of their spears jabbed at her. The elf backed away and the goblins pushed forward. They attacked in tandem, knocking aside her blows and attacking with thrusts of their own. Sphiel managed to keep the deadly spear points away from her, but only by creating space between her and her opponents.
The goblins soon realized this and spread out to pin her down. Sphiel tried to use the distance they created to her advantage. She slipped between them, desperately swinging her sword, trying to find an opening. However, when she attacked one goblin, another stepped in to jab at her. After a minute of fighting she suffered two nasty cuts in her back.
Sphiel Lvl. 11
Health 76% (-10%)
Stamina 62%
Mana 100%
Character Status
Healthy
All of the maneuvering was causing chaos in the goblin female’s living space. Tables and chairs were overturned as the elf and goblins danced around the room. The children screamed and clung to their mother as she watched in horror at the scene unfolding in front of her.
After all the furniture was overturned, the three goblins managed to trap Sphiel in a corner. The elf held her sword in front of her, determination on her face. She would make sure they suffered before they took her out.
The goblin mother rose from the corner where she cowered with her children and quietly picked up a chair. Sphiel’s nuckles went white around the pommel of her sword. She should have figured the mother would join in at some point. It made sense, she did invade the mother’s home.
The goblin woman walked up behind one of the goblin warriors and brought the chair down on his head. He turned, his eyes wide with fear as the chair connected with his face and sent him to the floor. The female goblin screamed and threw the chair at another goblin who threw his arms over his face to block the impromptu missile. It struck him and he fell to the floor.
Sphiel took advantage of the surprising aid by stepping forward and stabbing the last standing goblin. The second goblin hit by a chair grabbed his spear but stopped when the goblin dropped her knee on the back of his head, knocking him out.
Sphiel was confused when she looked at the goblin woman.
“They destroyed my house just like they destroy our lives,” the goblin woman said sombe
rly. “I don’t know why you’re here, but whatever it’s for, I wish you luck. Now, leave my house. My children have been traumatized enough.”
Sphiel nodded her thanks and ran out the front door.
Down the dirt path she saw many goblins, at least twenty, running through the streets, looking in every nook and cranny, trying to find her. One of the goblins saw her and cried out. The other goblins turned her way and ran at her.
Sphiel gripped her sword and faced the goblins. A few more came from the huts and joined the attack. Memories of their last battle filled her mind. She was severely outnumbered and this time she was without her friends. She was more than sixty feet away from the woods and she hadn’t seen any wolves. The king probably got rid of them after the last fiasco. So her spell song was out of the question. What could she do now?
Sphiel furrowed her brow and threw up her hands. “Stop you fiends,” she bellowed.
The goblins saw her gesture and halted their charge. They glared at her. “What do you want, evil singing elf?”
“Scatter, or I will bring death and destruction upon you.”
A large goblin with bulging muscles stepped forward. “You can’t do anything to us wicked enchantress. We got rid of our wolves. You can’t make them attack us.”
Sphiel laughed. “Do you fools think that is the only power I possess? I can bend the very fabric of time with my magical song.”
The large goblin’s head tilted. “What does that mean?”
“Just stand there and find out.” Sphiel began singing. The wind blew and a thick, oppressive wind blew in the direction of the goblins. The elf charged the goblin hoard.
The head goblin laughed. “Stupid sorceress woman, we will put you down. Fellow friends, let’s make this elf bleed.”
The goblin heard nothing behind him. He turned around and all of the goblins were gone. From one of the round windows of a dirt hut a goblin warrior peeked out and squealed when the elf approached the muscular goblin.
Sphiel's Song (A GameLit Virtual Fantasy Adventure) Page 15