"We'll have to return to the others and warn them, right away. Make sure that one is dead then carry it back to its kin. We can't have them knowing of our presence and readying themselves," Johann ordered with a sharp whisper.

"Got it," Erend complied and pierced the golbin's skull with his blade. He pulled the little green tinted body up on his shoulder. The thing smelled foul.

"Fuck, do these bastards not bathe?" he coughed.

Johann didnt deign to answer, but Erend could hear him strangling a chuckle.

*That's why he had me carry it, the cunning bastard!*

The two sneaked back to the place of battle and piled up the bodies.

"What now?" Erend asked.

"Best thing would be to bury them, but that would take too long," Johann thought aloud.

"We could burn them."

"And risk the fire spreading?"

"It won't. I climbed a tree a few hours ago, it was wet inside."

"Alright then," Johann nodded at Erend. "Gather some kindling, I'll stand guard."

After setting the bodies on fire the two left for the beach. Jack was still fighting against the poison rampaging inside his body.

"Welcome back," Anya greeted the two. "I heard from Charles what happened. You're lucky Carl didn't get poisoned as well. One screaming man is plenty."

"We followed a wounded goblin to their settlement," Johann debriefed.

"And the bodies?"

"Burning as we speak," Erend replied with distaste.

"Good. What did you see in the settlement?"

"Theres a crude wall with defensive pikes attached, a few buildings of twig and a large cave with a sturdy gate built at its entrance. It might be tough to break in with force, but it should be possible. We killed quite a few of them today, most likely their main force."

"I'm not comfortable in dealing with maybes. Johann, bring Charles and watch them. Make sure to bring some food, you'll be staying the night."

"What about me?" Erend asked.

"You just rest up. You'll lead us there in the morning. If we play our cards right we can take over their camp and use it as our own."

"Sounds good," Johann interjected. "Charles, you heard her, let's go."

Charles ran up to his mentor, bow strapped over his shoulder.

"I'll also give you the honors of telling me how the hell two trained soldiers were bested by fucking goblins of all things," Anya said to Erend and aimed a sharp look at the injured men. "Let's go somewhere we won't be disturbed."

Erend nodded and followed along.

"So?" she asked.

Erend shrugged, and started, "I'm not sure why you're asking me of all people."

"Because you don't know any of them well enough to lie for them. Right?"

She was right. He'd barely had time to speak to any of them before today – if you didn't count the time when Jack had healed him, or the few words that he'd had exchanged with Carl when they'd eaten.

One could argue that Erend owed Jack for saving his arm, but Erend figured there would be no real consequences for Jack since he'd been ambushed. The man was a healer, not a fighter.

"Jack was taken by surprise, they moved quietly and were well camouflaged by the environment."

"And Carl?"

"They just piled up on him after he was knocked down by a thrown spear. He didn't see it coming. It looked like his shield blocked the view of the leader throwing his spear."

Anya let out a long sigh at that, "Trained soldiers should perform better than rookies. I'm glad neither you nor Charles were hurt."

Erend couldn't argue against her sentiment. He'd heard rumors of how the quality of soldiers and guards were steadily dropping. That the forces of the Duke had been spread too thin across the planes.

They all needed to improve if they were to survive, and quickly.

Erend went to bed absolutely exhausted. He didn't even bother setting up a shelter, he just laid

down on the beach with a blanket and fell asleep under the stars.

When he awoke, he sat across from the gray elf once more. Erend felt the relief wash over him. He'd nearly thought that he wouldn't have the chance meet her again. He waved at her, she

simply smiled back.

Instead of trying to speak with him in her strange language, she just sat herself down across

from him, and started drawing in source.

Erend didn't complain and did just as her. At some point, the two had gotten up, completely synchronized. He could feel how she guided him through the movements of Stone Shot and how she gently formed paths for his source to flow.

The technique she showed him was a lot less violent than what he was used to when casting. Under her guidance the source moved like the tides, gently swaying back and forth. Erend's casting felt like a rough imitation, hers felt like the truth.

She let him go and motioned for him to repeat the process without her help. He failed catastrophically.

The night passed him by in what felt like a moment. He didn't manage to progress much in his casting proficiency, but at least now he knew what to practice.

The sun rose in the east, bathing the beach and the group in its golden rays of light. Erend could feel his nose running. Sleeping under the stars had seemed like a great idea at the time, but now

he had to deal with the consequences.

*Hopefully I won't get sick.*

Erend got up and greeted the group good morning. The others didn't seem as rested as he did.

"What's wrong?" he asked Cordelia.

"What do you mean 'what's wrong?' Poor Jack was screaming almost all night. He only stopped a few hours ago when he passed out from exhaustion. I've been healing him every time I've had enough source to. Gods, I wish we were back at the damn boat, at least there you could get a peaceful night of sleep."

"I hear you lass," Bernard agreed with a nod, he had dark circles under his eyes.

Erend looked over at Jack, he was grinding his teeth, still asleep, "Is he going to be alright?"

Cordelia sighed and rubbed her eyes, "Yeah, I think so. My healing doesn't have much effect anymore, so the poison should have lost it's power."

"Thank the Mother for that. We'd be doomed without a cleric," Bernard interrupted again and shook his head. Cordelia threw him an annoyed glance.

"How about Carl?"

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"He was alright again just an hour after he came back. Stab wounds are quite the easy fix in

comparison to poison."

"Why?"

"Flesh wounds just need to be sewn together, all the pieces needed for that are usually still on

the body. Healing poison requires you to locate the poison inside of someone, using source, and

then forcefully extracting it. Not many Clerics are adept enough at using source to do something

like that. Neither am I, obviously."

"I figured as much."

Cordelias cheeks reddened, "Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're a wizard, not a cleric. And you just started learning how to heal. I didn't mean anything

bad by it..."

Cordelia pouted and muttered something that Erend couldn't quite make out.

Disregarding the whole thing he had breakfast with the group, cleaned his blade, and got ready

to lead the way through the woods.

Anya barked orders as usual, making sure everyone knew their roles if they were to face

combat, "Kids, Yvonne. Make sure you stay far behind everyone else. Never get close to the

combat. Thomas, you will stand near them at all times, got that? Albert, you carry Jack."

The kids nodded in unison, Yvonne held them all with an iron grip.

"Then let's move. Erend, lead the way."

As it turns out, children and civilians didn't move as easily through the foliage as the others. The trip took quite a bit longer than it had the day before. The morning had progressed into midday. The heat and the moisture of the woods had reached its zenith.

"Ugh! I hate this," Cordelia complained as she shoved her way through the flora.

"Best get used to it princess, we'll likely be here for a while," Anya replied coldly.

One of the giant flying beetles swerved through the group and made Cordelias hair flutter.

Erend turned around just in time to see the color of her face drain away.

"You okay?"

"No... " she pouted.

"It's just an insect."

"Are you some kind of expert? And even if it is, it's still disgusting... and way too large."

Erend didn't argue, he'd felt the same way when he was almost rammed by one the day before.

"I've been meaning to ask. Your spell, could you teach it to me?"

Cordelias eyes lit up, a mischievous smile spread across her lips, "What's in it for me?"

"My eternal gratitude?"

"How about you teach me about your way of casting?"

"Sure, that works."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

"Good. Just so you know; I'm pretty sure you won't be able to replicate my spell. Not without years of practice and developing glyphs. Don't you dare go back on your word!"

"Why didn't you tell me that beforehand? And don't worry, I won't."

Cordelia didn't respond and flashed Erend a toothy smile. She hummed some melody he thought he'd heard before, but he couldn't put his finger on when.

Apart from the insect, the group didn't run into any problems. Soon they caught sight of Charles

and Johann.

Johann immediately approached them and reported, "Good, they've just started getting antsy inside. They probably expected the hunters to return some time yesterday evening."

"Any warriors?"

"A few. None like the large one we ran into yesterday though."

"Numbers?"

Johann looked at Charles, who answered, "I've counted ten armed goblins. There are quite a

few more who don't have weapons or armor."

"Any ways to get inside apart from running in the front door?"

Johann shook his head.

"I see... What about ranged fighters?"

"No bows, only spears."

"Well then, Charles, your time to shine. Cordelia and Erend, you two will help him shoot as many

goblins as you can. If any manage to get out the gate unharmed, the rest of us will will deal with them. Questions?"

There were none.

"Then let's do this. Don't start firing until we are in a good position. Make sure your point of fire has a good view of the outer gate. And unless absolutely necessary are you to damage the structures inside. Understood?"

They all nodded and looked for a good spot to set up shop. They decided on a small hill that had two large trees and a couple of bushes they could use for cover. The hill a diagonal line of sight toward settlement's gate, nothing blocked them. Erend peeked through the bushes toward the settlement. There were quite a few goblins, but like Charles had said, most of them didn't have weapons.

"Go," Charles said decisively, loud enough for their allies to hear, but not loud enough to alert the goblins.

Anya and the other fighters took off at a sprint to the gate. When they were only a few paces away, Charles loosed his first arrow. It was a hard shot, they had a disadvantage in altitude so he had to compensate by either firing with pinpoint accuracy through the holes in the wall, or arc his arrow above it, which would reduce his power and accuracy. Despite the limitations, Charles went with the latter.

The first arrow flew in a beautiful arc over the wall and left their line of sight. They'd just assumed he'd missed when they heard a gurgling scream from inside.

Erend had waited for Charles to fire before rousing his source. He wasn't able to recreate the

same arc as Charles' arrow and had to find an alternate way of helping from range, so he aimed

toward the gate and waited. Cordelia readied her Arcane Bolt and followed his lead.

To the side of Erend, Charles quickly burned through his remaining ammunition. Some resulted in screams from inside the fort, but most didn't find their mark. It did get the job done though. The goblins were alerted to the presence of attackers. Most of them ran to face their aggressors with vigor.

Finally, goblins started surging out the gate. As soon as the ugly creatures left the safety of their settlement, they were faced with the incoming projectiles of Erend or Cordelia – sometimes both.

The goblins never stood a chance. Most of their skilled fighters had already been killed the day before, those who remained weren't nearly as sneaky or skilled. They were massacred within minutes of the battle first starting.

The clean-up was much like it had been the day before. While the kids waited outside, the group went around and stabbed the fallen goblins, one by one.

"Good job guys," Anya complimented Erend and his friends. Most of the killing had been done by them. The goblins had been easy pickings for their ranged capabilities. Erend was the least deadly of the three, and he was sure he'd killed 5 at the very least, only a few of them had been armed. A few goblins had been "*lucky*" enough to get out of the settlement, but they were quickly dispatched by the others. One goblin versus multiple trained guards weren't very favorable odds after all.

The settlement was crude, but it wasn't bad. Not at all. After having slept outside he could very much see himself snoozing away in one of the many cabins. Sure, they could be nicer, but they would do for now.

"We should build a pyre to burn the bodies," Erend commented.

Anya nodded at his suggestion, "Yes, and let's take stock of their weapons and armor. See if there's anything we can use. Thomas, can I entrust the pyre to you?"

"Yeah, no worries."

"Good, Charles and Cordelia, you go pick up the weapnos. The rest of us will have a look in the buildings and the cave."

Erend opened the door to the cabin closest to him. The inside was almost empty. There were some unfamiliar pelts lining the floor, that was about it. Just to be safe he had a look under them to see if the goblins had hidden anything. They hadn't.

He walked from cabin to cabin, most were as empty inside as the first one. All except one.

The last cabin Erend inspected, the one closest to the cave, had tools for crafting. Hammers, pliers, a fire pit, whetstone, and so on. It was practically a gift from the Gods, just what the group needed.

"Dad! Come over here! There are tools," Erend shouted at his father.

Thomas smiled broadly and hurried over. He had to bend quite a bit to fit through the door, he grumbled at that, but quickly forgot about the inconvenience the second he saw the tools inside.

"Thank the Mother. With these things we'll have a smithy up and running in no time!"

"Looks good. We can use the tools to make the cabins and facilities more convenient for humans as well," Anya commented from the doorway. "Come with me Erend, let's have a look inside the cave."

The gate barring entry into the cave was the finest piece of carpentry in the settlement. There was bound to be something of value inside.

"You want to do the honors?" Anya asked him.

Erend shook his head, "I'd prefer not to, what if there's something inside," he added.

Anya smiled at him and snickered. She walked up to the door and removed the beam used to lock the gate. It hit the ground with a dull thud. The wood seemed denser than normal. Now that he thought about it, all wood on this island seemed unusually dense and strong.

"Here goes nothing," Anya mumbled and opened the door with a loud creak.

The inside was darker than dark. There was no way they'd be able to see anything, not without a light. The two took up battle-ready stances and listened. The inside was quiet.

Anya shouted at Johann, in just a moment he came running with a con tool for lighting fires and a hastily put together torch.

*He really is a jack of all trades, this guy.*

It took a few tries for the torch to catch fire, but when it did, the insides of the cave were lit up as if by sunlight. The air inside was humid, more so than in the woods. The walls were lined with stone, embellished by veins of silver and copper.

"Metals," Anya exclaimed.

"Look, over there," Johann said and pointed.

In the furthest reaches of the cave, they could see a wooden hatch with a large metal handle.

"Tunnels?" Erend asked aloud.

"Maybe. Let's have a look."

Anya led the way and opened the hatch. As Erend had suspected it led down a damp tunnel. The the tunnel was supported by wooden beams, and it seemed like it was sturdy enough to traverse.

Anya elbowed Erend and said, "I went first the last time, now it's your turn."

"Fuck... Fine. Johann, mind if I borrow a dagger again? Won't be able to swing this sword inside if I have to."

Johann handed him a dagger without a word.

Just as he was about to climb down, he shook his head and asked, "How will we see? If we bring the torch we're going to suffocate ourselves."

"Source fire don't smoke. Use the con tool," Johann suggested and tossed him the lighter.

"There really is no way for me to not do this, is there?"

"Don't worry. I'll be behind you every step of the way."

"How reassuring," Erend grumbled and climbed down. The air tasted stale and moldy. There was condensation lining the roof of the crawlspace. It was just big enough for him to fit through if he walked on all fours.

*This is a really fucking bad Idea.*

He threw a look to his back, like she'd said, Anya was there. Her eyes were focused and alert.

"Is this really a good Idea?" Erend asked, unable to shake his bad gut feeling.

"Probably not, no. But someone has to see where this thing goes. Come now, go on."

Erend crawled with great care, making sure there were no alcoves that enemies could hide in. The walls seemed flat enough, but the shadows bounced oddly against the beams supporting the structure.

They kept on crawling through the tunnels for minutes. At some point the space broadened enough for the two to move in a crouch.

By the time Erend's knees began to ache something fierce he finally saw light. He hurriedly switched off the con tool before he continued on with soft steps.