Emma screamed. I may have a little bit too.

Slade fell to his knees, and Malworth drew the sword back then swung it overhead. It would have taken Slade’s head off, but Max appeared out of stealth just in time to block the blow.

The two goblin guards drew their weapons. One of them cut down the mayor in an instant, and the other rushed in to help fight Max with his king.

Emma chanted, and there was a swirling glow around Slade. He got back up to his feet and had his battle axe in hand just before the second goblin guard could stab him. Emma backed away to the side of the room, trying to escape the fighting.

I flicked into inventory, grabbing my bow and popping out quickly. Slade and Malworth were exchanging blows and coming at me sideways. I backed away, joining Emma on the side of the room. Max and the other guard were also exchanging blows. The remaining guard looked around for targets, then spotted me and Emma.

As the guard rushed at us, I fired off a single shot with just enough presence of mind to make it my Crippling Shot. The arrow went through his foot, sticking it to the floor. He tilted back his head and roared, which seemed to encourage everyone to start yelling.

Both Slade and Malworth made battle cries as they hacked at each other. Max was silent, but the guard attacking him was bellowing insults in Goblinese. Emma was no longer chanting but screaming herself as her staff wisped into her hands.

In all this confusion, I just started firing off shots. If it had green skin and looked threatening, an arrow was flying at it. There were only three goblins, but confined in the space of your average convenience store, they all seemed to be right on top of me. I was landing solid hits, too. Every goblin had at least one arrow sticking out of them somewhere.

Max and Slade were getting beat up as well. They were taking vicious cuts and stabs as the fight went on. Emma was constantly chanting, healing wounds as fast as they appeared.

The guard that was pinned managed to get his foot free just as the front doors burst open. Three town guards rushed in with spears at the ready. The goblin that had been pinned saw them, looked back at me, and then leaped forward, slashing at me with his sword.

Running on pure reflexes, I held up my bow as a shield. The sword went through it, cutting the bow in two. I swore, scrambling backward. The goblin wasn’t interested in me now that he’d disarmed me. He turned and rushed the town guards.

I opened inventory and grabbed the short sword. It felt clumsy and weird in my hands. Using it would mean I’d have to get close. I couldn’t remember if I’d actually stabbed a goblin in any of the previous fights. I’d been totally content to do all my fighting from very far away.

Rushing to Max’s side I made a stab at the guard. The goblin sneered and dodged my thrust. It then blocked a cut from Max and kicked me with a booted foot. I went tumbling backward almost losing the sword in the process. This, this right here is why I prefer fighting from a distance. You don’t get your ass handed to you with a missed arrow.

The melee shifted as the participants maneuvered around each other, throwing blows whenever they could. The goblins all ended up lined along one side of the town hall, the humans along the other. The fighting between Slade and Malworth slowed as they became exhausted.

“The humans come in to assassinate us,” Malworth cried out in Goblin. “Move to the back and prepare to escape.”

“Slade!” I yelled. “They mean to slip out the back!”

Malworth glared at me, frustrated that a human had understood him. I was now behind Slade and Max. I wasn’t much help now that my bow was destroyed. I could, however, warn the people outside what was happening. I raced to the front door as one of Malworth’s guards dashed to the back.

Both lines pressed forward at once. I heard weapons clattering on weapons as the battle cries began anew. I dashed out the front door and onto the main street.

“The goblin king is trying to escape!” I screamed at the dozen townsfolk and guards milling about in front of the town hall.

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One guard yelled back, “You brought them here!”

“There’s goblins in the town?” A woman yelled.

Pandemonium broke out. The townsfolk fled in every direction, leaving a few worried-looking guards in their wake. A few moments later, the guards dropped their spears and fled. I boggled. There was literally going to be nobody helping us keep Malworth from escaping.

As I headed back into the town hall, I wondered why we should try to stop him from escaping. If the goblins left, they could find their own place, their own lands. We spent two entire days wandering through empty plains. Instead of trying to stop them, maybe we should just let them go.

I turned from the front doors and instead raced around the building to the back. As I got to the back door, it opened, and a goblin guard stepped out, sword in hand, ready to fight. I held up my hands to show it I meant no harm, but the short sword in my hand wasn’t helping. I backpedaled and pointed down the backyards of a few homes to the town gates to help him realize they could escape unhindered.

The goblin guard didn’t seem to understand and glanced around. Seeing nobody else around me, it rushed, swinging its sword at me. I defended desperately, keeping it from hitting me in the first few swings. I retreated backward along the side of the town hall, and the goblin was content to guard the door. His health bar was only half full.

A moment later, Malworth exited the building through the back door. He saw me and snarled. I pointed to the gates. He looked in that direction, and then he and the guard fled. His health bar was also at just about half. It had been a vicious fight in there. The second guard never came through the door. Instead, Slade came running out, battle axe in hand.

He saw me and looked around as the rest poured out behind him. Slade roared, “The gate!”

“Why stop them?” I called out, but nobody heard. Everyone was chasing after Malworth and his guard. I reluctantly followed. It was then that I noticed both Slade and Max were down to half health. Emma wasn’t healing them to full, which meant she was running low on spells.

Malworth fled down the backside of buildings and homes. It was a bit more open than an alley but served the same purpose. There were only a few blocks to the gate. They weren’t really blocks, just clusters of homes, businesses, or military buildings. Springfield wasn’t a city; more of a farming community within a wooden palisade.

The mere presence of Malworth and his remaining guard caused the townsfolk they ran into to flee immediately. That included town guards as well. Nobody was willing to get in the way of an almost human-sized goblin and his equally large goblin guard.

“Slade!” I yelled. “Let them go!”

He slowed, but barely. “We can’t. If he gets back to his army, they’ll wipe out the whole town.”

“Why wouldn’t they just go somewhere else?” I called.

“They’re goblins!” He yelled back as he raced after the two fleeing.

Someone had closed the gates. The guard who did that then fled, leaving Malworth and his guard to figure out how to unbar the gate. They struggled with the heavy beam as we raced to catch up to them.

Once Malworth got his end of the beam free, he dropped it to the ground. The guard struggled to push his end up but finally freed it. Malworth turned to us with his sword drawn. He hissed, “I should never have trusted a pink skin.”

“Wait!” Slade yelled as he slowed to a stop. “I can explain.”

Malworth didn’t wait. He lunged, thrusting his sword at Slade. The battleaxe swung, deflecting the thrust away.

The goblin guard rushed to help his king. Max appeared behind him and drove his katana through the guard's back. His health bar drained, and he was a blue cube in the blink of an eye.

Seeing his guard run through, Malworth realized he was now outnumbered four to one, even if I wasn’t exactly pressing in. He screamed in rage and launched himself at Slade. The blows from the king came down furious hard. All it took was one missed parry, and the king’s blade struck true. Slade fell to the ground, clutching his side as blood welled through his fingers.

Emma screamed and rushed in to save him. Snarling, she thrust her staff at Malworth as black lightning crackled in the air around it. Malworth, for all his bulk, rolled away from Slade, up under Emma’s staff, and ran her through with his sword. I couldn’t remember if she’d ever been hit in any of our fights. Her health bar popped up over her head and drained until there was just a sliver remaining.

Malworth whipped his sword around ready to end her, then suddenly turned as Max stepped in, his katana a blur of ebony. Malworth parried it with an armored bracer, and the two moved away from each other. Malworth swung, missing Max, and Max dodged sideways until he was standing over Emma.

I stepped forward with my short sword, ready to stab the monster that hurt Emma, and Malworth stepped away.

We stood there, the three of us panting and ready for another round. Max and Malworth were at half health. My own health bar had barely been depleted. I could see Malworth trying to figure the odds. Max’s breathing slowed, and I knew he was getting ready to lunge in. Malworth must have known it as well.

Malworth took two steps backward, turned, and then fled through the open gate.

I looked over to see Max fall to his knees. He pressed his hands on the wound in Emma’s chest. Her eyes were looking at something far away, and a trickle of blood welled up from her mouth, leaving a tiny red trail down one cheek.

“Cast a heal!” Max yelled at her as he tried to staunch the bleeding.

She tried to say something but just coughed up some blood.

“Heal yourself, or you're going to die!” Max was damn near in tears now.

I dropped my sword. All the misgivings I’d had about Emma went right out the window. The last thing I wanted was to watch anyone from our group die.