A dagger slashed inches from Lan’s face, with him only half taking note of it as his attention had already turned to the one aimed at his gut. Lan shot back, his feet moving like a blur as he cut down at the attacker before blocking to his left as Tyr sent a warning. Steel skidded off his shield arm, and Lan drove a boot into the stomach of the aggressor, then slashed wildly in front of himself to keep three others from coming at him.
This was bad. It had only been a few hours since he had passed the gate guards with the same “off to save the city?” from the young guard that Lan managed to find the clearing and picked as many flowers as he needed. Then, he tried to see if Tyr could find the Darkness, but she was acting strange. In fact, from the moment he had that dream, Tyr had been quiet, staying in her light stone until he called for her when they were in the forest. Then she acted like she had sugar in her blood, darting around and sending him the feeling of wanting him to follow her, only it was a little different, a little sharper like Tyr wanted him to run to her and while trying to figure out what she wanted, they stumbled into the goblins that he was currently fighting.
Lan didn’t know if they were survivors of the attack by the Darkness or those who had not been there when the swarm was devoured, but they came at him with somehow more hatred than before. As if without the Goblin King, what little focus they had gained had been lost to the animal that was their nature, which had not only made them more persistent but made them shrug off his attacks more than before.
Even still, Lan found himself more than keeping up with them. In fact, the only other thing on his mind aside from Tyr was himself. Although he could see the attacks coming from a mile away, and with Tyr, he could see the whole battlefield, as he was now, he was fighting with his stats and not much else. He was fast enough to evade and recover before the next attack, but Lan could tell that his movements were sloppy and wasteful. The same went for his attacks, which were little more than using his sword as a sharp club. His body knew that he wasn’t being used right, but Lan didn’t know how to use it any better.
For some reason, the thought annoyed him, even as he sprung back, his feet moving quickly as he slashed at the goblin that had caused him to jump. With this, Lan’s sword finally broke through the aura of the goblin’s last remaining health points with a tug before taking its head in the arch of the swing.
Just like the first time, the goblins odd biology allowed attacks that would kill other beings through its health points only to have the wounds close by the honey-like blood they had, but as all fighting lulled, the goblins stopping to watch the head roll, Lan knew the battle had reached its finale.
At once, the goblins charged, and Lan found himself surging forward. Meeting the first of the four goblins with a cut that lodged into the goblin, almost ripping the sword out of his hands as the smaller being was thrown aside. Spinning with the momentum, Lan swung his shield arm into the next goblin hard enough to sweep it aside before driving his boot into the gut of the next one, giving him a clear view of the last goblin, which he threw his body into with his sword pointed at its chest.
Pinning the goblin, Lan rolled to his feet, drew his mace from the Other World Chest, and took in the scene.
The last goblin struggled to free his sword, while the one Lan had caught with his shield didn’t move, but Lan didn’t give the others a chance to get up.
[Kill log]
[|Goblin x 5 – Level 5 = 250 exp]
[Exp 5325=> / 6000]
The Voice said as the traces of golden light flowed into him. The moment it did, Lan thought about picking up the goblin’s weapons, but before he could, he felt a pull on his mind so hard that he stumbled back.
Turning, Lan was faced with his little ball of golden light. Although whatever she did had no physical power, the mental impression had been so strong that Lan’s body had answered independently.
‘Are you alright?’ Lan asked the little light, who seemed as confused about what had happened as he was as she floated in the air for a moment. Even though she didn’t have a body, Lan couldn’t shake the feeling that she was examining herself.
Suddenly, Tyr took off,
‘Hey!’ Lan called, starting after her. ‘What has gotten into you.’ Lan said to himself as Tyr accelerated, darting in and out of sight as she weaved through the trees. With the link they shared, he knew where she was, so there was no reason to rush so he kept up without taxing himself.. At least, that was what he thought before he sensed her coming back like a bolt.
Bouncing off his chest, Tyr sent an impression of impatience followed by one to hurry.
‘Yeah, yeah, I got it.’ Lan said, starting after her as she took off again; maybe she had picked up traces of the Darkness? Lan trailed after her deeper into the forest with that hope in his mind.
Maybe it was the fact that he knew what to look for now, but as they travelled farther into the deep woods, Lan found the forest even quieter than the first time. It was almost as if there was a sterileness to the forest, like if he got down and looked, there wouldn’t even be bugs walking the otherworldly terrain they lived in between the dirt and grass.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Aside from that, everything seemed so normal. They had yet to reach anything that had been tainted by the Darkness, and it had been raining before they had come out, so there was a crispness to the air, along with a renewal of the scents of the forest. And yet, not a single living thing stirred. It was almost the image of an idyllic glade he used to picture if not for knowing why it was this way.
For hours, Lan followed Tyr through the land of standing giants. At times, he would see goblins in the distance and once or twice close enough to deal with them.
[Kill log]
[|Goblin x 4 – Level 5 = 200 exp]
[Exp 5525=> / 6000]
But only when Lan had to quickly change directions because Tyr lost the trace she was following or picked up on a new one did they chance running into goblins. After the tenth time stopping, Tyr seemed to become frustrated, and Lan called it a day.
They were deep into the forest enough that no light made it through, but every time the wind took the leaves, Lan caught a glimpse of a dark blue sky. So Lan found a tree with enough root cover at the base and called Tyr over. Knowing what was out there and not wanting to draw it to himself as he slept, Lan didn’t even think about starting a fire. Just wrapping himself with his cloak, he took the dried meat and cheese he had bought before coming out from the chest and began cutting slices off.
As Lan put a piece into his mouth, he looked at Tyr floating around his tree. Once again, he wondered if she needed to eat anything, but as Tyr seemed happy to fly around, he guessed she was fine.
As Lan went for another bite, Tyr sent an alert. Looking up, Lan found a small pair of eyes barely off the ground looking at him from the dark. The eyes were too low to be a goblin, and even after it realized he had noticed it, they didn’t charge or run. Instead, it slowly started toward him.
Breaking through the Darkness and into Tyr’s light, Lan found that the eyes belonged to a small red fox with large ears and a small gem on its forehead. Despite stepping into the light, the fox did not react to Tyr’s light, meaning that she had hidden herself, and although bathed in a golden glow, Lan knew that the fox had bright red fur like all ember foxes. Lan knew this because of the little red gem that he knew could create tiny motes of fire.
Along with that, their fur was highly prized in cold environments. As a result, they were widely hunted and rarely showed themselves around people, and yet this one didn’t only seem calm but seemed to relax as it closed in on Lan.
‘Well, would you look at that,’ Lan smiled. ‘To think of all the things I could share a forest with.’ He added, lowering his hand with the dried meat.
As if just noticing it was there, the fox’s eyes locked on the meat and followed it down.
‘Hungry?’ Lan asked, and although the fox didn’t move, when he cut a piece and offered it, it walked over, took it, and sat next to him. ‘Looks like we have a fan.’ Lan smiled, taking another bite. Remembering Leah’s words, he had brought enough food for a few days, so he didn’t mind sharing with a fellow wanderer of the forest. And although it wasn’t a dog, it seemed to enjoy it when Lan scratched it behind the ear and when it came time for Lan to lay back, he found the little fox leaping onto his chest and lying down. With everything going on, Lan guessed that he and Tyr were as safe a place to sleep as any other, and the little fox's body seemed to radiate enough heat that he didn’t need a fire. So it wasn’t long after he checked on Tyr that he drifted off.
What felt like hours later, Lan woke to the movement of the fox who, after stretching, licked his face and wandered into the trees.
Watching it go with mixed feelings, Lan thought about getting up, but Tyr was still flying energetically, so with a farewell to the fox, Lan decided to rest a little longer.
For what felt like a second but had to be hours, Lan felt his eyes close before his mind filled with a rain of metal as Tyr sent a pin drop feeling over and over.
Bolting upright, Lan spotted a green shape moving through the trees,
‘Just one?’ Lan asked, looking to Tyr only to find another green shape closing in on him. Scanning the tree line, Lan found more goblins boxing him in and trying to move quietly. Although they were far enough not to have seen him yet, they were all moving in the same direction as if being led to him, and from what he could see, there were seven or more.
That was what Lan thought before Tyr flew behind the tree and she sent more pin-drop feelings, meaning there had to be some there, too.
More than Lan wanted to try fighting, but what was more worrying was how they were coming at him. It reminded him of when he had almost been ambushed by a second group of goblins after dealing with the horde in the Hollow.
With that thought in mind, Lan waited until the goblin directly in front of him dipped down before he shot to his feet and charged forward. With Tyr darting to his side and the other goblins taking note of him, Lan closed with the goblin in front of him. Just as it raised its head, Lan planted his boot into its face and lept over it as the others let out cries and started after him.
Feeling the uncomfortable itch of déjà vu, Lan pushed hard as the goblins tried to surround him, but it wasn’t long until he was trailing a group of about twenty goblins. But he was faster than before, and with Tyr’s light, Lan started to pull ahead. That was until Lan felt a pain in his ankle.
[Status Effect: Hobbled]
Hitting the ground, Lan rolled and drew his sword, ready for another gruelling fight. But instead, he was faced with something worse than the twenty goblins.
Tall and slender, a figure walked into Tyr’s light, followed by two large hulking masses of muscle that were flanked by two twice the size of a normal goblin. Lan felt a frown form on his face as if made in opposition to the slender, grinning goblin who looked at Lan with recognition.
Somehow, even without proof, Lan knew just from the smile that this was the odd goblin that had helped in his capture and the one that he had almost faced before the Darkness had attacked.
Somehow, it had managed to escape and stumbled into him, although as he looked at the goblin, Lan couldn’t shake the feeling that their reunion had not been a mistake.
‘Let me guess, you are looking to pick up where we left off.’ Lan said, almost pausing as the goblin smiled deeper, ‘Too bad. I’m a little busy right now!’ Lan shouted as he pointed his arm and ignited the silk, bathing the trees around them with crimson light.