Alejandra let out a sigh. “It’s nice having Ezekiel back.”
“Agreed,” Derek said. He peered over the edge, and Rafael pulled out his phone. He tapped his camera before zooming in, seeing the goblins surrounding the hobgoblins. The two ogres were fighting each other, and Rafael seriously hoped they were draining each other’s hit points. He noticed Phantom and zoomed in as close as possible.
“I see Tyler.”
Derek peeked over his shoulder. “Is he alright?”
Rafael didn’t answer. He wasn’t sure how to. He watched on his zoomed in camera as Phantom stabbed Tyler. Their game master winced but didn’t react how Rafael expected someone to when they got stabbed in the gut. Phantom asked something Rafael couldn’t hear, and Tyler said nothing.
“Well, it could be worse,” Derek said.
Rafael glanced at him with raised eyebrows. “He could actually get stabbed in the gut?”
Derek’s nod was grim. “As soon as the two groups start the fight, let’s get down there.”
“We should stay here,” Alejandra said.
Derek pointed toward a nice patch far enough away from the army. “It’ll be easier to guide their decisions if we actually hear what they want.”
“Then how do you explain Grizzizzik and Princess Clarissa with Nick and Evelyn?” Alejandra asked.
No one said anything. No one wanted to. Rafael again glanced at the enormous army their characters would face. At least there were only two ogres. He didn’t know how Derek, Evelyn, and Nick did this with fifteen orcs.
Derek straightened. “It’s starting. I got prompted to roll for a hit.”
“Me too.” Despite the heat, Alejandra rubbed her shoulder. “Twenty-one.”
“Nice. I got a ten. I have a bad feeling that’ll miss.”
They watched as two arrows flew into the sky, one smacking an ogre in the shoulder, the other bouncing off the thin armor, but definitely getting its attention. Milo appeared, getting down on one knee and holding his flame thrower. The flames barely licked some of them. There was a chance they wouldn’t be able to defeat all of them. But they had to get Tyler out as fast as possible.
A third arrow whacked the ogre Milo missed. Was that from Grizzizzik? He wasn’t supposed to go for that ogre. He needed to focus on Phantom.
Despite the hot Arizona afternoon, a bonfire magically appeared in the middle of the army, many of them scuttling away in surprise as Clarissa dropped the stealth charm.
The surprised goblin, hobgoblin, and ogre faces froze, and words filled his vision.
Roll for initiative.
Rafael felt worried and sick to his stomach. Was he ever going to get used to this?
Three. His d20 landed on a three. It was fine. Things were fine. Ezekiel was well hidden. Again. He hoped the lycanthropy wouldn’t rear its ugly head at all.
Time resumed and Clarissa moved forward, the bonfire dying immediately, leaving some bushes on fire. She then said some words, pointing at a few hobgoblins, and their armor glowed white hot. Rafael raised an eyebrow as the creatures started shrieking.
The goblins screeched at Hraktar and Milo, pulling out their short bows and letting them loose on them. Alejandra gasped as she watched Hraktar grab Milo, then protect him with his body. Rafael winced as Hraktar’s health points went from thirty-one to sixteen.
“Ouch.” Derek glanced at Milo’s untouched health bar. “But thank you.”
“I hope it helps. We need to destroy that army before they try that again,” Alejandra said.
One ogre roared to the other one, and they went back to punching each other.
“Ouch.” Derek rubbed the back of his head. “Well, let’s hope they keep fighting each other. That would be fantastic.” Phantom placed a scimitar against Tyler’s throat, shouting something. Derek shook his head. “We’ve got to get closer.”
Rafael nodded before climbing down the small cliff. It wouldn’t make for an easy getaway. The ogre jammed his javelin into the gut of the other one. It shrieked, pulling away.
“Yes, please. Just keep fighting,” Rafael muttered. They stayed in the tree's shade. Rafael kept his eyes on Tyler. He was still on the ground, but watched the fight carefully.
Grizzizzik pointed his short bow at Phantom. “Let the boy go.”
“You shoot that at me I will—” Phantom didn’t get to finish, because Grizzizzik shot the arrow at his face. The thief dodged it, but when he looked back at Grizzizzik, he already had another arrow ready. Phantom’s glare darkened. “You son of a bitch.”
“Call your army off,” Grizzizzik said, staring Phantom down.
Hraktar, with a few arrows sticking out of his back, pulled out his great sword and slid on his knees, taking a huge whack out of the goblin army. Some of the smaller goblins went flying, with quite a few getting chopped in half. A nice chunk of the goblin army was now dead.
Breathing in relief, Derek patted Alejandra on the back. “So glad we did not leave him behind.”
Stolen novel; please report.
“I agree.” A smile appeared on Alejandra’s face.
The hobgoblin army seemed to be one mass of white-hot metal as Clarissa kept her hands forward, observing them. They shrieked in pain, unable to do anything.
Milo tried to kneel and use his flamethrower, flames exploding into the goblin army. Many of them were burned, and Milo prepared to use his crossbow, but missed. The bolt got way too close to an ogre, and it spun around, noticing Milo and Hraktar for the first time.
“Shit, shit, shit,” Derek said.
Rafael ran a hand down the side of his face. “So much for them fighting with each other now.”
“We… might still have a chance,” Alejandra said.
No one said anything. The goblin army was looking pathetic, and one more powerful blow from Hraktar’s great sword would do them in. Clarissa was handling the hobgoblins, but now they had two ogres to worry about.
Time slowed down, and Rafael sifted through his options. He didn’t want Ezekiel running into battle with fourteen hit points, especially after what happened to Hraktar. Tyler was their top priority, and thankfully, Rafael prepared just the spell for it.
Time resumed, and Ezekiel walked forward, one hand on his medallion, the other outstretched. Golden light filled his eyes. “Drop!” Ezekiel’s words multiplied in volume before Phantom hunched over, dropping the scimitar against Tyler’s throat.
With a flick of Clarissa’s fingers, the hobgoblins shrieked again as their white-hot armor continued to burn. Clarissa lifted her hand to the sky before a spirit of a bear came out of her, running around the encampment.
The smile was obvious on Derek’s face. “I love that woman so much.”
Ezekiel received an added eight hit points, which made Rafael’s tense shoulders relax.
The goblins again shot at Hraktar and Milo. Milo dodged the few arrows that remained as Hraktar took one to the shoulder, dropping his health to eighteen.
The ogre that looked far worse picked up his great club and took a swing at Hraktar, who easily dodged it. He steadied himself before gripping his great sword. The other ogre tried to stab Hraktar with the javelin, but he caught it with his great sword, then planted his feet before causing the javelin to sail out of the ogre’s reach.
Derek’s eyebrows shot up, impressed. “Dear god I love that fighter too.”
Alejandra beamed.
Phantom kept his free hand open as his gaze bounced between Ezekiel and Grizzizzik. “Don’t do something you’ll only regret.”
“Take your own advice, you son of a bitch.” Grizzizzik’s bow sang as an arrow dug into Phantom’s shoulder. The bandit screamed in pain, stumbling back. Grizzizzik moved between Tyler and Phantom. “Last warning. Call off your army.”
As this was happening, Hraktar grabbed his great sword and, with a shout, made a wide, sweeping motion, slicing the bellies of both ogres. Rafael’s jaw dropped as one of the ogre’s knees buckled. “Ho. Ly. Shit.”
Alejandra did nothing but smile as Hraktar swung his great sword around again, slamming it into the ogre’s side. How the creature was still alive, Rafael didn’t know, but it looked like a good punch to the face would kill it. Phantom noticed that move too, no doubt far more inclined to listen to Grizzizzik.
Some of the hobgoblins’ armor was finally cooling down. Clarissa braced herself for an attack, but they were still recovering. The druid was single-handedly taking care of the hobgoblins.
Milo smacked his flamethrower before pointing it and his ice crossbow again at the goblins. The crossbow went wild, but the flamethrower burned the army right down the middle. There was maybe one goblin left standing, and he was seriously injured, looking like he’d rather be anywhere but here.
“Your goblin army is done,” Grizzizzik said as Ezekiel untied Tyler and helped him to his feet. “Surrender.”
Phantom had a hold of his shoulder, glaring at Grizzizzik. “Never!”
The rogue rolled his eyes. “You always do in the end, Phantom. Stop pretending to be brave.”
Time slowed down, and Rafael scrolled through his spell options. To be honest, he wanted the goblin army completely gone. He didn’t want Milo or Hraktar to waste their action by getting rid of a single goblin.
He picked sacred flame, targeting that one goblin, and rolled the d8. It landed on a seven. Unless that goblin had an insane dexterity save, he was toast.
Time resumed, and Ezekiel pointed his hand right at the goblin before a white flame slammed into it. Grizzizzik glanced at Ezekiel, and he nodded. “Now the goblin army is destroyed.”
Clarissa started whispering something, moving her hands around before thorny vines burst out of the ground, tangling up all the hobgoblins. They shrieked, struggling with the vines squeezing them. Clarissa folded her arms, a slight smile on her face. Ezekiel whispered something to Tyler, and he nodded, waiting.
“And now your hobgoblin army is trapped,” Grizzizzik said. “No one would care if you gave up. You do it enough. No one’ll be surprised.”
Phantom panted as he kept gripping his shoulder, but still pointed his glare at Grizzizzik.
The ogre on his last leg picked up his club with an energy given to the dying and hurtled it toward Hraktar. It smashed into the fighter’s torso, cracking ribs as he was thrown back. His hit points plummeted to nine. Grizzizzik’s gaze shot toward Hraktar, distracting him long enough for Phantom to pounce. The bandit tried to stab Grizzizzik, but the rogue sidestepped it, lowering his bow and pulling out his rapier. The other ogre tried to hit Hraktar, but the club barely nicked him. Hraktar wiped the blood from his chest before holding his great sword once again ready. Grizzizzik went for a strike with his rapier, but Phantom blocked the blow with his scimitar. Things were happening fast. Almost too fast for Rafael to keep up.
With a signal, Tyler snuck around the battle, seeing them at a safer distance, and headed toward them. Hraktar tried to attack the weaker ogre, but he missed. Milo ran in front of Hraktar, holding his cannon and his crossbow at both ogres. The ice bolt sailed right through the ogre’s eye and out the other side, taking some brain matter with it. The ogre was upright for a second before it collapsed to the ground, dead.
Once he was far enough from the battle, Tyler jogged over to them. Derek patted him on the shoulder. “Glad you’re alive.”
Tyler shrugged. “Never doubted you guys. Or your characters.”
Milo’s flamethrower came to life, and the ogre stumbled back with singed skin. It did not look happy.
Time paused for Rafael, and he looked at his options before glancing at the scene before him. If he remembered right, Grizzizzik needed someone next to him as he fought to give him advantage with sneak attack. Ezekiel might do better fighting a bandit who was most likely to give up. He picked his mace, then rolled the dice.
Thirteen. With a +4, seventeen was a pretty high number. Getting a d6 had to mean he got through the armor.
He got a three, and with a +2, he hoped Phantom would give up soon and call off the army.
Time resumed, and Ezekiel pulled out his mace, whacking Phantom in the shoulder that had an arrow sticking out of it.
“Ow!” Phantom shouted as Ezekiel moved beside Grizzizzik.
Ezekiel raised a finger. “I am more than happy to heal that once I get your assurance you won’t attack us again.”
“Shut up, Ezekiel,” Grizzizzik said, holding his rapier.
Clarissa pulled out her scimitar and tried to stab one hobgoblin as Phantom sliced at Grizzizzik with his. The rogue easily side stepped the stab, looking disappointed at Phantom. “You’ve got to try harder.”
Phantom glared at him. As the ogre tried and missed to whack Hraktar in the face, Grizzizzik also tried to strike at Phantom with his rapier, but the bandit blocked it with his scimitar.
Hraktar grunted, slamming his great sword into the ogre’s shoulder. It shrieked in pain. Some hobgoblins broke out of the vines, readying their bows. Milo stepped forward and blast the vines with his flamethrower. The entire thing erupted into flame, and Clarissa and Milo exchanged a thumbs up before the mana fusor spun around and shot an ice bolt into the other shoulder of the ogre. The ogre screamed in pain.
“Whoa. These people… work incredibly well together,” Rafael said.
Despite getting dragged through the desert and stabbed, Tyler had a huge smile on his face. “You never should have doubted me.”