Arriving at the top of the wall, Brando quickly scanned the perimeter. They were roughly on the opposite end of the front entrance. Fortunately, none of the other sentries were paying attention. On the other side of a wall posed a new problem to their plan. The wall dropped into another ravine that offered no cover and no potential for escape. They would have to circle the perimeter and hope for a place to climb down or retreat.
Brando was pleased to see a loaded crossbow next to a quiver of ten bolts. He was even more pleased to find a loaf of bread, a wedge of cheese, and a jar of beer resting on a dingy cloth mat. Ignoring the loot, he reached down and helped Fin up the rest of the way. Both standing on the wall, they began hoisting the goblin bodies up. They hadn't decided what to do with them but didn't want the bodies to be spotted.
Declining to dump the bodies over the other side of the wall, they settled to heap them together on the mat. The thought that maybe they should have kept the goblin's armor on occurred when the best they could do was make the goblins look like they were taking a shirtless nap together.
Quickly moving from one task to the other, Fin pointed toward the direction he thought made the most sense. "If we go this way, there are fewer guards we'll have to get through."
Brando quickly loaded the food scraps into his sack and tied it to his belt. He strapped the coiled rope over his shoulders and the quiver of bolts around his head. Picking up the crossbow, he noticed one of the goblins looking at them from further along the wall. "We've caught some attention."
"Follow my lead," Fin waved for the guard to approach and then pointed at the two dead goblins. He then started laughing just loud enough for the approaching goblin to hear. He waved for the goblin to approach faster.
Brando, too let out a fake laugh and then repeated Fin's movements.
When he recognized who it was, the goblin broke into a jog, trying to see what the humans were laughing at. A feeling of terror gripped the goblin's chest just before a crossbow bolt quelled the feeling.
Brando reloaded his crossbow while Fin ran in the opposite direction. A song bloomed from the valley below as they sprinted along the uneven wall.
The next goblin they approached began loading his crossbow when he saw the two men causing Fin to sprint faster. Just as the goblin placed an arrow on the track, Fin shouldered into him, causing the goblin to fall down into the mine.
Staggering back, Fin caught his balance in time to reach down for the quiver of bolts. He didn't have time to count the bolts before the sound of a wide projectile ripped past them. Not stopping to look around, he slung the bolts around his shoulder and continued forward.
They had been noticed. Whatever alarm system the slave camp was equipped with hadn't chimed yet; Brando knew it was only a matter of time before it did. They ran forward, looking for targets and a spot to climb down. Outside the parameter, the ravine that blocked off escape from the South wall had ended. Still, the Southwestern route was an obstacle course of scattered gorges. There would be no straight path to freedom if they climbed down immediately.
"We need to run faster," Brando urged, loading another bolt into his crossbow.
Another bolt whistled by as Fin drew his sword. The goblins ahead had all clumped together. Three out of the five had a loaded bolt trained on them. "Cover your ears!" He called back before stopping dead in his tracks.
Brando stopped and set down his crossbow so quickly that he nearly dislodged the bolt. Instead of correcting Fin on the secret signal, he crammed his fingers into his ears and started humming. "Go!"
Unsure of the range of his ability and not wanting to take a chance on his mental selection of it, Fin called out "Fear Howl" and felt the vibrating energy pulse to his throat. When the ability was concluded, the goblins hadn't flinched or moved at all. He turned to see Brando plugging his ears and humming.
"I'm not sure if it worked," Fin said, turning back towards the goblins.
"One way to find out," Brando stood and then bellowed, "Drop your weapons!"
The goblins in front of them dropped their weapons so fast that a bolt discharged and shot one of the goblins in the leg. The sound echoed around them as other weapons and pickaxes were also dropped.
"Go!" Brando shouted as he retrieved his weapon from the ground.
Fin ran forward, sword in hand, at the goblins before him. The goblins stared dumbly at him as he pushed three off the wall and stabbed two others. Not waiting for Brando to catch up, he hopped over the scattered loot and continued forward.
Stolen story; please report.
As the wall curved to the North, Brando saw a good place to climb down and run for it. The path led West to a grouping of hills in the distance. They would take a chance by running out in the open for so long before reaching the hills, but it was their best chance.
"Fin, we should climb down now while we still have a chance," Brando removed the rope around his shoulders and dropped the unraveled end down the side of the wall.
Without hesitating, Fin jogged back and took in the surroundings as Brando tied the rope to the parapet. The remote slave town was visible from his vantage point, and he could see goblins running and forming groups.
Brando's armor fell off piece by piece as he climbed down the rope. When he reached the ground, he heard bells in the distance. "Hurry!"
Fin touched the ground, and they both started running. The distant bells gave them a jolt of energy, pushing them past their limits.
Just when their sprint eased into a jog, crossbow bolts scattered broke on the ground around them.
Sparing a quick glance towards the encampment, Fin was relieved to see that no one was chasing them as the projectiles came from the wall.
The lifeless terrain proved difficult to run on. Rocks jutted up from the uneven ground, and deep ravines redirected them off course more than a few times. Finally, the hills grew in front of them until they were mere minutes away.
"I don't think they're pursuing us," Brando said in short bursts between breaths. "I think we can take a rest."
Fin looked to see how much the massive walls had shrunk since they escaped. The terrain had caused them to take a more indirect path towards the hills than they intended, but seeing how no one was coming after them made him overjoyed to be free.
The thought of being free made Fin realize that he still hadn't completed his quest, he read through the quest.
Sovereign Quest: Escape with your life and find a safe haven. +1 level, +1 Wisdom, +1 gold stat point, +1 basic stat point.
It made him feel better that the quest wasn’t complete due to the stipulation that he needed to find a safe haven, but he still didn’t feel like he was completely out of the woods. “We need to rest quickly and then go again. I don’t want to take any chances.”
Brando nodded and then fished out his jar. He drank half and then offered the other half to Fin.
Fin finished the contents of the jar. It didn’t quench his thirst, but it helped. Before he could throw it, Brando stopped him and put it in his bag. “We shouldn’t leave anything behind that will lead the goblins to us.”
Sitting down to look at his feet, he was surprised to find them bleeding. The pain resistance had made it so he couldn’t feel the pain of his punctured feet. “Look at this,” he showed Brando.
Brando looked horrified at the sight. “Are you okay? You’re probably leaving a trail of blood directly to us. We have to get those covered quickly!”
Fin looked around and found that the only thing he had was his shirt. “I can use this, but I don’t think it will do it for both feet.”
“This is what we get for laughing at those first goblins,” Brando removed his leather jerkin and cut out two squares with his knife. Making several quick holes, he laced strips of Fin’s shirt through. He put the sandal over one of Fin’s Feet and tied the strips together until it was secure. “This isn’t the first time I’ve needed to make footwear in a pinch. I would have-” He stopped and listened. Turning around, he couldn’t see them, but he could hear the mob of goblins following their bloody trail. “On second thought, I have an idea. Do you think you can run with one exposed foot a little longer while we veer south? I should have your next sandal finished soon, and then we can cover our trail as we head West behind the hills.”
“Like I said, I didn’t even notice in the first place,” Fin stood and began jogging, this time only leaving a single line of footprints behind. “I don’t know if this is a bad time to tell you, but I also left the helmet and the other goblin armor on the trail as we ran.”