Pack Tactics
Bron rose from a black summoning circle on the ground. Since leveling the Summon Demonic Creature spell, Tom could now perform the ability without the somatic components typically required.
"You could always summon me before being in the middle of a fight," Bron commented as he quickly equipped his axes and began killing goblins.
"Sorry, I got excited and jumped in," Tom replied as he blasted one goblin in the face with an Eldritch Blast and sliced at another with his sword. "Besides, I never knew you to not want to smash some goblins."
Bron merely grunted in response as he continued dealing out devastating blows to the goblin ranks. Jerky had flown down to fight alongside Tom. He was busy lighting the little creatures on fire with his fists and feet, which he had encased in flames. Using some of the techniques that Bron had trained him with, as well as the goblins' natural fear of fire, he was able to keep most of them at arm's reach.
One goblin leaped over the others and aimed its spear at Jerky. Unaware of its presence, it was able to drive its spear into Jerky's side. Letting out a shocked cry of pain, Jerky swung around out of reflex and smashed the goblin's head in with a flaming hammer fist.
"Jerky!" Tom cried as he rushed over to defend his familiar.
He placed one of Jerky's arms over his shoulder and used his other hand to swing the sword at several advancing goblins. A shadow suddenly loomed over the goblins. Turning to see what had come up behind them, the goblins were swept to the side by a kick from Bron, who cleared an area around them.
"Heal him!" Bron called as he continued to kill goblins as they came forward.
"Sorry, Jerky. This is gonna hurt." Tom said as he quickly grasped the spear and ripped it out of his side.
Screaming in pain, Jerky almost passed out from the pain. Fresh blood leaked out of the stab wound, and Tom cast Dark Restoration on Jerky. The bleeding stopped, and the flesh around the wound began to knit back together. A relieved expression came over Jerky's face.
"Thanks, Tom," Jerky said to Tom as he took out a weapon.
"Form up!" Bron called to them. "It's the only way we can take them down! They are using Pack Tactics!"
"What are pack tactics?" Tom asked.
"It's when less intelligent creatures can gain bonuses from being near others of their kind. Goblins can get this when they have a war chief. It makes them more effective than normal and more durable, too," Bron explained.
"Well, that's fucking great. Fine, time to take this up a notch." Tom said, activating his Strength tattoo.
Once again pulling out his other greatsword, Tom began to cut through the enemies. Kevin, followed by the other Barbarians, came rushing through the gate a moment later, their rage evident by the slight red coloration of their skin and the fact that they were screaming at the goblins like a crackhead who'd just been told that all cocaine had been removed from the earth. When they met the first of the goblins, they tore them to absolute shreds as the small creatures began scrambling over each other to get away from the fearsome fighters.
A team of Clerics was now following behind the Barbarians, healing every wound they took in their heedless charge, making it seem as though the raging monstrosities were healing the moment they were attacked. Goblins began to blanch at the sight of what appeared to be invincible fighters. Their will broke as they began to flee in all directions. That was when a howl sounded from the east.
Wargs and their riders appeared from around a corner of another building and began rushing toward the battle. This did nothing to bolster the spirits of the frontline goblins, however, and they continued to rush past their much calmer rear-line comrades. As the Wargs reached the battle, Squirrel leaped from the top of the walls, grew to the size of a bus, and grabbed one of the Wargs mid-stride and shook it like a rag doll before dropping it to the ground to attack another.
Sounds of engine revving were heard again as the vehicle team came in for a second pass.
"Special delivery motherfuckers!" Jay shouted out his window as they crashed into the Wargs and continued through the lines of goblins.
Whimpers and cries mixed into a horrific symphony of battle as the vehicles plowed through the rear of the army that had assembled.
"ENOUGH!" Came a loud growling voice from the back of the goblin lines.
A blue goblin that looked to be two or three times the size of a typical version of its species rode into view atop a large and heavily scarred Warg at the very back of the goblin formations. Tom imagined that if this had been a cartoon, steam would have been coming out of its ears from the look of rage on its face. It raised one muscled arm and lowered it at the forces attacking the goblins.
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Beams of light shot out from windows in the building as hidden spellcasters unleashed a barrage of magic at them. Seeming to not care that their own forces were being obliterated in the process, the spells exploded as they hit the frontlines. Tom covered his face with his hands as a wave of flames washed toward him from a nearby spell. When he opened his eyes, he found he was unharmed, a blue barrier glimmering in front of him as the flames washed over it like the turbulent waters of an ocean wave.
When the flames had extinguished, Tom saw Briana standing on top of the walls, her face strained with concentration as her hands were extended in two different directions. Bohdan appeared behind her and began to shoot spells of his own. Giant fireballs, ice spikes, and discs of light flew from the palms of his hands as he seemed to dance through the motions of casting over and over again, a look of fury on his face.
More shouts of anger sounded as more and more bodies poured from the gates, each one seeming to be out for goblin blood. A flight of arrows fired off suddenly, announced by the twanging of bowstrings as they lifted into an arc in the air and descended into the front lines. Members of both armies cried out as the arrows hit goblins and humans indiscriminately.
"Jerky, can you take out the remaining Wargs if I get you a mount?" Tom asked quickly as the barrier disappeared and the goblins moved in again.
Jerky stared at him for a moment, seemingly confused, before he finally nodded once. A black circle with intricate details appeared on the ground behind Tom as he turned to face the goblins. Shadow rose from the summoning circle and roared once, causing the goblins around to pause momentarily.
"Get on. Shadow will take you where you need to go. Shadow, listen to Jerky and take him to wherever he needs. And feel free to kill some goblins while you're out there." Tom ordered the Usiku.
Shadow moved next to Jerky and lowered himself for the familiar to hop on. Once he was in place, they took off. Shadow leaped over the heads of the incoming goblins, slapping a couple of them across the face with its tentacles, and they shot off for the remaining Wargs.
"I think it's time to get a little crazy. Can you cover me for a moment, Bron?" Tom asked the Mastadonian fighting with him.
"Yes, but hurry," Bron replied as he swept one axe out to kill the goblins in front of Tom, then stepped in front of him and let out a trumpet that caused all the goblins in the vicinity to pause.
Tom first activated his Tattoo of Inspiration. Every ally he had on the battlefield began to glow with a red light showing their morale and defense had been boosted. Next, he activated the Tattoo of the Summoner, boosting both Bron and Shadow's abilities. Pulling a mana potion from his inventory, he shotgunned it down like a frat boy trying to impress a lady, then activated his Tattoo of Absorption. Finally, he took two large blankets from his inventory, tossed them over groups of goblins, and cast two Eldritch Blasts at them, setting them both on fire.
Pulling grenades into his hands, Tom ripped the pins from both of them and tossed them out into the crowds of goblins in front of them. As they exploded, goblins were tossed in every direction, or rather pieces of them were.
"ALL FIGHTERS TO ME!!!" Tom shouted at the top of his lungs.
Slamming down one more mana potion, six black summoning circles appeared around Tom, a Mastadonian appearing out of each of them. The other members of the guild were fighting their way to where he was located, but the time had come.
"Ha! It worked!" Tom shouted as the Mastadonians looked to him for directions. "We are going to make a wedge and charge for the back. Kill any goblins that get in your way."
Each of the elephantine men and women nodded and moved to support Bron. They began to fight as a well-rounded adventuring party as they fought like devils against the goblins who seemed to throw themselves at the fighters without regard for their lives now that the war chief had revealed himself.
Tom rushed forward and cast a Dark Ball spell in one hand, which he smashed into the face of a goblin as he ran forward. Equipping his other sword, a moment later, he swung the two greatswords in wide arcs in front of him, cutting down the goblins as they continued to press forward. Activating the Dark Inferno ability of his Greatsword of Hell's Inferno, he lit goblins on fire as they were cut down, their pathetic excuses for weapons snapping or breaking against his increased might.
"HRRRAAAAAGGGHHHH!!!!" Tom shouted a battle cry as he continued forward, foes falling by the wayside as he slashed back and forth, not leaving them room to attack him directly.
Shortly after his wild charge forward, the rest of his guildmates reached him and began to fight off the goblins coming from the sides. The Mastadonians he had summoned followed behind him, picking off straggling goblins. Soon, Tom was moving at a steady walking speed as he continued swinging his weapons and moving through the falling horde.
Shots rained down from a building in the distance as Kiera and her team picked off goblins around them. The members of his guild also began casting spells and activating abilities to press the army back from their position, and they had formed a wedge with Tom at its point. In a matter of minutes, Tom had pressed through the other side of the army and was staring at the war chief still sitting on his mount.
"Luuuuuuuuucy, I'm home! And you've got some splaining to do!" Tom shouted as he rushed at the war chief.
The large goblin's eyes narrowed, and he turned his mount to face Tom. He urged it forward, and it leaped at the attacking human. Unequipping both of his greatswords at once, Tom equipped a giant maul straight from his inventory and swung it like a baseball bat at the Warg's head as it tried to snap at him.
Slamming into the side of the Warg's face, there was a sickening crunch as the bones in the poor creature's face shattered, and its head was flung to the side. Its body spun along with the head, and the war chief used this opportunity to swing its mace down at Tom as he leaped from the makeshift saddle. Tom was sent reeling as the mace struck the side of his head, dropping his weapon as he clutched at his head in pain.
Jumping on top of Tom, the large goblin pulled out a dagger and drove it into Tom's side. He yelled out in pain as the blade sunk to the hilt between two of his lower ribs.
"It's high time we ended this little farce," The goblin growled down at Tom as he raised his mace over his head, still holding the hilt of the dagger with his other hand.