Following our guide, we were soon led to their border of the woods that was facing our mutual friends. Seventy-four rabbits were bouncing here and there, nibbling at the grass while waiting for us. I thought about counting them to make sure that they weren’t trying to add any, but quickly realized the thought was ridiculous as I had no good way to tell them apart.
As we started walking in the direction of the Goblin Wood, God I am amazing at naming things, I thought to myself. We were followed by around fifteen of the larger purple-eyed hares. Thinking at first it might have been a double cross, I spoke up. “Hey, Gaian, do you know what that is all about?” Waving my spear I indicated our followers.
When he grunted in response, it took a couple of more questions to indicate that yes, he did know. They were just back up in case the goblins killed us. A grunt meant yes, and a whine meant no if his paws were busy, like in the case of walking to go invade a forest filled with horrifying monsters while protecting a bunch of enlarged rabbits. I refuse to use the word adorable to describe the fuzzy little rodents.
Feeling slightly insulted at the need for backup as so far we had never even tried to take on the rabid monsters with both of us in top shape, and yet every time we had pulled off the W. On the other hand, the rabbits had no idea of our record, and in every fight I had picked so far I had made sure the odds were in my favor. Here we were playing King of the Hill, with civies to defend and we had no idea what the goblins might be sending out to greet us. Speaking of which…
“Hey, buddy, if you see any goblins riding giant pigs, you better let me take the lead on them. Also any metal spears like this,” I tapped my own for an example. “You should probably leave it to me.” When he grunted again, I continued, “If you can take care of the smaller rabble and any archers they might have, I think that might be the best division of resources.”
Looking over to the rabbit that was hopping next to me, I hoped it was the one I made our deal with earlier. With the bear translating, I asked him if he had any friends in mind to share our deal with. When the bear indicated no, I chuckled, but replied. “Do you think that you can fill it up, I don’t want to leave anything behind because you are overestimating yourself.” When he still refused to go get any of his friends, I left it alone for now.
As we continued on, I soon noticed we weren’t taking the most direct route, instead, we were detouring more to the east instead of going straight south to the closest parts that I had been to before. Trying to keep everything straight in my head, I looked to the west, we were almost dead even with where the former camp was still smoldering higher on the hillside. Trying to picture the top-down view in my head, I looked farther into the valley to the east to see MT. Tai in all of its glory. Clouds surrounded the middle of it as the magnificent mountain reached out to touch the stars.
If the ball we had come in on was the second to the top floor, followed by a step up to the ridge, then there were perhaps three or four steps down to reach the camp. From there if you were looking straight east, the rabbit woods were another two steps down and to the north. While the goblins held the bigger woods that seemed to cross some of the levels of hills while being to the south. We were continuing lower into the valley to the east instead of heading straight across the rolling hills.
As we continued going lower into the valley, I looked farther south at the river far in the distance past the Goblin Wood. Asking the bear to see if the rabbits had any idea what might be there, he whined back a no. It was a long shot, but I hated not asking questions and risking looking stupid later because I was scared to ask. I would always take the path of an inquisitive idiot rather than look foolish after the fact.
Thinking along those lines, I asked if there were any other unnatural disasters roaming around like the dragon from yesterday. As the rabbit let out a litany of soft screeches, I realized I might not be asking the best source, as a prey creature probably had a lot more fears than Gaian and I did.
Continuing to make our way past the leading edge of the woods, I saw that the planet was starting to reach into the sky as the world started lighting up in a true dawn. Continuing on for close to another thirty minutes, I started to realize that the size of the woods that the goblins held was much bigger than I had originally thought. It wasn’t even close to the size of the park that the rabbits maintained. This was much more likely to be a state park back home or perhaps a large nature reserve. Rather than be discouraged I was actually happier when I saw it. Hopefully, that meant that any conflict that we might cause wouldn’t be able to summon the entirety of the goblin forces as they no doubt needed to keep patrols to the other sides to ward off any other enemies.
“Are we going this far out of the way so we run into fewer goblins, or is there a specific part of the woods you guys need to get to?” I asked our new friend to confirm my thinking. When he indicated the latter, I was somewhat disappointed. Regretting the lack of reliable communication wasn’t able to let us know what might be waiting for us, I continued going over in my mind how I might ask about what kind or how many goblins might be waiting for us.
I doubted that they were leading us into an ambush, as there were only two of us and I had already told them we weren’t making any suicidal last stands for them. While I knew that they would be able to beat us in a sprint, in the long run, we would be able to run them down. Also, I had been picking up some decent size rocks here and there and filling my pockets. So far I had found a good twenty or so that had enough heft to give me more range on whatever goblins we found. And if I needed to take some revenge on some of the rabbits for betraying us, then I would no doubt be inviting some of them along to the pot with me.
As we approached closer to the woods ahead, I quickly noticed that the rest of the rabbits that had been hopping ahead and nibbling on the grass here and there were now falling behind us, leaving me alone with our guide. It wasn’t that I could see them with how tall the grass was, but I wasn’t hearing anything in front of us anymore. Asking Gaian if he was worried about betrayal, he stopped and raised a paw to indicate no.
Taking that to mean I should keep my mouth shut and not alert any goblins that might be around, I lowered my spear to keep the point underneath the waving grass so it wouldn’t catch the light and signal our arrival. As we made our way into the mostly pine woods, I started noticing some oaks scattered around, I wondered if they were brought into drop acorns for the hogs to eat or if I was just making too much of things and this was just how this forest had grown together.
Now that we were out of the taller grass I started seeing bunches of rabbits coming up from behind us. Heading deeper into the woods with our guide out in front, I kept an ear out for any incoming enemies, happy that every time I had encountered them the gibbering creatures had never managed to keep their mouths shut. I was counting on their incessant chattering to alert us when we might be in danger of running into a patrol.
Continuing on I soon heard something ahead, motioning for the bear to stay where he was, I moved on ahead and found a pine to hide in. As the group came into sight I saw that it was nearly identical to the ones I had let go before. Two goblins were on hogs, but this group had six of the small variety of goblins with wooden spears surrounding them. They looked like they were going to be passing right by the tree I was hiding in. I had a little bit of time until they got to me so I could have retreated. But I thought a better idea would be to stay here and try and take out one of the calvary before high tailing it back to my friend. If I could leave them with only one of the three-hundred pound beasts to follow along behind I could hopefully set my spear and take it out, leaving the bear to mop up the small fry.
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As they grew closer I was really starting to regret my impulsiveness. Having to face down a charging hog with two massive tusks that looked like they would absolutely destroy my belly was completely different than having to take on the toddler-sized goblins I had been taking care of business with before.
Too late to back out, all I could do was go with my previous plan and hope for the best… and that I didn’t have a sudden reversal in courage at having to face something more my size. As they drew within ten feet of the tree, I decided I wanted a better grip on my spear. So I set down my shield to hold my stick, which was looking more and more inadequate by the minute, in both hands. As the lead goblins went by and the riders started to pass, I charged out of the heavy low branches, closing my eyes as I couldn’t risk raising my arms to protect them with my already being lined up on my target.
When the branches stopped slapping against my face I opened them back up to see that I was slightly off where I wanted to be. With my spear’s blade perpendicular to the ground, so that it could slide between the rips of the pig easier, I shifted back to where I thought its heart would be. As the spear blade started driving through the tough hide, I felt it just scrape by one of the bones that made up the ribcage. Continuing to drive forward until the crosspiece started to hit into the tough hide of the pig’s side, I could hear as the pig let out an awful scream letting me know I had struck something vital. Not taking the time to wait and see what their response was going to be, I pulled the blade back out and started booking it for safety. Whiping my spear around to knock down the two that appeared in front of me, I was careful to make sure that the blade wouldn’t get caught on anything to slow me down.
As I started running to get to my much bigger backup, I began to hear the hoofs of the other pig pounding into the soft ground that was covered in pine needles, digging up the soft turf, much faster off the mark than I had been hoping. With nothing in front of me for several yards, I angled for a tree to my right, deciding I wasn’t going to be able to make a straight shot for safety. Instead, I was going to have to try and be more agile than the charging train behind me.
Aiming straight for the pine in front of me, I dodged back to the left at the last second, hoping that the pig would get tangled in its branches. From the crashing coming behind me, it sounded like I had succeeded, But as a spear came flying in at me punching into my back, I remembered that there was more to worry about than the pig. Luckily the wooden stick only seemed to have managed to bruise me. Shoving my spear haft into the ground to maintain balance, I used it to push off and continue running back to my allies.
Well, Ally as I doubted the rabbits planned on fighting at all. Hearing the pounding hoofbeats coming at me again, I didn’t see any handy trees to use to brush off. Realizing I was going to have to start the second part of my plan early, I turned and lowered the spear, bracing the back of it with my foot. Looking up, it seemed that the tree had knocked the rider from his steed, but apparently, the mount was pissed that I killed his friend and had no problem continuing on without the encouragement of his rider. Aiming the tip for the center of mass knowing that the boar’s pore eyesight was unlikely to see the blade while being focused on me. I remembered too late that medieval hunters normally used a tree to brace the spear. As the blade of my spear drove into the hog’s chest up to the boar stop, I found out why the hard way as the end in the ground whipped up and slammed into my chest.
Trying to roll with the blow, I was mostly unsuccessful as I felt that at least two of my ribs on my right side were cracked when I slammed back down into the soft ground. Using the adrenaline that was pounding through me, I tried to use my momentum to continue rolling despite the pain. As I heard the hoofs pound past my head, only missing by a few short feet, I was horrified to think I might not have struck true. Fortunately, it seemed as if I was mistaken as I saw the beast fall to his side rather than make the turn to gut me with his tusks.
Happy that I had managed to accomplish my part of the fight, I tried levering myself up to my feet to retreat to safety. But when my arms gave out on me from the sharp pain I was feeling in my chest, I instead fell to the floor of the woods to let my cheek rest on the soft pine needle carpet. As I started to hear the screams of the goblins getting closer, I began to feel the ground start to shake again, thinking I hadn’t managed to end the hog threat after all, I again tried to lever myself up to my feet to complete the task that was assigned to me. Feeling the pounding getting closer I tried to blink the tears that were filling my eyes so that I could aim my spear at the coming threat.
When it was only a few yards away, I managed to clear my eyes enough to see the pig still lying on the ground ahead of me. As my pain numbed mind finally realized what was happening, I managed to drop my spear just in time, following it to the ground myself without the sturdy haft to support me. I finally figured out that the noise I had been hearing had been my friend coming to the rescue. Judging from the screams I started hearing behind me, the bear was making short work of the rest of the goblins.
Laying my head back down on the ground, I continued to try to breathe shallowly through the pain. Wishing we had gone over the specifics of his healing spell, I had no idea if it would be able to work on my ribs or how long it might take. Pushing down onto the ground, I did my best to get to my knees, then with a struggle, I managed to eventually stand back up and turn around to see the bear chasing the last of the fleeing goblins down.
Turning and heading to the downed hog, I could see it still pawing weakly at the ground. Falling into it more than actually making a decent strike, I ended the poor beast’s suffering, it wasn’t his fault that he had been born on a goblin farm. Continuing to try to walk past it, I started to pull the spear out as I went but ended up falling to my knees as a sharp spike of pain went shooting up my right side. Rather than trying to get back up, I managed to drag out the blade and use the pole of the spear to help me get back to my feet. Leaning on my weapon heavily, I started using it as a cane to help me walk over to the bear that was lumbering back toward me.
After taking a couple of steps, I gave up and decided to save myself the pain and just wait for him to arrive. Lifting up my shirt to give him access to treat me, I saw that I was already starting to form a massive bruise. As he started licking my side, I noticed immediately that the pain started to go away. By the time he finished, the swelling had mostly retreated and I was only feeling slightly sore. When I asked him if he was out of mana or if his spell had just stopped working, he used his paws to indicate it was the second one.
Frowning, I wished he was able to provide more info, but I couldn’t think of a good way to find out if he was only able to heal a specific amount of damage, certain types, or if there was any cooldown to the healing. But wishing for the impossible was just going to be a waste of time and just leave me frustrated so I did my best to leave the ungrateful thoughts out of my head and get back into the game. With most of my mobility back, I went to the tree where I had left the shield and bucket and we continued following our guide. I kept a sharp ear out for any more patrols, hoping we would arrive at our destination soon.
Thinking back to the dead hogs we had left behind, I wondered about the ethics of eating them,, were they normal creatures like the fish I had harvested that had made the trip over from Earth with me? Or, were they on the level of my friendly bear and the rabbits? If they were on that level were they off limits, or was it okay to eat them. Wondering if wanting to eat them was dropping me down to the level of the goblins, I was quick to cut off those lines of thoughts as I was not okay with trying to go vegan.
But I couldn’t help myself, continuing on with that ethical dilemma, I thought about how I was going to have to adjust to this new world where there might be creatures that used magic. Going over it in my head, I thought about the line I might draw and decided to simplify it. I would only dine on the creatures that attacked me. If they treated me as a friend I would return the favor, and if they tried to dine on me then I would dine on them in turn. Bumping into the bear in front of me, I realized we had finally found our destination, and it was just a short distance away. Looking out into the wildflower covered glade, it was surprisingly clear of goblins. Wondering why and suspecting some kind of trap, I gestured to our guide saying, “Okay, well we got you here, you go get your treasures and we’ll stand guard here.”