We charged blindly to the trees, we were expecting an ambush, but it was too close to the city, it should be at least one patrol on these roads. I let this concern sink in while running after Ghimli. I saw the giant Orc raising his mace and a splatter of blood flowing through his form.

I stepped on his side and saw five goblins ready to attack, their eyes were yellow, but I couldn’t see will behind the fury. They were wild animals, and we couldn’t escape. I took out my sword and poked at the direction of the first one, the metal cut through the armor like butter and I saw the rubies forming on the ground as the blood dripped from my blade.

A third Goblin charged past us, aiming at Amanda, that dodged and cut the goblin’s leg with a smooth flair, she seemed like dancing, and Bea finished the dying goblin with a dagger in the throat. I could see Bea getting sick with the smell, the odor of dry feces and blood, the breath of the Goblins were like sewers. I couldn’t focus on this right now, another Goblin charged at me and I raised my shield on instinct.

The blow was enough to make me step back a couple of steps, I could feel the metal strapped on my arm vibrating, Ghimli stood in front of me, hitting my attacker, but I could see his health bar, it was low, I needed to act.

I touched his shoulder and focused on my ability, I could dump a couple of hit points into my friend, but I would be out for today. I had to take this chance. I saw his health bar raise to the half point when the last goblin sneaked his way between us. He was gonna strike Ghimli on the back.

“NO!” I shouted, raising my shield. It was a dumb move, The goblin hit my arm with a tremendous force, shattering my bones and the shield dangling from my useless arm, the pain was blinding, I saw just white and a speck of green when an arcane bolt hit the Goblin.

I could feel the floor at my back, my vision turning black and only the pain as company. “Doc!” I heard a voice at the distance. “Doc, Wake up!” I could feel a tingling sensation on my left arm, the shield still attached to it, the sensation was back at my arm and my heartbeat was back to normal.

I opened my eyes and could see Amanda kneeling by my side, sweat on her forehead dripping on my face.

“What happened?” I asked, trying to sit down.

“You fainted.” Ghimli said, with a smirk. “What’s wrong, Doc? Can’t take a hit?”

“What did you say, asshole? What were you thinking rushing into an enemy like that?”

“What? Do you want a fight?” He stepped close.

“Stop you two!” Amanda said. “I used all my mana to bring you back, Doc. And, You, Ghimli. Doc is right! He took the hit for you, if that goblin had hit you, you would be toast. Look at your HP”

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Ghimli looked at his forearm, I couldn’t see how low he was, but it was low. He hung his head. “Sorry.” He muttered.

“Sorry?” I exploded. “You could’ve died, I could’ve died, Amanda, your fucking sister!” He looked sheepishly to Bea. “Think a little. This is not some game that you can yell Leroy Jenkins and everything can be redone.”

“That’s not…” He started, but Bea punched him in the arm. “Yeah, you’re right. I was stupid. Sorry, Doc.”

I sighed. “Fine. Let’s get back for today. We didn’t travel far, and their lair should be close.”

We went back in silence for a while, Ghimli and Bea went ahead while Amanda held me back.

“You should apologize to Ghimli.”

“Me? What did I do wrong? He almost killed us, and acted like it was no big deal.”

“Yeah, I know. But look at how we’re organized here. You’re the leader of this party, the only one you have some kind of problem is me, and we seem to get along fine so far.”

“What do you want from me, Mandy? I don’t want to be the leader. You can be it. Go ahead, lead!” “If that’s what you want, Doc. I’ll lead, now go forth and apologize with Ghimli.” I was taken aback, her voice was firm, commanding. “And one more thing. We’re not together anymore, don’t ever call me Mandy again.” The commanding voice now was threatening, I sure as hell would remember that.

I kept silence until the tavern, Ghimli and Bea sat down at a table while Amanda was talking with one of the Guild Leaders, gathering information about the Goblins. I bought some ales and head back to the table.

“I’m sorry, Andre” I said, offering the drink. “I shouldn’t explode with you like that.”

“No, Doc. I’m sorry. You were right, I wasn’t thinking, something took over me, the joy of the battle, I wanted to test my new strength and… I put you all in danger.”

“It’s okay to be excited” Amanda said, sitting next to me. “But you can’t be reckless. Doc used his healing on you before getting hit, and if he didn’t, you would’ve died. And I was lucky to had picked Healing Word this morning. Now, what did our cleric chose?” She asked to Ghimli.

“Oh… Yeah… My bad…” He scratched his head.

“Yeah, no. This can’t happen again. Ever. You may be a war cleric, but you’re still a cleric. You need to pick healing spells for emergencies, you’re our healer, Andre. You should act as such.”

“Okay, Okay. Geez… Who made you queen all of a sudden?”

“Doc did.” She said with a joyful expression.

“What?” Bea asked.

“He didn’t want to lead, and offer me the job. So I took it.”

“And who made him the leader?” Ghimli asked. We all looked at him with serious faces. “Yeah, I know, it was the obvious choice…”

“With that out of the way, we should talk strategies. Ghimli, you’re our healer, pick some healing spells would you. Bea, you’re our scout, hide and go ahead of us, if they can’t see you, they can’t hit you. Doc, you’re our damage dealer, go forth and hit things hard. Yes, you can hit things hard too, Ghimli…” She said before the orc could protest. “I’ll be our mid range damage dealer and last resource healer. I can’t do much healing, but it’ll bring you back from the brink of death. Any questions? Good.” She didn’t let us protest. “Now finish your ale and take a rest. We’ll go back at dusk.”

“At dusk? This is suicide, Amanda!” I said, raising my voice.

“Yes, Yes it is. If you didn’t have information about where their lair is and the activities pattern of the Goblins, Witch I do have. At dusk is the best time, we all can see in the dark anyway.”

“I can’t!” I said.

“Oh, right. So, just follow us and you’ll be fine.”

I was left speechless, staring at my mug while the other three talked over the plan. I was still staring at my warm ale when dusk struck. My health bar was full, but I was exhausted.