It took little time for the goblin war band to arrive at where the old headhunter had been waiting for them. Spurred on by the prospect of seeing some action, the warriors came running into the valley dotted by stalagmites.
Gulaak found the behavior of the warriors wanting. The chieftains had given to him a collection of young and untested warriors, with the addition of a couple of troublemakers eager to outmatch each other in the eyes of the tribes.
Running headlong into the dark should never be acceptable, even with the knowledge of allies ahead, one should never be too certain of their security here.
The valley was considerably darker than most of the areas in the great cavern and the lead goblins were as much blinded by their torches as aided by them, so Gulaak had to step into their path, to be seen.
The headhunter raised one of his arms, palm forward, as they got close. “Hold here!” he called out.
The first ranks of the group halted upon seeing him, but the sudden shift came as a surprise to those at the back and a small scuffle broke out in the center.
Gulaak was about to step in, but Ental was in the middle of it before he had a chance to. The Big brute grabbed the scrappers by their limbs and simply flung them away, ending the fight before it could get serious.
The aftermath had made a small clearing in the group, so Gulaak made his way into it. He gave Ental a nod of approval as he arrived, which the large goblin acknowledged with one of his own.
There might be some merit to him yet, though Gulaak.
“Listen here,” The headhunter began, “There is a group of goblins a couple of valleys over, who are foraging at the grove there, and we are going to ambush them.”
The goblins cheered and Gulaak let them get it out before continuing, “To make sure we get them in one move and we won’t have to spend forever chasing them down, we need to go about it smart like and not run in like idiots. We will divide into three groups, led by me, Ental, and Braas. We will come at the grove from three directions. My group will attack first, so they will probably flee in the opposite direction, where the two groups will be waiting, once they have begun to run toward you, you will wait until they are close and then you will charge in. To make this work, we need to be sneaky and quiet, no talking, not fighting, understood?”
Gulaak repeated the plan a couple more times, to make sure it got through before they began to move out again.
Instead of running full-on, he made them keep a fast, but manageable pace. Many of the goblins had been almost out of breath when he met them, easy prey for an ambush and he was not about to let them go into battle exhausted.
Gulaak was not surprised by how little the warriors knew about behaving in enemy territory. Even if most of them were young, The Cold Water tribes rarely made excursions out of their territory. They fought mostly to defend their villages and the ample resources they already owned. Fewer of the goblins in the confederacy were warriors than usual. The wetlands and lakes gave many opportunities for foragers and craftsmen, thus the warriors were not as proficient in their craft as in those tribes which made war for a living.
A couple of valleys later, they met Frul. The headhunter confirmed that the foragers were still in the valley ahead, but soon would be done with their task.
“Keep quiet now,” Gulaak said in a calm voice. “Braas will go left and Ental will go right. Make sure to be quiet and wait for me to begin the attack.” The old headhunter commanded.
The war party divided into three parts and scattered into the directions they were meant to go.
Nearing the ridge that overlooked the valley ahead, Gulaak made the warriors lay down, so they would not betray their presence to the enemy.
Gulaak himself crawled to the edge of the ridge so he could see into the valley.
Sure enough, there was a grove of mushrooms further down, some distance from the valley's edge, but close enough to make out the foragers below.
They were in luck, the enemy was on his side of the pond and so would have a harder time running in the opposite direction, if things went according to plan, they would catch them before they had a chance to slip away.
Gulaak began to count his heartbeats, to keep time. It should not take too long for the other groups to get into position. He had sent his students along with them to make sure they would not get lost and would be there in time.
Fifteen heartbeats in, Gulaak got his first look at the tall leader of the foraging party, the stranger had been hidden behind the trunk of a mushroom before, but now he stepped out.
The headhunter was mystified by the appearance of the strange figure, though some of them seemed to have spears, he was the only one who also carried a large pale shield strapped to his back. The strange-looking shield was a curiosity, but it was his physical appearance, that caught his attention.
Slightly taller than even Ental, he was slight of build, with long straight hair that fell halfway down his back. The features of his face that Gulaak could make out were unlike any goblin or dwarf he had ever seen. He was something different entirely, but clearly, the leader of the goblins in his group, as he went around the party, giving out commands and peering regularly out into the darkness surrounding the grove.
It was near the hundredth count, that the stranger scanned the area where the old hunter was at. For a moment the old hunter tensed, as the eyes of the stranger peered in his direction and he thought he might have been spotted, but soon gaze moved away from his position and he relaxed.
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Halfway there, though Gulaak. Another hundred to go and then he was confident that the others would have moved into position.
The foragers were near to completion with their task, most of them have filled their packs and helping those that were lagging.
Gulaak was not worried; another seventy to count and they could begin, not too long. Worst case he would attack the moment they began to move out.
A hundred and forty heartbeats in, the plan began to unravel.
From the left, sounded the battle cry of the group led by Braas, as they came over the ridge.
Gulaak cursed the upstart warrior in his mind, even as he bade the goblins in his group to get up and follow him down into the valley.
The foragers did not scatter mindlessly. Commanded firmly by their leader, they gathered their packs and began to run to the right side of the valley.
The goblins in Gulaak’s group took up the battle cry also and began to run headlong toward the enemy, eager to be the first to draw blood.
The headhunter hoped that Ental would be wise enough to keep his group hidden until the foragers were closest to him.
His hope was short-lived, as the large goblin and his followers charged over the ridge on the right.
Noticing the enemy ahead of them the leader of the foragers, commanded his group to turn left, just as Gulaak would have done. Braas had led his goblins down halfway to the center of the valley, so the new direction that the foragers took, put the grove between them.
Gulaak cursed aloud this time. It would be a chase now and since there were no ambushers ahead of the foragers, the chances of them catching them had diminished greatly.
It was at the edge of the grove, where Gulaak’s and Braases groups formed into one as they chased after their quarry, Entals being half the distance ahead of them.
“Faster! Faster!” Ental bellowed to his goblins, leading the charge many paces ahead of them, his taller physique giving him an edge in the sprint.
The foragers were almost to the ridge, with Ental close behind, when the leader of the group stopped.
“Keep running, do not stop!” The stranger shouted to his followers in the trade tongue, as he unslung the shield from his back, readying himself to take on the bellowing Ental.
Ental raised his club overhead as he neared the stranger, about to demolish him in one swing.
It was hard for Gulaak to make out what happened, with several goblins between him and the combatants, but it seemed that the stranger stood still until the last moment when he stepped slightly to the side and simply tripped the large goblin.
Ental went crashing to the ground, his momentum making him roll several times before he came to a stop.
It would have been a simple thing for the stranger to end him there, but the first rank of goblins following Ental arrived fast.
What Gulaak witnessed then was the single greatest display of martial skill he had ever seen before.
The stranger took on the first of the goblins to reach him with deadly efficiency, his spear was like a viper, killing and maiming his opponents, and his shield both blocked and bashed, where needed.
By the time that the two groups had been left behind, seven of the twelve goblins that had been following Ental were lying on the ground either dead or taken out of the fight.
The charge of the goblins was truly halted, as many goblins now began to hesitate and linger out of the reach of the stranger’s deadly spear.
Gulaak was about to order the goblins to charge together when Ental flung himself back into the fray.
Closing in from behind the alien warrior, Ental managed to batter him down as the stranger turned his shield to block him. Losing no time the warrior used the momentum of his last swing to bring his weapon around again. “WRHAAAAAA” Ental bellowed his weapon held high.
The stranger was on one knee and unbalanced, so he had to use his spear arm on the ground to regain his balance. Only able to raise his shield halfway.
He is done, thought Gulaak.
It was when the club began to come down, that the fire came.
From beneath the shield flame burst out, its trajectory catching Ental only on the extreme left side of his body as the shield rose, but it was enough. Ental sprang away in panic, his instincts taking over and he let his weapon fall as he began to batter the flames away.
“Sorcerer!” someone shouted.
“Attack now!” Gulaak let out. He was as taken aback as any of them by the display of magic, but his mind had wandered often of late onto the subject of how to deal with magic users.
Thankfully some of the goblins still had not succumbed to panic and attacked, so Gulaak had time to draw an atlatl dart from his back as well as take out his hatchet.
The stranger fast regained his feet and his spear found the stomach of the first goblin to reach him, though now he began to retreat away from the goblins, taking steady steps backward.
Gulaak laid the back end of the dart into hold on the backside of the hatchet head and took a ready position.
Another goblin charged ahead, blocking his view, but Gulaak was not perturbed, an opportunity would present itself, he calmed his breath and focused on his target.
The stranger sidestepped and thrust, opening his right side just a little.
A little was all that Gulaak needed, he used the hatchet to sling the dart with tremendous force while concentrating on the stranger's shoulder.
Gulaak knew that the dart would fly true; he had honed his skill with it for a lifetime.
He was surprised, as the stranger managed to raise his shield back just quick enough to take the dart into its rim.
Still, the dart flew with the force of several spears and the range was almost nonexistent, so it pierced the shield and went into the shoulder behind it.
The goblins cheered as the stranger fell to his knees, the pain evident on his alien face.
Is it over now? Thought Gulaak.
The stranger tore his hand free from behind the shield, but it did not fall away, as the dart held it to his body. The hand was blackened and burned and with tears running down his face the stranger lifted it high.
“Get him now!” Gulaak commanded.
But none got to him in time and a ball of light appeared above the stranger.
The wisp grew lighter and lighter until all of those present were blinded by it.
The goblins fell, covering their eyes, screaming out of the pain that the bright light brought with it, Gulaak among them.
There was no telling how long it took for the goblins to recover from the sorcery, but once they regained their sight, the sorcerer had disappeared, leaving only the shield and the broken dart behind.
Once Gulaak recovered himself he went to look for his students. He found Frul first where the battle had been fiercest, he was kneeling next to a body on the ground.
Gulaak’s heart skipped a beat as he went to see the goblin on the ground, there was only one who Frul would spare his time for.
As he got close he heard the moan of his most recent apprentice and hope returned to him.
“How is he?” Gulaak asked
“He’ll be fine.” Frul answered, “Got knocked in the face with that shield, nothing more.”
“That is good, good” Gulaak said.
The headhunter took a look around. Many of the goblins were still strewn on the ground, still recovering from the sudden light.
Then Gulaak noticed Braas standing over the form of Ental with a dagger in his hand.
“Hey Braas, what are you doing?” Gulaak shouted.
The cunning warrior, stood still for a moment, before sheathing his blade. “Just helping our big hero here back on his feet.” He said and began to help his rival up.
Shure you were, thought Gulaak in disgust.
The headhunter had enough of this place.
“Gather the wounded, we are going home!” He ordered those who could hear him.
The goblins slowly began to obey. There were eight dead and four wounded, the stranger had taken out almost a third of the war party.
The last thing the head hunter did, was to collect the shield of the stranger, it was his by right.
As he picked it up, he noticed a trail of blood going into the dark.
He dismissed any thoughts of pursuit.
Time to return to his soft bed and nagging wives.