The Goblins did more chitter chatter, mostly involving his favourite words to hear (‘Kill’ and ‘Eat’, if that wasn’t obvious enough), and then brandished their weapons.

Daggers were fine, bows were not. One of them had a bow and a few arrows. Time out, he was ready to call foul. He wasn’t prepared for that.

He tried to eke back but the Goblins would probably not let him go. In their minds, he was probably a meal ready to get roasted on that firepit. Did Goblins eat raw or roasted meat? He didn’t want to find out now.

The archer Goblin nocked an arrow and took aim while he scrambled to move to any cover, like a nice big tree, as the other Goblin leapt at him with his dagger.

The Goblin fired and he cried for a Shield before the transparent barrier came, separating him and the arrow as it bounced haplessly with a slight shimmer.

The other Goblin was slightly dazed by the sudden appearance of the Shield, but when the short duration passed, started running at him again.

He pulled the dagger out of his belt and the machete evaporated as he took a firm grip on the tried blade. He tried doing the same thing he did with the first encounter, making use of his superior size and reach.

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This would be harder when another arrow whizzed by just as he was trying to catch the Goblin’s arm. Startled, he moved and the Goblin’s dagger narrowly missed him, only causing a small cut on his side.

He grit his teeth and tried again, taking a hold of the Goblin’s dagger arm and jabbing his dagger into its bony back. The skin gave way again and the blade dug into its shoulder as it screamed.

He looked away and saw the other Goblin ready to let loose another arrow. He screamed for a Shield again and another shimmering barrier stopped the projectile.

He pulled the dagger out and stabbed the Goblin another time, making sure to keep out of its reach. With a whimper, the Goblin lost its footing and fell onto the dirt.

He didn’t spare a glance to see if it was already dead, but ran towards the archer, trying to cover the distance between them before he needed another use of the Shield. He failed, and the third Shield for this fight came between them as he slowed down not to hit the barrier himself.

Once it disappeared, he swung at the wide-eyed Goblin and cut across its chest. The gash spurted some of the blood on his face as he leapt onto the small and now helpless creature, repeatedly stabbing it wherever he could.

As cries stopped ringing out of its wide head, he backed off, covered in blood, sweat and dirt. The other Goblin hadn’t moved from his resting place, so he was most likely as dead as the mutilated body before him.

He sat down on the dirt, threw the dagger beside him, cupped his face in his bloodied palms, and started to weep.