image [https://i.imgur.com/9BquTy1.jpg]
Eager to hear and witness their king’s coronation, the goblins crowded around us throughout the showdown. Not waiting for anyone’s reaction, I bolted toward the Deathless, performing Whirl maneuvers, using my robe’s ability to execute the attack twice.
The townspeople, still in their armor from the funeral, surged forward to attack. Fireballs, Scorches, and Lightning Bolts flashed between the groups, with the goblins taking the brunt of the damage.
I took Inquisitor Crooga out with three swipes of my blade and drew the brunt of reprisals—all of which were melee in nature, for the goblins had abandoned missile fire against me. A health potion, Mana Shield, and Refresh Mana staved off some damage, but Merciful Touches accounted for most of the healing. Hawkhurst had my back.
Yula took on a lot of damage after charging General Sturm.
I tossed the orc a token Rejuvenate, knowing the spell’s visual effects reminded the general that we’d reversed the healing factor against them. Gladius Cognitus echoed blue ribbons of light, carving glowing lines in the air, and the goblins fled from the brilliant squiggle.
When the goblins gave up attacking me, I surveyed the battlefield.
Yula fought aggressively, shouting as she attacked.
I cast almost a 90-point Restore on her so she wouldn’t need to slow her assault.
“Wash buildeengs with green devil blood! Let not prisoner tell tales of our veectory!” When the goblins turned to flee, she cast Wall of Thorns along the outer extent of Hawkhurst rock, barring their escape.
Yula wasn’t playing around.
Without an otherworldly healing battery, the enemy stood no chance. Despite their numbers, they hadn’t prepared for combat, and the remaining goblins panicked. Half a dozen fell into the quarry pit surrounding the barbican. Though my Whirls killed none of the Deathless, the wounded fell from subsequent arrows and slingshots.
The only hobgoblin, Grunter, ran north instead of fighting. I Slipstreamed into spell range before he reached the edge of Yula’s thorny wall and cast Mineral Mutation beneath his feet. The magic turned the rock into a slimy fungus, making him stumble. When Grunter reached the grass, I undermined his footing. I channeled away pockets of earth with Dig and carved through his 400-point health pool in less than a minute.
After besting Grunter, I remembered Beaker and summoned him. I saw no reason he shouldn’t partake in the town’s defense. His eyes widened at the chaos. He spread his wings, opened his beak, and fluffed his feathers to advertise his size.
When he spotted goblins, my Familiar froze as if incensed by their presence in his home. He screamed and launched into the air, wings pumping in audible beats. The griffon picked up a goblin and bore it into the night sky without me issuing the command.
I sent telepathic messages. “Good boy! Good boy, Beaker!”
Bernard and Blane led a westward charge to circumvent goblins taking the long way around Yula’s Wall of Thorns. “Alpha Company! To the roundhouses! Give ‘em what for!” Some carried only rocks or tools—others picked up weapons from fallen invaders. They cast Merciful Touch on one another while pursuing their quarry.
I pinpointed Compression Spheres using Gladius, rebounding enemies back into play. As one-sided as the route had been, we couldn’t kill them all. Green escapees activated their jump ability, catapulting themselves over obstacles and through choke points. They fled through town and into the meadow’s tall grass.
Tracking goblins at night became impossible once they ran beyond Hawkhurst’s map radar. They fled in erratic flight paths. Presence worked against me by the time I reached the tree line. Shapes of darting enemies blended into the murk beyond the brightly lit grass around me. Insects disturbed by the commotion glowed like swirling stars.
When the percussion of combat yielded to the constant buzz of crickets, the battle ended, and the weight of events hit me. Greenie was gone.
This wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment sacrifice that Charitybelle made to save Fabulosa. Greenie planned his self-destruction long ago. He’d been gloomy for the longest time, and I’d assumed he dwelled on his brother or his inability to finish a ballista.
Hawkhurst’s chancellor tried to impress upon me how deception was essential, even among allies. Rezan assumed using his clairvoyance, Divine Mind, on his brother wasted, for the pair already shared a bonded promise. Greenie’s plan needed two things—for me to be in the dark and to trust him. Sune Njal wasn’t wrong about goblins embracing long-term schemes, but he’d forgotten how to trust others. In the end, our faith in Greenie defeated his brother.
An unfamiliar chime sounded in the interface. Paging through notifications, I discovered its source.
Quest completed
Seeking Enlightenment
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Reward received
100 experience, 10 silver pieces
How had I completed this quest? I’d given up on it after leaving Iremont. Returning from that hellish dungeon wasn’t precisely the apex of my gaming career, so perhaps I wasn’t thinking clearly and missed something.
I focused on the original quest text I’d first seen in Belden.
Quest completed
Seeking Enlightenment
Objective
Learn Sune Njal’s lost wisdom of soldiery. He is on Iremont, a flat-topped mountain peak in the southernmost mountain in the Bluepeaks.
Reward received
100 experience
10 silver pieces
Buried in the quest’s objective lay the missing clue. The Pentarch’s wisdom wasn’t “lost” because he kept it a secret. I’d learned something he’d forgotten or had been beaten out of him by a lifetime of disappointments. He’d given up on his partners, friends, and allies. I hadn’t. This trust kept me in Hawkhurst.
I’d changed much since I’d entered The Book of Dungeons. I used to be so suspicious and antisocial. Though a school of NPCs and players surrounded me, I shunned people and buried myself in research. My single-minded strategy blossomed into advantages, but I’d missed something. I wish I’d connected to RIP, ArtGirl, and PinkFox.
Only when I stuck my neck out to help Fabulosa did it feel like I was growing. Out here, in Hawkhurst, I wasn’t an island.
The quest’s one hundred experience points lifted me to another level.
Congratulations!
You are level 29
You have gained a level. You have increased your agility by 1, strength by 1, and willpower by 1. You have received 1 power point. You have 5,622/6,135 experience points toward level 30.
Grinding out another six hundred experience points seemed like such a distant goal. The number of times I would have to risk my neck to reach level 30 daunted me.
Before sunrise, Yula emerged from the tree line with news that she’d slain a few more goblins. She was the only one who’d done so. Though Hawkhurst citizens fought with valor, Yula and I had killed half of the invaders. Without arsenals of combat powers, standard weapons weren’t enough to bring down the fleeing horde.
Another game prompt caught my eye.
Campaign completed
Demonic Takeover (Part 2 of Goblin Incursion)
Reward received
38 glory points
The glory point total for defeating the goblins paralleled the battle’s resolution. Out of 40 glory points, I’d earned 38. I didn’t know whether the 2-point deficit came from escaped goblins or Greenie’s sacrifice. With the tripling bonus from my Applied Knowledge buff, my total glory points reached 222, almost halfway to rank 3 in command.
I closed my interface as militia members rallied around me. Presence beamed across the Hawkhurst Meadow like a pre-dawn sunrise. Gladdy’s blue contrail traced my path through town—the glowing line scribbled wherever I engaged in combat and straightened where I Slipstreamed. Sweeps and loops of light outlined my exertions like a life-size heatmap.
My blade’s scrawling ribbon lost its luminosity as the morning sky approached. When I sheathed Gladius, the glowing line vanished, signifying a return to normalcy in Hawkhurst—if there were such a thing.
The Black River Cudgel bobbed over the grass line, catching my attention. Gunny shook it in triumph as he neared the congregation.
We returned south. Citizens talked excitedly about the battle and the homes and businesses they planned to build.
Corporal Turan removed her helmet, saluted, and wiped her brow with the same hand. “Governor, you weren’t joking when you said you had a goblin problem.”
Blane’s voice rang from somewhere in the grass. “Ye call that a square go? T’was naught more than a pell-mell race to the Bluepeaks.”
Somewhere, I could hear Bernard’s voice. “Aye to that. Now they’re nay more than the dregs of a hard-fought battle. They bucked harder in the forest.”
The crowd filtered to our initial rally point, Hawkhurst Rock. My governing interface showed no civilian casualties since Rezan’s coronation. Townspeople grinned and chattered until Iris and Lloyd approached. Despite their emotionally drained postures, their expressions showed renewed fortitude from avenging Fletcher and their friends. With that closure, they could focus on raising the newest family addition. Iris smiled wanly and leaned on her father-in-law. Lloyd’s young protégés, Gretchen and Otto stood nearby.
When I winked at Otto, he spoke. “With the goblins in our wake, can we tell the merchants we’ve fixed our ferry?”
Lloyd tousled his hair and grinned weakly at the jest. He still looked defeated from Fletcher’s absence but waved at the docks. “Aye, boy. We can at that.”
Angus’s distant voice called out to anyone who’d listen. “Did ye see ol’ Beaker go at ‘em? He’s draping trees with their gizzards!”
Bernard clipped Blood Drinker to his belt and stretched his arm. “I reckon we’re ready to take on the orcs, eh, Guv?”
Everyone looked at Yula.
The town’s security chief showed no offense at the remark and gazed eastward toward the looming blue tower. Yula studied the barbican’s features.
The morning air stirred its banners, and the dawning light reflected off its masonry. The rising pink sun silhouetted the structure and backlit the jagged skyline of the Doublespine mountains.
Hawkhurst’s commander answered and turned to me. “No. Not yet. But now eet has great leader een charge.”
Yula’s endorsement froze me in my tracks, and others gave side glances and nodded.
Captain Jourdain faced me straight on. “She not wrong about that, Governor.”
“Thank you, Captain.” I realized I didn’t know his first name, but it didn’t bother me. As I’d chosen Apache, he served under his rank and family name.
After a silence, Ally changed the mood. “It’s a pure shan to see Greenie go. I’d hoped to be the next stone beneath the flag. It’s too soon for another memorial.”
I raised my voice above the boasting and celebrations. “A goblin gave his life for this settlement tonight. His sacrifice will not be forgotten. Tomorrow, we will realize his vision. Hawkhurst still stands.”
Ally raised her voice. “And Hawkhurst will build!”
“Greenie!” Angus bellowed, punctuating my thoughts.
“Greenie!” Others answered. “Greenie!” Voices cracked as Esol’s nickname rang into the night.
A griffon’s shadow circled overhead, looking for errant invaders.
Not until Rezan offered the chance to leave Hawkhurst did I realize how much this town had become my family—more so than anyone else on the other side of the digital veil. Whether player or NPC, human, orc, dwarf, or goblin—I stood by them. Fabulosa said I’d gone native, and that didn’t bother me anymore. Other players followed different paths, and I respected that. For now, I belonged here, in the company of strangers.