After a long day’s march, there was little desire for conversation. When we set down for the night, dinner was limited to rations. According to Sten, we were potentially within the goblin’s territory, so there was to be no campfire that night. Sarah did, however, perform a spell that created a small floating orb of light. It was interesting that the spell sigils flashed white this time. Perhaps different attenuations cause this. She seemed even more irritated by the long day's travel, so I had no interest in asking her about it. I presumed that it must have been a light-based spell since what I felt when that pulse of power washed over me was so familiar.
We bedded down for the night and a gentle shaking from Breala woke me up. Unlike yesterday, we woke before sunrise. Once everyone was awake and gathered around, Sten began to speak in a soft voice. “All right everyone. We will likely face the gobbs today. Lilian will track down the caravan. Their hive should be at most, half a day's march from the sight of their last attack.”
After some final discussions on the marching formation, we headed out into the night with nothing but the moon and a softly glowing ball of light, that Sarah held in the palm of her hand, for guidance.
After the skill Lilian displayed when she caught me in the night, I banished any doubt that she could track people in the dark. Eventually we came upon a clearing in the forest. And as we began to get closer, I could recognize the wooden structures. In the middle of the clearing were several carriages. Some were enclosed and well-made and others looked old and in various states of disrepair. Lilian started investigating the scene and everyone else was taking up guard positions.
The carriages were ransacked and occasionally I could see dark patches in the grass where someone was likely killed. There were, however, no bodies. Eventually Lilian went over to Sten and Breala. After a brief discussion, she pointed in a specific direction. Sten nodded and came over to the rest of us.
Sten announced.” Lilian has their trail, standard formations everyone, let’s move out.”
Having discussed where I would be in this formation before, I took my place next to Sarah in the center, with Lilian taking the lead. Constant marching through the forest was beginning to take a toll on me and as time passed it became increasingly difficult to keep up the brutal pace. Lilian would occasionally disappear for a bit, then return and lead us in another direction until we started marching towards a small cliff a few miles away.
Once we were about half a mile from the cliff, the sun started to peak above the horizon. Sten held up his fist, a sign, that I had learned meant halt. “Let's drop our packs here. Load up on water and rations. We will be heading into battle soon.”
As a group, all packs were dropped, weapons were drawn, and armor was adjusted. I was most interested in what Sarah pulled out of her coat. Sten called it an amplifier earlier and while I wasn’t pleased to enter another possible near-death experience, I was eager in seeing what that amplifier actually does.
In a tight formation we slowly marched towards what was likely the nest itself. Sten had said that once they knew they were being attacked they would simply try to overwhelm us with numbers. My task in the first part of the battle would be to flash-blind the goblins with my ability before the melee crunch began. During our march we decided that Sten would shout the word “flash.” This would be timed to account for the time it takes for me to actually produce said flash.
It still seemed ridiculous to me that we were simply inviting them to swarm and overwhelm us, but there was no turning back at this point. Half an hour of walking later the sun was slightly higher in the sky, and we no longer needed Sarah to provide a source of light. As we got closer to the entrance to their cave, I could make out about a dozen green figures loitering around an opening roughly 10 feet wide and 15 feet tall. One of the goblins noticed our approach and let out a yell that alerted the rest. Once we got within Brandons range he knocked and loosed an arrow.
We watched as the arrow sailed through the air and from almost 800 feet away, accurately buried itself into the chest of one of the goblins. I didn’t know much about archery but that had to be an incredible shot. Their shouts of alarm became even more frantic, and goblins started to stream out and gather on mass.
As soon as they started to gather, we retreated back another couple hundred feet with Brandon occasionally lobbing an arrow at them. In the space of a few minutes 12 goblins became 30, then 50, eventually reaching almost a hundred. Giving up on counting, I glanced at a few of my compatriots.
Their faces didn’t show any kind of fear or apprehension at the number of goblins. Sarah showed the same quiet destain she usually wore towards everything else. Mikah looked a little nervous, or perhaps he was just eager. With an ear-piercing shriek, the goblins charged. At the same moment Sarah stepped forward and gripping her amplifier in both hands started to cast another spell. Its construct was far larger, almost two feet across and took almost 3 seconds to form.
My eyes darted back and forth between the goblins and Sarah. One part of me was concerned about being overrun by their number, the other part fascinated by the sheer power of the spell. Once the construction was completed the gem in her staff started to glow even brighter and the interconnecting circles of sigils and numbers started to glow a bright yellow orange color. The brightness kept growing far beyond what the lighten spell and light spells did. Eventually orange sparks started to leap off of the spell construct. I could feel the incredible power ripple through the ether. Where her other spells created tiny ripples around me, this felt like someone dropped a boulder into a calm lake.
With one last large ripple the spell was released. From the center of the spell structure a sphere of brightly glowing plasma emerged and rocketed in an ark towards the horde of goblins. I watched in fascination as it moved through the air. Once it reached the center of the horde it detonated. A massive 50-foot ball of fire exploded in the center of their ranks. The ball of fire lit up the area and at least a quarter of the goblins were instantly incinerated. Many more were flung about as the concussive force of the shock wave knocked them off their feet. My ears started to ring with the sound of the explosion. The ball of fire rose into the air forming a mushroom shape until it slowly started dissipating. Magical artillery, she called herself. The name truly was appropriate.
‘I want that power,’ I thought to myself. I refocused back on the battlefield before getting too lost in my aspirations.
Impressively, though their number was substantially reduced, the few dozen or so that could continue the charge bounded over their dead, dying or otherwise incapacitated comrades. After witnessing that devastation my opinion on our chances were substantially increased. I imagined that her abilities would be impressive, but this was far beyond my expectations.
I stared at her in open awe. Since I was too shocked to hide my expression in time, she gave me a smirk. Clearly, she was pleased with herself. Taking a closer look at her as she moved back into formation. I noted that she was pale with a sheen of sweat across her brow. I imagined that that spell took a lot out of her. I wonder if she felt the same chills I did when I overexerted myself.
“FLASH,” Sten shouted.
Immediately, regaining my wits, I charged the daylight spell. Perhaps it was my need to be useful or simply it was my wounded pride after Sarah's display pushing me. I charged the projection faster than I usually did, since I had a few more seconds, I overcharged it to 3 times its strength. Taking aim, I fired it into the group of goblins. Everyone knew to convert their eyes after a few seconds, so the light did not blind them. The charging goblins around 10 paces or so in front of us devolved into disarray as flash blinded goblins either tumbled over each other or just ran headfirst into the small wall of shields that was in front of us. I ignored the beginning of the chill that gripped my limbs.
Without the need for prompting Caan, John, Bast and Sten started hacking away at the goblins that made it to their front line. All they had to do was stab over their shield as goblin after goblin came rushing towards them. The goblins tried to make their way around them only to be run through with tanner's spear or bisected by Breala’s great sword. Sarah's fireball and my light had pushed them into disarray, so their numbers meant nothing against our superior armor and weaponry.
I watched in fascination as Breala, who was bringing up our left flank, killed goblin after goblin, her massive sword cutting them down as if they were blades of grass. Sarah and I largely had nothing to do as none of the goblins even got close to us. 10 minutes later the area was littered with dozens of green bodies either dead or dying. The last 20 or so goblins that survived the slaughter retreated into the cave.
Seeing this, Sten shouted. “Form up. Time to get the matriarch any injuries?”
With no injuries reported, everyone gathered themselves up into formation and started towards the cave. As we walked, I scanned the battlefield. The bronze spears managed to kill at least 70 of them, more than half of that being Sarah's opening attack. The area where the fireball landed was little more than charred earth with a spattering of horrifically burnt bodies, the stink of burning flesh and the general horrid smell of the goblins bodies made me cover my nose on reflex.
I idly wondered what kind of devastation a hundred adepts could do, for that matter what kind of devastation could the most powerful practitioners of fire magic create. As we passed the threshold of the cave, I banished my pondering for the moment and focused on the path ahead.
Sarah created another soft glowing light in her palm. It was the only source of light as we walked through the cave system. Lilian once again took the lead and disappeared into the cave ahead of us. No more than 30 seconds later, she reappeared out of nowhere and whispered something into Sten’s ear. Once more he raised his fist, and we halted. There was likely an ambush ahead. Then he whispered just loud enough so everyone in our tight formation could hear.
“Flash.”
Like the last time, I charged daylight and fired. I could hear the cries as goblins were blinded by the light. Sarah instantly made the light in her palm significantly brighter, and the company rushed forward. Not all were blinded but the 20 or so that tried to wait in ambush were quickly cut down in less than a few minutes. It was fascinating to watch how Lilian would seem to disappear from sight, then reappear, her daggers buried in the neck or chest of some goblin, then to immediately disappear once more. It wasn't invisibility I realized, it was just incredibly difficult to keep my focus on her, even the slightest lapse in attention and I would lose track of her. It had to be some kind of magic, but I felt no ripples as she did this.
“Damn bastard.” Caan bellowed. Sounds like one of them managed to actually injure him. I couldn't see what the injury was, but it didn't seem to be too serious as he was currently taking his frustrations out on said goblin by stomping its head in. Sarah simply lobbed significantly smaller bolts of fire at any goblin that wasn't occupied in a fight; the bolts seem to burn the goblins something fierce, as they typically fell to the ground in agony, making it easy for someone to finish them off. After a few minutes, the fight was over. I felt slightly ashamed that I had such difficulty killing the lone goblin that came after me.
Sten called out “Caan, what’s your condition?”
Sounding embarrassed, Caan reapplied. “One of the bastards got me on the arm.”
Sten looked over to me and nodded. I didn't care much for Caan, but It was still necessary to perform my role.
“Give me some light Sarah ''. She came over and held the glowing ball of light close enough so I could see his injury. Caan pulled back his sleeve. There was a 4 inch long cut across the back of his wrist. Fortunately, it was a pretty clean cut and didn't seem to be bleeding significantly. Just goes to show how sharp those obsidian axes can be. Using some of our drinking water I washed away the blood and tried the best I could to wash my hands. I then used some alcohol to disinfect the area around the wound and took the catgut from the glass tube. In the space of a few minutes, I stitched the wound closed. It was as if I had done this a million times before. I applied the yarrow root paste and a few layers of dressing and bandaged the wound. Hopefully, his stitches wouldn't tear too much in any of the upcoming fighting.
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“Try not to use that hand too much.” I said then walked away. There was some hesitation when I began to suture the wound. But he eventually calmed down as it was clear I knew what I was doing. Sten looked incredibly pleased by my work and once his armor and gloves were back in place, we re-entered formation.
“Caan, bring up the rear, Mikah come up front.” Caan did not look pleased that he was relegated to the rear, but that injury on his sword arm would affect his fighting abilities. With our new formation we continued deeper into the nest.
We were ambushed 3 more times, but Lilian’s stealth skills were something to behold, as we were never surprised. The goblins were noticing the fact that we were using light to blind them and knew to wait for a bright flash before attacking. Still superior armor, weaponry, and the fact that they never got the element of surprise, meant they had no real chance of doing any significant damage. There were a few cuts and lacerations in areas where hard leather and plate that members of the company wore had gaps, but few needed serious attention except for one particularly deep cut on Breala’s arm. At this point, the cave had narrowed to the point that we stood only 4 abreast. And we began to find small alcoves within the nest where groups of goblins appeared to either use for building their crude tools or areas for sleep. One particularly foul-smelling room had to be where they relieved themselves.
We currently rested near the entrance of the only room so far that had any light. It appeared to be a large area for butchery. Lilian had scouted into the room earlier and given an all-clear signal. We entered to drink some water and eat some rations. On one side of the room there was a large table with piles of meat in various states of butchery. Since there were no bodies at the scene of the attack this was likely what was left of the caravan.
In a pile at the opposite side of the room was a loose pile of clothes, shoes and other accessories of both men and women. Next to that pile was a large empty cage. The dark stains on the floor along with the smell of waste were enough to inform me of what it was for.
“The gobbs try to capture anyone alive if they can, but since they're not that strong the only ones they can capture without significant injury are the elderly and children.” Breala said. I was too distracted by the macabre sight and didn't hear her approach. I looked up at her as she stared at the cage with disgust on her face.
“I see.” Was the only response I could come up with. We moved to exit the room, and I glanced at the table with the pile of meat once more with even more disgust than before. It was then I noticed that at the end of the table the meat was being cut into strips. That ticked a memory and brought to mind the meat in the goblins pack that I thought tasted like pork.
I immediately emptied my stomach on the floor disgusted by the idea that I had more than likely consumed human meat. Breala patted my back. Once my stomach was empty of the meager rations, I started to dry heave. Lilian came over and handed me her waterskin. Using some of the water to wash out my mouth I slowly began to drink. By this point she had managed to escort me to the entrance of the butchery.
” The fucking vermin.” I raged in English.
“Now you see why a gobb nest necessitates immediate extermination. They see any creature other than themselves as little more than meat." Lilian said, with actual sympathy in her voice.
Realizing that I was making something of a spectacle of myself, I slowed my breathing and stifled the rage that was growing within me. She seemed to think that it was the death or the cruel butchery that turned my stomach, not that I had eaten some of that meat to survive. I had no intention of sharing that detail so once I got myself under control, I plastered on the pleasant smile I always wore and spoke.
“They are indeed worthy of extermination. Thank you for the water.” I handed the waterskin back to her. She took it with a nod and disappeared deeper into the nest. I began to methodically eat some rations to replace what was thrown up onto the floor.
Breala, who was close by, said. “We will follow Lilian in a few minutes. Will you be ready?”
Her tone was softer than usual, perhaps due to some kind of empathy. Glancing at her and a few who were looking at me from the entrance. I noted that there was no judgment in their eyes and even some notes of sympathy. Caan only had a neutral look on his face instead of his usual destain. I wondered if my reaction was expected to some degree.
I despised the idea that I lost control over myself in front of everyone. The fact that they didn't seem to judge me for it made me feel all the more ashamed of my performance. With an iron will, I banished any of my lingering hesitation, swallowed the rest of the dried meat, gathered myself together and replied.
“I'm ready to leave now.” With the first smile I saw from her she nodded. She then glanced at Sten and gave him a nod. “Let’s move out, time to finish this contract.” There were some affirmations in that proclamation. We reformed our formation and continued in the direction Lilian went. Eventually we met up with her once more about 20 feet back from where the tunnel we were following made a sharp right.
Once we were in earshot, she said in a whisper to Sten “the Matriarch and roughly 30 warriors ahead. Some of them are using equipment looted from the caravan.” He nodded then turned to Sarah and me.
“Will make our way towards the bend. Moon, I want you to make a flash as bright as you can around that corner. Sarah, as soon as he finishes, I want you to open them up with a fire spell, just make sure it doesn’t consume all the breathable air.”
“I can reduce the amount of fire in the explosion.” Sarah said. “Everyone else as soon as Sarah releases her spell we rush and finish them off. Remember they got their hands on some proper weapons so watch out for that Caan, I want you manning the entrance; make sure none escapes past you and Moon.” Caan nodded in affirmative.
We came up slowly towards the sharp right turn that would lead into the matriarch's chamber. While we were trying to be stealthy, the clang of Stens armor and the patter of boots more than likely alerted the final defenders that they were going to be attacked. We eventually started to hear the faint muttering of their language as we approached. Sarah and I moved in front of the group. She quickly created another spell and in the space of a few seconds it started to glow a faint orange. She looked at me expectedly and I began to charge the flash. As quickly as I could, once it was about 4 times its normal power, I turned the corner and unleashed the projection.
The goblins screamed as they were being blinded. Ignoring the chills in my limbs I rushed back into formation then Sarah rounded and unleashed her spell. There was only a momentary flash of fire then a large concussive wave of force emanated from the entrance and an even louder shriek from the goblins proved that her spell was effective. “Now” Sten yelled. The entire company rushed forward and rounded the corner. Of the 30 goblins that Lilian had stated were there only about 20 were standing. Some were writhing on the floor, others were mangled and broken. In the center was a significantly larger Gobb, perhaps twice as tall as the rest.
The matriarch was even more repulsive. Her face was roughly the same as the males, she was, however, enormously obese. Surrounding her were 6 males wielding steel swords and one wielding a proper hand axe. The bronze spears with the exception of Caan Sarah and I charged forwards killing everything between them and the matriarch. The goblins fought furiously, screaming, and cursing in their archaic tongue, but this fierceness meant little as one after another they were bisected by a sword or ran through with a spear. I watched as Mikah, who usually held the back line danced out of reach of one goblin and in an overly dramatic pirouette, lopped its arm off. Some tried to flee, but a small blast of fire from Sarah, or a swift strike from Caan, stopped them in their tracks.
Once most of the goblins were dead, John the cook darted past the 3 remaining defenders and buried his sword into the matriarch's chest and likely into her heart. The rest of the bronze spears finished off the remaining defenders. There were cheers as the last goblin fell. “Form up everyone, any injured head over to Moon the rest start taking ears. Sarah, burn the nursery.” His orders were immediately followed.
Tanner, Mikah, Breala and Brandon made their way over to me. The rest started to cut the ears off of every goblin in the room. Sten proceeded to take the head off of the matriarch and stuff it into a sack. The injuries were not profoundly serious, a few scrapes from claws or cuts from where the goblins were able to get weapons through gaps in their armor. They needed to be little more than disinfected and bandaged. The only one that needed any stitching was Breala, as she for whatever reason wore no protection on her arms. She had one long cut across her bicep, fortunately it wasn't very deep. After repairing the wound while wrapping the dressing around her arm I had to appreciate how truly massive her arms were. A loud whoosh sound distracted me from my appreciation. I turned to see what it was, and watched as Sarah unleashed a stream of fire into a little alcove behind where the matriarch was. By the high-pitched shrill cries, which had to be the nursery. Everyone wore grim expressions for the few moments it took for the cries to stop.
“Try not to use that arm too much. Wouldn't want you to tear those stitches.” I said to Breala. After dressing the rest of her minor cuts.
Everyone but Sarah methodically removed the ears of the Gobbs and stuffed them into another sack Mikah held. I opted to help them in the gathering. Sten and Breala were going over the pile of loot that the goblins had hoarded in one corner of the room. There were various kinds of jewelry, a few ingots of what looked to be copper and iron. along with a small pile of silver coins and the decent weapons the gobbs wielded.
Sten stood there looking over each of the 11 rings that were among the jewelry. He pocketed two of them. I was under the impression that loot would be shared amongst the group but perhaps he got first pickings. Noticing me watching him Sten said.
“Signet rings. only nobles or incredibly wealthy merchants would have them on their person. They would have records of who they belonged to, so we can't just claim it for ourselves as loot.”
That made more sense to me than him simply being greedy.
“Those families would pay a much higher price for its return than we would ever get from melting it down and selling the raw material. “He said with an almost lecherous grin.
It seems he is as money hungry as I thought. At the very least he had some sense in him. Mikah came over with another rugged sack and started loading it with all the loot. Slinging it over one shoulder Sten ordered us to move out and in a much less strict formation began to leave. As we went back towards the exit Sarah burned every goblin corpse we had left behind as well as the butchery. Once we came to the exit Sten ordered once more that the ears of the dead goblins outside were collected.
The bodies were gathered in one large pile lined with logs and kindling and I watched in morbid fascination as Sarah once again grasped her amplifier and unleashed a massive torrent of flame in a constant stream over the 8-foot-high mound of corpses. We stayed for over an hour as the bodies burned. I don't think I'll ever forget that smell, an odd combination of burning grease, meat, and hair.
We returned where we had left our packs and spent the next few hours traveling away from the goblins’ nest to avoid having to deal with scavengers. When we found a good spot to rest for the night, fires were lit, and John started cooking for the group. Before the fatty stew slightly repulsed me but now, I hungrily stuffed it down my throat ignoring the slight burn I probably had on my gums. Even Sarah and Lilian, who were considerably more reserved in their eating, paid little mind to their manners at the moment. Once our meal was finished, the watch was chosen. I was to keep watch with Breala tonight and be the one to wake everyone up at sunrise. With the watch sorted I finally got to rest for the night. I was practically asleep before my head hit the ground.