A GOBLIN RAID

Gorl stared at the ugly sneering face of the archer squatting in front. That twisting smile that might be misplaced for a sneer, occupied the pointed face, while it pushed the decapitated wolf head towards him. The skinny, long fingers slid on the bloodied head, as the owner awaited approval.

This time, however, Gorl finally lost his temper. He grabbed the other goblin fidgeting at his side, ever since the first five archer teams returned.

"How large land, this wolf pack roam? You take Gorl for fool?"

He gashed his yellow teeth while snarling and spitting on Pug. The ten-man team of archers had been setting up ambushes ranging from a day's walk to the south, and a similar distance to the north. Half of the teams had returned, from both the north and south all bringing trophies.

Gorl was no idiot. What kind of wolf pack separated and hunted in the forest? Unless these were lone wolves booted out from their pack, then these heads could not belong to one group. Yet the damn goblin scout kept insisting they did. Gorl began to suspect that this scout fabricated his story, to cover typical goblin cowardice.

Slap, slap, slap.

"Have the rest of the archers assemble before dark. We strike at first dark."

***

Lucy swung her legs slowly in the cool autumn evening, sitting on the eave of one of the vacant lodge buildings. Decked out in full leather armor with her crossbow at her side, she looked the part of a valiant young amazon.

In this world, Chu had said that the number of girls matching her prowess could be counted on one hand, with half of them living on his farm.

"The smell looks like a thick rope, with the strands unraveling strangely to cover far to the south and the north. I need to get closer to find out more, but it's actually starting to converge somewhere there."

She raised her gauntlet protected hand and pointed an exposed finger from her leather glove towards a certain location. A boy looked up from the bench below while pausing on the arrow tip he sharpened.

"No need to risk moving closer, I've played enough strategy games during college to know their plan."

Chu replied, glancing at the snow-white legs dangling from the roof. His eyes then followed the direction of the finger to the south of the forest line. Living downwind in certain instances provided some benefits.

"They are mustering at one point. I would have run if you said the smell remained along the entire horizon. They have two options, full-scale assault, or split their battalions into small groups and attack. As long as we can prevent the goblins from surrounding us, then the conditions for victory remain favorable."

He said.

"I understand Chu, but what do a strategy game and college mean?"

Chu looked up at the questioning face tilted to the side in thought. In a school, this inquisitive face might have earned her a spot among the top high school beauties. He cleared his throat with a cough.

"Keep monitoring, its time to tweak our defenses."

Now that the news of an imminent goblin raid hit the farm, the residents birthed all different kinds of expressions. Some moved in a daze, causing others to shout out repeatedly the same instructions. Others bustled about in haste, stumbling and even falling.

Chu called a meeting to calm the jitters invading their minds. Sure he had faced a number of fights already, but he knew this time would be different. Goblins possessed a higher intellect, as their superior woodmen's skills showed in the forest. He refused to believe that all their raids would center on sneak attacks.

Last time they had used the General and the others as the first line of defense. Tonight everyone would join in battle together for the first time. In this high stakes fight, he could not afford to lose even one member-- an invisible force squeezed his lungs, making it hard to breathe. A mountain like load fell on his back.

"All non-fighters should split into their respective teams and remain within the designated buildings. Any further instructions will arrive via messenger. Doug, you are in charge of the tower defenses, so as we practiced, shout your commands for everyone to hear."

Chu turned to Ming and Rose

"Your group will handle the intruders who breach the walls. Protect the multishot group, while waiting for my command to move. Toll, your group will deal with any unforeseen attacks, watch for the signal."

Chu reminded. He then looked at Jim

"You can support the guys at the multishot, but don't tire yourself, your bow is important tonight."

He left and climbed towards the platform near the western gate. From here he had a full view of the entire battlefront. In the event he had to leave, because of the battle, he would retreat to the watchtower on the barn.

He had wanted to act out the great scenes of a General leading the battle from the front, but that idea swiftly had been vetoed by the rest.

Miki stood beside him, her black hair tied into a ponytail. She had the firm face and bearing of a bodyguard. She glanced towards the boy who motioned her to sit and wait for the signal.

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"Chu, those large words make you seem so amazing. You looked so cool and calm, just like the old General that night."

He forced a smile at the awed girl next to him. Chu wanted to tell her, he probably felt the most scared of all of them. Goblins demonstrated an intelligence much greater than wild animals. After facing the bandits, he felt he had graduated from the usual wild beast skirmishes.

The goblins would test not his fighting prowess, but his ability to lead and command his troops. The manly and romantic notion of walking around in a new world relying on your own hands to survive had always appealed to him. However, to accomplish that dream, he had to make himself and his backer strong.

He did not want to create a life where he had to run across the continent because he offended some young master. His novel-reading experiences as a teen taught that when he decided to adventure, he should be able to slap anyone who threatens him with their powerful family.

The wonton display of power by the young masters back in the village always weighed in his mind.

"Chu, it seems that their splitting in the forest, a big group in the south, with a smaller scent moving to the north of the forest."

Lucy appeared beside him, her words shaking him out of his reverie. He signaled to Miki to spread the word, having everyone move to their designated locations and try to calm their minds. Tonight's battle would test their ability to work together as a unit.

***

Gorl listened to the sounds of the battle cry from his archer battalion. As planned, they had launched the attack at dusk. He signaled the raiders as they bolted out from the forest. While the archers locked down the humans with their ranged attacks, he would sneak over the walls and overwhelm from the opposite end.

Chu stood on the rampart and frowned at the goblins emerging from the forest, then running towards the farm. The high-pitched screams and yells reminded him of monkeys chattering in a zoo. The scattered group rushed over the grasslands without any care as to maintain an attack formation.

Do they really only rely on overpowering an enemy in one move?

"Over there!"

Lucy pointed. He followed her hand and squinted to make out the raiders swiftly approaching from the north. The goblins there had covered the grasslands to swing down from the north, approaching silent and swiftly opposite the loud ruckus from the southwest.

"Use the multishot to whittle away at those annoying screamers. Wait until the center of the crowd enters into the attack range, we don't want them to escape due to a drop in morale."

Chu commanded. Miki delivered the message to Bon who stood with Doug on the nearby tower. Soon shouts and directions issued from the tower, as the artillery squad turned the weapons and readied to fire. For little creatures, the goblins covered the distance quickly, displaying some serious stamina.

"Let Ming and our core fighter team handle the sneak attack. Wait to see if they have long-range attackers."

He instructed. Chu knew from the last skirmish that soon commands and shouts would begin to fill the air. That period of time would dictate the course of the battle and eventual victory.

Bon became the first to shout, his low voice covering the farm, with words of attack. Lucy stood by him, pointing out in the fading light the locations of the more tightly packed goblin runners. The multishots had been tested previously and modifications made to adjust the angle of attack.

On that open grassland, every notch, and change in raising or lowering the height correlated to certain areas being showered with arrows. The frenzied goblins soon participated in the same bombardment as their previous colleagues. Before the archers could establish a suitable range to attack, the target had countered with one of their own.

The northern wall of the farm came into view, as Gorl and his raiders swept towards it. The plan had proceeded without any setbacks since the loud cries of the archers allowed them to approach undiscovered. When his squad had about eighty feet to go, the war cries from the south turned to wails and screams filled with fear.

Gorl knew something had happened to the Bloodwood archers, placing him in a dilemma. If he retreated, the important Bloodwood archer battalion might suffer even more losses. Presently he had no means of signaling them to retreat. From the increasing wails, things seem grim on that end of the battlefield.

With the increasing worry resting on his shoulders, Gorl mind swirled, occupied with thoughts of distraction. As a seasoned veteran, his stronger body had him among the lead raiders, a dangerous position to be distracted. He slowed for a moment, causing the cowardly scout shadowing behind to bump into him.

The two stumbled forward together, trying to regain their balance.

Snap!

The sound increased from one, then two, and climbed. Gorl lost count on how many more traps had activated, ever since he began screaming. The wicked looking trap locked his knee, like an iron-toothed beast from the mountains. The goblin leader of the raid team forgot about the current battle, whimpering as he used his thin fingers to pry open the iron jaws.

Amidst their screams that joined the chorus from the opposite end, Ming and the others looked over the ramparts. Making use of the daylight now fading fast, He gave the attacking order, as crossbolts riddled the panicking goblins. Screams from dying goblins, some punctured and looking like a pin cushion, filled the air.

Blood trickled and flowed from those caught in the traps, or caught in the ranged attack. For the few goblins numbering less than ten who actually made it over the wall, Rose and Ming isolated them into one on one fights. Sounds of clashing iron rang out from the north wall, as the vicious battle for life and death began.

With darkness descending, Lucy became the key to direct the artillery squad. Since the first strike, three hundred arrows had flown over the wall, decimating the Bloodwood archers. Some escaped after the first onslaught, as their courage failed under the deadly thunderstorm.

More than twenty archers trickled through the net, however, since they had been among the forerunners and avoided the multishot attack. Unfortunately, these archers soon found it difficult to launch a counterattack.

"Retreat!"

"Urggh!"

A rain of crossbolts fired at any moving shadow, the bolts crisscrossing others of the same kind, similar to tracer bullets lightening up a night sky on earth. Although they did not glow, to the goblins who possessed some sort of night vision, it brought unimaginable terror.

Some still found the opportunity to release an arrow, before scampering away in fear. Lucy helped pick off the ones who found such a chance, shooting them with her own crossbow. The twilight faded into darkness, making ranged attacks unfeasible.

Chu had retreated to the same tower as her, collecting information from messengers reporting on all areas of the battlefield. Lucy scanned ever so often to give him the update on the archer group. Chu felt this large battalion of ranged goblins deserved his full attention.

Since they wiped out the majority of the incoming goblins, winning this skirmish should not pose a problem. His issue lay in their method of counterattacking, and in its execution. Unless they improved their performance, the future would turn bleak.

Unlike General Kettle who willingly bore the deaths of his soldiers as necessary collateral for winning a battle, Chu could not afford to lose any of his members. The difference between friend and soldiers became apparent in the way they fought. This crack in their armor could easily be broken.

"Nooo!"

His assumption proved correct when a stray arrow arched over the wall and hit Bon square in the chest.