Zrimm was your average goblin. Green skinned and short in stature, reaching the measly height of four feet, four inches. Like many other goblins, he had been unwillingly drafted into the dark army after Overlord Lazis had simultaneously declared total war on elves, dwarves, and humans. But Lazis was dead, and all Zrimm cared about now was escaping the fort and reuniting with his family. Zrimm scampered through the castle as he did his best to stay in the darkness to avoid the forces of “Good” that were clearing out the castle grounds. Zrimm started thinking of a plan for his escape. Every evil overlord worth his salt has a secret passageway in his castle, Zrimm thought. Where would I put my secret passageway if I was the dark Overlord? Inside my chambers of course! Zrimm remembered that the dark lord’s chambers were situated in the east wing of the fort, he was currently in the west. Going through the fort courtyard would probably be the fastest way there, however, he had heard from other minions that elven archers had made the courtyard into a kill zone. Zrimm thought about how he would be able to pass through the courtyard without getting shot when a shout broke him away from his thoughts.
“Monster!” A figure had shouted to Zrimm. He was a human, outfitted with dark gambeson armor and an iron spear. ”I will vanquish your vile presence,” He shouted before he let out a battle yell and charged at Zrimm. The man thrust his spear to where Zrimm was but the goblin quickly scampered back away from the spear’s long reach. The man advanced towards the goblin and once again thrust his spear towards the creature. And once again he missed as Zrimm quickly stepped to his right to dodge the attack. “Stop moving you little monster!” The human shouted in frustration. Zrimm knew that he was faster than most humans, but he also knew that he was physically weaker than most humans as well. He had to outsmart his opponent to win this battle.
“Come and get me human!” Zrimm taunted the human with his gravelly voice. He then quickly ran deeper into the dark corridors of the west wing. The human had a look of pure anger on his face as he raced after the creature that had eluded the cold tip of his spear. The man looked around the dark corridors, trying to spot the hiding creature. As he did so, something heavy had dropped onto his shoulders and clung onto his back, it was Zrimm. Zrimm had jumped on top of a chandelier and had ambushed the man from above. The man screamed as he tried to get the goblin off his back but Zrimm hung on tightly with his sharp claws. Zrimm then bit down on the man’s exposed neck and pulled back, tearing out a chunk of the man’s neck. The man screamed as he fell onto the floor, blood spurting out of his fatal neck wound.
“Should've left me alone, human!” Zrimm said to the corpse of the man. It was not the first time he had killed someone, and he thought it would not be the last. Kill or be killed, Zrimm thought.
As he picked at the flesh that was lodged in his teeth heard a familiar sound. He pricked his ears up as he recognized the sound of magic being cast. It was faint, but Zrimm followed the source of the sound until he found a goblin in a large room, surrounded by the corpses of men. He sported a long, white beard with brown robes hugging his body. Zrimm instantly made him out as a goblin shaman. Maybe he could help him cross the courtyard, Zrimm thought as he revealed himself to the shaman.
The goblin shaman had a look of grimace as he stared at Zrimm.”What are ya looking at?” The shaman said to Zrimm.
“You look like a shaman. I need someone who can cast magic.” Zrimm said.
“Yeah well everyone needs something nowadays. What’s in it for me?” The shaman questioned.
“I have a plan for an escape,” Zrimm said.
“Is that so?” The shaman said with an amused look on his face.
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“The dark lord might have an escape passageway hidden away in his quarters,” Zrimm said.
“Might?”
“I'm not actually sure,” Zrimm managed to say before the shaman let out a long laugh. “Are you in or out? Any second now the alliance will have this place cleared out.”
The shaman stopped laughing and once again had a serious look on his face, “Alright, I'm in. But what do you need my magic for?”
“We need to get to the east wing of the fort. The fastest way there is through the courtyard which is crawling with enemy archers. If you cast an invisibility spell we might be able to sneak through there.” Zrimm said.
“Not a bad plan. However there is one problem, I expended all my mana while fighting these humans.” The shaman gave Zrimm a closer look,” You, however, look like you have plenty of energy.”
Zrimm had an apprehensive look on his face but agreed “Fine, you can use me as a source. But don’t take any more mana than you have to.” Zrimm said. The goblin duo made their way to the courtyard, only encountering copses on their way.
“We are nearing the courtyard. Best to cast the spell now before we get in the line of sight of those archers.” The goblin shaman said. He then reached out to Zrimm’s aura and started taking mana from him. The shaman knew that it was much easier to drain a willing subject as opposed to an unwilling one.
“Alright, that’s enough,” Zrimm said. The goblin shaman kept drawing from Zrimm’s mana pool for a few more seconds before he stopped. He then lifted his right hand and chanted words of a language that Zrimm did not understand. A sudden flash of light erupted from the shaman’s body before he disappeared from Zrimm’s sight. Zrimm then looked down and realized he could not see his own body. He and the shaman had both fully disappeared. Zrimm felt out for the invisible shaman until he touched something that he could not see, no doubt the shaman.
“Let’s go before the spell runs out.” The voice of the shaman whispered to Zrimm. The invisible goblins made their way out to the courtyard. Zrimm saw that the courtyard floor was littered with bodies of various races, all of them had arrows protruding from their corpses. Zrimm’s heartbeat rate increased as they made their way through the courtyard. He stared at the elves that were on the courtyard overlooks. Zrimm was worried that the archers would see through the shaman’s invisibility spell and he would end up as an arrow-riddled corpse. No such thing happened, however, and the goblins had made it halfway through the courtyard with the archers none the wiser. But just as Zrimm reached the entrance to the east wing he had heard yelling and shouting coming from behind him. He turned around to look back and spotted a group of goblins he did not know heading towards the courtyard, he counted five in all. As they entered the courtyard Zrimm heard a flurry of arrows being fired before he saw the goblins being hit by arrows. The archers stopped shooting only after all five of the goblins were lying on the ground, either dead or dying. Poor sods, Zrimm wanted to say but he was afraid the archers would hear him. Zrimm did not look back as he exited the courtyard and entered the east wing.
“How long until the spell runs out?” Zrimm whispered to the shaman as they made their way to their former overlord’s quarters.
“It might last a few more minutes. We have to hurry.” The shaman replied. As they were getting closer to their destination, the goblins heard footsteps coming from near them. Three figures appeared from the darkness, two human warriors and a black-robed figure.
“I smell a magic user. A druid or shaman maybe?” The robed figure said before he cast a spell.
“Oh no, he’s a m-” Whatever the shaman was about to say was cut off as the robed figure had flung a magic missile at him. The goblin shaman reappeared, only this time he had appeared with a gaping hole in his chest, dead.
“I love it when magic users think they can hide behind their spells,” The robed figure said in an almost gleeful tone. Zrimm prayed that the invisibility would not give out, not at this moment. “Think they're so special because they can do parlor tricks.”
The robed figure sniffed the air intensely,” I can still smell some magic.”
“It’s probably just the residual magic. If there is another magic caster, you would have sensed him by now,” One of the warriors said.
“Yes, that must be it. Let’s look for more of them shall we?” The robed figure said as the group moved on, they had left Zrimm alone with the shaman’s corpse. Zrimm’s invisibility wore off as he had wondered how the robed figure was able to see through the shaman’s invisibility but not his. He looked at the shaman’s corpse one last time before he got up, he had no time for mourning. Nothing would stop Zrimm from escaping and reaching his family.