Greenways Goblins (Resurrection Quest Book 1)

by Daniel Schinhofen

  Tom was busy doing just that. He had moved to the edge of the slip spell area, then when each goblin came close enough, he grabbed their weakly jabbed spears and pulled them in close enough to stomp on. Silently cursing to himself, Dick joined him with jinx ray, and the two of them ended the four goblins in short order.

  They waited for the spell to dissipate so they could collect ears and check the bodies for anything useful. When they had finished, Harry was still not back.

  “Maybe we should try to follow them? There should be a blood trail from the goblin,” Tom half suggested.

  “You’d get lost,” Harry said, stepping out from the brush next to them. “Sorry, didn’t expect him to be as quick as he was. I caught him and managed to put a bolt into him, but I lost a few and broke others. I have six left.”

  “It’ll work,” Dick said. “Wounded?”

  “No, I’m good,” Harry replied. “Now, back toward the camp. Oh, and take this thing,” he tossed the ear at Tom.

  Tom chuckled as he caught it and stuffed it into his makeshift pouch. “Not quite like flipping a coin, but it’s all money by the time we’re done.”

  “You used a spell... you still good for attacking?” Harry asked Dick as they got moving again.

  “Yeah. I should have used unerring orbs on that one. I won’t make that mistake again,” Dick grumbled. “If I had, taking a rest to use recoup energy might be worth it, but for one spell, it’s not.”

  “On the trail again,” Tom mumble-sang under his breath.

  “Oh gods, stop that,” Harry winced. “We’ll find you a bucket. Until then, no trying to carry a tune.”

  Tom flipped him off with a chuckle, “Little asshole says ‘what?’”

  “Little asshole says you still can’t sing. Changing your body didn’t alter that fact,” Harry chuckled back.

  “John is better, though,” Dick said, sidetracking the conversation.

  “Maybe he was that good when he was younger,” Tom shrugged.

  “He lost the smoker’s husk he had, at least,” Harry added. “I think that’s the biggest thing. I hope he stays off the tobacco.”

  “Marie’s been trying to get him to quit for years. Now that his new body isn’t addicted, maybe he’ll make it stick,” Dick said.

  “If we do go back home,” Tom said after a moment of silence, “it’ll be hard to readjust. If it is possible, I don’t think I’m going to go.”

  Dick nodded, “I’m with you, Tom. If nothing else, we can stay here.”

  “Three,” Harry said. “Kevin, Carl, and Kattie will all go back. Not sure about John and Marie… that might depend on how he does with entertaining. If you two are staying, then I am, too. You can’t do the job without me finding the path for you.”

  “Just admit it, you’re hoping there’s a woman here who will give you a little action,” Tom snickered.

  “With that face?” Dick shuddered. “Not for free, I’m betting.”

  “Both of you can go suck goblin dick,” Harry sighed. “With friends like you, who needs enemies?”

  “You do. Not going to get paid for killing us, after all,” Tom deadpanned.

  “Not right now, but later…” Harry trailed off, letting his eyes go wide and hopeful.

  “Come on guys, let’s focus. There could be more goblins coming,” Dick said.

  “Yeah, yeah,” Harry said, then fell silent.

  ~*~*~

  Moving through the brush, the friends went carefully to make sure they did not have another twig incident. Time crawled by for them as they followed the trail. Every odd sound made them pause as they got closer to where the goblins were supposed to be.

  At a break in the trees, a thin column of smoke could be seen a mile away. Harry looked at the ground for a long moment. “They come this way a lot,” he whispered to the others. “Do you want to risk moving in the open or detour for a bit?”

  “Detour,” Dick replied. “We want to be cautious.”

  “As much as I want to charge across, it would be better to circle,” Tom agreed. “I bet some of those damned green-skins are on the other side of this open ground on guard.”

  “Follow me, then,” Harry said as he began to lead them through the trees.

  About half way around, Harry froze and held up a closed fist. Dick and Tom came to a sudden halt, staring at their friend and trying to see what had caused him to stop. Motioning to the other two to stay there, Harry moved forward slowly, going from shadow to tree and doing his best to stay unseen.

  Tom blinked when he lost sight of his friend. Glancing at Dick, he could see him still following Harry with his eyes. Tom gritted his teeth and stayed still, resisting the urge to rush forward, though his palms itched fiercely with his desire to charge into battle.

  Dick tsked when he finally lost sight of Harry. Squinting in that same direction, he thought he could make out a small shape huddled against a tree. Watching the shape intently, he blinked when a second form appeared behind it. A brief struggle occurred between the two small figures before the second one eased the first to the ground.

  “Let’s go. Move quietly,” Dick said, starting forward.

  Harry met them halfway, “Why did you start moving?”

  “Because I saw you kill it,” Dick replied. “Very Solid Snake of you.”

  “Part of me is horrified by casually slitting throats,” Harry replied, tossing Tom an ear. “The other part is kind of enjoying it.”

  “We’ll get you there in time,” Tom grinned as he stuffed the ear into his makeshift pouch.

  “That’s what I’m afraid of,” Harry sighed. “Guard dealt with. Let’s go.”

  It took them almost an hour to move around the open ground, but they were back on track moving toward the smoke they had seen earlier. Dick tapped Harry on the shoulder, pointing at a tree. Harry frowned but nodded, moving to the spot Dick had directed him to. After assassinating another goblin guard, they had a clear path to their destination.

  Stopping just back from the tree line, all three of them resisted the urge to gag. The goblins had set up camp around a mostly ruined cabin. The ground was covered in all sorts of refuse and debris, almost all of it rotting. Among the wreckage, a score of goblins of varying ages could be seen.

  An anguished scream came from inside the dark cabin, swiftly followed by a goblin flying through the door. It came crashing down just short of the fire that was burning in the farmyard. The goblins nearby laughed at the unlucky one, and they all moved away from the cabin doorway.

  “You disappoint Gruk,” a deep goblin voice yelled from inside the cabin. “One of you others, come here.”

  All the goblins looked at each other, most of them edging farther away from the door. A large goblin head poked out of the doorway, its mouth almost big enough to bite the head clean off one of the others.

  “You,” Gruk grinned at the closest goblin, “here. Now.”

  A small whimper escaped the diminutive goblin as it started toward the door, its head hanging as it moved toward Gruk.

  “What’s happening?” Dick asked.

  “He wants a new plaything,” Tom answered. “I can’t tell if any of them are women. Can you?”

  “No,” Dick replied. “Though some of those smaller ones might be kids.”

  “Which means Fubble was a kid,” Harry added.

  Tom shrugged, “Screamed like one. How are we going to do this?”

  Dick and Harry were both at a loss for a moment, not expecting Tom to be that unfeeling about it. “They’re spread out, but none of them seem to have weapons,” Harry finally said. “Maybe I can sneak in and thin down their numbers. You two be ready to rush if I get found out.”

  “That leaves the initial danger on you,” Dick said.

  “He can vanish twice,” Tom reminded Dick. “If he just goes until he gets seen, it’ll be fine. He’ll vanish, and then we’ll rush in and do what we can. You need to focus on the cabin. Gruk is the threat.”

  “What if I go for Gru
k?” Harry suggested. “Sneak in and post up next to the door. You two make a ruckus and kill the ones we can see. Gruk will come out to see what’s up, and then I go for him. If Dick focuses on Gruk as soon as he’s visible, between the two of us, we should be able to put him down quick.”

  “Wait,” Dick said. “Gruk had a necklace of some kind on and his face was marked. Ritually marked.”

  “Shaman,” Tom said. “The goblins called you a shaman when you cast magic. I think Gruk is their shaman.”

  “So what if he’s the spell caster? It just means he should be easier to drop,” Harry said.

  “If he has barrier…” Dick winced.

  Harry paused, “Oh, my blades won’t touch him.”

  “He’ll need to be dealt with fast one way or another,” Tom said. “Can’t let the caster live.”

  “What about another idea?” Dick began to grin. “We cause the diversion, Gruk gets stabbed by Harry, then I cast slip right on the doorway. If I place it right, I can catch just Gruk and not Harry. When large-mouth falls, Harry smashes our liquid fire vial on him.”

  “Which leaves him in the slippery area and burning,” Tom chuckled softly. “I like this plan. Only problem is the others might bolt after we kill Gruk.”

  “With so few of them left, a handful or two running shouldn’t matter, besides us not getting maximum profit,” Harry said.

  “We can do something about that,” Dick said. “The small ones look like the ones I can kill with a single unerring orb each. If I cast and target them, Tom can go running to the right, which will make them think that the threat is over there. Once they go for him, I use slip on that group, before turning back and waiting to use slip on the doorway.”

  “Which leaves me with nine or so goblins to deal with,” Tom said. “I can handle that. A good number of them should be down for at least a few seconds.”

  “Get inside, you all do that, and when Gruk shows up, I stab him, then hit him with the vial?” Harry said, wanting to make sure they had the plan in place. When the other two nodded, Harry exhaled, “Give me the vial.”

  “You sure you can get across the hundred feet to the door?” Tom asked.

  “Let me do a quick walkabout,” Harry said. “See if there’s another entrance on that cabin. It would suck if Gruk slipped out a back door. It’ll also let me find the best way to get across the open ground.”

  “Luck,” Dick said, holding up a fist.

  “Luck,” Harry said, tapping Dick’s fist, then Tom’s, with his own.

  The friends waited, both of them being as still as possible after Harry left. Keeping eyes on the goblins, they heard screams and whimpers coming from the cabin followed by laughter from Gruk. Tom could feel his palms begin to itch again. He wanted to rush in and start killing the little bastards.

  “Dude, calm down,” Dick whispered.

  Tom blinked, realizing he was starting to twitch in place. “Sorry.”

  They waited for what felt like a long time. A soft rustle from next to Tom made both Dick and Tom spin. Harry ducked as he came into view, Tom’s fist stopped halfway to his face.

  “What the fuck, man?” Harry whispered.

  “You could have been a gob,” Tom muttered.

  “What did you see?” Dick asked, breaking up the impending argument.

  “No doors. There is a gap in the back where a shuttered window might have been once. There are another ten goblins or so on the back side. Looks like Fubble didn’t know how to count.”

  “Goblins,” Tom shrugged. “Can you make it in that way?”

  “That’s what I’m going to try. Give me ten minutes, then start the party,” Harry replied. “If you hear a commotion, I was seen on the way to the cabin. I’ll vanish and dart for the window after faking like I’m running away. Give me a minute to position inside if that happens.”

  “Got it,” Tom said. “We got this.”

  “Our first step in bringing Kevin back,” Harry nodded.

  “Get going. We’ll count it down,” Dick said, giving Harry’s shoulder a squeeze. “Don’t be brave. If things go bad, run and head this way, and we’ll do it the old-fashioned way.”

  “Alright,” Harry said, slipping back into the brush.

  “Trade off minutes?” Dick asked Tom, getting a nod. “Sixty, fifty-nine…”

  Chapter Twelve

  Tom counted down the last few seconds. When he reached three, Dick began to mumble his spell. At zero, three unerring orbs shot out into the encampment, killing three of the small goblins. A cry of surprise went up from the camp, and Tom took off running to the right.

  “Come on, you stupid gobs. Come get me,” Tom yelled at them as he ran.

  Dick began to cast his next spell as the goblins all followed Tom’s taunting voice. Tom stepped out of the brush and grinned at them, a hand axe flashing as it caught one of the small goblins in the chest. The edge of the slip spell formed just in front of Tom, and six goblins went down.

  The remaining ten goblins grabbed spears, clubs, and in one case, a skillet. Splitting into groups, they went around the edge of the spell effect, still aiming for Tom. Another hand axe went flying, catching the closest goblin in the leg. It dropped to the ground screaming, hindering the ones behind it.

  “What meaning of this!?” Gruk shouted from the doorway to the cabin. “Dwarf?!” Gruk laughed, “Meat for pot.”

  Dick had just finished casting slip again, this time coating the doorway of the cabin with the effect. Gruk wobbled on its feet, but held the door frame to remain standing. “Shaman? Dwarf no shaman,” Gruk shouted, scanning the brush with its eyes.

  “Neither am I,” Harry said, hiding his surprise at understanding the goblin. His sword hacked at the hand holding Gruk up.

  Pulling its hand back at the sudden pain, Gruk tried to turn to see its attacker. The movement was enough to send the large goblin tumbling to the ground. Gruk cast its own spell as it landed, howling through the pain. A glob of white slammed into Harry and pinned him to the wall.

  “Gah, what the fuck!?” Harry yelled as the mass of sticky white strands held him fast to the wall of the cabin.

  Tom had waded into the goblins on his right, bashing them with his fists. He killed them or knocked them into the slip effect, not pausing to deal with the ones struggling to get back to their feet.

  With only enough energy left for one more spell, Dick cast jinx ray at Gruk, wanting to save that last spell in case he needed it. The beam hit Gruk, but only seemed to upset the goblin as it used the doorway to get back to its feet.

  “Leave dwarf, kill caster,” Gruk howled at its underlings, pointing at Dick. Globs of green energy flew toward him from the goblin’s fingers.

  Dick backed up hurriedly, saving him from the acid when the globs burst on the brush he had just been behind. The foliage melted away, leaving him visible to the other goblins that had come around the cabin.

  Harry grunted as he freed one of his arms. He was just able to reach the vial of liquid fire strapped to his pack, and he lobbed it at Gruk. “Catch, asshole.”

  Gruk spun just in time to take the vial to the face, the thin glass breaking on impact. With a roar of pain and rage, Gruk stumbled back. Flames coated its head, and its scrambling sent it crashing back to the ground.

  A whoomph got everyone’s attention as slip caught fire. Gruk’s screams rose in pitch as the fire spread. A second scream of pain came from inside the cabin as the edge of the webbing trapping Harry also caught fire. The webbing went up like a match, burning through quickly enough that Harry was able to escape the sticky mass, though he did suffer some burns.

  Tom, hearing his friend scream in pain, roared in anger, letting fury take him. His attacks became killing blows on everything he hit, breaking ribs, spines, and more. The five goblins who had gone around the area covered by spell on the other side backed away from him and kept glancing at the cabin.

  Dick backpedaled farther, trying to get out of sight again. Ten goblins had come around the ca
bin and were charging him at Gruk’s shout. They did not stop when Gruk screamed in pain, and if anything, seemed even more intent on killing him. Dick cursed mentally as he used his last spell for the day, which left him with only jinxes. Slip appeared right in front of the goblins and all ten hit it and went sliding. Six of them were moving fast enough to slide clear of the area, though they were all tangled together as they struggled to regain their feet.

  Harry, freed from the web, hissed in pain from his burns. Gruk had stopped screaming and lay in the fire, cooking, which meant Harry no longer had to worry about him. There was also a small goblin in the cabin; Harry noticed the creature when it snatched up a well-made spear and lunged at him. He dodged as best he could, but the goblin was still able to leave a bloody rent in his side. Moving on instinct, Harry darted in toward it, yanking the knife from his belt and slamming it into the goblin’s throat. He stumbled and fell to one knee, feeling suddenly lightheaded as the goblin died. He realized that he needed to get out of the burning cabin.