“I’ll lead,” Harry said. “We’ll move slow. John follows me, Marie behind him, then Michael, Dick, then you, Tom. If everyone steps where the one in front of them steps, it should make it less likely that we fuck up.”
“We all on the same page?” Dick asked, looking to each of them and getting nods. “Okay, this is the first engagement for some of you. It’s going to be scary, bloody, and everything you’d rather not see or do, but this is what we have to do.”
“We can do it,” Marie said, taking a deep breath. “I have faith in us.”
“May the light shine upon us,” Michael whispered.
“Let’s roll,” Harry said, turning to head back to the cabin.
Chapter Eighteen
Harry did his best to pick them a path back that they could all follow. An occasional misstep made them all pause, waiting to see if it would attract attention. Tension was high as they crept toward the cabin. When they were close, Harry motioned John up to him.
“It’s only a hundred feet through the brush to the cabin. Michael will lead you the rest of the way.”
“Tom, come with me. I want you to come in from a different angle to help them stay hidden longer,” Harry said.
“How long do you need?” Dick whispered.
“Give us ten minutes, then kick it off,” Harry said.
“Be safe,” Marie whispered as the other two broke off from their group.
“My eyesight isn’t the best for this, but I should be able to get us within sight of the cabin,” Michael said. “Follow along.”
The two groups picked their way forward. The cabin area was quiet, which increased the anxiety they felt. Michael got them close enough to see the clearing around the cabin and the partially eaten goblin bodies strewn about. Marie turned away, breathing fast as she tried to swallow the bile that had risen in her throat. John rubbed her back, his hand shaking and his face pale, trying not to think about the carnage in front of them.
Dick examined the area critically; he could see the tents near the cabin, but he didn’t see the vargrs, nor any sign of any hoblins. Distrusting what he was seeing, Dick wished he had a way to tell Harry that things might not go as they had planned, but he kept his silent count going.
A bit of movement off to the side caught Dick’s attention. Moving shadows coalesced into a shape crawling in the brush. Squinting, he caught sight of a canine leg. “Oh hell, that’s the way Tom and Harry went,” Dick whispered.
“Harry,” Marie gasped. “He’s in danger.”
A howl went up from where Dick had seen the vargr, followed by Tom’s yell and a pained yip.
“Go!” Dick shouted as he started to cast slip.
That howl brought hoblins spilling out of the cabin, vicious smiles on their faces. Each of them was wearing hides and carrying a rusted axe or sword. Dick shifted the aim of his spell, placing it just in front of the cabin doorway like he had before.
The savage grins of the hoblins turned to surprise when they went down in a jumbled heap. Snarling at each other as they tried to get back to their feet, none of them were prepared for the arrow that hit the ground next to them. The small vial at the front of the arrow shattered, spilling liquid fire onto the ground. The area affected by slip turned into a conflagration, and the hoblins that had been caught in it became engulfed in flames, their screams echoing in the small clearing.
Marie used floating lights, and three globes of candle light appeared, floating above the burning hoblins. John strummed a discordant note on his lute and a burst of energy hit the hoblins. A few cried out in pain and grabbed their ears while still trying to put the fire out. Dick cast jinx ray at one, but missed because he kept looking around for attacks from the side or behind them. Michael had already drawn another arrow; it sank into one of the hoblins, sending it to the ground, where it lay unmoving.
Marie launched an ice burst at the burning hoblins. The chunk of ice slammed into the largest of them, tearing a gouge in its armor and exploding into fragments that went flying into the rest of the hoblins. John again strummed his lute, causing another hoblin to fall dead when the burst of energy hit them.
“We can do this,” Michael said, filled with hope as he drew another arrow.
Another scream from Tom made them fear for their two friends fighting the vargrs.
~*~*~
Harry led Tom into the brush to the right of their group. He picked his way carefully, counting to himself as he went, but the lack of noise from the cabin area was making him nervous. They had worked their way around to the side of the cabin, where Harry paused when he thought he heard a snuffling sound from a few feet away. Holding his hand up, Harry was trying to pinpoint the location when the brush directly in front of him exploded toward him, the snapping maw of a vargr coming right for his face.
A howl sounded from a few feet to the side, announcing the second vargr. Tom ignored it, yanking Harry back and slamming his shield into the muzzle of the attacking beast. Tom yelled when the vargr twisted its head to try to rip the shield off his arm, but gritted his teeth and slammed his free hand down onto its snout.
The sound of hoblins coming out of the cabin caught Harry’s ear as he tried to gather his bearings. Pulling his sword, he was about to join Tom when the second vargr came out of the brush to his side. With a wild slash at the nose of the beast, Harry tried to back it off.
Tom grimaced when he heard Harry fighting the other vargr behind him. Turning his back to the first one, he was just in time to hit the second vargr as it rushed at his friend. His charge sent the beast tumbling away from them, allowing him to spin back to the first one, behind him. Working on instinct, his shield came down low. The snout of the vargr hit the shield, but was unable to get under it, thwarting its attempt to reach Tom.
Harry put his back to Tom’s, facing the beast that had just been driven back from him. “This isn’t how we hoped it would go.”
“Just like normal,” Tom grunted and shoved the vargr back from the shield, slamming his fist into the side of its head. “Bad puppy!”
The vargr snarled, “I’ll eat your guts.”
Tom blinked, not expecting the beast to talk. That moment of surprise was enough for the vargr to lunge forward and snag Tom’s free arm. The teeth sank deep into his unprotected flesh, making Tom scream in pain.
Harry started to turn to help his friend but the vargr facing him lunged. Harry sidestepped it by less than an inch, its teeth scraping across his leather armor. Hacking down with the blade, Harry nicked the vargr’s ear as it bounded back and started to circle them.
Tom slammed his shield into the side of the first vargr’s head repeatedly until it released his arm. Using clotting blood, he felt some vitality return to him and started to turn in place when the vargrs began to circle. Harry moved with him, keeping their backs together.
“I think we got the short end of this straw,” Tom told Harry.
“Our friends might be here soon, considering the screams,” Harry said.
“Fuck, I hope so,” Tom grunted.
~*~*~
Dick grimaced when his jinx ray missed, and caught movement off to the left as he shook his head. “I need light to the left,” he said, turning to face the new threat.
John was the first to react, using what was left of his magical energy to cover the area Dick pointed to with a pale purple light. The large hoblin and even larger vargr were clearly visible as they moved toward the group.
“I think that’s the leader,” Dick said, casting slip at them.
The two creatures staggered as the spell took hold, but neither of them fell. The hoblin grabbed the vargr’s fur with both hands, snapping what sounded like an order in goblin. The vargr leapt clear of the affected area, carrying the hoblin with it, an instant before it went up in flames as one of Michael’s flame arrows impacted the area.
“Fuck,” Michael cursed as he drew a regular arrow.
“Kill the others, then focus on him,” Dick told Michael. “John, get r
eady, you might have to play defense. Marie, once the hoblins are dead, do what you can to help me with this thing.”
Marie cast another ice burst at the hoblins that had been getting back to their feet now that the flames burned away the slip effect. The chunk of ice slammed right into the face of the biggest hoblin in the group, and the shrapnel from the impact severely wounded the other hoblins.
The hoblin leader snarled curses at its kin. Mounting its vargr, it rushed at the group, its sword gleaming in the dim light.
“Well, shit,” Dick said as he targeted the charging hoblin. “John, protect Marie.” He pulled out his axe and took a deep breath, hoping to find a better idea than meeting several hundred pounds of rushing vargr head on.
~*~*~
Tom did not like their odds of getting through this fight without injuries. “Trade,” Tom told Harry, “on three.”
“One,” Harry called out as he bared his teeth at the vargr he faced.
“Two,” Tom said as he took a single step toward the vargr nearest him.
“Three,” they said in unison, each spinning and charging their new targets.
The vargrs rushed in when they saw them turn, only to skid to a stop when they found the other one rushing them. Capitalizing on that moment, Tom’s shield crashed into the nose of one vargr. The sickening crunch let him know he had seriously injured it, and it backed away whimpering. Harry had a harder time, but managed to nick his vargr’s eye, receiving a deep gouge from the beast’s teeth as it tried to stop him.
Both vargrs backed well away from them, losing themselves in the brush and leaving the two friends back to back again. “Plan?” Harry hissed, looking at the bloody wound on his left arm.
“We’re going to have to chance going back to the group,” Tom said, noticing that the screams from earlier had died down. “I’ll watch our backs, but you need to get there and help with your crossbow.”
“Got it,” Harry said. “Ready?”
“Ready,” Tom nodded.
“Follow me,” Harry said, rushing away.
Tom turned and ran after Harry, but kept most of his attention looking for the vargrs to come back at them. He got only a second of warning from the left as the brush bent in toward them. Leaping forward, he got his shield in the way, bashing the vargr across the face.
“Go, go, go!” Tom yelled. “I got them.”
Harry trusted in his friend and rushed into the clearing without looking back. His other friends were still dealing with their own troubles. Yanking the crossbow off his back, he loaded a bolt and focused on the large creature that was glowing purple and rushing at Dick. “Not today, asshole,” Harry hissed as he pulled the trigger.
The bolt hit the greater vargr in the shoulder, making it falter in its charge. The hoblin leader’s face twisted in surprise when its mount went down, sending the hoblin off its back and right into a tree. The sound of hoblin meeting tree echoed for a moment while the vargr rose to its feet.
Dick took advantage of the moment to cast slip again, centering the spell on the hoblin leader to make it more difficult for it to regain its footing. Michael killed another hoblin, glancing over at the crash to see the leader down. He nocked and loosed his last fire arrow while the hoblin struggled to stand, using the tree as support. The sound of glass breaking was incredibly loud to the leader; it was covered in flames almost instantly.
Seeing its rider engulfed in fire and wounded more than it had been in years, the greater vargr snarled before turning and fleeing into the night. It howled as it ran, its glowing form quickly growing distant. With the greater vargr running off, Dick, Michael, and Harry all focused on the hoblin leader.
Marie used her ice ray to hit the remaining hoblin follower, killing it in two hits. John gripped the hilt of his blade tightly, looking around for anything that might threaten Marie directly. His eyes were wide, and his breathing was fast and shallow.
A scream of pain followed by a strangled whimper jerked Harry’s attention back to where Tom had been. “Oh fuck,” he yelled as he ran to help his friend. “Hang on, Tom!”
Limping into the clearing, Tom shook his head, “I’m fine.” The trail of blood he left behind him told a different story, but he was dragging a dead vargr behind him. “The other one ran off when that howling started.”
Oh, Tom,” Marie said, rushing to his side and pulling out clean clothes from her bag. “Hang on, let me help.”
Dropping the vargr, Tom gave her a weary smile, “Glad to see you’re safe.” Without another word, Tom’s eyes rolled up in his head and he collapsed.
“Tom!” John exclaimed, rushing forward with Dick hard on his heels.
“He’s alive,” Marie reassured them as she wrapped bandages around the worst of the bites. “Someone bring me some water. He’ll need it.”
“Is it going to be safe to stay here?” Michael asked, looking around.
“The only things that survived were the two vargrs,” Dick said, “and it seemed like the bigger one called for a retreat.”
“I’ll check the tents and cabin,” Harry said, leaving Marie to take care of Tom.
“I’ll go with you,” Michael said, following Harry.
“Take one of my lights,” Marie said, motioning one of the globes over to Michael. She beckoned the other two to her. “I’ll keep these.”
Tom’s eyes opened after a minute or two had passed, “Hey, mom. Did we do it?”
“We killed most of them,” Marie replied, handing him a waterskin. “Sip, and just relax.”
“Thanks,” Tom said, doing as she said. “I’d rather not fight two vargrs alone again.”
“I didn’t know you’d stayed to fight them,” Harry said, seeing that his friend was awake. “I thought you were following me still.”
“I was going to, but the second vargr was right there. It was hard enough to keep them both in check,” Tom coughed and sipped some more water. “Everyone else okay?”
“Only you took wounds,” Dick said. “We might have been in a bad place, though, if not for Harry’s well-timed shot.”
“Which only happened because Tom was being a chew toy,” Harry admitted.
“Is it all clear?” Dick asked Harry.
“No one else is here,” Michael answered. “We can probably hole up in the cabin for the night.”
“Good. I don’t want to hike more tonight,” Tom said as he pulled the flask from his belt. “See you all in the morning.” Taking a slug, Tom exhaled happily. “Need to make sure I get more of this whiskey when we get back to Greenways.”
“Come on, you,” Harry said, holding a hand out to Tom. “Let’s get you moved.”
“Slowly,” Marie said, helping Tom to his feet.
“Yes, mom,” Tom said softly as he got to his feet with difficulty. “So how was your first taste of combat?”
“I think I’d be better off staying with John,” Marie admitted, “but we’ll worry about that later.”
“John, help her get him settled. Michael, stand guard by the door,” Dick said. “Harry, let’s collect what we can from the dead.” Harry let John take his place helping hold up Tom.
“I can see about skinning the vargr. Its skin should fetch a good price,” Michael said.
“Go ahead, but keep your bow at hand,” Dick said.
Chapter Nineteen
Tom passed back out shortly after he was settled into the ruined cabin. Marie made up a bed for her and John, and John stood by the door, keeping an eye on the others. Dick and Harry were finished before Michael, with not much to show. Harry went to help him finish skinning the vargr, and Dick brought the items they had gathered from the corpses inside.
“Anything worth money?” John asked.
“The weapons are shit; rusted, pitted, and useless, but better than nothing,” Dick shrugged. “The hide armor will be usable after I clean it, but I don’t know if any of us would want to use it even after it’s cleaned. Might still fetch a few coppers in the village. There were a few coins on
the leader— six copper and one silver.”
“Better than what the goblins had on them?”
“Easily,” Dick said.
“Do we have to cut the ears off?” Marie asked, looking a little pale at the thought.
“From what Charlie said, no, we shouldn’t. Besides, we have Michael with us. He can vouch if Orbin objects.”
“He won’t doubt us, not in front of the villagers,” John said. “He’d lose too much face.”
“Good to know we can leverage it, if needed,” Dick nodded. “Is Tom okay?”
“He’ll be fine as soon as the sun rises,” Marie said from where she sat next to the sleeping dwarf. “Some of the bites on him go to the bone. I don’t know how he kept moving.”
Greenways Goblins (Resurrection Quest Book 1) Page 19
