Greenways Goblins (Resurrection Quest Book 1)

by Daniel Schinhofen

  “Stubbornness,” Dick chuckled softly. “It’s why Harry and I get along with him.”

  “I always thought you three would wind up killing each other. It still surprises me when you managed to not, even with the arguments you have,” John said.

  “We’ve had our moments, but we respect each other, and that’s what always helped us get over those rough patches. When Harry was being a complete ass about my medical shit, it wasn’t because he was just being an ass. It was because he cared.”

  “Yes,” Marie nodded. “Or when Tom ended up in the hospital a few months ago for chest pain. The two of you had had a blow up the previous week, but you were the first one there.”

  Dick shrugged, “Friends are there for each other.”

  “Damned right we are,” Harry said from behind him. “We got the skin off. Michael is scraping it down now. Everything okay here?”

  “Yes. Come in and get your things together,” Marie said, using occultism to clean him up.

  “Thanks,” Harry said.

  “We’re going to split the watch tonight,” Dick said. “You and Marie on first, John and Michael on second, then me for the rest of it. Two-hour watches for you guys.”

  “Got it,” Harry said as he laid out his bedroll in a corner. “Who had the food?”

  “I’ll get some for you,” Marie said, pulling her bag over.

  ~*~*~

  The group ate in silence and went to bed as soon as they finished eating. Harry took up a position next to the door, looking into the night for any signs of trouble. Marie gave him some time, but eventually moved over to speak to him.

  “Harry, how are you doing?”

  Harry glanced at her for a moment, but looked away quickly. “Fine.”

  “You’ve told me that before,” Marie replied softly.

  Harry sighed deeply, knowing what she was asking and what he had hoped to not touch. “It hurts. Kevin was always there. Even when we argued over our parent’s deaths, he was always there if I needed him. Now he’s gone, too.”

  “Are you sure that facing death constantly just for the chance of bringing him back is the right thing to do?” Marie asked.

  Harry’s hands trembled, “No. I don’t know.”

  “Then why?”

  “Tom and Dick need me to, and it gives me something to focus on... We’re not going to do what we did in games— no heroics, no heedless charges. We’re going to play it as safe and cautious as we can.”

  “Even so, Tom was hurt badly today, and you were before,” Marie said, her voice on the edge of breaking.

  Looking at her again, Harry was shocked to see tears falling from her eyes. “Marie?”

  “I do consider you boys family, and it hurts to think you’re going to be putting your lives in danger all the time. I can’t do this. I don’t want John to do this, either. But that means we’ll be leaving you without help, and that hurts.”

  “I can’t not,” Harry said, looking away from her again.

  “I know, and I won’t ask you to. Just please, be as safe as you can. I’ll throw you a welcome home party every time you make it back, but you all need to make it back.”

  “None of us wants to disappoint you, mom,” Harry said softly. “We’ll be doing our best.”

  “I know,” Marie said, moving away from him. “When you want to talk and shed some of the weight you’re under, I’ll be here for you. Don’t think you have to carry your thoughts alone.”

  “Okay.”

  ~*~*~

  Sometime after Harry reset the hourglass, he moved over to where Marie sat looking out the window. Leaning up against the wall, he took a deep breath. “I’m worried about Tom. He seems to be fully invested in being here. What we didn’t mention during our story about the goblins was when he tortured one of them to find out about Gruk.”

  Marie’s eyes widened, “He did what?”

  “It wasn’t pretty,” Harry said, not filling in the details. “Dick and I moved away… neither of us wanted to be there for it. Tom didn’t hesitate, and argued that it was the best course of action when we tried to talk him out of it.”

  Swallowing hard, Marie looked to where Tom was lightly snoring. “Was it?”

  “It did give us an idea of what we were going to find,” Harry admitted. “I worry he might keep going down that path and wanted you to know. He’ll listen to you, so keep an eye on him for us, please.”

  Marie nodded, “I’ll be here for all of you. I know I’ll never fully understand what you’ll be going through, but I’ll be here to help as best I can. My father was career military and I remember his nightmares and the contempt he held for those who hadn’t seen combat.”

  “I hope we don’t get that way with you and John,” Harry said.

  “We’ll face danger beside you again I don’t doubt, so it won’t be for a while, if it happens at all,” Marie said slowly. “If I use my father as a guide, then it won’t be an issue. As long as the other person had been in combat, he gave them a pass, even if it wasn’t the hell he went through.”

  “That’s something to hope for,” Harry said. “Maybe that explains what we’ve heard about adventurers. Since they face danger regularly, they would be less likely to put up with people trying to fuck them over.”

  “That might explain it,” Marie agreed. “Don’t hold back, and come to me if either of them needs me. I know I don’t look like a mother anymore, but I’ll always think of you three as my boys.”

  “Of course, mom,” Harry said, then went back to the door.

  ~*~*~

  Morning came and the group woke shortly after sunrise. Dick already had food waiting for them. “Tom, glad to see you made it.”

  “Thanks,” Tom said as he stretched and unwrapped the bloody bandages. “Marie, thank you.”

  “Of course,” Marie said, cleaning the bandages with magic before putting them back in her bag. “What’s the plan?”

  “We’ll eat, get ready, then Harry and Michael will start trailing the vargrs,” Dick said.

  “We’ll be marking the trail as we go, so keep your eyes open,” Michael said. “The one with the bolt in it will have bled for a bit at least. After the bleeding stops, we’ll have a harder time finding it. With Harry helping, I’m sure we can manage it, though.”

  “You got a taste of what we’re likely to be facing. Anyone have problems with going forward?” Dick asked.

  “I—” John started.

  “No, we’re with you,” Marie said, cutting John off, her eyes focused on him. “We are needed here, John.”

  John grimaced, but nodded, “I guess I can’t send her back after all. I don’t have the same amount of magic as you two, but I’ll do what I can.”

  “Before we head out, I want to get my spells up,” Marie added between bites.

  “Of course,” Harry nodded. “Did the warning spell work last night?”

  “It did, but we had to deal with the hoblins before we could try to help you,” Marie frowned. “I’m sorry for that.”

  “Not your fault,” Dick said. “I thought I caught a glimpse of a vargr leg just before you said anything. Harry, Michael, if you do run into anything, don’t hesitate to run back to us.”

  “I won’t,” Harry said. “The only problem is my short legs. I’m not going to outrun a hoblin, much less a vargr.”

  “Just keep it in mind,” Dick said seriously. “Okay folks, let’s eat, then get our shit together.”

  ~*~*~

  The group headed out, Harry and Michael ahead of the others. The trail was easy to follow for the first hour; the greater vargr hadn’t been subtle as it fled. After a while, when the blood stains were becoming scarce, they found a broken bolt along with a mark from Harry, leading them onto the correct path.

  “It stopped and pulled the bolt out?” Dick mumbled as they walked on.

  “They can speak goblin,” Tom said, rubbing one of his arms. “I took a bite for my surprise over that. I’m not surprised that their leader is smart
enough to get rid of the bolt.”

  “They’re sapient and not just sentient,” John said. “That means that Harry and Michael will probably have a hell of a time trying to track them.”

  “The real test will be how smart they are,” Dick said. “If they’re toddler-smart, that isn’t too bad, but if they’re adult-smart, well…”

  “Which adults?” Tom chuckled. “I mean, I’ve known a lot of adults who were dumber than a box of smashed assholes.”

  “Fair,” Dick conceded.

  “Smart enough to remove the hindrance, and possibly smart enough to attempt muddying their trail,” Marie said. “I guess we’ll find out if Harry and Michael show up.”

  The others looked at her with various degrees of exasperation.

  “What?”

  “Don’t tempt fate,” John told her with a sigh.

  “I wasn’t,” Marie said as they kept walking.

  An hour or two later, they found Michael and Harry waiting for them.

  “This is why,” John said, giving Marie a knowing look.

  “What’s up?” Harry asked.

  “She said you guys might have trouble following the vargrs,” Dick said. “Is that the case?”

  “Yes and no,” Michael said. “The two vargrs met up, but they split up again here. The bigger one went this way,” he pointed. “The smaller one went that way.”

  “The larger one was the leader of the two. He was probably using the small one as a decoy,” Tom suggested.

  “That’s possible. We don’t know how smart they are,” Harry nodded. “The question becomes, are they smart enough to use the larger one as the decoy?”

  The group stared at each other for a moment. “Follow the bigger one. Maybe it’ll be the decoy, but I’m thinking that the bigger one will eventually go back to the hoblins,” John said.

  “While the smaller one might not, because it was injured,” Tom nodded. “Maybe it was deemed expendable.”

  “Follow the big one,” Dick said. “We could debate this back and forth, but I think John has the right idea.”

  “Okay. This will be a tougher trail to follow. No need to hang back,” Michael said. “Or not much, anyway. Just give us a few dozen yards.”

  “We’ll be following,” Dick said.

  “Close enough to help out if it’s a trap,” Tom added.

  Chapter Twenty

  Time crawled by as Michael followed the trail. Harry was right beside him, learning all he could. The others kept about a dozen yards behind them, taking care to not make too much noise. A few hours into the slower path, Michael came to a dead stop.

  “It bedded down here and waited out the night.” Michael took his time examining the spot. “I think this is why they split up; the leader probably didn’t want to be challenged, and if we’d followed right away, we might have taken the wrong path and given it time to heal.”

  “Which way did it go?” Tom asked.

  “It looks like it made a couple of paths,” Michael grimaced. “I’m going to suggest you all wait here while Harry follows one and I follow the other.”

  “Is that wise?” John asked.

  “I don’t think it’s waiting to ambush us,” Michael said. “We’ll go for half a glass, then come back. If the trail ends before that, we’ll return sooner.”

  “It’ll be fine,” Harry said. “It’ll be just like we were doing before. You guys relax for a bit.”

  “Be careful,” Marie said, “and you too, Michael.”

  “We will be,” Michael said. “You go that way. I’ll take this one.”

  “Cool,” Harry said, heading off to the group’s left.

  ~*~*~

  Michael was back after twenty minutes, “This was the false trail. Follow me, and I’ll lead the way after Harry.”

  The group fell in behind him, eager to get moving again.

  Harry popped up in front of them after a bit. “I came across another trail. It looks like it’s seen more than just a single vargr.”

  “Maybe it was the path they took originally,” Michael said. “Let’s go look.”

  Arriving at a much more obvious trail, Michael and Harry went over it for a few minutes.

  “Yeah, this was their original path. It’s days old, but there’s a set of vargr tracks that are pretty fresh,” Michael said. “I’m certain that if we went that way, we’d end up back at the cabin, so we should go the other way.”

  “We have to assume the hoblins have been warned that adventurers are in the area and will be ready for us,” Dick said. “Michael, Harry, if you want to lead, don’t get more than a couple minutes ahead of us. If the trail stays this obvious, we can follow it without any problem.”

  “I’ll take the right side,” Harry said. “Maybe a couple yards off each side?”

  “It’s a workable idea,” Michael said. “If you need to stop for some reason, just whistle so Harry and I know.”

  A few moments later, they moved on, following the trail. John’s hand kept going to the hilt of the blade on his hip. Tom shook his head at John’s nervousness, but didn’t say anything. Marie walked calmly along next to John, confident in her friends’ abilities to react to any surprises.

  Dick moved over to Marie and spoke softly, “Did you talk to Harry?”

  “I did,” Marie replied. “He’s doing okay right now. I told him to come to me if he needs to talk and he promised to do so. The same goes for you two. If you need to talk, you know I’ll listen and help. I don’t think John and I are cut out for adventuring, though.”

  “That’s fine,” Tom said before Dick could reply. “We’d rather you stay safe.”

  Marie gave him a bright smile, “I will after this. I can do this much, at least, and after this is over, I’ll teach Dick everything I can. The more prepared you all are, the better I’ll feel.”

  “Same,” John said. “My magic isn’t like the magi’s, but I’ll make sure you always have a place to sleep and food when you come back from these quests.”

  “Thanks,” Dick smiled.

  “That will be something to look forward to,” Tom agreed.

  “We just— Harry!” Marie shouted and started running an instant before Harry screamed.

  Harry’s sudden scream of pain was followed by a howl that echoed in the air. Dick and John went sprinting after Marie, with Tom behind them.

  “Fuck,” Tom said as he chased them, his shorter legs not covering the ground as fast.

  ~*~*~

  Harry crept along the side of the trail, close enough that he could keep an eye on it, but far enough away he could hide. He moved with all the care he could, painfully aware of his leathers brushing against the trees and brush occasionally. Squinting at the other side of the trail, he thought he caught glimpses of Michael now and again, but then would lose the stealthy hunter.

  Harry was not sure how long he had been alone. His hand brushed the hilt of his blade and he wondered for maybe the dozenth time if he might not be better off with the crossbow out and ready. Marie shouting his name was all the warning he got before a vargr shot out of the underbrush toward him.

  The vargr lunged, its teeth clamping down on his leg and tripping him. Harry screamed, drawing his blade and slashing the vargr across the face, forcing it to release his leg. Backing away, it howled.

  “Asshole,” Harry winced. He rolled to his feet and dove aside when the vargr lunged again. Coming back to his feet, he spun, trying to find the beast. It was nowhere to be seen.

  Michael burst through the brush, arrow nocked and ready, and saw Harry bleeding. “Where did it go?”

  “No idea,” Harry hissed in pain as he scanned the area.

  “I think it’s gone,” Michael said after a few moments. “Let me see if I can find the trail.”

  “Harry,” Marie said, running up to him, “oh my goodness.” Pulling bandages out, she started wrapping his leg.

  “What happened?” Dick asked when he reached him.

  “Vargr. It wasn’t the leader, t
hough,” Harry said. “Michael, don’t bother looking for the trail. We know where they came from; we have that trail already.”

  “This is weird,” Marie said as she wrapped his leg. “The bite looks odd.”

  “Odd how?” John asked.