“We can if they don’t rush us as a group,” Dick said. “Especially if we can catch them inside the caves. That will funnel them and we can slaughter them. We’ve had a lot of practice at how to bottleneck things.”
“Things won’t be exactly the same,” Marie cautioned Dick. “Remember when Carl had all the monsters charge the first room of the dungeon that one time?”
Harry grimaced, “That was fucking bullshit, but yes, I remember.”
“It might be that all the time now,” John agreed with Marie. “This isn’t a game.”
“We know,” Tom said. “We did say we’d deal with these things, though, and we need to finish what we started. We can go for ambush attacks and try thinning them out.”
“They know we’re coming,” Michael said, almost hyperventilating.
“Always assume the enemy knows you’re coming,” Harry said. “Michael, we can do this. You have been fine with us. You’ve done a lot of good, so please don’t break now.”
Controlling his breathing, Michael nodded, “Right, sorry. I’ve never been on edge like this before.”
“How far are the caves from here?” Dick asked Tom.
“Another day. Xiv said they had to camp last night,” Tom replied.
“Okay. We’re not being mobbed tonight, at least,” Harry said. “Let’s get going. Off the trail again?”
“Yes,” Dick said. “We should check to see if these have anything worth taking, then get moving.”
Chapter Twenty-three
The group moved on. They did not encounter any more ambushes, though they passed the hoblin campsite from the previous day. Settling down for the night shortly before sunset, they were all on edge. They decided to split watches up into five segments, the first two having watches by themselves, while the last three would have Dick up with them. Tom took first watch, waking Harry when it was time.
“Anything?” Harry asked.
“Quiet as the grave,” Tom replied. “Except for the birds, insects, and stuff.”
“A simple ‘no’ would have worked,” Harry said, rolling his eyes.
“Wouldn’t have been as much fun to say.”
“What happened with the hoblin?”
“What I told Marie was the truth,” Tom replied.
“It certainly screamed less than the goblin.”
“That really bothered you?”
“You know my feelings on torturing people,” Harry shrugged. “I guess that applies to these things, too.”
“These things ain’t people,” Tom replied.
“If they were?” Harry let the question hang.
“I wouldn’t do it around Marie.”
“If she wasn’t there, you would?”
“Probably. It comes down to why I think it’s necessary. I’m not torturing them for fun— it’s always been for a reason.”
“Okay.”
Tom stared at Harry for a long moment before shaking his head. “I’m not stepping off the bridge into full psychopath. Not yet, anyway. Night, dude.”
“Night.”
Harry settled in for his watch, wondering if he should have brought it up. The sounds of night life continued around them as the sand fell through the hourglass.
~*~*~
Dick went to wake his friends when morning came, while Marie went to wake John and Michael. Everyone was quiet during breakfast and while they broke down their camp. Today, they knew they would find the cave system the hoblins were using, and it would be a long day. Each of them was aware that they would need to be extra careful with ability usage.
Michael and Harry took the lead on either side of the trail. Tom and Marie followed Michael on the left side, and Dick and John followed Harry on the right, making sure there would be no ambush behind them.
The hours stretched, the sounds of the forest becoming fainter as they went. The two groups had decided to communicate with bird calls that Harry and Tom knew how to make, hoping it would not give them away immediately.
There was a hill ahead of them. Trees and brush surrounded the sides of it, helping it blend into the rest of the woodland, but the chunks of stone comprising the hill could be seen peeking out of the earth as they got closer.
Michael slowed his advance, paying closer attention to the ground. “That hill has to be where they are. There are a lot more tracks here,” he said softly. “Do we want to join up with the others?”
“I’ll signal them,” Tom said, cupping his hands and letting out a bird call.
A return call sounded from the other side of the trail. Tom gave two more quick calls in response. After a few minutes, the other three joined them.
“I’ve been seeing more tracks,” Harry said.
“This hill is probably where they live,” Michael said. “At this point, it’s unlikely they’ll ambush us from behind.”
“Okay, we need to get closer to see what we’re dealing with,” Dick said. “Be ready for ambushes. They should have made it back at least a few hours before us. We don’t know if they’ll come for us or turtle up inside.”
“Could be both,” Tom said. “I wouldn’t put it past them to send out a few scouts to patrol the area.”
“That’s also a possibility,” Dick agreed.
“What do we do?” Michael asked.
“Act as if they’re waiting for us,” Marie said. “Even when we go in, we’ll have at least one person watching our backs.”
“She’s got it,” Dick nodded. “We’ll advance and be extra vigilant while we look for a way in. Once we find it, we’ll regroup and get ready for a breach.”
“I’m point once we head in,” Tom said.
“No, I need to be,” Harry said. “I have a better chance of finding any traps.”
“I’ll be just behind you, then,” Tom said. “My job is making sure you all stay healthy.”
“I’d kill for some healing,” Dick muttered. “Okay... no use asking for impossible things. Everyone ready?”
Michael licked his lips and nodded slowly, “I’ll lead the way around, since I’m the most experienced tracker.”
“I’ll be right behind you,” Harry said.
“Let’s move,” Tom added. “The sooner we know where the entrance is, the better it will be for us.”
Michael turned and started toward the hill, his footsteps slow but steady. The feeling of impending doom grew with each step for him as he led them closer. About a mile away, he came to a stop and shook his head. “I… I can’t…”
Dick grimaced, but stepped forward and cast hero maker on him. “Come on, you can do this.”
The fear he had felt melted away as if it had never been. “Sorry,” Michael exhaled. “I’m not sure why I let my fear get the better of me.”
“We’re all scared of what is to come,” Marie said softly. “Together, we’ll be fine. You’re part of our group, and we will be here with you.”
Nodding, Michael started to lead them forward again, his steps more confident this time. Harry nodded, seeing the hunter fully in charge of his fear, and gave Dick a knowing nod. Tom rolled his eyes but followed.
Michael came to an abrupt halt at the edge of a clearing at the base of the hill. A hundred feet from them, a rough tunnel entrance was angled into the hillside. Right at the entrance, a vargr and five hoblins with bows were scanning the area.
The group cautiously pulled back, retreating a hundred yards so they could hold a quick meeting. “Okay, they have guards on the entrance,” Dick said. “Not too many, which means we have a chance to make this fast.”
“What if there are patrols out that we haven’t seen?” Michael asked.
“We’ll be keeping an eye out,” John said. “Let him continue.”
“I want to kill the guards and send Harry in for recon. I think we should hole up near the entrance while he does that,” Dick said.
“I’ll know if he gets into trouble,” Marie added, “and we’ll be protecting the entrance from any scouts returning.”
“Ri
ght,” Dick nodded. “Once Harry gets us an idea of the tunnels, we’ll hold another meeting. I have lots of ideas but until we know what it looks like, we can’t make solid plans.”
“Kill the guards and hunker down,” Tom nodded. “Do we pull the bodies back into the woods and watch from there, or push them inside and go in ourselves?”
“Best to pull back,” Dick said. “We don’t want to get trapped.”
“I might,” Harry said. “I can probably get by, though.”
“Vanish?” Tom asked.
“If need be. That and shift blame.”
“Okay, I’ll use slip to make sure they don’t get to run off right away. Otherwise, try to conserve your spells,” Dick told Marie and John. “We want to have as much as possible ready if they rush us.”
“I’ll have to go in,” John said.
“It would be best if you, Tom, Harry, and Michael did,” Dick replied. “We’ll want to keep our ranged options open. Don’t use any arrows here unless one of them doesn’t fall.”
Michael nodded, “I understand.”
“Anyone else want to add anything?” Dick asked.
“May the light shine upon us,” Michael said.
Marie nodded, “Agreed.”
“Okay, let’s move back. Be ready to rush forward. We want to kill them before they get away or make too much racket,” Dick said.
~*~*~
With everyone ready, Dick began casting slip as quietly as he could. The vargr’s head lifted and it sniffed at the air, suddenly uneasy. The hoblins drew arrows and began to look about when they saw the vargr looking around. None of them were ready when the ground under them became slick. The hoblins let out curses as they went down. The vargr slipped a little, but managed to keep its footing.
“Now,” Michael said as he and Harry both released their attacks. The arrow and bolt both hit the vargr in the chest, earning a yip of pain from it and knocking it to the ground.
John and Tom rushed forward from either side of the group. Dick and Marie stepped out, both of them preparing to cast their jinx attacks. A moment later, Michael and Harry followed Tom and John, blades drawn.
The hoblins scrambled as best they could to get to their feet. One of them had been on the edge of the slip, so it managed to get out of the spell effect and get to its feet just before Tom reached it. Batting the feeble attempt to block out of his way, Tom’s fist broke the hoblin’s nose and threw it back.
John hit another one that had mostly pulled itself free of the spell, his sword slicing deeply into the hoblin’s neck and killing it. He dodged backward as an arrow flew past him. One of the hoblins in the slip area had given up on trying to stand, and was laying on its back to shoot at them.
The vargr struggled back to its feet just in time for an ice ray and jinx ray to crash into it. It fell again, yipping in pain. The arrow and bolt were both shoved farther into its chest by the fall. It spasmed then went still as the arrow went through its heart.
Michael and Harry reached the edge of the slip, frowning because they did not have the reach to hit the hoblins. John was in the same boat, his sword too short to reach. He stepped away again, making it harder for the one hoblin to shoot at him.
Tom broke the neck of the hoblin he had hit and turned to the others. With a feral smile, he threw the dead hoblin into the slip area. His aim wasn’t perfect, but it did what he intended; the dead hoblin landed next to the one trying to shoot John.
“Stop resisting,” Tom said in goblin. “If you do, we’ll make it quick. Otherwise, we’ll burn you alive.”
“Dead is dead,” the one with the bow snapped as it shoved its dead friend off itself.
Two spells hit the struggling hoblin, an ice ray and jinx ray killing the bow wielding hoblin. The other two hoblins were wide eyed, but seemed ready to give up.
“Good,” Tom told the hoblins before switching to speak to his friends. “I told them if they didn’t give up, we’d burn them alive. Once the spell drops, I’ll kill them both quickly.”
Marie looked a little pale. “We have to, don’t we?”
“Can’t leave them alive. They’ll just make more hoblins and be a problem for the village later,” John said, even though he was not thrilled with the idea of killing defenseless creatures.
“Stop thinking of them as people,” Tom said softly. “They aren’t people— they are vicious monsters that would gladly kill, rape, and eat their victims.”
“He isn’t wrong,” Michael said grimly. “There are a number of races that are just that way. I’ll help you with them, Tom.”
“Works,” Tom said. “Harry, go head in. The rest of you can drag the bodies away from here. Michael and I got this.”
Marie turned away, heading for the trees, a hand to her mouth. John watched her go before he grabbed the hoblin he had killed and hoisted it over his shoulder. “Dick, you’ll need to clean the blood up.”
“Got it,” Dick said as he grabbed the vargr by the legs and began to drag it off.
Harry exhaled hard, “Tom... just make it quick.”
“I will.”
With the others gone, Tom looked at the hoblins, “I can strangle you, break your necks, or we can cut your throats.”
Chapter Twenty-four
The group crouched in the brush, waiting for Harry to come back and on constant watch for more scouts. They had piled the bodies a hundred yards away from them, with Michael keeping an eye on the pile in case any vargrs followed the scent.
Dick blinked, thinking a shadow had warped close to the entrance of the hill. A bird call sounded from that direction a moment later. “Let’s go,” Dick said. “Tom, get Michael.”
“Yup,” Tom replied.
Harry was glad to see all of them when they met up at the entrance to the cave. “Okay, the tunnel goes in and down for a few hundred feet, then turns into a fork. The left leads to a small room; two hoblins in there. The right went to a bigger room that I think was the garbage room. I heard some movement but didn’t see anything. I didn’t investigate further because it stinks.”
“The room with the hoblins, did it have a way out?” Tom asked.
“Yeah, it led somewhere, but I wasn’t going to try killing them alone.”
“I could go with him,” Michael said. “The two of us might be able to do it.”
“It’s dark in there,” Harry said. “You’d need to bring some light, and that will tip them off.”
“It’s going to be a problem since three of us need to have light,” Dick said. “However, if we can get the two hoblins out of the way, Harry can scout farther in.”
“I can go with him,” Tom said. “If I make too much noise and they challenge me, I can speak goblin to them and maybe buy time for Harry to do his thing.”
Dick grimaced but nodded, “I’ll go, too. I can strike from range with jinx ray. You and me both might be able to take one of the two down while Harry slips in close enough to take care of the other one.”
“We wait here for you?” Marie asked.
“Just inside the entrance,” Dick nodded. “We’ll be back as soon as we can. If anything shows up, just give a shout.”
“Okay,” John said.
“We’ll be right back,” Tom said. “Harry, take point. I take it there weren’t any traps?”
“None that I found,” Harry replied. “The two in the room are on guard, but looked relaxed. The noise from the ones we killed apparently didn’t reach them.”
“That works out for us,” Tom smiled.
“Don’t rush,” Marie said. “We’ll hold the door.”
“We’ll be back,” Dick reassured her.
The three friends started down the tunnel, which was just tall enough for Dick to walk without ducking. Marie bit her lip as she watched them go, worried, but trusting them to be okay. John ushered her inside a few dozen feet and Michael followed them. The three settled in, watching the exit.
Harry moved ahead of Dick and Tom, hoping to slip into the room unseen. Get
ting to the room, he slowly edged into it, keeping his back to the wall as he went. The two hoblins didn’t notice him as he moved, but the scrape of boots on the hard-packed earth floor made both of them look toward the archway.
“It not time to switch yet,” one of the two hoblins said. “You check.”
Grimacing, the other hoblin headed for the tunnel. “Gek, that you?”
Greenways Goblins (Resurrection Quest Book 1) Page 23
