by Pirateaba
Pitilessness. Cold wrath. Death.
They look like monsters, but they are all the more terrifying because they look like people. One of them raises a hand and points down at me.
“—”
I can’t understand what he’s saying. It’s in the Goblin’s tongue, chattering and incomprehensible. Slowly, the Goblins descend from the rocks, encircling us. They draw their weapons.
I feel Mrsha at my side. The Gnoll is hugging me so tightly I can feel her claws piercing my leggings. I know she’s terrified. So am I.
“We are not your enemies.”
The Goblin in who pointed at me, a warrior wearing chainmail and holding a mace, stares into my eyes. There’s nothing there. No empathy. No sympathy.
They’re going to kill us. Already they’ve encircled the two of us. I glance towards the south. The path down is that way, but there are Goblins waiting there. I have no weapons. I’m exhausted, and Mrsha can’t fight.
Slowly, I raise my hands to my head and above them. A universal sign of surrender. Some of the Goblins laugh, but their leader just watches me.
My heart is pounding out of my chest. I watch as he steps forwards, and then put my hands on my head. No time to think. Just—
You don’t need to use your hands to cast magic. My thumbs find my ears and I shout.
“[Flashba—]”
The world goes silent and dark as I close my eyes. The flash passes, and I look around. All I hear is ringing, but there’s Mrsha, lying on the ground as Goblins around me flail and open and close their mouths like silent mimes.
I grab Mrsha. She jerks and claws at me, but I pull her up and throw her over my shoulder in the fireman’s carry. And then I’m running, knocking Goblins aside and charging down the slope, sliding around rocks, praying I won’t fall.
Mrsha is on my back. I think she knows I’m carrying her, but she’s still struggling. She must be in pain from the spell. She screams, loud and anguished. I only know because I can feel the vibrations she makes as I grab her and run. I didn’t have time to tell her to cover her ears or eyes and she’s deaf and blind as I run with her down the slope.
I am, too. I can barely see with all the shimmering shapes burnt into my retinas, but I run anyways. I can hear the Goblins shouting and blundering after me above the ringing in my ears.
And then—a scream. I look back and see two shapes tumbling into the crevasse. Good.
Down the slope. Dodge around rocks. This terrain isn’t right for running, but I slide down and take the impact on my legs and lower body as I crash down the side of the mountain. Run. Run.
Run.
—-
They’re following. I know it. I charge down a hill, slipping in the snow, and Mrsha growls anxiously in my ear. I try not to fall, but I’m trying to run at the same time, to go faster.
The Goblins are right behind us.
I can hear them shouting, screaming in that high-pitched battlecry of theirs. They’re following us, and occasionally one tries to loose an arrow or whirl at stone at my back.
But if there’s one thing I’ve got on them, it’s speed. Despite Mrsha on my back I can run faster than they can with their short legs. But I’m still running through the snow and that slows both me and them.
And I’m lost. I run straight now, as the hill transitions to an open plain, but I don’t know where to go. The tribe. I have to get to them. But where—?
Claws dig into my arm and I gasp. But Mrsha is patting my head, growling anxiously and I realize she’s trying to tell me where to go.
Mute. She’s mute. I look around, and see a paw pointing just to my right. I don’t hesitate and immediately take off running that way.
Arms burning. Legs aching. I’m at the end of my tether. But I have to keep going. I can’t slow down, not now.
How many Goblins are around us? The blizzard is still pouring snow, but I swear the sky is orange now, and there are glowing lights on the horizon.
Goblins.
Mrsha screams in my ear and I see shapes ahead of me. More? They’re coming at me, but they’ve doused their torches to try and hide. I run around them and sense something fly past my back. The little Gnoll on my back is screaming.
She’s a target. If they aim at my head, they’ll hit her. But I can’t do anything. I can only run faster.
Mrsha is howling, loud and anxious. I want to tell her to shut up, but she’s trying to call for help, and the Goblins know we’re here already.
She taps my arm and points. That way. I change directions, trying to get traction. But the loose snow is making me slow. And I’m carrying Mrsha. I could put her down and let her run—
No. Keep moving.
A forest ahead. I hesitate. They could be hiding there. But go around? It’s too far. I take a deep breath and charge in.
Something steps out of the trees. Mrsha screams again, but I kick the Goblin in the chest and run the other way. Deeper into the forest. They’re jumping out around me, but I bull rush another and break out of the trees with a horde of them on my tail.
Open plains. We’re getting closer now. Mrsha’s tapping my head again, and she points me further to the left. I run on.
“Got to—”
We’re going to make it. I have to believe that. But then I see more torches moving rapidly to my left. So I turn right. But there are more torches that way.
And ahead—
The two groups of Goblins race ahead of us, encircling our position. I slow, and then there are Goblins all around us.
Mrsha is silent. Slowly, I stop, in a circle of armed warriors. They’re closing in.
“Ah.”
I guess this is how it ends. I put down Mrsha in the snow. Gently. My heart is thundering in my ears.
“I guess it’s because you’re not a killer.”
Erin’s words echo in my ears for some reason. I stare at the Goblins and slowly pull away my coat. No time to take off any more layers. They watch, silently, as I discard what clothing I can.
Get lighter. Stay out of reach. They’re not shooting up, which is a mercy. But I can see it in their human expressions. They want to cut us apart. Make it slow.
Ah, Erin. For some reason I remember that Goblin she introduced me to. Rags. Would she be part of this? Is this her tribe? I doubt it.
I raise my fists, slowly, as the Goblin warriors advance. Mrsha is at my side, but I nudge her away.
“Stay back. Run if you see an opening.”
Hollow words. Where will she run to? But maybe she has a chance if she can get ahead of them. She outran one.
Erin. If I were at her inn, I could bar the doors and stay safe. Why am I thinking of the inn?
One of the Goblins steps forward. It’s the leader, the one I blinded. He bares his teeth at me.
The inn. My heart is racing. My hands are clenched into fists. It will be hard to kick in the snow.
I really just want to sit in front of the fire again and lose a few games of chess to her. I want to sit in her inn and listen to people talk and laugh. I want—
I want to live.
Their blades are sharp.
“If.”
And then he runs at me, and I raise my leg—
—-
This is what Mrsha saw. In the dark storm, as snow fell all around her, the small Gnoll huddled close to the ground, watching as shapes and shadows fought in the flickering light.
The Human, Ryoka Griffin, stood alone in a circle of Goblins. They came at her, laughing, one and two at a time, to play with the unarmed Human.
The first Goblin raised his mace as he charged the young woman. But Ryoka raised her leg and kicked out, catching him in the chest, too fast for him to block. He stumbled back, and she pointed at him.
“[Flashlight]!”
A beam of light burst from her finger, catching the Goblins by surprise. The light was so bright the young Gnoll had to look away. The Human leapt forwards as the Goblins shielded their eyes and struck the Goblin with the mace tw
ice in the face.
He fell down. Ryoka punched him as he lay on the ground and he did not get up. She stepped back, and raised her hand. The Goblins watched her, surprised and now wary.
The Human pointed straight up, into the sky. She took a deep breath, and said a word Mrsha didn’t understand.
Ryoka fired a flare into the night sky. An incandescent red light shot from her hand and flew upwards as the Goblins cried out and retreated. But it wasn’t an attack.
The red light hung in the air, defying gravity as Mrsha stared upwards. Ryoka looked into the sky, her face grim. She fired the flare again, making the snow and landscape grow red. Then the light touched the ground, and the world became dark again.
Mrsha didn’t understand. Nothing had happened. The Goblins looked at the Human, but when it was clear she had no more spells, they regained their confidence. They came for her.
Punches. Kicks. Mrsha had seen the warriors and hunters of her tribe practicing and even fighting with spears and the occasional sword or axe. They had their own ways of fighting, rough, but efficient. But the Human—
She flowed from punch to kick, pivoting, trying to keep her back secure. She fought in ways the young Gnoll had never seen before, holding the Goblins back and hurting them, even without a weapon of her own.
But she was one and they were many. Ryoka pointed and light blinded them again, but they pushed her back, slashing at her wildly. And she was tired.
Every time she raised her finger and light blinded the Goblins, Mrsha saw the Human girl’s face twist as if she was in pain. And then she would be a little bit slower, a little bit weaker.
And the Goblins were many. They ran at her, half-blind but too many for her to stop. Ryoka fell back and Mrsha saw a Goblin slash at her leg. Ryoka dodged the sword, and punched the Goblin. But then he seized her hand and his mouth opened—
Mrsha saw the teeth close on Ryoka’s hand as she tried to pull away. She heard a crunch and a scream, a shout of agony. Ryoka pulled her hand away and Mrsha smelled the blood before she saw the stumps of her pinkie and ring finger.
Ryoka raised her bloody hand and looked at Mrsha. The blood dripped to the snow as the Goblin laughed and swallowed the digits. And the Human’s eyes were full of regret as she stared at Mrsha.
—-
“Ah.”
I stumble back from the Goblin who bit me. He laughs, and I look around and see Mrsha, crouched in the snow. And then there’s my hand.
He bit me. He took…my fingers. I stare at my right hand in shock.
Two stumps glisten wetly as blood begins to run into the snow. Automatically, I cover the wound. If I lose too much blood in this weather it would be bad. And it will sap my body heat.
Not good. I—
Another Goblin charges at me with a knife. I turn and kick, and he falls. But then I stumble.
“My hand.”
They’re laughing now. The Goblins watch as I clutch my wounded hand, and more slowly advance. I walk backwards, until Mrsha is touching my leg.
Can’t run. Can’t die.
I try to clench my hand, but it’s not right without those two fingers. There’s a gap and I can see straight into my palm. It looks wrong.
A Goblin advances towards me. The one who bit me. He raises his sword and grins around bloody teeth. I step towards him—
And hear a roar.
The Goblin turns, surpise becomining fear, and then his head disappears. I blink. Something flashes in front of me, and then there’s a Gnoll.
Not Mrsha. This one is taller, stronger, male. Urksh. He hacks another Goblin with an axe and the smaller warrior falls, head torn open.
And more Gnolls. They attack from the left, archers and warriors. I see…Hekra, standing with three other archers. She raises her bow and her hand blurs. Two Goblins fall, with arrows in their chests.
Nice skill.
I stumble, and a Goblin slashes at me. I step back, but he advances, and now there’s a lot of blood in the snow. Mine.
I punch him in the chest, but he’s got armor on and just stumbles. He raises his sword—
And Mrsha lunges into him from the side. She bits and tears with her small claws and he shrieks. He raises the shortsword and I grab his arm. I twist with my good arm and I hear his arm break.
He screams. I let go and pull Mrsha back. And then the Gnolls are around us, fighting, killing—
“—Griffin. Ryoka Griffin.”
Someone is grabbing me, holding my wrist. I look around. Urksh has me. He’s wrapping something around my hand, putting rough cloth on—
“Aah.”
It’s starting to hurt now. But more than anything, it just feels wrong to have something on the two stumps of my fingers. Urksh holds the cloth over my hand and nods to a Gnoll.
“Watch. They are coming.”
The Gnoll disappears. I blink at Urksh.
“I found her.”
He smiles at me, briefly.
“You did. Now we will handle the rest. Do not move. We will carry you.”
“I can—”
Too slow. He lifts me, and with another Gnoll, they run with Mrsha and me. The wind is cool on my skin as I blink around.
“I’m okay. I can run.”
“Rest. You did a great thing. I am honored to have met you, Ryoka Griffin.”
Something about his tone makes me look around. We’re not headed back towards the camp.
“Where—?”
“They are coming. We must flee.”
And then I see it, and I realize what despair tastes like. We were closer to the tribe’s camp than we thought, Mrsha and I.
Close, but too far. Too late.
This how it ends. This is how we die.
Hundreds of Goblins—thousands—stream across the plains. They are lit by mage light and torches as they run, firing, fighting with the few Gnolls who stand to hold them off.
The rest are fleeing. I can see over a hundred Gnolls, adults and children, running as fast as they can towards the west. But they’re being harried. Goblins are coming from every direction. It’s as if the world is being consumed by them.
And in the distance I can see the main host. A black tide of shapes, like some horrible flat beast, writing towards us. There are larger Goblins among the main horde. Hobs. They’re firing arrows too.
Urksh runs with me in his arms, tireless as he rejoins the tribe. I look back and see more Gnolls breaking away, charging the Goblins coming at us without fear.
“What are—?”
“They buy time. Here. Run.”
He puts me down, face grim, and I understand. A few Gnolls are going to fight. They run at the Goblins, taking arrows, stumbling, many not even reaching the armed warriors. Those that do fall in an instant, cut from every side.
It’s all happening so fast. I can’t process it all. War? It’s so sudden, but then I see a blue glow.
Frost faeries. They’re hovering high in the sky, watching it all. And I wonder why they’re here. But then I realize, it’s because they’re no longer watching me.
Because this is not my story. Not in the grand scheme of things.
It’s his.
The Goblins are pursuing us, an endless horde of them. They’re striking our backs and flanks, trying to bring the adults protecting the children down, trying to block us off. They’re so focused on us, they never see the Drake charging towards them.
His armor is battered, and he has no magical items. Not like the other Drake who’s hot on his heels, holding a shining sword filled with magic. But the Drake in front is different. He has no weapons, yet his claws can cut steel. He runs at the head of an army, and as the Goblins turn, their faces change.
Maybe they can sense it in the moment before they die. Maybe they realize it. How could I not?
But he is a legend. A hero among Drakes. He must be.
Zel Shivertail charges past me and our gazes meet for one eternal second. Then his army and the remnants of Wall Lord Ilvriss’s army c
rash into the Goblins, cutting them apart, throwing bodies into the air as they rampage through their unguarded ranks.
The entire Goblin mass ripples in shock, but Zel doesn’t even stop. He runs forward, and his hands blur and Goblins fall down, torn, bleeding, dying.
Ilvriss is there as well, swinging his sword left and right, teeth bared. Are they on the same side now? They must be. The two generals cut through the first rank of Goblins and the next, and then they’re charging at the vanguard of Goblins.
That’s when I see the Goblin Lord for the first time.
He’s standing in the center of a mass of Goblins wearing magical armor. It’s not that he’s bigger than the others; he’s actually just a bit taller than your average Goblin, definitely smaller than the Hobs.
But his eyes are a thing of horror. I have seen them once before. His pupils are white, and the rest of his eyes are black. They glow, and even miles away, I somehow see them. He looks at Zel, and as his gaze passes mine, I feel terror in my soul.
He raises a hand, and suddenly the battle shifts again. Goblins cry out, and their ranks form up. Zel’s charge pauses as he finds himself running into a wall of shields.
A proper army, one with formations and tactics. And then I stop running as Urksh spins me around. His teeth are bared, and I look forwards and see more despair in the face of hope.
“No. No.”
Hobs. Another army falls on us from the side, encircling the Stone Spears before they can move away. I see Gnolls running back, but the battle is already joined behind us.
And this ambush party is attacking the Gnolls from the flank. Too many Hobs. I see warriors falling, unable to stop their advance. And neither Zel nor his army notice. They’re too busy cutting towards the Goblin Lord.
“Help us!”
I shout it at the Drakes and Gnolls, but they’re too busy fighting. No—the soldiers think we’re part of the army, or they just want us to hold the Goblins off while they attack. I see Hobs, so many of them! Over a hundred of them stride forwards in heavy armor, cutting Drakes and Gnolls apart.
How is this possible? I stare up. The faeries. They’re still watching the battlefield.
