“While I can think of a few strategic possibilities,” Enzi replied, “None of them make a lot of sense to me either. However, some of the goblinoid generals are incredibly good with tactics. We need to keep our eyes and ears open. Hopefully we can figure out what they are up to before they spring the trap.”
Enzi's Irregulars #0051
Each day of travel was full of tension. The group could sometimes detect the goblinoid scouts that were following them. The scouts kept their distance from Enzi and his mercenaries. Each day the Irregulars neared the base camp where they would have the support of the troops. Enzi expected the goblinoids would have to make their move soon if they wanted to take advantage of the isolation of the group. However around noon on the next day, Enzi saw the shape of the human base camp hiding in the Halcyon Wood. The watch on the walls quickly spotted Enzi's Irregulars and waved a greeting.
Enzi heard a great noise from the trampling of a great many feet. He then realized the enemy's ruse. They were going to use the Irregulars as a shield. The rangers of Nuvroc were deadly with their bows and crossbows. If they wanted to storm the base camp, it would be much easier if their foes did not want to fire into their allies. While the Nuvroci were used to firing their regular bows into melee with Steel Warriors, their crossbows were saved for foes with heavy armor. Both weapons could potentially be deadly to Enzi and his mercenaries.
The horde of goblinoids charged past the Irregulars as the mercenaries leapt into the fray. The tactic had worked. The archers at the base were afraid to fire and hesitated. Then Enzi heard the rumble of thunder in the air and felt the crackle of lightning. It suddenly occurred to him that there was one person in the base camp who did not care if any ally was in the line of fire. It was the young Ravaleian mage they called the Storm Queen. Enzi then saw exactly how she earned that nickname.
Electricity arced across the field striking foes indiscriminately. Enzi felt one bolt of lightning come far too close for his liking. All the hairs on his body now stood at attention. The Irregulars were trying to scatter, as were the goblinoids. The assault had been broken with a single powerful spell. Dozens of goblinoids lie dead, but more and more arcs of lightning descended on the area as the young Ravaleian girl unleashed her power with reckless abandon. Enzi was almost certain he could hear her cackling with glee at the destruction.
He ducked for cover, it was all he could do. He hoped that none of his mercenaries would get hurt, but it was out of his hands now. He worried most for Ritter. His heavy metal armor had to have been something the electricity would be attracted to. The sounds of the thunder and lightning slowly died off. Then all that could be heard were the whines, whimpers, and moans of the wounded. Smoke rolled off of both them and the dead. The goblinoid assault had been halted, but Enzi wondered at what cost.
Eurysa slithered out from behind a tree, untouched by the lightning much like Enzi. Surprisingly the enormous minotaur Aldebaran had come out of the battle with little more than a few patches of singed hair. Kava had escaped completely unscathed. Then Enzi saw a glint of metal in the grass. He rushed over and found Ritter. The Halz groaned in pain but he was alive. His metal armor had channeled most of the electricity into the ground, but the hardy dwarf had still been given the shock of his life.
Enzi began to relax. Ritter would be fine. As the Irregulars gathered, Enzi saw that one was missing. He had seen no sign of Mayitso. The lycanthrope had no more protection against such powerful magic than anyone else. Suddenly the Feergrus man began to worry. Aldebaran lugged the groaning dwarf back to the base camp while Eurysa, Kava, and Enzi searched the battlefield for any sign of the lycanthrope. Enzi was the first to see a large lump of fur that was not one of the fallen wargs. He lifted the head of the lycanthrope and gasped.
“Oh Mayitso...”
***
The Cleanser stood with his stark white robes over the corpse of another monster. The color of white was a symbol. It was the color of evil. It was nearly impossible to keep clean. Both of these things were symbolic of the role of the Cleanser. Naphar Bura had his hands full trying to stop the influx of monsters pouring out of the Goblinoid Lands. The Tarvoni Summoners had made his job difficult. He had not forgotten about the abominations that hid within the mercenary group known as Enzi's Irregulars.
He hoped they were not causing too much trouble. He had too many other foes to slay at the moment to be able to chase them down. They had escaped him in Feergrus on a Ravaleian boat. They were likely halfway across the continent. For now, Naphar needed to aid the southern front of the Fifth Goblinoid War. His weapons were soaked with blood. He expected that they would unleash yet more blood that day.
“Naphar!” one of the Agonish soldiers said, “It is good to see you.”
The Kurrot man merely nodded in response.
“You have saved the day once more. My unit stands ready to serve you as needed.”
“To serve... Me?”
The Agonish soldier nodded, “Our commander was slain by a monster creeping in the night. You have saved us from a similar fate more than once. As the highest ranking soldier in my unit, I have decided we will do what we can to aid your noble battle and give you support.”
“I appreciate it,” Naphar replied, “I will have need of many allies before this war is done. There are many monsters yet to slay. There are some even I fear to face alone. I will need the strength of your men to defeat such powerful foes.”
“We will do what is needed to stop these monsters from harming any more of our people.”
“Good, good,” Naphar said.
The Cleanser smiled as he cleaned his weapons. With such allies he might be able to finally destroy the minotaur, gorgon, lycanthrope, and vodyanoi. All he needed now was the opportunity. He would meet the monsters again. This time it would be their end.
***
The soldiers in the base camp looked with pity as the Irregulars carried two of their members inside. A few gave dirty looks towards the Storm Queen, but many also thought that perhaps she had taken an action that needed to be done. In the end, if the Irregulars were hurt or died, what did it matter? They were not human. They were monsters. Could their lives be measured as equal? Many heavy questions now weighed upon the humans of the base camp.
The camp medics immediately got to work on the two wounded monsters. They could not expect any magical healing, the Storm Queen had exhausted herself with her massive display of power. Aldebaran used his muscle to help move the dwarf around so that the medics could remove his heavy armor. Scorch marks now pocked the body of the Halz. The medics applied balms to the wounds and left Ritter to rest and heal. The medics working on Mayitso had an uglier wound to deal with.
The smell of burnt hair and flesh along with the sight of the ugly wound caused one of the medics to retch. Cleaning it out was a terrible task. The lightning bolt had sheared across the lycanthrope's head. The medics had to be careful so that they did not cause further harm. It was certainly going to leave a nasty mark. Beyond that, it had completely obliterated Mayitso's left eye. He would require serious downtime to rest and recover from such a serious wound.
Cassius approached Enzi, “I am sorry for what happened. I am not sure how needed her assault was, but the questions already float through the camp.”
“She saw clearly, if poorly,” Enzi replied, “The goblinoids planned to use our compassion to shield them. They had to be struck down. The force that was used might have been excessive, but force was warranted.”
“I am surprised we were not warned of their coming. Medeus was scouting that direction. He is the sharpest ranger we have left.”
“There is a lot of territory,” Enzi replied, “Even he could have missed us. I am just sorry I did not realize the actual intentions of the goblinoids following us sooner. We knew a scout was following us, but the size of this force and their devious assault were both beyond any prediction I had. The tactician who thought of this was not only sharp, he had to be thinking on his feet to put t
his together so quickly.”
Cassius nodded, “I suspect you have more to tell me. Syrian arrived before you but only told me a few things.”
Enzi sighed, “Yes, there are a great many things to discuss. We should talk in private. This may take a while.”
“For now, it appears we have plenty of time.”
The two great leaders made their way to the general's quarters. Inside, they sat and discussed what Ranum had told Enzi. They discussed many possibilities, including treachery. In the end, they came to the conclusion that they could not ignore the warnings of the grizzled old goblin. They also came to the conclusion that little would be done that they did not do themselves.
“It looks like you and your team will be needed on the southern front for this beast when it comes.”
Enzi nodded, “I worry. Bounties were placed on our heads by those who hate monsters. Most of the mercenaries that would claim it now fight on the southern front.”
“I do not know about most, as there are still plenty of conflicts in the Disputed Lands, but you are right that a great many will still be there as a possible problem. I will send a messenger to that front with news and questions. We have enough time that we can hopefully sort out a solution.”
“It will take some time for our wounded to recover anyway. When we are ready, we will begin the trek south.”
“You may run into many thing to take care of along the way if you go around to the west. Although the western front in Kurrot would be full of Cleansers.”
Enzi nodded, “We have time. For now. Blunting that last goblinoid attack may give us an extended peace here on the northern front. At least I hope so. It would make the sacrifice seem worth it. It would be nice not to have to deal with trouble any longer.”
***
Medeus Tarim watched the base camp from a distance. The dagger he had taken from the murderous goblin known as the Hunter of Man was in his hand. It had seen the blood of a few foes during the ranger's travel through the woods. As he looked upon the base camp, all the ranger could see were what looked like demonic goblinoids. He felt that the dagger needed to be sank into each and every single one.
Yet these monsters had to be dangerous. Medeus would have to be careful. He would use stealth and try to take down each foe one by one. One of the odd demons came out to scout the area. Medeus waited until the demon was far from the camp. He would make them pay for all the human friends the creatures must have slain. Medeus leapt out to confront the demon.
The demon yelped in surprise, “Medeus! What are you doing?”
Medeus was surprised that the demons had heard of him, but assumed they must have tortured the people of the base camp to learn information about the forces in the area. Medeus sank his knife deep into his foe. It felt so right. This was exactly the kind of foe the blade wished to slay. This was what it had been made for. Joy washed over Medeus. One demon was slain. It was a start.
As the ranger walked away the last life gurgled away from his foe. To unclouded eyes the corpse was that of a ranger. The human had died, his life taken by the new Hunter of Man.
Enzi's Irregulars #0052
Rumors had begun to flit through the base camp. First Medeus had not returned and now a second scout had disappeared. Fears of a second Beast that Takes Trophies flitted through the camp. The men had suddenly grown to respect the power of the goblinoids. Fear drove many of their decisions. Severe solutions were being fielded. Someone even suggested cutting out a swath of trees and then lighting the goblinoid side of the forest on fire.
The southern forest quickly became wetlands however. It was far too likely, even with an area cut and burnt out to keep the flames under control, that any fire would instead burn northwards into human lands. That such an attempt at genocide was even seriously discussed brought the words of Ranum to Enzi's mind. If the humans learned to fear the goblinoids too much, they would slaughter them all. Defeating the young dragon was needed for the sake of innocent human lives as well as the very survival of the four goblinoid races.
For now, the mercenaries needed to find out what was happening to the scouts before their disappearance brought on a panic. With Mayitso down for the count, the team' had lost their best tracker. Eurysa, Aldebaran, Kava, and Enzi headed out to see what they could find. Hopefully the problem would present itself to them. They began to search the patrol area, although the process was slow. The first day was fruitless, as were the next two. The fourth day, however, finally provided a clue.
Kava practically tripped over a crossbow hidden in the weeds. It had to be the weapon of the ranger that had gone missing. The clue did not bode well. Enzi could not imagine the ranger leaving his weapon behind. Even if he had lost it, he would have returned to the base camp to secure another. Enough rangers had fallen that spare equipment was available. There was no other sign of the ranger. Morale at the base camp continued to slip while the group searched for more clues.
***
Medeus watched the creatures wander around outside the base camp. Only one of them was a demonic goblinoid. Medeus could not understand why the minotaur, gorgon, and vodyanoi now aided the enemy. He wondered if it had something to do with the missing Halz and lycanthrope. Medeus knew that the Halz were usually a noble race. Perhaps the monsters had finally betrayed him and joined the side of evil. It mattered little at the moment, they were too powerful for Medeus to take on alone.
He could be patient and pick off his foes one by one. He was a ranger of Nuvroc. He had been trained to survive in the forest. He was perhaps one of the best at his job. He sat and waited, keeping an eye on the base camp and waiting for an opportunity to strike. He hoped that human reinforcements came soon. He had to warn them of the danger. With their help they could stop the invasion of demonic goblinoids and their monstrous allies. He positioned himself north of the base, hoping to intercept the next group approaching the base camp. That group would be coming soon.
Soon the ranger was rewarded with the sound of travelers. However, he was shocked at what he saw. It was more of the demonic goblinoids. They traveled heavily laden with supplies. Medeus assumed that they had stolen the supplies from the reinforcements. There were not many of them and they appeared to be lightly armed. The ranger knew that he had to strike. The knife had to taste blood again. Yet Medeus knew that it could not slay all of the foes. He had to stop as many as possible with his bow before the melee began. His first shot struck true. The ranger watched as the panic began below him.
His bow found another target, but the goblinoids had spotted him. Medeus leapt into battle. He could not let any escape to warn the goblinoid camp. The knife almost seemed to sing as it tore through the flesh of the demonic goblinoids. One after another fell to the ranger. Finally one tried to run for the former human base camp. Medeus grabbed his bow and fired a shot. It did not kill the goblinoid but it did hit them in the leg. The ranger quickly caught up to the wounded monster. It was mewling and whimpering like a coward.
“Only now do you seek for life,” Medeus said in Nuvro, “Perhaps you should not have slain the humans and stolen their supplies.”
The knife did its dirty work. The goblinoid screamed and squealed. Medeus would leave a message with this monster. After he was done, he gathered what supplies he could. Then he burned the rest. The smoke would warn his foes. Medeus knew he had to flee. He hoped that the blow he had struck would weaken the demonic goblinoids.
***
Enzi and the Irregulars had returned to the base camp. They were resting when smoke rose on the horizon. There should not be any smoke to the north of the base camp. Several rangers immediately made their way in that direction. Enzi followed, hoping to find some clues into the loss of two rangers. The scene of slaughter that the group found, however, shocked the Feergrus man. The arrows of an archer had slain several people, and a cruel knife had killed the others.
One, however, had been dealt with in a most horrific fashion. The knife had cut deep gashes in the body. It was as if the p
erson had been filleted. The body had been hung up in the trees. It was a gruesome sight as flaps of meat dangled from the bones and blood dripped to the ground. Enzi wondered what kind of creature would do such a thing. Then he suddenly noticed the Vodyanoi nearby. She was an expert in weapons and wounds.
“I recognize this,” Kava said, “These cuts and wounds. This was not made with a normal weapon. This was made by the same dagger that goblin used to kill people earlier.”
“Medeus had that dagger earlier,” Enzi said, “The foe must have taken it from him. I guess that confirms he is lost as well.”
“And now we have some new foe out there causing problems,” Kava said, “I can't wait for him to meet my hatchets.”
“I can not find a reason to disagree with that statement,” Enzi replied coldly, “We need to find this new enemy and deal with them. This scene should be enough that the base camp will let us borrow a ranger or two for tracking.”
After burying what was left of the dead, the group returned to the base camp. After the soldiers reported to the general, Cassius immediately ordered a pair of rangers to begin tracking the new enemy. The next morning the rangers set out with Enzi, Kava, Eurysa, and Aldebaran at their side. By the end of the day the group had returned to the camp disheartened. It was obvious that this foe was skilled in the art of hiding their trail. With Mayitso still badly wounded, the group needed a new solution to finding an enemy that could not be found.
“You need a different set of senses,” a female voice said as the group discussed their possible plans.
Enzi looked up to see the young girl known as the Storm Queen. She had been the one that had wounded Mayitso with her over the top display of magic. Her skill was undeniable. It was quite possible that she had ways of finding people with her magic. It was worth a try, although Enzi worried not only about the girl's ability to control herself but also what her reason for joining the expedition was.
“I missed being able to stop the terror the first time,” the Storm Queen stated, “This time I will end it. Plus I feel bad about getting rid of our best tracker. I am sure he might forgive me if he knew what it was like to channel lightning. It is a feeling like no other. You feel unstoppable. Which is pretty close to the truth.”
Enzi's Irregulars Act III - Thunder and Lightning Page 7
