carried a massive axe in two hands and two of the goblins each carried a mace and shield; all four wore a breastplate made of black iron as they moved in formation. The other two goblins moved behind this line by about twenty meters. “A classical defense formation. Too bad it won't be good enough!” The human smirked with arrogance as the creatures finally reached him. As they closed he swung at one goblin, tripping it to the ground just in time for Riun to cut it to pieces as he moved overhead. The tribesman knew what waited in the back lines.
“Come forth and fight me withou-” he began with a roar, but his speech suddenly ceased. Normally full of emotion and vigor his face and body were motionless for an instant, and then his legs sluggishly carried him to the nearest wall where he sat and did nothing further.
“Oh crap,” Kida said, turning about to face the two robed goblins. “A Charm spell? This isn't good.” She ducked a couple of fiery rays that passed too close and retaliated with the crackling blue energy that Algan was all too familiar with. It streaked around the warrior and failed to connect with his target. “And a shield too?! Kunya, do something about this! Riun is charmed!”
“On it,” a sinister voice answered. The dark elf, concealed in a globe of supernatural darkness, sent forth a bolt of his eldritch energy and connected with one of the sorcerous goblins. It screeched in pain and fell unconscious, bringing Riun back to his senses as the spell broke.
“Well, that works too. C'ayulrrhuse'r,” Kunya replied, chanting her healing magic as Rusga took a battering hit from a mace. The crunch of bone caused the catfolk to grit his teeth and wince in pain until the spell took hold and refreshed him. Once it completed, he swung his blade in a great arc and cut down the one that struck him a moment earlier. After, he backed away to catch his breath.
“These guys are tough,” Rusga panted, ready to defend himself in case one of the orcs made its way over. Algan was handling them admirably, nicks and cuts appearing and disappearing all across his body as he returned the scratches to his opponents. Content to watch, Kida and Rusga stepped back but Riun was having none of it. Furious with whatever had made him take a seat he slew the other mage by lopping its head off and proceeded to join the fray. He stood back to back with the warrior as the orcs circled them both. All four eager for bloodshed they traded blows for a couple of minutes before the creatures finally succumbed to the various wounds across their bodies – missing fingers, deep gashes in their sides and legs, and chunks of flesh torn from their arms. Once again gore littered the battlefield where the group had been, and once again whatever treasures found home in the den were theirs for the taking. Now was not the time for that, however.
“So my suspicions were true. There was another force directing the goblins … the only questions now are what was that thing, and what does it want?” The wizard sat upon a clean patch of floor and pondered long while the other five plundered the equipment and arms from the defeated. “I honestly do not know. I have to research this in more detail.”
“Let's get back to town first. Then you can worry about research; you know this isn't the place for that,” Algan said in response. “I don't know any more than you do but if it opposes us or comes after our village we'll slay it like the rest.” Riun nodded in agreement.
“Whatever it is, it isn't natural,” Rusga piped in. “I know it isn't from this world. I'll ask my mentor about it at some point and see what I can find, since we've killed the majority of their forces. Our job is done and the remaining ones should be broken enough to be no threat to either the town or to the balance of nature.”
“That is fair. We will head back to town after we gather the spoils and then we can go our separate ways until we find out what we can. Oh, and you owe me ten gold pieces. There were fires all over the place on the surface,” Kunya said, adding a chuckle with the last words.
“I... damn it, so I do...” Rusga answered, frowning slightly. “Ah well, a deal is a deal. Take that from my share since I don't have any coins right now.”
“Very well. Let us clean the place out. Would you like to carry the bodies to the surface for scavenging animals and the like?”
“That would be preferable, yes.” The catfolk hauled a couple of the corpses up and the others followed suit except for Xron, who wouldn't have anything to do with the bodies after their abuses. About an hour passed before the six gathered up anything that was salvageable and disposed of the fallen enemies in several piles around the clearing. A small fortune of coins and supplies came together, some one thousand gold pieces' worth in total though rough estimate.
“Good grief they had a lot down there,” Rusga said, admiring the pile of goods. “They've been stealing for quite some time to get all of that.” Kunya and Algan nodded.
“A majority of that belongs to our town rightfully, but the supplies have been missing for so long that I doubt anyone expects to get them back free of charge. Even if we handed them out to the proper places we would probably still be paid for the trouble,” the warrior said, resting on a crate of rations. The oaken wood sagged under his weight and that of his equipment.
“Oh well. It can't be helped, then.” Rusga, Kida, and Xron sorted through the goods and packaged them into fewer containers to reduce what had to be carried. The animalfolk salvaged together what lumber they could get and put together a makeshift cart to carry the crates in so that nobody would have to use packs for the goods and coins, and they set out through the woods back toward the village.
Chapter 7
Chapter 7
The trip passed them quietly with the goblin tribes disbanded and scattered, and the village greeted them with open arms. Xron wore a cloak and full clothing, including gloves, the entire time to avoid suspicion because of his race. The humans here had probably never seen a dark elf but the elves that came to and from here knew very well of that race. The great elven nation often engaged in war against their subterranean counterparts to fend off their encroachment to the surface. The conflict between the two had consumed more years than anyone could remember, and the humans cared not to get involved.
Distributing the goods would be no mean feat; a variety of materials and necessities had gone missing over the past several months and few could recall exactly what was in the missing shipments. Rather than deal with the hassle, the six decided to drop the spoils at the local church and let the priesthood assist the town with that effort. The church paid handsomely for the goods – six hundred gold pieces in all. Another hundred and twenty was recovered from the den, amounting to a sum of one hundred and twenty pieces each, minus Rusga's lost bet with Kunya. The jingle of coins echoed lively in their purses and the money yearned to be spent.
“I must go for now. Master needs his cut,” Riun stated, hurrying off toward the north end of town. His blade swayed precariously in a shoddy leather strap and threatened to come loose as the five watched him move swiftly away.
“We'll see him at the Fair Maiden later, I imagine,” Algan said, picking up his pace as he walked that direction. “I need a drink and a warm bed for tonight. Sleeping out in winter's fury was too much for me.” Rusga and Kida shared in his sentiments and followed the human to the tavern. Kunya and Xron stood in the street alone now.
“What now?” the dark elf asked in barely a whisper. “I've nowhere to stay for the time being and my kin would sooner see me dead than hail my return.”
“Not sure. I have to attend to some studies about what we saw down in that chamber three days ago, but after that I will make my way to the tavern as well. You may come with me to my home and help me research or go with the others at your leisure,” Kunya answered in a similarly quiet voice. She turned and marched deliberately toward her house and unlocked it. Xron followed noticeably, not concealing his presence.
“It's strange being in such a place,” Xron said from behind the wizard as the human led him inside. An oaken floor, stone fireplace with iron screening, and wide glass windows greeted the dark elf. Bookshelves lined a far wall, their spines faded and the letters on them peeling away. A musty scent of old parchment and cured wood filled the home and several large armchairs were spread about haphazardly