Third-person POV
While Connor and his friends dealt with three of the hobgoblins...
At the entrance to the goblin village, the battle was finally over. After the dolls and meat fell, dealing with the mounted goblins was relatively simple. Relatively.
The reinforcements from the mounted goblins were a surprise, already expected by Andreas and his mercenaries, yet they still suffered casualties.
– Situation? – the relatively young mercenary captain asked one of his less wounded subordinates.
– On our side, we lost three combatants and one non-combatant. Apart from those, everyone else has some level of injury; the most serious are being sent back to the River hut to recover and bring back the recovery materials. – the slightly older mercenary replied in a tired tone.
– More? Have we exhausted all the resources we brought? – Andreas asked, astonished.
For two weeks they had been going on the Trial both to Elevate (or increase their level as Connor and his friends preferred to say for some reason) and to gather various materials. Both recovery items and items for crafting weapons and armor, or reinforcing them.
They hadn't collected much; there was a sort of unspoken rule among those who went that at least a little should be left for the others (apparently something had happened regarding the excessive collection of materials that hadn't ended well before the fateful expedition).
Everyone followed this rule, yet they had still managed to get a good amount of herbs and berries that restore energy.
By dividing everything among the people, each one managed to get at least 5 of each recovery item, so you can get an idea of the quantity, and there was still some left over. But now Andreas's subordinate was saying that almost everyone, at least on his side, had already used all the items they had with them.
'That's worrying...'
He thought, taking a sip from the canteen on his belt; it wasn't water inside. But a concentrated juice of berry taken from the Trial, almost an inferior version (much inferior, actually) of the potions, but it had the added bonus of being more palatable and effectively quenching thirst.
– Ahhhhh, it doesn't matter now. How many are still fit to fight?.
– Immediately, at least 7 people, excluding you and me.
– Tsk, so only 9 people...
– 12 actually, Mr. Andreas.
A new voice came from behind, and soon Bannor and Andreas' two subordinates, who had gone to be his bodyguards when he went to speak with the Baron's forces, finally returned.
Andreas almost hugged the three when he saw them, but soon realized that their eyes lacked the gleam of a successful mission... or perhaps it was simply the lack of gleam from having to use a tactic that many would consider unfair, dirty, and unworthy.
– What's the situation in the rear?
– The Baron's forces hardly managed to bother us, nor did the mages.
There was no need to elaborate much after that.
– Understood, thank you for your work. I'm sorry, but we'll have to use you again.
– We suspected as much, but sir, we must hurry. The black creature we heard about has also appeared; for now, it's amusing itself with the knights and the Baron's grievances, but we must expect it to come after us soon.
Bannor said with a serious tone and gaze, mirrored by the other two. Andreas didn't even need to think before ordering the next step.
– You two go to the sides and warn them about this. You go to the right side, and you to the left, but be careful. It seems they've encountered an unusual situation. As soon as you warn them, come back here and explain what happened there. Ensure Miss Yaou's safety.
– Yes, sir!
– You, take this. And eat this. YOU TOO
Andreas handed a crumpled piece of paper to the mercenary and a bunch of dark purple berries. And throwing another bunch to the other mercenary, who was already heading to the right.
These berries were the best for recovering from fatigue, even if only a little. While the small paper ball appeared to be a considerably smaller version of the one he used to destroy the gate, the inscriptions on it were very similar.
– Sir, Miss Yaou already used the explosive balls, right?. Why give me yours?
– Precaution and… concern.
The mercenary nodded and dashed to the left after stuffing the entire bundle into his mouth.
– And how are you?
– Well enough considering I had to run more now than in my entire life.
– That's good, it shows you still have a lot to live for.
– I gess so.
Bannor replied, trying to mask as much as possible the slight trembling in his legs; mages weren't made for such strenuous physical activity.
Andreas preferred not to comment on that and turned his attention to the interior of the village. Even if only slightly, he was sure he could see the outlines of Connor and the other young people ahead near the large bonfire.
'Just hold on a little longer, I'll help you youngsters in a moment.'
Andreas thought, watching the figures, especially one particular figure that the young people focused on the battle seemed not to see.
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Connor's POV
I don't want to sound snobbish, but after I joined the fight against the goblin with axes that the twins were fighting, we managed to neutralize it fairly quickly and went to help the girls.
We neutralized both of them, but didn't kill them.
We figured that, since the hooded goblin that healed was probably with him, they wouldn't be able to recover easily, and by injuring their legs they wouldn't be able to escape.
So we took the chance to retreat slightly and let the most tired ones, me, Cali, and Mav, eat some of the berries or drink the potions that Anna's parents gave us. While she and Max made sure the goblins didn't attack us.
To prevent attacks from behind, we turned our backs to the pyre; after all, even with these creatures wounded and even half-dead, it's never wise to underestimate them—I learned that the hard way.
It was only a few moments of rest, but during that time I sharpened my senses both as a precaution and to understand how things were in the other attack zones. I could still hear a faint clamor of human voices and the screams of the goblins, along with a faint sound of metal clashing against metal. But from the left and behind, I couldn't hear anything anymore.
This would be worrying if more goblins appeared from the left or behind, but since that didn't happen, I assumed we had gains in those places. Well, not on the left side; I already knew things were complicated when they used the explosive ball.
'But then why didn't he send health troops to our side?'
I didn't doubt he was sharp enough to realize that sending reinforcements now would be the most effective against us, but strangely, nothing appeared from the left side.
'Did he get tired and is recovering, or did they manage to scare him away?'
Not knowing what was happening was torture.
'But now wasn't the time to dwell on that, we have to finish our part. We were almost done now, after we eliminated those two (technically three with the white wolf) only the hooded figure and him would remain.'
With determination, I placed 3 of my last arrows on the bowstring. But before I could release them and finish the three shots to their foreheads, Mav pushed me to the ground just in time for me to feel a *whoosh* pass right above my ear.
And a *bang* on the pyre right behind us. The impact sent tree trunks and some charred pieces of people flying and scattering across the "square/avenue," increasing the illuminated area but decreasing its intensity.
I felt a wave of imminent danger coming from the front, and I released one of the arrows that hadn't escaped my hand. It flew a little just before bumping into a semi-visible sphere ahead, and from behind the wooden and stone hut I saw the hooded goblin gesture with his hands, which immediately sent more of those spheres in our direction.
Mav jumped off me just in time to dodge a sphere that almost hit him in the head. I rolled on the ground and got up as fast as I could, already nocking a new arrow.
However, before I could release it, a new wave of danger appeared, this time coming from above. I jumped back in time to dodge a sword that had been thrown where I had been before.
I recognized that "sword" anywhere, not only because it didn't look like a sword but also because it wasn't something a person would use. It looked like a mixture of a meat cleaver and a roughly shaped machete made of black iron, obviously heavier than it should be. And there was only one creature I had ever seen use that thing.
With a dry thud and sounding strangely heavy for its size, He appeared.
He was still just as I remembered him: a bald head with a protruding, pointed nose and ears, a distorted green face with a scowl that never seemed to change, completely yellow eyes with slit pupils like a quaralix, a light down under his chin, almost as pointed as his nose, and along his jawline. He wore black iron armor adorned with human skulls and wolf skin, just like the silvery-white of the goblin we had faced before.
His hands were large for his size, with four fingers ending in small claws, a scar on the palm of his right hand, and barefoot like all the other goblins.
The only difference was the way his eyes looked; before, they were somewhat empty, with a single desire to kill. Now I could discern other emotions emanating from them: anticipation, a predatory hunger, and... amusement.
My breathing became heavy, my hands were slightly sweating, and my body trembled slightly. Two months, almost two months since I last saw this creature. From his gaze, it was obvious that he had become stronger and more dangerous than the last time, but so had I, and he knew it too; he still remembered me.
'Very well then, let's see which of us has become stronger than before.'
I thought, grabbing my short sword and preparing to fight.
Seeing this, the goblin chief, the monster from my nightmares, laughed.