Chapter 29

  When we woke up the next morning it was all hands on deck to hunt down and take out the goblins. There had to be more of them out there. The only reason they would send such a large group was if there were more goblins waiting back at their camp. Perhaps we would have a similar situation to the one Sora and I had faced. Where the goblins were being brought together and led by a hobgoblin. If that were the case we should have an easier time with them given the size and strength of our new group. We made all of the preparations necessary to take a short trip. The goblin camp shouldn’t be that far away. Though it was always best to prepare for a longer trip. Once everyone was ready we set off with Charlotte in the lead. She was the team tracker and hunter so it was up to her to lead the way towards the goblins. We made our way through the forest. Even with my limited skills I could tell in what direction the goblins had come from. They had taken no steps to hide their passage. We followed the trail for a few hours. It eventually led us to a small valley and at the far side of the valley we could see what looked almost like a small village. Were there really that many goblins here? Charlotte waved the rest of us back as she made her way closer to the camp to scout out their numbers.

  After about an hour she returned with a grim look on her face. “There are a lot of them there. I counted nearly eighty of them. Worse still there were a few hobgoblins and goblin shamans spread throughout the little makeshift village. Though the worst thing was that in the center of camp I saw what could possibly be a goblin general.” That sent a shock through the group. I had even heard of these goblin generals while trying to find more information about the vampires. They were among the strongest in the goblin hierarchy. Regular goblins sat at the bottom of the pecking order. The next rank up were the hobgoblins and shamans. They could lead large groups of goblins and once they reached a high enough standing in the group could even order around other hobgoblins or shamans. After that were the goblin generals. They were the biggest and strongest form of goblin. As big as trolls and just as strong. They had intelligence equal to a human and like the goblin shamans had the power to use magic. Devin said. “Well that complicates things, but we can’t let this goblin village continue to exist. We have to do something about it. We do need a plan. Does anyone have any suggestions?” I wasn’t sure if it was my place to say anything but we had just had almost the same situation not long ago on another contract. Albeit at a much smaller scale. So I spoke up. “We had a similar situation to this on a recent contract. There was a large group of goblins being led by a hobgoblin. We waited till all of the goblins were asleep and then we killed them in their sleep.” Devin looked to be in thought for a minute but eventually said. “That’s not a bad plan actually. Though with this large number of goblins it may not be possible. I was thinking maybe we should try to set the village on fire. That would cause a distraction and hopefully kill a lot of them all at once and then we can move in and clean up the rest. What do you guys think?” Morigan spoke up. “Well Sora, Alex and I all know how to use the fireball spell so we could definitely start a fire and cause some chaos. I could also mix up this jelly that will explode and spread the fire that the rest of you could use to add to the mayhem.” Devin nodded. “That should work. All of us can spread out and set fires at different locations. Cause some chaos and hopefully kill off most of the leaders. The hardest part will be the general. He will be able to rally the others. So that will be something to watch. For now let's make our way off into the distance. Morigan go ahead and start mixing up that jelly. We will wait until nightfall and then attack.

  As night fell we made our way closer to the goblin village. We had decided to split up in a hope that we could cause as much chaos as possible. I was on the farthest edge of the town. Sora and I had been assigned the locations where there were the least amount of goblins. They didn’t want us to be in as much danger as them. This was going to be more dangerous than anything we had done since the fight with the vampires. Hopefully this plan went well but things never worked out that way. We were supposed to wait for a while before we started our attack. We wanted to make sure we killed as many of them in the fires as possible. I saw a light flicker of blue light in the distance. That was the signal to begin the attack. I summoned the biggest fireball I could and then flung it at the nearest building. It burst into flames. I threw a few more at the buildings that were close to me and then I flung the bottles of jelly that I had been given. They exploded on contact and quickly began spreading the fire to other buildings. I saw other fires spreading throughout the rest of the area. It seems that everyone else had let loose with their spells and jars. I could hear the goblins that were caught in the fires screaming as the fires consumed them. I didn’t want to waste any more of my mana and the heat had become almost unbearable so I decided to back off a little bit. I could see the others doing the same thing. We were supposed to wait until the fires had died down a little bit and then make our way into the town to clean up the rest of the goblins. Slowly the fires burned out. The sun was coming up over the horizon by the time the fire had cooled off enough to approach the town.

  I made my way forward. We were supposed to go from building to building to make sure we had dealt with all of the goblins. I walked up to a crumbling building. The wood of the building was almost completely gone. I worked through the ruble. Every time I saw a goblin laying on the ground even if they were dead I would stab them again just to make sure they were dead. After completing the first building I made my way over to the second one. Being a little farther away from the brunt of the fire had kept this building in better condition. I was going to need to be more careful looking through this building. There might be some living goblins in this one. With my sword drawn I made my way into the building. It looked to have been made into the living quarters for the goblins. This was a lot different from the little goblin settlement Sora and I had destroyed for the guild contract. It shouldn’t be that surprising considering there may be a general leading them as well as multiple hobgoblins and shamans. This looked more like barracks for the kingdom's army, not like the places a goblin would normally live. As I made my way further in I saw goblins laying on the ground. The smoke must have gotten to them and caused them to pass out. I needed to work fast before any of them could wake up. There were a total of seven goblins on the ground. One of them was in a weird outfit covered in beads and feathers. He must be one of the shamans. I had never come across one of them even after all of the goblin groups we had fought. I knew they were commonly the leaders of smaller groups of goblins and that they had the ability to use magic. I would deal with him first. I stepped closer to the group of goblins who were apparently passed out on the floor when something happened. As a mass they all sprang up off the floor and attacked me. I hadn’t expected that. I really should have. This was one of the oldest tricks in the book. They tried to pile on top of me but I was able to get my sword out in front of me in time. I cut down the first one to run at me. The shaman had stayed back and looked to be trying to cast a spell. That didn’t seem like a good thing to let happen. So I charged at him. I cut down all of the goblins that got in my way. They were as easy to kill as always. They tried to use their numbers to overwhelm me but my time in situations like this over my short time as an adventurer had prepared me to fight back. I didn’t let them get too close to me. Some attacks got through but most of them did not. I cut them down with an ease I don’t think would have been possible if I hadn’t spent all of that time fighting vampires and humans on the last contract. We had also been through a little training that had expanded my knowledge base and would help me even more in the future. The power around the shaman continued to build until a bolt of lightning shot at me. I knew if I was hit by this I was done for. I dodged out of the way, but some of the residual energy numbed my right arm so I could no longer use my dominant hand. I switched the sword to my left hand. It felt so awkward but what choice did I have? Including the Shaman there were still four goblins left standing.

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  The three regular goblins charged me once again. While the shaman began preparing another spell. I couldn’t afford to be hit by even a glancing blow again. As they made their way towards me I once again raised my sword. I swung at the first one but my balance was off by a mile. I wasn’t used to fighting with my left hand. My first swing was only a glancing blow on the first goblin. I still managed to do quite a bit of damage to the goblin but not enough to kill it or put it out of the fight. The other two closed in and this time I had a better grasp on my movements. I cleaved the next goblin in half but with my body being numb I slipped and mixed the swing I sent at the third goblin. He was able to make his way behind me. I felt a sharp pain in my back. The goblin had managed to stab me from behind. I was in a very bad situation, but I had to figure out a way to survive so I ran for the shaman. He was the one I couldn’t let continue to attack me. I could withstand a couple of stabs from the goblins' little knives but another hit for the lightning would either kill me or numb me to the point of not being able to fight back. The shaman was so concerned with casting his spell that he didn’t notice me coming his way. When he did notice a look of shock came across his ugly green face. I sent a cut to his head and cleaved it clean off. The head was sent rolling to the side. Just after that I felt a weight on my back and then I felt another stabbing pain go through my back. He managed to jump on my back while I was turned away. I tried to shake him off but it wasn’t working. I decided to ram my back into the wall to try to get him to let go.I did it over and over again until I felt the goblin go slack on my back. He dropped to the floor and I sent a kick to his head. I then stabbed him in the chest to finish him off. The last goblin made a run at me but with the damage I had already done to him he was no real threat. I cut him down with ease. I let out a breath. I had managed to survive this fight. I made my way around the room making sure all of the goblins were dead. Once that was done I made my way back outside to check on how everyone else was doing. The numbness had gone away so I went back to a two handed grip and instantly felt more comfortable. I would be of limited use in any fighting with my injuries but I would try to help where I could.

  I made my way through the village looking around for any signs of my team. I hadn’t seen any yet and I was taking my time looking through the rubble around me to make sure there were no goblins left alive. I caught sight of a pair of injured goblins trying to escape from a building nearby. I ran over to them and put them out of their misery. There was no way that I could let any of the goblins escape. They all have to be put down. If any of them managed to escape they could lead others back here to reestablish the village.They would become a problem again before too long and there was a chance that no one would come back to check on them and they could cause havoc throughout the land. After a little while longer I finally found the rest of my group. They were engaged in a battle with what must be the goblin general. He was massive. Adrian and Devin were engaged in direct combat with the general. Charlotte and Morigan were supporting them from afar with arrows and magic. Sora was dealing with the goblin stragglers in the area. I decided to help her out first and then we could join in with the fight with the general. There were a few goblin shamans and a hobgoblin as well as five or so normal goblins. I made my way over there trying to avoid being seen by the goblins. I wanted at least a little of the element of surprise. I crept up behind a goblin shaman that was trying to cast a spell at Sora. I stabbed him through the back and he crumpled to the ground. After that they knew I was there. The normal goblins ran for me. I cut each of them down as they approached me. All of them had wounds from the fire. So they weren’t really in any condition to fight me. As I made my way through the small group of goblins the hobgoblin seemed to have seen enough of me and charged me. I still remembered the last time I had fought a hobgoblin. I still had a bit of a bad memory about it. I was utterly outclassed by the hobgoblin from the last time. I had learned a lot since then.I showed what I had learned when I summoned a fireball and threw it directly in his face. He let out a howl and I stepped forward and severed his head from the rest of his body. Sora had just finished off the last shaman as well. So we started back over to the group. They seemed to have the goblin general pretty taken care of. He was bleeding from multiple wounds. He had also been peppered with magical attacks as well as arrows and Devin and Adrian's constant melee attacks. Sora and I stayed back. We didn’t want to get in the way and they seemed to have it handled. Adrian finally went in to try and finish the general off. He sent a strike at the general with his giant axe. He cleaved the left leg off of the general's body. The general toppled over and this was when Devin went in to finish it off with a piercing strike to the generals head. He went through the eye socket and out the back of the head. The general stilled immediately.

  We regrouped and there was no time to celebrate.It was decided that we should go in pairs and try to hunt down any goblins that may be left alive in the village. Devin and I made our way through the village and only came across a few goblins which we quickly dispatched. We saw burnt bodies of goblins that hadn’t managed to escape the inferno. Devin decided we should burn out all of the buildings and we went by so I cast fireballs as we went to make sure anything we may have missed was destroyed. After we had finished our route through the town we returned to where the final battle had been fought. Adrian had already started piling up the corpses while Sora cut off the ears. Everyone else joined in with the dirty work and we soon had a small hill of bodies piled up. We set it on fire and watched the pile of corpses burn for a while. We had left the goblin village in absolute ruin. It was a job that needed to be done. If we had just left it alone there was no way to know what destruction they could have caused. When the fire burned out we turned around and walked back to camp. Morigan attended to the wounds everyone had acquired. No one had been injured too badly so it didn’t take much work. She applied poultices and gave those injured drafts to drink. We will rest and relax tomorrow as everyone gets back to normal. Then we would be back to our training regiment, but for now we would rest and relax. Today was more exciting than anyone had been prepared for. We had stayed up all night so everyone was tired. Devin and I hadn’t had an opportunity to sleep so we took a short nap to get us through the rest of the day. The day passed normally after that. We talked about the battle and how weird it was that such a massive group of goblins was so close to the Capital. We rested up for the rest of the day and when evening rolled around we ate supper. Then it was time to stand watch again. Hopefully we were safe for the night but you couldn’t be too careful. Eventually it was time to sleep. I went into my tent and drifted off to sleep with thoughts of the training I would be doing over the next few weeks. It would be difficult but it was also necessary. For now I needed sleep for the day to come. The training could wait till the morning.