Chương 77: Book 2 Chapter Thirteen: Relief Force

THIRTEEN The rag came out sodden when Darren lifted his hand. It thumped to the ground while the survivor whined piteously. Darren wiped his hand on the man's shirt, blood and saliva staining the ragged remnants of clothing.

"Do you work for Grace?" Darren asked again, calm as ice as if what had transpired over the last five minutes hadn't happened.

"Yes. Yes I signed up with her on the last level," the man panted. Moira drifted closer, bandages in her hand. She dropped down and cut away the pant leg in a quick movement, throwing the soiled clothing away before winding the bandages over the man's leg.

"Tell me about her," Darren continued to push.

"She's from the coast. Has a bloodline and came with a big group of people. I don't know more than that man. I promise. She kept those who came with her close and had the rest of us doing bullshit jobs. Said we had to earn our colors."

"Gang member then. What was her bloodline talent?" Darren's questions came endlessly as everyone paid attention.

"Fuck if I know man. When she throws a weapon it's super strong. Blows things apart when it hits," the man babbled.

"What happened tonight?" Darren changed tact.

"That prick came by and stole our teachers. Grace was pissed and went hunting with her officers. The ones who came in with her. Left the rest of us behind and told us to hold it down until she got back," the man said.

"And then?"

"Then? They fucking attacked, dude. Goblins, ogres, shamans, but we were doing alright. Held the walls kinda but then the dragon showed up and ran right through the walls. Started burning everything down. I ran," the man said.

"There were no hobs?" Darren asked, leaning closer.

"No, man. Grace had to fight the last one. None of us could have done it. There were no hobs, just the dragon," the man said, his head falling back and against the tree.

"That's problematic. How many of them were left?" Harris asked.

"Only four died in the last fight. One survivor and if it kept up with how the last fight went then five more were unleashed. Six hobs out tonight and none showed up at our place or Village 2," Roan said. Everyone winced.

"Shit, it might be a clean sweep then. I don't think even Tyler can fight three hobs at the same time," Harris mumbled, leaning against a tree and wiping at his face.

"That or all six hit a village. Which would screw us. Only two villages left and another five hobs and the dragon showing up tomorrow night," Roan said.

"We need to hunt and kill some of those hobs. There's too many of them out there right now," Moira said. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"Let's head towards Tyler's village. If anyone can hold against massed attacks it's her," Taoya said, leaping down to land lightly next to them.

"Alright. What are we doing with him?" Roan asked. All five of them stared at the man on the ground who looked back and forth frantically, trying to find a friendly face.

"Leave him. If he's strong he'll survive," Darren said.

"And he'll fucking hate us for torturing him. We should make it clean and fast, not leave someone behind," Roan countered. Taoya winced but nodded as did Moira. All eyes turned to Harris who sighed and did the deed, his sword whipping around and sending the survivor's head rolling free.

"He had nothing. The bonus was pathetic as well," Harris said after a minute.

"Not a single credit?" Roan asked. Darren was already leading them away, cutting through the forest as if it were bright as day.

"None. Must have something similar to us, funneling all the money upward," Harris said.

"The bonus?" Roan asked.

"Five hundred."" That's half of what we got from Lester. It has to be performance based." Roan sat on that as they ran, cutting through the woods quickly. With Darren leading them there was no chance of ambushes hitting them or even falling over a tree. The fire of Village 2 faded but left enough light on the horizon to make the woods gloomy rather than pitch black. Time passed swiftly as they got closer to where Tyler was positioned. It was the sounds of fighting that alerted them to it.

Screams that sounded much too human rang out. Bursts of orange light appeared now and then from ahead as shamans kept firing their staffs.

"Same as last night," Darren ordered as they got closer. Roan moved forward with Harris now that they were free of any potential ambushes. Moira was in the back of the line with Darren while Taoya started to stray off at an angle, creating space for them. More trees rushed past them and then the view opened up to Tyler's village. Where the last village had been in tatters, walls fallen and buildings burning, Tyler's was only partially there.

Ladders had managed to be secured and goblins flew up the wall where they battled against mobs and climbers in equal number. A squad of ogres slammed a battering ram against the gates which cracked precariously with every attack. Anytime the defenders started to rally bolts of fire would launch out and scorch the general vicinity of the wall.

"Kill the shamans first and then the battering ram team. Taoya, you see the hobs?" Darren asked as they perched right behind the goblins.

"I don't see any of them, but there's a big melted patch near the edge of the building. Think Tyler blew her shot too early," Taoya said from their right.

"Damnit. Alright, Taoya has the hobs if they appear with Roan and Harris providing support. Moira, we need to get you into that village and start healing and getting their fighters back on their feet. I'll escort you in and start rallying the defenses," Darren said.

"Alright, Roan. You want the honors, or should I?" Harris asked, pointing at the line of shamans ahead of them.

"We need to hit them before their shields go up. Take the one on the right, I'll get the one on the left. Darren and Moira can go by after we kill them," Roan said, moving slightly to the left to look at the shaman. Six goblins walked around the shaman without a care, none of them looking behind them. And why should they? They were the ones who owned the night. Roan stalked forward and out of the corner of his eye saw that Harris was doing the same.

Step by step they got closer, the horde fighters completely oblivious. He cocked the hammer back and lunged, crossing the last few feet in a burst of speed. The hammer head crushed the shaman's skull with a single blow, the lean figure fell bonelessly to his feet while the supposed guards cried out in horror, running away from him. It took a moment as he reaped them, hammer pulverizing each of the small goblins and tossing them away.

To his right there was a strangled cry and the shaman staggered, blood spurting out in arcs as it clutched at its throat. Harris was nearly as fast as Roan was as he killed the six guard goblins, but the cries of the small creatures had been heard. At the back of the horde, goblins began to turn and look at them.