1.18 – Goblin Stronghold II

The four of them pushed past the undergrowth and dead branches that concealed the cave entrance. Just past the opening itself, the ceiling was tall enough for Rika and the others to easily stand at their full height. It was still narrow, and they had to proceed single file. Other than Kriztan’s tracking that had led them here, and the earlier notification that this was their destination, there weren’t any immediate signs of habitation. That changed just a short way in, past the first bend in the gently sloping passage leading deeper into the earth.

After the bend, the passage leveled out and opened into a decently sized chamber. Once claiming the area, the goblins had clearly gotten to work. Sharpened stakes had been driven into the ground, forming a makeshift palisade across the middle of the chamber. A small opening in the center served as an entrance to the tunnel system beyond. Spaced along the cavern walls, torches burned in stands fashioned of lashed-together wood and bone. Worst part, though, the whole place stank.

“Why didn’t the goblin warriors make a stand here?” Rika asked. “It would have made more sense.”

“Goblins aren’t known for their strategic minds,” Kriztan said over his shoulder as he followed Vilmos past the stake wall.

Rika didn’t argue. By now she’d taken the temperature of how things were. Vilmos and Kriztan were always right, and any objection she or Erik could level would just be waved off. Didn’t matter that the goblins had displayed the ability to plan and execute an ambush, of course. While she might think the other two were underestimating the threat they faced, she had to admit Vilmos was right about one thing.

They had defeated the attacks fairly handily so far. The ambush at the camp had posed little threat to the group. Rika figured she’d have been able to deal with it on her own, were it not for the skirmishers in the trees. Kriztan had at least made himself useful there. The charge from the goblin warriors on the way to the cave had given them a bit more trouble, sure. But they’d managed well enough. Erik had kept them all in good condition, and Vilmos had filled his role as Bastion well enough to give Kriztan and Rika free rein against the pack. Two attacks, two decisive victories, and exactly zero real problems so far. At least from the goblins.

The updated quest description bothered her, and it clearly bothered Erik, too. But Vilmos and Kriztan were determined to take their victories as irrefutable evidence this was well within their means. Despite her worry, Rika admitted they hadn’t been given much reason to think otherwise.

Beyond the goblins’ palisade, three tunnels led away from their current chamber. Kriztan did a quick scout down each of them. The two leftmost tunnels lead to dead-end chambers. One held stores of javelins and other weapons, looted food, and the crude armor the goblins girded themselves in. The other chamber contained a small cooking fire beneath a drafty crack in the ceiling, and a dozen or so hide and fur sleeping spots. The third tunnel, furthest to the right, extended deeper into the larger cave system.

As they made their way down the passage, Kriztan started complaining about the cramped space. “Hard to really fight here, especially if I want to get a good angle for a throw.”

“Stick to the middle of the group, then,” Vilmos said.

Rika couldn’t help but agree with him. While the passage was just wide enough that they could walk three abreast through most of it, it was cramped to do so. The walls were a lot closer than she’d have liked, and their ability to maneuver in here was constrained. All this despite clear evidence that the passage had been widened. The telltale scratches of tools marked large sections of the walls on either side, and the passage itself was of a fairly uniform width. Torches once more lined the way at regular intervals.

The tunnel again started sloping down. In some places where it grew too steep, crude steps had been cut into the rock floor. The air was far more damp down here that above, and the air still and cool. Despite that, Rika couldn’t help the sweat on her palms. Whether it was just the whole “first real quest” thing getting to her, or the prickling sense at the back of her neck that caused her to more and more frequently check over her shoulder, she wasn’t sure. But the further in they went, one undeniable truth loomed larger in her thoughts—the further they had to go to get out.

The first attack came after they’d been in the passage for a good quarter of an hour.

Nearly two dozen goblin warriors, all level eight and nine, came screaming down the passage behind them. Rika acted first, grabbing Erik and shoving him toward the front of their procession, where Vilmos and Kriztan walked. She planted herself in the passage as best she could and tried not to focus on just how much space there was to either side of her. The goblins were small enough, coming up to just above her waist, that they could easily fit four or five abreast in the tunnel. A tunnel that, as she faced down their assault, seemed made specifically for this type of attack.

The first warrior reached her. Its spiked club slammed into her shield, and for just an instant she buckled under the blow. Then the goblins were all around her, surging past, lashing out at her exposed flanks or rushing Erik behind her. Her first instinct was to fall back. Get to the others and cluster up. But a glance behind her showed she was already cut off. Erik glowed with the telltale gold of his long and slow healing skill, Mend. He fought the goblins off as best he could with his quarterstaff, but it amounted to little more than chaotic flailing.

A hammer cracked against her knee, causing her to stumble. Just payment for her slip of attention. She grimaced and shifted her weight. Hopefully Erik would throw her a heal before her leg gave out.

In torch-lit gloom, the umbral sheath of Dark Strike was hard to make out, but the skill was no less effective. The burst of dark energy surged out from the warrior she connected with, and a pained scream followed half a heartbeat later. Blood pumped out of the deep wound at the base of the goblin’s neck.

To her right, the press of goblins buckled, then fell back. Then Vilmos was there. His lamellar coat was still bloody from their first fight, and already it had collected a fresh spattering of red. He slammed his shield into the goblin warrior that Rika had just wounded. It stumbled, then just sort of half stood, half slumped in a daze. Rika ended it.

Enemy Slain: Goblin Warrior – Level 9

“Hold the line,” Vilmos grunted, hitting two more of the warriors before him with a Cleave. By now his class feature, Forceful Presence, had pulled the attention of most goblins his way. “Erik’s wounded, but he’ll make it. Both his healing skills are on cooldown, so you’re on your own for now.”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Not what she wanted to hear, but it was better than their Support lying dead in the passage. No word on Kriztan, though, so she assumed they couldn’t count on his help. As much as she hated to admit it, he put out a fair bit more damage than she did. Especially if he could get a good angle on their foes and throw his daggers without worry.

Dark Strike I: 2 seconds

Rika fended off an attack from the warrior in front of her, biding her time. She slammed the metal rim of her round shield into the makeshift targe of half-rotted boards it used as a shield, creating an opening for herself. Then her sword fell in a strong overhand stroke.

Dark Strike I: 12 seconds

Enemy Slain: Goblin Warrior – Level 8

Blood and darkness sprayed from the wound, and the goblin pitched forward. As it fell, a ball of pressure formed in her stomach, just below her ribs. She risked a quick look at the surrounding carnage, hardly believing she drew close to a level up again. While she’d been engaged fending off the attack from behind, Vilmos and Kriztan had put in work.

It looked as though a third of the goblins lay dead or dying in the passage. Mostly the ones that had pushed their way past her in the initial push. Kriztan fought nearby in melee with his short blade in one hand, and a dagger in the other. Vilmos had now planted himself firmly in the passage, and nearly all the surviving goblins were now focused on him. Erik tossed a Mend her way, then a Quick Heal on Vilmos.

Most of the kill notifications had slipped by her, in the way the messages and torrent of information Chryson constantly fed her tended to. Without the Oracle to sort and manage all the information related to her class, the quests, notifications, and so on, she couldn’t imagine how anyone would go about their lives, let alone fight for the same.

With their back line secure, Rika pushed forward, taking a position on Vilmos’s left. Their shields formed a wall in the center of the passage, while their weapons made deadly work on the outer edges. Rika blocked and shoved and struck true as she was able. Kill by kill, the pressure in her core grew. The goblin warriors were certainly worth the extra effort it took to fell them.

A barely perceptible whistling was all the warning they had of the attack’s second stage. Before she’d truly registered the faint sound sailing over the fray, a half-dozen arrows slammed into her back. Most bounced off the brigandine plates riveted to her coat, but a handful struck true. Pain seared through her as the jagged arrowheads tore through the leather, then the flesh beneath.

Minor Bleed x4: 6 seconds

Rika had already turned, and was several steps down the slope before Vilmos yelled his orders.