‘Larik, follow him!’ Lothar shouted, keen for the young warrior to get Bletcher to safety.
Lothar advanced on the nearest goblins, giving himself seven actions worth of fighting. Maybe it was the warning they had been given; maybe he was facing a better class of opponent than before; but only two of his sword strokes found their target. His shield work made up for it a little, but five kills still left fourteen goblins ready to get their revenge.
It was more than fortunate that Twerk managed to get in his attack before the greenskins. After spending one action point to reach a crowd of goblins, his twin axes were whirling. His attack put Lothar to shame, connecting with seven axe strikes. The gnome matched Lothar’s results, taking another five out of the equation.
But nine goblins now went on the attack. They weren’t the most fearsome of opponents, but they were cunning. Three each took on Lothar and Twerk, allowing them to unload all their actions into attacks. The remainder each spent an action point to reach The Hoffmeister, Pecs, and Fortune, dragging them into the combat.
The Shield of Resistance helped Lothar see off all but two of the goblin spear strikes. The two that got past his defences knocked him down to 29 hit points, and 7 action points. The actions were as much of a concern as the hit points. Fall too low, and they’d be unable to outpace the goblins, who would now be making their way towards the sound of battle.
Twerk came off slightly worse, dropping to 16 hit points and 4 action points.
The Hoffmeister failed to fend off his opponent’s attacks, dropping to 17 hit points and 4 actions.
Pecs lost only a single hit point, his ability to soak up attacks proving most useful.
Fortune fell to 22 hit points and 5 actions.
The Hoffmeister redeemed himself with some excellent work with the Spear of Riposte, killing both his own opponent, and Pecs’.
Freed, Pecs attacked the three goblins who had piled on Twerk. Lothar would have preferred the pair to have turned and run, but he admired their loyalty to their crew. The big Livanian took out all three goblins, and Lothar had to admit they had been more than efficient.
Fortune had covered the red gem of his sword with a piece of cloth so as not to betray their approach, but Redblade worked just the same. His second slash connected, and killed his opponent outright. He used his remaining three actions to flee, and Lothar thought no less of him for that.
Finally, Larik did as Lothar had ordered him, and dragged Bletcher back the way they had come, towards the edge of the camp.
The next round began. Smoke led the retreat, but after running for four actions was waylaid by a group of five goblins who had probably been chasing them since their incursion into the goblin camp. He had no choice but to fight his way through. Deadly as ever, he killed one with two stabs of his knife.
Lothar swung Slayer in devastating arcs. It took him five actions to finish his three assailants. He could hear goblin voices in every direction, but couldn’t afford to waste time assessing just how bad their situation was. He used his remaining two actions to chase after Smoke, not getting close to the thief by turn end.
Twerk ran after Lothar, then past him, getting as far as Fortune, The Bludgeoner, and Bletcher.
It was the goblins next. Smoke was in trouble, facing four of them alone. The start couldn’t have been much worse, the first goblin getting in two strikes that took 11 points of damage. It was a similar story with the second goblin, only at least it was only 7 damage this time. The thief was left vulnerable, on only 8 hit points. The third goblin only hit once, for only 2 more hit points. Smoke evaded the fourth goblin completely, evening the results—but leaving him on a meagre 6 hit points and 2 action points.
Meanwhile, goblins arrived on the scene from every direction. The closest got within one action point’s range of Pecs, who was at the rear of the spread out Apples. They had to get past the four goblins who blocked their path quickly, or the rest of the greenskins would catch the slowest of Lothar’s crew. And no one could stop to help their comrades now—that would be suicide. It had become every man for himself.
The Hoffmeister used all 4 action points to run towards Smoke’s position, but he came up short. In a strange way, the thief’s speed had worked against him. He’d run into trouble so far ahead of everyone else that he lacked the support needed in combat.
Pecs’ 5 action points saw him draw level with The Hoffmeister, putting a bit of distance between himself and the chasing goblins.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
It took The Bludgeoner 2 actions to reach the line of four goblins. It meant the Level 2 warrior only had one chance to make an impression on them. He fumbled it, his mace swing too slow and obvious to catch his agile goblin opponent.
Bletcher, too, ran into the line of goblins. Lothar experienced a sinking feeling. With all due respect to his other mercs, each was replaceable. Bletcher wasn’t, and while he had been more than useful in tracking down the mage, he had nothing to offer in a fight like this. His two strikes with the Staff of Warning were game, one of them even striking a goblin, but its basic hide armour was enough to protect it.
Fortune reached the line of goblins after one action. His first strike with Redblade was true, its +8 damage bonus to greenskins turning a wound into a kill. His second sword strike was a repeat of the first. There were only two goblins left now, and the squad’s chances of survival were growing. Eddie’s third strike was his best yet, not even requiring his sword’s bonus to get another kill. His final slash completed a clean sweep of hits, reducing the goblin to 3 hit points. His attempt to finish the creature off with his shield failed, leaving it annoyingly able to impede the group’s progress.
Smoke decided to risk an action to finish off the last goblin, which he accomplished. It allowed him to move a bit closer to safety with his second action.
Lothar had 7 actions with which to make his escape. They took him past the line of dead goblins, past Smoke even, right to the edge of the goblin camp. Ahead, he could see the looming grey rock where Mental and Mila waited.
Twerk was right behind him, giving the gnome a good chance of reaching safety.
The goblin throng poured after them. But the only Apple slow enough to catch was Smoke, and he had a good head start on the pack.
The Hoffmeister drew level with Lothar, and Pecs made it even farther. The Bludgeoner and Bletcher reached Pecs’ position, then Fortune got as far as the giant rock.
Mental appeared from the shadows, axe in hand. ‘Keep going,’ she shouted, fresh for the fight.
But Lothar didn’t think they’d need her help to extricate themselves. He reached the rock himself. ‘Mila,’ he called. ‘See to Smoke.’ The Livanian rushed out and met the thief, and started to patch up the worst of his wounds. Her two potions of healing could be saved for another day; another mission.
The goblins chased, but were yet to reach the line of their fallen brethren. It might have been a different story without Fortune’s speedy dismantling of the enemy.
Those goblin archers close enough, released their first volley of arrows. Only Pecs was struck, for a single point of damage. There weren’t enough of them to worry the Apples. Yet.
The rest of the squad joined them at the rock. Lothar looked across to Mila and Smoke. The medic’s ministrations had added 4 hit points to the Alinko’s total, enough to regain an action point. That was all they needed.
Beyond the rock, a faint pink line appeared.
‘That’ll do,’ Lothar said. ‘Let’s get out of here.’
***
King Vralriaklug of the Never Defeated Goblins strode through the chaos of his camp. It had been going so well: the rich lands of the humans opening up to his army. They had been close to settling—taking control of more than enough land to replace the home which had been stolen from them. He had envisaged himself becoming the predominant power in the region.
Now, hundreds of his warriors had gone running off south, another group was heading east, and no one could give him a satisfactory explanation as to why. Worst of all, his mage, Gokul, lay dead. Their alliance had held the tribe together, and got them this far. The king knew he was vulnerable without the magic Gokul provided. He was just another warlord, in a land of warlords, with an army badly decimated by recent fighting.
He grabbed at the goblins milling about, trying to impose some order. ‘Go south,’ he instructed them, ‘and tell those vermin to return here immediately! There’ll be no mercy for anyone who disobeys me.’
He set off for the eastern edge of his camp, intent on enforcing his authority over his foolish people. The palm of his hand itched for the hilt of his sword. It’ll be a surprise to me if I don’t kill someone soon.
Goblins ran in every direction as he continued to issue his commands, no one willing to test his patience. He felt a presence behind him and stopped to find one of his goblins following him. He didn’t recognise him—tall, and with an idiot’s face, perhaps he was a son of Ekrivalgrian. ‘Do something useful and find me a horn,’ he instructed. ‘Damned goblins only listen when there’s a horn telling them what to do.’
The idiot bobbed his head in acknowledgement, yet his feet seemed stuck to the ground.
‘Now!’ the king boomed, and the lanky fool finally got the message.
The king came upon more dead goblins—five of them had been cut down here. It looked like they had tried to waylay Gokul’s assassins. Tried, and failed.
Footsteps behind him. He turned. Well, by Gehenna, if it wasn’t that lanky idiot again. ‘Well? Have you found one?’
The clod looked around in all directions, as if oblivious his king was talking to him.
When Vralriaklug registered the pain, it was already too late. He hadn't noticed the thin-bladed knife. The goblin stabbed him for a third time, and his vision went blurry. He could have sworn his killer’s face changed in those last moments, replaced by a human visage.
The king collapsed to the ground. The Baron had all the time in the world to deliver the death blow, before running off into the night.
MISSION COMPLETE
SUCCESS: The Goblin King was killed
Some of your mercs improved their stats:
Twerk:
Agility +1
The Baron:
Agility + 1
Bletcher:
Agility + 1
The Bludgeoner:
Agility + 1
The Hoffmeister:
Agility + 1
Pecs:
Skill with polearms: proficient
Might + 1
Hit Points + 1
Fortune:
Skill with swords: Master
Might + 1
Hit Points + 1
Smoke:
Grit + 1
Hit Points + 1
Action Points + 1
Stiff:
Might + 1
Hit Points + 1
No mercs levelled up
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