The skirmish was over and all the wolf riders were fleeing for their lives, but something still felt off to Varre. That leader seemed different. None of the goblins who fought in the battle of the stream crossing, or the ones assaulting Papworth looked quite like this one. Could it be possible that this strangely dressed creature was the true commander of their forces?

  If so, then what was he doing here, away from the main battle?

  No matter what the real reason was, the truth was that this stranger was at a position of weakness now. He only had a handful of guards with him. If there ever was a chance to learn anything about this strange enemy, it had to be taken now.

  “Hakon!” Varre called out, “get a dozen men and go after that strange goblin! The one wearing the skull hat!”

  The captain was still angry at having the monarch undertake such a risky maneuver, but he understood time was of the essence. He immediately organized a few of the Royal Guards and sent them after the fleeing leader. He put one of his most veteran knights in charge of the mission. Hakon needed to remain here in person, lest the king did something irresponsible again.

  The rest of the knights quickly secured the area and untied the rescued woodcutters. Varre decided to check in on them in person.

  “Thank you for rescuing us, sire!” the oldest one among them said, rubbing his sore wrists, “we thought we were goners for sure.”

  “You’re safe now,” the king reassured him, “do you have any injured? We have healers that can help.”

  “No sir,” the woodcutter replied, “old Jim got a nasty wound, but he didn’t make it through the night. The rest have only scrapes and bruises.”

  The gave Varre some pause. “Did you say through the night?” He looked up at the sky. The sun was moving beyond the horizon and the sky was turning a dark blueish color, but it explicitly wasn’t night just yet.

  “Yes sir,” the old man said, “he gave up the ghost just before dawn. The goblins tried to patch him up, but not much you can do to spilled guts. I doubt they really cared though.”

  This was even stranger. If what the woodcutter said was true, then the attack really did happen last night. Long before Varre’s troops arrived in the area. Before his scouts even knew about the goblins gathering around Papworth in the first place.

  Just as he was about to start thinking of the implications, his train of thought was interrupted by Hakon. “Your majesty, the area is secure, but we shouldn’t stay here. We have enough horses for everyone. Let’s get them mounted and return to the battlefield.”

  “Majesty? Wait…” the woodcutter widened his eyes, slowly realizing who had come to his rescue.

  “Good point. Let’s get out of here,” the king agreed, “we shall continue this later good man. Let’s have my physicians look you over.”

  The horses didn’t need to rush as much on the return trip, so it took a couple more minutes. By the time Varre returned to Papworth, a total of twenty minutes had passed. Enough for the fight to be decided.

  Both Gregory and Khoman had cleared up the wolf riders on the Eastern side of the stream by now. A few of the knights gathered around the royal banner that was left with Duke Jan, while the rest went further.

  A few were riding through the village, assembling the peasants into groups and doing a quick headcount to ensure everyone was present. Horses were swiftly being organized for everyone, to allow for a quick retreat if necessary. The others had already gone to the Western side of the stream and were spreading throughout the area, hunting down any of the remaining wolf riders there.

  The central force meanwhile had fully engaged with the main goblin formation and was hard at work culling their numbers. The creatures probably would have had better chances had they stayed in the forest, but since they wanted to draw the humans out, they needed to advance into the open fields.

  The goblins did the best they could, gathering into a defensible hollow square formation, but they lacked the numbers to stand against hundreds of knights. The cavalry took their time, slowly passing by the enemy and using their lances to try and pick them from a safe distance.

  Even if they were outnumbered several times over, they heavy horsemen could have charged straight through the square and dispatched their enemies directly. The animals were powerful enough to smash through wooden shields and goblins alike. The only problem were the casualties. The sharp spears would slay a lot of mounts in the process.

  This was a decisive, but expensive maneuver, reserved for important battles. Not ones like this, where victory was just a matter of time. The humans had to rush in the beginning, but once all their forces were out in the field, they could slow down and finish the enemy off at their leisure.

  “I’m glad to see you’re back safely,” Jan said, as soon as Varre was within earshot, “I take it all of your subjects are nice and safe now? Tucked into bed and kissed goodnight?”

  The king frowned. “What? Was I supposed to let the goblins slaughter them all instead?”

  “No, no, by all means no,” the duke raised his arms defensively, “keep building up that image of the kind monarch, concerned about his people. The troops will eat it up,” he chuckled.

  “That stressed huh?” Varre asked, recognizing the commander’s unusual mood, “is there some kind of problem?”

  “Aside from my monarch sneaking off alone into goblin infested woods?” Jan grinned, “no, everything’s peachy. Too peachy if you ask me,” he turned serious, “what the hell was the point of dragging us out here? They’ll lose the battle and you came back safely. Were we mistaken after all?”

  “Something is definitely up,” the king grimaced, “apparently those woodcutters were attacked yesterday night. The goblins just kept that hidden until now. I think we’ll have to ask these laborers a few more questions together once we’re done here.”

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  That peaked the duke’s curiosity, but he only nodded. The battle was going well, but they still couldn’t be sure what the goblins had prepared. They didn’t need any more interruptions.

  The caution proved unnecessary. Within the next twenty minutes, the last remaining enemy was slain and the light cavalry was spreading out through the Western woods, making sure it hid no more surprises. By now, the Eastern side was pretty well explored and there was a constant stream of messengers passing back and forth between the monarch and the approaching infantry.

  With the battle over, the royal entourage proceeded down into the village to examine the scene in detail. It was already getting dark, so the army had no choice but to spend the night in Papworth. Fortunately the fields would give them enough space to make camp.

  Varre decided that it was finally the time to get some answers. The old woodcutter was brought to the local magistrate’s manor, where the rescued locals could expect a warm meal.

  Before the king could make it inside, he was stopped by the Captain of the Royal Guard.

  “Your majesty,” he said, “I needed to speak to you about today.”

  Varre sighed. “Is this about saving those people?”

  “Yes, it is about saving those people, damn it,” Hakon glared before clearing his throat, “I apologize, your majesty. But you must understand that your safety is paramount.”

  “I know, but I couldn’t let the goblins slaughter them,” the king replied.

  “I understand your majesty, but think of the consequences,” the captain said, “this was an obvious trap. By some miracle, the enemy had no intention of killing you tonight, but we cannot be sure it will go the same way next time,” he gestured wildly, “no more stunts!”

  “I know. But I had you there to help me,” Varre responded, though it was clear the argument was getting to him.

  “It is my duty to protect you,” Hakon agreed, “I and all of my men would gladly give up our lives for your sake. But what if it’s not enough,” he paused, “we are lost without you, your majesty. We cannot afford that at this stage of the war. You have no heirs. No one to take over should you fall in battle. It’d be the end of Logres.”

  “There’s not much I can do about that right now,” the king chuckled, “these things take time you know.”

  The captain sighed. “Just please promise me that the next time this happens you’ll think things through. You won’t just bite the bait.”

  “I’ll be more careful,” Varre replied a little vaguely,

  “Good enough,” Hakon said, “now I believe it’s time for the interrogation.”

  Once he was fed, the woodcutter was brought into a separate chamber of the manor where a few of the king’s advisors were already waiting. The old man hasn’t sat down yet. Instead, he was pacing around the room, nervous about the situation.

  He fell down to his knees as soon as he saw Varre enter. “Your majesty, forgive this fool for his actions. I didn’t know…”

  “Relax friend,” the kind raised his arm to stop him, “you’ve done nothing wrong. Now take a seat, we’d like to ask you some questions.”

  The woodcutter wordlessly stood back up and walked to the table. He sat down gingerly and stared at the nobles gathered around him.

  “What is your name?” the monarch asked.

  “I uhh… Hobart, sire. I’m the oldest of the woodcutters in that outpost, so all the men look up to me.”

  “Very good. I am Varre,” the king smiled, “now please tell me everything that’s happened. What do you remember?”

  “Right,” the old man cleared his throat, “my people work in that camp, cutting down trees and sending them down the stream to towns all over Wantage. Sometimes as far down as Amesbury. We mostly live in the wilderness by ourselves, though a few of the men brought their families with them.

  “Yesterday started off like normal. After breakfast, we went to work and started chopping down trees. It’s hard work sire, but it pays well. Around midday a few folks went down to Papworth, while the rest relaxed in the camp.

  “When they returned, things started to get a little tense. We could hear wolves howling in the distance,” he shuddered, “not an uncommon thing in these parts, you know? But it’s still not a nice thing to meet the bastards out by yourself. We decided to stay back in the camp for the day.

  “Normally the beasts don’t get close to our huts, but we have a few dogs around just in case. We spent the evening drinking and then went to bed. But at night, the animals started barking like mad. I took my axe and got outside to take a look, just as I heard the dogs whimper in pain.

  “The camp was surrounded by these damn goblins. It’s a good thing I emptied my bowels before going to bed that night, or I’d need to have my pants cleaned in Papworth again,” he grimaced, remembering the status of his audience, “a-anyway, my grip loosened and I dropped my axe. That’s probably what saved my life.

  “Most of the other men were outside by now, but they were just as shocked as I was. Except Jim. That damned fool,” he shook his head, “when the goblins started coming closer, he yelled and charged at one of them. That son of a bitch spearman jabbed Jim his spear and cut his stomach open.

  “Jim fell to the ground and the whole camp turned to chaos. The women started squealing, the children crying. Most of the men were about to start fighting though. We knew we didn’t stand a chance, but we weren’t about to let those monsters slaughter us like pigs!

  “But then that weird one, the one wearing the wolf skull? He yelled at his own people and the goblins calmed down. They kept their distance, holding their spears up high and surrounding us. They gathered us like cattle, bunching us up before throwing ropes around our necks and tying us up.

  “I tried to fight. I’d rather die from a blade than be eaten alive by those monsters. But they wanted to take us alive for some reason. They tied everyone up and put us inside one of the huts. We waited and waited.

  “I was surprised. They actually took care of us. No food, but at least they brought us a bucket of water. They even tried to bandage Jim’s stomach, but he was too far gone. He died before dawn and they threw his body to the wolves they brought with them.

  “We sat in that hut all the way until the evening. Then, when we heard a loud horn, they took us outside and tried to get us to move. To gods’ know where. Luckily you showed up in time, sire.”

  “Interesting,” Elvira said after a while, “and no one from Papworth found it strange that none of you came down to the village today?”

  “It’s a two, three hour walk down there, my lady,” Hobart explained, “we go there on most days, but not always.”

  “Especially if they also heard the wolf howling,” Jan agreed, “if the peasants knew the beasts were in the area, they probably wouldn’t stray too far out from the village.”

  “I still find it unacceptable that our scouts missed this,” Hakon crossed his arms, “how did that happen again?”

  “I told you,” the duke frowned, “they keep their distance. We estimate the scale of the enemy forces by the area they occupy and the density of their patrols.”

  “So you’re telling me that we are always at risk of having such a group ambush us?” the captain countered, “wherever our army is marching, there can be hundreds of goblins just sitting there in hiding?”

  “Not quite,” Gregory argued, “the forest is dense and massive, but the Elves are amazing at spotting hiding places. They know where to look. My men are faster, but they are still learning. We need time to check for these things. But rest assured, whenever we march, we deal with all enemy patrols. We don’t just let them be.”

  “We were in a rush,” Jan continued, “we needed to get to Papworth as quickly as we could. We missed a small group that occupied this woodcutting camp. That’s all. It was too small to be a threat. Now, if we had seen a dozen such groups, then we would know to expect well over a thousand enemies hiding all over the woods. That would change things. We’d consider the risks.”

  Hakon didn’t seem fully convinced, but he was satisfied for now. He only grunted as he leaned back.

  “What I still don’t understand is why the attack happened yesterday?” Varre noted, “if the goblins were after the captives, why wait an entire day to move them? Why not flee at dawn? We never would have even found out about this attack,” he paused, “they wanted us there for some reason. They wanted us to see the woodcutters at risk, on their terms. But why?”

  Why? And why was their leader stationed there, rather than at the main battle?