[Questline Updated: Defend the Village of Brindlecross]

  William’s eyes widened. He opened his interface.

  [SYSTEM ERROR: Incomplete Interface]

  [Reputation] The Kingdom of Mercia Rep: 12,098, SYSTEM ERROR

  [Quests] Clear the Caves of Goblins and Other Threats, Shadows of the Goblin King, There Can Be Only One, Defend the Village of Brindlecross, SYSTEM ERROR

  William stared in confusion; he didn’t know whether to smile or frown. That’s all my Mercia rep recovered? Prior to his game interface breaking, he had 11,598 rep; he’d recovered it all in one go, and it had increased by 500.

  Will’s thoughts were interrupted by a nasally voice behind him.

  “Oi! Big guy! You still got all your head parts working, or did all that digging knock a few more loose?”

  William turned to find Master Nobby the runesmith standing there, soot-streaked and grinning, holding up a thick, leather-bound notebook that looked twice the size of his own head.

  “As agreed,” Nobby announced, puffing out his chest, “everything I discovered about the runes.” He shook the book, a small cloud of dust escaping. “Detailed schematics, layered glyph interpretations, speculative aether feedback loops. Basically, everything you’ll never understand.”

  “What?” William asked, already lost.

  Nobby stared at him, eyes narrowing as though examining a disappointing experiment. “We had an agreement, remember? You let me study the runes on your sword, I share my notes, you pretend to understand them.” He enunciated each word. “Notes. On. Runes.”

  William blinked. “Oh. Right. The runes on my sword.” Despite having the gnome runesmith turn up every evening to study his sword, with all the preparations to defend Brindlecross, he’d forgotten all about the deal he’d made with him.

  Nobby tutted. “Bravo! The big man remembers!” He held up the book with both hands as though presenting a prize cabbage to the village idiot at the fair. “I’ve even simplified it. Used small words. Added pictures. Should be foolproof, even for you.”

  “Thanks… I think?” Will took the notebook.

  Nobby huffed, already turning away. “Don’t thank me! Education is a burden I bravely endure for idiots like you!”

  Will flipped through the pages. Lines, circles, and symbols scrawled everywhere, accompanied by what appeared to be several angry doodles of himself labelled ‘Subject displays chronic rune-illiteracy and severe brain damage’.

  Nobby called back, “Try not to drool on it. The ink runs.”

  “I’ll… keep that in mind,” William replied while turning the book sideways to see if it made more sense. He felt like a dyslexic neanderthal examining advanced calculus translated into Egyptian hieroglyphs.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  The gnome waved over his shoulder without looking back. “And remember, if your sword explodes, it’s probably user error.” He chuckled. “Or you staring too hard at the runes.”

  “Hilarious.” William shook his head and then muttered, “I think?” He watched the gnome totter off as doubts crept into his mind. Could my sword actually explode? He shook his head, deciding the gnome was messing with him, probably. He sighed, looking down at the notebook’s contents. “This is going to take time and effort to understand.” He stored the notebook in his spatial storage.

  ***

  The sound of horns came first, deep and blaring through the forest gloom. They didn’t sound like music, but rather like beasts howling in hunger, and the noise made the hair rise on the backs of every neck in Brindlecross.

  Dogs barked behind shuttered doors. Mothers clutched their little ones tighter in the bunker below. On the palisade, men and women swallowed hard and gripped their weapons, their breaths fogging in the cold night air. The entire village held its breath, waiting for death to come from the trees.

  Standing on a raised part of the palisade, the elder raised his staff above his head, the firelight catching in the polished wood. “Steady, all of you. You’ve dug the pits, you’ve strung the bows. Do not falter now.” His voice cracked with age, yet it carried weight. “We fight for Brindlecross!”

  The answering cry of ‘For Brindlecross!’ rolled across the two hundred and fifty or so defenders, but William’s throat tightened when he tried to shout with them. Think, analyse, and adapt. He thought to calm himself while gripping his sword harder, the weight of his weapon grounding him. He remembered a guildmate’s voice from years ago, telling him that a blade in his hands could protect more than just himself. At the time, Will thought he was hamming it up for a game streaming service, but tonight he would see if those words held true.

  Beside William, Marie lifted her sword and shouted, “Stand strong and make them bleed for every step!” The steel caught the light in a brief flash before settling into a cold gleam, and Will noticed the set of her jaw. She was ready. He still wasn’t sure that he was.

  The trees disgorged shadows that grew into monstrous forms. Worgs, lean and snarling, pounded across the earth with goblins strapped to their backs. They loped into the clearing, sixty at least, their heavy paws drumming against the earth. The beasts’ glowing yellow eyes fixed hungrily on the village, and their goblin riders shrieked with cruel delight, blowing their crooked horns in a discordant chorus. The ground seemed to shake with the thundering charge, and for one terrible moment, William’s courage wavered.

  “Hold!” Amra, the elven huntress, commanded from a raised platform on the palisade. Her bow was already raised, an arrow nocked. Her silver hair glimmered in the torchlight.“Wait for my mark.” Her voice snapped William back to himself. He swallowed hard and forced his shaking legs to stay rooted.

  Strategically placed wooden spikes funnelled the goblin riders into the killing field, an apparent flat piece of ground with few obstructions. The first rank fell victim to the defenders’ hidden traps. William’s chest jolted when the ground cracked open, and three worgs plunged into a pit with shrieking riders tumbling from their backs. The sound of stakes crunching through flesh echoed, and a spray of hot blood fountained upward. Another beast fell beside them, and the goblins’ laughter broke into shrill cries of surprise.

  A worg stepped into one of the small holes containing a mine; it exploded, and the beast’s leg was mangled beyond recognition. It threw its goblin rider off as it rolled to a halt. Now maimed, it turned back towards the tree line and limped away.

  Will heard a high-pitched laugh from the palisade. He looked back to see Nobby the gnome standing on Grukk’s shoulder. The half-orc Master Blacksmith rested a huge, black war hammer over his other shoulder.

  “Archers!” cried the elven huntress. “Loose!”

  Chapter 026 [Raid Event: First Goblin Wave]