We all turned and looked in the direction Tobias had pointed. A group of figures, visible as shimmers in the air, similar to heat waves prevalent in the desert around us, advanced from the dunes. They were about thirty feet away, but stopped moving when Tobias shouted. Their camouflage took greater effect when they stopped, rendering them nearly invisible.

  “I don’t see anything,” Arlo hedged.

  “I do,” I observed, “They look like a group of heat waves over there.” I pointed where Tobias had pointed before.

  Five arrows erupted from the hidden figures. One missed Lesh by a few feet, who flew high above the area in circles. Two were aimed at Tobias. He managed to deflect one with his bow and caught the other, nocking and firing a motion so smooth it had to be a skill.

  The returned arrow sank into a creature, canceling out the invisibility. A short figure wrapped in tan strips of leather and canvas grasped at the arrow protruding from its midsection. Its eyes glowed green, its face obscured behind a veil. A discarded shortbow lay at its feet.

  The other two arrows flashed at me. I had been so distracted by Tobias’s counter that I didn’t notice until Katarina dashed in front of me, catching one arrow and deflecting the other with it in one motion.

  “Head out of the clouds, luteboy,” she said with a smile before throwing the arrow at the same creature Tobias had hit. Her thrown arrow erred to the right as it flew, missing the creature.

  “Damn, too far,” she said.

  I pulled the enchanted coin from my inventory. It seemed damage nullified the invisibility they used and they were far enough away that there should be no collateral damage from the detonation.

  “Take cover!” I shouted. Katarina, who stood right in front of me still, widened her eyes for a second before dropping to the ground. Everyone else also either dropped to the ground or jumped behind the cart as I threw the coin. I aimed the throw past the group of shimmering heat waves — and one injured creature.

  The enchanted coin landed in the sand, sending up a small plume of sand with the impact and sinking below. I released all four charges and the coin exploded, sending tiny grains of sand and bent pieces of copper flying out in a dome of destructive force.

  The strength of the explosion startled me. I had never completed a performance as high, combined with the boost that my lute gave performances. The invisibility was torn from the ambushers as they were thrown back, their outfits shredded by sand and debris. There were a lot more of them than I had originally thought.

  Thrown Weapon skill increase! (6/50)

  Magical Explosives skill increase! (6/50)

  Though outside of the immediate blast radius, a few shards of copper still plinked against the side of the cart. The ox screamed and started running, pulling the cart down the road. Balen cursed from the driver’s seat in the cart, trying to get the animal under control, though it was difficult to hear exactly what was said with the ringing in my ears.

  The figures that had been scattered by the explosion began standing. Most of them had shortbows and began pulling arrows out of quivers — that looked much larger on the smaller creatures. Two of the creatures pulled out long spears, but most alarming was the slightly smaller creature that held out one clawed hand and sent a bolt of lightning flashing at me.

  The lightning seared my shoulder as it hit me, locking up my muscles. Pain. Horrible pain, followed by a numbness on my shoulder. I was thrown ten feet to the left, crashing to the road and jerking as lingering electrical energy surged through my body. I couldn’t think or move. My world was pain.

  Elsetha appeared before me, crouching and extending a hand. The pain subsided, then was gone. I heard Arlo roaring, engaged with three of the creatures in close combat. They discarded their bows and drew daggers.

  Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

  As I watched, Arlo swung his sword in a low arc at them. They dodged back before running back in, daggers flashing. Arlo bashed two of them away with his shield, but the third sank a dagger into his right thigh. He screamed.

  Hannah materialized next to Arlo, plunging one of her daggers into the creature that had stabbed Arlo. She rolled away as the creature’s lifeless body collapsed to the ground, dodging an arrow.

  Tobias fired a stream of arrows at the creatures. Six already lay in the bloody sand, pin-cushioned with arrows. They had noticed this as well and a handful of the creatures lobbed arrows at him.

  Katarina fought near the back of the group, clearly trying to fight her way to the mage. Three more bodies lay in her wake, bent at unnatural angles. She jumped and slapped the side of one of the creatures in the head, sending its body in a sideways flip to land motionless on the ground. Five more of the creatures stood between her and the smaller spellslinger.

  The creature shouted something in a guttural language and the five creatures in front dove to the side, just as another bolt of lightning took Katarina in the chest. She flew back, landing in the sand and convulsing as bolts of electricity surged through her body.

  I activated the Radiant Winds stored in my lute, sending the stream of large orbs out and to Katarina. She jumped to her feet and ran back towards the goblins with a snarl.

  Abernathy screamed behind me, and I looked around to see an arrow sticking out of Elsetha’s neck. She held it loosely, blood burbling from her lips and seeping through her fingers. I pulled out a health potion.

  “Shit, shit. Here, drink this — no, put it in your Quick Slot and consume it from there. This is going to hurt.” I spoke in a frenzied burst of words and hoped she understood me. She gaped her mouth open a few times, then focused on me. Tears streamed down her face, her eyes were wide with terror. She did not take the healing potion from my hands.

  “Fuck, Abe, help me with Els,” I said. He hurried over. “I’m going to pull this arrow out, pour that potion in her mouth when I do.”

  “Let me pour it first, so it can start working,” he directed.

  I nodded and he uncorked the vial, pouring it in her mouth. She gurgled and coughed, spilling most of the potion. I pulled the arrow, which was the wrong thing to do. The barbed end of the arrow tore the side of her throat out. Blood splattered all over the three of us. Her eyes widened for a second before beginning to lose focus.

  I pulled another healing potion out and poured it over the wound. It was not as effective this way, but it did stop the torrent of blood loss. Abernathy pulled a different, larger vial from his inventory and poured it in her mouth. More than half of it was still lost to spills and coughs, but he got enough in to mend the ragged wound in her throat and bring focus back to her eyes.

  She sat up, coughing and retching blood for a moment. I glanced at Abernathy, who nodded to me as he withdrew another potion from his inventory, before standing and looking back across the battle.

  Tobias continued firing arrow after arrow at the ambushers, pausing occasionally to glow with a gentle red pulse of energy as he consumed healing potions from his inventory. At least five arrows stuck out of his legs, chest, and shoulder, yet he somehow continued firing arrows.

  Arlo stood against one of the creatures, bashing it then taking its head with a clean horizontal swipe. Katarina disposed of the last creature guarding the mage just as its hand began crackling with electricity. Hannah emerged from the shadow of the mage, ending its spell with a blade across the throat. It fell forward, and everything stood still for a second.

  -DING-

  Welcome to level 10! New Stat Points available for distribution!

  New Class skill obtained, Explosive Resonance.

  I looked down to see Elsetha mostly recovered, Abernathy wiping the blood from her throat. I glanced back up. Arlo was helping Tobias remove arrows. I performed Radiant Winds as I walked over to join them, sending a wave of healing orbs into Tobias. Lesh landed on his shoulder and nuzzled the side of his head.

  “Good job Lesh, you saved us,” he said, reaching up to scratch behind the hawk’s head as Arlo pulled the last arrow free.

  I looked down at the decapitated head of Arlo’s last opponent. The head wraps had fallen away and a humanoid face with yellow skin, large ears that had been bound in the head wrap, and sharp teeth stared up. I examined it.

  Dune Goblin Archer

  “Dune Goblins?” I said as Katarina and Hannah walked up to us. Katarina looked at me, then down, her eyebrows raising. I felt a coldness on my crotch as a gentle wind blew through the area and blushed.

  “Shouldn't have held it if you needed to go. Embarrassing, really.” Katarina said. I raised my eyebrows in response, looking pointedly down at the piss stain adorning her own pants.

  “Yeah yeah, I know, lesson learned. Ugh. That thing was like a super taser,” she admitted. Tobias broke out in laughter. After a second, we all joined in.