Lance and King walked forward and the goblins all stood by the crates separating the bat into equal parts. King was hesitant in his steps, Lance walked forward with a bit more poise. They passed the fire and approached the crates. Once there, King pulled out his water skin taking a sip from it looking around. A goblin hopped up on the crate and put out a gourd to trade King with anticipated hand and a wide toothy grin. King slowly passed the water skin over and the goblin gave him the gourd. The goblin quickly began to guzzle the water down. Lance turned back at that moment and watched as King took a large swig of the gourd. After a second of no reaction his cheeks grew flush. He giggled and grabbed the goblin under his arms and took another drink. Lance raised his burlap brow and the goblins around raised meat and cheered at King for the drink.

  The bat that was cooked was rather plain and Lance wanted to speak up about how to cook it but decided not too. He didn't want to insult them. King began to actually get drunk as the goblins showed him to a small keg they had full of the stuff. Lance began to inspect the campfire rotisserie. The bigger goblin came forward. He was named Grub. He hadn't said much since they came forward but he took a stick and began to undo the poles. Grub grunted as he pressed forward the poles onto Lance. Lance couldn't help but feel like he wronged him, maybe this was his hobby as well. The poles were rather heavy but they did collapse further. They were easily twenty pounds and they would take up more of his bag than he liked. Lance went back to his bags. And began to unload and repack it. A second later Grub chopped his cleaver into the crate heavily and reached over Lance to grab the goblin jerkins.

  He gave them a quick sniff. Looking at Lance standing just over him from behind. The room fell silent again. Lance looked over at King who drunk playing tic tac toe in the sand with a goblin giggled as the room grew quiet. Grax hopped up on the bat furs next to the dagger goblin.

  “ Murders! Thieves! Liar!” He said as he pointed to Lance with his sword.

  Lance quickly looked towards King, Grubs fist came flying into Lance's peripheral vision, he ducked and rolled forward dodging the strike. King stood up, the drunk goblin in front of him still aloof, looked up at him and around as its companions began to scramble, battle ready.

  “Chiten- Arms”

  The goblin looked back up at King, whom he was just having a good time with. Kings arms opened wide, the four of them. The small goblins' mouth began to quiver in fear and he fell back on his butt. Lance from across the room pulled out his axe and goblin longsword. His back to the fire.

  King stood over the goblin. With a bug hand he pointed at the goblin, and gave him a thumbs backward, pointing at the corridor they came from, telling him to leave. The goblin's eyes welled with a tear, but he quickly crawled on all fours towards the exit, before getting up drunkenly shouldering the stone walls for balance then pulling up his cloth pants and running away.

  “Lance, what happened!” He yelled as a goblin ran at him. Daggers twirling in its hands. Lance had Grax, Grub and another goblin getting into a point around him. Back to the fire, separating King from him. Another goblin with a small club, the more sober of the drinking pair stepped to the side of King. King stepped forward, willing his back to Lance as they stood across the fire.

  “The gear.. they recognized it.” Lance said over his shoulder. They spoke in common to each other but Lance turned to Grax and in goblin spoke. “ Grax don't do this, we already made a deal. The other goblins attacked us, we only defended ourselves!”

  Lance knew that it was a lie but one he wished he didn't have to tell, his preconceptions of the goblins had been way off. He had asked Reilly what happened when she was taken by the goblins. She said “Nothing, they just pushed me along a path, I couldn't understand them, I was just scared. Then we found you.” Lance believed these goblins were always meant to guide. Unless provoked. A strange yet easy to miss detail.

  “LIARR! Not arr jobs! Find wishes, bring safe!” Grax yelled seemingly incorrigible.

  Grub poked out towards Lance trying to inch him towards the fire, the other goblin and Grax both swiped out their swords at Lance's legs, however they all seemed hesitant to get too close, Lance was tall and had far more reach. King and the goblins surrounding him had a few swings and misses at each other, Lance and King both seemed hesitant to hurt these goblins. Just as the fight began to stall an arrow came flying, piercing Lance right through the left forearm, his sword wielding arm, his grip quickly let loose the blade and it clattered on the ground as he let out a grunt. Lance and King both looked over at a goblin standing on the bat furs, knocking another arrow.

  “ King! Plan B, wait No PLAN C!” Lance yelled out. “ These goblins just rang the Dinner Bell!”

  DONG!...DONG!

  A large ethereal tower bell appeared over Lance. The two chimes rang out as the pendulum swung. King began to wisp a smoke white steam off his form, and Lance a red mist deep as blood.

  Grub charged at Lance cleaver overhead, Lance dodged to the side, his speed raised, the telegraphed swing all too easy to side step. Lance chopped down catching Grub in the forearm wielding the cleaver leaving it dangling spraying blood at the fire, Grub screamed out. Mere fractions of a second later Lance took a club at his knee bending it inward from behind him, a pop and crunch sound followed as he screamed out in pain. He fell to his knees.

  Across the fire King sighed as the Dinner bell rang, his skin tightened. The goblin twirling daggers cartwheeled in close then swung low aiming for King's leg, it caught him off guard, as he disappeared out of sight below his two pairs of arms in a boxing stance. He felt the swipe of the knife cross his shin back across his calf. He looked down as the club goblin jumped up trying to bonk him on the head. King threw his real arms up to block the top of his head taking the swing to the meaty sides of his forearms. The club snapped over them and the goblin rolled away. King looked down trying to find the dagger goblin to feel a stab in his buttcheek, he turned around hearing Lance cry out in pain. As he looked over the fire Grax was coming in to chop onto Lance's head with his sword.

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  “Chiten- Armor!” King threw one of his bug fists out sending half of that arm flying right at Lance's head. The swarm hit Lance with a decent thud moving his head out of the way just enough to glance a blow off of the helmet that formed out of the bugs in record time. King turned back to the two goblins on his side, the remaining of that bug arm crawled down his leg coating the leg with a large gash in one section of armor. “ LANCE, Swap me!”

  Lance felt the bugs grab onto his sack head and compress into a helmet, leaving him eye holes. A second later the blow of Grax’ sword glanced off of the helmet toward the goblin behind him, Grub still screaming looked down with his anger and pain riddled face. He punched down with his other arm on Lance's head, Lance felt the thud and his vision stirred briefly before he noticed a few bugs flaking off. He looked up and swiped his axe gashing the side of Grub, cleaving further around himself, making Grax and the goblin behind him step back. Grub stumbled backwards panting and grunting. Lance went to stand hearing King call for the swap. He stood up on one leg, he barely stepped on his right. “ Can't legs fucked..” Another arrow came this time at Lance's shoulder. “ Ergggghh you little FUCKER!” He quickly glanced at his health.

  12/30

  King looked back, he turned around quickly and jumped over the fire, he kicked out his leg and the bugs on his leg swarmed Lance's. “ How's that? Better? We gotta hurry. Timers on.” King's bug arm crawled to his chest and out across both arms making his upper armor. He quickly knelt down grabbing the cleaver and sword. The dagger and club goblin rushed in, Grax falling into place as the last point surrounding them. The bow wielding goblin shot out another arrow. This time King stepped in, he swatted at it with the cleavers side shattering it in air.

  Lance looked at the goblins, what was left of their friendly demeanor completely vanished, their eyes held hate, they snarled and became more beastly the more he inspected them. He put a little weight on his leg. It hurt but it was tolerable enough to stand on. He winced but bit his lip. King reached his elbow back touching Lance on the shoulder, the helmet bugs quickly crawled down and over to King making a helmet for him. The goblins tightened their circling as the bow goblin ran into formation now wielding the large bone it had as a club.

  Lance pulled a dagger from his hip, holding it downward. The club goblins on his side came in together to swing at him from both sides, he stepped forward quickly grunting as he lunged towards Grax.

  The dual dagger wielding goblin pulled another from his cloak and handed it to the goblin that broke his club over Kings arms. King lunged, poking out the sword towards the middle of the pair, as the two of them separated from the sword he came down on the newly dagger wielding goblin with the cleaver, right from the collarbone into its chest. It quickly fell as blood sprayed from the large wound.

  Lance feinted a chop outward with his axe, stopping his lunge short on his good leg. The club goblins after him swung and missed, one stepping in front of him got a quick dagger into its neck, unfortunately Lance had to let it fall with the dagger, his grip still weak from the arrow pierced arm. Grax growled out at them as the two goblins died. The remaining four all charged in.

  King stepped back into Lance, bumping him off balance as the two goblins in front of him went for his legs, pushing him right into the charging Grax. As King fell backwards he caught a blow from the bone wielding goblin right to his helm in place of Lance, unintentionally. Cracking it open revealing the left side of his face now bleeding. The dagger goblin jumped high, coming down on King with his two daggers. King falling back, held the sword out straight from his side and squeezed the goblin on his legs with a tight flex, crossing his legs as he fell. The daggers came down stabbing right into his chest a couple inches, even through the armor. King coughed blood. The goblin atop him then also coughed blood and fell over with the sword to the ground. King looked down and punched twice in succession right atop the goblin between his legs cranium, denting it in, the goblin went still. A shadow cloaked him from the fire. The bone club goblin came in quick with a downward bash against Kings helmet once more, Kings vision blurred.

  Lance being pushed into Grax dropped his axe and grabbed Grax’s arms as he fell atop him. They wrestled over the sword. Lance was having a tough time, his arm still had an arrow through it and so did his shoulder, he quickly leaned in and bit right into Grax’s face, taking his nose off. He spit it back at him as Grax yelled out in pain. Lance postured up and switched to his right hand and grabbed the sword from Graz with both hands and pressed it down onto his neck. His scream began to gurgle, and Lance swiped quickly to the side holding the blade. He grabbed Graz’ head and turned around.

  “HEY!” he yelled at the bone wielding goblin. Blood spraying from his lips. He held the head up to show the goblin who had at this point had King unconscious flickering a faint shade of red. Lance was surprised that even still the Chiten armor was active on his leg. “GET LOST BEFORE I EAT YOU NEXT!” he said as he bit into the cheek of Graz.

  The goblin quickly dropped his bone club and ran off down the corridor where its friend had run to earlier. Just as it went around the bend the armor on Lances leg wore off. Kings bugs began to all gather under his clothing again. Lance could see the two daggers in his chest. King flickered red with the beat of his heart, faintly. BUDM…..BUDM…

  Lance fell to his knees again and crawled over to him. BUDM… BUDM…. “Dammit man, Plan C… you were supposed to run…” The fire still roaring. Grub lay on the bat hide pile, coughing blood. Lance looked at him. Grub laughed through a bloody grin choking and gurgling, holding up his cleaved arm, the large gash on his side leaking blood. In a final act of defiance he spat at Lance and took a quick couple breaths with a long final exhale. Lance looked at his health. Four points left he watched it tick to three. He could see the faint red flicker on his skin, he could see Kings as well. He tossed Graz’s head into the fire. “ Hang in there.” His life ticked to two. He fell on his side. He stared at the dead goblins right next to him. Their cold eyes seemingly staring blanky into his, he could feel their scornful gaze even in death. Kings bugs began a frenzy atop the goblins and King like a mad swarm, only obviously their quantity diminished greatly. Lance instinctly knew somehow King would be fine, His panic now on himself. He grabbed a hand of the cloaked goblin and began to eat its fingers. It was easy. *Crunch* He closed his eyes. He didn't want to see it. He breathed in letting the smell of Graz’s hair fill his nostrils, to imagine a different taste. Char. Crunch. He continued, he didn't stop. He didn't think about the bones, he got to the wrist and ate around them. Tick. BUDM….. BUDM…… BUDM