A goblin bursts out of the foliage, knocking aside thick leaves and snagging vines in frustration. It spots the three man-things and bird-thing that they’ve been searching for all day, the shadows of the night unable to hide anything from its superior eyes. With a gleeful grin, it raises its majestic, handmade sword high into the air, rushing towards the closest man-thing; this one with long brown hair tied up and wielding a stick with some string attached to it.

  Thoughts of bringing back the bodies of the man-things to the city, presenting them to their Queen, and being hailed as a hero hunter passes through the goblins’ mind, as it gets closer and closer to the long-haired man-thing.

  Before an arrow passes through its skull, and no other thought passes through its mind ever again.

  Nora snatches the makeshift sword in midair, letting out a nervous breath from how close it came to actually attacking her. But the risk was worth it. She didn’t want to move out of formation, and she has a point to prove to a particular, arrogant swordsman. So, she needed to make sure that the weapon came to her.

  A second goblin rushes towards Nora, intent on avenging its fallen companion. Nora sidesteps its spear, bringing up her makeshift sword and slicing down and across the puny foe. Her crude sword slices down into its neck, catching on its collarbone and snapping in half.

  The goblin goes down in a spray of blood as Nora kicks up its dropped spear into her hands, looking for her next foe. She spots movement in the foliage to her right and lifts her new spear up into the air, pulling it back and lifting her leg before taking a step and releasing it into the air with a mighty fwoosh. The spear buries itself into the newly-revealed goblin’s guts, knocking it off its feet and driving it back into the greenery.

  Nora holds up her half-broken shortsword and scans the area around her. She spots Alastair out of the corner of her eye, catching sight of the look of surprise and awe on his face. With a grin, she gives him a wink, realizing belatedly that he can’t see her face in the darkness. Spotting a group of goblins rushing out of the foliage behind him, she also realizes that the dumbass left his back wide open to stare at her.

  “Emily!” Nora shouts, pointing behind the still-gawking Alastair. As she watches, one of the goblins raises up its spear, ready to plunge it right into Alastair’s back. Alastair starts to turn, far too slowly, before a blade of wind slices right through the lead two goblins and cuts deeply into the last one. The two lead goblins fall to the ground in pieces, while the third one stumbles from the pain, giving Alastair just enough time to slice across the little green monster’s throat.

  “Watch our backs, meathead!” Nora admonishes Alastair, as she turns around to do just that. She holds out her hand towards him, gesturing impatiently. “And give me something to stab with already!”

  She watches as another group of goblins appears and rushes towards her, getting ever closer and closer. She ducks her head, narrowly avoiding the lead goblin’s club, and stabs the half of her broken sword into its side, piercing its heart. She feels a heavy, wooden mass enter her hand just in time for her to be able to swing it down at the next goblin, catching sight of what is clearly a club in her hand before it smacks into the neck of the goblin. A loud cracking and snapping sounds out and the goblin falls to the ground, its neck crooked and clearly broken. A blade of wind guillotines the rest of the goblins, clearing them out just in time for the next wave to break through the foliage.

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  “Really? A club?” Nora complains. “I asked for something to stab with. Stab with!”

  Alastair shrugs, staring into the darkness. “Looks like it worked to me.”

  A cry sounds out, many voices at once, as the foliage comes to life around them. The trio prepares themselves for the assault, one of them still wrestling to hold back a wriggling, scurrying baby.

  The forest erupts with the sounds of fighting and dying, little green monsters falling before the might of the larger, less-green men. The team moves as one, watching each other’s backs as they fight for their lives.

  Their breaths start to grow more laboured over time, their arms growing heavier, and the fire starting to burn lower and lower as goblin after another falls to them, the next one never far away from rushing into the fray. Goblins, individually, aren’t much of a threat. Even the most green of green adventurers could take a flock of them down. But their greatest threat is in their numbers, being able to reproduce at a rapid pace with the barest minimum nutrients on hand.

  Emily’s glowing hands begin to dim, a headache starting to form as her head wound splits open once again, soaking her bandage red. She takes a deep breath, scanning the battleground for where she’s needed the most.

  As Emily spins around to take out a group of goblins that are menacing Alastair just a little too much, Blue struggles harder than ever before, slipping out of her grasp and falling on the ground.

  “Blue!”, she cries out, trying to grab the not-so-little ostrich but missing by a hair. She watches in dismay as he runs off into the darkness, disappearing in the foliage.

  “Leave him!” Alastair commands, as he stabs into the stomach of another goblin, kicking it off of his sword and into its friends for some breathing room. “I need help over here!”

  Emily grits her teeth, putting aside her feelings of worry for Blue for the meantime, holding her hand out in front of her. The glow in her hand fades just that little bit more, as a single, straight bolt of wind drills through the side of another goblin.

  “I’m starting to run low!”, she shouts, as she hears movement coming from behind her. She turns just in time to blast out a large gust of wind, knocking over the goblins that were almost on her, their weapons clattering to the ground. An arrow sinks into the head of one of them, putting it down for good, followed by another arrow swiftly taking out the next one.

  Alastair steps up smoothly and plunges his sword once, then twice, into the belly of the next goblin. It writhes on the ground before falling still.

  Emily pants, trying to catch her breath, her head starting to pound as if someone was bashing a large, mottled rock against it. “Did you see… Where Blue went?”

  Nora shakes her head, opening her mouth to say something, until she’s cut off by yet another group of goblins rushing towards them. She nocks, draws, and releases all in one breath, hitting the lead goblin in its open mouth.

  “Don’t worry about him.” She says, as she releases another arrow that sinks down to the fletchling in the guts of another goblin. Alastair steps in front of the last goblin, parrying its blow before counter-attacking with a deadly overhand chop. “Worry about us. They’re never ending…”

  Nora reaches for another arrow and finds most of her quiver empty. She curses under her breath, spotting the next group approaching in the distance. “I’m low as well.”

  In the darkness, Alastair frowns, trying to think of a way out of this situation and finding his thoughts running short of a solution. Emily glances at him from the corner of her vision, concern on her face.

  “Alastair, what’s the plan?”

  With a deep breath, he squares his shoulders, hearing the footsteps of the next wave already rapidly approaching them.

  “Just hold on. Cut down as many as we can, and keep an eye out for an opportunity.”