"So, what do you want them to write on your grave stone, eh, Varga? I think, 'the unfortunate one' would suit me best."
Varga, didn't even glance at him. Her sharp gaze swept the dense snow covered undergrowth, her nostrils flaring as she inhaled deeply.
"Femi, this is not the time for your strange humor,"her voice became tight with tension.
"Do you smell any strange goblins?" She asked while searching the bushes trying to get an estimate of their numbers.
"What?" Femi blinked, turned his head towards her, and gave her a questioning look..
"I said, do you smell strange goblins" she asked again.
"My friend,I don't understand?" he answered, confused. "What's a goblin in the first place?"
The black haired, emerald eyed huntress gave him a surprised look back.
"You don't know what a goblin is?" she asked, her tone incredulous.
Femi rolled his eyes, shifting uncomfortably on the cold ground. "Do you think I was raised in the bush like you? How would I know?"
Varga growled in frustration, " Forget it. Just get up and prepare for a fight."
Femi frowned, his limbs felt so heavy. How was he supposed to fight when he could barely keep his eyes open? Sometimes this girl says some stupid things.
Yet, he drew his remaining knife and kept it on his lap, too bad he had unfortunately left his axe behind, with the armoured bear, to be forever forgotten. Well it was that same axe that cut him when he was fighting the Eri so, it got what it desevered.
Varga, meanwhile, had already drawn her blade, with her good arm, the other still bound in makeshift bandages. Choosing to leave Ova's axe to remain strapped to her back.
The forest had gone eerily quiet, the usual chirps of birds and rustling of small creatures silenced. Then, Femi caught it the scent. Musky, sour. His nose wrinkled.
He could smell the creatures or goblins as Vargas is calls them, better now. There were at least ten… no, twenty of them, and they were definitely moving closer. Their footsteps were muffled by the snow. They must have smelled Varga's blood, the metallic tang calling to them like a dinner bell.
Varga's blood must have convinced them, they were easy meal.
Ah, look at me analyzing monsters' behavior, Femi mused . I've been in this cursed forest for too long. He concluded his thoughts with a sigh.
Then...
They burst from the undergrowth like a pack of feral dogs, their jagged spears and rusted blades waving in the air, created a very terrifying, scene. Their screeches filled the air, a collection of high-pitched, guttural sounds that promised violence. The sound sent Victim scrambling behind Femi's legs.
"Ah, so these are goblins," Femi muttered. "No wonder they smelled familiar."
The nearest goblin snarled viciously at femi, its long, floppy ears pressed flat against its head, as it snarled. Its mottled green skin was streaked with dirt, patches of coarse fur covering its limbs like a mangy cloak. Curved claws gripped a crude spear, the tip chipped but still looked deadly, which ok course it pointed at him.
Femi recognized it instantly, it was the same kind of creature. The first monster he'd killed back in that wretched dungeon. So this was what Varga called a goblin.
Femi counted at least a dozen, maybe the rest were hiding close, their small frames wrapped in ragged pelts and rough looking leather armor.
He didn't move, just sat there, legs crossed, watching as the creatures encircled them. Victim pressed against his side, trembling but still growling, its tiny fangs bared.
"Ah, life," Femi sighed, scratching behind the pup's ears. "First a bear, now this? My village people must truly want to conclude with me today."
One of the goblins, taller than the rest, with a necklace of yellowed bones and a staff topped with a weathered skull, stepped forward. Its beady eyes darted between them, lingering on Varga's injuries before settling on Femi with a sneer.
"Skinny rat-thing and Krag woman," it hissed. "Good eating."
Varga cursed under her breath, her grip tightening on her blade. "Of course. Just our luck, a hobgoblin, and it's a shaman."
Femi's head snapped toward her in alarm. "Do you mean juju priest, like native doctor? Wait… wait, I no follow again." He scrambled to his feet, knife raised, his earlier exhaustion forgotten in the face of supernatural dread.
Femi cursed himself, why was he just sitting on the snow like a fool, when a juju priest was coming. He should have bolted long before even, if he was tired.
The hobgoblin barked a command in a strange tongue, and the pack erupted into cackles, their laughter was unsettling to hear.
But Femi wasn't paying attention to them anymore. His ears twitched, and his instincts told him something bad was about to happen.
There was another sound beneath the goblins' jeers.
A low, rhythmic thumping.
Femi's blood ran cold.
Of course. There was no way you'd be late to the party.
Then, the trees shook.
The goblins froze mid-taunt, their grins slipping. One turned, just in time to see the massive, armored-clad form of a bear crash through the undergrowth like a run-away tractor.
And It looked like it ate shit.
Blood streamed from its ruined eye, Femi's knife was gone, leaving a hole were it's eye used to be. Its remaining eye burned with primal fury, locking onto them with terrifying focus.
The hobgoblin shrieked, "DEFEND!" but it was too late.
The bear moved.
One swipe of its paw sent two goblins flying, their bodies crumpling against a tree with a sickening crack. Another goblin tried to stab it with a spear, but the blade snapped against its armored hide. The bear didn't even flinch, it just bit down, and the goblin's screams were cut short.
Chaos erupted.
The hobgoblin tried to maintain by screeching orders and hitting the fleeing goblins,with its bone-studded staff. But they scattered like leaves in a storm, their bravado shattered under the bears wrath. Some fled into the woods, others turned on each other in their blind panic.
The bear didn't care. It was a force of nature, a monster that ruled this stretch of the forest. To it, the weak existed only to die screaming.
And it was coming for them.
The hobgoblin shaman, desperate to rally its kin, stepped forward and raised its skull-topped staff. Its voice twisted into a chant, in a strange tongue. The words warping unnaturally in the air.
"Kürõß- Måñïpúlåtïøñ-
A sphere of flame erupted before it, swelling to the size of a beach ball, its flickering light casting shadows across the snow. With a thrust of its staff, the shaman hurled the fireball straight at the armoured bear's face.
ROOOOOAR!
The explosion of heat and light engulfed the beast's muzzle, singeing the exposed fur around its ruined eye. The stench of burnt fur and flesh filled the air. For a heartbeat, the bear staggered, then its remaining eye locked onto the shaman with fury.
The hobgoblin's triumphant snarl died in its throat. It backpedaled, staff trembling, probably regretting it's life choices. Femi thought.
Varga sheathed her blade and grabbed Femi's arm, yanking him.
"Move!"
Femi didn't need telling twice. He scooped up Victim, the pup yelping as it was tucked under his arm, and sprinted after Varga. Her limp was worse now, each step leaving a faint smear of crimson in the snow. Behind them, the forest echoed with the sounds of slaughter, goblin shrieks cut short, the wet crunch of bones, the bear's earth-shaking roars.
But Femi knew.
It wouldn't stop with the goblins.
It wanted them.
------
They wove through the trees, their breath ragged, lungs burning with every gasp of frigid air. Femi's legs screamed in protest, every step sent agony shooting through his body, but fear was a hell of a motivator.
The pup squirmed in his grip, its panicked whines drowned by the drumming of his own heartbeat in his ears.
Varga stumbled, her injured leg buckling mid-stride. Femi barely caught her in time, hauling her upright with a grunt. "Keep moving!"
"I am!" she snarled, but her face was pale, her lips pressed into a bloodless line. The bandages on her arm were darkening, her wounds had reopened. Femi's stomach twisted. They couldn't keep this pace, but stopping meant death. They needed a plan, a miracle, or...
He froze.
A soft crunch of snow reached his ears. He spun, scanning the trees, but saw nothing.
Femi's grip tightened on his knife as his eyes darted everywhere. His eyes narrowed warily as he scanned the surrounding bushes and trees for any signs of anything stalking them. He could feel them watching him. Every instinct he had was telling him there were hostile creatures around.
"I knew they were hiding somewhere, those demons must have prepared this in case we escaped their main group." He muttered while scanning their surrounding.
Varga halted beside him, her chest heaving. Her eyes flickered over his tense posture, and without a word, she drew her blade, her stance unsteady but resolute. She whispered something under her breath. Maybe a curse? A prayer?, but for a fleeting moment, Femi could have sworn her emerald eyes gleamed with an unnatural light. But maybe it was just the exhaustion playing tricks on him.
"Over there."She jerked her chin toward a gnarled thicket of roots.
A blur of green erupted from the bushes. Femi barely dodged as a goblin's crude club smashed into the ground where he'd stood, snow exploding upward. The creature hissed, its yellowed fangs dripping saliva, its beady eyes alight with malice.
Femi bared his own teeth in return. "Close your dirty mouth, you unwanted pregnant goat."
Exhaustion be damned, he lunged first, aiming to strike before the goblin recovered. But just as he moved, something barreled into his back. He cursed as he tumbled, rolling across the snow with a second goblin tangled in his limbs.
"Shameless animals!" he spat as they grappled, claws and fists flying. The goblin swung a sharpened rock at his skull, but Femi caught its wrist just in time. They crashed through a thorny bush, momentum carrying them straight into the trunk of a tree.
The impact knocked the breath from Femi's lungs. His grip faltered, just for a second, but it was enough. The goblin wrenched free, scrambling to its feet with a screech.
"Raargh!" the naked green demon, raised the rock high, charging.
"Your mama!" Femi ducked under the swing, then tackled his opponent to the ground and bit it. His teeth sank into the soft flesh beneath its arm, where he couldn't be hit by his opponent's rock.
Disgusting, but effective. The taste of iron flooded his mouth as the goblin shrieked and thrashed. Femi didn't let go. With a snarl, he wrenched his blade up and buried it in the goblin's neck.
The creature spasmed, its wails a gurgling sound, before it collaped into silence as blood pooled beneath them. Femi spat crimson onto the snow, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "I don win!"
Femi was now breathing hard and had several new scratches that burned painfully. The goblin's nails had been very sharp, his fur couldn't stop them from leaving their marks. He sucked down air,to clam himself when he was alarmed to hear the crackle of branches behind him.
Femi whirled, just in time to duck as the first goblin's club whistled past his head. Too close.His heart hammered as he scrambled back.
I saw my ancestors just now.
As he scrambled away from the reach of the club. His eyes looked beyond his own fray, to where Varga was locked in her own battle, fending off five goblins with nothing but her blade. They circled around her wielding long wooden spears.
Yet two goblins already lay dead at her feet, but her movements were slowing, her breaths labored. Victim darted between the creatures, yapping furiously, its tiny teeth snapping at their ankles. During a good job of weaving and dodging their attempts on its life.
Unfortunately, Femi had no time to help. The club-wielder rushed him again. This time, he didn't dodge, he met the charge head-on, slamming into the goblin with every ounce of strength he had left. They crashed to the ground, Femi on top. The creature flailed, but at this range, its club was useless.
Femi pinned it, putting his weight on the goblin's chest. Spit flew from the it's mouth as he screeched and tried to bite femi with its yellow teeth, but femi held it down, one hand on its throat, the other driving his knife up beneath its ribs.
"I cast and bind, you demonic spawn."
He stabbed again, and again, and again.
The goblin twitched, gurgled, then went still.
Femi stabbed several more times, just to be sure. Blood poured out of the wound soaking the snow in crisom. Femi, choked as the overpowering sent of blood hit his nose.
"Truly, this life of kill or be killed wasn't for him."
As he rose to his feet he turned to face the five goblins attacking varga. However, they took one look at him standing over their two defeated allies and fled. They scampered off into the woods with a quick series of fearful yelps.
Yes they had won, now al...
"GROOOOWL"
A thunderous crash happened behind them. Femi risked a glance back.....
...just as the bear leaped over a fallen log, landing barely ten paces away.
"Oh, Lord," Femi whispered. "Na die we go die today so."
The bear charged.
Femi's mind went blank.