As Daisy had predicted with eerie accuracy, the goblins showed up four days after we returned from the mine.
The time leading up to that night had been deceptively peaceful. I spent the days finishing the last sections of the new wall, reinforcing the gates, and helping train the volunteers with the crossbows. The villagers took to them far better than I expected; even the ones who'd never touched a weapon before.
In the evenings, I often found myself at the tavern, flirting shamelessly with Belle, who seemed delighted to return the attention. The looming threat of an attack made those quiet moments almost precious, like the calm before a storm.
When the sun finally dipped below the horizon on the fourth night, the tranquility was shattered.
The village bell rang out through the cool air: a harsh, urgent clang that sent shivers down my spine. Windows burst open. Shouts echoed down the narrow streets. People dropped whatever they were doing and sprinted toward the northern wall, the direction Daisy had said the attack would come from.
From what I'd learned, goblins were sneaky but not strategic. Even if led by a more intelligent goblin lord, their attacks were straightforward; swarming en masse in a violent rush. Subtlety wasn't their strength.
And that made them predictable.
When the first shapes moved in the treeline, we already had twenty-five defenders lined up along the new stone wall, crossbows loaded and ready.
I climbed the stairs to the parapet and took position among them. The wall loomed five meters high: solid, smooth, and unscalable. I gripped my crossbow, checking the mechanism one last time, and took a deep breath.
A faint rustle in the dark signaled movement. Then came the shrill, ear-piercing screech that froze the night air.
"Screeee!"
The forest erupted.
From between the trees poured a mass of green bodies, their movements erratic and wild. Dozens of goblins charged toward the wall, waving crude weapons: clubs, sharpened sticks, and jagged stones tied to bones. Their tattered leaf garments flapped as they ran, screeching and howling.
If the village had still been relying on the old wooden fence, we would've been doomed. I could easily imagine the horde swarming over the brittle barricade, tearing through houses and people alike.
But tonight, we had something different, a five-meter wall of stone and twenty-five armed defenders waiting behind it.
"[Light]!"
Claire's clear voice cut through the chaos, and a bright orb of radiance flared to life above her hand. She sent it drifting into the sky until it hovered over the battlefield, bathing the goblins in pale white light.
They hissed and snarled at the sudden illumination, but it was too late.
"Draw… Aim… Loose!"
The command came from Tuly, the village's guard captain, who had been the first to gret me on my arrival.
Bolts twanged in unison, slicing through the air. A moment later, the front line of goblins crumpled mid-sprint, tumbling over each other.
A flicker of blue text flashed before my eyes.
[Slain – Goblin – +5 EXP]
[Slain with Produced Weapon – Goblin +1 XP]
[Slain with Produced Weapon – Goblin +1 XP]
I blinked, message after message stacked in the corner of my vision. Apparently, I gained a bit of experience every time a goblin fell to one of my crafted crossbows. It was morbidly satisfying.
At least ten goblins were down after the first volley, with several more limping or crawling. But the survivors didn't retreat. They kept running, undeterred by the corpses piling around their feet.
"Draw! Aim! Loose!" Tuly's voice rang out again.
The second volley ripped through them, doubling the body count. Screams filled the night, echoing against the stone.
By the third volley, nearly forty of the fifty goblins lay dead or dying, and the few survivors turned to flee, only to be picked off by practiced shots from the guards.
"Good work!" Tuly called, scanning the battlefield below. "First wave down! Stay sharp; they'll send more!"
A cheer rippled down the line, but it was short-lived.
Josey, standing a few meters away with her own crossbow, turned to me. "They'll probably send two, maybe three more waves before the main force shows up. But that number…" She shook her head. "That was way more than I expected."
"Is that not normal for goblins?" I asked.
"The charging, yes. But those numbers? No. That's an organized force. Which means…"
"They've got a commander," I finished for her.
Josey nodded grimly.
And as if summoned by our conversation, movement stirred at the treeline once more.
Another tide of goblins poured out; just as many as before, maybe more. But this time, three larger figures stalked among them, easily twice the size of their lesser kin. Their grey-green skin gleamed with sweat and filth, and crude scrap metal armor hung off their bodies. Each carried a weapon, two swords, one battle axe, scavenged and rusted, but deadly enough.
"Hobgoblins!" Ria's voice rose above the noise. I spotted her further down the wall, staff raised, her expression hard. "I'll deal with them. Focus on the small ones!"
The hobgoblins marched forward, bellowing and pointing their weapons toward us. The lead one, clearly in charge, raised his axe high and let out a guttural roar.
"Graaaahhh!"
He didn't get to finish it.
Ria stepped forward, one foot braced on the wall, her long hair catching the moonlight. "[Firestorm]!"
The air shimmered, distorting like heat over asphalt. The hobgoblin froze, glancing around in confusion, and then a pillar of flame erupted beneath him, ten feet high and wide as a wagon.
He screamed, a horrible, bubbling sound, before collapsing into ash.
The smell of scorched flesh hit us seconds later.
"Good gods…" Belle whispered beside me, loading another bolt.
The remaining two hobgoblins hesitated, but Ria wasn't finished. With a grim smile, she raised her staff again, chanting the same spell. Two more fire pillars ignited in quick succession, engulfing the remaining brutes.
By the time the flames faded, nothing was left but blackened bones.
The smaller goblins fared no better. Volley after volley from our wall tore through their ranks. Within minutes, the second wave lay silent, a mass of twitching bodies scattered across the field.
"Second wave down!" Tuly shouted, her voice triumphant. "No casualties on our side!"
The cheer this time was louder, a mix of relief and adrenaline. Even I found myself grinning. We'd just crushed a force that would've annihilated the old village in minutes.
But the moment of victory didn't last.
While we were still catching our breath, a faint red glow flickered at the edge of the forest.
A small ball of fire hovered there, pulsating. It burned brighter, then shot forward like an arrow, hissing through the night air.
"Down!" I shouted instinctively. The projectile arced, and fizzled out just short of the wall, exploding harmlessly in the dirt.
But the message was clear.
"Shit… goblin shaman!"