The cart's wheels rolled over the rough forest terrain, crushing rocks and branches underneath it as it throttled through.
Eliron was seated in the cart opposite Artie, while Yennefer had folded a blanket on her lap, using it as a pillow to catch up on lost sleep.
Ash, as well as the hunters, were spread out around the cart, their swords and crossbows ready if need be.
"How far do you think they have taken them?" Eliron asked Artie, staring at the vast forest.
"It was just yesterday, but goblins are meticulous. It won't be a surprise if they have already made it as far back as their camp," Artie answered.
Her expression then turned serious. "By the way, how exactly do you plan on rescuing the girls? A goblin's base is like the devil's workshop, you aren't thinking of charging in there, right?"
Eliron relaxed his back on the edge and frowned. "What other option do we have? As long as there is a slim chance that they are alive, we can't just leave them, can we?"
Artie sighed and glanced at her sides to make sure they weren't being overheard before she continued.
"Eliron…" she said plainly. "Their lair can have as many as fifty armed goblins, and that is if we are lucky."
"In the worst-case scenario, there would be Hobs among them, maybe even a king," she said, sounding tired just by thinking about it.
"I know," Eliron replied.
Going against a camp of goblins with their numbers was plain foolish.
Artie looked confused by his words. "Then why go so far for them? Why risk your life for the sake of others?"
He shrugged, his eyes drifting down to Yennefer.
"Giving up on them is probably the best option. But what if it was Yen? Or Ash? Or even you?" Eliron asked.
Artie's expression shifted slightly.
He sighed. "Will I be able to leave you to your fates? The same way you three are important to me is the same way those girls are important to someone."
"Those girls might be dead already…" she said coldly.
Eliron smiled. "But we won't know until we get there, will we?"
He raised his hand to halt the carriage.
"Besides, I have a score to settle with those beasts."
While other monsters hunted solely to satisfy their hunger, goblins derived joy in torture and foreplay before their meals.
That was why they preferred intelligent creatures, because their reactions were far more captivating.
'I can't rest, knowing those creatures share the same forest as us.'
With them around, the foragers would never be safe.
He stood up and jumped down the cart. "We've gone far enough. Spread out and find any traces of those monsters!"
Artie did not react outwardly. She grabbed her bow and hopped off as well, but before she left, she stopped.
"What would you do, if you knew that the person you would risk your life to save, wouldn't do the same for you?"
Eliron didn't give it much thought, because he already knew his answer.
"Would a mother give up on her child because she knows the baby can't provide for her?"
Artie spoke like the words were purely based on a symbiotic system when they were not.
"Not everything is give and take. If everyone in the world acted only when there was something to gain, then the world would have long gone to shit."
Throughout his life, Eliron had never really offered anything of value to the village. Yet, his brother and the elves had treated him kindly.
He smiled and breathed out a sigh.
"Sometimes, Artie, you act even when you know that the person you are helping can never do the same…"
"In the very least, that is what being a leader means to me."
Artie stared at him for a second, a strange emotion flickering in her eyes.
"You say that, but elves are fundamentally selfish creatures. It is the same for humans and all other races."
Then she chuckled softly before smiling. "But you have a very unique way of seeing things, Eliron. I dare say I like the audaciousness of your beliefs."
She smiled and waved at him as she began to walk away. "I hope the world does not take it away from you…"
"Like it did me." She added, this time her voice barely above a whisper.
'What was that about?' Eliron mused, watching her back as she left.
The hunting group unsheathed their weapons and broke up into pairs to investigate the forest.
Eliron went east with Yennefer, Artie went northwest alone, while the others went in different directions, leaving the carriage to be guarded by two hunters.
"What exactly are we looking for?" Yennefer asked, rubbing her eyes as she followed him.
Eliron slashed a branch off, his eyes scanning the floor as he walked.
"Hair, nails, scratches… anything you think could belong to an elf or a goblin."
Yennefer nodded and joined him in the search. It took several minutes before Eliron finally found something of use.
He crouched over the side of a tree and stared at a gleaming object partially covered in dust.
"Is that a wristband?"
He picked up the object and observed it under the light. It was indeed a wristband, made of wooden beads and a few shiny stones.
The exact type of jewelry a wood elf would wear.
Eliron marked the spot on the tree with a large 'X', then he heard Yennefer call him from the other side of the forest.
"I found something over here!" she said, floating over a strange spot on the floor. "It's like a weird stick structure…"
Eliron stared at it from where he was and began walking toward her. "Wait, I wouldn't touch that if I were you…"
"Hmm, why not?" She grabbed a stick and leaned closer. "I won't touch it then…"
Poke poke
"Hmm, nothing happene—?!"
Whoosh!
"Eeek!!"
The moment the stick tilted, ropes hidden underneath the leaves sprang up, wrapping themselves around her and hoisting her up the tree.
"W-what is the meaning of this?!" she yelled, staring at the large pit that was now below her.
The hole was filled with sharpened spikes and stunk of various herbs.
Eliron walked over it and glanced down. "Oh, I think I read about this once in the novel."
In the novel, the MC had once received a quest to exterminate a goblin infestation in the city, and one of his party members ended up getting caught in a trap like this.
Although, it did not end in a pleasant way.
"It is a specialised goblin trap used to catch bigger creatures. The stick would hoist the monster up and then snap, sending them down into the spike-filled pit."
"W-what?!"
Eliron smiled. "It is actually ingenious if you think about it. The monster would be unable to struggle to escape because every move was sure to cause excruciating pain."
Yen's eyes widened. "?!"
He stared up at her. "Oh, and the spikes are layered with deadly poison. Aren't goblins fascinating creatures?"
"Get me down!"
Snap!
"Nooo!"
Yennefer fell, her eyes wide as she stared down at the hole. But Eliron did not make a move to save her.
He waited until she was just seconds away from falling in before he caught her and pulled her to the side.
She was breathing heavily, her eyes moist as she glared at him. "Why didn't you save me earlier?"
Eliron chuckled. "I was waiting to see…"
"See what?!"
"How long it would take you to remember that you can fly…"
Yennefer blinked.
"Oh… Uhum… so, you said this was a goblin trap?" she asked, trying to change the subject.
"How can an angel even forget to fly—"
"Can't you take a hint?!" she screamed into his ears, huffing angrily.
Eliron rubbed his ears and turned his attention back to the trap, muttering something under his breath before he spoke.
"Alright, since this is here, it means we need to change our route."
They left the trap behind to meet up with the rest of them, and when they arrived, they realised that the others had already gotten there before them.
Every single one of them seemed on edge and had their weapons drawn, their eyes darting towards the slightest sounds.
Artie frowned when she saw Eliron and quickly walked to him.
"What happened?" he asked when she got close enough.
She sighed. "Come with me, there is something you need to see."