Eliron angrily sighed when he stared at the entrance to the goblin enclave—a small cave-like hole that he would have to crawl into.
If Razaki was right about the guards being at the other side, then this was the worst possible place to go through.
They would be unable to draw their swords and would be subject to the rage of the goblin guards before they could even properly move their limbs.
He looked up at the surroundings. The goblin hideout was behind a large, steep mountain that was impossible to scale, and the long river was still flowing past it.
"I hope you aren't thinking of crawling through that hell hole?" Yennefer asked, a look of slight annoyance on her face.
Eliron shook his head. "No, that is out of the options."
She frowned, her expression distraught as she thought of a possible solution.
The girls had been in the goblins' custody for quite some time now, and everyone had been worried for days.
No one knew what the goblins would do to them before eventually eating them, but they all knew it would be horrific.
They had to find a way to get there right now.
Ash walked up to the cave and inspected the hole, then slowly shook his head. "Should we follow an alternate route around the mountain?"
"That would take too much time." Artie cut in, then she stared up at the mountain, her expression stoic.
"They picked out the location for their base quite perfectly. Any wrong move, and we will find ourselves dead."
The hole was obviously a trap, and the alternate route definitely had a ton of traps and scouts waiting for them.
They stood there for minutes, trying to think up a solution, some of the hunters even making suggestions like smoking the hole out, building a ladder, and others, but they all fell short.
Then eventually, it clicked in Eliron's head. "We are going to take the river!" He said, excitement brewing in his voice.
But everyone seemed confused by his words.
Artie thought it through for a few seconds before frowning lightly.
"It will take at least a day of swimming, most of us won't survive that."
Some of the hunters nodded in agreement, but Eliron was already moving.
"Who said anything about swimming? We are going to build a raft."
•••
With each passing second, there was a chance that one of the girls would die, and now that they were this close to the base, Eliron was only getting more impatient.
His eyes were glowing gold, the side effects of [Dwarf's Thumb], as he was busy binding wooden logs together with a thick rope.
Using his rapier, he split the logs at the right sizes, setting them next to each other and smearing sap over the gaps.
Rafts were an alternative to boats that had been used for countless centuries now.
That was because the principle behind a raft was rather simple. Wood floats, and so wood bound together would float too…
But there were many reasons they were preferred over a boat in situations such as this.
While a raft would normally take a few hours to build, a boat could take as many as a week or several weeks depending on the size—
"Is this how you want it shaped?" Yen asked, showing him the paddle she had cut out.
Eliron smiled. "It's perfect, just touch up the edges."
Meanwhile, while the raft was swiftly nearing its completion, Artie stood by the side, resting her back on a tree as she watched him.
She had already done her part and was now relatively free, so she decided to think the entire thing through.
And—
'This is ridiculous.' She thought.
The girls who had disappeared were not the first to have gone missing in this wretched forest…
Each time anyone were to disappear, a search party would be created to find out what had happened.
If the situation was deemed as something out of their capabilities to handle, then as much as the elves would regret it, they had no choice but to leave them.
This was clearly out of their hands…
Yet, Eliron had dragged them several miles into the forest, right in front of a goblin base.
She sighed tiredly and shook her head.
It was more than risky, it was foolish considering the entire hunting party could die, and if they were to die, the entire village would be at risk as well.
Then Artie creased her brows as another line of thought came to her.
There were merits to his logic though…
Unlike regular monsters, goblins did pose some levels of intelligence. They wouldn't stop at just having those girls… they would come for more.
And a goblin raid was the worst possible thing the village could have at this time.
Still…
'We may be walking right into our deaths.'
And Artie cared more for her life than she did anyone else's.
'Should I refuse to go?'
There were many ways she could do so while still keeping her reputation of being benevolent intact.
She bit the insides of her cheek, her mind tumultuous but her face perfectly calm.
Then she sighed. 'Alright, I'll go with him.'
But if there was even the slightest risk of danger…
'Then I'll abandon the group.'
"Alright, let's push this thing into the river!" Eliron yelled, pulling the attention of the hunters.
They all gathered around the raft and lifted it off the ground, moving it and sliding it into the calm waters.
Then Eliron got in and tested its stability, a smile tugging at his lips as he wiped off the sweat on his face.
He turned to address Damian. "You guys make camp farther away, make sure you avoid the goblins at all costs."
"Yes, my lord, we wish you the best!"
'It makes sense that he's leaving some of them behind.' Artie thought.
From the size of the hastily built raft, it could probably hold ten people at best.
'The number isn't bad… This was a rescue mission after all. They didn't have to fight the entire camp unless necessary.'
Eliron nodded. "I'll need to borrow one of your crossbows, by the way. Any volunteers?"
One of the hunters walked forward and gave him his crossbow.
"Thanks…"
Eliron then called Ash, Yennefer, and Artie to get on the raft.
But then, he did something that caused Artie's heart to drop...
He pulled off the rope anchoring the raft to the land.
Artie's eyes widened. "What are you doing? Where are the others?"
"Huh?" Eliron blinked. "What others? It's just us four…."
"What?!"