Chapter 34: Goblos

  Julien

  "What are they!" Julien shouted over the cries and yips emanating from the pack of angry little fiends.

  "Goblin's!" Aramin shouted over the din. "They are weak individually but when there are this many it hardly matters." "What should we do?" The switch from providing information to relying on him for direction made him a stammering mess for a few seconds.

  Meanwhile the creatures hefted crude spears moving closer. More than often they moved on four feet rather than two. They shambles sideways, staying just outside the reach of their blades. He noticed towards the back two of the creatures standing taller than their brethren. They were conversing in a scratchy barking language. At least it seemed to be a language. It could've easily been actual barking.

  "I don't know," he admitted answering his friends question. "We aren't far from the camp i'm sure they will hear the racket these guys are making. I guess we just hold out here."

  "That's a tall order," Aramin said dubiosly. Honestly he didn't have anything to say to that but it wouldn't have mattered even if he had. The very next moment they were both fighting for their lives.

  "Put your back to mine!" Aramin yelled as the first of the little furry creatures leapt at him. He sank backward into stance swatting aside the first crude attempts as the spear wielding Goblos tried to stab him in the stomach. With a swift shift he stepped forward and took its head. black blood spurted from the neck of the creature as it slumped the head landed nearly a foot away. He stepped back again ducking another spear tip and swinging in a wide horizontal arc hoping to drive the rest of the creatures back. It worked for the most part except for one poor guy whose leg was separated from his body. Julien pivoted and turned putting his back against his friends.

  The little fiend's eyes widened with excitement and they rushed forward. He parried blow after blow, and he heard Aramin's grunts from behind as he attempted to do the same. Bone poked at him from every angle and he found it hard not to dance to the side. He forced himself to stay put because he knew if he moved even an inch the creatures would skewer Aramin in a second. This was his squadmate and he was responsible for each one of them. He would protect them. He angled his blade turning aside two more thrusts and pushed outward throwing the spears away from them. Then he struck outward. His blade slid into one furry body after another eliciting gurgled shrieks as they stiffened before falling into heaps on the ground.

  They stayed like that for a time swaying back and forth parrying blades and leaning around each other in a deadly dance. Julien knew it could not last. There were too many of them. He looked upward at the sun rising overhead. Surely someone would notice their absence soon, right? It felt like they had been out there for more than a few glasses. He could tell their speed was making a difference. The way the little guys eyes darted around but never fully focused on them. They couldn't properly see them. But with the sparring before and now the extended fight they were in... Julien threw himself backward as the bone blade of a spear flashed towards his eye. he felt a slight tug on the left side of his scalp but ignored it as he knocked into Aramin, sending them both sprawling. It had been a instinctual reaction to seeing a spear being thrown at his face. But, still he groaned and tried to get to his feet as fast as he could. He got to his knees, still holding his blade and put it in between him and a leaping goblos. He spitted the creature on the tip before throwing it to the side. Another spear came flying in from the side the little creature scrambling toward him as fast as it could.

  If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  He rolled toward the beast flicking his blade up and under the spear point to drive it away from him. The Goblos's eyes went wide and he just stared at him until he swung again and took the furrry goblins head. Slowly a smile began to break out on his face. He never felt more alive and in control than when he had a blade in his hand. energy flowed through him and the aching tiredness that had begun to take root in his arms faded to a dull throb. He rolled to his feet and lashed out, but both of the goblins that had been in reach dove backward. He struck again and again driving the creature back. The whole time he could feel the energy in his bones rise. His fear seemed to melt as he lashed out repeatedly driving the furry little creatures back.

  Then through the din he heard a muffled cry. He turned back to see Aramin getting dragged to the ground, golden blood leaking from several minor wounds. Almost half a dozen goblins were clutching at him dragging him to the ground through combined weight. He roared and thrashed sending two of them flying off him to smack satisfyingly into trees. Three more rushed forward leaping onto his back and baring him to the ground. He cursed and turned back to help but had to dive again when another spear came flying toward him. He followed its trajectory to see one of the taller Goblos had thrown it. Already another spear was being offered to it by a smaller goblin. He turned back and saw the creatures were now dragging Aramin toward the bushes on the right side. He was still thrashing but Julien noticed it was significantly weaker. He looked desparately to each side looking for anything he could use to save his friend.

  It was hard to think though with his own voice raging inside his head. Part of it was accusing him of failing to save his friend. The other part screamed at him to kill more goblins. The cacophony was so loud he nearly grabbed his head in his hands. A scream was building in his throat as one thought kept playing in his head over and over again. It's too much. Then suddenly the rage was silenced like it had been blown out as a candle. His head cleared and he acted. if he had given himself time to think he probably would've been too scared to do it. It switched his vision and his eyes lit up with the multicolored threads in the area. The most prominent was a thick thread the color of oak leaves. A lighter green flecked with silver weaved through the trees like the... Like the wind. He grabbed the lighter colored thread letting his instincts take over as he had in the forest against the direwolves. This time he was able to watch more of what happened through his minds eye. The moment he his fingers wrapped around the thread his mind calmed turning placid and clear. It was more than disturbing watching his body move from within his mind without his conscious control. But such thoughts were swept aside by the tide of magic that rushed through his body.

  His left hand began to glow with a soft green light as the energy was directed there through channels following his veins closely. It took the shape of a compressed ball within his palm. As if a puppeteer was moving him, his hand raised and waved dismissively. The wind in the tiny grove suddenly turned to thunder as a nearly translucent dome of green tinged wind exploded out from where he was standing. It washed over everything. To his relief it didn't harm Aramin at all, but the goblins over him were thrown into the sky like insects being swatted. It only took seconds before the energy wave dissipated, afterward it was quiet almost eerily so. With the disappearance of the wind a sudden weakness overwhelmed him and he sunk to his knees. He tried to tell his body to move. Aramin was still down and he needed to go check on him. His body however had apparently reached its limit. it did not respond and even as he yelled at it to moved willing himself to go to his friend his head slumped. belatedly he felt twin streams of liquid leak down his chin. If he could've forced his eyes to move he would've tried to figure out the source. But his eyes too felt heavy in their sockets. It was his duty to protect his squadmates, his mind screamed at him. but regardless of the abuse he screamed at his body it wouldn't move. All at once darkness rushed in from the edges of his vision as he embraced unconsciousness.