“Hobgoblin. Attacked my party.” He pointed to a clearing that was a stone’s throw away.
The same spot in the middle of my back twitched. It was time.
I was swept away with the crowd. There was no delay. We jogged toward danger until Oliver halted us. He lowered himself and crept forward. We followed his example, a platoon of medieval ants.
Tearing sounded from a bush to the right flank. A solo goblin warrior rushed out. Two spears stopped its approach by gifting it with a couple of new holes to take with it in its death.
Another goblin warrior attacked us from the rear. We hadn’t even entered the clearing yet. Where had it been hiding? Six players brick walled the goblin with a bombardment of blows.
Soon there were groups of two and three rushing us from seemingly random directions. The waves crashed in quicker and quicker. These weren’t the small goblins we had run into the first day, but the larger warrior class from last night. On the bright side, their armor was of low quality.
The only direction the goblins didn’t seem to appear from was the front.
Looking to Victoria, I saw sweat drip down the side of her face as she focused on the forest ahead.
My heart drummed at a frightening pace as if trying to draw out the hobgoblin with its beat. I swallowed, trying to wet my chalky throat.
Two goblins came at us from the front. Victoria was stationed to the right and set to intercept one. Peter took the other on the left.
Hearing an incoming scurry of footsteps, I stepped forward to Victoria’s side and faced two more attackers. I felt Kline step up beside me.
Instead of waiting for it to arrive, I lunged forward, extending my spear low, gutting my enemy. I had caught the goblin off guard so that it hadn’t the time to parry with its hatchet. Its leather armor was no help fending off my attack with its momentum helping me.
The second goblin was axe-jabbed in the face by Kline.
At its death, the goblins’ assault ceased.
With everyone on edge, we quickly got our loot and moved forward.
As we made it around an abnormally dense section of underbrush, what I saw caused my heart to drop into my stomach. A blue giant was facing the opposite direction shaking a tree back and forth as if to tear it from the ground. Everyone ducked behind the undergrowth.
I tightened my grip and clenched the muscles in my shoulders, chest, and back. Releasing the tension, I exhaled, feeling my nerves loosen, but only slightly.
Flexing my jaw, my nostrils flared. I filtered through the normal things that motivated me, but becoming a pro and proving my father wrong just didn’t seem to matter as much anymore.
With five different groups it was a miracle, but somehow we came upon the beast without being spotted. The racket the monster was making with the stubborn tree was likely the culprit.
The text above its name indicated it was a hobgoblin, but it wasn’t named. If it followed normal gaming logic then this one should be weaker.
Harrison quickly but quietly regrouped with Peter and Oliver. Wilson followed soon after.
“If you would let me, I want to try something,” Harrison suggested.
“What kind of something?” Peter asked.
With a thoughtful tug on his beard, he replied. “Secret weapon.”
Stone faced, Peter glanced at each of us. Turning to Victoria last, she shrugged.
With no objections, he was all teeth.
“What do you need from us?”
“Hopefully nothing. If it doesn’t work, be ready. I think it will be pretty obvious if we fail.”
We all sat tight as Harrison and one young beardless member of his group snuck around the edge of the clearing trying to get as far to the flank as possible. The difficulty was the hobgoblin was facing the direction they were heading. Thankfully it was preoccupied.
When the hobgoblin had finally yanked the tree from the ground with much of its roots still attached, it stopped as if realizing it wasn’t alone for the first time.
Kline looked at me with a raised eyebrow. I knew what he was thinking.
Nine players rushed out of the clearing at the monster from the rear. They were a pack of teal cloaks all wielding bronze spears with two hands.
The hobgoblin snapped the tree in two and tossed the flimsy part aside making itself a makeshift club that seemed fairly small compared to the ones I had seen before. It was little more than twice the length of a baseball bat. The beast didn’t wait but turned and headed towards them with loud nasally protest.
They clashed in the middle of the clearing. The spearman didn’t hesitate, but ramming their nine spears into its torso, leg, and shoulder before it could swing its club. The effect was clear, but it also caused the 9-foot monster to become further enraged.
Victoria grabbed my shoulder, hard. Looking over, her eyes were wide, fixated on the fight before us.
The men retreated when the arcing swing of the club swished overhead. They jumped forward, launching another attack.
Then the hobgoblin got tired of being poked, and rushed forward, knocking the spears out of the way with his hand. Bashing down to the ground, it tried to crush or trample any player that got in its way.
Nails bit into my shoulder near the armhole of my leather armor and tunic below it. The pain was easily ignored. Victoria’s hand was shaking.
Seeing her, my jaw clenched and breathing became heavy. Tightening my grip, I was able to forget myself.
Thankfully there were no direct hits, but two players were knocked aside as it rushed by. One received a grazing blow from a root still attached to the tree-club. The two that had been knocked over helped up the wounded man and hurried to the underbrush off to the side and out of the way.
The rest of Harrison’s group placed themselves between us and the hobgoblin. The move was ridiculous considering it didn’t even know we were here. Why were they protecting us? But then, I saw their aim.
Harrison had been circling around to the rear and was now rushing across the clearing to attack the hobgoblin from behind. He carried a large bundle of rope; a young man carried an extra bundle close behind. They were unarmed.
The remaining men were having a hard time fending off the hobgoblin’s blows and were being backed up into the thicket.
Loosing the rope, Harrison dragged it behind, then while twisting at the waist he threw it like a giant two-handed frisbee. As it flew, the rope spun and loosened further, displaying a large net. The hobgoblin soon found it over its head, encircling its upper torso and drooping down to the knee. It wasn’t large enough!
I was wrong. The beast started to struggle to get it off.
Harrison quickly armed himself and didn’t let the opening go to waste. Two of the members that had taken their injured comrade to safety then returned, adding more spears to the conflict. In the few seconds it couldn’t defend itself it was brought to its knees. Once the first spear pierced it at the neck, it was over. A number of spear points followed suit.
Victoria let go of my shoulder and ran out with the others to congratulate them.
I allowed myself to calm down before I joined them.
Then a cry for help came from the forest where the injured man had been moved to.
Like flint to a stone, I found myself running. He was on his feet trying to fend off two goblin warriors with one good arm while wielding a spear. I was among the first to reach him. We split them, taking a goblin each.
Without slowing, I lowered my shoulder with all my weight behind my new bronze shield. I pummeled straight through it, my chest swelling. With a loud clang, the goblin was driven backward and half knocked unconscious. My spear wouldn’t pierce its chain shirt. I didn’t think. Something in me thirsted for violence. I threw my weight behind the cutting edge of my shield, leveling it in the face. It crumpled with a twitch.
Our job wasn’t finished.
Looking up I found Wilson staring deeper into the forest with a sober excitement. At least twenty goblin warriors were spread out wading through the trees coming right at us.