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tales-of-the-party · 6 years

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ToftP - Necessary Evil

Rizu: So..... none of the others were expecting me to actually get around to editing a story any time soon probably and I know Bry wants to start promoting the story soon, so I decided to go through story 4 and post it! I’ll try to take good pictures with my iphone (printer and scanner are in a box somewhere) of the characters soon!

Anyways before Eric complains I’m blathering on and on again... Here is the story!

“All I’m saying,” Coil said as he, Bry and Rizu walked into the marketplace, “is that it wouldn’t kill you to try being a bit quieter.” “Seriously.” Rizu added in. “When I was staying with you I got, maybe, five hours of sleep. Total.”

Bry snorted “Maybe you two deviants shouldn’t listen in on a husband and wife’s personal business.” Their pay for the eight months Bry, Rizu and he had been out doing jobs had finally arrived earlier that morning. Three hundred thousand gold each. “Get thicker walls then.” Coil hissed. “You’ve got the gold for it now.” “Can’t,” the warrior shrugged, “gotta buy and repair gear.” Coil and Rizu snorted in unison. Their gear had become kind of ragged during their travels, Coil had to admit. Coil was running low on throwing knives and bombs. He’d also noticed his blade was beginning to chip. He looked at Bry’s halberd and shield. They were suffering from the same issue. And he’d noticed, both during the last two months and from helping Rizu with the sick people in the slums, that Rizu was being extremely careful with her herbs and potions because she was running low. Now that their pay had come in, it was time to restock. Rizu wanted to make sure they had a full inventory before heading out on another mission. “I’m gonna go to Emerra’s Apothecary.” Rizu said pointing at one of the larger kiosks in the marketplace. “She should have my shipment by now. I might also stop by Roharin’s books, see if he has anything new.” “Alright,” Bry said as he wrapped an arm around Coil’s shoulders and shook him slightly, “I’ll be showing Coil to Galladun. See if we can get him some new gear.” “Meet up at the Guild Hall in two hours?” Rizu asked. “Two hours.” Bry and Coil said in unison. Rizu nodded and walked off to the kiosk she’d pointed out earlier. Once she was out of earshot Coil shot a glare at the large warrior. “You’ve got three seconds before you lose that arm.” he warned. Bry rolled his eyes, but removed his arm none the less. “C’mon,” he said pointing at the blacksmith, “this way. But a heads up.” Coil raised his eyebrow, wondering what he needed to worry about. “Galladun is a grumpy bastard.” Bry said rolling his shoulders. “He only makes gear for Guild members, but even then he won’t make ‘em for newbies.”

“That seems a bit...odd.” Coil said after a brief pause. “A lot of newbies to the Guild die,” Bry shrugged as they walked around a large group of people watching a Jester dance on a ball, “so a lot of what he makes goes to waste. So he only makes weapons and armor for veterans.” “Then why am I-” “However,” Bry interrupted, an annoying habit of his that sometimes made Coil wish the snake hadn’t alerted Bry when Coil was about to kill him so many months ago, “he’ll make an exception for a newbie who has a recommendation from a long time member of the Guild.” “Ah, that explains why you’re coming with me.” “Partly.” Bry said as they reached the opening to the smithy. “He may be a crotchety old bastard, but he makes the best gear I’ve ever seen.” From the inside of the smithy, Coil could hear a hammer pounding metal and he could see weapons of all types lining the walls. “Do you know the last time I had to get my halberd repaired?” Bry asked. When Coil shook his head Bry grinned and said. “Three years ago, and even now it’s just a couple small nicks and cracks.” The inside was hot and smelled of metal, heat and sweat. A large furnace sat against the far right wall, and a short ways away was an anvil, with someone standing over it and hammering away at it. “Who are ya an’ whadda ya want?” the figure asked, without turning around. His voice was rough and gravelly, like he had rocks in his throat. “Your favorite halberd wielding pal,” Bry said cheerfully, “and a stray that he picked up on the road.” Coil glared at him and Bry simply shrugged with a grin.

The figure hammered at his piece for a few more minutes before taking the metal he’d been beating into a pair of tongs and dipped it in a sink off to the side. The water hissed and steam rose. After a few moments he pulled it back out and inspected it. He turned and Coil had to suppress a grimace. The blacksmith, Galladun he assumed, was an elf and like all of his kind he looked young. He had black hair tied under a dark red bandanna and dark brown eyes. He wore a blacksmith's apron, the pockets on the front containing a small hammer, tongs and other tools, a sleeveless black shirt and black trousers with matching boots.

Starting under his left eye, covering his cheek and jaw, and going down just barely touching his shoulder, the skin was warped from being burned. Galladun narrowed his eyes when he saw Bry and he spit on the floor. “Thought ya were dead, given’ how long you’ve been gone.” “Oh please,” Bry drawled and waved his left hand in a dismissive gesture, “we were just taking a bunch of jobs. All of ‘em I coulda done in my sleep.” Galladun snorted and turned his gaze toward Coil. “You a Guild member?” he asked. Coil grabbed the corner of his mask and tugged it down slightly to reveal his Brand, visible only to Guild members. The elf snorted. “An’ how long have ya been in the Guild?” “Technically a week.” Coil said, tugging his mask back up. “But I’ve been traveling with Bry and Rizu for around six months.” Galladun’s face twisted up in annoyance and he looked toward Bry. “You know how I feel about new members.” the elft grumbled.

“I know, I know.” Bry said holding up his hands, palms out. “But that’s why I’m here. I can vouch for his skills, he’s almost as good as me.” Coil scoffed at the last comment. Galladun eyed Coil and strode up to him. Bry moved to the side and leaned against the wall. The elven blacksmith circled Coil several times, eyeing every part of him. “Thin, light gear, more the type for sneaking or quick strikes.” he heard Galladun mumbling as he circled Coil. Finally he stopped. “I’ve got some ideas for the wear, but for now I have some weapons that could work for your style.” “What would those be?” Coil asked, following the elf as he wandered to one of the walls and picked out a sword. “The first is this.” Galladun replied, handing the sword to Coil. He raised his eyebrows in surprise. It was similar to his current sword, a katana. But instead of one blade, there were two. The blades were about an inch to an inch and a half apart. The guard was in a thick diamond shape and the handle was wrapped in tight black lace. He noticed a small trigger under the guard. “The blades are close, so that even if you miss a killing shot,” Galladun rasped, “they’ll still either bleed out or die of infection.”

“Impressive” Coil said, giving the weapon some test swings, thrusts and twirls. “Press the trigger under the guard.” Coil did so and jumped slightly as the left side of the sword suddenly separated from the rest. He caught the half of the sword in his left hand. “It can split to become a double blade.” Coil said approvingly. “What else do you got for him?” Bry asked, walking forward and looking at the blades over Coil’s shoulder. Coil snapped the two halves back together and handed the blade back to the elf. Galladun walked to another section of wall and picked a bow off the wall. The longbow was painted black, the rubber grip fit snugly in his hand. There were four metal plates on the front of the bow, two on top and two on bottom. Between each set of plates was a long thin blade sticking out. “A bladed bow?” Coil asked, examining the weapon.

“Made of Ironwood.” the blacksmith said, then added proudly. “And the string is made of unicorn hair.” Coil pulled the string back as far as he could, testing the tension. He eased it back to it’s regular position and handed it back to the elf. “How much?” Coil asked. The elf grumbled a bit before spitting on the floor again. “Normally I’d say a hundred fifty thousand gold,” he said before flicking a wrist at Bry, “but since you’re with him, I’ll say a hundred twenty five thousand. And I’ll throw in thirty arrows for free.” “And for the sword?” “Same.” Coil rubbed his chin in thought, he admitted he liked both weapons but he wasn’t sure if he could afford both. He also needed throwing knives and bombs on top of needing to save a little bit to buy a house. After several more moments he looked up. “Give me the bow.”

“And what about you, runt?” the old elf asked, looking up at Bry “What’re you botherin’ me for?”

"Need some repairs to my halberd, ya old coot." Bry drawled. It was an old game between him and the elf, they’d insult each other and whoever reacted first lost.

"Oh, is that all?" Galladun asked as Bry handed him the weapon and he examined the weapon.

"No, I also want you to install Runes."

Galladun looked up at him and raised an eyebrow, Bry also noticed Coil look over at the mention.

"You sure about that, boy?" Galladun asked. "You know installing Runes is expensive."

"I know," Bry said with a grin, "but I’ve saved up quite a bit over the years."

Galladun let out a ‘hrmph’ and nodded.

"Which Runes do you want?"

"Sharpening on the halberd and impact on the shield."

The blacksmith chewed for several seconds.

"Normally I’d charge you nine hundred thousand." he said finally. "But for you...Seven hundred thousand."

Bry nodded and took his bag off his shoulders. He set it on a nearby table and opened the pouch containing his gold. He counted out the seven hundred thousand gold and placed it on the counter. Bronze were worth ten, silver twenty five. Gold was split into three categories: one hundred, one thousand and one hundred thousand.

After a moment’s thought he also pulled out four silver and five bronze.

"Need the halberd sharpened too, same with Coil’s sword."

"An’ the bronze?"

"A tip." Bry said with a grin.

Galladun gave Bry an evil eye look and sniffed.

"Give me about forty-five minutes." the old elf said, taking Bry’s halberd and Coil’s sword over to a whetstone.

"I thought you said he was a grouchy, mean guy?" Coil asked "Considering the discounts he gave us, I find it hard to believe."

"Yeah." Bry drawled with a grin. "I said it just to scare ya."

Coil punched him in his bare left arm and Bry laughed.

The near hour passed in silence, the two men watching the elven smith work. The sharpening had only taken a few minutes, no more than ten. Putting the Runes on Bry’s halberd and shield, however, took much longer.

After the final etching had been done he returned their weapons.

"You want me ta finish that armor for ya?" the blacksmith asked, pointing at Bry’s bare arm.

"No." Bry said, maybe a little too defensively. "It’s fine the way it is. Thanks though."

He noticed Coil staring at him, but only out of the corner of the rogue’s eye.

"Humph." the elf said "So be it. You lads need anythin’ else, or can I finally get some peace around here?"

"I need some throwing knives." Coil said. "and some bombs if you have them"

Galladun gave a grumpy sigh before turning toward the shop "I’ll see what I can find." He walked off, grumbling something about ‘annoying whipper snappers’

After Galladun was out of earshot Coil finally spoke.

"I’ve wanted to ask about that." he said eyeing Brys arm. "Not wearing armor on your left arm I mean."

Bry was silent for several seconds before flexing his left arm.

"It makes me look cool." he said finally with a smile.

Coil started at him flatly and snorted.

Bry hummed a few moments before Coil’s stare finally forced him to sigh.

"There’s a couple reasons." he said "You know I use my halberd with my left arm. Not having any armor over it gives it more flexibility."

"And the other reason?"

"My pride." Bry said, staring off and smiling slightly.

"You’re pride?" Coil asked, tilting his head.

"My left arm is my weapon arm. If I lose it, my life as a warrior and an Adventurer is over."

"All the more reason to put armor over it!" Coil hissed.

Bry shook his head and said "It’s a challenge, to anyone I fight."

Coil raised his eyebrows but Bry said nothing more on the matter.

The blacksmith returned shortly.

"How many ya need of each?"

Coil took several more seconds before tearing his eyes from Bry toward the elf.

"How much are they?"

"Ri! My love!" Emerra shouted when she saw Rizu break away from Bry and Coil and head toward her kiosk.

A human, Emerra was in her mid thirties with long sandy colored hair and big green eyes. She wore a long red and blue dress and a matching beret.

Rizu waved as she walked to the kiosk. Her old team had stopped in Largun two or three times and Emerra had been one of her first stops after receiving her pay. Part of the reason Rizu had decided to live in Largun was because of her. Emerra may not have had the largest stock of ingredients, but she had some of the best and most potent ingredients on half of the continent.

"Hello Emerra," Rizu said with a smile, "how have you been?"

"Without my favorite customer around? Business was… fair." Emerra said with a grin.

Rizu snorted.

"Did my shipment come in?"

"I believe it did." Emerra said turning to a stack of boxes behind her "Fifty Redroot, two jars of pinecones, ten orcish sunflowers-"

"That’s it" Rizu said quickly, the list of ingredients was long and she needed to make her potions quickly. "How much for it?"

"For the entire shipment…" Emerra hummed, tapping her chin "fifteen thousand."

Another reason Rizu used Emerra as her main source of ingredients, she always gave Rizu a great price. Rizu went through her coin pouch and pulled out the fifteen thousand.

"Appreciated love," Emerra said pocketing the coin "I’ll lend you a dolly so you can get it home."

"You’re too good to me, Emerra." Rizu said as Emerra slipped the dolly under the boxes, tilted it back and moved them out of the kiosk.

"Well naturally," the herbalist hummed "gotta treat the regulars right so they keep coming back."

Rizu moved behind the dolly and kicked it back, she turned to thank Emerra again but paused when she noticed the herbalist biting her lip in thought.

"What is is?"

"There’s...something I should tell you Ri." the woman said with a grimace. "Another white mage came by yesterday."

"Okay?" Rizu said with a tilt of her head "You expect me to act like you’re cheating on me by selling to other people?"

"No," Emerra said holding up her hands, "it’s...The people was she was. I recognized one."

Rizu wasn’t sure what to say, so she remained silent.

"It was Jarren," Emerra finally said, "he’s got a new group. And from what I could pick up of their chatter...they’re moving into the city after the job they’re out on."

Rizu felt her stomach clench up and her breath got caught in her throat.

Jarren had been the leader of the last team she’d been on. After finding out he’d been using her and shirking on her pay and that he was going to sell one of their members out for a bounty, she’d broken from the group on less than good terms.

"Ri?" the herbalist asked, snapping Rizu out of her thoughts. She hadn’t noticed she’d been gripping the dolly so hard, her knuckles were white and her fingers hurt like hell.

"I’m fine." Rizu said after taking a deep breath to calm her nerves "Thank you for letting me know."

Emerra said nothing, only nodding as Rizu walked away with the dolly and her boxes.

Her old team leader living in Largun. There was no way that they wouldn’t meet at some point. She’d deal with that hurdle when she came to it

"There she is." Coil said pointing out toward the far corner of the market. Bry placed his hand over his eyes and squinted.

Rizu was walking toward the Guild Hall, of which Bry and Coil were sitting on the rail while they waited, with Fluffles in tow behind her.

"Her walk…" Coil said hesitantly.

"She’s walking too fast," Bry said, leaning back and crossing his arms. "Something’s bothering her."

She walked up to the two of them and only said "Let’s go."

"Something bothering you, short stack?" Bry asked, not moving from his spot.

Rizu glared up at him and Bry almost regretted the jokeful tone. She was in full on team leader mode.

He saw her clench her teeth and her fists tighten on her staff.

He flinched back slightly, preparing for the verbal assault he knew was coming. He was surprised when she sighed and her shoulders slumped.

"I’ll tell you two about it later." she finally said. "For now, let’s just focus on finding a job to do."

Bry and Coil shared a look. After a few moments of silence they both nodded and the trio entered the Guild Hall.

As always, the Guild Hall was full of people. Every seat of every table was taken. Even the bar stools were all taken.

They moved through the crowded group, Bry giving an evil eye to anyone that bumped them, and walked to the notice board.

"Not a lot of new jobs." Bry noticed, seeing the papers hung up on the board.

"Doesn’t matter," Rizu said reading through the notices, "we just gotta take whatever is available."

After a couple of minutes Coil pulled one off the wall.

"How about this one?" he asked, holding it out as Bry and Rizu leaned in. "It’s a request from a town being attacked by goblins."

"How’s the pay?" Bry asked.

"What does that matter?" Rizu asked shortly. "It’s people in need of help."

"Indeed." Coil said with a nod "But, to answer Bry’s question, it looks like seventy-five thousand."

"How far away?"

"It’s in a town called Hartua." Coil said, pointing at the name.

"Been through there, I think." Bry said rubbing his chin. "About a three days walk from the city."

"Why don’t the soldiers handle it though?" Coil asked. "It seems like something they should take care of."

"Probably think it’s too far beneath their notice." Bry huffed in annoyance "Back when I was with Boltol, the higher ups were like that. Anything not involving an invasion or invading force they left to the local Guild. Goblins usually travel around in groups of twenty to thirty, not enough to send the garrison out."

"Lazy asses." Rizu huffed, taking the paper out of Coil’s hand. "Let’s go."

"That it?" Bry asked, looking down from the hilltop at the town.

"Matches the coordinates on the map." Coil said. "So it must be"

"Let’s go introduce ourselves then." Rizu said from atop Fluffles, now back to his regular, large self.

She still chuckled a bit every time she thought of the looks on the guards faces when Fluffles passed by the wards she’d etched into the gate, turning from a small fluffball that she could carry with one arm into a massive beast that could tear through squads of soldiers like butter.

Hartua had one single road running straight through the town. The town itself was built like a box, houses on either side of the road with a single fence reach behind all the homes on either side. A ways off from the houses on the left was a large wheat field. The only exception to the box shape was the temple that was at the end of the rows of houses.

Easily the largest building around, it dwarfed the homes of the townsfolk. Made out of pure stone it had a vast stairway leading toward the entrance. Eight pillars stood on either side once they reached the top of the stairway. The door was twelve feet high and ten wide and were wide open.

The entire town was inside, praying. In the back past the pews was a tall statue of a humanoid figure wearing a toga, holding wheat in one hand and a hand scythe in the other.

Roth, Rizu thought, God of the Harvest. She thought people had given up worship of the Old Pantheon years ago. Interesting.

She looked to Bry and the warrior raised an eyebrow. She nodded in response.

He grinned and held his arms out as far as they could, and quickly clapped his hands together. The metal gauntlets created a booming echo throughout the temple, causing all the townsfolk to jump.

They turned, timid and frightened.

"Heard you guys have a goblin problem." Rizu said leaning forward and resting her arms on top of Fluffles head, her chin resting on her arms. "We’re here to see if we can help you with that."

The townsfolk were silent for a moment. Then the whispering began as the man who’d been kneeling right in front of the statue moments before came to greet them. He was bald, had tanned leathery skin with a short white beard and grey eyes

"I am Palanar, headsman of Hartua and priest of Roth, God of the Harvest." he looked between the three Adventurers and the chimera, then behind them. "Where is the rest of your force?"

"Force?" Rizu asked.

"We sent the request to the garrison at the Crown City..." the old man started.

"They handed it off to the Adventurers Guild," Coil said, "the three of us took the job to come and help."

The old man’s face fell and his shoulders slumped.

"It’s just a wandering Goblin group," Bry said with a shrug, "we can handle it in no-"

"It’s no group" Palanar whispered.

"Eh?" the three Adventurers said in unison.

"It’s an entire clan, numbering three hundred strong."

"Three hun-" Coil started, his hand flying to his head and beginning to rub his temples.

"We can make it work." Rizu hissed, scanning the pews. "I count four hundred people here. If we can set up a defense-"

"NO!" Palanar shouted, the ‘no’ echoing throughout the temple.

"We’re farmers," the old man explained, "the only ones among us who know how to use weapons are the hunters. We tried to fight when the creatures first arrived, two weeks ago, but…" he cut off and shook his head as tears began to form in his eyes.

Rizu looked through the crowd again, eyes turned down toward the floor and lips pressed together until they turned white.

"The goblins made an example of someone," Bry whispered after a few moments, "didn’t they?"

The old man looked up, tears streaming down his eyes, and nodded.

"Show us."

Coil stared at the corpses of the three young women, cut open throat to groin and hollowed out.

The goblin’s had done a rough crucification of the women, their bodies slumped against the wood, arms spread open with nails in the biceps, forearm and palms and their heels digging into the earth. The rotten flesh was dried out. They’d been dead for quite some time.

The former assassin shook his head ruefully and looked to his companions.

Rizu appeared calm, her breathing was controlled and her eyes were cold. But her hands were tightly clenched, her knuckles turning white and he thought he could see them shaking. If Coil had to compare, her fury was a storm held in by glass.

Bry, on the other hand, was an inferno that’d long since burned away the paper cage around it. His teeth were bared in a snarl, his eyes filled with pure fury and his nails dug into the flesh of his palm.

"Why?" Bry snarled, turning toward the townsfolk. "Why haven’t you taken their bodies down yet?"

The crowd either looked down or shied away from Bry’s fury.

"WHY!?" the warrior roared.

"Th-the goblins." Palanar stuttered, looking like he wanted to run "They threatened to burn down the town if we did."

Palanar’s answer seemed to add wood to the fire, Bry became more furious.

"Where are the husbands of these women?" Bry growled. "Bring them up here."

"Bry." Rizu said quietly, turning her head slightly to the warrior. "Stop it."

Coil felt a chill at Rizu’s tone. The mage’s implied far more danger than Bry’s at the moment.

But if the warrior had heard her words, he ignored them. Three men walked toward the group timidly and Bry walked toward them.

Faster than his bulk would suggest, Bry struck the middle man across the face with a backhand. The one on the left he kicked in the stomach.

The right one he grabbed and headbutt to the ground.

"Bry!" Rizu said louder, her anger finally showing. "That’s enough!"

Bry turned and glared darkly at the mage. Rizu returned the look, refusing to back down. Coil could swear he saw angry sparks fly between the two.

Finally Bry backed down. Turning to the three men, now struggling to get to their feet, he said "Pathetic. Your wives are dead and you’re too scared to even give them a burial."

"T-the g-goblins said-" the man Bry had backhanded started.

"It doesn’t matter!" Bry snarled. "You should have buried them properly, instead of looking at them each day and pissing yourself in fear."

The men looked down, trying to avoid eye contact with Bry. The warrior spit off to the side and turned away from them.

"Didn’t expect that." Coil said as Bry approached. Now that he thought of it, he didn’t think he’d ever seen Bry so angry. "Didn’t take you for the kind of guy who’d get mad at seeing a few dead women."

"It’s not that." Bry said as he crossed his arms. "It’s that their own husbands are so pitiful they didn’t even bury them."

Coil stared at the warrior. For all the time he’d traveled with Bry and Rizu, Bry had always seemed guarded. Keeping his emotions locked down and revealing little unless it was needed. Seeing him in a rage and beating down those three men, Coil kind of understood why Bry seemed to keep everything down.

"A wolf of Boltol thing?" Coil asked, turning back to the bodies.

"No." Bry said with a shake of his head "It’s a decency thing."

"Enough banter," Rizu said with a sigh, "cut them down. We’ll try to figure out a plan to deal with the goblins after."

"No!" Palanar shouted "if you cut them down the goblins will-"

Bry and Rizu both turned toward the old man, their dark glares forcing him down.

They’d done it perfectly in unison. Must come from being partners for so many years. He wondered if he’d ever get to the point he could do that too.

"Let’s go buddy," Bry said lightly bumping Coil on the shoulder. "I’ll cut the back of the nails off, you pull them out. I need to test the Rune the old man put on my weapon."

Coil nodded and followed behind. As they worked, he tried to recall all the information he knew about goblins.

Some people theorized that goblins were smaller and weaker cousins to the orcs, though the orcs denied any relation to the beasts.

Goblins had no tusks like orcs did, and while most orcs could pass for humans without the tusks or the different skin colors.

Goblins, however, were small and twisted by their corrupt and bloodthirsty nature.

Orcs were a warrior race that only fought when glory was involved, but goblins tortured and killed for the sheer pleasure of it.

In terms of pure physical strength, the average goblin was slightly weaker than the average human. They weren’t very smart, though the bigger, stronger and smarter of them could speak some basic words of the sentient races.

All in all, if there were three hundred of them then he, Rizu and Bry had little chance of success. In an open battle Bry and Coil could, between the two of them, kill maybe fifty or sixty. Rizu could possibly kill a number more with her magic, but they’d be overwhelmed sooner than later.

"We need to call for backup." Coil finally said as he and Bry laid the last corpse down. "The three of us can’t handle this on our own."

"No." Bry said with a shake of his head. "It’ll take the guards or other Guild members days to get here."

Bry looked back at the town and the anger crossed his face again.

"We have reinforcements right there," the warrior said waving an arm at the town, "but they’d rather piss themselves than fight."

"They’re farmers, Bry," Coil said, "they don’t know how to fight."

"They don’t need to know how!" Bry said with a frustrated sigh. "All they need to do is overwhelm them. They outnumber the goblins!"

Coil shrugged.

"Some people would rather not take the risk of dying." he said. "It’s in every creature's nature."

Bry make a tsking sound before grabbing a nearby shovel and began to dig.

"Making them each a grave?" Coil asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course," Bry growled, "if their incompetent husbands won’t do it, then someone has to."

Bry was halfway through the second grave when Rizu and Fluffles came back, shaking her head in frustration.

"They keep refusing to fight." she hissed. "So it’s up to the three of us."

"We’ll die." Bry grunted as he threw another mound of dirt off the shovel.

"We can make a strategy and-"

"We’ll die." Bry repeated "Three of us against three hundred goblins? The closest we’d get to winning is if we pin them in a choke off point."

"And even then they’d overwhelm us" Coil finished with a nod.

"Well," Rizu said, placing her hands on her hips, "we need to do something."

Fluffles let out a growl of agreement, eyeing the bodies and licking his lips.

"Don’t even think about it." Coil warned the beast.

"I do have an idea." Bry said quietly between shoveling. "But you won’t like it."

Rizu and Coil shared a look for a moment before returning their gaze to Bry.

"What is it?" the small mage asked.

Bry stuck the shovel in the ground, looking to make sure the three were alone.

"We burn the wheat field and blame it on the goblins."

Coil and Rizu’s eyes widened with shock.

"No," Rizu snarled, "absolutely not!"

"I second that." Coil said with a nod toward Rizu. "If we burn the wheat field, they’ll lose a source of food and income. We’ll be responsible for them dying, and I don’t kill anyone except my targets."

"They can always plant more." Bry insisted. "And it’ll force them to fight."

"How so?"

"A man with enough will can survive without food." Bry said, turning toward Coil. "A man with food can survive without will. But if a man has neither, he’ll become desperate and do whatever the person who offers him both tells him to do."

Coil rubbed his chin in thought. Bry had a good point, but still...to destroy the wheat field and starve these people just so he could make them fight? It didn’t sit well with him.

"I don’t know Bry…" Coil said, jumping slightly when Rizu slammed her foot and staff on the ground.

"No." she snarled. "It’ll do more damage than good to these people. The three of us can handle it."

Bry’s eyes darkened and he walked forward. He grabbed both of them by the backs of their heads and forced them forward toward the corpses.

"Look at them." Bry growled.

"Stop it Bry." Rizu hissed but Bry pushed them both forward, closer to the corpses.

"LOOK AT THEM!" he roared. "This is what they’ll do to us if we fight on our own. You like the thought of that? Being crucified, split open and hollowed out while they slaughter all those folks who don’t want to fight?"

He released his grip on their heads and shoved them forward onto their knees.

"Grow up." he snarled. "Three against three hundred isn’t a battle that can be won. If we want to survive, we need to get these people to fight."

Coil stared down at the body of the poor woman and lowered his head. Damn the man, he was right. No matter how Coil played it out in his head, the three of them always ended up dead and the town was torched to the ground. All except for the one where they forced the townsfolk to fight.

"He’s right Rizu," Coil whispered, "as much as I hate to admit it. We can’t win with just us."

Coil could see Rizu shaking and he could hear her grind her teeth as she thought of another way to try and get the people to fight or to fight three hundred goblins by themselves. She finally turned toward Bry, tears streaming down her face.

"Fine." she said quietly. "We’ll do it your way. But goddamn it Bry, I’ll never forgive you."

"Not looking for forgiveness," Bry said with a shrug, "just to survive and get the job done."

Coil sat on the branch, watching the road the townsfolk had said lead to where the goblins had set up camp.

Bry’s plan still didn’t sit well with him, he felt like every town person who died would be his responsibility. But he had to push those feelings down, they needed the people to fight if the three of them were to survive.

Keep telling yourself that, his subconscious said.

According to the townsfolk two goblins came every four days for payment of wheat, grain and meat. If they couldn’t provide the latter, the goblins just took one of the children.

After Rizu and Coil had left from hearing Bry’s plan, Rizu had said something that was still going through Coil’s mind.

"In a way, I’m glad it’s goblins and not bandits." the mage had said quietly.

"Why is that?" he had asked.

"Because, goblins are simple monsters. Animals kill for food, monsters kill for sport. It’d be much more terrifying if one of the sentient races willingly chose to do such evil, don’t you think?"

There was still evil in the world, even among the sentient races. But he’d never given much thought to such things, he’d never really had a reason to.

He saw movement down the road and used his Inner Magic to enhance his vision.

Two goblins wearing leather armor, wielding shoddy and rusted weapons.

The one on the left was taller, his skin a pale grey with dagger like teeth coming from between its lips. The one on the right had a near blue hue of skin, it’s lips cut away revealing all three rows of teeth.

Coil took an arrow out of his quiver, dipping it in oil and igniting it with flint. He took his bow in his right hand and aimed at the edge of the field.

When the goblins were within range, letting out a series of growls and grunts, he released the arrow. The wheat caught fire quickly and the goblins turned in surprise. Coil drew another arrow and aimed at the taller of the two.

Rizu wiped her brow as the patient she’d been working on sat up from the table and hobbled off.

"Next!" she shouted, waving to the next person in line.

She’d decided to spend her time helping to heal the people who’d been wounded by the goblins the first time the monsters had arrived.

She tried not to think of Bry’s plan and what would happen after. Even him mentioning it had felt like a physical blow. It went against everything she stood for as a white mage. It would save their lives, true, but so many townspeople would die as a result.

She still hadn’t spoken to Bry since his mention of it. If she did, she’d say something they’d both regret. The warrior was more than content with that, keeping himself busy with setting traps through the night.

She could understand from his point. He’d been a soldier and was still a warrior through and through out on the field. Fighting and survival were the two instincts he felt the most out in the field, but that didn’t make it right.

She’d already been stressed over the thought of running into Jarren again and Bry’s plan was pushing her to her limit.

She took a deep breath and forced the issue with Jarren out of her mind, she’d deal with it another time. For now, she needed to worry about keeping as many people alive as possible.

She heard a commotion out in the hall which quickly grew into a panic, then she could smell the smoke and waited until everyone’s backs were turned before biting her lip in anger.

"Fire!" She heard someone shout. "The fields are on fire!"

Her makeshift infirmary exploded into motion as the people in the hallway and the cots ran outside to see.

"Damn them." she whispered as she stood and grabbed her staff.

Even if the people did fight and survive, they’d still go hungry. Bry’s plan didn’t call for burning a small bit of the field, he claimed that wouldn’t be enough to encourage the people to fight.

He planned on burning it all.

She followed behind and grimaced at the black smoke already covering the horizon.

In the distance she could see Bry shouting at the villagers and pointing at the field.

She felt a wrenching in her gut at how he actually seemed HONEST about trying to help the people whose crops he was destroying.

She followed close to the crowd, several of them running to the well in the center of town with buckets in their hands.

She looked out at the large greasy black smoke as it rose higher and higher into the sky.

She made her choice. To hell with Bry’s plan, she’d find a way to convince the people without starving them.

She walked over to the well where people were getting their water. Several of the townsfolk looked at her in confusion, and some in rage or annoyance, as she crawled upon the stone well and stood.

She tapped her staff on the stone and focused her energy downward into the waters of the well. She smirked as she felt it go even deeper and reach into an underground lake. That was more than enough water.

Spreading her magic throughout the water, she rose her hand and the water burst from the well. She turned and held her hand out toward the fire.

A long snake-like length of water went from the well to over the fire. About fifty feet side to side and forty from top to bottom, the water slithered in the sky toward the area she’d indicated.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Bry give her an annoyed look.

She felt a great deal of satisfaction clenching her fist and watching the water spread out, becoming a thin sheet and falling over the field all at once.

Steam mixed with the already high smoke, but from the looks of it she’d managed to put out the entirety of the fire.

Bry approached as the people cheered and leaned against the well.

"You’re eager to get us killed, aren’t you?" he asked, his tone flat.

"We’ll figure out another way to get them to fight, Bry." she said. "There has to be another way than that."

"They’d be hungry," he admitted, "but they’d still be alive."

"We can still use part of your plan." she said with a wicked grin as she spotted Coil walking down the road with something over his shoulders.

When he was close enough she saw him look toward the field before raising an eyebrow at them.

Coil stopped about thirty feet from them and dropped the goblin on the ground, an arrow sticking out of the back of its neck.

"A goblin?" one of the men asked as Palanar made his way to the front of the crowd.

"There were two of them," Coil said rolling his shoulders, "I saw them throw a torch into the field and shot this one, but the other got away."

"But...but why?" Palanar asked. "We’ve met their demands!"

"Probably found another spot to bleed dry." Bry said with a shrug. "Figure they don’t need you anymore. Probably set fire to the fields to starve you before coming and finishing you off."

A panicked buzz went through the townsfolk, several people simply fell to their knees or began to cry.

"Enough of that!" Rizu snapped, stomping a foot on the well.

The buzz slowed. It didn’t cease all together, but it was good enough.

"W-will you defend us?" Palanar asked, falling to his knees and pressing his forehead to the ground.

"We will," Rizu said with a nod, "but we can’t do it by ourselves."

"But you’re Adventurers!" someone shouted.

"Three Adventurers." she corrected "Against three hundred goblins. We could kill several of them, true, but we’d be overrun eventually and they’d still kill you all."

"What are we to do then?" Palanar asked. Rizu could tell from his tone he knew what she was going to say, and she felt her gut knot.

"Fight." she said "Bry and Coil are veteran fighters and can show you some of what they know within the upcoming days, and we can set traps."

"But we’re simple farmers." Palanar said once again, raising his head. "Besides our hunters bows, we have no weapons."

"Not true." Bry said with a snort.

All eyes turned toward the warrior and he hooked his thumb over toward the treeline about two miles out.

"You can make spears from the wood there. A spear’d be a better choice for you anyway, keeps the enemy at a distance. And I’m sure, being ‘simple farmers’ you have pitchforks around."

The people began to whisper again and Rizu whistled. The people in the back of the crowd parted as Fluffles made his way forward, stopping and sitting in front of Rizu. She pet him on the head and said "Fluffles, be a dear and make these people shut up so mama can finish talking."

The chimera rumbled, turning toward the crowd and roaring, shaking the dirt on the ground. The closest of the townsfolk covered their ears, and when Fluffles fell silent no one spoke"

"Thank you Fluffles, you’re mama’s good boy."

The chimera laid down, crossing his front paws and purred.

"Now." Rizu said placing her hands on her hips. "Yes, I can understand why you’d be scared. I’m sure very few of you have been in an actual fight."

"But that doesn’t matter," she continued, "you hold the numbers advantage. And, as I said, we can make traps to be sure the goblins take heavier losses."

"If you don’t fight," she said after several seconds of silence, "then they’ll burn this town to the ground, kill and likely eat all of you. Including your children."

She saw several of the townsfolk look up and their eyes harden.

"Now quit wasting time and let’s start getting ready. We’ve got four days."

The people nodded solemnly and broke off, the majority running off to the farms to grab saws and axes to break down the trees and begin making spears.

"Not half bad," Bry said with a slow clap, "not half good either, but I’ll give it some credit."

Rizu snorted in response.

"I think this is a better alternative." Coil said walking up to the pair and petting Fluffles between the shoulders. "Your plan was going to leave a bad taste in my mouth. And this way, they fight AND don’t starve."

Bry shrugged "I’m man enough to admit when I’m wrong."

"Do we have an actual plan for how we’re going to do this?" Coil asked, turning to Rizu.

"I have some ideas, but we need to make sure everyone has the weapons they need and at least a little bit of training. So I don’t think any of us are going to be getting much sleep."

"I’ll scout around. See which paths the goblins are most likely to take and mark them for traps."

Coil said walking off.

"Guess I’ll get ready to show these farmers how to fight." Bry said stretching. "What about you?"

"What I was doing before, tending to the sick and wounded." the mage replied as she stepped down from the well.

Bry nodded and began to walk off before stopping and walking over to the dead goblin, a grin on his face.

"Hey Rizu," Bry said lifting the goblin’s head with one hand, "you never told me your twin lived this far from home."

A vein twitched under her right eye and she bashed him over the head with her staff.

The warrior cursed and rubbed his head "You’re right, this is MUCH too pretty to be YOUR twin."

Three more twitches. Three more hits.

"So does everyone understand the plan?" Rizu asked looking between Bry, Coil, Palanar and four of the younger townsfolk Bry had chosen as commanders. All seven nodded.

"Considering it’s your plan, I’m actually somewhat impressed." Bry said, crossing his arms.

"What’s yours? ‘Hit them really hard’?" Rizu asked, deepening her voice to a mocking tone at the second half of her question.

"If it works, it works." Bry said with a shrug and a grin. "And it’s always worked for me."

"Are they normally like this?" Pelenar asked, raising a brow at Coil.

"Oh no," Coil said with a smile, "normally they’re MUCH worse than this."

The meeting was in Palanar’s barn, forty feet tall from ceiling to floor and forty wide, one of the biggest buildings in the town and perfectly centered to send orders from before the goblins arrived in less than an hour.

"Does anyone have any changes they think need to be added?" Rizu asked looking between the group.

"I… may have an idea." Coil said, rubbing his chin. "But I’m going to need all the hunters in the village and two of our lance fences."

"Oh ho?" Bry asked, a grin crossing his face. "What do you have in mind?"

"You’ll have to wait and see my friend." Coil said returning the smile.

Rizu watched from over the top of one of the houses as the goblins reach the edge of the town. Several were bloodied and wounded from the traps set up on the roads Coil had scouted out.

Every single one of them were angry.

Only a small number of them were carrying torches, looking side to side as they prowled the streets.

"Looks like everyone’s in position." Bry said with a small smile. "We just need them to get a little bit further in before Coil springs his surprise."

Rizu nodded and looked behind her, where half the townsfolk were hiding under fake foliage and fake grass, preparing for their attack.

Finally the last goblin made its way into the center of the town.

"Send the sig-" Rizu started but cut off as she felt a small shiver run through her spine. She reached out with her magic senses and her eyes widened.

She felt three magical presences among the goblins. Their aura’s felt as greasy and cruel as regular goblins were.

She tried to stop Bry, waving her hand toward him and hissing. Her heart fell as he lit the signal flare and fired it into the air, catching the attention of the goblins.

She hadn’t counted on there being a magic wielding goblin, let alone three of them.

Coil spotted the flare from his hiding place at the last house before the temple and motioned to the fifteen hunters with him, seven with him and eight on the other side. Four on each side moved behind the large carts they’d hidden alongside themselves and pushed them out into the streets, side by side. The goblins spotted them but were too slow to reach them. Coil and thirteen of the hunters scrambled on top of the carts, the last two taking a position on either end of the carts and began firing into the charging goblins, about fifty.

For every one of Coil’s arrows that hit a target, the hunters missed three. Knowing what was going to come soon, Coil made sure to pick off the biggest brutes of the charging horde.

He made sure to hit eyes and throats with every shot. The hunters arrows more often than not would hit some of the leather armor the goblins were wearing. By the time he’d downed his thirteenth goblin all the hunters combined had killed four and wounded seventeen others.

The goblins closed, in howling for the humans blood. Coil waited until they were twenty feet before turning to the hunters on the ends of the carts and shouting "NOW!"

The hunters on the ground grabbed a pair of ropes (one on either end) and pulled, lifting two large lance fences. Each of the wooden steak was eight feet long and tied so close together the tips were mere inches apart, leaving no gaps for the goblins to squeeze through.

The first few goblins tried to halt their charge, but the group behind hadn’t seen the fences yet.

The first row of goblins were pushed into the spikes with, oddly, satisfying crunches as the steaks tore through them.

Now at point blank range, the hunters didn’t need to really aim. Just fire into the group of goblins and quickly finished off the remainder of the group of fifty.

The main force of goblins shrieked and roared in fury as they moved to charge the barricade, knowing the archers would be low on arrows by now.

Rather than be afraid, Coil smiled as he saw a large form dash across one of the roofs, howling as it leapt and landed on one of the charging goblins, crushing the unfortunate beast.

The three in front turned to see what had happened to their companion and lost their heads in one strike as Bry’s halberd slashed across their necks, the goblins behind momentarily stunned by the large warrior.

Then the screaming began again, this time as the people of Hartua charged with wooden spears, pitchforks and saws from either side of the town and caught the goblins in the middle.

Coil drew his sword and jumped off the top of the cart, over the fences and the goblin corpses decorating them and dashed into the battle, his sword in his left hand and his bow in his right.

Even with the numerical advantage and the small amount of training, Bry could see the hesitation and fear from the townsfolk as they fought the much better geared goblins. He needed to make sure their morale didn’t break. With such a small force he figured twenty percent casualties would be enough to break the townsfolk morale and they’d break rank, and if that happened the goblins would slaughter them. So he’d always throw himself into wherever the fighting was thickest, keeping as many of the farmers alive as he could.

He had to give the old elf credit, the Runes and repair to his gear was top notch. With the sharpening rune he cut through the goblins like a hot knife through butter, one swing and they were in pieces. With the impact rune he barely felt whenever his shield was struck, even when one of the goblins went at him with a mace.

The goblins seemed to realize that he was the one pushing the hardest and causing the most casualties on their side, the tip off was when a dozen of them broke off from their engagements and swarmed at him.

He downed the first with a strike from head to toe, splitting the monster in half. The second he shoved aside with his shield to stab the third in the throat.

The fourth got through and slashed the joint in his leg armor, cutting his knee. He fell to one leg and used his shield to cover his head and neck, feeling the goblins blows banging off his armor.

He thrust out with his halberd, smiling viciously when he heard one of the goblins shriek in pain has the spiked tip tore through it’s stomach.

He felt his grip on his shield loosen as one of the goblins struck his right arm.

Then the attacks stopped after several slashing and gurgling noises.

"Never thought I’d see you kneel." he heard Coil say mockingly.

"Just needed a break, figured I’d give you a chance to look cool. For once." Bry said with a sneer as he stood, limping slightly.

Both Coil’s sword and the blades on the front of the blow were coated with thick goblin blood.

"We need to find their leader." Bry said, glancing around the battle. "He’ll be the biggest and most heavily armed. Take his head and the goblins should flee."

"I had the same thought." Coil said with a nod.

A crackling sound drew both men’s attention upward-

-too late as a bolt of lightning struck between them, throwing them back and on the ground.

Bry and Coil struggled to their feet, barely getting there before a ball of flame appeared before them and exploded, turning the corpses below them and some of the townsfolk and goblins around it into charred meat.

Bry lifted his shield in time to keep it from burning his face, and Coil had ducked behind the warrior.

He felt his armor heat up and he began to sweat as it lightly seared his flesh.

The culprits of their attacks appeared a moment later as a trio of goblins approached through the center of the battle.

The one on the left wore only a bear hide cloak, the top of the bear's jaws over it’s head.It stood at about five feet tall with grey skin marked with blood red paint in random claw-like patterns across its body. In one of its claws was a spear

The one on the right was wearing a brown sheet like a robe over it’s left shoulder. This one had dark green skin and carried a long handled iron axe in one hand.

The middle one had blood red skin and stood the tallest of the three at five foot six, with with only a loincloth and a headdress made from what appeared to be a child's skull, the six tassels behind it were spines likely tied onto the skull. This one wielded a two handed mace as it’s staff.

"Magic using goblins?" Bry asked, shaking as the armor continued to sear him. "Fuck me."

"Bry?" Coil asked, turning toward the warrior. "Are you okay?"

Truthfully, he’d felt better. He was using his Inner Magic to increase his body’s defenses so the searing wasn’t too bad, but the attacks they’d taken while off guard had left him shaky.

The goblin on the left raised his spear and an arc of lightning burst from its tip and slammed into Bry’s shield.

The electricity coursed through his shield and into his arm, making it go numb. His arm slumped and the shield dropped from his fingers.

Coil ducked under Bry’s left side and fired an arrow at the trio.

The middle goblin lifted it’s weapon and the arrow was blown back by a gust of wind, forcing Coil to duck his head before the arrow could hit it.

All three goblins raised their hands and pointed at Bry and Coil.

"Oh fuck me, sideways." Bry cursed as the energy left the goblins hands. The lightning and fire mixed with the wind, making a small horizontal tornado that snaked its way toward the duo.

Bry raised his halberd before, not sure what he thinking in hoping that it’d somehow shield at least a little of the-

-the attack stopped three inches in front of the halberd.

Bry was sure the look of confusion on the goblin mages faces mimicked his own. He looked at his halberd in shock.

"Did I-?" he started until a small white and red form walked by him.

"Don’t flatter yourself dear." Rizu said standing before the two men, facing the goblins. Fluffles walked by them, a dead goblin hanging by the neck in his jaws.

Without turning, Rizu pointed her hand toward Bry and Coil. Two orbs of golden light floated from her palm and floated toward the two men, going into them. Bry felt his wounds healing the moment the orb went into him, the flesh and muscle knitting and the searing receding and new flesh forming over the burns. Feeling came back to his right arm and he knelt, picking up his shield.

"Thanks for the assist" he said with an indignant huff.

The mage snorted and waved her left hand dismissively.

"Need our help taking these guys?" Coil asked, drawing an arrow.

"No." the mage said shaking her head. "You two go deal with the chieftain, I’ll handle these three. Their aura’s aren’t much, they’re probably just novices."

"Novices?" Bry asked, unsure.

"Yeah, and they kicked your ass." Rizu said with a laugh. "It was pretty funny to watch."

"You little-" Bry said taking a step forward but backed off as Fluffles turned and growled at him.

"Fluffles," Rizu said sweetly, "go with them and keep them alive for mommy. Heaven knows what trouble they’d get into without me."

The chimera let out a low yowl of acknowledgement and hunched down so Bry and Coil could get on his back.

After the two men had taken their seats the beast set off at a dash, Bry howling as he cleaved heads off the goblins.

"Now," Rizu said, tapping her chin with one finger, "not only are you killing innocent people but you’re also abusing elemental magic."

The goblins growled and snarled at her in their own language. Their auras had caught her off guard before. But compared to her own magical power… If each of them was a river, she was a volcano.

"And not only those," she said as a sickly sweet smile crossed her face, "but you tried to kill my teammates. That’s a big no-no. You’re just a bunch of unruly children."

The goblin controlling lightning snarled and threw a bolt at her as the flame wielding goblin lobbed a few balls of fire at her.

Rizu raised a magical bubble, slowing the bolt and fire. She sidestepped the flames, and formed a glove-like shield around her right hand. She took the bolt in her and and looked at the surprised goblins.

"Naughty children should be punished." she said coldly as she spun in a circle. Just before she completed her spin she dropped the bubble and released the bolt, sending it back at its original owner. The bolt tore through the top of the goblin’s head, destroying the upper part of the skull, leaving only its lower jaw downward.

"You’re outmatched here." she said pointing at the goblin she’d just killed as it’s body hit the ground. "If you throw down your weapons, leave and never abuse your magic again I’ll let you go"

The goblins responded by combining their magic, the fire wielder jetting flames from both hands while the wind user used his magic to make the flames more powerful.

Rizu let out a low sigh and held out her hand, a golden wall forming between her and the flame. The flames burst out of either side forcing the townspeople and the common goblins to move back or be roasted alive.

"See, you really are novices." she said with another sigh. "You can only use your magic in a straight line. You can’t even get creative, like I can."

She snapped her fingers and the wall pushed forward, stopping just a few inches away from the two goblins. She snapped again and a second wall appeared behind the two goblins. Two more snaps and two more walls on either side, forming a box.

With nowhere for the flames to escape from the sides, the wind-enhanced flame went around into the box and burst upward. By the time she dropped the walls the two magic using goblins had been burned down to the bone.

She cast a glare at the goblins around her, maybe thirty in all, daring them to keep fighting or to attack her.

The goblins broke rank and ran. The townsfolk around her cheered and Rizu hunched over and began breathing hard.

She’d been more powerful and skillful for sure. But healing Bry and Coil, making the bubble to slow the goblins attacks, the shield glove letting her grab the lightning and four walls holding up against a combined magic attack had drained too much of her own magical energy.

If they’d been rivers, she was a volcano. And a volcano released everything in one blast.

"Gonna have to rely on smaller shields for awhile." she said, breathing deeply as the townsfolk gathered around her in case any of the goblins came back.

After a few more deep breaths she stood straight and turned to where the battle was going on. Their side had managed to encircle the goblins and were pressing in on every side.

"Half of you," she said, referring to the people around her, "clear the bodies here away. Four of you go find some tarps and nails to pin them down."

"And the rest, lady mage?" a woman holding a hand scythe and her torso covered in blood asked.

"The rest of you," Rizu said, looking around, "starting bringing the wounded here."

Between a man dual wielding a katana and a bladed bow on the left, a massive warrior with a shield and halberd in the center and a chimera on the right, Bry was surprised the goblins ranks hadn’t broken yet.

Their chieftain must be quite fierce to keep them in line even after losing so many.

They were down to the last fifty or sixty goblins now, and their small army had the goblins surrounded.

The formation was one Coil, Bry and Fluffles had practiced on the road but hadn’t had a chance to use yet.

But it was more effective than they thought it’d be.

Coil defended Bry’s left arm, keeping enemies from attacking while he’s recovering from his swings, and by doing so he could temporarily jump back when Bry struck giving him enough time to catch his breath.

Bry’s shield not only defended himself, but also covered Fluffles left side, allowing the Chimera to deal with enemies that struck it from the front or right.

The goblins were fighting more ferociously now, taking several wounds from the townsfolk before they fell. Usually it ended up with one or two of the people wounded or killed by the single goblin.

"There!" Coil shouted, pointing toward the back of the goblin ranks.

There Bry got a look at the chieftain. A brute of a goblin, it stood nearly six feet, but was much wider than a regular one. Even wider than Bry was.

And unlike the smaller goblins around it, this one wore steel armor over it’s torso and legs. It even had a steel helm to go along with it.

And he was using a massive double headed axe.

"See if you can take him down from here." Bry growled. As much as he wanted to fight the beast, ending the battle quickly was the best thing to do.

Coil jumped back as Bry swung his halberd, severing two goblins heads with one swing, and knocked an arrow. He aimed for a few seconds before the arrow went flying toward it’s target.

The chieftain grabbed one of the smaller goblins and held it up, using it as a shield as the arrow sank into the smaller beasts back.

"Bastard." Bry growled, baring his teeth. "Using his own men as a shield."

"Looks like we’re going to have to get dirty if we want to kill him." Coil said, stabbing a goblin in the neck with his sword and kicking it back.

"Fluffs." Bry said turning to the Chimera. "Think you can get us over there?"

The large beast let out a loud roar of challenge and the two men climbed on his back.

Fluffles burst forwarward, trampling all goblins that dared to stand in his way while Coil kicked goblins in the head or kicked aside their weapons. The chieftain spotted their approach and roared his challenge at them. Fluffles jumped into the air and went to crash his front paws down on the large goblin.

The chieftain took a stepped forward, swinging his weapon and catching Fluffles in his left ribs. The chimera let out a yowl of pain and crashed into the ground, throwing Bry and Coil off. Coil rolled as he fell, coming up on his feet. Bry fell face first into a pile of corpses, swearing as he got up. Coil dashed forward into a group of goblins charging at the wounded chimera with their weapons raised.

The chieftain turned and it’s mouth turned upward into a smile.

"You hurt our kitty cat." Bry said taking a step forward. "Gonna bleed you for that."

The goblin lept at him, it’s weapon held in a two handed grip.

Bry raised his shield and took the force of the blow, surprised when he was actually forced back a few inches.

"Tough son of a bitch, aren’t you?" he snarled, swinging his shield arm and sending the goblin’s weapon wide.

He stabbed his weapon forward, aiming for the chieftain’s throat.

The large goblin side stepped the strike and punched a meaty fist into Brys face, lifting the warrior off his feet and sending him back.

The chieftain wasted no time pinning Bry to the ground and raising his weapon to cleave Bry’s skull open.

Bry raised one hand, catching the haft just below the blade and using his Inner Magic to strengthen his muscles.

The goblin leaned down, snarling and drooling on Bry’s face. He could smell the rancidness of the beast's breath.

"You," the warrior struggled, "should...try...chewing...on...some mint… Might help that breath of yours."

The goblin pulled back, forcing Bry to break his grip on the weapon, and raised it for a two handed strike.

A shadow saved him, leaping forward and using both feet to kick the chieftain in the face and send it back.

"But I don’t think there’s anything that can fix that ugly face of yours." Coil said as the goblin got back to its feet and snarled.

"By the way," Coil said turning to Bry as the warrior stood, "I was talking to both of you."

"Har har, I’ll kick your scrawny ass later." Bry growled as the goblin charged. "Less talking, more fighting."

The chieftain swung his blade at Coil, but the former assassin nimbly danced around the brute’s strikes almost looking bored. Bry pressed forward, swinging and stabbing. The goblin was forced to pull back, blocking each strike by the skin of it’s teeth.

Bry felt a toothy smirk cross his face when a pair of throwing daggers appeared in the joints of the armor around chieftain’s shoulders, making its attack and defense decrease even further.

The chieftain jumped back as Bry howled and charged forward, stabbing at it’s stomach.

The large goblin grabbed one of its followers and held it in front as a shield, blocking it from view as Bry impaled the smaller beast.

He swung his shield out, preparing for it to jump and strike from his right.

The warning shout from Coil registered only AFTER the goblin went around his left and brought it’s axe down. Bry tried to dodge to the side but was too slow, taking the axe between his neck and shoulder.

The warrior clenched his teeth and gasped, refusing to cry out. The chieftain’s face turned upward into a smile. It didn’t pull the axe out by lifting, it PULLED, the axe grating on the bone and making Bry’s vision not only flare in and out but also different colors. The warrior collapsed and didn’t move. The goblin prepared to strike again, only to look at it’s hand in confusion as Coil cut it off at the wrist.

"You bastard!" the rogue snarled, ducking under the goblin’s backhand and slashing the tendons in it’s legs with the blades on his bow.

The goblin yelped and fell to its knees, struggling to rise.

The last thing the chieftain saw before dying was a snake, its fangs bared and death in its eyes.

"Stop fidgeting!" Rizu shouted, slapping her patient on the head when he flinched. It had been two days since the battle and still the wounded were coming for treatment. Luckily, many of these people were used to getting cuts from woodcutting or out in the fields, so many of those who hadn’t been hurt or were less wounded were helping her deal with those who were still recovering.

And since she’d regained most of her magical power, the healing was going much faster. She looked out at the ‘waiting room’, seeing only Bry and Fluffles sitting there.

She’d flown into a panic when she’d seen the two of them after the battle. She’d used herbs to seal off the wounds, but Bry had refused to allow her to heal him with her magic until all the townsfolk were taken care of.

Coil, she knew, was out helping with the burials.

Her current patient got another slap on the head as he twitched when she placed her hand on his calf, which had been split open by an axe. She poured her magic into the wound, watching the muscles, veins and skin knit back together in golden light.

The man stood on the leg and laughed happily as he jumped and didn’t fall over from pain.

"Thank you Lady mage!" he said, tears in his eyes.

Rizu snorted with a smile and shooed the man out of the infirmary.

Bry walked in and sat down on the wooden box she used to seat her patients.

"How’s the arm feeling?" Rizu asked, unwrapping the sling she’d had him keep his arm in for the last couple days.

"Stings like a dockside whore," Bry said with a shrug. "but you know I’ve dealt with worse."

"Shirt." she said.

Bry removed the shirt, showing the red stained wrappings she’d placed a few days before. She slowly unwrapped it, trying not to move too suddenly in case it hurt. She winced when the wrappings finally came off and she saw the wound.

The herbs she’d used had managed to slow the meat from rotting and setting in an infection, but she could see and smell some of the rot coming from the wound.

"Hold still, this will only take a second." she said gently scooping out the herbs and placing her hand on Bry’s shoulder. She saw a small twitch of Bry’s eye, the only indication of his pain.

She took a deep breath and poured her magic into him. She watched as the dying flesh became pink again. She watched, as with the other patient, as the skin, muscle and veins fused back together.

She did not, however, see the cuts to his bones heal. Flesh was her healing specialty in magic, she didn’t have the finesse for sickness or infections unless using herbs and potions, and even with the raw power she could summon from her magic bones were too complicated for her to heal without her Inner Magic.

She pulled her hand off Bry’s shoulder and nodded.

"How’s that?"

"Better than mama’s kisses when I was a kid." Bry said rolling his shoulder. She could still see a slight flinch but a grin crossed his face.

"I couldn’t heal the bone." she said quietly, shaking her head "I’m sorry. It’d take far more magical power than I have at the moment. We’ll try when I’ve rested and regained more."

"Bah!" the warrior said placing a hand on her head and ruffling her hair. "Don’t worry about it. It’ll heal in time, I’m sure."

"Keep messing up my hair and I’ll break your arm." Rizu said flatly. Bry laughed but removed his hand anyway.

"We heading back soon?" he asked, sitting back on the box.

She nodded "After the funerals."

"This job was not worth seventy five thousand" Bry said with a huff.

"Is money all you think about?" Rizu huffed out, walking over to Fluffles and rubbing his mane.

"You try raising a family, then bitch at me about money." Bry said, indignantly. "Besides, money isn't all I think about. There’s also food."

Rizu snorted and said "If you’re well enough to joke, you’re well enough to go out there and help with the burials."

"Oh ow, I think some of the stinging is coming back." Bry said walking out into the waiting room

"I’m too tired to hit you." Rizu sighed turning to place her items into her pack. "Fluffles, do it for mama."

She was rewarded with a satisfying thud and a loud curse from Bry.

#Tales of the Party #Toftp #Rizu #bry #coil #fluffles #I don't know why it formatted that way but whatever... one of the others can fix it if it bugs them enough #also we should probably edit and post the backstories next....

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