Bloodsworn

Chapter 2.38 Hold the Line

38.

“You are their leader?” The chieftain rasped, startling Erak as he thought they were little more than beasts. This one at least had a spark of intelligence. Pomp landed on his shoulder and stared down at the high level monster before speaking.

“We are. What are you?”

“I am chief.” The goblin shrugged.

“What do you wish for this parlay to relay?” Pomp rhymed, warming to his task.

“Keep to task.” Erak chided his bond. Pomp’s talons curled slightly and he huffed in anger.

“I come here to fight, chief to chief. End the bloodshed.”

Erak stared down at the goblin and then let his eyes wander across the field and to the edge of the forest and the preparations starting there. Plenty of the monsters were moving about, slowly shuffling closer.

“Trap.”

“And once you are slain, your army shall retreat?” Pomp asked the chief. The dragon was also looking at the slowly shuffling line of goblins.

“No army. Tribe.”

“That didn’t answer the question,” Pomp said, leaning down to look at the goblin. Erak didn’t react in time as the goblin lunged, ugly green Essence coating his long fingers. They wrapped around Pomp’s sinuous neck and squeezed causing the dragon screamed in rage and pain then disappear as his physical form was destroyed. Erak cursed and kicked at the beast, but watched in amazement as more Essence coated the chief.

Erak’s kick hit the chief in the gut but did little more than make him grunt in annoyance. The creature curled its hands into a fist and hit him in the chest with a resounding dong that picked him up and threw him back. Erak’s feet left the ground and he toppled backward to the ground to skid and make a furrow across the ground.

“Fuck.” Pain ran through his chest as he got to his feet. The hammer spun in his hand and he swung as the goblin charged wreathed in powerful Essence. The goblin’s fist hammered him, driving him further back as it kept its momentum. A feral smile crossed across the goblin’s face as it pounded more against his breastplate like a drum.

Every blow drove a bit more breath out of his lungs, but Erak drove the hammer down, the goblin having to leap backward and allowing Erak to breathe. It was a harsh fire in his chest that burned. A rib shifted awkwardly sending a pang of fire through his body. Whatever it was that the Essence did caused reverberations to roll through his body.

Erak couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face. The unarmed creature was willing to challenge him in strength and he was willing to meet it. He lunged forward and sent a series of lighting fast hammer striked at the beast, but it blurred as the essence around it strengthened. Ephemeral claws materialized around its hand and it slashed at him, sparks erupting in a cascade as his armor turned the blow with ease.

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Erak kicked the creature again and it grunted in pain as Erak’s armored boot caught its hip and it backed up a trace slower and with a new limp. It lashed out again with its glowing claws and Erak leaned back to let them pass by without touching him. His hammer hit it in the center of its chest as he swung in retaliation. It flew as the momentum transferred, skipping across the field twice before getting back to its feet. The Essence around it had faded partially.

“ERAK!” Nevia’s voice boomed out and he tore his gaze away from the chieftain to the streaming line of goblins rushing at him. Many had cloaked themselves in similar skills as the chieftain and their howls for blood stirred his soul. They wouldn’t have time to retreat before the goblins were upon them.

Caster fire came out in a solid wall for a second and dozens fell, but almost instantly it began to thin as the soldiers had to cycle their Essence to fire more. The stored up bolts had lasted less than half a minute.

“Fall back, Erak. We can’t stand here,” Pomp whispered inside of his mind. The dragon was still dealing with the blowback from having his form crushed like that, his voice filled with impotent rage. Erak glared at the line of goblins and the rapidly shrinking distance before agreeing with the dragon. The chieftain hadn’t wanted a duel, but to let his people begin to cover the distance before caster fire could bring them down.

Already the monster had turned and now lurked in the background, running about behind the line and shouting in their barbarous tongue, urging them on. The line of militia hadn’t ran yet and Erak passed between their lines and spun about just in time to watch as the goblins staggered. The larger and higher level monsters let their smaller and weaker juniors race forward as they lurked in the back.

“PREPARE!” Sammus roared and the militia grunted in unison, bracing themselves as they lifted their spears. Erak had a moment of pride for them, then the goblins slammed into the line and shoved everyone back several feet. The front lines broke as every single shield was shoved different lengths back, creating gaps that rusty blades or dirty claws could swipe through.

Men cried out in pain, but somehow they held the line. Ragged, gaping, filled with goblins, but they held it for a moment. Erak let loose his aura to fill the world as he looked for the chieftain in the mad scramble.

“Second line!” Sammus roared and a wave of caster fire erased a line of the goblins. The reinforcements stepped forward and the line solidified as they began to feel the power of aura, goblins backed up as the fear weakened them. Then their chief roared in defiance and the Erak felt pushback against his aura.

A militia man went down as a goblin got its hooks in him and Erak stepped forward and obliterated it with a single downward blow. Skull pieces flew about as the goblin fell to the ground. Erak didn’t have the shield necessary to repair the hole in the shieldwall, but his body was wide enough that it covered the gap. Knives and claws scratched at him but found no purchase.

Every blow killed another of the goblins but they kept coming in wave after wave, a relentless sea of monsters stemming from the forest. He felt as he gained the level he had been chasing for days, the points adding to his power. Another goblin came forth and died at his feet, but he still had yet to see the chief again.

“Erak! We’re being overrun!” Sammus yelled as the far sides of the line collapsed. Pomp managed to claw his way out of Erak’s armor to croak at the prince.

“Sound the retreat. Orderly fashion,” Pomp slid back into Erak’s armor after his words. Sammus yelled again and the ravaged militia began to pull back. The lines were a crumbling mess and nearly a third of the force was laying on the ground, bleeding out as the goblins rushed forward.

“Mages! Prepare to engage!” Sammus ordered a second later. Erak was the last to backup, his hammer creating a veritable wall of carnage in front of him. Nevia appeared by his side and her short sword chopped an arm free with a single slash. Behind them a flame began to burn, heat washing over them as the flames began to dance.