Bloodsworn

Chapter 2.39 Finish Him

39.

Flame washed over the goblin horde and flesh crackled as screams rose to the heavens. Erak grunted as he kicked a flaming goblin in the chest, throwing it back into the tide. The chief was still out there, the flames not touching his still Essence infused body. It looked at him with wrath as more and more of the goblins came from the tress.

“Fall back! Earth, rupture!” Sammus barked out. Their earth mage screamed into the afternoon in effort as a wall of hardened spike shot forth from the ground. Most of them failed to penetrate the goblin’s tough hides, but it made a barrier for the ravaged militia.

“Orderly, you bastards! In formation!” Sammus continued to chide them as they retreated down the single lane back to the depots. The two spent mages were the first to leave, both of them supporting injured militia members as they dragged them back to the shuttle. It sat there, engines wailing as it waited for its occupants.

“Erak, it will take two loads. Wounded first, then us!” Sammus said to him, leaning over not to yell. The wounded took up to much space, most of them injured badly enough they couldn’t stand. The goblins had been brutal in their attack and he had few healthy warriors left.

“How is he so strong?” Erak asked with one hand. Pomp still whimpered in his chest, recovering from the attack.

“I don’t know. Probably using his skills to enhance himself.” Sammus slapped him on the shoulder and turned to continue to scream at the militiamen. Most of the logistics team had already loaded up into the trucks, only Rutledge and her few guards remained and even they were nearly finished.

“Erak. The walls crumbling!” Nevia warned him. He turned to look over just as the Essence crafted ramparts collapsed and the goblin chief hopped through to stand before him. Its Essence shieling had dimmed ever so slightly, but the monster was still cloaked in it.

“It’s some type of enhancement. I just have to wear him down.” Erak bounded forward, the ground underneath his boots blown backward by his sudden acceleration. He swung the warhammer up around his shoulder then down, as if intending to drive the goblin through the earth itself. The chief sneered and lifted a hand as more of the green Essence flared to life. It caught the hammer, its arm hardly budging as it bent its knees slightly to absorb the blow.

Erak watched carefully as some of it Essence reserve faded away. The fire around it dimmed from the effort. A fist slammed into his breastplate with a loud gong that echoed over the field. Erak clenched his teeth as the pain of the attack reverberated through his chest. The warhammer was still clenched in one hand, the goblin’s grip unyielding.

A chill flooded the air as the Ice-Dragon Sword made its first appearance. Instantly the flowing Essence around the chieftain began to still, growing rigid, as the sword’s aura filled the area. It mingled slightly with the bloodlust, cooling it, tempering it from a red hot haze to something much more lethal. The goblin tossed the hammer to the side and jumped away as the sword cut across the goblin’s stomach. A thin line of blood trickled from the wound and the chieftain looked shocked.

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“Finally.” Erak stabbed at him again and the chief slapped away the edge of the blade. Green Essence stopped moving entirely where he had touched the sword, cracking and fading away. A look of worry crossed his face, or at least Erak assumed it was worry. It screamed, half in panic, half in pain. More goblins came running toward him from the crumbling apart earthen spikes.

They ran in front of their chieftain and Erak began to cleave them apart with wild swings like a reaper in the fields. Body parts flew as blood arced through the air as they died on his blade. The chieftain stood behind them gasping and clenching his frozen hand. A bolt of hazy, ephemeral, white energy struck it in the face and sent the chieftain sprawling. Erak knew that Essence signature was his last mage.

He couldn’t turn around to look at his troops, his every step was to get toward his dropped hammer. War cries rose up behind him as the militia began to engage the wounded remnants that made it past Erak. Most of them were injured, the tip of the blade having savaged them as they rushed past. Any who had met more than just the tip of the blade had died.

“Erak! Shuttle is landing!” Sammus’s voice reached him right as he stood over the top of the hammer. A pair of goblins were trying to abscond with it, straining and clenching as they struggled. Erak relieved them of their heads, picked the hammer up with a grunt of effort and looked for the chieftain.

“It dies today.” The chief was racing along the other side of the lane of the depot, trying to get to the thin line of militia fighters. Their single mage was throwing bolts of energy at the goblin chief, but the slippery monster evaded with ease. Every bolt of power blew apart a goblin or sent a geyser of earth into the sky.

Erak cut his way across the lane, his long legs bounding forth. A goblin died on under his boot, bones cracking as Erak stomped it into the earth. He kept his body weight low and plowed through the horde of monsters, not bothering to swing his weapons. Goblins hit his armor and were tossed to the side as Erak homed in on the chief.

It looked up at the last second as Erak got within feet of it. Essence exploded around its body as Erak leapt up and swung the hammer down with all his might. At the apex of its arc, he activated its ability.

Weight of Peace

The density of the hammer triples once a day

Erak had only used the ability once in practice and had been pleasantly surprised with its effectiveness. The hammer’s weight grew more than he could bear, but he could guide it. It fell like a meteor toward the goblin who had nowhere to go. Desperation filled the chieftains eyes as all of his power raged forth until his arms were coated in thick Essence.

Metal met Essence reinforced skin and bone. A thunderous CRACK emerged as the goblin’s arms exploded into a spray of bone fragments and pulped flesh. The hammer continued downward without slowing, hitting skull and caving it in. Momentarily the battlefield froze. Goblins stared in horror as Erak rose up and above them, their leader’s remnants coated his armor. He lifted the gore drenched hammer over his head and roared in victory.

The two auras mingled together as the chill of death coursed over the goblin lines. Fear broke them and the battered horde wailed in terror as they turned and ran, their champion fallen. Erak slumped after a second, the energy expenditure draining him.

“How is it you always end up looking like that?” Sammus mused. A few half hearted chuckles came from the survivors, but most of them looked shellshocked. Their first engagement had led to numerous casualties. There were many still forms in the mess of goblins that had been killed. Newfound friends and allies now to be laid to rest.

“Collect the dead. It’s time to go home.” Erak ordered with a flex of his fingers.