Goblin Bound: The First of Many

Chapter 9: Encounter II

Both shrieks exploded in his head rather painfully, but not as the awful squeal and nonsense like before but as words he could understand. Shock painted his face but he truly had no time to consider the conundrum as another arrow was soon flying toward his face and an enraged knife-wielding goblin was already closing on him fast.

Exerting strength in his legs, he rolled out of the way of the approaching arrow and the arc of a dagger that flashed above his head. He barely had time to orient himself when he felt wind stir behind him, the dagger-wielding goblin was once again upon him and he could only guess an arrow was already trained at his head.

Moving his body with more reflex than reason, he rolled once more to avoid both possible attacks and in one swift motion dashed toward his sword that was now just a few feet away. An arrow head glinted in his vision, closing dangerously fast. He briefly wondered just how awfully fast that little thing was shooting, and with such accuracy too and more incredibulous was him somehow dodging it all…or so he thought.

The arrow sailed past his face, the wind it stirred tickling his cheek but beneath the shadow of the first arrow came a second one, aimed straight at him. His eyes widened in panic and with little time to dodge, he could only raise his left hand to impede the arrow.

Hot pain shot through his palm as it did little to stop the incoming arrow. A gasp burst from his throat, his eyes trained on the arrow embedded deep into his palm more than half way.

“Dieee!!!”

The dagger-wielding goblin spat hatefully as it pounced on him. Its dagger drew an arc in the air, its end path closer to his eye than head. Pain coursing through his left palm, he could only clench his right fist in retaliation.

His strike was precise and fast, hitting hard against the cheek of the goblin. A sickening crunch echoed in the tunnel from the impact, sending the goblin crashing into a wall, a green painting decorating the small crater its head made.

Having little time to marvel at his newfound strength, he quickly tucked and rolled toward his sword in anticipation of another arrow. But as he grabbed his sword and stood at the ready, he found the archer goblin frozen, its eyes fixed on its most likely dead companion.

Its dim yellow eyes turned to stare at him in what he could only describe as shock, its arrow lay nocked to its bow. The staring impasse lasted for only a few seconds when both moved as if in sync. One made to charge and the other chose to run.

The last goblin bolted with incredible speed, quickly ducking into an adjacent tunnel just as a sword sailed past it, ripping off a piece of its flesh. Green blood splattered along with an echoing squeal but it still managed to disappear into the darkness of the tunnel.

Kenny let out a low curse well aware it was more than just escaping, it was definitely going to call for backup. He’d barely survived an encounter with just three goblins and he didn’t want to imagine how well he’d fare against a lot more…not to mention the bigger ones.

Wincing in pain from the several cuts now decorating him; a bleeding cut on his cheek, a gash in his thigh, random bruises on his hands, and an arrow embedded deep in his left palm.

Knowing he was running on borrowed time, he gingerly wrapped his right hand around the hilt of his sword, wincing in pain the entire time. Looking around the cave, noting the details of his encounter. Two dead goblins, both crushed in the head leaving cracks along the walls, green blood beginning to pool beneath them.

His mind reeled at what he’d done, the reality of it came crashing down. He just took two lives, the thought of it made him slightly squirmish inside. It made it a little better they were hideous monsters that hardly deserved to live but the pooling sight of blood did little to calm his nerves.

Resisting the impulse to gag, he shifted his eyes and thoughts elsewhere. Unwilling to waste much time, he resumed the trailing of his blood.

‘Guess it’s safe to say all blood glows before my eyes now.’ He noted to himself noting how the goblin’s blood lit up as well when he focused his eyes.

‘Another thing to note is how strong I’ve become.’ He continued his musings. ‘Or were they just weak?’

His mind churned with several possibilities as he proceeded deeper into the path. The crippling fear that he was quickly running out of time crept upon him and he soon hastened his steps but he was still to hesitant to break into an all-out run.

This continued for several minutes of a number of twists and turns and surprisingly he didn’t encounter any more goblins for some reason. Thankful of that, he broke into a small jog, the urgency so heavy it was almost palpable.

He suddenly paused, his left shoulder unconsciously resting on the wall of the tunnel. His head suddenly felt heavy…no it initially felt quite heavy but manageable but now it felt like a whole lot of extra weight was weighing on him. His head swam and his vision began to blur. The pain in his thigh felt especially stinging and present.

‘Wait a minute…my thigh…the blade!’ His eyes widened at this point. ‘It was coated with the goblin’s blood! Could it have been poison? A… toxin?’ His thoughts slowed and he couldn’t help taking huge deep breaths to barely keep himself conscious.

*Whoosh*

‘”Arrgh!” A scream burst from his throat as fresh pain registered on his right shoulder. Glancing weakly to his side, he discovered an arrow tip covered in greenish-red blood protruding from his shoulder.

Sweat pooled in his lashes and his body ached painfully as he struggled to push himself up. Turning around, his sword dangling weakly in his right hand, he glanced at the new attacker only to face a horde of goblins slowly streaming toward him.

He could see the despicable archer-goblin from earlier, evident from its bleeding thigh, gazing hatefully at him, its arm still in a drawing stance. No doubt where the arrow came from now.

Despair overcame him, he knew his time was up. His body was burning up from the inside, his body was riddled with wounds, his head heavy and eyes barely able to make out anything except the sea of green. His senses felt incredibly dulled and he could no longer even see the glowing trail of blood that was his hope.

“Yiyaiyiyi!… Kill!…Kill him!”

His consciousness bordered on fading into black but he had a terrible feeling there would be no waking up this time. Gritting his teeth amidst the pain and vertigo, he tightened his grip on his sword, his muscles aching from the exertion.

He remembered his promise. He would either come back and save them or die taking as many of them as he could…and two was far too small a number.

“Come…come on…you pieces of s**t!” He roared in rage, hot fueling adrenaline coursing through his veins. He couldn’t tell where his crazy will came from. He wasn’t one to deliberately put himself in stressful situations, or place his life on the line like this. He didn’t know why he was so calm in the face of death, maybe it was because he already felt himself dead once and dying again didn’t feel so terrifying anymore.

A cacophony of roars and squeals echoed from the mob of goblins as hundreds charged forward in sadistic pleasure, their daggers glinting in the dark. The tunnel was large enough to easily accommodate ten goblins running shoulder to shoulder so a very long line stretched as far as his eyes could see, with even more emerging from several tunnels.

“s**t!” His eyes widened. There was no simulation he could run in his head that guaranteed him taking down more than two before he got devoured by the horde of goblins before him….so he did the next sensible thing he could do…He ran.

Fueled by intense panic, fear, and adrenaline, he ignored the burning pain in his insides, the scalding feeling from his wounds, the numbing poison and bolted like his life depended on it - it did.

Dashing like the wind, he tore past several tunnels, cages and thick wooden doors, the several hundreds of goblins hot on his tail. He ran without direction or motive, taking turns whenever he could to somewhat slow down the mob. He was slightly faster than the chasing mob but his energy was being sapped multiple times more due to several factors.

He was nearly out of breath when he burst into a slightly larger space, one far bigger than the cell he left. This part of the cave was well lit compared to the previous places he’d been and he could tell why for right in a visible corner was a much larger goblin sitting calmly and feasting on a bowl of gruel churning with…meat.

The large goblin didn’t spare the intruder even a glance, simply continuing with its meal. Its large hands dug into an earthen bowl to retrieve a succulent piece of meat dripping with juices and proceeded to stuff it into its fanged mouth. Chewing sounds echoed in the cave, devoid of other sounds save for heavy breathing from those just entering.

Kenny could barely hold his breath from all the running and exhaustion coursing through him, but he somehow didn’t dare breathe as deeply as he wanted to. The chasing goblins halted outside the cave entrance, not daring to move even a step further nor make any loud chatter. The crunching and slurping sound reigned unchallenged for several moments, both goblins and humans frozen in a primal fear.

The large goblin soon finished its meal, its tongue licking all round its fingers unwilling to waste even a little bit of its meal. The tongue lapping fingers continued for several tense moments before the large goblin was satisfied. It gently pushed aside its bowl, the screech of wood on wood sending shivers down the spines of all present.

Its large hand flexed and slowly stretched toward a large club lying close to the table, a club Kenny didn’t even notice till now.

“Now then…”

A thick heavy voice echoed just as its hand grabbed the club in a tight grip. Its back muscles flexed and stretched as it slowly stood up. Its frame appearing even larger as it stood to its fullest. It slowly turned around to face the crowd, its large club scraping sharply across the ground.

Its dark crimson eyes peered deeply into Kenny’s soul. Standing nearly seven feet tall, with muscles lean yet firm and rippling with power and short but sharp tusks peaking from the side of its lips. It cast a glance at the trembling goblins frozen at the entrance before its eyes slowly shifted to the human in its cave.

“What are you doing in my cave…worm.”