The Long Road of Adventure- Blue Storms and Black Sand Read online

  His blessing given, everyone leapt to their feet and started asking questions excitedly.

  “How many are there?” someone asked the guard.

  “Fifty. A full raiding party,” was the reply, and everyone’s excitement turned grim.

  “That’s a lot,” a veteran C-ranker muttered. He then gestured to a few of the people standing around. “Anyone with ranged attacks should gather together and make their way to the walls. Everyone else, join me and the guards at the gate. We’ll help escort anyone outside the town inside!”

  “Thanks for the tea, Uncle Bob!” Lily shouted, hastily putting down her cup and futilely wiping at the stains on her leather armor.

  She then glanced over at Gaelin and smirked. “What was that you said earlier about goblins?”

  “Yeah, yeah! You were right, I was wrong, I know how this song and dance goes,” the D-ranker stated as he buttoned up his wool jacket.

  She merely shot him a grin before dashing outside, pausing only long enough to wrap a scarf around her neck.

  Gaelin made his way over to the larger group of melee weapon-equipped adventurers as they headed outside the White Boar towards the town’s entrance.

  Trask was a moderately sized settlement. It had wooden palisade walls for defense, and was a central hub for the villages and hamlets in the area around it. In fact, the town was a trading stop between Varia and Rield and most of its business revolved around catering to travelers. That meant it had plenty of warehouses and storage spaces which doubled as shelters for refugees in times of conflict.

  Already there were lines of people entering them, escorted by the town’s militia and guards.

  One of the latter looked up with relief when he saw the crowd of adventurers approaching.

  “Good, you’re here! Please, there are still several people outside the walls who need help. The goblins have pulled off their usual trick.”

  “Lead starving wolves towards anyone who tries to flee? Damn them,” the de facto head of the adventurers swore as the guard nodded. He turned to the rest.

  “Listen up! The goblins aren’t here yet, but their vanguard is! They’ve led some hungry beasts towards us to try and soften us up. We need to protect the people as they enter the town! Now let’s move, we don’t have time to waste!”

  Orders given he rushed off, Gaelin and the rest close behind.

  “What do you mean by a common trick?” he asked one of the older adventurers.

  “Goblins are sneaky buggers. Mean too. Whenever they go raiding they like to tease and torment the local predators so they rush off and attack the places they plan on looting. This weakens and distracts any local defenses, while they creep around the flank and attack where no one is looking.”

  As the adventurers passed through the gates a several black shapes could be seen darting through the snow heading towards the stragglers of the refugee column.

  He could hear screams in the distance and he gripped his halberd tightly.

  “Reinforcement!” he uttered, and felt his limbs become infused with the spell’s power. He rushed off, a few of the older, more experienced adventurers casting similar physical buffs on themselves to intercept the wolves.

  This was why he had become an adventurer, he thought as he slashed his halberd across a charging wolf. The action, the adventure, and being able to help others!

  A feral smile crept across his face as he began to strike out against the ravenous pack, driving them back. Another wolf leapt at him, but Gaelin swung his polearm faster than it could react. Thanks to his spell enhanced muscles the blow bisected the beast, spilling steaming gore into the snow.

  “Come on, everyone! Let’s finish these guys off quickly and get back to protecting Trask!” Gaelin shouted, and a roar of approval erupted from the adventurers around him.

  He couldn’t help but glance back at the walled town behind him though, as he worried about a possible flanking action. But he fought down the concern all the same. Lily would be fine. She was stronger than many people gave her credit for.

  Chapter 2: Over the walls

  Lily sneezed softly and huddled deeper into her warm overcoat.

  “Stupid cold weather. Making me cold and sneezing and stuff…”

  The archer continued to grumble as she stomped up the steps towards the top of the wall. Trask’s defensive perimeter was wooden stakes set around a stone base. It was sturdy but only against the natural world, and not so much versus a coordinated enemy assault.

  As she reached the walkway that wrapped around the top of the wall Lily gazed over the hills that were draped in soft blankets of snow. It was a beautiful vista, though the sounds of panicked refugees made it hard to appreciate the sight.

  “Everyone, be on the lookout for goblins! It seems they’ve pulled one of their usual distractions over by the entrance, so be wary of sneak attacks or goblins trying to climb over the walls!” the head of the guard atop the walls called out. Lily tightened her grip on the bow and increased her vigil of the surroundings.

  There weren’t enough archers or defensive units on the wall to fully cover every approach so the ones available were walking back and forth in order to get better coverage on the terrain beyond. Besides Lily, there was one other adventurer who was an archer and a single mage, and about ten guards armed with bows. Less than fifteen range capable fighters to hold off close to fifty violent goblins. Not the best numbers to work with. But complaining about it would do them no good so they all stoically began to patrol, keeping a close eye on their surroundings.

  As Lily tried to observe the landscape before her the red-headed archer grumbled about not having learned the sight enhancing spell Eagle Eyes yet. Using it caused her severe migraines as she tried to get used to the sudden shift in vision. Telescopic sight was painful to use if unprepared for it, and because of that she’d held off on practice. Now that she thought about it, whining about a little pain was childish.

  Hindsight was twenty-twenty, though. Especially compared to how the gains would have outweighed the minor inconvenience.

  “‘It’s just a Level Three spell, it can’t be that hard, so I’ll practice it later,’” Lily muttered to herself. “Uh-huh, yeah, sure, past-me! Last time I take my own advice when it comes to learning spells and training.”

  “You OK there, little lady?”

  She glanced over to one of the town’s guard who was patrolling nearby, a bow of their held in their hands. She politely waved off his concern.

  “Yeah, just annoyed about not learning a spell sooner,” Lily called back.

  “Ah, I see. Well, sorry to bother you. By the way, it looks like your boyfriend is fighting off some wolves.”

  “He’s not my boyfriend!” Lily shouted and the guard flinched.

  “Are you sure? ‘Cause the way you two act around each other…”

  “Grraaah!” Lily threw her hands into the air in disbelief and marched off to another section of the wall.

  “Why does everyone think that?!” she snarled in annoyance. Her right hand tightened its grip around her bow while her left hand snuck unconsciously down towards her waist.

  For a moment it rested over a lump of scar tissue that was a wretched reminder of her own weakness. And a memory of Gaelin’s bravery.

  She liked the young man. As a friend though! Nothing more!

  How could she not find something to like? He’d saved her twice; once from her own grandfather who would have done anything to remove her from the line of succession for the throne of Tashel, and the second time from being murdered by a psychotic cultist of the God of Murder who had gone on a killing spree in the capital of Varia.

  He was selfless to a fault around her, but not afraid to put his foot down when she acted silly or made foolish choices. But he always forgave her. Gaelin was a true friend to her. And Lily was glad he had found his way into her life.

  Sure, he had really filled out with muscles recently, and the way his stubble gave him a rugged appearance made him look
like a warrior, but that was as far as the attraction went. There was no love between them. There couldn’t be.

  She sighed and returned her attention to the ground outside the wall. As she did, a flicker of movement caught her eye and Lily raised her bow, pointing it in the direction it had come from.

  Reaching for an arrow from her quiver, Lily kept her eyes scanning the mounds of snow until something about one of them made her raise an eyebrow.

  She notched her arrow and aimed at one of the lumps near the wall. Was it her imagination that they’d been further away moments ago?

  Not willing to take any chances she shot her arrow, and it flew fast and true, striking one of the misshapen white piles.

  A spurt of red gushed from the site of impact and a mournful wail erupted as a snow-covered blanket was thrown off, revealing a small, long nosed and eared green figure that came up to Lily’s waist, an arrow in its neck. It collapsed, thrashing about on the ground before going still.

  All around the fallen goblin cries could be heard, and more of the miniature blighters appeared, throwing off their admittedly clever disguises once their cover was blown. Three dozen yellowish-green creatures rushed towards the wall of Trask, abandoning all pretenses of stealth.

  “Goblins! Goblins approaching from the north-west!” Lily shouted, quickly loading another arrow and firing it. This one missed, the scampering horde just a bit too fast for her to hit.

  Behind her, Lily could hear the soldiers and adventurers hurrying towards her position. The guard from earlier was the first to arrive, and he quickly joined in with opening fire on the goblin raiders.

  There were plenty to shoot at but their speed and size made it harder to target. By the time the other adventurer on the wall made his way over only four goblins had been slain, and the rest were too close as they crowded around the base.

  “Someone go contact the other adventurers and tell them to get their butts over here now!” the head of the bowmen militia commanded.

  “Boss, they have hooks and climbing claws!” the guard next to Lily shouted.

  “Damn it! Alright, do your best to hold them off! The other guards will be here soon, as will the adventurers!”

  One of the guards suddenly let out a scream and clutched at his neck. He soon fell to his knees, blood pouring from his ears, eyes, and nose.

  Imbedded in his flesh was a small dart, and the mage rushed over to check him.

  “A poisoned dart!” he declared. Everyone stepped back, and Lily grimaced at the sight of someone dying next to her. Thankfully the mage knew some magical first aid and was keeping the injured guard stable, but it didn’t look good.

  “Archers, back away, and make room for the spearmen!” the head guard commanded as several soldiers carrying short spears rushed up to help defend the walls. The archers complied, yet continued to rain death onto the goblins from a new angle.

  There were too many to be dissuaded by mere arrows, however, and with a clang a crude metal hook was slung onto the lip of the palisade, immediately followed by five more.

  “They’re climbing the walls!” Lily cried, somewhat superfluously, as it was hard to miss half a dozen grappling hooks, nor the grunting of angry green monsters scaling the ropes to reach the top.

  Several of the guards lunged at the hooks to pry them off. Two of them were easily dislodged, and the defenders grinned ruthlessly when a pair of muffled screams and thumps came from where the hooks had fallen.

  The other four were wedged in, however, and one of the guards trying to saw at the rope with a dagger was suddenly pierced by a jagged short sword and dragged over the edge. He fell with a scream that was abruptly cut off, and was replaced by a green head with a long, hook-like nose and oily black hair in a topknot. A cruel glint lay in its beady eyes as it clambered over the edge.

  The goblin grinned with a mouth full of fangs but was thrown off the wall by an arrow through the eye courtesy of Lily. But a replacement was already climbing up, and another of the hooks was occupied by a new raider.

  A look of disgust was plastered on Lily’s face and she quickly reloaded but filled this arrow with a trickle of mana.

  “Impact and impale! Piercing Shot!” Lily called out, her words resonating with the magic she had implanted into the projectile. The arrow fired off with a crack of displaced air as it moved into its new home in the invader’s lung.

  The force of the spell-enhanced shot knocked the grappling hook free as well, and corpse and rope plunged down into the churned-up snow below. But the goblins were relentless, and soon a trio made it over the walls.

  One was instantly slain with a spear to the gut, and another found itself turned into a pincushion with four arrows striking its body. But the third goblin was holding a blowpipe and fired it as it popped over the ledge. One of the spearmen was struck in the thigh and collapsed, screaming. In his pained tossing and turning he accidentally threw himself off the wall into the town.

  There was no time to mourn though, as the goblins were continuously trying to breach the wall. Lily took several hasty steps backwards to avoid the raiders. One of them slashed at Lily with a crooked, rusted blade. She evaded it, but couldn’t move further away due to the press of bodies around her.

  “Heavy Push!” the mage shouted, and his wand glowed before a wall of pressure smashed into the goblin attacking Lily, hurling it away.

  “Thank you!” Lily exclaimed gratefully. She put away her bow and drew a long, slender dagger from a sheath on her waist and stepped in front of the mage to protect him and his wounded patient.

  “We need to get this man somewhere safe. The poison is neutralized but he’s taking up space and needs to recover,” the mage warned as Lily countered another of the child-sized monsters. She pushed its corpse off the dagger and nodded grimly. She looked around for an escape route. Her eyes alighted on a shingle roof; it was close enough to the wall that they could jump onto it from where they stood.

  “Come on, we can do it right here! Let’s take a leap of faith!” Lily suggested. The mage looked from the roof to his patient, then back again, before casting a look of disbelief at the red-head.

  “I don’t think either of us can make that jump while carrying someone else,” he pointed out. But Lily was in no mood to argue.

  “Then grab his feet! And I’ll take his arms!”

  Confused, the mage agreed, but not before sending a Magic Arrow into a goblin’s arm to keep it off their backs. Together they lifted the wounded guard, and Lily started to swing him back and forth from her end.

  The adventurer holding the wounded man’s feet only had a few seconds to process this before he caught on and reluctantly joined in.

  “Sorry about this, mister. But better this than being overrun,” he apologized. The guard gave a light groan.

  “Toss!” Lily cried out, and together the two adventurers managed to fling the guard onto the roof across from them. They proceeded to leap across as well, just as a group of goblins finally managed to breach the defensive line.

  However, Lily was now in a better position and quickly took out her bow once more. The mage shakily got to his feet as well and pointed his wand at the approaching raiders opposite him.

  “Piercing Shot!”

  “Heavy Push!”

  The two attacks lashed out. The arrow went through the skull of a goblin and straight through into the shoulder of one standing directly behind. The blast of concussive force from the mage sent the pair Lily had shot as well as two more nearby flying off the wall.

  “Are the other adventurer’s here yet?!” Lily demanded as more goblins crawled over their fallen comrades to reach the town.

  “They were finishing up the wolves when the goblins struck, so they should be on their way back!” the mage declared. A flick of his wand, and a goblin dropped dead.

  “Great! That’s good, we can hold out for a few more minutes in that case!” Lily cheered. An arrow sunk deep into a raider’s forearm, causing it to lose its grip on their weapo
n. That goblin was then immediately stabbed by a guard and slain.

  The runaway princess’s optimism was rewarded by a series of panicky screeches from the goblins who had yet to scale the walls and a chorus of battle cries, one of which was familiar to her ears.

  “Yeah! They’re here!” Lily exclaimed, quickly taking advantage of the goblins’ confused state to shoot another one.

  Buoyed by the realization that assistance had arrived the guards on the walls pushed back even harder, and soon the last goblin who had made it over was a corpse cast down off the palisade.

  Lily eagerly leapt off the roof back onto the wall and peered over the edge to view the battle below.

  The adventurers who had finished with the wolves split up and performed a pincer movement, circling around the wall of Trask and cutting off any escape route for the goblins. Caught between a wall manned by several dozen spearmen and a horde of D and C-ranked adventurers raring to earn their paycheck they fought all the harder despite the hopelessness of their situation.

  A goblin was bisected by Gaelin, and then another lost its legs. He tripped up a third and decapitated it as it lay stunned on the ground. Around him the rest of the adventurers finished up the bloody work and the area in front of the wall was turning pink from all the churned-up gore and snow.

  Gaelin leaned on his halberd and caught his breath once the fight was over before looking up and waving happily towards Lily. She returned it joyfully as well, before leaning down a bit.

  “You’ve got something on your face!” she called out, pointing to a few spatters of blood on his left cheek.

  It took some more shouted coordination to get the halberdier to properly wipe his face off, and all the while the men who weren’t laughing at the comedic couple act silently thought ‘those two are totally into each other.’

  “OK, enough lollygagging!” the guard captain shouted to all the armed people milling about. “Help me drag these bodies off so we can burn them away from the town!”

  Both the guards and the adventurers immediately went to work, and using some specially designed sled-wagons, loaded up the bodies of the goblins for disposal.