The snap of bowstrings answered Amra’s call to loose. Arrows streaked upward and fell into the charging mass of fur and green flesh.
Amra loosed three shots before William could blink, each finding its mark in a goblin’s throat or chest. Around her, villagers with their hunting bows fired as best they could, some shots going wide but enough striking true to send goblins tumbling from saddles. Over a dozen riders fell in the first volley, and their worgs tore free in confusion.
The charge thundered closer. Over forty sets of worg paws drummed the dirt, thump-thump-thump, and William’s teeth rattled from the force of it. A second rank of beasts crossed the open ground, and then the soil betrayed them as well. With a cracking of wood and a spray of dirt, three more worgs plunged into pits. Goblins shrieked as sharpened stakes punched through leather and flesh. Small explosions maimed more worgs. Blood spattered across the churned-up ground as three-legged worgs stumbled around in shock and confusion.
Six feet in front of the main line of defenders, over a dozen men and women prepared their slings. Led by Carl, the grey-skinned adventurer with his mace strapped to his back, they swung their slings and released two volleys of stones towards the goblin riders before retreating behind barricades.
Two more goblins fell from their mounts from the stone pelting; a half-dozen more sported fresh bruises and cuts. Several of the now rider-free worgs decided to turn tail and run back to the safety of the forest. One of them tried to leap an open pit trap, but its back paws slipped in the bloody mud and fell short, becoming impaled on a spike. Its cries of agony caused Will to shiver.
A roar split the din as Sibrek, the dwarven adventurer, hurled himself into the fray. His axe crashed into a worg’s skull with a meaty crack, splitting it to the snout. The beast twisted and crumpled, crushing its rider, and the dwarf bellowed as he wrenched the bloody blade free. “Come on, ye filthy pigs. I’ve chopped tougher sausages for breakfast!”
Marie darted forward to meet another lunging worg with its jaws gaping open, but she sidestepped with nimble grace and rammed her sword up under its ear. The blade punched into its brain, and the creature spasmed before dropping to the dirt. Its rider screeched before Marie’s return stroke cut it down. Another rider came at her from the side, she parried with a ringing clash before plunging her weapon into its chest, pushing it back off the saddle as blood sprayed across her cheek and chainmail armour.
William’s pulse hammered in his ears, and the sight of Marie’s fearless determination sparked something within. The fear that had gnawed his belly curdled into fire. He raised his sword and felt the familiar heat rise through his veins. The night flared with sudden brilliance, casting the battlefield into stark relief as he called upon his [Divine Fire] skill; golden flames licked along the steel, roaring to life.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
The goblins faltered for an instant, their yellow eyes narrowing at the fire, but Will didn’t hesitate. He roared and waded into the melee. I’ve got this. They’re only goblins. His first swing cut a goblin in half, the holy flames searing through flesh and igniting the corpse before it hit the ground.
Another rider ducked too late, and his sword sheared off the top of its skull in a spray of sparks and ash. Each strike came faster than the last, his blade carving arcs of divine flames through the night. Embers danced with every impact, and the stink of burnt hair and charred meat filled his nostrils until he gagged, yet still he pressed forward.
[XP: +1]
Fredric fought at his side, spear and sword flashing in the firelight. A worg sprang straight for them, its rider urging it on with a screech. Fredric braced his spear and thrust with a roar, the point bursting through the beast’s chest. The momentum carried the rider hurtling forward, until he landed with a sickening crunch upon sharpened spikes planted in the earth. Fredric tore the spear free and finished the dying worg with a swift stab of steel. “That’s one less pair of fangs for us to worry about.”
William glanced at his squire and caught the grim nod that he returned, neither pausing as more enemies closed in. He’s improving fast. And I still haven’t paid him.
Around them, villagers who had never swung a weapon now fought in groups like cornered wolves beside hardened adventurers.
Will caught glimpses of their desperate courage between his own swings. A miller’s son jabbed a pitchfork into a goblin’s side, ripping it from its worg’s back, while a young man swung his crude sword with as much grace as a newborn deer’s first steps, yet cut a goblin rider down the shoulder. Brian jabbed a worg in the ear with his staff, causing it to stumble and crash into wooden spikes.
Master Grukk’s black war hammer crushed the skull of a worg into a meaty paste while Master Nobby rode on the smith’s shoulder. The tiny gnome was throwing runic explosives at the incoming riders while laughing.
Around them, the defenders of Brindlecross showed courage that few had believed they possessed. A stooped old man wielded a woodsman’s axe with trembling hands, splitting a rider near in half while his wife struck the goblin’s worg with a sharpened hoe across its jugular vein. A farmhand screamed as he rammed a broken spear into a beast’s eye, staggering it long enough for the dwarven adventurer to finish it with his axe.
Yet not all were so steadfast. William caught sight of three men dropping their spears and fleeing back towards the protection of the palisade, their eyes wide with terror. “Cowards!” someone bellowed. Others shouted curses after them, but none broke the line to follow. They stayed rooted, their teeth bared and knuckles white, determined to stand between their families and the oncoming goblin tide. The line couldn’t spare any more gaps.
The elven huntress loosed another arrow, its arc ending in a goblin’s throat. “Their charge is breaking!”
Chapter 027 [Game Notification: Stat Unlocked]
