Facing the corner, nervously breathing were 5 goblins. 2 in the front, shields in front of their faces and knives in their hands. 2 more behind with spears pointing forward ready to puncture the enemy and finally a lone archer at the back poised to shoot at any moment.
Not too far away hidden behind small rocks and protruding edges of the cliff was the rest of the team. 2 shields nearby the main party ready to engage at a moments notice while not too far away was the spearmen and I. Located on the other side of the river were the two other archers ready to fight as well.
We were waiting with bated breath as the sound of the monster's wings drew closer.
Each second feels like an eternity.
Sweat drips down my nose, falling to the ground forming a small puddle.
I lick my dry lips and peek above the rock and as I do I see it turn.
Its dead eyes crying rivers of blood look in our direction.
Quickly I duck down afraid it might have seen me. My heart thumps against my chest ready to burst out.
What was happening?
Why was it so quiet?
By now the monster should have seen the goblins standing stationary and should be aggressively moving towards them but I don't even hear the sound of its wings flapping.
I resist the temptation to look at the situation and could only try to listen more attentively to figure out the situation.
The goblins spoke no words only breathing slightly quicker than normal.
The monster did not move and since I could not hear the sound of the wings it must have landed on the ground silently observing the situation.
Until the archer goblin lost his patience and let loose an arrow towards the monster. The arrow cuts through the air creating a whistling sound before hearing it getting hit out of the sky.
But that one arrow set the battle into motion.
No longer hesitating I could hear the heavy footsteps of the monster as it charges towards the goblins.
"Jump towards the river!"
I could hear one of the goblins taking charge of the tactics. Quickly, forming an escape route which would work to our advantage as well.
"Archers! Help!"
With a cry of help from the mainline, the archers hiding on the other side of the river emerge. Sending a small volley of arrows in the direction of the monster. Although the damage was minuscule it served its purpose of momentarily distracting the monster. Allowing the goblins to enter the river and wade halfway across before turning back and facing the monster.
"OVER HERE, YOU STONE BASTARD!"
Further adding to the distractions was one of the spearman goblin shouting and calling out to the monster. Whether the monster understood the language was a different story but it worked. The monster slowly turned towards them and instead of flying above the water it enters it slowly moving its heavy feet through the river.
Surprised by the turn of events, the goblins slightly panicked and retreated further towards the other side of the river. The archers sent arrow after arrow at the monster hoping to get lucky and hit a weakness.
Once the monster was halfway through the water it was our turn.
"LETSGO!"
With a battle cry, I come out of hiding with the other goblins. Without a weapon to fight I picked up a decent-sized rock and tossed it at the monster hitting its head squarely. At the same time, the shield goblins stood at the river bank ankles in the water position with their shields up ready to block any attack while the spearmen behind them thrust their spears at the monster.
With great coordination, the goblins at the other side attacked as well pressing forward with their spears and stabbing at the monster. Old man Hus's weapon pierces the monster's stone skin but that was as far as it could go…
With just a little bit of the tip entering the monster the damage we did was the same as an insect would do to him.
It spreads its wings out knocking the goblins behind back onto the riverbank while pulling back its right claw ready to attack.
"SHIELDS!"
I shout at the top of my voice and luckily for me the goblins were ready for the attack. As the monster's claw starts to descend towards the goblins in front of it all the shields got pressed against each other. The claw strikes the row of shields creating an annoying high-pitched sound as well as 4 clear white marks along the shield.
Grunts and groans could be heard from the goblins that withstood the attack, however, the goblins that were knocked away were still unconscious leaving only 7 goblins left. I went over and picked up the dropped spear and shield and turn back at the monster.
"We can do this. We can do this."
I psyche myself up before yelling at the top of my lungs as I charge at the monster. Attacking near its chest, lower back and wing area had proven to be ineffective, courtesy to the goblin's smaller stature and attack range. If it was similar to a human than its head is still a weakness and that was my aim.
I run into the river as the monster swipes at the goblins again creating another annoying sound as well as breaking one of the shields this time.
My feet push against the river displacing the water around it before I leap into the air pulling the spear above my hand and following an arc motion, I swing it downwards as I get closer to the monster.
Being so close to it now I could see the intricate details on its skin. It was like a desert lake. Cracks across the whole body but from a distance, it seemed complete.
As the spear comes downwards to the monster's head it suddenly swerved to the left while knocking the spear with its right hand and in the process knocking me away as well. I land in the river with a loud splash followed by GomiTwo's voice.
"Leader Ian, the weakness is its head. Much like other creatures without a head, it cannot cooperate. We need to cut it off or destroy it."
"Easy thing for you to say but how do we even kill it?"
"Hmm...Towards HavenFall and with the collective effort of everyone we can definitely defeat it."
"Okay then if we get out of this situation alive we need to lead it to HavenFall. Let's do it GomiTwo."
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel