Dead of night, with only the moon and stars to illuminate the surroundings. The constant stream of water echoed throughout the village. The rustling of leaves in the night breeze. I open my eyes to an unfamiliar but familiar sound, a single long howl.
I get up from my leafy bed and exit the mud house. I wasn't the only person alerted by the howl. Celine, Howard, Robin, Noah and Owen all exited the mud house. We look at each other and nod proceeding to the cliff. Meeting us at the entrance were 4 goblins and the wolf cubs.
"Leader Ian, it seems like the female wolf has spotted a couple of humans walking along the banks of the river not too far away. She howled as a warning signal to them as well as an alarm for us to be ready."
"Okay, get the rest of the goblins as well as Gobi and proceed with gathering the weapons. Each goblin is to be armed with a spear or a knife as well as a shield. Have the 5 strongest goblins use the Scutum and then set up a wall on our side of the river. In addition, the fastest goblins are to move forward to scout with the female wolf."
The 4 goblins nodded and moved towards the goblin house to carry out my orders.
"Umm, Ian."
"Yes, Celine?"
"You do know the female wolf is called Luna right?"
"WHAT? They had names? I only knew about Aur because he spoke."
It might have been the wrong time to be surprised as well as late to find out that the female wolf had a name but I am very surprised.
"Yes, she told me that it was her name. While you never called her by her name she still acknowledges your leadership due to the wolf called Aur. Aur accepted a person called Luke and Luke sees you as the leader and thus Luna and the wolf cubs see you as a leader."
"Wow, I never knew about this. Do the wolf cubs have names as well?"
"Unfortunately not. They are only able to receive a name once they become adult wolves. "
"Okay, I understand. Thank you for telling me, Celine."
"That's okay."
"Okay. Everyone, it is time for the battle and I want everyone to be awake. Prepare a fire at the corner of HavenFall and have Robin, Lucina, Lime and some of the goblins as archers. Wake up everyone else and have them pick up the weapons at the armory and head down to the canyon as well."
With a nod from Howard, Celine, Robin and Noah they went off to wake everyone. Hearing the news about the attack instantly woke everyone up. Lime went to create a fire while Lucina grabbed more firewood from a pile next to our main fire. Owen and David moved the many arrows towards the sniping position, placing them in clay pots nearby for easy access.
Noah, Frank and Howard went to get the weapons and shields while old man Hus helped fit them into the wooden armor. They also grabbed more spears and maces and placed them at the base of the path in case their primary weapon breaks and they have a quick way to get another weapon. Celine went with Gobi and the goblins to set up the first line of defence as well as communicate with the wolves to find out about the situation.
Standing at the top of the path watching over the hustling and bustling of the village made me feel proud. I had people that were following their orders as well as going above and beyond, thinking for themselves on how to improve the situation. I never told them to get spare weapons or put on the armor but they did it. It felt refreshing, like I wasn't a complete overlord over my people and they had the freedom to do things they believe was right.
I put on my own armor and weapons before heading down the slope to meet up with Celine. From the top I could see that the goblins that went first with the wolf cubs had already come back and reported to Celine about the situation. Luna not being with the returning party meant that she was still at the very front lines either observing the movement of the attacking party or was already fighting them.
"What is the situation like Celine?
"Ian, Luna is currently engaging with the enemy. From what the cubs were able to get from Luna was that there are 20 humans and 15 demi-humans on their way here. They have to walk 3 people side by side due to the narrowness of the river bank and Luna has been attacking them as she retreats towards us."
"What's the attacking army's troops like? Archers? Spearmen? Swordsmen?"
"From what could be seen and what Luna told them there are only about 10 known weapons used. Spears, clubs and arrows. At the back were 3 known archers and in the front consisted of spearmen. No shields but they were wearing some sort of armor on their chest. That was all the information they were able to receive from Luna."
"Okay that's good. How long until they arrive here?"
"They were close to the copper mine so they should still be a couple hours away."
"Good, we are going to set up an ambush for them. On the other side of the river hiding in the cracks of the rocks will be the goblins. Not all of them, have 8 goblins on the other side as well as the wolf cubs. The 5 goblins here will be wielding the Scutum shields while the rest of us are behind. 3 goblins will be archers with Lucina and Robin and have them fire only on my command. Gobi! Relay my message to the goblins."
"Yes Ian!"
Quickly the gobins moved to their designated spots and with their superior night vision they were able to find hidden spots where they could fit into without being seen from our enemies. Gobi stayed at the front holding on a shield n the very middle, grasping onto a spear as well speaking to the other goblins and boasting their morale.
Behind them were Howard and David, our two strongest warriors each holding onto their stone ax and a wooden shield, taking deep breaths as they prepared themselves for the fight. Noah, Frank and Owen were ready with their spears as well quietly talking to each other and making final checks on each other's armor.
Standing behind them all was me. The weakest of the bunch but that was okay because this time I'm holding onto the Hobgoblin's Club. Our strongest weapon and my trump card in case things go south. Not much longer now before we have to face other players.
Will I be okay?
What about the stone monsters?
How did they reach the copper mines and not be attacked by them?
What is happening near Luna?
Nothing bad will happen right?
We can survive this right?
No-one will die right…?
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