Bab 14: The Goblin Storm
Just as Grayson fell, a rope fortuitously swung within his grasp. Reacting swiftly, he snatched it, and Seraphine wrapped her arms around his legs, with Katheren clinging to her ankles. They hung there in mid-air, their lifeline tethered to the snowy cliff above.
"Are you alright? Can you climb up?" A well-proportioned young man stood at the edge of the cliff, gripping the other end of the rope, which he had wound around a tree trunk. He called out to the trio dangling on the bridge above.
"Help us up, friend!" Grayson called back, then turned to Katheren, "Climb over us and up; you're the lightest!"
Katheren, mustering her assassin's training, carefully clambered over Seraphine and Grayson's heads and ascended the rope towards the cliff. The young man reached out, pulling her safely onto solid ground.
Grateful, Katheren cast a thankful glance at the young man and then turned to assist Grayson and Seraphine in getting up. Once the women were safe, Grayson began his climb. Swiftly nearing the cliff's edge, he was about to hoist himself up when a gust of wind swept his deep blue, wide-brimmed hat from his head.
In a panic, Grayson let go of the rope and dove after the hat, leaving the onlookers on the cliff aghast. The women and the young man peered over the edge, but Grayson had already vanished from sight.
"What's going on? It's just a hat!" The young man exclaimed in disbelief.
Before Katheren and Seraphine could explain, Grayson unexpectedly sprang back up the cliff, startling them all. He reappeared, hat firmly on head, unharmed.
"I thought you were a goner! Brother, is a hat worth your life?" the young man greeted Grayson with relief.
"Thanks, brother. If not for you, we might've all been hanging still. But this hat... it's no ordinary hat..."
With a calm smile, Grayson removed the blue hat and turned it upside down for the young man to see. A small, black-feathered owl with red talons was curled up inside, sleeping soundly.
"Oh, this adorable creature, I see now!" The young man said with an enlightened chuckle before introducing himself, "I'm Morven, known as 'Scorpio,' an adventurer."
"'Scorpio' Morven, I've heard of you—you're the one who dared to enter the Death Swamp alone and returned alive with a dragon's egg!" Grayson admired the young man, introducing him to the ladies.
The women turned their gaze to Morven, who stood as tall as Grayson but was slimmer, with short black hair, bushy brows, and a youthful, vigorous look. He wore a blue cotton robe lined with white fur and a curved saber at his waist.
"I'm Grayson, a demon hunter. Hopefully, you haven't heard of me!"
Grayson grinned and extended his hand, which Morven shook, scrutinizing him before exclaiming, "Of course, I know you! You're the 'Lone Wolf' wanted by the Holy Council for ten years!"
"See, I knew my bad reputation would precede me!" Grayson said to the women with a laugh.
Morven quickly corrected, "No, not a bad reputation at all. Those wanted by the Holy Council aren't necessarily bad. In fact, I've heard quite a few tales of your vampire hunts!"
"Oh, please don't ask me to recount them all. You'd surely be bored to tears!" Grayson shrugged.
He peered in the direction Morven had come from, asking, "Did you see a young woman running that way?"
"Yes, I did see a young woman with a distinctive appearance, similar to this lady..."
Morven glanced at Seraphine. Despite both having transformed into human form, the mermaids' unique adornments—pearl earrings and shell hairpins—made them stand out.
"Right, I should introduce these two ladies. This is Miss Katheren, and this is Miss Seraphine. We're tracking the woman who just ran through here. We're not familiar with this area, would you help guide us?"
Morven readily agreed to help and led the group in the direction Alyssia had fled. They followed the barren snowy ridges, with Alyssia's clear footprints alongside Morven's tracks.
The group made quick progress until they spotted Alyssia's figure in the distance, appearing exhausted and staggering through the snow.
"There she is, let's catch up!" Grayson gestured for the group to quicken their pace, and they raced down the slope towards Alyssia.
Alyssia, hearing the footsteps behind her, turned in panic and resumed her escape.
"Stop, Alyssia, you can't get away!" Grayson shouted and surged forward with incredible speed, leaving Morven, Seraphine, and Katheren trailing.
Just as he was about to grasp Alyssia, a black object was hurled towards him from the left side of the slope.
Reacting swiftly, Grayson ducked and slid forward, the object barely missing his nose with a whistling sound before crashing into the snow nearby.
As the object landed with a thud, Grayson had to halt his pursuit. He jumped to his feet and saw Alyssia once again widening the gap.
Preparing to resume the chase, he saw another black ball with chains flying from the slope. Grayson stepped back as the iron ball landed in front of him, kicking up a mix of dirt and snow.
"What the hell is that?" Grayson muttered in frustration, looking up at the slope only to see a group of ugly little creatures with pointed ears and green skin, throwing black balls with chains at him.
"Goblins!" This time, Grayson was ready and dodged the incoming sphere, seizing the chain and using the ball's momentum to spin and hurl it back.
The goblins, taken by surprise that their weapon had been caught and returned, scattered in fear. The ball flew past one goblin and landed heavily just ahead of him, causing the creature to trip and fall face-first into the snow.
"Damn goblins, always the same!" Morven caught up to Grayson, watching the fleeing goblin and cursing, "Ever since I landed on this island, these blasted things have been attacking me!"
He looked at Grayson with admiration, "Lucky for your quick reflexes; anyone else would've been flattened by that ball."
"It's nothing; we need to keep going after Alyssia!" Grayson glanced in the direction where Alyssia had disappeared, heading around the foot of the hill.
They continued their pursuit, but as they rounded the hill, a cacophony of screeches erupted from above. A horde of goblins appeared on the crest, infuriated, and began hurling their chained balls at the group, raining down like a vicious storm.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone