Chương 56: - The Onslaught
They came with torches in the night, the light of the flames barely reaching the tree line, much less what was suspected to lie beyond it.
They came with guards and Hunters, all those volunteering, either in a fit of rage over the goblin attack, or they were interested in what the man, who ran head first into the Hunter's Post, had been saying.
But all could not deny the eerie sense of fear they felt as they walked down the stone pathway.
It should not have been possible, yet here they were, Rank B's and C's - even a few Rank A's quivering in their boots.
It wasn't the fact that they might be facing goblins, or the fact that they might be facing whatever had killed the four Hunters, leaving one almost dead, and mentally unstable back at the post.
No, it was something else.
In all their minds, they were thinking the same thing.
'What was so frightening that made this man run back in fear.'
That very same man was leading the group of twenty, his face pale and distant, he walked with a quivering finger, pointing out in the darkness.
Randolph stood by his side for a sense of security, while Lia stood on the other, a sense of curiosity that had overcome her.
She couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.
Several times she had written off the man's fear as something Cain might have done. Or perhaps, while he was protecting the bodies, the man became frightened by Cain's power and ran.
She knew above all else that Cain was stronger than he looked, and more than a little insane when it came to fighting.
But no matter how much she told herself it was just Cain, her mind refused to believe it.
'There's no way that was Cain. It had to be something else right? Right?'
Quickly shaking her head, she once again reassured himself that it was just Cain.
Beside her, Rian could see her struggling.
"You okay?"
He asked, his voice a whisper over the mumbles of the other group members.
Nodding her head, Lia spoke back in a similar whisper.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little worried…and afraid."
She admitted her fear, though it was not over the goblins, nor what might be lurking in the dark woods.
It was for Cain.
Rian knew this of course, yet he kept it on the down low.
"I get it. He's a friend, so don't worry. I've seen that man fight and he's strong. He won't die."
Nodding her head, Lia told herself the same thing, trying to quell her growing fears.
"T-There. Ove-r there."
Snapping her from her thoughts, the man leading the group stopped, pointing out in the darkness.
At once, all of the people present stopped, raising their torches high to cast the light feather into the distance.
But what they saw made many of them drop their light, some even frozen in place - their eyes wide with fear.
Before them, not only were the dead bodies of the Hunters, their corpses gruesome as it was, but were the added few spiraled around the road.
Seven.
Lia counted seven through wide and frightened eyes.
In the dark and dim light of the remaining torches, Lia could see the bodies - no…pieces of goblins. Large goblins, each larger than a regular one.
In some of their hands, they held a staff, though that staff was attached to a hand that was not connected to the body in any way, Lia could easily see what they were.
'Shamans.'
Of course, the state of these bodies was not normal for a Hunter's kill. Their bodies were either in pieces, their staff protruding from their mouths, having been shoved through their stomach and out their heads, or the much more common - gaping hole in their bodies.
It was as if someone had punched holes through these goblins, and none of them looked like they had died instantly.
Every single shaman had faces twisted in agony.
From behind her, Lia could hear many of the group hurling their dinners out onto the open road.
In some ways, she had to agree. These bodies were horrid in figure and shape, their bodies anything less that of nightmares.
'Did Cain do all of this?'
She thought to herself as her eyes swept over the battle ground that she had once seen Cain standing on, ever so confident, ever so lonely.
Ever so frightening.
"I-I thought it was just something t-that they had done."
The man spoke, referring to Lia's party, knowing that it was them who brought them in.
Lia didn't even bother turning around, as she felt dozens and dozens of eyes pore into her back. From the side, Lia could see out of the corner of her eye, Randolph looking to her for confirmation.
Through wide eyes, Lia slowly turned her head in his direction, and slowly - ever so slowly - shook her head.
Nodding once, getting all he needed to know, Randolph drew his ax, ready for whatever had done this, hoping it had long since left this area.
Following his movements, several others in the group drew their own weapons, each looking out to a different section of the forest and the tree line. Their faces portrayed the fear they felt inside.
But, as if to pour even colder water on their already freezing minds, the man spoke through stuttering words. His lonely pointer finger pointed out in the darkness, shaking.
"B-But then…I saw them."
Looking out into the darkness before them, past the dead Shamen and the dead Hunters, Randolph could see nothing.
Gesturing to his side to one other Hunters, he asked for a torch, throwing it out farther into the darkness, past the dead.
And what he saw made him exclaim in disbelief.
"DEAR GODS!"
Leaning against a tree, was the body of a goblin the size of a bear, its organs and blood protruding from its stomach, blood oozing out from the dozens or so wounds on its body.
But what was even more horrid, was the fact that this goblin had no face, and the shattered bits of its skull that were sticking out of its head, gave those who laid their eyes on the corpse with one picture in their heads.
A fist, digging through the goblin's stomach, and coming out through its head.
"A goblin titan."
Breaking the silence, Randolph stood in amazement and shock, fear and awe at the sight of a goblin titan killed so - or what it appeared to be - effortlessly.
"There's more."
The man leading them pointed to the tree line, where the licking light of the flames showed the dismantled body parts of several goblin titans - some even had their bodies staked against trees, down the trunk.
From behind her, Lia could hear the disbelieved voices of the group, who stared on in shock.
"Just what did this?"
"What monster…?"
"How?!"
The voices and murmurs of several could be heard, and Lia could feel the eyes of several others pouring into her back.
But before anyone could ask anything, the sound of groaning caught them all off guard.
From the dead, a small corpse moved, setting the Hunters on edge and many of them drew their blades in fear.
A Shaman, whose right leg was bent in the wrong direction crawled from the dead, a pool of blood surrounding him.
"Kree…kree…kreek!"
It called out into the silent night, the darkness surrounding him ever changing, never moving. Even as the cries were desperate, filled with pain and pity, nothing from the darkness came. Nothing moved.
And nothing could be heard.
"It must have survived."
Randolph held his ax out, and slowly approached the goblin.
However, Randolph met no resistance to his advances. The goblin didn't move, and what little movements it did make, were merely effortless calls into the dark.
"Though barley, it's still breathing."
From the group, one of the Hunters called out from the back, his voice distant but easily heard in the silence of the night air.
"Just how did it survive?"
Randolph lowered his ax, knowing this goblin would do, or could do anything against him. His eyes passed over the goblin's body, over its broken leg, cut and bruised body, and what seemed to be a crushed chest.
Slowly shaking his head, Randolph spoke, his voice grim and somewhat filled with pity.
"It didn't. This goblin won't last much longer out here. He has only a few hours left before he dies."
Glancing out into the dark woods, Randolph made a quick guess as to why it revealed itself.
"It was trying to warn its brethren, but instead is warning us."
"Kree…Kree….Krek!"
Lia spoke up, her voice breaking over her dry throat.
"Why is it still talking?"
Shaking his head once again, Randolph's voice was filled with even more hints of pity.
"It doesn't care any more. It's just trying to warn as many creatures as it can before it passes on."
Murmuring to himself, Randolph thought aloud, his voice quiet, but easily heard throughout the forest.
"Just what made this goblin so afraid that it was willing to warn 'humans' of the danger?"
He spoke the same words everyone else was thinking, though no one wanted to ask it aloud, afraid it would be answered.
"I-I heard it before I saw it."
As if to answer the question so many were afraid to know, the guide spoke, clutching his body tightly.
"The screams of those goblin titans. They were crying, pain filled screams of death."
His breathing became more difficult, as if the mere thought of the memory frightened him even more than the experience.
"I heard flesh being torn apart. Blood and organs dripped to the floor. I heard the sounds of trees and branches breaking and then…"
His voice caught a breath, a lump in his throat.
"...then I saw it… those red eyes."
Snapping her head to the guide, Lia begged that what she heard was true.
But surprisingly, a small part of her was hoping that it wasn't, and she caught on to this feeling deeper than her worry.
'Since when have I been so afraid of Cain?'
Glancing to Rian and Lukali, she found they too were staring off into the distance, eyes locked onto the carnage that lay before them.
For someone so experienced in death, Rian looked like a frightened little boy, suddenly afraid of the dark.
Lukali on the other hand, looked as though he was about to pass out, his face a blank sheet of white.
"Those red eyes…they ran through the forest, cloaked in the night. They were all I could see."
The guide clutched his head, sweat dripping down his forehead, and fear raging from his body.
"And then - oh and then…"
Randolph turned to the man, his face stern and fed up with the elaborate horror story.
"Spit it out man!"
"Then I heard it. His voice. Deep and calm, almost as frightening - if not more frightening than the screams of the dead I heard from them."
He said pointing to the dead goblins, the living Shaman still crying out into the night.
"He told me… 'Run. Don't come back. Run, and don't look back. Run, and remember this fear, for it will be the last thing you feel if you dare set one foot farther.' He was so calm - a warning - a mercy he gave me!"
The guide looked to be mad with fear, his own face contorting in insanity.
Stepping forward, Randolph grabbed the man's clothes with both hands, shaking the guide straight.
"Get a hold of yourself!"
"Ha-haha…hahaha! HAHAHA!"
The guide suddenly burst into a hysterical laugh, his voice ringing out in the darkness.
All at once, Lia could feel the tense feeling in the air. Those in the group who were still focused were cursing the guide, benign him to be quiet, the fear of what lay beyond the tree line driving them.
Those who were not with them, were staring wide eyed at the hysterical guide, fear overcoming them.
"WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE! WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE! WE'RE ALL GONNA -"
Randolph landed a stern punch to the man's gut, knocking him out, and silencing him.
But as the guide's body slumped to the ground, the sounds of another cry rang out in the night.
"KREEE!"
Randolph whirled around to find the goblin Shaman scrambling to push himself away, one shaking finger pointing towards something past the group.
No, something in the group.
Slowly turning to his side, ignoring the goblins cries of pure nightmarish fear, Randolph finally took notice of something he never realized before.
'Ah…why didn't I see them before.'
The goblin was pointing to Lia, whose eyes were glowing in a crimson hue, a detail Randolph had only just now learned about her.
The group of Hunters turned to her, all eyes baring daggers in her back.
"Lia…"
Randolph's voice was distant as he looked to Lia, who stood staring with wide eyes of shock and surprise at the goblin shaman.
Thinking of something, he quickly turned to look around the area.
"Th-That's right! Your summons should still be here, unless it died - then it could have done - ah."
Who was he fooling? Certainly not himself.
'She told me her summons was healer. Not…not this.'
As if reading his mind, Lia raised her right hand, a rune circle painted across the skin.
She begged and pleaded in her mind that there would be something there, a picture, a sign, a rune - something!
But it was empty.
She turned to face Randolph, who saw the rune circle as well.
Slowly he turned to the surrounding area again.
"If he's not here then…how did a healer…do this?"
Instead of answering, the sounds of the goblin's wails and screams filled the air, growing louder and louder, tracking more and more attention. Until all eyes snapped towards the goblin, as the sound of a knife being drawn from its sheath could clearly be recognized.
Randolph and the others raised their weapons, ready for an attack.
However, what shocked them even more, their eyes wide with surprise, was the color red that filled their vision.
Red.
The goblin stabbed itself in the neck.
As they stood there shocked and in fear, something came from the darkness, a sound that made them all shake in their boots. Be it Rank C, B, A or whatever. It frightened them all.
-Clack
-Clack
-Clack
The sounds of footsteps rang out in the silence, as they drew closer, and closer…
….and closer.
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