Rushing towards the screams, it didn't take long for Red to take the lead. The closer they got, the louder it got and soon the sound of a crying horse joined in until they came to a clearing. Looking down the slope, they could only see the cause of the conflict. There before them were two men, a blond hobbit with a spear and an orange-brown-haired human armed with a shortsword, fighting off a horde of creatures that surrounded them.

  In the wagon, a woman with what looked like her daughters huddled together in fear, trying to stay clear of the monsters' grasp. The horse kicked wildly, trying to keep the creatures back in an attempt to defend itself.

  These creatures had pale green skin with tufts of black fur covering their bodies; their orange eyes almost seemed to pop out of their heads, and a horn sprouted from their bulbous heads. It was clear what these short creatures were... Goblins.

  "Ash, Arthur, get down there now!" Red ordered, drawing Breaker, he charged down the hill towards the people in need. "Fir, Ro,y stay here!"

  "Wait I could—

  "You heard the man, let's go!" The blonde drew his blades, cutting Fir off, following Red's lead.

  Ash joined their charge. "Don't worry Fir, please stay here until the scene is safe.

  Wild winds dance freely with no chains to bind them. I will, however, change that fate and use them as my blade to slice those in their path!"

  In his hands, the wind started to gather, forming a sphere with four spinning blades protruding from it

  The trio charged into the fray.

  A pair of goblins ran past the duo, jumping towards the girls who could only scream in fear, while the older black-haired woman stared them down before turning away, hugging the two girls, waiting for the pain to arrive. The pair cried out.

  But oddly enough, that pain never came; instead, the sound of metal cutting through flesh was heard, followed by the thud of bodies hitting the ground. Opening their eyes to see a blonde boy dressed in green with twin swords, standing over the bisected bodies of the goblins, exposing a rainbow colored stone in the center of their flesh.

  "Have no fear, ladies, Arthur Cromed, your knight in shining armor, is at your service!" Arthur couldn't help but give a cocky grin when he looked at the two girls; they were both humans. One had black hair and the other had orange-brown hair. They grew relieved at the sight of help arriving.

  "Could you both do me the pleasure of informing me of the name of such lovely flowers?"

  They were about to speak, but fear retook hold of them; another goblin charged their newly arrived savior.

  "Watch out, kid!" The girls' mother warned him.

  "Razor Wind!"

  The sound of a buzzsaw filled the area. A disk made of wind flew by, cutting the goblin in half, and blood painted the ground.

  "You can flirt later, Arthur! Now's not the time!" Ash scolded his brother from atop the wagon, with another wind disk in his hand

  "Come on, Ash, no need to get your britches in a bind." Arthur playfully taunted back, making light of the situation.

  "Now's not the time, you two!" Red joined in. At the sight of him, the mother took notice of his eyes and pulled the girls closer to her. "Get ready, Ash, I want you to stay by the wagon and cover us from behind. Arthur, you're upfront with me. I'll take the right, you get the left, got it!?"

  The two only nodded in agreement, and without any further words, the young swordsmen ran to the front to help support the hobbit and human. Red and Arthur fought their way to the front, slashing through goblin after goblin until they got in front of the two adults.

  "Are you guys doing alright?" Red called out to them, crimson eyes tethered to the threat before him.

  "I'm doing a lot better now that you're here, boy, you have my thanks." The gruff older voice of the human. "Name's Alder."

  The hobbit, however, didn't say a word as he stared down the goblins that seemed to match his height.

  "You can thank us later after we win this!" Arthur reassured them

  "We didn't need your hel—

  "Would you shut up, Deamne?! Now is not the time!" Alder scolded the hobbit. The hobbit, Deamne, grew agitated while he watched Red and Arthur charge into the horde.

  "Gale Strike!"

  A blast of wind shot out from Ash's hand, blowing the goblin back. The older man used the chance to swing his sword, running it through its neck, causing the head to roll.

  "Thanks, kid!" Alder called out to Ash, who acknowledged his thanks with a nod before summoning another Razor Wind to cut through the midsection of two more goblins that tried to get past him.

  Some went down easier than others. ashes formed on their chest, arms flew from their bodies, and heads rolled on the ground. But their greater numbers gave them some advantage.

  'How many of these are there?' Red started to wonder, blocking the wooden club from a goblin before striking it down. 'I know Grandma told me that goblins will organize into groups, but this many? There's no way unless—

  "Hey, kid, any idea on what we need to do here?" Alder spoke out, breaking Red from his thoughts.

  "Well, sir, it's possible that in all likelihood there is a leader."

  "A leader? Are you just making this up as you go?" Deamne scoffed at the idea. "They're just brainless monsters, you think they're capable of complex thoughts like that?"

  Trying to ignore the hobbit, Red scanned the area until the sound of a snapping branch drew his attention to a goblin charging him. Throwing a makeshift spear, made from a small tree branch. Red moved to the side as it pierced the ground

  In the scuffle, one of the goblins ran past everyone, charging towards Ash, taking him by surprise.

  "Wild winds dance freely with no chains to bind them. I will–

  A rock was hurled at him, nailing Ash in the head, interrupting his chant, and causing him to fall to the ground. Putting his hand against his head, he felt blood cover his hand and run down his face. The goblin leaped into the air, ready to skin its claws into Ash flinched, watching as it descended upon him. Screams from Red and Arthur echoed.

  Shutting his eyes, he waited for the pain to arrive, only for it to never arrive.

  Leaping over the wagon, a figure cloaked in black and white. Intercepting the goblin midair, ramming it into the ground.

  Ash opened his eyes to see that on top of the now-dead goblin was a being with black hair and a white-tipped black tail.

  "Fir!? I thought you were staying back?"

  His shock drew her attention to him when she removed the knife from the corpse, and her eyes were sharper than daggers. In an instant, Fir flew past Ash. Intercepting a goblin that tried to attack him, she embedded her knife into the creature, killing it. Before turning to face him.

  "Well, I wasn't gonna—

  "Way to go Fir!" Arthur cried out, ecstatic at what he saw.

  Seeing that his friend was safer, Red could turn his focus back onto his smaller foes.

  Fir darted from side to side, slicing goblin after goblin. Doing her best to buy Ash all the time he needed to prepare each spell. But one after another, the goblins found a way to get past the others by sheer numbers.

  Her speed was blinding, so much so that the goblins changed their target from Ash to her. When her knife entered one of the goblins.

  "AAHH!"

  Another slammed a branch into her leg, knocking her to the ground.

  Golden eyes could only stare in horror when three more leaped into the ready to land on her. Fir, out of reflex, she brought up her arms to guard herself. Only to hear the sound of a buzzsaw and watch a spinning disk made of wind ran through the trio, reducing them to mincemeat.

  Locking into his gray eyes with her golden ones, her ears twitched as he spoke before calling out Full Heal. A faint green light enveloped her. The pain that grew from her leg started to fade, and the bruise vanished.

  "You protected me, and I'll protect you."

  Fir simply nodded, agreeing with Ash. The battle continued.

  —

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Just moments before, from atop the hill, Fir and Roy only watched the conflict continued. Red and Arthur clashed with them, while Ash let loose blasts of slicing wind. The renard grew anxious while she observed the monsters' tactics.

  "Roy, stay here."

  "But I can help!"

  "No. Stay. don't move!" It was almost like she was scolding a dog.

  The redhead could only watch as Fir took out her knife and ran down the hill. Leaving him to pout while she went to help fight.

  "Why won't they let me join..." He could only cross his arms, puffing out his cheeks. "It's not like I'm unless."

  Kicking the dirt, he flopped onto the grass, taking a seat. He just wanted to join.

  Royal blue eyes refused to avert their gaze from the scene below. First, they fell on Red. Watching his brother cut them down, but he couldn't help but notice that it looked like he was searching for something. Arthur, on the other hand, chose to use the moment to show off. Making made quick work of the monsters on the side he was assigned to cover. They were supported by the older human and hobbit, in their goal of driving the goblins back. Then, to Fir, she used her knife like a paintbrush, drawing blood from each goblin that came close, giving Ash time to finish his chants and launch wind blades and bursts of wind.

  The noise of battle was the only thing that filled the area. That was until Roy snapped his head to his left at the sound of a rustling joined in.

  A goblin leaped from the bushes, grinning with a sickly yellow smile at the sight of the redhead's solitude.

  But rather than cower or cry for help. Roy was oddly calm, almost excited when he got up to fight. And just like his excitement, the flame grew. 'If I beat this thing all by myself, I wonder what Red would think?'

  "Way to go, buddy. Guess you can come along with us, come on, let's find a dungeon right now." The imagination of Red praising him, while patting his head made Roy smile.

  But while Roy was lost in his head, the goblin was sizing him up. With no weapon on the boy in sight, it charged.

  Snapping out of his imagination, Roy raised a sparking, burning hand.

  "Firebo—

  Roy could not finish as he felt something fly by him, hearing the goblin scream in pain. Finding itself pinned against a tree with a pair of knives embedded in its shoulders.

  Looking closer at the daggers, namely the pommel, it looked like a snake's head.

  "Wait that's—

  He couldn't even finish before he felt two more fly past him, nailing the goblin in the head and chest. There was a strange crackling sound that the goblin's last gasping breath before dying.

  With a sharp turn, Roy faces the direction from which the knives came. Only to see, hidden within the tree line, black clothing and long lavender hair caught the attention of Roy's royal blue eyes.

  "Maryan!!! What are—

  "Sshhh..." She simply shushed the boy, pressing her finger against her smile, before pointing back to the battlefield. The number of goblins had been severely reduced.

  "Maryan, are you gonna... join... them?" However, looking back, he found that his caretaker had disappeared as quietly as she arrived.

  —-

  The battle started to reach its closure as the goblin threat had been reduced from a swarm to a small pack.

  "Everyone doing alright!?" Red called out.

  "Yeah, but my head is starting to hurt!!" Ash called out with Fir simply standing by him, ready to protect him.

  "You know I can keep going, this is nothing!" Arthur responded, but his own fatigue was starting to show.

  'Sure, but we don't know how long this will last.'

  Turning his attention back to the goblin, Red noticed something.

  One of the newly arriving goblins was different; its skin was darker, it stood not just taller than the rest but wider to the point of obesity, and its horn was thicker.

  Another one of the other goblins with an arm severed from its body limped its way over to a larger one. It looked like it was asking for help. The only response that the injured creature got was a snarl.

  The sight that followed left not just Red, but everyone in the group was mortified.

  The larger goblin's hand rammed itself into the body of the injured one and ripped out the stone from its body... consuming it.

  The crunching grew as the goblin's body seemed to pulsate, and it seemed to grow; soon it matched Red in height. Not only did its height increase, but its horn and nails sharpened. It let loose a wild, snarling, and cackling with each command it gave.

  "Everyone, get ready!"

  "So that's the leader, huh... You kids stay back and leave this to a real hero!" Deamne called out. Running his weapon through a goblin, he charged through a small opening and he charged the goblin leader with spear in hand.

  "You idiot!" Alder nearly screamed, trying to stop the hobbit from running into the fray.

  Deamne thrusted his weapon, aiming for center mass. But the goblin sidestepped, so rather than pierce its chest, the spear tip made its way into the side of its stomach. The goblin's sheer fat prevented it from going any further.

  Scowling in pain, it swung at Deamne, pulling his weapon out he leaped back, twirling the metal pole and smacking it into the back of the creature's leg, forcing it to stumble forward. Followed up by swinging the blade against the goblin's head, leaving a bloody gash.

  Covering the wound with its hand, Deamne smirked when he saw an opening. Taking hold of his weapon, dirt was kicked dirt up as he launched himself in for the killing blow.

  Only in an instant, the goblin grabbed the spear, and to Deamne's surprise, it used the moment of shock to lift both the spear and him into the air. Deamne stubbornly refused to release his weapon only to find himself leave the ground. He felt the wind against his skin when he was slammed against the earth. The air was knocked out of him the moment he was slammed into the ground.

  Gray eyes could only watch as the goblin, now using his weapon against him. He averted his gaze, wanting not to see his fate.

  The sound of metal echoed. He could only open his eyes, finding Red had blocked the attack and knocked the goblin back. It was unfamiliar with the spear's weight.

  "What the hell! I didn't need your help, bloodeye!"

  He didn't look back, keeping his gaze on the monster in front of him. 'Just ignore him. Focus on the leader, if i can take him down, the rest should scatter.'

  The remaining few goblins, seeing that their leader was being challenged, went to join it in that battle, but could only watch as two more of them were cut down. Standing between them were Arthur and Fir blades at the ready.

  "Sorry, but you have to get past us first," Arthur smirked at the horde's anger.

  Noticing that Arthur and Fir had him covered, Red gave his full attention to the goblin. Extending his free hand, a flame was given life.

  "Fireb–

  "I told you that until you can make the flame roar, you are prohibited from using it..."

  Only for it to go out. Shaking his head, Red tightened his grip on Breaker and charged in.

  The goblin could barely block Red's first strike. Following up with a second strike, Red aimed high. The goblin ducked, moving out of Breaker's way, but it didn't fully avoid the attack a its horn was cleaved off.

  Fixing his position, Red held his sword at the ready. Keeping his breathing calm and under control, he watched as the goblin screamed before it turned its anger back at Red. Snarling, it almost sounded like it was cursing at him with each wild swing of the spear.

  Red traced its strikes and calmly dodged and blocked each untrained strike. Some were aimed high with their target being his head, while others ended up going lower, aiming at his midsection and legs. 'Stay calm, don't rush it, just look for the opening...

  Each spear thrust became more and more sloppy and predictable. The goblin grew impatient.

  Once its eyes locked onto Red, it screamed its lungs out and charged him. Aiming the spear at Red's chest.

  'And strike!'

  Red sidestepped, avoiding the spear. He slammed Breaker into the spear, causing it to split in two. Removing the spear tip, leaving the goblin with little more than a large stick. And like a wild caveman, the goblin swung that stick like a club.

  One of its crazed strikes made contact and rang out against the sword that blocked it.

  Sliding on the grass, Red watched his opponent. "Humm... so this is the strength it has. But, I'm not a little kid anymore.'

  The goblin rushed, using its bat, and took aim. Rolling under the swing, Red wasted a moment as he grabbed the spearhead with his free hand before launching himself at the goblin.

  Sliding under the goblin's swing, it cried out in pain when Red lodged the broken spear into its calf. Bring the goblin to its knees.

  Turning back to face Red, the goblin trusted its arm forward only for an upward slash, lobbing the arm off. Going with the gravity flow, Red brought Breaker down onto the goblin's face.

  The blade vanished from its sight, but as it tried to move, its eyes moved, trying to find where its human opponent had gone. Then, a split in its vision appeared. and the upper part of its head slid off its body.

  'These things don't scare me anymore.'

  To the remaining few goblins, the sight caused them to scatter, fleeing into the forest.

  Looking back, Red exhaled. "Alright... Hey, is everyone alright?"

  "Yeah, I'm good!" Ash was the first to answer. Getting ready to cast Full Heal to help heal any major injuries. Fir didn't answer him but chose to make her way to Ash, carrying a roll of gauze so she could help with the minor ones.

  Alder didn't respond as he was busy tending to his wife and daughters, making sure they were alright before he went to calm down the horse... and Arthur was busy trying to hype himself up in front of the sisters, only to have their mother yell at him, stopping his actions.

  "Haha," 'Good,' The sight gave him a slight smile. He took the time to sheath Breaker. 'Looks like everyone is ok.'

  "Hey, blood eye." Deamne cried out, holding his broken spear. "Thanks for breaking my spear, you jackass! Do you have any idea how much this cost me?" Red wasn't able to respond before Deamne stormed off back to the wagon. There, he received a warm welcome from the two girls while they looked him over.

  "Hey, Red!! That was awesome, you were amazing!!" The shouting of the redhead gained Red's attention as he ran down the hill, passing the other before stopping at his brother.

  "Come on, Roy... I wasn't that great. Morgen or Raiden would have handled that better than I did."

  Roy puffed out his cheeks, annoyed. "Come on... stop saying that."

  An awkward laugh escaped Red as he looked around. The field was littered with monster stones and goblin horn, while Ash was occupied tending to the wounds of those present. "Think you can collect the magic stone and any horns that are still around?"

  His younger brother only looked over the field before nodding, begrudgingly accepting his assignment." Ok... but I wanna go to the candy shop when we get back." With a bag in hand, Roy started to gather up the stones. Red, however, went to check in on the others.

  Only to find the renard struggling to wrap gauze around Ash's head as he tried to get free from the hold she had on him.

  "Come on, Ash, let me do this."

  "Fir, I swear, I'm fine. I can just use Full Heal."

  "No!" Fir didn't hesitate to shoot the thought down. "The last thing we need to worry about is you collapsing from the drain."

  Hearing Fir tell... well, order Ash to remain still as she started wrapping gauze over his forehead, it was rather funny to watch.

  "Hey, kid!" Red turned to see Alder, waving him over. "Thanks for helping us out."

  "Don't mention it, it was the right thing to do. The names Red by the way." Extending his head, Alder mirrored the action, only to stop when he felt the woman stare a hole through him.

  Turning from Red to the group, he spoke. "This lovely lady here is my wife, Gladys, and these are our daughters, Zara and Nora." The two barely paid Red any attention. Ignoring Arthur, giving their full attention to Deamne. However, Red could feel Gladys's gaze on him, watching him as if she was preparing just in case he tried something.

  "Well, Red. Is there anything I can do to show my thanks? We have some money, or we could give you some of our produce if you—

  "Alder. You can't do any of that. We need that money for the entry fee, and I need it so we can get supplies." Gladys cut off her husband before he could offer anything else.

  "But dear, we can't just leave them with nothing. How about—

  "It's fine, Sir. I think it's time we start heading back to Phera." His words were still in agreement as Ash and Fir nodded in agreement.

  "Well... we did find at least a Lustrous Root, so today wasn't a total loss." Arthur mentioned holding the bag with their quarry.

  "Wait, What?!" The singular voice of protest was Roy, holding a bag full of stones and goblin horns. "Can't we stay a bit longer?"

  "Afraid not. It's gonna be a long walk back, plus," Red pointed to the sky, off in the distance, dark gray clouds started to appear. "Those look like storm clouds, and I'd rather not get caught in the rain while we're still out here."

  "Well then, how about I give you kids a ride back?" Alder was met with ocular protest

  Red looked at his friends, tired. "Sure, I'd appreciate that."

  The growing scowls of the man's family only grew after getting the supplies back onto the wagon. As the group got on, the only one to pay attention to looks that were targeted at Red was a pair of golden eyes.