A gruff looking man, with black hair, a thick beard and sunken eyes, clad in scratched up armour sat in a creaky chair. He was in deep thought as he looked at a rough sketch of the local geography. A sleazy man with snake-like eyes, dressed in leather armour and a red-stained cloak entered the room silently.

“Boss, that mine ain’t filled with peasants! It's a goblin camp!” The man in leather sneered and spat into the corner of the room in irritation.

The boss furrowed his brows and stroked his beard. “Goblins? Could they be the same ones who stole our Glimmer Goats?”

“Yeah, those same yellow bastards.” The sleazy man twisted open a flask and took a shot of red liquid. “Bloody goblins, we are gonna get killed if we don’t get those goats back.”

The leader sighed in disappointment. "You need to lay off that Rotten Torrent while on the job. And don't worry, they don't know we don't have the goats, they just think we're having a delay. We'll get them back before anyone catches wind of this." The boss rubbed his temples in frustration, before snatching the drink from the rogue's hands and taking a shot himself, causing the rogue to chuckle.

The armour-clad man stared at his chipped sword in pity. Those damned merchants were raising prices on everything like there was no tomorrow, and conflict was spreading like a wildfire through the kingdom. Those bloody marquises and dukes gave little thought to others as they waged their petty wars. Their band of fifty had diminished to just 14, and the recent deaths from the Giant Snake and the goblin attack did not do much for morale. A rich fellow from the capital approached them with a generous offer, simply smuggle some goats for great pay. But some goblins appeared from thin air and stole their payday from under their noses. Luckily their employer did not know that yet, and some rookie merchant looking to make it big was going to pay them for doing something on their to-do list anyway.

The leader smiled at this fortunate turn of events. “Now how will we attack them?” He pointed to a poorly drawn camp on a crumpled up piece of paper.

The rogue shrugged and haphazardly dropped himself unto a chair. “Hate to admit it, but they got a pretty solid place for themselves. They got a big hill and the river on their sides, and the rest is protected by a wooden wall.”

“Nothing we can’t knock down, right?” The leader grinned.

The rogue nodded. “A few fireballs and boulders and that thing will stand no chance.”

The boss leaned back, with a satisfied expression. “Then we’ll send in some of the recruits. Goblins are dumb as dirt, so it's nothing the newbies couldn't handle. Not to mention the extra experience will do them some good.” The leader affirmed.

“Then I’ll go get the guys ready. When do you wanna bounce?”

The boss ran his hand through his coarse black hair. “Let’s go today, and we’ll attack at night.”

The rogue nodded and began to leave, but before he exited the room he turned around quickly. “What about Clara? I haven’t seen her since the attack on the valley. Will she come?”

A sigh escaped the leader’s mouth. “No, she quit. She took all the money she made and went back to that tiny village near the mine. Wanted to claim her birthright as a mayor or something.”

“Well not a problem for us anyway, one less person to split the loot with.” The rogue smiled.

Quickly, their small shoddy barracks were upturned, as people started gearing up and gathering provisions. Their gang consisted of some older, more experienced bandits, marked by their scars and jaded looks, and some younger kids, picked up from the streets, who had no other ways of making money. It was not exactly what one would call a well-rounded team, but it will do against some primitive goblins.

The journey was not easy, trudging through snow at night was not a comfortable experience if one did not have good boots. The only thing guiding their way was a rough map and the light of torches.

After a few hours of travel, the location was in sight, there were a few small goblins standing guard on a rickety makeshift tower. It was a typical goblin building, simple and crude. These ones were no different to typical goblins after all. The bandits quickly put out their lights to not alert the enemy, more out of instinct than genuine fear of their adversary.

“Get ready guys, start chanting.” The rogue ordered.

A goblin was dutifully keeping watch, gazing into the dark forest. The Holy Champion warned them to prepare for battle. He wore a metal breastplate which was made by breaking down a larger piece of armour, which was then roughly hammered into shape. Most of the goblins now sported such makeshift armour, yet he did not mind, he engraved his name into his armour, which made him feel quite fancy.

“Hey, do you hear that?” He asked his friend, who was standing guard alongside him. The other goblin squinted his eyes and scanned the area. Before he could react, a giant boulder flew from the shadows of the forest and crashed into the wall, obliterating their defences completely, and making them tumble to the ground.

“Enemy attack!” Cries began ringing out through the camp.

I stood observant from a ledge on the hillside, looking down as the situation unfolded. The wall had been instantly breached, and our tower had fallen. I did not know whether to laugh or be angry at how pitifully our defences stood up against the enemy. The goblins on the ground had quickly scooped up the fallen guards and dragged them behind the small stone wall.

Zotnik’s frogs stood guard next to the wall, waiting for the signal to attack. And archers stood in a row, ready to fire upon Rugum's command.

Quickly, 4 short and cloaked figures ran towards our broken wall, 2 of them fell into our spiked trench that was hidden by a cloth blanket made by all the artisans. The goblins fired their bows and the arrows landed cleanly on the other 2 figures. Yet our attack had not been lethal, their armour was of better make so the arrows just barely pierced their bodies.

“Now!” I cried, and Zotnik’s frogs leap forward, landing upon wounded fighters, crushing them with their enormous weight.

Another attack came from the forest, a large ball of flame flew through the air like a raging sun, illuminating the night. It knocked down some of our wooden walls and setting the rest of them on fire. The falling logs caused our archer formation to scramble.

A group of ten people emerged from the forest, charging towards our crumbling camp.

“Ground-Shaker!” I conjured my spell ahead of them, but they noticed the obvious attack and ran around the cracking earth.

The skilled fighters quickly breached our compound. The archers focused their fire on them, but the enemies' armour was unaffected by our rudimentary arrowheads.

"Bombarding Cannon Beryl!" In a rage, Gatrom launched his spell at the invaders, but to no great effect. The bandits quickly spotted the forming spell and ran out of the way, but the magical shrapnel managed to slow their movements.

A cloaked man stabbed a goblin in the stomach. The poor being let out a gut-wrenching wail, sending chills through our bones.

“Retreat into the caves!” I cried. The frogs leapt into the crowd of enemies, momentarily distracting them, giving time for all the goblins to run back inside. The frogs were quickly slaughtered, apart from their size, they provided no threat to these experienced foes.

We retreated to the lowest levels of the mines and hid in waiting, peering through small gaps into the hallways. The illumination was deliberately made dim, to hide the arrow slits in the walls. The footsteps of the bandits through the mine echoed as did the sounds of breaking furniture, and their cursing.

“The little bastards! We’re gonna have to crawl all over this stinking place to find them?” One bandit spat on the ground.

“Shut up, we already lost the new guys so it's more money for us. We gotta finish the job. Now, where did these little monsters hide those goats.”

Their shadowy figures could be seen walking through the hallways. Their figures were relaxed, merely giving cursory glances at the environment. With a swift gesture of my arms, spears sprang out from the walls, quickly piercing three of the bandits and killing them.

"Spiral Jaws Jasper!" I yelled, launching the conjured jaws at the neck of an unsuspecting bandit, crushing his neck, and causing blood to violently splash on the cave walls.

"Live Hissing Serpentine!" Rugum's snake lunged into the crowd of bewildered brigands, quickly wrapping itself around one enemy and tearing them to shreds.

In sudden realisation, followed by rage, the armoured bandit punched the wall, crushing it and revealing the goblins behind it. They screamed and ran for their lives on all fours. Voglo emerged from the shadows at the end of the hallway, finishing the final chants of his spell.

“Entwining Vines!” From the ground, floor and ceiling, sprouted out thorny vines, wrapping themselves around the bandits completely ensnaring them and blocking the tunnel.

“Sapphire Spear!” I launched my magic spear into the trapped crowd, piercing cleanly through the armoured man in front and wounding the robed figure behind him. I quickly unloaded all my mana into the hallway, blindly firing my spell, and decimating everyone.

As the vines wilted and faded away, the casualties were clear. The enemy had been vanquished, but not without the loss of our own. I fell down on my back, exhausted, I was about to fall asleep until a goblin came up to me and cried. “Chief! Some women are giving birth!”