The group made steady progression following a path that only Bryan seemed to see. The twists, the turns, and the way he moved made it clear this was a path he knew well. Though it wasn't a path easily visible to them, they trusted their guide and moved forward. The woods seemed to swallow them, spit them out, then swallow them again as they followed the boy. When Bryan suddenly stopped, the other two nearly walked into him.

"Shh..." Bryan's eyes darted back and forth between two rocks and a tree ahead of them. Slowly, and deliberately, he drew a small bow from under his shirt and pulled an arrow from his pant leg. Woah, I didn't even notice him hiding those. He gripped the bow in one hand, nocked the arrow with his other, and drew a deep breath. A gleam flashed in his eye as he held his breath and let his fingers loosen. The arrow thrummed through the air into a small bush next to the rocks. A small ball of brown fur hit the ground.

"What the-?" Brutus stared dumbfounded at the precision of the shot, "Is that a rabbit?"

"I told you," Bryan spoke with a flat tone as he reached down and lifted the rabbit by its leg, "You can't show up to Granddaddy Hunterson without a rabbit."

The boy shot several more rabbits as the trio continued down these paths that only Bryan seemed to see. Tyr added them to his storage for practicality. One noticeable factor as they continued was that the boy was increasing his pace. He would glance behind them and then up at the sky, urging them faster every time.

"What's the rush?" Brutus asked while sprinting up a log the boy had just used to clear a small creek.

"It will be dark soon. We have to make it there before then and I've lost track of the time." It's 16:23. Shadows voice echoed inside Tyr's mind, breaking the silence between them and startling him.

"Well what time does it get dark?" Tyr questioned while sprinting across the log himself.

"Soon. Too soon I think."

"What is it you were doing so far from your village?" Brutus asked while pushing through a lot of low branches the boy had slipped under. The boy glanced back but didn't respond. The thick scent of pine woods overwhelmed Tyr's senses as he too passed through the spot, a combination of pushing through and ducking under branches. His hand throbbed as it hit a branch that snapped back from Brutus' march. While distracted by his discomfort he hadn't seen Brutus stop in front of him. He walked into Brutus, slamming his hurt hand into the warriors back. It took everything in him not to cry out in pain. Blinking back tears he looked up to see why they had stopped marching.

Bryan was holding a finger to his lips and very slowly walking backwards. Stalking through the bushes facing away from them was a creature with leathery green skin. It was wearing only a loincloth, a short sword across its back like a great sword, and a dagger in its hand. Its hands had long black nails. Its pointed ears moved independent of one another as it cocked its head side to side, listening to the sounds of the woods around it.

Brutus slowly drew his sword from its sheath, the boy turned to Brutus shaking his head no. Bryan's eyes showed the terror he was feeling. His eyes were pleading with Brutus to back off from the goblin.

"Ereh!" A shout from behind Tyr startled the three of them. Spinning around on his heels he witnessed a goblin emerge. It came from the low branched trees they'd pushed through just a moment before. It too had a short sword tied to its back, but it came with a spear in its hand. The goblin thrust the spear towards Tyr's chest. A swift nudge in his peripherals caused him to jerk sideways missing the stony blade by inches. "yrruh llik meht!" It shouted as more goblins emerged into the narrow path they were on. Brutus pushed the boy in between himself and Tyr, taking point ahead of them.

"Flames!" The electric feeling moved through Tyr's left arm and enveloped the goblin that had attacked him. It screeched in pain, trying to jump backwards, but it stumbled and rolled instead. Brutus engaged the goblin that had been in the path ahead of them. It attacked with short sword in one hand and dagger in the other. Every time Brutus swung the goblin blocked using both of the blades it was wielding.

There were three other goblins now in the path and shouts from further out indicated that there were even more coming. Tyr was casting flames to keep the three goblins he could see at bay, while Brutus continued trying to land a blow on the goblin in front of him.

"Tyr, help me clear a path. We've got to run." I agree, if it were one or two we could take them. This many, with more coming... we're going to get overwhelmed. Turning quickly Tyr raised his left hand and aimed behind the goblin. He waited for it to block another swing from Brutus.

"Fireball!" Feeling his energy rush outwards once more a ball of flame spun through the air. It exploded behind the goblin. The creatures eyes grew wide as the fire bathed its back, and it was in that moment that Brutus' blade plunged into its chest.

"Run!" Bryan yelled as he started sprinting ahead. As he did, he took an arrow from his quiver and took a shot at one of the goblins on the path directly behind Tyr. The goblin deflected the blow with its sword just as another goblin emerged out of the dense treeline with a short bow in hand.

"T'nod tel meht epacse! Llik meht ylkciuq!"

Brutus and Tyr followed Bryan who was sprinting top speed ahead of them. An arrow whizzed by Brutus' ear, a moment later another struck him in the shoulder. He grunted as he removed the arrow, seemingly unfazed by it. The path they were running on came to a narrow spot between two large boulders, there was a ten foot gap where a creek cut through about twenty feet below them. Bryan cleared the gap with expertise, turning and motioning for them to follow suit. Brutus launched himself, his feet barely making it to the edge, but his momentum took him backwards. Bryan's hand caught his and pulled him back up. Tyr took a few steps back and then launched himself as fast as he could across the gap. He landed with a couple cubits to spare. He turned in time to see two goblins make it to the spot between the boulders.

"Mana Blast!" The eruption was right in front of him instead of on the goblins. I hadn't thought about the range of the attack when I was fighting the death knight. Clearly... fireball!

"Fireball. Cast fireball!" Brutus urged, ducking as another arrow shot past him. "It might slow them down at least." Tyr nodded and raised his left hand.

"Fireba-" An arrow tore through his hand. "Argh!" Despite the interruption, the pain seemingly intensified the spell. A mighty fireball landed between the two goblins and blew them apart. The explosion caused one of the boulders to break loose and start rolling down the hill. Goblin shouting could be heard as the boulder disappeared from sight. Tyr painfully held his hands against his chest.

Bryan grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him forward towards the path. As they turned an arrow shot from down the hill and struck the boy in the ear. Crying out in pain he dropped to his knees as another arrow passed by where his head had just been. Stepping behind both of them Brutus growled in a low commanding voice,

"Run. NOW." Without any complaints they all moved quickly down the path, the mumbled shouting of goblins seemingly surrounded them. Then, without warning, it was dark. Bryan stumbled and gasped loudly.

"We have to hide. We have to hide right now." The boy sounded truly terrified as he darted off the path and into the dense underbrush. Brutus and Tyr struggled trying to reach him, but the boy neither stopped nor would elaborate why his fear was so intense. Pushing through the underbrush, they nearly stumbled on top of one another as they entered into a clearing. All at once the three of them were standing at the entrance to a small cave. "We hide in here."

"Hide from what?" Brutus demanded while reaching for the boy, but Bryan just shrugged out of his grip.

"Hide or die sirs."

QUEST: Survive the Goblin Horde

Accept? Yes / No

Tyr looked at Brutus and for the first time, Brutus looked scared.