The earth shook with such intensity that dust and stone alike rose from the ground. Trees trembled and leaves fell, only to be carried away by powerful gusts of wind. It truly was night time, but it wasn’t until this moment that Capra realized how strange that was.

The cavern had grown dark, but light in the Lowlands didn’t come from the sun or the moon, It came from the crystals embedded on the cavern ceiling. Unless the crystals were mined away there should never be a lack of light, yet there was. By this point the only light Capra could see came from the goblin village bonfires, everything else was pitch black.

A flaming ball of granite rose out of the goblin village unexpectedly, flying in a high arc towards the ends of the Sinking Depths.

As the ball flew it illuminated a tremendous number of quick moving black figures. The horde of black figures were heading straight towards the goblin village, but Capra couldn’t make out what they were, he only knew they were trouble.

The horde evaded the flaming granite ball easily, and stayed their course; however, the flaming ball started its descent into the forest.

As it approached the ground, large looming figures started to come into Capra’s field of vision. They were tall misshapen giants, and Capra counted at least six of them. The creatures were still very far away, so Capra couldn’t make out many details, especially given how dark it was, but he did notice that each creature seemed to have layers of… something, squirming on it.

BOOM!

The granite ball collided with one of the creatures, knocking it back and setting it aflame. The creature roared. A loud, deep, and guttural roar, a mix between that of a gorilla and a crocodile, something profoundly inhuman.

As the creature burned, layers of squirming mass fell off its body, and soon it was burning no more. The layers of mass that fell off illuminated smaller creatures that were moving towards the village at different paces. Some exceptionally small creatures darted through the shadows, other larger creatures slumped their way forward, and some medium sized creatures ran forward on all fours.

At this point Capra was at a loss. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place. He had two options, he could either run to— and past, the goblin village. Or he could confront the creature horde coming his way. Both options seemed to be suicide.

As Capra debated, a legion of goblin batriders flew out of the village. Each goblin rider was equipped with a torch, and a number of small round orbs. As the goblins neared the black figures, each batrider grabbed one of the small round orbs and placed it near the torch they carried.

Then they waited. The black figures quickly closed the gap between them and the batriders. 50 meters, 40 meters, 30 meters, 20 meters.

At the 20 meter mark the batriders flung the small round orbs they carried. The black figures easily evaded, but before they could gain much distance from the small round orbs.

BOOM! BOOM! B-BOOM!

The orbs exploded, sending a number of black figures hurtling towards the ground.

They screeched miserably and burned brightly as they fell. One black figure fell towards Capra like a meteor, but Capra moved out of the way in time to avoid a collision with it. The creature hit the ground and caused a shockwave that displaced a large amount of dirt and stones, some of which nearly hit Capra.

As the dirt settled Capra was able to get a good look at the creature.

The creature had four long mosquito wings on its back, a small slender torso, two pairs of sharp-clawed arms, a snake tail instead of legs, and its head was that of a lamprey. It was objectively speaking— the most terrifying thing Capra had ever seen in his life.

Shortly afterwards a few more creatures fell into the clearing— none of which looked like the first. Each creature was uniquely more terrifying than the last, and the only common trait they shared was that they were all frighteningly well equipped to terrify their victims.

System Notification: You have witnessed a [Flying Horror]. You lack the will to overcome your fear. You have become frightened.

Accuracy and Reaction Speed -50%. The effect will persist until you remove yourself from within 60 meters of the [Flying Horror].

Killing a [Flying Horror] will lessen the effect by 5% per kill.

By now adrenaline was pumping through Capra’s veins at full force, survival instincts kicked in, and he made his decision. He turned around, clutched his axe, and ran with all his might towards the goblin village.

…

The war in the sky was ongoing, the goblin batriders had been able to consistently keep the flying horrors at bay with their explosives. While those batriders fought another group of batriders flew back and forth between the aerial battlefield and the village— re-supplying the batriders that were fighting with explosives before they could run out.

As Capra approached he noticed that barricades were being quickly erected around the village. Behind the barricades were goblins of all different ages and sizes holding spears while a goblin work crew continued to assemble as many barricades as possible to add to their fortifications.

The barricades were simple wooden constructs made using sharpened wood. The ends of the sharpened wood were lodged into the dirt, and this left them lifted at a 45 degree angle from the ground— high enough to pierce anything that tried to charge through them. Underneath the sharpened wood were normal wooden sticks tightly bundled to form a basic support that would keep the wood from falling.

The barricades had many gaps, and when the goblins spotted Capra running towards their village a few of them moved to cover the gaps nearest to him.

“Damn.”

Before Capra could figure out a way to get past them several gaps had already been closed by the goblin work crew, and the footsteps of creatures rapidly approaching could be heard in the distance.

Clack. Crunch. Thump.

Clack. Crunch. Thump.

Clack. Crunch. Thump.

The nearer the creatures got to the village, the faster their footsteps seemed to become, and soon Capra could see them.

The first wave of creatures to arrive were tiny little beasts. They looked like small, black, furry, and armless raptors. Their heads were two thirds of their bodies, and jagged teeth protruded from their maws. They all had green glowing eye— eight of them, four on each side of their heads.

As fast as the creatures were, shining black orbs catapulted through the air into their midst before they could get close. Capra had seen small goblins handing out the orbs, so he knew they’d be used. He had long since made it over 60 meters away from the [Flying Horror](s), so he was able to react quickly.

He threw himself as close to the goblin barricade as he could – avoiding getting within spear range –, and just as he hit the ground the orbs blew up.

The tiny monsters died in swathes. Those that survived soon burned to death, and those that were alive were forced to move back.

For a moment there was a standstill between both sides. Countless green littles eyes watched the goblin barricades while howling and hissing, afraid to move forward.

But Capra was stuck in the middle of the two forces. No escape in sight.

“Is this how I die?” He wondered.

Suddenly, a large log came flying from the forest. It crashed into a goblin barricade taking out a few goblins, and soon several more logs followed. Many goblins died, and the little green-eyed beasts took the opportunity to rush forward.

As the green-eyed beasts ran, a group of goblin guards left the safety of the barricades to engage them. These guards were larger than the common goblin, standing a meter and a half tall on average. Each guard was muscular, and carried a large wooden shield and a stone axe.

One particular guard was half a meter taller than the rest. His skin was a yellowish-green, and he bore long tusks that protruded from his lower jaw. His armor was completely made of black fur, and on each of its shoulders was the head of a green-eyed monster.

“Come!” He shouted, his deep and earthy voice resonating through the battlefield.

“You give me. Skin!” It declared. “I. Make. New. Shoes! Ha! Ha!”

Soon the goblin guards were colliding with the green-eyed beasts. Their axes cleaved the beasts in two with relative ease, and their shields were used to repel and sweep away any beast that got too close. Despite being goblins they worked in a careful formation, and in no time they cleared a large area of the green-eyed beasts.

Some beasts tried to get to the easy prey hiding behind the goblin barricades, but the barricades and the long spears the goblins were using gave them a distance advantage that the green-eyed beasts couldn’t overcome, so they died too.

A few green-eyed beasts finally seemed to notice Capra. He wasn’t behind the barricades, and he wasn’t fighting with the goblin guards. He was all alone, and at first that had made the green-eyed beasts wary, but soon a number of them gathered their courage and began to mobilize in his direction.

Capra knew he couldn’t run, so he prepared to fight. He knew that he needed to take the initiative if he would stand any chance of winning, so he cast the only spell he knew.

“Chaos Bolt!”

...