Noah felt an icy coldness permeate the deepest corners of his heart, as their main source of fire was mercilessly snuffed out from behind them. The fire provided more than just heat and light, it was a source of hope and reassurance that kept them going in these tumultuous circumstances. While it was a low blow, Noah could only thank his foresight and subconsciously tighten his grip over the flaming branch in his hands.

After mentally cycling through the possibilities, Noah concluded that the attack on them had just been a diversion, a ploy to make them focus all their attention on defending while losing sight of the real objectives. Despite having told himself not to underestimate the goblins, he had forgotten one key evolutionary trait that most beings with a long history shared- a method or a default reaction when dealing with a predator. And even with their rudimentary intelligence and crude language skills, when faced with their greatest enemy, fire- they were able to set their differences aside and prioritize snuffing out those infernal flames at any cost.

The flames from the branch provided him with barely enough sight to make out Will and Natalie’s hazy figure, though he’d imagine that they were even more confused and shocked than he was at this moment in time. Just when he was about to give the call to scatter, a completely insane idea crossed his mind. The nearest tree was too far away, and between this and choosing to separate and leave it up to lady luck- his idea was as good as they were going to get.

“IF YOU TRUST ME, THEN FOLLOW!” Noah yelled, no longer caring for pretenses as he sprinted towards the location where the initial assault came from. The Archer’s knew where they were anyway, and hopefully, his shout could snap Will and Natalie if they were in a state of shock. He didn’t really know when he’d changed so much, but he had a feeling that the old lion’s guidance played a role in it.

Noah felt two steps of footsteps echoing out from behind him, and felt slightly gratified at their trust. Though all such feelings were wiped away when he felt an arrow whizzing past his right leg, having come so close to hitting him that he could almost feel the velocity of the arrow cutting through the air.

“Just a bit more…” Noah whispered to himself, as he could hear the muted wails of his target in the distance. After a minute of weaving, ducking, and dodging later, he finally reached his destination. In front of him lay two discarded wooden shields, slightly dented in the middle- making him slightly admire will’s handiwork; though if the man had shattered the shields he would be cursing him out. A meter away lay two goblins letting out occasional groans, one nursing his broken wrist and from the swelling on its ankle- a ligament tear, while the other was clutching the back of its head while letting out the occasional growl.

The scene made no sense, if Will had been this powerful, the shield would’ve been shattered into two pieces. Unless… the goblin’s were level 1 cannon fodder, serving no purpose except paving the way for their initial assault.

“Poor bastards”, thought Noah, but since they weren’t a threat then he had no reason to waste precious seconds on dispatching them. Quickly hoisting the shield so that it protected his face, arms, and chest, he proceeded to peer out from the small cutout meant for goblin eyes and saw Will burst into the clearing moments after. Will took half a second to size Noah up and got most of what he was intending to do. From the lack of panic on his face, Natalie should be following closely behind him.

Moments later, Will had hoisted the second shield and positioned himself side by side Noah, using the same strategy as the goblins had earlier. Both men sighed in relief when Natalie entered their field of view, but that soon was replaced by an expression of horror as she shrieked loudly and tripped over seemingly nothing, supplanted into the ground before either of them could react.

Will was the faster of the two men to act, barreling forward like an angry bull, taking such wide steps that they could almost be categorized as a leap- an interesting way to utilize the strength stat that Noah hadn’t tried yet, covering the distance in a manner that almost seemed instantaneous. The moment he was in front of Natalie, he dropped down to his knees as he heard the sound of another two arrows whizzing towards his location. One landed on the wooden shield, while the other struck the middle of Natalie’s exposed right calf, causing another agonized yelp. That, however, meant that she was alive- and before the next volley came Noah had bridged the gap in their defense with his shield.

By his calculations, they had earned a respite of a minute or two- one that they most definitely deserved. Noah finally felt the strain on his arm reduce, holding the shield with one arm all this while definitely took a toll. He had lost his sword while sprinting long ago- there was no time to put it back into his inventory and for the next part of his plan, it wasn’t needed anyway.

He then tilted his gaze to check on Natalie, making him slightly wince at the sight. One arrow had lodged itself right in her left Achilles tendon, while another was lodged in her right calf, and it had penetrated deeply.

Will spoke in hushed tones, though there was a slight hint of urgency in his voice “Natalie, you’re going to be fine, but I’m going to have to pull these arrows out.” Quickly tearing a portion of his already tattered shirt, crumpling it into a ball, he continued “Here, bite down on this. We’ll pull on three. Are you ready?” in a soft, soothing voice.

With tears streaming out of both her eyes, she bit down even harder on the cloth and nodded. “Alright then.” Will acknowledged her acceptance, and first went for the Achilles heel. “ One…. Two…. Three” he gently whispered, and then yanked the arrow out in one fluid motion.

“Mmmmpfgh” Natalie’s wails echoed out, the tears dripping out even faster from her eyes. But she was a brave woman, and a glint of steely resolve could be seen under those pained eyes. Everyone had their own reasons for entering the Tower of Glory, and she was no different. After seeing the rewards, the Tower offered, death was an acceptable outcome, but not until she had accomplished the previously impossible goal she had undertaken the trial with. Until then, it could fuck right off.

A similar countdown was repeated, and the second arrow was yanked out in a similar fashion. Will quickly pulled out a health potion from his pocket, and when he was sure Natalie wouldn’t bite off her tongue in pain, poured it down her gullet.

Another minute passed, and the two shield-bearers had already tanked three volleys by now. While the shield was durable, it was only a matter of time before it gave way. Thankfully though, the health potion’s efficacy was undoubtable, and the color started returning to Natalie’s cheeks, and the blood flow pouring out of her two bullet-like wounds significantly stemmed.

“Alright kid, so what’s the game plan here. I took a leap of faith trusting you, please don’t make me regret it,” said Will in a solemn tone, though the situation back then was so chaotic there really was no other way.

Instead of being scared, Noah had a wild grin on his face as he explained his plan to Will and Natalie.

“You’re crazy kid, you know that don’t you,” Will muttered in mock resignation. “Natalie, can you run? For better or worse, this insane play is all we got. Worst case, you still get out of this alive.” Which was the real reason Will finding this plan agreeable. If they were fucked anyway, they might as well go out with a bang. And if they survived, it would make a hell of a tale for the grandkids.

“Let me hold the shie-“ Natalie said in a panicked voice, protesting against the plan but was interrupted.

“No. Health potions don’t work magic, and you know it. We don’t have time for this, and if the kid is risking his life then so am I. So, can you run?” rebuked Will, in a stern voice.

“Y-Yes” Natalie stuttered out, her emotions threatening to overwhelm her. But she couldn’t forget her purpose for coming here, she had to survive no matter the cost.

Seeing that the group had reached a conclusion, each of the three with tense bodies ready to burst out into motion, Noah spoke “You figure out where yours is firing from?” he asked Will.

“More or less,” he said, pointing towards the right, though with the entire place shrouded in darkness it didn’t matter much.

“Me too. Well then, there’s no time like today” said Noah, as he motioned the half-burnt flaming branch with his right and angled it near the front of his wooden shield. It only took a few seconds of prodding, and now he had a flaming shield that came with a time limit, he could already feel the heat seeping through the handle.

He passed the branch to Will, who did the same, and then handed the branch to Natalie as the meager protection he could offer her.

“On three then”, said Will, and as soon as the countdown hit three both of them got up in one fluid motion and sprinted towards different directions.

“MAY WE MEET AGAIN IN VALHALLA, BROTHER!” shouted Noah, as he sprinted through bushes, thickets, and shrubbery, leaving a flaming trail of greenery as he passed, with an expression of both glee and fear on his face.

“FOR ODIN!!” came a roar from his right, even louder than his own as Will played along with his little roleplay. Though if this didn’t work out, dining in the halls of Valhalla would certainly not be a bad proposition. If one would look at the scene from the skies, they would witness a flaming ‘V’ being carved into the terrain, a phenomenon that would only result in more questions than answers.

As he got closer and closer to where he estimated the target to be, Noah kept his ears peeled for the slightest of sounds while relying on his dexterity to keep him from stumbling over the errant rock or uneven footing.

Sure enough, a suppressed groan echoed out from ten, maybe fifteen meters in front of him, slightly to the left. Noah maintained his speed, and peered out from the viewing slit to check for any sign of his enemy. The shield was only growing hotter as time passed, the entirety of it now covered by flames- and Noah had a feeling that it wouldn’t last much longer.

After a tense thirty seconds, the light from his flames allowed him to see a green silhouette in the distance, with his back towards Noah as it was running away from him. Angered at the sight, Noah yelled, “Not this time, oh no you don’t” and emulated Will’s technique. Concentrating the entirety of his strength and clenching his leg muscles as hard as he could, he put his right leg down as if he were punching the ground instead of walking, and he could almost feel the micro-tears in his muscles that maneuver caused.

However the effect was immediate, as Noah was almost airborne for an instant, and it took the entirety of his dexterity to position his left foot to receive the momentum of his descent, and then rapidly shift to ascent. Each of his leaps easily covered 1.5 meters, and the elusive archer’s back was within striking distance in a matter of seconds.

With the burning shield in his hand, Noah crashed into the back of the Archer without any mercy, causing its knees to buckle and Noah falling alongside his entire body weight and flaming shield on top of it. Noah felt the heat searing his arms, but compared to the agonized shrieks the goblin was letting out, it wasn’t much. Tumbling aside, just before the flames completely consumed the archer he hurriedly reached out and pressed the loot button.

As he lay on his back, huffing from the exertion, he couldn’t help but be exhilarated at the narrow victory he had seized from the jaws of death.