Chapter 11: Rescue (part 1)

The following morning just before night fell, the rescue team were some distance away from the goblin camp and at scitus’s order, hidden within the towering trees which rose thirty feet. The trees had a strong resemblance to green spire linden and its thick leaves provided sufficient cover for the unit.

“did you find where they store their food?” Scitus huffed as he spoke, despite ample assistance from the others he still felt tired from climbing the tree. Bison and Nell simultaneously nodded as they sent the telepathic message, “yes”

He turned to Arisa and Yuki who stood beside him on a neighboring tree. The two nodded as if to say, “we completed our mission.”

Finally, he asked Robin and teal who were looking for Cecilia and Thomas, "they are in the centermost tent, it will be difficult to rescue them from there. We can use the humans located in the outer tent as a distraction. The goblins probably value them more than the slaves." Arisa ears twitched as she heard the word, humans. Scitus smiled as he saw robins eyes, filled with an intelligence that wasn’t their before. “somethings changed” he thought before prompting Robin to continue. “why do you think that?”

Robin suddenly grew silent, "why did I think that? I just need to listen to master, he knows best." Robin thought as he spoke aloud, "Forgive me, master, I shouldn…” Scitus suddenly and unwittingly released an intimidating pressure that seemed to quiet the world for several seconds. Only one sound was incredibly clear, Scitus’s voice as it entered their minds. “I am not perfect, if you have an idea, tell me and I’ll consider it. If you think if I’ve made a mistake tell me, is that understood.” Robin nodded his head before his brain could even understand the statement.

Scitus didn’t want to inspire blind loyalty, while it had its uses, its function would quickly die when the country grew large enough. Scitus thought blind loyalty only worked in war for following orders in an army is crucial, but in the planning phase, questions and contingencies must be thought up. Only subordinates that do not fear their leader and believe they are imperfect are willing to question.

Questions, a double-edged sword Scitus thought. Questions lead to doubt and doubt leads to insubordination “but its value far outweighs its drawbacks.”

The planning continued deep into the night until the Crescent Moon reached its highest point in the sky.

Scitus had counted one hundred and fifty goblins in the camp, most of them slept during the night. Anyone would think him mad, but he saw the path to victory and if he had more time to plan, complete victory over the goblin camp.

Robin and Teal silence their steps and run towards the camp. their figures disappear as if they were an illusion. Scitus discovered that when they became a unit, certain special abilities were granted to them, silent steps was one which could eventually become shadow steps. Only Robin and Teal had the ability shadow steps, an ability that allowed them to blend into the darkness and even shadows while at the same time completely silencing their steps. The day prior, Robin had become disoriented from shock, but he wouldn't allow it to happen twice, especially with Teal by his side.

The book of gods he acquired had the information he needed. It explained that Gods had the ability to grant special skills to their armies though it required two things, the first was heavy training of some sort and the second was God energy. Scitus had wondered why he had lost god energy when making the unit, but it was all properly explained by the book.

As he saw the two goblins reach the camp, he turned to the book in his hands, “this is certainly valuable” Beside the book of gods he held was a book of similar thickness with an odd insignia that appeared to spiral like fire out of the cover.

Scitus watched over Robin and Teal who had already reached deep into the small encampment, they were quiet and near invisible from sight, only with his divine sight did he see them as they were marked by a bright white hue.

As they near their destination, a sudden awful smell hits their nostrils. "A corrupted goblin is near they thought". The two turned the corner and just as the goblin was about to change his direction, Teal quickly moved towards him and, with his dagger, slit the unsuspecting goblin's throat. Robin came from behind and grabbed the dead goblins legs, assisting Teal in moving the corpse into the slave tent.

The two immediately whisper for Thomas and Cecilia and are met with an answer, “Okay?” Her trembling voice shook his heart but there was no time to be shaken, “quiet, we go.” He whispered as he undid her shackles. “what?” he thought as he easily released her, the shackles weren’t well fitted nor were they locked, they were simply tied by a thick vine. In the past, this would have made things complicated, but now he understood, his mind understood how simple it was to undo.

Thomas, teal, Robin, and Cecilia stumbled out of that crowded tent towards the outside.

Scitus relayed the enemies movements as Robin and Teal quickly guided Cecilia and Thomas out of the campgrounds.

Once the group reached the edge of the encampment and gave Cecilia and Thomas a boost to jump over the fence, Robin instructed the two to run towards a particular direction.

“what, you?” Cecilia gestured to her allies asking if they were coming with them. both shook their heads and responded, “we, mission” and with that, Cecilia and Thomas ran towards the hill they were informed of. At the top of the hill, Scitus waited for them, alongside Yuki, Arisa, Nell, and Bison. The group of six goblins hugged one another and as Cecilia and Thomas were about to hug Scitus, the realized their position and bowed their heads instead. Scitus nodded his head as he gave the two their weapons of choice. For Cecilia a bow with five arrows, and for Thomas, a thick wooden shield. Scitus knew Thomas was averse to weapons, so he chose to give him a shield instead.

A sudden shout disturbed the quiet night, “SLAVE ESCAPE!!!!” someone shouted and repeated over and over. Cecilia and Thomas froze as the thought of their friends being captured crossed their mind. They turned their god for guidance who at that time was smiling calmly as he made an odd gesture with his fingers. Suddenly the four who were beside them disappeared almost as if they were never there, to begin with. Then suddenly they reappeared and asked Cecilia and Thomas to follow, they were going to regroup with Robin and teal and would need Thomas and Cecilia for help.

The goblins lit their torches, no they could no longer rely on only those with dark vision and formed several parties of five goblins. Scitus smiled internally to himself, he hadn’t expected them to use their entire army to look for the intruder. Sloppily and without order, the army traveled in every direction, some teams close together and others desolate and alone.

Three goblins remained within the camp, the purple goblin who Scitus had already deemed to be the true leader, the ogre and lastly a black goblin who nearly escaped scitus’s sight.

The black goblin entered one slave tent after another until he reached the one where Thomas and Cecilia were held in. He didn’t exit this Tent, the black goblin was smarter than the others and noticed the undone shackles.

The goblin’s eyes pierced everyone like a sharp knife. They knew this goblin, they often heard the screams of the women he was fond of. A week or two ago, he stopped raping the goblin women though it was not because his lust had dimmed.

He shouted, "WHO ESCAPE!!!!" his voice shook their hearts and their already atrophied muscles turned to mud from fear. The goblin wanted an answer, he wanted to deal with the situation as quickly as possible and return to that wonderful paradise of women only a few meters from him. His thoughts, his actions, his motivations were driven by his insatiable lust.

Three goblin mothers shrouded their daughters with their bodies, fearing the black goblin would take interest in them. The black goblin smiled widely as he approached one mother. "STOP!!!" her husband shouted and was met with a firm fist that knocked his three remaining teeth. With his other hand, the black goblin grabbed the woman's jaw and forced her to look at him. She whimpered as her skull was forced to face him, his skin was a black as the night and his eyes a dark blue.

He whispered to the woman, “I no touch,” he then slapped her forcing tears to fall down her cheeks. He slapped her again and again till her face became unrecognizable. Only two minutes had passed since his arrival but he had already heart them so much.

"Who, Escape." He growled as he turned to face the goblins on the opposite side. Their a young goblin shook with terror and attempted to free himself from his shackles but couldn't comprehend how to untie himself, not like Teal and Robin. His heart sunk and finally surrendered, “I’ tell,” he whimpered. The fallen husband then whimpered, “NO!!!” only to be met with a powerful kick that caved his chest in tossed him into several goblins. The kicks force was so powerful that everyone, even with atrophied muscles, jumped with terror.

"TELL!!!" he shouted and the young obeyed, spilling everything. "Goblin, rescue, goblin friends" he tearfully revealed to the black goblin as he prostrated himself not in fear of the black goblin but an apology to everyone present for he knew his sin. The hope that the others had vanished like illusion their muscles weaken and their hearts softened that now their enemy knew their saviors would return.

The black goblin walked over a foot or so towards the fallen husband and placed his foot over the husband’s head and spoke, “no, save.”

The purple goblin was in his tent as he shouted at them at top of his lungs, "BOOK!!!! WHERE BOOK!!!!" He frantically tore everything in his tent apart in search for it, he needed it for it was his prized possession it was what had allowed him to learn fire magic. Although he could cast without it, the book amplified his power for it was blessed by his god. But that precious book was now gone, stolen by the intruders, his face contorted with wrath but it only took a moment for him to regain his composure.

Just outside his tent was a worn soldier who brought terrible news. “Fire!!!” he shouted as he pointed to the east where a fire raged in the far distance. Fortunately, the fire wouldn't reach the camp for it was built in a grassland area of the forest, where no trees could reach. "Enemy, smart," he whispered to himself before forming a crooked smile, "but I smarter."

“Ogre, stay here, attack enemy.” His eyes pierced the ogre's soul, who knew the consequence of not heading the order. He wouldn't be able to spare that goblin-like he did last time. "stay!!!" he shouted, pointing to five corrupted goblins, goblins he knew were loyal to him. their mission was simply to assure that the ogre fought with all his effort.

The goblin king then took his remaining troops and headed towards the forest where he would cast his antifire magic on the burning trees.

As he left for the forest, he noted his second in command enter the slave tent, the goblin king smiled, as he thought that his victory on both fronts was assured for he knew goblins were feeble unlike him, unlike the black goblin, and unlike the ogre. The victory was assured.

…..

On the west side, was Robin and Teal who waited for the arrival of the rest of their unit. They arrived a minute thereafter. Robin faced the east where he saw the raging fire and called to his god, “Are you safe master?” Scitus was acting like diversion alone and unlike Robin and his unit, their god was still in his infancy in terms of power and especially when outside his territory. Though Robin did not know Scitus was even weaker than before, otherwise he would have refused the plan.

“I’m safe,” he responded and truly Scitus was, he had already run quite the distance from the fire. He had made sure to start only a small one, knowing it would spread faster once it grew, fortunately, the day was humid and even if it wasn’t the book that Arisa and Yuki had stolen not only imprinted in his mind the ability to use fire but also the ability to stop it. His mana was lower than before and with each passing day out of his territory it seemed to decrease, but even so, it was many times larger than everyone in the goblin camp combined even at the twenty-two percent that he had after the cave incident.

Robin was speaking with his unit and how they would proceed for phase two of the plan when he noticed Thomas quivering slightly in the background. Thomas did not like hurting people, not after the things he had done, the guilt was still strongly embedded in him and after becoming smarter, the guilt was stronger than ever.

"speak." Robin whispered to his companion. Thomas explained that many of the goblins aren't corrupted. He explained that their families are being held hostage and forced to work or risk having their families executed.

After a few minutes, the enemy goblins foot steps could be heard fast approaching. Robin didn't know what to say and didn't know what to do, so he quickly sent a message to Scitus for advice. He couldn't risk changing his god's plan.

“What should I do?” he pleads after quick explanation and as if expecting such a question, Scitus answers.

“I won’t always be with you Robin, making your own decisions in times like this.” Scitus spoke calmly and quickly allowing Robin to quickly find his resolve as he responded, “Of course!!!” Robin was given freedom and with that freedom came responsibility.

Although there was some risk of Robin making a mistake, it was better to make a mistake when the stakes were still small and Scitus could deal with the aftermath. Robin needed experience and Scitus thought it was a great opportunity for him to gain some. Robin, on the other hand, felt great respect for Scitus who entrusted him with leading the rest of the mission. "I not fail!!!" he thought to himself as he ordered his unit to hide from the approaching goblins.

Five goblins swiftly scouted the area, several other goblins could be heard some distance away. Fortunately, most of the goblins were heading towards the fire while the rest scouted the east, north, and south sides. Cecilia and Thomas quietly hid behind trees while their allies seemed to disappear, the last thing Cecilia saw was Yuki climb have way up a tree and then vanish into the darkness. While they were all too young to have Dark vision, they still had some ability to see in darkness and their targets walked with a torch in hand making it simpler to spot. This ability to see in darkness was further improved within the assassin unit who had yet to obtain darkvison but had somehow reached closer to it. With this ability, they were easily able to find holds in the trees and easily climb up like it was second nature.

The trees were illuminated by the sudden brightness of the torch, Cecilia and Thomas’s hearts beat faster knowing they would be easily spotted. The one leading the pack brought along with him a horrible stench that reeked of rotting flesh. He tightly held onto the torch as he scanned the area, he grunted as if to urge the goblins behind him further into the wood. Cecilia suddenly heard a whisper in her ear, she nearly jumped and whipped her head just in time to see Yuki vanish again. Cecilia readied her bow and Thomas who was only a few feet beside her nodded his head as the torchlight illuminated his wooden shield.

Cecilia was the first to act as she cocked her bow and aimed it at the leader, “Stop!!!” The five goblins were startled but did not hesitate to throw the stones in their hands at her. With a dull Tuck!!! Sound, the stones dropped to the ground as an abnormally large goblin stepped into frame with a wooden shield. He had successfully blocked the stones from hitting their target. The leading goblin shouted a terrifying roar as if to intimidate the two goblins, but they did not even buckle. To the contrary, their gazes grew stronger and more resolute.

“Evil goblin!!!” Cecilia shouted as she glared at the goblin holding the torch, while the other four shrunk back at her mighty yell. That was when it happened, a sudden yelp in the distance, then another and another. In total there were five screams and then silence. The four goblins trembled and by this point, even the leader began to shake but before he could utter another word, a dark shadow came from the sky and sliced the back of his neck, knocking him unconscious. The shadow picked up the torch which was quickly burning out and showed his face, it was Robin.

“Robin.” Thomas muttered as he looked at the dying leader. Robin glanced at Thomas with his left eye before turning completely back to the remaining goblins. Thomas understood that there was no time for mercy but even so he wished he wished he could save even the corrupted.

“evil goblin dead.” Robin muttered the others quickly appeared from out of the darkness, behind them were five goblins who timidly took a few steps forward. They couldn’t stop shaking, for their leaders were instantly incapacitated and would soon die.

“we got god, we save family.” He muttered as he made odd gestures to form a cohesive sentence as he quickly tried to explain their purpose and that they had support from a mighty god.

Their shaking gradually stops and is soon replaced by awe. They believed Robin, not only because goblins were terrible liars but also because killing six corrupt goblins near instantly wasn’t a feat a normal goblin could achieve. They didn’t know that Robins tribe was quite exceptional even among other tribes. Even Seresa, who was the weakest of the tribe could, with some difficulty, defeat the common goblin. This was how, despite being an ordinary sized tribe, they managed to delve deep into the oasis without many losses. Though in the oasis, there were no common goblins to speak of, all of them were a few times stronger than the goblins that lived outside the oasis though none were a match for a common human soldier.

One goblin steps up, “save mother?” he asks with slight hesitation and is met with a firm nod. Robins eyes had no hesitation, it was as if he felt failure was impossible. This boosted morale among the other goblins. “Join…” Robin said as he stretched his arm towards them. The goblins looked at each other and then one finally shook his head, the others quickly followed suit. “Save family.” Robin was going to push them further when Scitus suddenly messages him about the situation in the camp.

Robin turns to Cecilia and Thomas, "go" he says pointing to a cave in the far distance that only illuminated by the bright moonlight, though from Cecilia and Thomas's perception, only trees lay ahead. The two nodded and headed towards the unseen destination the assassin unit disappeared into the darkness once more.