Drawing his sword, Mikel rushed into the clearing. Unlike the swords that the guards carried, the blade of his sword shined an obsidian-like black. It had a slightly curved crosspiece to serve as a hand guard and a leather grip for the handle. The pommel was unordained.

There were twelve gobklins around a fire; one of the twelve was wearing a red headband. A gobklin vice. It wasn't hard to spot who the leader was. He was a large mass of muscle that towered several feet over the rest of the gobklins. He was probably close to 6 feet.

As Mikel burst into the clearing followed by my father and the guards, the gobklins gave squawks of alarm and grabbed their weapons. The leader, who I am going to call Big Meanie, reached for a giant broadsword that lay next to him. Big Meanie seemed the least faced.

Only a few seconds had passed since the attack, but Mikel had already reached the first gobklin. I don't know how he moved that fast; it may have just been his sheer muscular strength or some kind of equipment. Oddly enough, Mikel only wore a chain mail shirt. My father had on no armor.

Gobklin 1 attacked Mikel with a quick slash with his short sword to try and off balance him. Mikel barely seemed to move as he swayed expertly out of harm's way. Gobklin 1 swung through empty air, now off balance. Mikel quickly flicked his wrist, slicing his sword through the gobklin's jugular vein. Gobklin 1 continued to fall forward, dead, as blood sprayed the green grass red. Gobklin 1 down.

Why did my mother let me come here again? This definitely isn't some scene from a G rated movie.

As Gobklin 1 fell, dead, the guards were halfway across the clearing. Gobklins 2-8 were starting to charge at the guards. So I didn't get confused, I quickly named the charging gobklins. Gobklin 2, Scar, eloquently named for its scar on its right eye, had a short sword. Gobklin 3, Mace, was named after his weapon, a chain mace. Gobklin 4, Thug, had a knife.

Gobklin 5, Thug x2, had two knives. Gobklin 6, Wood, had a club. Gobklin 7, Woody, had a club with what looked like nails. And finally gobklin 8, Robin Hood, had a bow some arrows in a quiver slung on its back.

"Arthur!" Mikel yelled, "Take out the archer and try not to kill us all in the process". Mikel than rushed towards gobklins 9-11, the gobklin vice, and Big Meanie.

My dad had stayed behind at the edge of the clearing where me and Lufis were staying. Even before Mikel had shouted, my dad was already taking action. Raising his right hand, he briefly closed his eyes. Breathing out, a green circle, about a foot in diameter, materialized in front of his hand, about 3 inches away.

"Rateh." Lufis said softly in wonder.

Suddenly, words written in a color I recognized the same as xetral, began forming on the light green circle. My dad's lips weren't moving, and his eyes showed only a bit of concentration. In a matter of maybe 15 seconds, the entire circle was covered in writing I couldn't read or recognize from where I stood a meter away.

Pushing his right hand forward the last 3 inches to the obvious magic circle, my dad silently mouthed a single word.

Immediately, Robin Hood(gobklin 8), the archer, burst into flames. Scar, Mace, Thug, Thug x2, Wood, and Woody(gobklins 2-7), who were charging the guards, spun around in alarm. But it was too late. The flames lasted only for a second, then leaving a pile of ash.

That's when the guards reached the gobklins.

Charging a phalanx with their spears, the guards plowed into the gobklins. Thug(gobklin 4) was killed instantly, while the others only got some minor injuries. Lets just say it was becoming plainly obvious why these men were just "village" guards.

"Yes!" My dad said as the magic circle disappeared,"I got the timing perfect!" I was starting to slowly understand my dad and Mikel's true militaristic and strategic value for the king and this kingdom.

Most of the guards discarded their spears in favor of their swords. I had read enough books to know the strategic value of leaving a spear embedded in an enemy's shield, but the gobklins did not have shields. Maybe the guards are better with their swords than their spears, which would explain the weak phalanx attack. I noted that only the older guards kept on to their spears.

One of the older more experienced guards faced off against Mace(gobklin 3). He stepped his right foot forward and attacked with a thrust toward the gobklin's chest. Mace sneered and sidestepped the attack, but nor before swinging his chain mace and ensnaring the spear. Mace laughed gleefully. Though not for long, as the guard ripped his spear free using his muscle, along with the gobklin's chain mace. Instead of moving backward with the combined force of the spear and chain mace, the guard released his grip on the spear. Stepping forward while fluidly drawing his sword, the guard promptly slew the confused gobklin in a single strike.

The guard facing Thug x2(gobklin 5) swung his sword in a choppy overhand to try and split the gobklin's head. Sensing the danger, Thug x2 blocked with a double knife defense, crossing his knives, stopping the attack. The guard stepped backward, but not before earning a thin cut on his left leg, curtsy of Thug x2.

Stepping forward again, the guard twirled his sword in a deadly arc before attempting to do a devastating side cut at the gobklin's left side. Laughing maliciously at the sad flashy attack, Thug x2 blocked the weak attempt in the same manner as before, but not before also swiftly awarding the incompetent guard a shallow gash on his arm as he stepped back.

"Move, you fool!" Shoving the pathetic guard aside, the experienced guard who had just dispatched the gobklin dubbed Mace lunged forward, his right foot leading the way for the rest of his body in a high-stamp to deliver extra momentum to the thrust. Thug x2 could only fumble his blades and watch helplessly as the guard's sword went clean through its chest, piercing its lungs, killing him. Raising his left foot and bracing it on the gobklin's chest, the guard fluidly started to pull out his sword. Kicking the last of the sword free, the gobklin's still form fell backwards to the forest floor.

Is it just me, or is that guard ex-military or something?