Facing the charge of the ambushers Arnith let his training take over. He moved with practical precision, avoiding any flamboyant gestures that would get him killed, he kept his defense tight.

Half-step to the right, angling the goblins spear off to the side, then a short thrust into his side, then push him away. Step forward, don’t stay on top of the body, and concentrate on the next one.

He dispatched him, much in the same way as the last one.

The initial charge of the goblins was halted and those in front hesitated to throw themselves at him.

Maybe I can get out of this, he thought, but how?

Another pair came at him, interrupting his thinking. These two seemed to have more sense as they chose to keep some space between each other.

They attacked simultaneously.

Arnith made a feint thrust to the one on the right, interrupting the warrior's attack easily as his reach was much longer. Having a sharp spear tip waved in front of your face will make anyone reasonable jump back.

The other one, who came at him from the side of his shield arm, differed in appearance from most of the others, by having a small well-kept topknot and he carried three long darts on his back.

The goblin crouched down as he moved in, using the elf's own shield to block his vision.

Clever, but inexperienced in combat, thought Arnith. The goblin went for his legs, almost sliding down to the ground as he came in.

Though the goblin was fast, the elf had guessed at his intentions and raised his forward foot, to avoid the spear thrust.

Before Tralb could pull back his spear, the elf stamped down on it and locked it to the ground with most of his weight, the shift in balance made the young headhunter stumble forward and receive a bash to his face for his efforts.

Faced with a single enemy now, Arnith pressed his attack and closed the distance with a quick stride. Stepping inside the defense of the goblin, while guiding his enemy’s weapon away with his shield, he opened the goblin's throat and then kicked him into the next warrior behind him.

The elf had a moment to observe that all of the ambushers had now reached him. He didn’t waste time in trying to count them, there were more than enough to finish him off, especially if the goblins decided to surround him and deal with him properly.

Before he had time to formulate a plan to escape he was interrupted again by an attack from the back.

There was little warning, and later when recalling the event Arnith couldn’t decide if he had heard the goblins footsteps or seen him from the corner of his eye. What he did know, was that he should have remembered the giant of a goblin who had charged him first and that tripping him wouldn’t keep him down for long.

The elf moved his weapons close and used the short turn step drilled into him to move his axis as efficiently as possible to face the oncoming threat.

He was a quarter of a second short and so when he caught the battering club on his shield he could not put his weight behind the parry enough to negate the force.

Arnith fell awkwardly to one knee and had to use his spear hand to stop himself from hitting the ground completely.

The goblin was not through with him and used the momentum of his swing to bring his weapon up again.

The terror and despair made time slow down for the elf and he cursed himself as an idiot for thinking that he could take a small army on and survive.

The goblin let out a bellowing war cry and Arnith could do little but raise his shield awkwardly.

His mind was racing, and it was instinct more than anything else that made him do his next move.

He let go of the strap he was clenching to hold the shield, The second one around his arm keeping the shield attached to him, and made a half-baked hand sign for fire.

Fortunately, the sign was simple enough, a clenched fist, with the first two fingers extended. He concentrated furiously and screamed in terror.

Of the few magical abilities, he possessed, summoning flame was his most favored one and he had practiced it more than all the rest put together. His grandfather had admonished him for his fascination for it, deeming it impractical and crude.

Fire answered his call, but when usually he could extend his arm and the flame would appear just a little beyond his fingertips, moving fast away from him, this time, only most of the cone could flow freely, a part of it got caught in the curvature of the shield and backfired.

Arnith felt his hand burn immediately, but he did not let go of his concentration. His scream of terror turned to one of pain and he continued to angle his shield arm to aim at his enemy.

The gambit worked and the large goblin fled as the flame bit into his shoulder and the side of his head, letting go of his weapon to cover his face.

Arnith stopped his summoning as soon as he was out of danger and stood upright again. He caught the nauseating smell of his burnt skin but he ignored it as best as he could and began to step back away from the war party.

The goblins were taken aback for a moment, frightened by the magic and Arnith hoped that he could use the confusion to make his escape.

His hope was short-lived as a commanding voice came from the ranks of the goblin warriors and several of them stepped forward to engage him.

The pain in his left hand was excruciating, but somehow he could keep ahold of the shield and use it in his retreat.

He deflected the attacks of the goblins and answered in kind, all the while moving backward.

Then a long dart flew from the ranks of the goblins. it came in with tremendous speed and Arnith could barely bring his shield up to deflect it, but the dart pierced through the rim of the shield and went into his right shoulder.

The second source of agony hit his senses, making him fall to his knees again.

The goblins cheered.

Arnith lost the grip of his spear as his arm ceased to obey him from the pain.

The elf did not let up, the adrenalin keeping him from losing to the pain. He tore his burnt hand out from the shield straps. The sight of it made him despair; the arm was blackened and burnt almost to his elbow.

He could hardly move his fingers, but what he needed it to do did not require much finesse.

He raised his palm up and used all of his magical reserves for his final gambit. He summoned a whisp of light and poured all of his mana into it.

Arnith closed his eyes as the ball of light overloaded and popped with a flash. There was no sound or force wave accompanying the phenomenon, but its effects were clear.

Even with having closed his eyes, and being a creature of daylight Arnith was still half-blinded by it since he too had spent a long time in the underground.

What happened to the goblins was much the same, only many times worse, he could hear the goblins cry in pain around him, falling to the ground and rolling around in agony.

Arnith did not waste time, ignoring the headache and his wounds. He did not know how long it would take for the goblins to recover and right now he could not match them even if none of them could see.

The elf put his left hand between the shield and his shoulder, grabbing onto the shaft of the atlatl. He let the rim of the shield touch the ground and holding the dart as best as he could, he pressed down with his body suddenly.

He lost consciousness for a moment, but when he came to, the dart was broken.

Arnith tried to see, which way he should flee, but his night vision would take some time to restore enough, so he could make things out in the low light of the cavern.

Fortunately, there were many goblins moaning in one direction, so he chose the opposite and began to walk away.

He left the shield but picked up his spear, so he could put up at least some resistance if he needed to and he soon realized that it also worked well as a stick to guide his path so he would not easily fall into a hole somewhere in the dark.

Arnith went as fast as he could, but he could manage a little better than a slow walk. The battle had happened near to the ridge of the valley and he soon went over it. A half an hour later, when he began to make out things again, he had just gotten to the next valley over.

Arnith was exhausted, both physically and mentally. Burning through one's magic was exhausting and he had been bleeding the whole way.

Arnith knew that he could not go much further like this so he soon found a rock to sit next to and tend to his wound.

He prepared a leather strip to bind his shoulder with. Using his left hand was a slow process. He had to concentrate, so his fingers would move as he needed them to, and ignoring the pain took much willpower.

Strip ready, he prepared for the worst part. Arnith took ahold of the shaft and breathed in several times, to pump himself up for the task.

He did not scream when the dart came out, though he very much wanted to. There were enemies nearby and it would not do to give his location away so easily.

He tied the wound as fast as he could and then he tried to stand up, so he could continue his escape, but as he tried to raise himself he felt as if there were tender hands pulling him gently back to the ground and his consciousness faded away.

When he came to, he was carried on a stretcher.

If he had the energy he would have reacted with swift violence, but it was for the better that he didn’t. Since he noticed that the goblins carrying him were all wearing familiar masks.

“Water,” He croaked.

“Shh, Master, we are still far from home.” Came the voice of Tokki from the side.

A moment later, he was helped to drink from a water skin and he let himself fall to sleep again.

He awoke to something soft and edible gently pushed into his mouth. He thought little of it and swallowed it without much chewing.

His mind was muddled and he did not immediately open his eyes. When the next mouthful came he did much the same but then opened his eyes to look around.

He was at the main fireplace at Brightwater and Ama was sitting next to him. The goblin was chewing on something and after a bit, she took what she had in her mouth and tried to place it into his.

“No,” Arnith said and closed his lips. The elf tried not to think about what he had been swallowing a moment before.

The matriarch let out a disapproving growl but did not force the issue.

“Master!” came Tokki’s voice from his other side.

Arnith looked in that direction and saw Tokki and Dac there.

Dac had been the goblin who had shown the most promise among the initiates and Arnith had begun to groom him for a leadership role. The notched ear goblin was quiet as he observed the elf, but Arnith took his presence as a good sign.

“How did you find me, I thought I told you to keep running.” The elf asked.

It was Dac who answered, “We retreated, then waited, then came to find you. Much blood, not hard,” The initiate said.

Arnith thought to mention that it had been a foolhardy move, but he was glad to have been rescued. “Good.” Was all that he said.

The elf wanted to rise up, but he knew better than to do so in his state.

Arnith looked at his wounded shoulder and had Ama lift the wrapping slightly to see the state of it.

The wound was still bleeding, though not as much as before, the skin surrounding it was red and it looked like it might have gotten an infection. The elf felt like he already had a fever, which considering that his left hand was well burnt was not a surprise.

“Tokki, get my knife and put the blade in the fire, make it very hot, then bring it here and Ama could you clean my burned hand, then make sure it is dry.”

“Already washed once,” The gobliness replied.

Arnith looked at the hand and realized that it really was already cleaned; it just looked in a sorry state.

“Good, then let it be.” The elf said.

Tokki returned with the knife shortly after.

Dac and Ama held him down by his arms when Tokki pushed the flat of the blade onto the wound.

This time Arnith had no reason to hold back his voice before he passed out again.