Sandy picked the shell up the wet sand that squished between the toes of her bare feet. Her long black hair was tied back in a ponytail against the stiff breeze that blew in off the ocean. She took in a deep breath of salt air and breathed out in satisfaction. The weather was perfect for shell hunting along the beach. The storm from last night had washed tons of new shells up on the beach and the weather now held just a touch of autumn. The skies were clear and the sun kept her warm without getting to hot. It was just perfect, which is why she wasn't expecting the blow when it happened. She looked down and there was a bolt sticking out of her right hip. She numbly grasps it dropping her sack of shells with a *clink* to the sand. Grasping the bolt with her hand she found it firmly set in her flesh, which meant the head of the bolt was probably barbed. It amazed her how calmly she was handling this as she looked back toward were the bolt came from. She could see a group of five goblins running toward her. A sixth is standing just at the edge of the forest trying to feverishly reload a crossbow. Her good mood destroyed, she was starting to get pissed. Where were the guardians and where had these goblins come from?

She pulled a large spiral shell from her inventory pointing it at the goblins running toward her. Focusing mana into the shell caused it to shatter in dozens of fragments. They stung her hand drawing some drops of blood needed by the spell. Dozens of foot long shards of shell shot forth into the goblins bringing them all down. Only two moved groaning on the hot sand, clutching at the shards protruding from their bodies. Sandy ignored them, focusing on the last goblin who was slotting a bolt in his crossbow. Pulling a palm sized clam shell, she focused mana quickly into it. The bolt was fired a moment later, but it struck a shield and was deflected into the sand at her feet. Sandy pulled a small pearl out this time, which is more than she really would normally spend, but she wanted answers. The pearl turned to dust with a puff of mana that shot out to envelope the last goblin who screamed. Sandy grinned with grim satisfaction as a small bubble encased the goblin. The goblin pulled a small dagger from its inventory and smashed it uselessly against the bubble. It would take far more than that to destroy the fragile looking bubble.

She inspected the other five goblins and they were now all dead as she expected. The shell's poison finished off the last two quickly. Now after inspecting her surrounding she concentrated on her wound. Pushing mana into the flesh around the bolt the pain faded and she formed a bubble of mana around the head before smoothly pulling the bolt out. The skin gapped for a moment before closing leaving just a faint scar. She inspected the bolt while her body healed. No poison, which made her frown. Goblins typically smeared poison or filth on their blades and projectiles, but this one was clean and the steel head was not of goblin manufacture. Typically, goblin weapons were stone, bone, and wood, unless they were part of a larger force. Frowning she put the bolt in her inventory and picked up her sack of shells. Starting to jog to the forest she pulled on the bubble, which lifted and floated ten feet behind her. The goblin’s muffled yell of surprise could be heard as it was knocked sprawling by the sudden movement.

Pulling on mana to enhance her speed, she made it back to the camp in fifteen minutes. Mel was there cooking lunch, which was two hours away, but Mel made cooking into an art form. Sometimes Sandy thought he came on these outings, just to cook over an open flame instead of in his kitchen. Mel raised an eyebrow at her arriving back early, but when he saw her guest his eyes grew wide as he said. "What happened?"

"A group of six goblins attacked me on the beach and they were well armed with steel weapons."

"How did they even get here?" Which was a good question, since they were in Dellmore the kingdom of the elves, which encompassed all land within hundreds of miles.

"I would guess a boat, otherwise the forest spirits would have noticed them. Summon the others, we will need to find them. The goblins footsteps in the sand came from the North."

Mel pulled a horn from his inventory and blew a loud note. Only elves can hear these special horns, so the enemy should not be alerted that their minions had been killed. Mel began to pack up the camp, while I turned to my captive. Sandy pulled a small shell from her inventory. It was the size of a finger nail and has a bright red color that warned other creatures of what it contained. Now it served a special purpose as she filled it with mana and pushed just so. The shell turned to gas, which climbed up from her hand penetrating the bubble in front of her. As the rose-colored gas filled the bubble, the goblin was frantically clawing at the surface before it collapsed. Sandy dismissed the bubble and the goblin slouched bonelessly to the ground. She placed a hand on its greasy forehead with a grimace and gently pushed mana into the goblins body. Her mana connected with the mana the goblin had already inhaled into his body. This gave her disjointed visions of the last few hours he had experienced. After several minutes she got all she could. As she removed her hand, the backlash of the spell breaking caused the goblin to convulse before he died.

When standing from where she was kneeling by the goblin, the brothers Bal and Zack emerged from the woods into the camp and immediately started to help Mel gather everything up. Sandy started to break down the shelter for storage and they were all done within twenty minutes. While they were working she explained the attack and then the visions. The goblins were part of a larger group of more goblins, trolls, and a construct like a golem. They arrived in a boat and were sent out until they spotted Sandy. She got the impression they were supposed to just scout and not attack, but they thought they could take her easily. Bal chuckled when hearing that. She felt a flash of irritation at the goblins managing to ambush her without her detecting them first. She had been enjoying the day too much and felt too comfortable here so deep in their homeland.

"Bal will take point, Mel flank on the right, and Zack on the left. I will bring up the rear. Even though they are mostly goblins, don't get cocky. Something allowed them to penetrate the wards along the coast." Sandy said as they gathered up and took one last look around the campsite.

Bal, Zack, and Mel entered the woods with their bows out and arrows drawn. Sandy kept her hands free, but when touching the trees, they were strangely silent. Goblins even along the beach should have disturbed the tree spirits, but there was nothing. They walked almost three miles until Bal suddenly stopped and signaled Sandy forward. As Sandy reached Bal she immediately knew why he stopped. The tree spirits were slumbering. They should not be asleep like this unless it was the dead of winter. Something was suppressing them. After discussing this quickly with the others, they decided to continue while maintaining the best stealth they could.