Zane avoided the first spear thrust by jumping up. He threw the now useless staff at the goblin lord's eye like one would throw a javelin and pierced straight through it, making the creature scream in pain. Then he grabbed the spear, twisted it out of the goblin lords hand and poked it in the stomach with the end of the spear, making the creature stumble backwards. He turned the spear and pointed the tip at the other two. The goblin king began laughing in the background as he began eating a human leg like one would eat a lamb or cow.

I'll enjoy killing that bastard.

Zane thrust his spear at one of the goblin lords, the speartip was stopped by the goblin lords armour. The creature began laughing as it thrust its spear at him. He bent his body sideways to avoid the thrust and pulled back his spear only to thurst it straight into the unprotected foot of the goblin lord. It began screaming in pain just like the other one. Zane pulled out a firebomb and ran straight at the third goblin lord, dodged its spear attack and rammed the firebomb into its open mouth, pressed the button, pulled out his hand before it could bite down and kicked it into the goblin lords that had a hole in its foot. The firebomb exploded inside the goblin lord's mouth, burning him from the inside. Flames burst out from the creatures mouth, eyes and ears as its head exploded and the other goblin lord was caught up in the explosion. It suffered from strong burns but survived. Zane grinned as the goblin king looked at him with a mix of shock and anger.

The goblin lord that had gotten burned picked up his spear, grunting in pain, and threw it at Zane, who leaned to the side, letting the spear fly past him and get stuck in the wall. It picked up the slightly burned spear of its dead comrade and faced Zane. The other one stood beside it, a sword it had picked up from somewhere in hand.

Both charged at him, the one with the sword was faster and quickly reached Zane. He avoided the first sword strike and rammed his shoulder into the goblin lord, throwing the creature into its comrade and making both of them fall to the ground. Zane then hurled the spear at the throat of the one on top, piercing all the way through it into the arm of the one below. The goblin lord let go of the sword it was holding as soon as it died and Zane picked it up. He looked over to the goblin king who was even more enraged.

"Kill him!" the goblin king yelled loudly, spit flying out of its mouth.

The goblin lord that was buried beneath its comrade pushed it of itself and got up from the ground, grasping its fist so hard that the shaft of the spear began to splinter. It let out a loud scream and charged at Zane who tried to evade but his foot got caught on a stone and the goblin lord's spear attack grazed the side of his waist, cutting into it. Blood began dropping out and Zane gasped for air as the pain shot through his body.

Shit, shit, shit.

The goblin lord smiled at him and began leaning forwards to bite off his head with its long teeth. Zane rammed the sword through the roof of its mouth. The blade came out the other side, covered in blood. The goblin lord slowly sank to the ground, spitting out blood along the way. Zane grabbed the spear out of its hand and left the sword in its skull.

He turned to the goblin king again, who looked at him with pure rage and hatred, but there was also a sense of fear. Zane threw the spear at the goblin king's head, but it just moved its head to the side. The spear got stuck in the backrest of the throne.

"Kill you myself!" the goblin king declared loudly as it slowly rose from the throne, clenched its pale green fist and began walking towards Zane.

He drew his katana and pulled a firebomb out of his satchel. The goblin king let out a war cry and charged at Zane. It swung its sword at him, Zane leaned to the side, pressed the button on the firebomb and rammed it into the space between the goblin kings neck armour and neck, sticking it in there far enough so it wouldn't fall out. The goblin king immediately grabbed it, pulled it out with a strong pull and was about to throw it away when it exploded, burning its hand and arm badly.

Shit, that was supposed to kill it.

It began laughing loudly.

"Not enough!" it yelled.

Zane charged at it, swinging his katana at the tall goblin king, aiming at its head. But the creature quickly raised its sword and deflected Zane's attack, using the opening to strike at his chest. He leaned back to avoid the attack, falling on his back. As soon as he hit the ground the goblin king tried to stomp on his head with its armoured foot but he rolled out of the way, towards the throne. He jumped up, grabbed the spear that was stuck in the backrest and threw it at the goblin king. It hit the goblin right in the chest but was stopped by its armour. The goblin king crashed into the wall, from the force of the spear throw-

"Not enough!" the goblin killed yelled again.

Zane charged at the creature, his katana ready to strike. He dodged the first strike from the goblin king and swung his katana at its unarmoured legs, cutting into the back of its right leg. As the goblin king was falling backwards it kicked Zane, throwing him into the throne. Zane's back hurt badly. He looked to the goblin king who was still on the ground, pressing against the wound on its leg. Zane took another healing potion out of his satchel and drank it, his throat hurt but he ignored the pain and jumped up, then threw the empty vial at the goblin king. The vial shattered on one of its horns, having no further effect.

Zane began rummaging through his satchel, looking for something he could use. There were a few empty cartridges from the days before he used his powers, the half-empty vial of silver powder he used against the werewolves, a few potions that could cure broken bones, one last healing potion and his lantern.

Well shit. I also have barely any bullets left, if I use them up here I might regret it later . . . I also won't get any more in Ion . . . fuck it.

Zane sheathed his katana and pulled both guns out of the holsters. He pressed a button on one of them which made the cartridge pop out from the underside, he dropped one bullet into his satchel and then pushed the cartridge back up with the other gun, then pointed both of them at the goblin king who was slowly getting up again. Zane squeezed the triggers and shot two bullets at the goblin king. They both grazed his neck. Blood began rushing out of the wounds immediately. A clicking sound came from the guns and Zane shot again, this time both bullets were flying straight at its face but the goblin king let himself fall to the ground to avoid them.

Pretty fast for one so tall.

Zane rushed towards it while it was still on the ground, jumped up and shot again. This time the goblin king rolled out of the way, managing to again avoid getting hit by the bullets. It also kicked upwards, hitting Zane in the stomach and making him fly to the ceiling only to fall back to the ground. He caught up some blood. The goblin king, who had gotten up, was approaching him, laughing the whole time, grabbed him by his hair and pulled him up.

"Die!" it yelled, spit flying everywhere.

Zane smiled and lifted up both guns. The goblin king noticed quickly enough and managed to protect his head with one of his large, armoured hands. Blood began dripping out of the two holes and the armour on the other side was dented outwards. It dropped Zane who squeezed the triggers again, aiming at its feet. Nothing happened.

Shit, I'm out.

Zane rolled backwards to get away from the goblin king and jumped. Then he put the guns back in their holsters and drew his katana in time to block an overhead strike from the goblin king. He noticed that the blade of his katana was beginning to chip. Zane stepped to the side and let the goblin king's blade slip off, making the creature stumble into the wall. He then kicked it in the back and rammed the katana into its neck. The goblin king reacted as if by instinct and slightly raised its body, making Zane ram the blade into its armour.

Why do they always have to be so smart?

Zane jumped back as soon as the goblin king began turning around, beginning to chip away at Zane's blade with its armour. The goblin king screamed loudly, spitting everywhere as it began charging at him, sword held high. Zane ducked out of the way and rammed the goblin king with his shoulder. The goblin king, in turn, grabbed Zane with one arm and threw him against the wall. He coughed up more blood. Before he could even look up he felt pain against his face as the goblin king punched him in the face. Blood dripped down Zane's face, his head hurt and his vision was blurry.

The goblin king brought down its sword, trying to split open Zane's skull but he managed to raise his katana quickly enough to block the strike. He saw how another small piece of the blade broke off.

Fuck this.

Zane kicked the goblin king in the crotch, which to his disadvantage, was armoured. He rolled away as fast as he could to avoid the second sword strike from the goblin king which hit him on the side of his shoulder. Zane gasped in pain as he continued to roll away from the goblin king and then jumped up from the ground. He hopped backwards as he grabbed the last healing potion out of his satchel and drank it. His throat burned terribly after enduring multiple potions over a short duration. Zane threw the empty vial at the goblin king again, this time hitting his eye. It didn't shatter this time but still created an opening Zane used to charge at the goblin king. He jumped up, spun mid-air and brought down his katana with the momentum of his swing, right at the goblin kings head.

It hit the horn crown on top of the goblin kings head, shattering into many pieces. Zane's eyes widened as the goblin king grabbed him by the throat, ran towards the wall of the chamber and rammed him into it. He again coughed up blood. Zane began laughing slightly as he felt his throat getting crushed by the goblin king.

Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit. What do I do now, what do I do now.

His body began shaking as fear began creeping into his mind and tears started rolling down his face. Zane began punching the goblin king over and over and over and over. But it had no effect, he felt all the strength he had left leave his body as the goblin king's grasp became tighter and tighter around his neck and his eyelids became heavier. At that moment the face of Ivara appeared in his head, and then the face of Mira, the one he wanted to protect.

Zane lifted both arms and punctured the goblin kings eyes with his thumbs, pressing onto them until he felt his fingers breaking through something. The goblin king let go of him as it stumbled backwards, holding its face and screamed in pain. He was gasping for air when he noticed the sword that the goblin king had dropped as well. Zane grabbed it and ran at the goblin king, thrusting the sword slightly upwards straight into its open mouth and out the other side. Then he pulled it back out and cut off the head of the goblin king just to make sure.

Once he was done he threw the head against the wall and sank to the ground, breathing heavily, covered in blood and reeking worse than a corpse. He leaned forwards and threw up.

I did it . . . I did it. They better pay me well for this shit.

Zane got up and looked around. His katana laid on the ground, in pieces. He picked up the goblin king's sword and then the head of the goblin king, which he held by the hair. Slowly he made his way out of the cave, through the tunnel into the larger chamber which was now fully burning and filled with smoke. He held his breath and quickly ran through the chamber, up the small stone ramp and into the tunnel they used to enter. Remembering the traps that he had nearly run into on their way in he made his way out of the cave as quickly as he could without any of the traps. Then he climbed over the boulders that had fallen from the ceiling and finally went out of the cave.

The first thing he did was take a deep breath, breathing in the fresh air of the outside, it reeked of goblin corpses. Zane walked out of the destroyed goblin camp that was full of corpses and walked up the hill. He cleaned the blood off of the sword at the nearest bush he found and then continued through the forest until he reached the path again. By the time he reached the path, it had begun to rain, which washed off the blood from his body, leaving behind a trail on the muddy path. After what felt like hours he reached the gate to the village again, the moon which was now whole again shining down on it. The two guards that had been instructed by Merana to stay guard at the gate ran towards him as soon as they saw him. He held up the head of the goblin king in triumph and then fell over, falling asleep immediately.