Ch 23: Shefelche Woodlands

Everyone walked on the dirt path towards the Shefelche Woodlands, seeing the great grass plains everyone simply relaxed in the comforting hands of the soft blown winds. Scarlett’s and Linzet’s hair flew alongside with the wind as they cheerfully talked to one another as if they were childhood friends.

Linzet: “So, when Wilmot and I had eaten that apple pie that the granny had made we felt heaven. She added cinnamon, a touch of honey, the apples were crispy and the bread foldings were soft to the touch, it was simply perfect! The warmth that filled my stomach was very nice.”

Wilmot: “Personally, I think the dinner was much more fulfilling.”

Linzet: “What? Don’t even talk about comparing dinner and dessert! All you do is talk about the quantity of food being better and not the taste! It’s like you have a goblin tongue!”

Wilmot: “Whatever! All in all it’s still bread and fruit!”

Linzet: “You can’t appreciate a good apple pie!”

Scarlett chuckled at their banter. She then looked at Ben.

Scarlett: “Ben, where did you come from?”

Ben hesitated a bit.

(Another world… I’ll be seen as crazy but… I can’t just straight out and say it, especially since we’re on a decent start of a friendship of some sort.)

Ben: “I came from Rerne Village.”

Before Scarlett could say something. Linzet buzzed in, with Wilmot tailing behind her.

Linzet: “Isn’t that the village where the C rank horde monsters attacked?”

Wilmot: “Now now, while that certainly is the village that was just attacked. Think of Ben’s feelings.”

Linzet: “Oh… I apologize, I was a bit too caught up in being a C rank Adventurer.” Linzet blushes a little with her hands cupped in front of her face. “As well as this first mission to commemorate this party!”

Ben simply smiled.

Ben: “It’s okay.”

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The party reached the Shefelche Woodlands, as the name had indicated the trees were abundant, tall as if it was a four story house. The dirt road that had led them here slowly disappeared into the grasses of the forest. The birds chirped loudly as if they were proclaiming their love for nature, while the squirrels watched with ever so cautious eyes… as if there was a great conspiracy to be had of humans coming to this very forest.

Scarlett: “First order of business, party order. We’ll do Ben at the back, Wilmot front, and Linzet will be in front of Ben. So Ben I’ll be trusting you to cover our backs.”

As the party reached farther into the woods, the birds’ chirping lessened, the foliage slowly grew larger and larger. Everyone was now forced to detect sound, staying quiet as they walked around in search of the dire wolves.

“ket ket doggrit”

Upon hearing a sound, Wilmot signaled the group. Everyone crouched down and silently followed Wilmot. Ensuring that there was nothing to make noise, Wilmot continued forward towards the sound.

Three goblins with two direwolves were there. They weren’t fighting, however they were talking to one another. This situation bewildered the party, intelligent monsters, and beasts?

“Zen rei ramserit allow encam beast tam liet togethar”

Scarlett whispered to the party.

Scarlett: “allow, beast, together? Is this a partnership?”

The dire wolves in front of the goblins simply whimpered and bowed their pride away. Seeing the wolves bow their heads towards the goblins, two of them immediately mounted them and held spears on top. After they adjusted the group left immediately, leaving one goblin behind. Noticing it was left behind, the goblin immediately raged in place.

“Maal! mea ade kahl absc si!!”

Scarlett nodded to Linzet, and Linzet immediately did a swift shot to the head of the goblin.

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Linzet: “Well… our subjugation targets are now with goblins based on what we saw. What now? I don’t think we can finish this mission now.”

Ben pulled out a map and started to trace where they entered the mountain.

(zone 4, -3… should be this map then)

Ben pulled out another map that he got from the Town of Remilington’s adventurer guild after referencing Abbs' map.

Ben: “According to the map, there should be an outpost for adventurers and mercenaries alike. They serve to contact the guilds, search for lost people, as well as serve as a place of rest. We just need to head a little to the northwest as it’s supposedly situated between the two towns and somewhat near the edge of the forest. Allowing easy access as well as stay hidden for future time operations.”

Scarlett: “Alright, I guess we can do that. I’m having a bad feeling about this.

Linzet: “This goblin is holding a tuft of dire wolf hair?”

Linzet showed a silver tuft of wolf hair. Ben immediately recognized the tuft of hair.

Ben: “The hair is part of the guardian direwolves!”

Wilmot: “Guardian Direwolves? The ones second to the King of Dire Wolves? Defeated by mere goblins to, even a squad of hobgoblins will be no threat to them.”

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The party traveled fast, realizing the influence of the goblin king was greater than what it was imagined. This time Linzet took the lead, her arrows nocked and her stance slouched, and her eyes were focused as she quickly walked down the path towards the encampment. The lack of monsters and beasts throughout the forest was noticeable, the once peaceful forest has now turned into a deadly silence as they now knew what could be happening.

The encampment could be seen, however things were not normal. The camp had several arrows on the roof of the tents, there were fresh blood stains here and there. Bodies of goblins and humans were mixed around. A guard on the watchtower hails them.

Scarlett: “It would seem that the camp has been attacked!”

Guard: “Travelers! Get inside!”

Spike walls were erected from the ground, and a short wall surrounded the tents as soon as they entered. Inside they saw a mage casting spells and writing ritual marks. There were twenty people in this encampment, each of them doing their own tasks. Some were burying the dead, some burning the goblin corpses, others preparing their weapons.

An adventurer came out of the big tent and immediately hopped onto a horse.

“Hya! Hya!” The horse neighed and sprinted off with the adventurer.

Another man came out of the giant tent. He is wearing chainmail armor underneath his leather armor. It was a tight fit, that could somewhat resemble a person wearing a sweater and a pop-collar inside. The man held a sword and shield and he looked over at the party.

Man: “State your business, as you can see we are currently in preparation.”

Ben: “We come to report the possibilities of the Goblin King appearing here, we saw the goblins absorb the direwolves into their troops.”

Man: “This situation was more dire than I thought… Initially, I thought the goblins have only grown in number as they usually do. However… goblin king? However, how can I trust your words? I haven’t seen any direwolves with the gobins when they attacked.”

Ben nodded at Scarlett and she pulled out a silver tuft of hair.

Man: “Guardian Direwolves?”

Ben: “The goblins were holding onto them, they are pressuring the direwolves to join them. We need you to send a message towards the guild on the fastest horse.”

Man: “I’ve already sent a messenger, however… it was only to request a subjugation of goblins… Markos! Send another messenger!”

Markos was a giant man, he wore full platemail armor and held a greatsword on his back. He had a fine mustache with a fine handlebar.

Markos: “Send a messenger out, receive the letter from Headmaster Lam.”

Lam: “Ah right, my name is Lam. I am the headmaster of this encampment. Although, I can’t take the time to validate your information. There will be punishment if it’s false, regarding the goblin king.”

The party introduced themselves. Lam took notes of the party name and looked at the mage in the center.

Lam: “Regis, How are the defensive circles?”

A man in a brown cloak is calmly drawing a ritual circle in the center of the encampment. His beard was gray showing the age that comes with his knowledge of magic.

Regis: “The walls are still short, but I can’t make it any taller or else the defensive magic would not support it. I’m still working on building the moat, hopefully I can save some mana if the need rises. Also, the wind barrier is almost done, I just need to give an auxiliary circle to absorb mana from the air to help support this.”

Regis took a glance at the party and noticed something. Before he could say something, an adventurer was yelling as he ran back to camp.

Adventurer: “ATTACK! ATTACK! DIREWOLVES AND GOBLINS! HOBGOBLIN LEADERS!”

Lam: “It’s an organized attack? Everyone in position! Rangers! Snipe from the watchtower and get back down on ground level once the goblins arrive! Man the walls! Scout where are they mostly coming from?”

Adventurer: “Deeper from the forest! Northeast and Mostly East!”

Lam: “Regis”

Regis: “I got it.”

Regis hands glowed brown aura as he placed his hands onto the ground. A faint rumbling noise started to erect a gate and wall facing towards the northeast and east. He quickly stood back up and started chanting.

Regis: “May the spirits of Terra assist my creations. Let it leave it’s mark. >”

The land in front of the small encampment mellowed, the dirt path that was there slowly turned into a soggy road as if the rain had recently passed by, the grass wilted and merged with the dirt, and the cold hard stones were slowly swallowed within. The adventurers and guards at the gate awed. As they awed a guard on top of the watchtower yelled out.

Guard: “Hobgoblins! Three hobgoblins! 50 goblins, 20 direwolves riders!”

Lam: “This will be a difficult battle… Hobgoblin have a form of intelligence as a squad leader, however they oftentimes will take the front instead of being in the backline. Creating the opportunity to successfully break their chain of commands of small squads. Ben and Scarlett, I will leave it to your own decisions to help or escape. We have a group of reinforcements coming from the outposts and if we were to fall before they come here. They may be subjected to ambushes.”

Ben and Scarlett looked at each other, then to Linzet and Wilmot.

Ben: “Although the best interest is to leave, however I am not sure if the hobgoblins would set up ambushes along the exits.”

Scarlett: “Goblins are cowardly creatures, their entire circle of command is based on strength, fear and betrayal. It’s one of the reasons why they are considered weak yet frightening to face against.”

Linzet: “As long as I can shoot my arrows. I can fight without worries.”

Wilmot: “I will try my best to protect you all. I am the tank, if any of you fall before me… it would be my fault.”

Ben: “No, treasure your own life. I will also be at your side and if you were to fall then I’d follow… probably.”

(If he was to fall, then the entire party falls. Either way, escape doesn’t seem plausible as the goblins have direwolves to supplement their speed… It's also a day’s run to reach the outer forest. The battle here could be over in an hour or two, would be our best interest to try and hold with the twenty other individuals, Regis and Lam)

Ben: “I suggest we try and hold the camp down with the remaining people here. I don’t think we can outrun the direwolves anyways, if the camp still stands in an hour or two.”

The party nodded, Linzet and Wilmot walked away to check out the camp and see if there was anything to adjust before the battle. While Scarlett’s agitation and frustration finally let itself out as she started to realize the situation they were in.

Scarlett: “...Damn… this is really the last stand. Ahh Damn it! It always happens!”

(The fact that she kept her calm in front of Linzet and Wilmot is praiseworthy. Although, I’m still here.)

Ben continued to watch Scarlett kick and stamp a rock out of frustration. Seeing her act like this was surprising to Ben. As she usually tried to keep a level-headed mind.

Ben: “Hey, ease up. Save your energy on the goblins.”

(That sounded weird…)

Upon hearing Ben’s voice. Scarlett calmed down and gave a deep breath

Scarlett: “Fuu… thanks Ben.. sorry I showed this in front of you.”

Ben: “No, no problem. This is a stressful situation.”

(I’m personally stressed out as the usual though. No electricity, no books, no entertainment, the days that I’ve sp ent in that prison and the first village was filled with agonzing detoxification of the usual lifestyle. Although I have learned to settle my differences with this world. When I saw the fate of Grant’s life as well as the people of this world. Everyone is personally struggling in a sense. It’s simply the matter of how you deal with it or solve it.)

Scarlett looked at Ben for a moment, noticing her glance Ben looked back. She shifted her head towards the sky once Ben had his eyes on her.

Scarlett: “Ben… did you know that this world runs on dreams?”

Ben: “Dreams? What do you mean by that?”

Scarlett: “I’ve listened to stories that my parents used to read to me. They were about the Dream, a land that is different from this world. A place where memories are stored and the manifestation of souls can appear in. Both good and evil dreams dwell there for it shows no biase nature. It holds both dreams and nightmares, it holds the memories of both good and evil… I want to go there Ben.”

Ben: “Go there? How do you suppose to do that?”

Scarlett: “Some say you can enter this place through sleep… some say you can enter through one of the dream guards… and some say that when you die for a couple seconds you could be there for weeks, however you will forget everything when you come back to the living world.”

(...was it similar to the one where I first died against that spirit of some sort in the prison, the feast?)

Ben: “Why do you want to go there?”

Scarlett simply stared at the blue skies that were surrounded by the ever tall trees. Her mouth opened slightly, only to close as she chose her words.

Scarlett: “Dreams hold secrets… and there is a secret that I want to find. Maybe one day, I’ll tell you Ben. Or if fate makes us walk different paths.”

Scarlett smiled in the end.

Scarlett: “Ben, let’s go. We’ll have to survive this attack first.”

Scarlett pulled out her spear and held it in front of the sky, a look of determination and renewed vigor was apparent.

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