“Damn, it’s hot in here,” Sarah complained, waving her spear from side-to-side as she stood in the dimly lit cavern. Tall ceilings high above with only the gentlest ripples and no stalagtites above gave the cavern a slightly unnatural feel. Or perhaps it was the green glow that coated everything.

“Really? Don’t feel it,” Neil said. “Might be the Armor Proficiency though…”

“Huh. That’s kinda cool.”

“Literally,” Neil replied.

“Eyes front, people. We’re in a dungeon, not walking through a meadow of flowers, holding hands and making kissy faces.” Lance growled, shifting location so he could look down the corridor.

“Sir, yes, sir!” Yanesh replied.

“Give a man a weapon and he thinks he’s Sargent Slaughter…” Sarah complained, gliding forwards with her spear out. She probed the ceiling once in a while when she stopped, just to check that nothing was there.

It took them just about twenty meters before they heard it, the sound of gibbering and slithering-yowling barks that the goblins and centipede-dogs made. The party halted while the group spread out, Yanesh nocking his arrow.

“So. Healing, right?” Neil said, calling backwards. “That’s your spell.”

“Cure: Minor Injuries – Channeled; to be exact.” Yanesh shook his head. “One of the more expensive low grade versions, but I think, if done right…”

“Just try not to stick my hand to my face or whatever,” Neil said.

“I wouldn’t…”

Rather than interrupt the pair and their chatter, Lance released his arrow. He had just caught a glimpse, but it was enough. It flew through dim lighting, the arrow bursting apart as it flew and started dropping to spread the pain.

“Hold your fire till you see them,” Lance ordered Yanesh when the other man began to draw back. Improved or not, he still wasn’t the best. On the other hand, he kept stringing and loosing arrows into the charging horde, wanting to make full use of his splitting arrows.

And horde it was, for there were dozens of the monsters coming. Neil and Sarah blanched a little, but got into position and hunkered down; only trembling a little as they waited. The first group in the pack were the centipede-dogs, moving faster than the short-legged goblins behind them once they were unleashed. Unfortunately, without proper aiming, nearly two thirds of the additional arrows either glanced off curved carapaces or struck non-vital portions, leaving the monsters injured but alive.

“Yanesh – target the dogs. I’ve got the goblins,” Lance said, making a snap decision. He shifted aim, even as the ex-Pakistani started firing, having a clear view of their assailants.

The earth rumbled a little, the horde hitting them with a rush and crush. Neil counter-charged at the last moment, throwing his body and momentum into one dog and sending it bowling backwards before he lashed out with his mace, crushing the limbs of another that he had passed by. By his side, Sarah stabbed once, skewering a monster but retracting fast enough to ensure her spear wasn’t pulled down. Then she lashed out again, cutting at limbs of others as she tried to slow the group down.

“Shit…” Lance growled, slinging his bow as he booted one of the centipede-dogs that had gotten pass Sarah in the face. He felt the monster score his leg, but he had no time to worry about it as he unsheathed his sword and got to stabbing.

The corridor was just too wide, allowing the dogs who were willing to run up and alongside the wall briefly to skirt around the front-liners. Yanesh had dropped back even further, firing his arrows as Lance took the brunt of the fight, laying into the pair of centipedes that had escaped and buying time.

Unfortunately, at that point, the rest of the horde – goblins injured and thinned by splitting arrows – hit the front line, adding the weight of their attacks to the entire thing.

Neil was laying around him, using shield and mace to bash monsters apart, doing damage but not killing as fast as he tried ot keep their attention. Sarah was more surgical, the longer weapon allowing her more time as the monsters attempted to skirt around the dangerous point. Those that succeeded more often than not got smacked by the haft in their limbs, injuring and slowing them long enough for the point to go in.

In the meantime, Lance finally pulled his own sword out of the carapace of one monster, Yanesh having killed the second. Making a quick snap judgment, Lance joined the frontline, even as he shouted.

“Healing!”

Hopefully, Yanesh knew what he meant.

Short sword stabbing, an arrow in the other hand to help – however little it was – Lance joined the pair holding the monsters off. If not for thinning the entire horde out before they hit, they would have certainly be overwhelmed already. But goblins were small, and thus far, only had their claws for weapons. So even an arrow, stabbed into a hand could buy time.

Long enough for a sword to punch through body. Now, they just had to finish killing the rest before the wounds they took, especially Lance who was unarmoured, accumulated too fast.

Mandible around ankle, chopped off before it could crush and yank too hard. Clawed wounds along the arms as attacks were deflected. A goblin chomping down on his thigh, as it scrambled upwards. Lance fell backwards, the push of bodies knocking him out of the way, pain accumulating and only mildly offset by the adrenaline coursing through his system.

Until a wash of green energy hit him from behind, allowing him to straighten and for open cuts and bruises slowly faded. Grinning wide, Lance pushed back into line, continuing to stab and swing even as Neil settled down, now that the pressure on his side had decreased. Even Sarah got more efficient in killing since Lance could pick up her tricklers easier.