Chapter X: Nightmare

The sun was setting, and a dozen heavily armored men on horseback dismounted and approached the home. Roughly a hundred more light cavalry could be seen outside of the fence line. Only a couple of the armored men stopped to check on Mel’s cart and horse, yet most of them moved onto the front door.

The humans in the distance were not too far away to appear as dots, yet their clothing and sigils were still vivid, especially to the exceptional senses of a goblin. The foul smell of horse and human easily wafted around the flat terrain. And they stank of blood, sweat, and dirt.

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*

A man hammer fisted the door so hard that it pierced the quiet atmosphere of the forest. There was no chatter amongst the men who stood in front of the cabin, but that didn’t last long. They drew their swords, kicked in the door, and stormed the home.

Alakar watches the squad break into his house. He grits his teeth in anger at the scene before him. The entire door slams to the floor, and he hears a crack that’s either the door frame or the door itself. He compresses a clump of dirt in his hands to prevent himself from doing something rash. These people participating in the reaping this year are scum in his mind.

The squad had swept through the hunter’s cabin and exited with haste, as they found nothing of interest. They filed out of the cabin and planted their banners into the ground while the armored men started shouting commands. The banners were clear and one of them was unmistakable; a golden crown on a bright blue background – the empire. The other two smaller banners were hard to make out, and he honestly didn’t care to memorize such things.

A group of about half a dozen men on horse came fourth. It started to become quite apparent who was in charge. It was a man with a deep voice who towered above the rest. His voice was very clear, and Alakar put his nose and ears to the ground like never before.

The huge man yells, “You six! I need you to take a look around here for any signs of that explosion.”

A mounted hunter complains, “I don’t recall this being in our contract…”

This large human walked into the hunter’s personal space while he was mounted and looked him in the eye. The newly formed camp turned heads and the entire area went dead silent.

One of the hunters speaks, “Ok, ok, m’lord. We’ll check it out for you”, and they start to trot off in the direction of Alakar.

The man in charge commands them, “Leave the horses, they’re tired, and don’t come back until you have something substantial to show.”

There was another unsettling pause, one that could be felt across the yard. Yet, the men dismounted and handed over the reins without fuss.

With the sun slowly being replaced by the moon in the sky, the men lit their torches and investigate the area near Alakar. By their appearance and the way they carried themselves, it showed that they would surely find uncovered tracks. They bared leather armor, spears, bows, and plenty of survival equipment. Much the same stuff he would carry too if he’d not been caught in such a precarious situation. With the enemies so close, he wasn’t about to stick around any longer to let them find him.

He carefully squirms around inside his fox hole in order to avoid being jabbed by the fence. With both arms, he pushes himself out of the hole and onto the other side, putting the fence between him and the men. There is only one goal in mind right now, and that’s to slow them down so his family may escape.

His sticky steed was nowhere near as fast as a horse, and it would take an entire day at least before their escape was guaranteed. From his past experiences, those who participated in an annual reaping were out to cull the outer forest, not the inner portion. Dangerous beasts would sometimes propagate in the outer portion of the forest, only to ravage the nearby towns and villages.

He needed to work fast and move as quickly as possible while doing so. As he briskly moved through the forest, he grabbed wood and decaying vines to use as rope. From there he would make many different types of traps and weapons. Typically, he’d use these materials on animals, yet it should work on people all the same.

There are an abundant amount of trees around him, so he ties the vines between many of them near the forest floor, in inconspicuous ways. He considers digging some small pit traps but doesn’t feel like there is enough time for it. With a bit more effort, he constructs a few ‘Palu whip traps’ as well. He sets about ten traps before noticing the men’s movements. They’re coming towards him, so he conceals himself in a nearby tree.

The troops followed the trail left by the large frog; the presence of the large footprints in conjunction with smaller humanoid prints were too out of place to not track. These men originally came off as professional, yet it was obvious they didn’t take their assignment seriously. They talked amongst each other under torchlight.

“This is a bullshit task. Why do we care about loud noises? We’re just here to kill shit!”

“We’re trying to kill something right now, aren’t we? Don’t you think these prints are weird?”

“I’ve been looking at tracks all day, so no. It’s a four-legged something, but I doubt it’s worth our time or money…”

“I agree, we need to find some quality slaves, maybe a gnome or a dwarf, and preferably a female elf.”

“You’re right. You poor saps don’t remember, but the company sold two of em for a fortune ah couple months ago.”

“Ahhh!”

A cry of pain went out as a man tripped over something and fell on his burning torch. The human had snuffed out his own torch with his chest. Everyone stopped, and another man helped him up.

Their point man tailed back to the injured man and went down on one knee. He was inspecting what had caused his comrade to trip, likely to make sure it wasn’t out of stupidity. To his surprise, it wasn’t. The cord his buddy tripped over was carefully concealed in debris, and the knots used to tie it on the trees were better than his own. He was seen looking around for a culprit in the darkness, only to see another trip vine up ahead.

Alakar grins from the top of a tree as he watches the men unknowingly progress towards him. He witnesses a second man now trip over another vine he set and almost laughs out loud. The traps are plainly visible to him and sees the men slowly march past a couple more traps. There isn’t a whole lot of time left, and he finishes whittling his last javelin with some sharp flint.

The humans possessed some intelligence and realized that several traps were recently set over the trail. This group was now suspicious. They switched to communicating through hand signals, yet that didn’t help them since Alakar used similar ones on past hunts within groups.

*Whooo-tsss* *Crack*

“Ahhh, help!”

The group traveled in a single file. Five out of the six men all passed one of the whip traps, yet the last one was careless. He was too focused on actually tripping and was slapped with a strong whip containing three wooden spikes. The spikes were embedded into his waist and prevented him from moving. By the time all of the group members came to his aid, they found him dead with a javelin lodged in his jugular.

The body stood there limped over, surrounded in darkness, and unable to collapse.

Alakar calls out of from the shadows, “You dare hunt my family?! Go back to your villages!”

The humans were startled and formed a circle facing outwards around their fallen comrade. One of them had a bow and took a literal shot in the dark toward the voice. It missed by a lot.

Alakar leaps to a different tree and speaks again, “Last warning! Leave now!”

“Fuck you creature of the night!”

“Have it your way”, and he hurls another javelin at the group.

It nearly misses, yet it lands, piercing the foot of a hunter. The small javelin pins him to the ground and produces agonizing cries. Alakar then scampers down his tree as a couple of arrows fly by him. He keeps his focus and goes in to finish off the injured man.

The group was panic-stricken, and they frantically looked around themselves within their circle. They knew well enough to not scatter into the dark forest and held their formation.

Alakar dashes into the torchlight at the man who is knelt down, which is attempting to address his foot. He jumps on top of the man’s shoulders and inserts a crude spear down into his chest cavity, killing him instantly. The kneeling man falls completely flat as he kicks off his shoulders and leaps back into the darkness.

This group was now more angry than scared. They had a better idea of what they were fighting and looked more determined, even with two of their comrades lying dead.

Again, he runs at them, out from the shadows, and attempts to stab the man holding a bow. Unfortunately, he is not quick enough, and an arrow lodges itself into his shoulder. His small body falls to the ground from the power of the close shot.

Two of the other humans set upon him and stabbed him in the gut. They pinned him to the ground as he struggled to get free. Alakar lashed out, scrapped, and scratched at the air between them. He was never concerned about dying, even now this was a foreign concept to him.

The point man crouched down in front of Alakar and got a good look at him. His face was aged and covered in many scars.

The point man asks, “How is it still fighting? I’ve never seen a goblin live after being impaled like that…”

“You want me to finish it off?”

Alakar spins and twirls on the ground as he tries to grab the legs of his foes, yet he is unable to do so without ripping himself in half. There is a hole in his stomach from two well-placed spears. He growls in agony and frustration while continuing to reach for them.

“Hmm… Its flesh is healing around the spearheads, how strange…”

“It’s a freak of nature, even more reason to kill it!”

“No. We’ll sell it and give the money to Ralph’s and Jonan’s families.”

“But we came out here to slay these bastards, not sell em!”

“I am in charge of this company, and we’ll sell this goblin to the highest bidder! Now grab our brothers and bind him up real good!”

“Fine… Lights out for you, you little shit.”

And a large man punched Alakar right in the face, and his head spun in circles; he was dazed. The human broke his pointy nose, and it was bent at a right angle.

“What in God’s name?! Just go down already!”

The man hit him in the face again and Alakar was knocked unconscious.

*Thud*

Alakar’s vision was all a blur, and he tossed and turned on the ground. Someone just threw him to the dirt. The first thing he was able to make out was a massive pair of platted sabatons in front of him.

He grumbles in pain and mumbles, “Where am I?”

A clear, deep voice asks, “What is this? Why do you drop filth at my feet?!”

The point man replies, “M’lord, this is the thing we end up tracking down, likely responsible for the blast we heard.”

Alakar tries to roll onto his back to see the armored man in front of him, yet his arms and legs are tied up behind his back in a way that prevents him from doing so. His wounds have yet to heal, and he stops trying to struggle. He is in a helpless state.

“I highly doubt this goblin is capable of any magic. You and your men have disgraced yourselves, losing to this animal! Tomorrow, you will spearhead the expedition without any complaints.”

“…Yes M’lord. But um, may I ask your permission to do what I please with this goblin?”

“I could care less what you do with it, just get it out of my sight.”

He tries arguing with the two men that were discussing his fate, yet he is already bound and gagged; it just comes off as primitive whines.

A slave trader picked him up like luggage and tossed him into a nearby cage. The cage was stacked on top of other similar cages. His new prison was small and made of strong iron. There was little chance of escape now.

From there, he laid on his side and watched a small army occupy his settlement. They sat around multiple campfires, ate his food, and carelessly walked all over his fields. It was insulting to him. They laughed and cracked jokes throughout the night while pillaging his stockpiles with impunity.

There was no anger in his heart, the fight left him spent. He only felt sadness, yet he held his tears back so that his captors would not find him weeping. His worst fear stuck him like never before - being alone. The thought of not being able to see his loving wife and kids was heartbreaking to him. He regretted not buying more time for his family and escaping when he had the opportunity.

Eventually, his worn-out body and mind caused him to drift off into a slumber.