Erwin and Otto were nowhere to be seen, but the grove was rapidly becoming a massacre.

Carried away by their momentum, the goblins had rushed right into the middle of the grove and onto the kobold zombie, which was prone on the ground. Then, all of the creatures around them attacked in murderous rage. Mandragoras popped from the ground and and stabbed with poisonous thorns, various animals attacked with horn, hoof, claw, and teeth, and many of the giant trees rose up out of the soil on their roots, swinging boughs with monstrous strength, sweeping away rows of goblins all at once.

Suddenly, a giant red cloud engulfed a treant at the back of the grove, causing it to flail about in agony. The leaves began turning red, then became brown and withered, and as Kynos watched, the entire creature came down with a crash, a pile of firewood amidst the verdant grove.

A short while later, a smiling Erwin and a harried looking Otto, whose scutum shield bore a large dent, came stumbling into the brush where Kynos and Elise were hiding. Although it looked like Otto was trying to keep him quiet, Erwin was babbling with discovery.

“Did you see that? The same agent I put into a bunch of the larva just turned a treant into a pile of wood! Imagine how useful that could be!”

Erwin was gesturing wildly at the goblins now.

“And those goblins, don't they look bigger? See how they're still fighting even though they should be fleeing by now? What?! Did that one just throw a rock? Did they learn to use tools in two days?!”

Elise had turned her eyes away, both from the sting of having had dilated pupils for so long and because she no longer wanted to see the slaughter. Otto was keeping a lookout by scanning in different directions, and the only two watching now were Kynos and Erwin.

A goblin flew over their heads and landed behind them with a sickening crunch, an unlucky creature caught by the backswing of a treant. The grove's guardians were powerful, but the goblins had come in overwhelming numbers. For some reason, many of the goblins refused to retreat despite the one-sided ambush, and they were now fighting back with zealous glee. Several animals had already been killed, a dozen mandragoras had been trampled underfoot, and one treant was being overrun to the point where it was more goblin than tree.

Still, the goblins were mostly taking a one-sided shellacking. Over eighty had died, and at least another fifty had fled. The remaining goblins managed to take down a treant and another dozen other creatures before they fled as well. Kynos estimated that a bit less than half of the goblins had gotten away.

The four managed to get back to camp as the last of the three visible moons crested overhead. They would sleep in, then take the tents down and return to the town to resupply.

Erwin couldn't erase his grin the whole way back.