Andrew's arms pumped as he raced towards the stables. His shoes squelching and rubbing as he shook off the river water soaking his lower half. He could hear the sounds of fighting coming from behind him and drove it from his head as he charged towards the cluster of buildings he knew housed those massive wolves. Two hobgoblins were stumbling out of the nearest door, groggily taking in the scene across the river. They were rubbing their eyes, half armored and messily dressed. He could see flashes of movement through the doorway, of others getting ready within.

He sprinted towards the cluster of buildings trying to circle around and put the growing crowd of groggy hobgoblins out of sight. The larger wolf containment building had three smaller stone huts around it, and hobgoblins were stumbling out of all of them by now. He was only partially successful, by the time he reached the backside of one of the closest squat stone huts the first of the hobgoblins was already circling around the building, weapon drawn. Andrew could hear the raised voices of a crowd hobgoblins coming from the center of the little cluster of huts that surrounded the stables.

Shit okay, time to earn my keep. Came out here to be a distraction, need to keep to that deal. I have really high dex, I have really high Vit, I can take this, but I need to be smart about it. If that crowd of hobs gets a hold of me I'm dead as fuck. Can't afford to get into a fight with this guy.

Andrew turned and sprinted away from the hobgoblin, running along the back wall of the hut and circling until he had a clear view of the courtyard. He pulled two grenades from one of his pouches and charged them as he ran. He skidded to a halt as soon as he saw the inner courtyard of the stables.

Shit, that’s like three lines of like, four or five hobs each. Fuck, that’s more than we hoped were in the whole fucking camp! How dense are they stacking these fucking things? All of those fuckers are staring right at me right now too. Shit. Distraction indeed.

Andrew threw his two grenades right at the center of the surprised crowd, then sprinted for the protection of the next closest building while charging another two grenades. The hob that was pursing him charging clumsily behind. Up close it was clearly exhausted, it stumbled as it ran, and was constantly raising a hand to shield its eyes from the sun. It shouted out in a tired, desperate voice, completely unintelligible.

Are these things nocturnal? Or were they just expecting an attack last night after the group they sent to the dam went missing? Maybe this guy just fucking sucks, too shit to be sent out on one of the caravan missions. Still don't have time for him though, and he's way to slow to keep up with me until my stamina starts bottoming out.

Andrew heard the cracks of his exploding grenades go off as he passed around the next building. He was one primitive street away from the stables now, and he could see the scattered crowd of hobgoblins recovering from the explosion that went off within their midst. Those on the edge were least effected. Those close to him were turning and running his way, those on the opposite edge were standing, looking back and forth from Andrew to the sounds of combat coming from the opposite river. Most of that crowd turned away from Andrew and started jogging their way towards where the prisoners were escaping.

Andrew threw his two charged grenades out, aiming mostly for the group of five heading his way from the edge of the last explosion. Those hit hardest by it were still picking themselves up, pressing hands to bloody wounds and searching vacantly for lost weapons.

We'll, I'm definitely attracting some attention over here. Not sure if it will be enough though, there are a lot more of these fucking things than we thought. Need to gamble on those wolves.

Before his first two grenades even hit the ground, Andrew was charging up another two. These ones came from a different pouch, one with only five stones inside. He set these ones aside earlier, they were carved to have a much longer delay and prepared for this very moment. He threw them out at the stables, aiming for the large gates built into the walls as he crossed the street towards the stables. He felt the whoosh of flame and wave of force as his other grenades went off. Shards of stone pinged off of his armor with force enough to promise exciting new bruises for him to find later. He didn't stop running to inspect the fruits of his labor, instead throwing another two long delay grenades at the base of the side wall of the stables as he passed by. There were small barred windows here, and while he didn't have time to peek inside, he heard the unsettled rustle and growl of the wolves held close within.

Hopefully enough of those things will survive the explosion that they can be a real problem for the hobgoblins over here. Probably won't survive a better distraction then that right there. Fuck, I need to find somewhere to catch my breath. This is hell.

Andrew continued to run. The stables were built up against the wall of rough spiked logs that encircled the main camp, and Andrew ran alongside them. There were more buildings back here, four or five small ones where hobgoblins were already gathering up, forming lines like the others and marching off towards the river. There were at least ten more hobgoblins over here as well.

Shit shit shit. Whose fucking idea was this? Do I even have enough explosives for this shit?

Andrew charged the last of his long delay explosives and shoved it in a crack between two of the log stakes that made up the wall. Turning to face the crowd of hobgoblins filing out of the buildings. They were a disorganized mess, as soon as a line formed it raced off away from him towards the river and the explosions going off over there, the others were shouting out, forming and reforming groups, trying to get organized. In the chaos they didn't seem to notice Andrew standing a short distance away. He just stood for a moment, trying to slow his racing heart, taking deep breaths, trying to take in the chaos of the battle and think.

A hobgoblin shouted something from behind him, close behind him. Every hobgoblin clustered in front of him turned and looked right fucking at him. Andrew spun around and saw a broken, bloody hobgoblin standing there, leaning one hand against the camp palisade, the other hand a bloody mess, wheezing out victorious, vengeful breaths. Staring him down with a crimson smile.

FUCK! Give me like five goddam seconds to catch my breath

Andrew spun around towards the crowd which was now uniformly charging his way. A chain of explosions went off behind him, and he could hear the yipping growling shouting noises of giant wolves and hobgoblins clashing behind him. The crowd paused for a moment in their charge. Andrew ran straight away from the camp palisade, right between the crowd chasing him and the wolves behind, charging another pair of grenades as he ran.

He chucked them out blindly at the crowd that was chasing him. Wincing and pulling his arms up to cover his face right after as he saw a line break off and draw knock arrows. The grenades went off, several arrows struck him in the arms and shoulders and stomach, then the grenade he shoved into the palisade went off, all in rapid succession.

Andrew was thrown to the ground by the impacts of the arrows striking him. They dented in his armor in several places, one pieced straight through the gap in his armor where his chest piece and armored skirt met. It lodged itself deep into his side, and his vision blurred for a moment as he pushed himself up from the ground. As soon as he took in the scene he jumped to his feet and started to move.

The line that was pursing him collapsed into a mess, several giant wolves came racing around the palisade, pouncing on the downed hobgoblins, mouths already dripping with gore. Stern shouting was coming from the direction of the river, and several hobgoblins abandoned this area entirely to answer that call. Some were banding together to fight off the wolves, and one of the surviving archers towards the back noticed Andrew stand, and began to shout again.

Shit, ouch, shit, fuck this sucks. I would say this side of the river is sufficiently distracted. That grenade did a good job on the wall too, bet I could make it through that gap. After that? Well, I guess just wing it. If I can get to the guys inside I might get a chance to take a breather soon. I still have …. Five, grenades left. Not very many, I'll need to be more careful about using them up.

HP: 514/620

Andrew pushed his fingers into the gap in his armor, feeling around for where the arrow pierced him. The skin was wet with blood, and he could feel where the slick wooden shaft sunk into his flesh. He could feel nothing of the arrow head.

Definitely, fully, inside of me then. Shouldn't pull it out right? Just bleed more? Too much arrow sticking out though, might get caught on something when I try to squeeze through that wall. Have to break it off. Or just die, that might be nice. No. We made this mess, probably killed a bunch of the prisoners here in the process. Not allowed to just give up because of one fucking arrow to the fucking hip.

With a grimace, Andrew gripped the arrow that was piercing his skin with one hand, and pulled his chisel from his belt with the other. He pulsed mana into the arcane chisel until its tip glowed, then used that blade to slice most of the arrow shaft away. Andrew shoved the chisel back into his belt and stuffed one of his emptied grenade bags up and around the arrow wound in a vain attempt to staunch the flow of blood.

Another arrow punched him in the side of the head and he nearly collapsed again. His head was ringing and he wasn't sure if the sound was coming from his vibrating helm or his own ears. The sharp perforated dent poked through his padding and scraped against his scalp, gripping hairs and ripping them out as he turned.

The one hobgoblin archer who noticed him earlier was knocking another arrow. While he worked on his wound the scene in front of him had continued to devolve into chaos. There were at least six wolves of various sizes running rampant through the hobgoblin ranks. They were forming teams and fighting the wolves off, the archers peppering the thick hides of the wolves, and a growing panic seemed to be overtaking the amassed warriors. A wolf leaped out of the chaos and latched onto the neck of the distracted hobgoblin preparing to nail him with yet another arrow.

Okay, it was worth living this long just to see that fucker get taken down a notch. Time to go, just need to make a run for it into the camp. Can't do much more to contribute to the chaos out here anyways.

Andrew took off running across the battlefield. He could feel fatigue creeping in on him. The wound in his side was red hot, but his fingers and toes were cold. He wound his way between warring groups of hobgoblins and wolves, each too occupied with the other to pay him much attention. The splintered edges of the shattered palisade scraped against him as he pushed his way frantically through. The hobgoblins were starting to chant, shouting and jeering over the howls of wolves.

That doesn't sound good. If I get noticed here, they could stick me a hundred times before I got an arm free enough to block one.

The arrow in his side shifted and pulled nastily as he shoved his way through, but he made it, stumbling to his feet inside of the walls.

Three buildings stood within. One looked like a large barn, its doors were thrown wide open and a number of wagons could be seen lined up inside. There were stacks of wood, crates, barrels, and not a single hobgoblin within. The next building was two stories, nearly taller than the walls. It was barely larger than one of the huts outside and rough symbols were carved decoratively around the doorway and windows of the building. The doorway was much larger than typical and it's door was carelessly tossed open. The interior looked shockingly domestic, with a large table and half abandoned meal half visible through the open door. The last building was the largest of the three, built closely against the walls, and only one floor, but much longer and wider than the other buildings. There three doors leading in and out, and several windows, some of which were barred.

Rhythmic chanting and roars from outside drew Andrew's attention away from the buildings. He jogged to the center of the camp where he was granted a clear view through the gates. A huge hobgoblin was stomping towards the wild, flooded river. Its was holding a huge boulder above it's head, displaying grossly swelled muscles and lines of red light weaved through his arms back and neck. It slowed to a stop just long enough to draw back and chuck it across the river. Andrew couldn't see where it was aiming, but it didn't look good.

Shit shit shit. That’s the fucking boss, no goddam doubt about it. If there's anything that’s going to ruin my day, it's that fucking dude. Gotta work fast, if we want to stand a chance against that guy I'll need an advantage. Barn is empty looking, that house looks built for a big motherfucker clan leader, and that long building has a solid third coated in barred windows. I'll bet on the barred windows keeping the prisoners I want.

Andrew charged towards the building, spear in hand, shield in the other. He reached the center door and kicked it open, revealing a low-lit crowded hallway beyond. He stalked forward warily, ignoring the horns and bones and teeth that adorned the walls of the hall he traveled. He moved in the direction of the barred windows, continuing down the halls and listening to the muted sounds of combat behind him. The empty stillness of the building was eerie, he readjusted his grip once, twice on his spear. His hands soaked through with sweat, his side burned with pain, and the squelching of his boots soaked through with river water and blood battled with his heartbeat to be the loudest fucking thing on this planet. He could hear echoing voices coming down the hall towards him, but couldn't focus on them, couldn't tell if they were human or not.

I'm getting close, I'm sure of it. I swear I head someone speaking English just then. The whatever rooms those barred windows led to, they have to be connected up to this hall. Just around this next corner, I'm sure.

Andrew turned the corner and saw a hobgoblin with its face shoved half through a barred door, shouting unintelligibly at the occupants within, who seemed to be shouting back. Another stood just behind it, hand on it's weapon looking positively nasty with it's helm removed.

Okay, it's go time. Would be super embarrassing if I made it all the way here just to be killed by the fucking prison guards. No explosives, too close quarters, I'll probably kill myself and the prisoners. Need to do this old school.

Andrew charged forward down the hall towards the pair. The one facing him scrambled to draw it's weapon while the other tried to pull away from the door. Tried because it seemed as though something from within was grabbing it by the scruff of it's armor. Andrew had just enough time to register a tiny burst of fire flashing into the face of the hobgoblin pulled against the door before he clashed with the other one.

He thrust his spear out at the hobgoblin, once twice. It skillfully parried his thrusts away with it's sword, matching his superior speed with obvious skill. It released one hand from the handle of it's blade and reached out for his spear. Andrew slowed enough to allow it's grip on it, before wrenching back and bringing his shield down to crack into the elbow of the hobgoblin. He only had a split second to revel in his success until the hobgoblin's blade slammed into his head, knocking stars into his eyes and breaking the straps holding it in place, sending it careening off his head and to the floor of the hallway. He stumbled back away and raised his shield as the hobgoblin pressed its one armed assault towards him, blade clanging messily off his upraised shield.

Fucker is persistent, shit. That ringing is definitely my ears this time. No helmet left to blame.

Andrew slammed his shield forward into the next sword blow, grounding his stance as the hobgoblin's good arm rebounded back and struggled to maintain it's grip on it's blade. He followed up with a spear thrust, impacting solidly into the shoulder of the hobgoblin's good arm. It screamed a war cry at him and swung the blade at him again anyways, ignoring the bloody wound. Andrew caught the blow on his shield easily, it lacked the power of the previous blows. He knocked the sword aside and stabbed out twice more until the hobgoblin finally fell to the ground with dull eyes.

Andrew stepped over the corpse, breathing heavily as he approached the next hobgoblin. It had both hands pressing against the door, desperately pushing itself away as no less than three hands reached out through the barred door to grip leather armor straps and bits of shirtcloth and braids of hair to keep the creature pinned to the door. Little flashes of flame flashed out, striking the hobgoblin in the face and making a charred surface level mess of it.

Andrew's hearing was muddy. He thought he could hear a cheering, jeering, angry crowd through the doors, he could definitely hear the hobgoblin scream, and, the chanting from outside was gone, probably.

Not important. Need to kill this one, save these ones, get back outside. They're still fighting the real fight out there.

Andrew stumbled forward, the hobgoblin barely even acknowledged him, pulling and screaming against the arms that gripped him. As Andrew approached he could see ruined blackened holes where it's eyes were supposed to be.

Whoever's inside chucking flames isn't fucking around. No match for what Kalan can do, but shit, that's pretty nasty. Maybe someone in there knows healing. I think something is wrong.

Andrew stabbed out with his spear, hitting the chest, neck, neck again. The hobgoblin slumped to the ground, dead. Andrew stood for a moment, catching his breath, trying to slow down the frantic spinning of the world around him. He could hear shouting. Shouting at him, but he couldn’t make out the words. They were important though. He tried to shake off the spinning, the blood pulsing through his head. It just made everything hurt more.

Why is my leg so wet? The hobgoblin didn't bleed that much did it?

Andrew looked down to see blood streaming freely down from the gap in his armor where the arrow should be. He saw no sign of the shaft that was supposed to be sticking from his skin, no sign of the bag he shoved up there to staunch the flow earlier, just blood, more blood.

Ah.

That should probably hurt right?

Not a great sign.

Andrew reached down and tore off part of the hobgoblin's shirt, it was wet with blood already but he didn't care. He shoved it up into his armor with a wince, and finally felt a fresh stab of pain.

Well, found the arrowhead. That’s something, I guess. Make it easier for them to tell how I died at least huh. Pain is probably good right? Shit, need to focus. Focus. Get the keys. Right, those voices, people shouting at me, the prisoners.

Andrew picked through the hobgoblin's belt with clumsy fingers until he found a key ring. He peeked through the window to see a cluster of white faced humans staring back at him, shouting at him.

How rude.

He fumbled through three different keys before he got the door open. The prisoners within poured out, some grabbed him by the shoulders, which was nice. He didn't realize how much he needed the support until he found it. Others were grabbing weapons from the downed hobgoblins, and others pulled the keys from his hand and started for the other barred doors in this hall.

"I- uh, guuughhh," Andrew had a hard time forming words. His tongue felt thick in his mouth, his lips were cold. "Here to help. We fight, outside. Pre-- prepare y--uugh. Weapons, now. Andrew ignored their voices, electing to stumble back down the hall he came from, forcing the one supporting him to stumble along side him.

C'mon guy, you can make it all the way back to the gate. I made it all the way here at least, and you're not even stabbed. Probably, he is awful pale though, I wonder if he's okay?

They were not making good time down the hallway. Andrew wasn't sure how many people he even released in here. Some of them rushed past him, weapons drawn, others seemed to be running off in another direction within the building.

Are they running away? Or like, looting stuff? What if they're working with the hobbies? Heh, heh, hobbies, focus. You're-I'm drifting. Running away is still a good thing, for them

Andrew could see the open door in front of him, make out several other figures with weapons huddled around between their building and the gates out of the palisade. Someone rushed to his side and the one supporting him pulled him to a stop, speaking urgently.

"Drink it! Hey! Stay with me! Look at me!"

Andrew turned, fighting the urge to puke as the world began to spin again. The one supporting him with one arm was shouting at him. She was pretty. A blonde. She shoved an opened, red glass bottle his direction, forcing the contents into his mouth.

Andrew sputtered as the thick herbal liquid hit his tongue. A minty burn seeped into his gums and the liquid flooded his mouth and leaked down his chin as the woman tilted the bottle further into his mouth.

She's trying to drown me! Well jokes on her, I was thirsty anyways!

Andrew drank in the liquid, felt it burn as it flowed into his stomach. His vision went white and his knees collapsed out from under him as his head exploded into pain. Intense itching clawed into his side, his head, his ears his brain. His back arched and if his limbs had any strength they would be clawing at his head, at his side.

Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck

What the hell did that girl give me? It feels like hell! It feels- It feels like I can think again. Is it healing? The arrow!

"Ge-Ge-Ge" His lips felt numb. "Get the arr-ow" He sputtered "Arr-ow in me. Itches"

He screamed as someone ripped something out of his stomach, the pain lasted one sweet moment before he was overcome with the deep, relentless itching once again. The whiteness in his eyes began to fade away. He could see shapes moving around him. Most were moving past him, several were looking down at him. He recognized none of them, except, no, there was the woman who force fed him. They all looked worried.

"How long- How long was I out" Andrew rasped out. It felt like he had screamed for hours.

"You passed out? You were screaming the whole time. Only a second or two. I gave you a healing potion. It's something the hobgoblins use for themselves sometimes. I carried some to the wolf trainers before. I think we need to get you out of here." The woman said, looking up at the other two that were also huddled around him, blonde hair cascading down into his face.

"Got that right" Andrew mumbled as he pulled himself to his feet with the asstance of the three standing around him. "We need to help the others. We're going to go out and kill every one of those mother fuckers." Andrew pushed off of the one supporting him and stood on his own two feet. His side and his head still itched fiercely, but it was nothing compared to the pain of the arrow being ripped from his healing flesh.

Andrew started down the hallway again, becoming more and more sure of his footing with each step. He could feel strength returning to his limbs, warmth to his fingers. The pool of minty fire in his stomach was cooling, fading away.

"We're getting everyone out of here. My friends are helping the people at the quarry, we need to get over there and help them out. If you can throw fire, stay in the back and do that. Focus on one target at a time. If you know how to use a blade, or have high vitality, get to the front. Try to fight two or three to one. They're stronger than us and fight better. Stay away from clusters of hobgoblins, I'll deal with them" Andrew said, reveling in the strength that was returning to his voice.

As they passed through the door, Andrew had his first look at the people he saved from within. They were a scrawny group, but there were ten of them, armed and untouched by battle. The only blood on them was Andrew's.

"We'll help, but you need to be careful. The hobgoblins who took that potion always rested afterwards. I don't know what it will do to you. You might not be healed yet." The blonde woman said.

"Doesn't matter, we're in the fight right now, this is more important. Are you ready?" Andrew said, turning to take in the small crowd assembled before him. The heat pulsed comfortably within him as he regarded the determined faces that looked back at him.

"Yes. We are. We'll help."

"Good. Lets fucking go then. No time to lose"

Andrew jogged off towards the gates, tucking his spear to pull a pair of grenades from his pouch.

Only three left after this.

Beyond the gate hobgoblins were starting to cross the overflowing river towards a distant cluster of buildings. He could see the cart slammed up against one of the buildings, and a multitude of human shapes fliting from building to building. Many were throwing rocks, blades, anything they could get their hands on at the hobgoblins crossing the river. Some had bows and clearly knew how to use them, peppering the closest with arrows. He thought he saw bailey and Shelby among them but wasn't sure.

His focus was dominated by the line of six hobgoblins standing on their side of the river, holding bows and firing freely into the buildings. He saw more than one shot make contact with an unarmored form. To one side was the huge hobgoblin. It was coated in those red glowing threads. It's muscles bulged as it reached forward and pulled up a huge river stone, raised it over it's head and chucked it across the river to impact one of the houses on the other side. It landed with a boom, collapsing that wall and part of the ceiling. Screams echoed out from the other side of the river, from that building.

Andrew threw his two grenades. He centered them on the line of archers, and reached for two more before they even hit. The crack of the explosions went off as he charged the next two.

"Stay the fuck away from the big guy! Circle around to the archers if you can I'll take care of it. When you're done deal with the ones crossing the river." Andrew shouted before throwing the next two at the feet of the big fucker, just as he turned to face Andrew.

They exploded right at his feet, shards of stone splintered upwards and pierced it's flesh, ripping bloody gauges into it's thick leathery skin. The legs charred black and it stumbled backwards two paces before steading itself. It didn't even scream. It just stared blankly at him, looking almost surprised until a grin split it's face and it charged forward, straight at him.

Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck. It doesn't give a shit about explosions, we're all fucking dead holy shit.

Andrew drew back his spear and stabbed like he never had before hoping the reach would protect him. His spear pieced deeply into the hobgoblins chest dragging a bloody furrow in before the massive hob roared and punched Andrew in the side.

He felt the spear snap under him as it was ripped out from the hobgoblin and broken beneath him as he crashed into the ground. The armor along his side was badly dented, he could feel something sharp jabbing into him each time he took a breath and the burn in his stomach winked out almost instantly. His head was back to spinning as he tried to push himself up from his side. He was about halfway there when a big meaty hand wrapped around one ankle and lifted him up.

He was presented with an upturned, close up view of the hulking hobgoblin form. Coated in bloody gashes and lines of red light. It turned him to one side then another. Andrew couldn't see it's expression, he could feel the blood rushing to his head, pouring out of his nose and into this throat. He let his shield slip free and fall lamely to the ground as he rooted around in his belt with both hands. One hand found his chisel, the other found his final grenade.

With a supreme effort of will, Andrew swung out with the charged chisel, cutting a deep wound into the chest of the hobgoblin. It laughed at him as Andrew charged the grenade and shoved it into the wound, as deep as it would go, far past wrist deep in the creatures chest.

This time it roared, he let go of the grenade just soon enough for it to spin and chuck him away. He slammed into the palisade in a jumble of limbs, he couldn't tell which way was up, where he was. Was he drowning in the river? No that was just his blood. Need to cough. Need to get up. His vision was fading.

Not yet damnit. They're still fighting to do.

An explosion went off nearby and Andrew was slammed into the wall again. His vision went black as his head cracked against the logs of the palisade.