“Everyone ready?”

Gerrit spoke quietly, but his voice seemed disturbingly loud to Edwin. He looked around. The other adventurers, armed to the teeth, were crouching huddled together in a small depression, the last bit of proper cover before the forest changed to empty field. Meeting everyone’s eyes one last time, Gerrit nodded.

“Alright then. Let’s go.”

As one, the adventurers rose, spread out and began to advance towards their targets. The experienced woodsmen moved through the brush as if they were floating, rarely making a sound. Edwin felt like a lumbering giant compared to them, but his role in the plan allowed him to stay further back for now.

They reached the forest’s edge and the marksmen split into three groups, one for each of the goblin sentries that stood guard at this side of the valley. A whispered countdown, then nine strings snapped. Three bodies fell and silence descended once again. For several long, agonizing seconds none of them dared to move even a muscle. No voices were raised, no alarm was called. Edwin realized that he was holding his breath and slowly let it out.

“We’re clear.”, Gerrit grunted. “Edwin, signal the captain. Let’s move.”

Edwin turned and jogged a few steps back the way they’d came, raising his mace high above his head. The silvery metal twinkled in the sunlight that streamed through the canopy above, and Edwin held his position until he spotted the distant tip of a spear rise in answer. Edwin moved his weapon up and down in the pre-arranged signal, only waiting long enough for the spear to repeat the motion, then hurried after his companions.

As Edwin broke through the tree line, the other adventurers had already crossed half of the hundred and fifty meters of open ground that lay between them and the mouth of the valley, the location Vellis had chosen to make their stand, the last bit of open ground a stone’s throw from the copse of trees that held the assumed location of the nest cave. Staying as low as he could, hoping for the almost waist high grass to cover him, Edwin ran after the others. He reached the spot just after them and ducked down. Now, they had to wait.

Again, seconds ticked by at a snail’s pace, Edwin’s bunched muscles vibrating in expectation and causing his hands to shake. What took them so long?

He turned his head and looked back, the view letting him forget his stress for a moment. Out of the distant tree line marched fifth division’s first banner, fifty soldiers clad in shining steel and dark blue fabric, the stylized gulls on their shields as resplendent as the one flying on the blue and white banner above them. Exiting the forest, they tightened their formation and picked up speed. They wouldn’t run, Vellis had explained, as running even this short a distance in full armor would cost them precious seconds of breath that they would need during the fight to come. That’s why the adventurers were there.

The soldiers had crossed a third of the distance towards them when a shrill goblin cry sounded from the hillside on the right. Several crossbows twanged, cutting the sound off immediately, but the damage was done. Several other voices joined it, then a great clamor rose from further down the valley.

“That’s it for stealth.”, Gerrit said, calmly standing up from his crouched position. “Spread out and get ready. Remember, we just need to hold until they’re in position. On my signal, leave. Don’t stick around. Marksmen go first, then everyone else, then the rearguard.”

They knew, of course. They’d gone over the plan several times, the last time just before they’d attacked. Edwin didn’t mind him telling them again, though. Combat had a way of making people forgetful – he’d learned that lesson several times already.

A single goblin emerged from the trees ahead, then a second and a third. They immediately spotted the human intruders and charged them with shrill cries. Strings snapped, and all three fell. With seven marksmen, plus Gerrit’s and Bordan’s bows, handfuls of goblins had no chance of reaching them. Edwin looked back, expecting the soldiers to be almost there. He cursed, as they seemed just as far away as the last time he’d checked.

Shrieks from ahead grew louder as a dozen goblins charged out of the forest. Again, the marksmen let their weapons speak, but only a few of them fell. They only had very rudimentary ability to distribute targets, so it was inevitable that several of the adventurers would shoot at the same monster. Add to that the fact that goblins were fairly small, quick targets, and most of them continued towards them. Only the adventurers wielding bows got time for a second shot, then the melee was joined.

The fighters were spread out in a line, enough space between them that they could wield their weapons without worrying about impeding each other. They had no training forming a shield wall, so they didn’t even try. The spear users were spaced out between them, using their long polearms to aid the ones to their left and right. The first goblins died quickly, the naked, unarmed creatures posing no threat to the well-prepared and experienced adventurers. They got a few seconds to catch their breaths, then the tree line vomited a veritable stream of green monsters at them, shrieking for their blood.

Edwin waited until the first creatures had almost reached him then took a big step forward and swung his mace low from side to side. The first one’s ribs cracked like kindling as it was swept into the one beside it, both tumbling to the ground. Ignoring the downed monsters, Edwin lashed out with a kick that stopped the third one’s charge by propelling it backwards into the ones that followed it. Stepping back, Edwin retook his position in the line. They weren’t here to kill them, only stall them. The killing would come later.

It continued like that for what felt to Edwin like an hour: He used both his mace and shield to push goblins into each other, breaking bones but rarely causing lethal wounds. Quickly, the fallen goblins before him formed a confusing jumble of limbs that the following monsters were unable to cross without falling themselves. They still tried, but their attempts made the situation even worse as they kept their downed companions from getting back on their feet and ultimately added to the confusion when Edwin smacked them down as well.

Edwin quickly glanced left and right. Nobody seemed threatened yet, although he didn’t know how long that would be the case. The spear users had started out strong, their quick stabs keeping the goblins away, but as more and more of the monsters arrived and pushed the hesitant ones into the defenders’ range, they were quickly reaching their limit.

Edwin turned back to concentrate on his own problems, downing two goblins with a few quick strikes, then slamming his heel down on one that was trying to crawl out of the pile. Something flashed past his head, and Edwin followed the arrow’s path to an archer goblin that was gathering another of the crude projectiles from a pile on the ground. “Archer!”, Edwin shouted, pointing out the monster with his mace. Time was running out.

A shrill whistle broke through the goblins’ screeching. Finally, the signal.

“Marksmen first, let’s go!” Gerrit yelled from Edwin’s right. Then: “Fighters, fall back!”

The man to Edwin’s left withdrew, the goblins he’d just held back chasing after him with triumphant cries that turned to screams when a roaring Edwin smashed into their midst, scattering them about. He lashed out with his mace in all directions, breaking bones and cracking skulls as quickly as he could move his arms. The creatures were just recovering from their surprise, when Edwin heard the shrill whistle again, signaling the retreat of the rearguard. He struck out one last time, then turned and sprinted after his fellows.

The soldiers had reached their assigned position, forming a solid shield wall bristling with spears a mere ten or fifteen meters behind him. The last of the fighters were funneling through a small opening right in the middle, and Edwin turned towards it as well. He reached it just after the last one had cleared it, and as he shot between the armored soldiers he was spit out onto a sunny, green field untouched by the brutal fighting he’d just left behind. It was a strange feeling, like stepping from night into bright day.

He turned around, watching the shield wall close up tightly behind Moss and Lisa, the swordfighter from Gerrit’s group, who had formed the rearguard along with Edwin. Salissa stood off to the side so as to not block the retreating adventurers, anxiously peering between the soldiers. The former rearguard plus the mage now formed captain Vellis’ “reserve”. Even after the officer had explained it, Edwin hadn’t really understood what a reserve was or why they needed one, it seemed much more logical to put every weapon they had to use on the front. The captain had been adamant that it was necessary, though, so Edwin hadn’t argued. As the others caught their breaths, Edwin looked around.

The marksmen had moved back and to the side, hiking up the hillside that was only a few meters high at this point, and were getting ready to hail feathered death on the green hordes. They were joined by Gerrit and Bordan, as the two allrounders could defend them from a flanking attack when it was necessary or add their bows to the mix when it wasn’t. The fighters of the newly arrived party, Foris’ and his two companions with their spears, held the left flank, a small gap between the soldiers and the cliff. Doren, Borm and Hetta were on the right, keeping the goblins from trying to scale the hill and pass the wall like that. Borm seemed to be having the time of his life, as the big man finally got the perfect conditions to use his ridiculously long sword.

Edwin craned his head, trying to catch a glimpse of the action. The goblins had reached the shield wall, but it seemed like the soldiers were holding strong. With their large shields and thick armor, they were almost impossible to harm from the front, especially for small goblins whose only weapons were their claws. For now, most of the monsters they’d seen were unarmed. Edwin didn’t know if they didn’t carry weapons while in their camp or if they didn’t have any, but they were considerably less well armed than the ones in the hunting groups.

The first stages of the plan had gone off without a hitch. Now, they just needed to slaughter their way through a hundred and fifty goblins as well as who knew how many hobgoblins.

Easy.