“Ready!”

The call sounded along the line of soldiers, audible even over the din of battle. Captain Vellis was stalking up and down behind his men, the blue crest on his helmet clearly visible in the barely controlled chaos.

“Push – and – change!”

The first row of soldiers stepped forward in unison, pushing close goblins back with their shields and lashing out with their spears. Then they stepped back again, swapping position with the second row behind them that took over the bloody duty of holding the monsters back, giving the former first line some much-needed time to catch their breaths.

From behind the formation, Edwin studied the newly relieved men. They looked out of breath, but otherwise fine as far as he could tell. None had taken any major injuries at least.

“Hobgoblin!” Someone yelled.

“Archers!” Vellis responded immediately.

Edwin craned his neck, trying to get a look over the heads of the soldiers in front of him. There it was. A hobgoblin had stepped out of the cover of the trees, standing amidst the flow of goblins and looking at their formation. As Edwin watched, a second one joined the first. He didn’t know what they were planning, if they were just there to watch or if they planned to attack them, because the marksmen jumped into action immediately.

In the discussion beforehand, they had agreed that the best use of the marksmen was to concentrate on the goblins’ ranged capabilities as well as their hobgoblins. The big monsters were dangerous, but only if they got into reach of their disgusting, gangly arms. The first hob that had stepped out was hit by half a dozen bolts and arrows at once, throwing it on its back. Its companion looked over with shock, then ducked and hurried back into the cover of the trees. To Edwin’s surprise, the first one pulled itself to its knees and crawled towards the tree line as well. A second salvo finally stopped its movement.

Edwin let out the breath he’d held. One down, at least two to go. So far it was going well. The soldiers were doing what they were meant to do, holding back the tide, almost untouchable behind their heavy shields and strong armor, the adventurers on each flank were cutting down any of the creatures that tried to squeeze around the sides, and the marksmen kept the more dangerous capabilities of the goblin force from disturbing their plan.

Without anything to do, Edwin continued to wait anxiously, the fist that held his mace squeezing the leather-wrapped handle nervously. Seconds ticked by way too slowly, but the flood of goblins didn’t let off. If anything, it increased, as the main force of the monsters pushed through the trees and towards them. Again, the command was given, and the two rows of soldiers swapped positions once more. How many goblins had died so far? Fifty? Eighty? It was hard to tell from behind the line.

“Hobgoblins!” Came the call again. Edwin looked, and paled. Four of the big creatures had stepped out of the forest, each one carrying a large shield made of branches and roughly chopped young trees that were tied together. They didn’t look easily maneuverable, nor perfectly impervious, as the shapes of the branches left holes, but it would protect them from most arrows. To Edwin’s surprise, they didn’t advance far out from the forest, instead putting down their shields and ducking behind them. He was still wondering what they were up to when they came back up, each holding a squirming goblin in their hand that they had plucked from the crowd. Edwin looked on with horror as they reared back and flung their smaller cousins towards the human line.

The green projectiles sailed high into the air, easily clearing the heads of the surprised soldiers and tumbling to the ground in the field behind them.

“Reserve!” Captain Vellis shouted. “Cover the rear!”

Edwin didn’t need to be told twice. He shot towards the closest of the creatures, already winding up for a strike. The goblin had rolled to a stop and was getting back to its feet, still dazed from the unexpected flight. It never even saw him coming before his mace turned its head to paste. Edwin didn’t stop, running past it to the next one. It joined the first in death, and Edwin turned around, just in time to see a second volley of live projectiles fly towards them. Cursing, he estimated the closest landing position and started running again.

Several volleys later, the goblins hadn’t made any headway. Jarred and disoriented by the flight, and especially the impact, the creatures didn’t put up much of a fight if they reached them in time, and with three fighters keeping the back clear, the goblins never managed to link up. Alone, the unarmed, naked monsters were no match for a battle-ready adventurer. Shooting a look to the other two members of the reserve, Edwin was beginning to worry how much longer they could keep up the pace. He would be fine, but for Lisa and Moss, the constant sprints would sooner or later cause them to slow down. Once they were unable to eliminate the goblins immediately upon landing, they would become a problem.

His body mechanically bent on exterminating the goblins as they fell out of the sky and his mind worrying about the future, Edwin didn’t catch the change in rhythm immediately. When a cry went up from the shield wall, he looked over in alarm. A point in the line had buckled, the soldiers behind frantically pushing in to plug the hole as the ones to the side pulled out one of theirs that was on his back. At first Edwin worried he was dead, so he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the soldier get back up again and join the second row. Moments later, Edwin understood what had happened. The hobs threw another volley of their cousins, only this time they didn’t aim over the soldiers, but directly at them. The goblins, each as big and heavy as a child, smashed into shields with force. This time the soldiers were warned, so the ones behind braced their comrades in front, keeping them from being bowled over, but the impacts distracted them from the fight in front of them, allowing the goblins to close in.

Having dispatched the last goblins behind their lines, Edwin jogged back towards the soldiers when he saw something out of the corner of his eye and looked up. On their left flank stood the cliff face, only six or seven meters high at this point. They had mostly disregarded it during planning, as there hadn’t seemed to be an easy way up that side from inside the valley. Apparently, the goblins had found a way regardless, as several of the creatures were peering over the edge just above their formation.

“Goblins left, high!” Edwin yelled. “On the cliff!”

“Archers!” The captain screamed immediately.

However, the marksmen didn’t have a chance to react. With shrill cries, green bodies rained down at their formation. Edwin grunted a curse, lowered his head and pumped his legs, desperate to reach the cliff in time.

The two dozen or so monsters fell all around their left flank, some in front of the soldiers and adventurers, some behind, and some right on top of them, bouncing off heads and shoulders or even holding onto their marks with sharp claws.

“Reserve!” Captain Vellis screamed with a crack in his voice. “To the left!”

He was still yelling when Edwin already arrived, crashing into the goblins that had fallen behind their line and were getting back on their feet. His mace flashed left, then right, then left again as he waded into the group, Moss and Lisa joining him seconds later. Thanks to Edwin’s early warning, they had gotten there quickly, and they soon killed their way through the creatures to reach their trapped allies.

Foris was fighting with a goblin that was clinging to his leg, repeatedly stabbing the monster with a dagger. One of his men, Edwin hadn’t bothered to learn their names in the short time they’d been there, was furiously stabbing at the approaching enemies with his spear, holding them off by himself. The third member of their party was lying on the ground, sharp claws having slit his throat from ear to ear.

Edwin let frustration strengthen his arm as he smashed the last of the goblins to a pulp, when a large shadow fell over him.

“Edwin!” He heard Salissa scream as he looked up in surprise – and met the eyes of a hobgoblin that was falling straight towards him, toothy mouth warped in a hungry grin and clawed hands already grasping towards him. He began raising his shield, dimly aware that any reaction now was coming too late, when the hob suddenly halted in midair.

A look of utter surprise crossed its face before its body jackknifed, its ribs bending, then cracking inwards as it folded around an invisible obstacle, a small sheet of magical shield that glowed with a faint blue hue under the stress. The hobgoblin’s weight and momentum almost cut it in half on the blunt upper edge of the shield, splintering its ribs into lungs and heart before the shield dissolved the same way it had appeared – without a trace. The wounded hobgoblin fell the last three meters to the ground, flopping bonelessly next to Edwin. It groaned, clawed hands grabbing for purchase to stand back up when Edwin’s mace passed through its head with a wet crack and burrowed into the soft earth.

Shaking off the shock and surprise, Edwin stepped over the body and through the battered adventurers, Foris having finally dispatched his passenger. Seeing their troubles, the goblins had veered to the side, trying to push through the weakened flank. With a hail of arrows from the marksmen and swift help from some of the soldiers in the second row as well as captain Vellis himself, the reserve charged out to meet the encroaching goblins and managed to push back the incursion before the monsters got their buckling line to break.

Edwin smashed one last goblin, then retreated back to their defenses. Foris and his teammate had used the time to gather themselves and retake their position. Passing by them, Edwin gave the party leader a look. He had a cut on his forehead, a droplet of blood running down his sweat-soaked face.

“You need help to hold?”

“No.” Foris said grimly, eyes set on the encroaching goblins. “We’ll manage. Please get Bolko back.”

At first, Edwin didn’t understand what he meant. Then it dawned on him, and he grabbed the dead spearman by the shoulders and pulled him back from the frontline so the defenders wouldn’t step on their fallen comrade. Placing him next to the cliff, Edwin felt a stab of guilt that he hadn’t taken the time to get to know the man. Now, he would never have the chance.