The Unbidden: A New World (1) (Short Parts)

Part 9

Not even a minute elapsed before the panicked jittering of goblins resounded. I pried out a couple of the spikes that were haphazardly jammed into the ground and tossed them aside. Directly across from me was the head goblin who watched with wide eyes as the others attempted to put out the fire.

I brought my hands close together in a cupping motion, and chanted 'water ball' while slowly cupping my hands closer and closer together. The moisture in the air between my hands condensed enough to create a mote of water about the size of a golf ball.

Levitating the mote in one hand, I hurled it at the goblin leader. He was only about thirty feet away. The mote impaled the leader in the head, shooting out the other side and striking a tree in the distance with a loud snap. He dropped instantly in a pool of its blood.

I quickly moved toward the building the women were being kept, and just before reaching the door, one of the goblins spotted me and shouted out. I turned to him and slammed my foot into his head, shattering his face, and sending him flying back a couple feet onto his rear.

Before he had the chance to get up, I created Spark and launched it at his face. Normally I'd feel nauseous at the sight and smell of the death I was creating, but the adrenaline coursing through my veins abated it.

"I shall get the women," Thea shouted, moving toward the shoddy doors.

I nodded without looking away from the enemies before me. Creating a Spark in each hand, I launched them at each goblin I saw, hitting them center mass. I counted a total of seventeen goblins by the end of it.

When I was certain no enemies remained, I met up with Thea who was dragging the unconscious woman we saw earlier outside. I passed by and rushed in, only to freeze and nearly heave. The pungent smell of decaying flesh bashed my nose, causing me to ratchet for a second. I covered my nose and mouth with a hand and ran up to the other women that were chained to a small boulder.

Every single one was beaten, bloodied and naked. In one of corner was a pile of dead babies. At first, I thought they were human, but when I looked a little longer I saw they were goblins.

I put the disgusting sight at the back of my mind and turned my attention to the chained women. There were four in total. They pleaded for help with tears streaming down their faces as realization dawned that someone was here to save them.

I created a mote of fire and held part of the chain inside it in an attempt to heat it up, but it was taking a long time.

I upped the concentration, and that caused it to turn from an orange red to a blueish hue before going completely white and growing to the size of a baseball. I made sure not to bring the flame near enough to the woman, and after several seconds, the chain grew red-hot.

Once it was hot enough, I had her pull the chain away from the rock, which I kicked, breaking it.

I repeated the process three more times, freeing the rest of the women, who we ushered outside. With everything taken care of, we headed back. The journey back to Tult took roughly double the length due to escorting our new cargo.

"Nn ..." the unconscious woman groaned.

I had been carrying her over my shoulder for about thirty minutes when she began to stir. While she wasn't the heaviest – she was actually rather petite – carrying someone for an extended period of time wore on the shoulders.

We opted to take a break as she roused as a result. The other women sat and leaned against the nearby trees, while Thea and I patiently waited for the other to awake. Her eyes fluttered and her brows furrowed as she began to perceive us.

She immediately hopped to her feet in an unsteady fashion and launched herself at me with a fist at the ready. I ducked at the last moment, surprised at her reaction, and grabbed her waist and lifted her over my shoulders as before.

As she struggled weakly to break free, I held fast.

"Let go of me, you green bastards!" she shrieked.

"Please, calm down. We aren't goblins or bandits. You're sa – ow! You're safe!" I said while trying to soften her elbows as they slammed against my head.

"Quite a feisty one she is," Thea remarked amusedly.

After a few moments, she began to come to her senses noticing the other women nearby and stopped resisting. I set her down and rubbed my head where she had landed a few blows.

"Can you walk?" I asked, though it was obvious through her tenacity just before.

"Y – yes," she looked away bashfully.

"Then we must continue. We're not far from the town. Once we get there you'll be taken care of," I looked to each of the women who nodded with thanks.

With that, we continued along the travel, all the women thanking Thea and I endlessly.