The Land: Founding

CHAPTER 7 - Day 4 - Sanren 24, 15,368 ABG

They left just before dawn, stalking silently through the forest. Richter found that he startled far fewer animals since donning the Wood Sprite armor. Though he still made considerably more noise than Sion in comparison to before, he moved like a ghost through the trees. The night before, they had decided to follow the path Sion had taken to find the goblin scout, reasoning that this was probably the best place to start looking for the rest of the green skinned creatures. Searching around, Sion easily found the trail again. He motioned for Richter to proceed slowly forward, while he climbed into the trees and moved along in the same direction.

The air smelled clean with the scent of pine needles and the brief rain that had fallen the night before. As Richter moved forward, his nose was filled with the comforting smells of nature. The sounds of the forest waking helped to calm his nerves, which had been on edge as they stalked a potentially deadly opponent. He made his way through the forest, trusting his small companion to stop him before he ran into anything dangerous. Several plants caught his eyes during the morning's march. By this point, he knew that meant they would be useful in some way. He had to pass them by, regrettably; the need for speed was all important at the current moment. His appreciation, however, for his new Herb Lore skill increased.

Slowly stalking through the forest for thirty to forty minutes, he came to a halt when Sion dropped down beside him. "There are four of them up ahead, all scouts," the sprite said softly.

Moving to the left, they circled around the area Sion had indicated. When they crossed a rocky outcropping, Sion gestured that the goblins were on the other side. Looking around the corner of a small boulder, Richter got his first sight of goblins. Three-and-a-half to four feet tall, each was clad in rags and ratty furs. They were green with greasy black or grey hair that sprouted in wisps plastered to their heads. Fangs protruded from their mouths in either an overbite or underbite. They each had a rusty dagger or small club, and were sitting around a fire roasting what appeared to be a large fox, bickering with each other.

Sion looked at Richter, "Give me a count to fifty while I move to the other side of them. Then power your arrow and hit the ugly one with the club."

"I haven't Imbued successfully yet," Richter replied in a soft hiss.

"It is time to man up then," Sion said. "One day you might be good enough to sprite up," he added with a smirk.

"Fine, let's do this! But which one is the ugly one?"

"Exactly," the Sprite said maintaining his smug expression, and then blended into the woods.

Clearing his mind, Richter waited patiently. After the required time had elapsed, he nocked an arrow and extended his aura. Counting his heartbeats, he tried to let his mana flow into the arrow. A golden hue began to surround it, flickering in and out. Taking aim at the goblin whose back was to him, he let his arrow fly. His mana had not successfully filled the arrow! The golden glow went out as soon as the arrow left the string, but luckily it still struck the goblin in the back. Despite his failure to imbue the arrow, the surprise nature of the attack still magnified the damage. The green skinned creature fell to the ground shrieking. The other three goblins jumped to their feet, and began to move toward him, snarls on their faces.

A split second later, a blue streak struck one of the goblins in the back with explosive force. Its chest exploded outward, and blood spattered onto the ground in front of Richter. The blast momentarily disoriented the remaining two, creating an opportunity. A second arrow from Richter struck a goblin in the leg, while another blue streak ended the life of the last standing goblin. Before the hobbled goblin could rise again, an arrow from Richter's bow found its throat. The small creature swiftly drowned in its own black blood. Sion rushed toward the remaining goblin, sword drawn, prepared to end the fight.