Chapter 19: Home Game
The Next Day
The Village
Night had settled over the village, and everything had gone quiet. With no moon above, the village was almost pitch black, leaving only a few scattered torches to light the paths.
“How about a smithy?” Theo asked, glancing at David.
“Nah… don’t know how to build one, boss,” David replied, shaking his head. “Back then, it was the Philistines who handled iron. Heck, they didn’t even let us learn proper blacksmithin’.”
He took a sip from his drink.
“Best I can do is fix a bent bronze spear over a campfire. That’s about it.”
Theo exhaled in disappointment.
“How about a jewelry shop? Can you build one?” Erika chimed in cheerfully.
“What does that have to do with village defense?” Theo shot back with a frown.
Apparently the three of them were sitting around a campfire, the conversation drifting casually through the night.
“Well, you wouldn’t need to defend anything if you could just charm the enemy,” Erika argued, lifting her chin. “And with pretty jewelry, my charm would be double.”
“Heh… ain’t wrong there, ma’am,” David said with a small grin. “Seen it before. Plenty of folks tried takin’ me down using their prettiest women. Worked better than you’d think.”
He took another sip, then shrugged.
“Problem is, makin’ proper shiny jewelry still needs a smithy.”
“Eeehh?!” Erika blinked, caught completely off guard by the reality of it.
Her lips curled into a pout.
“Idiot,” Theo muttered.
Just then, a teenage boy came running toward them.
“Commander! Vice-Chief!” he called out, slightly out of breath. “Chief Tara is asking for you both. We’re hearing movement.”
“Well… looks like it’s time,” David said, pushing himself up from the ground and brushing the dust off his feet.
Theo and Erika stood as well.
“Now behave, elf,” Theo said, glancing at Erika. “Even if you hear something outside, no noise from the shelter until someone comes and says it’s clear.”
“Don’t worry. The children are braver than they look,” Erika replied with a bright smile. “They’ll stay quiet.”
“I’m not worried about the children,” Theo said flatly. “I’m talking about you.”
Erika let out a silent gasp, visibly offended.
Theo and David had already started walking, following the messenger boy. Behind them, Erika stuck her tongue out at Theo before turning and heading toward the shelter.
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Northern Perimeter
When Theo and David reached the northern perimeter, dozens of villagers were already in position, crouched behind the defensive earth mounds with their bodies pressed low against the dirt to stay hidden in the dark.
They approached quietly and joined Tara and Greta, who were already stationed with several men.
“We heard the bone alarms rattle,” Tara whispered as they reached her. “Three of them, from different directions.”
“Well… that’s a dead giveaway,” David murmured. “Their army’s moving.”
He glanced at Greta. “How’s everyone holding?”
“On position,” Greta replied.
“Alright. Wait for my signal, Captain.”
She nodded and raised her horn, keeping it ready.
“Now, ma’am,” David turned back to Tara, voice low, “mind bein’ my eyes?”
Tara nodded and carefully crawled up the mound, stopping just before the top as she lifted her head enough to see past the edge. Goblins had good night vision. So did elves. With only faint starlight above, Tara could still track movement clearly.
“They’re here,” she whispered.
Goblins began to emerge from the treeline.
This time, they made no unnecessary noise. No chatter, no careless movement. They advanced in silence, spreading toward the river with the patience of predators closing in on prey, and within seconds their numbers grew into several dozens.
One by one, they stepped into the shallow river. The sound of the current covered their movement as they crossed slowly, keeping their formation tight. They passed the river pole markers without hesitation, not understanding their purpose, and climbed the opposite bank.
Still nothing came from the village. No torches. No movement. No sound.
They moved forward and stepped onto the sloped ditch lined with dried grass. Nothing happened. They gave it no attention and continued advancing. They suspected nothing, because everything they saw had been arranged to make them think the village was asleep.
“They’ve entered kill box two,” Tara whispered.
“Wait,” David replied from below the mound, calm and steady. “Let the front line reach the end of it.”
After a short while, Tara finally saw the frontmost goblins reach the designated line.
“They’ve reached it,” she said.
David nodded, then glanced at Theo. “Boss, if you don’t mind.”
Theo gave a small nod and climbed the mound, stopping beside Tara as he tried to locate the marker.
It was extremely dark. Tara had no issue seeing through it with her elven vision, but Theo’s human eyes struggled to pick out details. Fortunately, the target was designed to be seen. Further ahead, two poles stood with a strip of white cloth tied between them. The pale fabric reflected what little starlight there was, making it visible enough even for Theo.
He raised his hand, palm open, lining up the shot. For a brief moment, he hesitated. This was something only he could do.
A fire arrow would need an open flame to ignite, something that would immediately expose their position in the dark. Theo, however, could create fire at a distance without lighting anything beforehand.
He was the ignition.
“Fireball!”
A small, unimpressive fireball shot from his hand and traveled toward the target. It lacked power, but it could reach the distance, and that was all it needed to do.
Whoosh—boomp.
It struck the damp ground beside the pole. He missed.
The flying fireball and the impact was enough to give his position away.
“KRAAAK GOOOORR!” one of the goblins shrieked, pointing at Theo with its short sword.
“TRAAAKK!” the others answered, breaking formation as they surged forward.
Theo felt his grip tighten as the noise rushed toward him, his aim starting to waver.
“Relax,” Tara muttered. “Take a steady breath.”
“C’mon, boss,” David added, voice calm but firm. “You were hittin’ that hound’s head while it was movin’. This one ain’t even movin’.”
That was true. His target wasn’t moving this time, only the goblins were. Theo forced himself to ignore the shouting, drew in a deep breath, then exhaled.
“Fireball!”
The second shot flew cleanly through the dark, passing over the advancing goblins before striking the ground directly beneath the white cloth.
FWOOOOSH.
The moment it hit, the small flame erupted into a blazing fire. The ditch—packed with dried grass and wood soaked in animal oil and alcohol—caught instantly, the flames spreading across the line as intended.
“Bullseye!” Theo said, clenching his fist.
Tara let out a long sigh. “There goes our stock of buffalo moonshine.”
“Skreee!!!”
The sudden blaze stunned the goblins. Their eyes had already adjusted to the pitch-black, moonless night. The fire hit them all at once, flooding their vision with light and forcing them to recoil as it burned their sight.
“Captain,” David said to Greta.
Greta didn’t hesitate. She brought the horn to her mouth and blew with full force.
VOVOOOOOOOOMMM
“RRAAAAAAAAGHHH!”
The horn’s call rolled across the field, answered immediately by the roar of the soldiers.
From every earth mound, the villagers rose from hiding and took their positions on top. Before, the field had been too dark to see clearly. Now, with the blaze lighting everything, the enemy was fully exposed.
Around sixty to eighty goblins were already in the kill zone.
“Slingers!” Greta’s voice cut across the field. “Commence attack!”
The slingers on the frontmost mounds stepped forward and began to spin their weapons in unison.
Whirr—whirr—whirrr
Each mound held a unit of fifteen slingers under a sergeant, positioned on both sides of the main path. Thirty slingers in total.
“Shoot!” the sergeants commanded.
The stones were released.
Thud Thud Thud Thud Thud
“Skreeee!!”
The goblins hit by the volley went twisted and collapsed, some dying instantly, others screaming as they clutched broken limbs and cracked skulls. The first volley dropped at least twenty goblins.
The goblins being stunned from the sudden light made the hits easy. But that didn’t last long. The goblins began to recover, their vision adjusting as they surged forward, charging toward the figures standing on the mounds ahead. The slingers no longer had stationary targets, now, all the goblins were moving.
“Wind!” the sergeants shouted.
The slingers immediately spun their weapons again.
Whirr—whirr—whirrr
“Shoot!”
Thud Thud Thud Thud Thud
Another volley tore into them. More goblins fell, bodies piling into the dirt. But the remaining goblins didn’t stop, they didn’t even flinch. Instead they kept pushing forward. The reason was simple, because they knew more of them were coming.
From behind, another wave of goblins flooded into the field, forcing the front lines onward. Among them, larger figures pushed through the mass.
Hobgoblins.
"KREEEKH!!" The hobgoblins screeched.
The dozens that had fallen in the first two volleys no longer mattered. Because now, nearly two hundred goblins and hobgoblins were charging straight toward their prey.