The Grand Catastrophe

…

It was slightly later in the day when they arrived at the edge of the forest. All the goblin troop was there. With their leader dishing out orders of who was to do what. They would be sending out a group of them to scout the area around the places where they would be going.

Nfirea wasn’t all too sure on what happened after he had passed out. Yet, now he was here, ready to collect the herbs that he needed. It had been slightly embarrassing, yet now he was fine. The feelings had worn off rather quick with the woman he loved fussing over him like she had been earlier.

Nfirea looked deep into the woods that he had ventured into for most of his life. He was somewhat ignoring the sounds around him. Lost in thought, he nearly missed it when Enri started talking.

“Okay everyone, let’s hope that we don’t run into anything,” she said, turning to Nfirea, “Nfirea, we’re counting on you!” she exclaimed.

This was when one of the goblins flexed his muscles, telling him to flex his knowledge and masculine charm. Nfirea didn’t really know what to do. So, he simply went with his gut.

“If you do run into any danger, just leave it to me and my potions,” she said with a smile, trying and partially succeeding.

She flushed. Her face taking on a slightly red hue. Though, she seemed flustered as well as confused. She simply tilted her head to the side, ignoring her reddened face to look at him confusedly.

“Okay…” she muttered, and began their trek into the woods.

He shook his head slightly. More disappointed in himself than anything. The goblin warrior sighed at this. He shook his own head slightly. He knew very little of what was going on in the kid’s head, but he wanted the two of them to get together.

As they continued through the woods, Nfirea looked around the area, trying and failing to see any of the special herb they needed. Enri did so as well, but with even worse results. She wasn’t completely used to this. She had really only gone on a few treks into the woods before, her parents had allowed it a few times.

Yet now, they were gone. She basically ruled the village in all but name. It was a bit of a startling shift. She shook off the feeling of dread that had started to creep its way up her spine. Now wasn’t the time to do so.

She looked over to the man that she considered her best friend. The one she considered a shoulder to lean on and was dazzled. Light from the sun broke through the leaves of the trees.

They danced around his head. It made it appear as if he wore a crown of light. The light also illuminated his frame. Making her realize just how lean and undoubtedly strong his frame had become after living in the village. She blushed as she caught his gaze as his eyes wandered over to her.

She looked away, to the trees and plants that were around them. Though, while couldn’t see him now, she could hear him. A lightly uttered word hit her ears, sending a blush down her neck.

“It’s like she was carved her marble by the gods,” he uttered in slight reverence.

Her blush deepened even more as she felt his eyes wander over her. She very much would like to think about anything else at this moment. So, she let her gaze look to anything else. That was when she noticed the herbs that they had been looking for.

“Oh look! There they are!” she called out, and the rest of the party looked to where she was pointing, including Nfirea.

He nodded his head, happy that said herbs were finally found. He had been rather distracted by Enri. Enough so that he had completely missed said herb. He sighed as he ran up to them. He then began picking them after he checked if they truly were the right ones.

As he did so, he could feel a pair of eyes on his back. He ignored this, as he was fairly certain that it was nothing. Yet it wasn’t nothing.

It was Enri looking upon him as his arms moved. She looked at him as his hands moved in the dirt, and plucked the weeds that they needed. His fingers moved with grace. His face slightly glittered with sweat.

‘If he can do that with his fingers in the dirt, what can he do with his fingers, in other places? What do those hands do?’ she asked herself, and found herself blushing.

So, she looked back down and began to pick all the weeds that they needed. It was about an hour or two later that they stopped. Their back packs were filled to the brim with herbs. Their hands had worked thew soil so much that they had been stained purple.

Nfirea looked up from his work. His face was stained with dirt. He spoke then, mind tired from all the work.

“Okay everyone, I think we have enough for now. Let’s head back and rest. These herbs should be worked tomorrow,” he said aloud.

The goblins that had been standing guard turned to him with smiles, and began to walk back with the two of them. Yet, it was then change struck. The guards then heard a voice, panting to be specific. The goblins turned, pointing their weapons to the sound as they herded their charges behind a tree.

There, coming from the woods, was a small goblin. The boy looked rather roughed up. His skin was pale. His body was gaunt. He was bleeding a lot as well. He then ran, he ran behind a tree, looking like he was hiding from something.

Enri made to go and aid the poor boy. Yet one of her goblins held out an arm to stop her. He shook his head, then turned back to the goblin child as a monster walked out of the forest as well.

“It may be hard to watch, but this is how it goes sometimes. The weak getting eaten by the strong,” he whispered, and Enri turned to Nfirea.

“That’s a Barghest. It’s a rather dangerous monster. I don’t know if we would win,” he whispered to her; then she used her most powerful weapon to get him to help the child, her puppy dog eyes.

He sighed and whispered something under his breath. He pulled a selection of poisons and potions from his pack at his waist. The goblins looked at him with slight apprehension. Then, they changed their tune as he got ready to go after the beast.

“Guys, lets kill it. We most definitely want to know why a goblin is out here, so close to home and being chased by a Barghest. You guys jump out, and protect the child. Then, I’ll hit it with a poison,” he said, and the others nodded their assent.

Then they jumped out from the cover. They yelled all the while. The Barghest growled at them. Its eyes roved over their number, with Nfirea staying behind the tree roots.

They jumped, and struck at the beast. It flinched back as their weapons landed blows upon it. While none of the blows made it bleed, it still angered it. The warriors landed in front of the boy as the beast snarled once more.

Yet, just as it was about to jump forward, his legs were hit by something. The beast looked down. His feet had been hit by some sort of potion. It stuck to him like glue. The beast could no longer move, he was in danger.

“Strike it now! It might break out soon!” Nfirea called out, and the goblin fighters struck.

They rung blow upon blow at the beast. Yet, it still stood. Blood was oozing from the thing; a panting could be heard coming from it. It then lashed out, a horizontal strike running out at the goblins. They hadn’t reacted in time, and the stress had gotten to Enri.

“Duck!” she yelled out, and the goblins did so.

The battle continued for all but five seconds as Nfirea threw another potion. The bottle broke against the beast’s skin. The acid inside melting its skin.

It cried out in pain, the beast panting harder. The last attack of the battle was struck, Jugem the leader of the troop lashed out with his sword, cutting the throat of the beast. It fell over, dead.

…