Chapter 26: Plottin’
All twenty-five of them sat in a circle as Lucas prattled about the nearest northern fortress.
In summary, it had three gates: one on the south side, one on the north, and a third on the west. It was as large as a football pitch, and they estimated at least a hundred goblins were inside.
The sheer number caused a terrible wave of anguish to sweep over the Summoned. Nearly half of them had been wiped out by fifty goblins. Now they had to face a camp that most likely housed twice as many.
Sure, their Aether cores had awakened, and each of them had consumed seven to ten shards, but did that matter?
There were only twenty-five of them, meaning each person would need to kill at least four goblins. For people like Zayn, Lucas, and Claire, that seemed manageable.
’We’re strong.’
For the weaker members, like Cynthia and Kakeru, Lucas might as well have told them, "You’re gonna die."
Running wasn’t an option, though. They had to fight. A direct assault, however, would surely end in defeat.
After lengthy deliberation, they devised a risky plan.
Ever since the first midnight, they’d been wary of the trees and whatever danger they posed. But they also knew how easily the black wood burned.
Their plan was simple: set the camp on fire and smoke the goblins out.
They’d ignite the wall, then hurl burning torches over it. Finally, they’d position themselves outside the gates and slaughter the goblins as they tried to escape.
The only reason they hadn’t tried it before was the risk of destroying the supplies inside—or provoking the trees. Now, they had more supplies than they needed, consumed fewer of them, and had studied the trees enough to know they were entirely passive during the day.
They’d already burned down a southern camp as a test. No retaliation came from the quiescent trees.
Either they couldn’t sense the fire, or they didn’t consider it a threat.
The small group that conducted the experiment had almost been tempted to set one of the trees ablaze as well — maybe even kill one of the bastards. They weren’t that dumb, though. Even curiosity had its limits.
Such a thing would have been tantamount to suicide.
Still, the plan remained viable.
There was also another advantage — one of the main reasons victory didn’t seem entirely impossible: the Relic. It was of the lowest class, Minor, yet the title heavily understated its usefulness.
It allowed the wielder to conjure and launch a fireball. Its power and size depended on how long the spell was charged. Although the fire never spread, its destructive force far surpassed their shoddy swords. A well-placed fireball could easily wipe out ten to fifteen goblins at once.
Claire had been entrusted with the Relic.
She possessed the best aim and eyes like those of an eagle. Not to mention, casting the spell consumed a fair bit of Aether and left its wielder weakened afterward. Even in that state, someone skilled with a bow, like Claire, could still contribute heavily to the battle.
In anyone else’s hands, the Relic would leave them as vulnerable as they had been on the day of their summoning — nearly useless.
Finally, midnight came.
The forest wailed, the ground convulsed, and the sky trembled, bringing their discussion to an abrupt end.