After the sun sets, the goblin shaman gathers yet another raiding party, although this one is smaller than the last, which still hasn’t returned yet. Around twenty or so goblins and hobgoblins leave the camp in a whirlwind of screeches and snarls as they go out to hunt.
The goblin camp is much emptier now. Only around two dozen or so goblins and hobgoblins are around, and even fewer are coming and going from the cave.
What happened to the goblins from last night? Are they coming back? I should ask Merrick, he seems to know a lot about goblins.
I turn to the cell next to mine, and the man inside is casually picking at his fingernails with a small stick he found.
“What happened to the goblins that left in the big group last night?”
“They probably died trying to capture some more captives or something. Usually they come back by morning if they have a successful hunt.” He says without looking up from his nails. “Oh, one more thing, we are escaping tomorrow morning.” He nods his head to the top of the cliff that the camp is built up against, gesturing for me to look there.
I look where he wants me to, and without the light of the giant moon, I never would have been able to make out what he wants me to see.
On the top of the cliff overlooking the camp, two heads are poking over the edge, looking right at us. The one on the left looks like a woman with long black hair and a grey tone to her pale skin. She doesn’t look familiar, unlike the man who is right next to her. As I lock eyes with the second person, I can unmistakably tell that it is Daniel I am looking at.
What the hell? Why is Daniel here? I’m glad to see that he survived and wasn’t captured by goblins, but how is he here? I hope that the rest of the passengers were as lucky as him, but my gut tells me that’s unlikely. And who is that woman with him? The resemblance to Merrick is too much to ignore, and I doubt he will give me a straight answer about it.
Daniel gives me a small wave while smiling and then turns to the woman next to him. After a few moments she nods, and they both pull their heads back down, out of sight.
“Merrick, who was that woman? She was with someone Stella and I got initiated with.”
“He’s an initiate too?” He asks with genuine interest in his voice before shaking his head and returning to his usual tone. “And no more questions. All will be revealed tomorrow. Go to sleep and recover as much mana as you can without bursting. You will need it.
Well, that’s about what I expected. I guess I should just do what he says and wait until tomorrow morning. I lay back in my cold and empty cell, feeding enough mana into my skill that I can sleep for a little bit.
This night is just as cold as the previous nights, but it is much quieter with the lack of goblins. I only wake up every two or three hours from the pain of mana building up too much pressure in my body, forcing me to use it so I can go back to sleep.
***
I wake up nearly an hour before the sunrise and spend the time before my fellow captives wake up crystallizing more mana onto my heart. I know it just makes the problem worse down the line, but something tells me if I survive this escape attempt, I should gain a few levels, hopefully solving the problem.
Eventually my cellmate wakes up with a huge yawn, stretching out his arms and legs before he turns to me. “Today’s the big day, Ray! Come here and I’ll let you in on the day's activities.” He says before telling me, and then Stella, his grand plan for gaining our freedom from these goblins.
When Merrick is done talking, I am left with a dumbfounded expression on my face. “That’s your plan?” I ask as I put my hand on my chin. “The worst part is it might even work, with how stupid goblins seem to be.” I rub my chin thoughtfully while saying, “I would like to get more practice with [Space Control], but I think I’m ready. Creating the spatial warp inside that goblin’s head yesterday gave me some insight into what I need to do. And the mana overflowing from my heart should help too.”
Merrick nods, taking on a serious expression. “We have about two hours or so, and my gut tells me you’ll be fine. You’re a natural when it comes to space manipulation. Pushing your skill into another living being, especially one at a higher level than you, is a mark of a high affinity. As long as you have the mana, you can do it.” He says with a surprising amount of encouragement and confidence.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
A small amount of fear and panic starts to grip me like an iron vise as the time closes in, but I manage to push most of it back down.
I need to be calm for this. Is he just saying that? Or am I really some kind of space prodigy? He did mention that initiates get far more powerful than locals tend to. I should be able to do my part when it comes to it.
An hour and a half passes as I sit quietly, keeping my mana from bursting me apart with a constant use of my skill. The second raiding party from last night still has yet to return, giving me a small amount of hope for our mission. There are far fewer goblins coming in and out of the cave too. This causes the remaining ones to become much more agitated, allowing me and my fellow captives a little more freedom, at least in how often we can speak to each other, as the goblins seem to be preoccupied with other tasks.
Soon enough the goblin shaman and its four hobgoblin guards are walking back towards us, the same as the two previous mornings. The goblin leader stops in front of Stella’s cell but quickly moves on after looking down at her for a few seconds, snarling in a way that looks disapproving. It walks to Merrick's cell, studying him as he is leaning against the back poles, with a casual look about him.
It should be any second now. I need to be ready to act fast once I hear the signal.
While I’m standing in the middle of my cell, trying not to look suspicious, and failing, one of the hobgoblins comes over and screeches at me. It walks right up to the cell with a snarl on its face, revealing to me its yellow teeth and rank breath while threatening to stab me with its rusty spear.
That is the exact moment when I hear the two massive explosions and the sounds of wood splintering at the gates to the camp.
That’s the fucking signal? I should have known it would be like this when Merrick said,“You’ll know it when you hear it.” Even when he tells me the plan, he doesn’t tell me the fucking plan. How infuriating.
Everyone in the camp turns to look at one of the two gates, everyone except for me and the insane man in the cell next to mine.
I act as soon as I can after recovering from the sudden sound, using [Space Control] to expand the space between two of my cell bars and sprint through before the goblin realizes what’s happening. I launch myself straight into the side of the hobgoblin that is now turned sideways in front of my cell, looking at the remains of the gate to the left.
It grunts as I tackle it to the floor and maneuver to straddle its back with my legs. The hobgoblin tries to flip himself over using his arms, but I give him no time to complete the action as I fill my arm with mana and grab the back of his head, slamming his face into the floor with impacts that get progressively bloodier. It takes four hits until it stops snarling at me, and seven until I feel the notification and look up at my surroundings.
I can see three people fighting around a dozen goblins and hobgoblins by the left gate, or what used to be the left gate. The entire wooden gate has been blown into a thousand small fragments that now litter the camp. The three are having absolutely no issue cleaving through the small creatures. One of them is using two swords, in full plate armor, moving through the green crowd with ruthless efficiency. Every slash and stab takes off a limb or pierces into the chest of their enemies, never slowing down.
The other two, a man and woman, are standing back, using ranged attacks to kill any goblin trying to get behind the dual-wielding sword user. The man is wearing a dark blue and green robe and was standing with his hands in his pockets, creating cone-shaped projectiles out of the ground between his feet before launching them at any goblin dumb enough to risk fighting them. The female archer is only shooting arrows when she needs to, which is not at all.
I need to focus. Merrick needs me!
I grab the spear of the hobgoblin I just killed as I stand up and turn around to give assistance to my fellow escapee. I see that Merrick is facing the other two hobgoblins, with one dead at his feet, and the shaman running back to the cave entrance at what I imagine is as fast as it can move. Merrick has his back to me, with his looted spear facing his enemies, both wielding two-handed swords. One of them charges forward, swinging his sword in a diagonal slash aimed at Merrick's chest. The grey-skinned man deftly sidesteps the sword, using his spear to trip the legs of his attacker and sending him sprawling right in front of me.
My spear enters the back of the creature's neck before it has a chance to get back up, cutting its movements short. I pull the spear out and move up towards Merrick, who is advancing on the last hobgoblin.
Is that… fear in its eyes? This is the first time I’ve seen anything close to that from a goblin.
The final hobgoblin looks toward both gates. Each has a group of people slaughtering its fellow tribe members. It turns and runs, heading straight for the cave entrance.
“Oh no you don’t,” Merrick says as he lifts his spear into a throwing position.
The spear leaves his hands with such speed and accuracy that it goes nearly halfway through the middle of the goblin's back and out of its chest long before it has any chance of making it to the cave. The hobgoblin dies on the ground with nothing more than a surprised yelp as its final words.
“That’s why I really love spears, you know? It’s much harder to do that with a sword.” He says as he takes in his perfect throw. “Now, let’s meet up with the others.”
Looking around, I see that every goblin in the camp is dead, and four people are moving toward us from the shattered right gate.
That whole fight lasted only fifteen to twenty seconds. These guys are fast.