The sound of goblin 'conversations' grows louder as the light of their torches approaches. Soon they enter my spatial range, walking in a loose group, spear-wielding goblins at the front and sides, with archers and the few hobgoblins leading them at the rear. I count them as soon as they enter my range: seventeen spear goblins, eight archers, and six hobgoblins, all wearing nothing but simple animal skin loincloths. The hobgoblins all wield swords, pretty rusty and beat up from what I can tell, which it seems is the standard for goblin equipment. I relay their numbers and equipment to Daniel through our communication amulets and wait for the group to walk a bit further into our trap.
I go over the plan one more time in my head, running through the different scenarios and backup plans we created, waiting for my time to strike. They move slowly and loudly, probably used to being the most dangerous creatures in this area by virtue of numbers alone. Let’s change that.
The raiding party keeps following the road, right past the tree I’m hiding in, completely unaware of what’s to come.
“Standby for the rift.” I whisper, letting Daniel know he is up soon.
I lock on to and start connecting two points in space. The first is right in front of Daniel, for the wide-area shotgun blast he made specifically for this, to kill a lot of weak enemies at once. The second point in space is the output, and I place it right above the biggest group of goblins, the archers and hobgoblins.
The rift snaps into place, reinforced by my mana to keep it stable enough to last.
I whisper into the amulet, soft enough for only Daniel to hear. “Fire.”
***
POV Daniel
“Fire.”
I hear the word I’ve been waiting for and let the shot I’ve been priming with [Metal Manipulation] rip free from the tube in my gauntleted hand, swiftly disappearing into the rift right in front of me. A crack echoes out through the forest as the pellets break the speed of sound, tearing through the air towards their targets. I designed the launch tube on this one to give the pellets a wide spread, hopefully taking down a lot of the green menaces at once. The sound of goblin screeching fills the air, and I feel several new notifications pop up, both telling me the shot was a success.
“Clean hit, goblins are confused. Clear to reposition to location 2.” Comes through the amulet around my neck, letting me know it’s time to move.
I move in a low crouch, at the edge of Ray’s spatial sense range, making sure to be as silent as possible. I reach the second position in a few seconds, taking out the next tube while pulling mana from my gauntlet, getting ready for the next volley.
I see the next rift form in front of me, a wavy distortion floating in the air like a mirage. My body tenses as my skill waits to be released, pressure slowly building as I feed it more mana.
“Fire.”
With another crack, I launch the pellets into the rift, trusting Ray to get them where they need to go. More goblin screams ring out, these ones much angrier than the previous screams, likely coming from the bigger hobgoblins.
“Clean hit, all archers are down. Goblins are starting to scatter. Get ready for another shot.”
I grab the next tube from my bandolier, the second to last one, and wait for the signal.
“Fire.” Comes through the amulet a few seconds later, just after a new rift pops open.
More screeching, followed by more notifications, making me crack a small smile. The only thing that could make this easier would be air support.
“Three hobgoblins are closing in on you. Ready a shot with high penetration.”
I take out one of the ‘sniper’ bullets I made. It’s about a half an ounce of steel shaped into a small spike with fins for stabilization. I drain the rest of the mana in my gauntlet, letting my skill build up almost twice as much power as I used in the earlier shots.
I hear footsteps closing in on me, running through bushes and breaking twigs in a straight path towards me. Their screeches get louder, clearly pissed at being beaten in such an unfair way, storming towards the last place they heard noise from. My heart thunders in my chest, my legs scream at me to run away from the approaching enemy, but I don’t. I trust Ray. I know he sees all of this, like some kind of mission overwatch, and he’ll tell me to run if I need to run.
A rift opens in front of me, and once again I hear that fateful word, “Fire.” I let my payload loose and hear it rip through the air on the other side of the tree I’m hiding behind. The notifications come in along with another message from Ray.
“Got two with that. The last one is yours. I’m starting the cleanup of any remaining goblins over here."
“Acknowledged, engaging any stragglers.” I say into my amulet, finally done with the sneaking around part of the plan.
I grab my hammer from my belt, running my skill through it as soon as it’s in my grip. Just like my gauntlets and armor, it feels like a part of me. I know where it’s at and its general condition as long as I maintain some kind of contact with it.
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I step out from behind the tree, facing the last remaining hobgoblin that tried to rush me. It’s looking down at the floor in front of it, at the two bodies of its former kin, mangled from the round that tore through them. They must have been running in a straight line, as the heads of the first two are completely missing, while the third one is covered in their blood and brain matter. It looks like he lived because he was shorter than the other two, the shot likely passing over his head after killing his companions.
The hobgoblin looks at me with rage in its eyes, letting out a guttural roar as it raises its sword and charges straight for me. I step forward into its swing, putting my left gauntlet in the way of the blade, catching it before it connects with my head. My hand closes around the blade. My grip strength, enhanced with [Metal Manipulation], is more than enough to clamp down on the blade, ensuring it does no harm to me.
I pull the blade down with a sharp yank, getting the sword out of the way and throwing the hobgoblin off balance. My hammer crashes into the side of its head with an extra boost from my skill, the spike piercing several inches deep, killing the beast instantly.
I hear the pitter-patter of small goblin feet all around me, most likely fleeing, so I run towards the closest ones. My hammer rains down blow after blow on the little green terrors, never taking more than one hit to kill. I swing until the forest is quiet, and I hear no more signs of any goblins.
“All clear over here. Returning to the tree.” I say into the amulet, picking up the swords from the dead hobgoblins on my way.
***
POV Ray
I wipe my sword off on the last hobgoblin's loincloth. It never saw it coming, literally. I opened a rift behind it and stabbed it in the neck, all while it was trying to climb the tree. I stand up and take in the carnage around me. Goblins lay dead everywhere, over two dozen of them. Bodies missing heads, arms, legs, and entire sections of their torsos. Turns out what is basically a shotgun works really well on goblins, especially when they have no idea what is happening.
Daniel meets back up with me at the tree I was hiding in, blood spattered all over the front of him.
“It went well over here, I assume?” He says while taking in the aftermath of our fight. “Too well, maybe. A good sign of what’s to come, I hope. Did any get away?”
“Yeah, a few ran off into the woods before I could get them, so we should move fast before they can tell the camp and get ready for us.”
“Agreed. Do you need any prep time? My mana levels are good. I barely tapped into my internal reserves.”
“No, I only opened a few rifts. I have plenty of mana.” I say with a small smirk on my face.
“Yeah, yeah, I get it, your heart produces enough mana to kill you. No need to brag.” Daniel teases.
“So, off to the main camp, then?”
“Lead the way.”
We leave the battlefield. Torches that were quickly abandoned as the first shots rang out still flicker on the forest floor behind us. I lead us through the dark forest back to the clearing with the goblin camp. Everything is as quiet as it should be. The camp is mostly dark, with only a few torches burning on the inside, and no goblins on watch or patrol by the looks of it. I circle us around to the opposite side of the camp from the gate and start towards the wall under the cover of darkness.
The giant moon in the sky lets off just enough light to see, not that I need eyes to navigate, though. We make it to the wall unseen and unheard by any goblins inside. My spatial senses flow past the walls and into the camp, mapping out everything they reach.
I see a few buildings, all made of wood with a thatch-like material for the roof. I walk along the perimeter of the wall, crouching and moving slowly to remain unnoticed. Most buildings are small shacks, filled with sleeping goblins or what looks like dried meat and other food supplies. I can see the walls of what looks like a larger central structure, but I can't reach it with my current range limits. A quick plan takes root in my mind, and I tell Daniel through the communication amulet.
“I’m going to set fire to a few buildings and try to cause chaos inside. You should wait by the gate for any stragglers or runners.”
“Copy. Keep me updated on anything new. Good luck.” I hear back a few seconds later.
I get into a good spot where my spatial senses cover a few torches and buildings. I start creating rifts, one above a torch and another just under the roof of the building I want to catch fire. It ignites easily and starts spreading fast, so I move to the next rift and the next one after that. In just a few seconds three shacks are ablaze, and I’m moving to get the rest as well.
By the time I start the next round of fires, goblins are already awake and moving, screaming and screeching while pointing at the fires. Many rush towards the water pit near the front gate, grabbing buckets of water, hoping to save their homes.
The rest of the buildings, save for the central one, which I can't reach, are set on fire as the goblins are distracted by the first few buildings. Then I start picking off goblins in the ensuing chaos, starting with any larger hobgoblins that are in the area, by stabbing them in the neck and back through a rift.
After some of the smarter goblins notice their dead and dying kin on the ground, they start to abandon the fires and form up in several groups. One group heads for the central building, while the other two start to make a break for the gate, hoping to leave the inferno behind.
“Over a dozen goblins are heading to the gate, mostly small ones, but they are being led by a hobgoblin.”
“Copy. I’m ready for ‘em.”
I continue to pick off any stragglers before they can make it to the central building, taking down the last of the hobgoblins before I start to hear the cracks of small pellets breaking the sound barrier at the front of the camp.
A few of the small ones, maybe five or six, make it into the central building before I can finish them off. My mana is starting to run low, so I follow the wall back around to meet up with Daniel.
The gate is a bloodbath, just as bad as the one we left earlier. Goblins lay on the ground, ripped apart like a crazed animal got to them. Daniel stands off to one side, leaning against the wall. His hammer drips with blood, as does his entire left gauntlet. It looks like he shoved it all the way into one of them, and by looking at the carnage around us, he might have.
“Is any of that blood yours?” I ask, surprised at how much blood he is covered in. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think he did it on purpose.
“Not a drop.” His mouth moves to show his glee. “What’s the situation inside? I only have enough mana for a few shots, so we might have to shift strategies.”
“Only a few survived, and they all moved to the central building. I couldn’t get close enough to scout it out, but I never saw anyone leave it, and I never laid eyes on the shaman. I’m willing to bet that the shaman and her guards are grouped up with the last goblins inside.”
“Well, let’s get moving then, yeah?”
I nod my head and walk into the camp, the flicker of flames lighting my path.