“I think you will survive for another twenty minutes,” Shade chuckled.
“I don’t,” a woman’s voice whispered and Shade launched to his feet at the sound. The brush behind the goblin exploded with movement as several of the misshapen Blights rushed the creature.
“No!” Shade bellowed as he drew his daggers and sprinted for the goblin. One of the Blights whirled to face him as he approached and he slammed the dagger into its head hilt first to knock it out. He didn’t want to kill them, but he wasn’t about to let them kill his goblin either. “Call them off, please. We don’t want to fight. We are here to talk,” Shade yelled as he kicked another of the Blights back from the goblin.
The small creature trilled with alarm and scampered toward him. Its huge black eyes were wide with terror, and it obviously had no desire to fight.
“I hate it when dinner tries to chat,” the woman sighed with an amused tone in her voice.
“I was sent to negotiate peace with your people. Please! I don’t want to fight you,” Shade pleaded as he pulled the goblin toward him and kicked back another Blight. Claws tore through the leather of his boot, shredding the flesh beneath, but he didn’t spare time to even glance at the wound. Three more of the creatures were already closing on him and the goblin was attempting to scramble up his back to escape them. “Really, I know you are scared, but this is just not helping,” Shade snarled as he pulled the goblin from his hip and tossed it upward toward a tree limb. “Stay up there,” he commanded as he dropped to a crouch to face the closest Blight.
“I’ve never seen anything protect a goblin. You are a strange one, Dinner,” the woman observed from the shadows behind him.
“I greatly prefer to be called Shade. Dinner just doesn’t suit me,” Shade said. The Blight in front of him lunged as he spoke and he sidestepped gracefully then kicked it in the butt as it passed to ensure it wouldn’t be back to attack him for at least a few breaths. The remaining two Blights attacked together coming at him from both sides and Shade dodged one and grabbed the other by its spindly arm. Twisting he used the creatures momentum to hurl it into its comrade and danced back as they fell in a tangled heap. The one he had kicked in the butt was closing on him again and he shook his head with frustration. “Look, I don’t want to fight, and I am trying not to hurt these guys, but I am running out of options quickly,” he called toward the Shadows where the woman’s voice had originated.
“Then die and solve both of our problems. They are hungry and you are food. It’s nothing personal, it’s simply the food chain,” the woman replied calmly from the other side of the clearing.
“I’ve got some lovely stew cooking. Call them off and I’ll give everyone a bowl,” Shade offered in gasps as he dodged the creature once more and kicked it toward its companions. The wound in his leg was starting to burn and he glanced down at it quickly. Blood had soaked his pant leg and the gashes didn’t look to be healing as quickly as they should have.
The woman laughed somewhere to his right as all three Blights charged him. “You look so dismayed. Did you expect to be healing? I suppose it is a bit of a shock if you regenerate, but we learned that lesson with the Shifters. They heal too fast so we adapted. Fortunately for us we learned about Tevrae through scanning minds. Sorry, Dinner, but you won’t be healing today.” Her voice was mocking and Shade felt panic rise with her words.
“Bloody hell,” Shade muttered as he dropped to the ground to dodge the first blow and spun his leg to trip the next Blight before it could attack. If the creatures had Tevrae on their claws there was only so long he could continue to fight defensively. He had known the mission would be dangerous, but with Tevrae involved it wasn’t just dangerous it could possibly be fatal.
A squeal of alarm rang through the clearing and Shade caught movement in the trees above. The goblin trilled again as the branch it clung to swayed dangerously. Shade barely saw a glimpse of the Blight closing on the goblin before his attention was drawn back to his own problems. Scrambling back he dodged the third Blight’s attack and felt one of the other two slam into his back. Claws tore through his leather vest and deep into his flesh before he could break away. His goblin squealed again and this time its voice was laced with pain. “Stop!” he screamed as the Blight threw the goblin from the tree and landed on top of it, claws raised for the death blow.
He hadn’t truly expected anything to come from the word, but to his amazement all of the Blights in the clearing had frozen in place. Shade blinked in confusion, looking from Blight to Blight as he tried to determine what exactly had just happened. He hadn’t used any magic, but the creatures had stopped at his command. They stared at him now with wide eyes and backed away from the fight.
“What the hell?” Shade muttered as he relaxed his posture and watched the Blights in complete confusion.
“Morcaillo,” the woman hissed and slammed into his back. Claws raked at him as he spun desperately trying to dislodge her. “You think you can make us your slaves again?” the woman snarled as she tore into him once more. He caught a glimpse of her at last, and his breath caught in his throat. She was beautiful with dark hair and soft green eyes, but it wasn’t the beauty that had stolen his breath. It was the expression of pure and utter hatred that covered her face. Never before had he witnessed such rage in any creature.
“I don’t want a slave,” Shade gasped as he frantically tried to break free of her attack. “I am here to make peace with you.” He barely managed to gasp the words before her claws found his flesh once more.