“Keep running!” Sion shouted. “Trust the… Hearth Mother.”
Richter kept his gaze on the prisoners for another few moments. If they didn’t make the tree line, they would be dead as soon as the goblins caught up with them. His jaw firmed, though. Sion was right. He couldn’t keep making the same mistake of trying to do everything himself. He had to trust his allies. His arrogance that he knew better than anyone else had caused deaths in the past. The chaos seed wouldn’t make that mistake again.
They kept running.
The ground lit up with the red glows of his traps, easily seen by the entire war party thanks to Richter’s position as Scout. Damien and Sion ran well clear of the hidden snares and made it to the tree line. About twenty sprites were outside of the trees hurrying the prisoners along. Richter ran into the trees, following the icon that showed Hisako’s position. Yoshi was with her.
“We have to help these people,” Richter gasped as he stopped running. “The goblins will be here in minutes!”
“Peace,” Hisako said soothingly. “Peace and calm. They are already safe. We did not sit idly by while you were in harm’s way.”
She quickly filled him in. After the strike team had left, she had sent sprites to observe the encampment from afar. One of those sharp-eyed sentries had seen the prisoners making their way along the riverbed. Once they were spotted, a group of fifty sprites had run forward out of hiding to help the captives. It was a risk, but a calculated one. If the captives were effectively hidden by the river bank, then the sprites should be as well. All of the captives had been brought safely back to the woods. Hisako had already cast mass healing and cure disease spells. Apparently, some of the captives had even asked for weapons so that they could join the fight.
“Then why did I see-” Richter began, but then it clicked. It was a trick. Hisako had figured out the same thing that he had. There needed to be an enticement for the goblins to rush towards the tree line. She had given it to them. The chaos seed had no doubt that the “stragglers” outside of the trees were prisoners that had volunteered to fight. They were risking their lives to draw the goblins into a trap. After seeing the conditions the captives had been kept in, it was not difficult to imagine the anger they must feel. Some of them were most likely scarred for life, but others would probably sacrifice anything to spill the black blood of their former captors. Richter also had a feeling that the weapons and armor of the slain goblins would be put to good use soon.
Hisako smiled faintly at seeing the light of realization in his eyes. Her joy was short-lived. The peal of a goblin’s horn stopped any further conversation. It was so loud that without looking Richter knew that the goblins had crested the final hill. The sounds of dozens then hundreds of screaming goblin voices rose into the air. Hisako looked at Richter and said, “It is time.”
CHAPTER 37 – Day 141 – Kuborn 31, 15,386 EBG
The “stragglers,” who had been moving with exaggerated slowness, picked up speed as they made their way back into the trees. They still played into the image of wounded captives, though, limping and struggling. It was like blood in the water. The goblins howled and rushed forward, eager for slaughter. The sprites outside of the trees also played into the deception. They shouted in alarm and started firing imbued shots into the goblin horde while they backed up. Seeing as how there were only a dozen sprites visible, though, their attack looked like they were throwing pebbles at a green avalanche. Though a few goblins fell, the overall effect was minimal. The only deaths were actually caused by the fallen being trampled by their comrades who surged over them as they thirsted for blood.
A specific sequence blasted out from a goblin horn. The goblins advanced. The group was entirely comprised of scouts and fighters. The sprites hidden in the trees readied their shots. Hisako had already noted ranging landmarks, and every sprite awaited her order, just inside the tree line. If the goblins had stopped for even a moment, they might have spotted their hated enemies, but they were blinded by bloodlust.
The lead edges of the enemy advance crossed a large rock that was two hundred and fifty yards away. Richter knew that the sprites could fire accurately at that range, but still, the Hearth Mother waited. Hisako watched as the goblins passed the two hundred yard mark, but still she held. Another two seconds passed, then, with a face that could have been cast from steel, she completed a quick casting. A high-pitched whistle shot through the air, and over three hundred bow strings launched as one.
The first volley was not imbued, and neither was the second or the third. The arrows were nearly invisible in the early dawn light. In the space of seconds, almost a thousand arrows sailed through the air. The goblins at the front of the pack had time for a moment of terrified realization before arrows plunged into their chests, limbs, necks and faces.
The opening salvo of the battle claimed the lives of almost one hundred enemy soldiers and injured almost twice that number. Hisako nodded to Yoshi, who raised a sprite horn to his lips. In contrast to the squealing clamor of the goblin horns, this instrument let loose a pealing note that sounded like the lilting call of a bird. Ta-Rii, Ta-Rii.
All of the anger, hatred, and bloodlust the goblins had been feeling was replaced by fear as they saw the distinctive blue glow. From birth, the green-skinned soldiers were told stories of the evil forest rats and their horrible magic arrows. Seeing hundreds of imbuements at once was like seeing their worst nightmare made real.
The goblin commander ordered shield units prepared with a curse. Centuries of battling the sprites had proven what tactics worked against the sprites and which didn’t. Time and again, goblins had been able to win battles if they could close the distance to melee range and overwhelm the sprites with superior numbers. Heqht-jo also knew that as destructive as the imbued arrows could be, each sprite had a limited mana pool. If he could get them to waste most of their magic against the shields of his forces, then he could crush them. Some goblins would most definitely die while that was happening, but that was what battle fodder was for.