The goblin that activated the Razor Web Trap disappeared into a bloody, black mist. Soldiers of Stone had greatly increased the natural armor of the goblins, but it still wasn’t enough to protect against a rapidly expanding mass of impossibly sharp, metallic strands that would put Hellraiser to shame. It shied away from the reinforced mail of the goblins and failed to penetrate shields, but there were hundreds of thin wires shooting forward at the speed of an arrow. Dozens of goblins had their bodies pierced, leaving chains of impaled enemy soldiers. Any movement caused the razor webbing to rip larger holes into the goblins. Even those that avoided initial injury found it impossible to escape the AoE of the trap without slicing their bodies open.
Richter had also placed two Constricting Web Traps. Though not the most destructive, they may have been the most horrifying. The range of these traps was also much larger than the others. Both traps shot strands out for twenty yards in all directions. At first, it just looked like an explosion of webs, and over a hundred goblins were trapped in both. Then, the white strands started moving.
They stretched and searched, wrapping themselves tighter around anyone unlucky enough to be caught inside of them. The chaos seed saw one goblin on the periphery trying to escape. Only his leg had been stuck with the white strands, but the webs pulled him back in towards the center of the trap. The last sight Richter caught of him was his face being completely wrapped in white like a mummy. An indentation where the goblin’s mouth would be yawned open, the fighter trying to scream even as he asphyxiated. Then he was drawn further back into the gooey mass of threads, buried alive.
The final trap was the most devastating. Richter remembered that he had found it closest to the assengai queen when penetrating her lair. The strands of the Acidic Web Trap were brown and each dripped thick fluid that sizzled when it touched the group. The radius was only ten feet, but the strands started dissolving what they touched immediately. The goblins caught in the trap started screaming as the acid ate through their armor, skin, and muscles. One fighter was struck by a vertical thread on his head. The strand ate through his body until he fell in two halves, each with its own arm and leg.
The goblins’ attack was destroyed. Those not caught in the traps were just looking around in confusion and panic. Not only did the ensnarement and death of more than two hundred of the advancing goblins halt the advance, the traps made sections of the field impassable. Anyone, goblin, sprite, or human that entered one of the AoE’s of the traps would find a quick death. Once more, the pealing calls of the sword adept’s horn rung out, and three hundred blue lights appeared. This time, when the shots fell on the goblins, no shield wall was erected. The shots also were much more concentrated as the sprites only had to aim at the spaces between the traps. The magically enhanced bodies of the goblins succumbed to the rain of imbued arrows, some even bursting from the intense forces being directed at them.
Heqht-jo screamed in rage. The first two salvos of the battle were over, and the goblins had been beaten soundly. The commander had allowed his forces to be ambushed not once, but twice. His vision began to tint with red and his Profession asserted itself. The Rage of a Professed Barbarian took over. He would not be embarrassed by forest rats! With a guttural cry, the Barbarian ordered an all-out assault. The mercenaries were finally called up from his reserve. Despite the losses his army had suffered, he still had a superior force, and the sprites had to be nearly out of mana. He would see the ground drenched in their blood!
The Druid, Radg-or, tried to counsel the war leader, but Heqht-jo drew his massive war axe and started running forward. Goblin horns pealed shrilly, and the horde surged forward. The final assault of the Battle of Henakot’s Valley had finally begun.
CHAPTER 38 – Day 141 – Kuborn 31, 15,386 EBG
Richter looked at the sea of enemies coming towards them in the dawn light. The enemy commander had apparently gotten tired of strategy. He just planned to overwhelm them. Though perhaps that was a strategy in and of itself. He didn’t have any tricks up his sleeve, and the sprites’ mana was mostly depleted. Hundreds of the enemy had been killed, but the goblins still outnumbered them. From what Richter could see, it was mostly scouts and a smattering of fighters that had been slain, the weakest of the goblins’ forces. Fear began to flutter in his heart.
The chaos seed was not concerned for himself, but for his people. Even if they won the day, many would die. Hisako’s magical roots couldn’t save all of them, even if she was willing to expend the precious herbs. Caulder and Terrod ordered his melee fighters to move forward, with the idea of meeting the goblins while they exited the one clear space between the spider traps, no more than fifty yards across. Bottlenecking the enemy should improve their chances. Still, Richter couldn’t help but think of the names he would have to carve into the village memorial by the end of the day, and his heart beat wildly in his chest. Then he felt a soft touch.
Hisako walked in front of him, putting her body between him and the looming battle. The Hearth Mother had a sympathetic look on her face. “I know what troubles you. Believe in your people, and the choices they can make. We are only lost when we believe the evil of this world is beyond our ability to defeat it. Will you stand with me, Lord Richter, to preserve all that is good?”
Richter saw no bloodlust in her face, only love and resolve. Beyond her, he saw the face of his best friend looking at him with a slight smile and a promise in his eyes, that Richter would never be alone again. Then the chaos seed looked at his people, bravely standing against the goblins. He drew his elementum short sword, and said, “You never need ask.” Richter ran to fight alongside his people.
The sprites began firing again. Yoshi blew his horn, not twice this time, but three times and the sprites poured all of their remaining mana into their shots. For ten seconds, they imbued their arrows while the goblins surged ever closer, then they released. The extra damage from investing their mana caused devastation in the goblin ranks. Dozens of lives were claimed, and an earth-shaking BOOM shook the ground not fifty yards from the front lines of the coalition. The goblins did not even pause. A few seconds later, the battle was joined.
Nothing Richter had ever seen or heard before prepared him for the CRUNCH of hundreds of men and women slamming together like a hammer against an anvil. Neither the goblins nor the collected races of Richter’s forces were made of metal, however; they were only clothed in it. Blood, both black and red, flew into the air and screams rose on both sides. His forces held, though. They held!