Chương 59: Chapter Fifty-Nine: Fiery Surprise

FIFTY-NINE Six climbers turned to blazing torches in the blink of an eye. The ogres staggered back, roaring in displeasure, but it wasn't enough to drown at the screams of burning men and women. Roan looked to see the pulsing, glowing stone in the dark forest. Already it was fading, but it marked where the shaman was at.

"Darren, we're dead if that shaman stays alive," Roan said, already sliding toward its position. Darren cursed but barked out orders as a new rearguard formed, then the man was running besides him. Roan could feel the difference instantly as he started to pull ahead. Even at near full speed Darren couldn't keep up with him. But in the dark of the cluttered forest, the man's bloodline made its worth known. Increased perception allowed him to navigate the area with ease instead of running face first into a tree.

Roan let him take the lead, slowing down and following his shadowy figure as they ran toward the shaman." Will need some way to see in the dark. And a ranged attack." Roan catalogued his weaknesses as a goblin leapt at him. Its dagger cut him above the hip, but he swatted it out of the air and into a tree with a sickening crack. Hot blood ran over his leg as he continued to run after Darren.

The other man slipped and dodged the ambushes with ease, leaving the goblins confused as Roan ran into them like a freight train." Not as flashy as Taoya, but it's a powerful ability," Roan conceded to himself. Five goblins died to his hammer by the time they reached where the shaman had been. The forest area was empty but the smell of woodsmoke hung in the air. All the screaming had blissfully ended as the six climbers had collapsed.

"It's close," Darren whispered, head tracking back and forth like a bloodhound. His sword led him, extended outward as he slowly moved away from the site of the battle. Roan crouched instinctively, trying to move slower, smoother, as he searched for the hiding shaman. Red light burned away the darkness. Roan threw himself to the side even as Darren shouted a warning. A bolt of flame splashed the area Roan had just stood and trees exploded as flames climbed their trunks.

Grass burned around him as Roan rolled to a stop, popped to his feet, and ran toward the shaman. Darren had rolled the opposite way but had the same idea, the two of them closing in on the shaman in a rapidly closing V. An ogre lunged out of the tree in front of Roan, its wide club filling his view.

"Fuck!" Roan spat as he dropped into a slide. The thick grass was slick enough he slid a few feet past the ogre which was slowly turning around to face him." Shouldn't have forgotten about them!" Roan scolded himself as he looked over to see Darren backpedaling as the other ogre came after him. Further in the forest the fiery gem began to glow." Bad position to be in. Kill the ogre and run." The voice in his head urged him to run, abandon Darren, and try to escape before he was pinned down and immolated.

He pushed that voice away, he had made his choice and he wasn't going to break his word. Roan dodged around the slow footed ogre and rushed toward the shaman before they could fire again. Instincts warned him, a shift of the air or perhaps the quiet grunt of effort, but he jumped to the side and fell to his knees in a slide. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

The ogre's club sailed by him tumbling end over end until it cracked into a tree trunk and exploded in a spray of wooden shrapnel. Bits of wood peppered his face and arms as he stumbled back to his feet, stumbling forward as he regained his balance. The glow began again, pushing back the darkness as the shaman began to prepare for its next attack. Roan sprinted, digging deep as he flew through the forest, rearing back and bringing his hammer around in a massive swing at the partially revealed shaman.

A pulse of light flared from the staff and a shield of glowing light wrapped around the shaman in a concave shell. Roan watched as the metal of the warhammer hit the shield in a flare of bright light that seared his eyes. Heat washed over him as the shield burst in a flare of light, grass becoming embers and ash instantly. Roan's skin tightened and burned from the heat blast. Spots danced in his eyes as he blinked rapidly, trying to blink it away as he got closer to the shaman.

Its gem was dull now, just remnants of light left in its depths as Roan closed in on it. The shaman reached for a knife with its free hand, but it was too slow. He swung the warhammer and the spike punched through its spindly chest. It straightened, coughed a spray of black blood, and died. Lumbering footsteps warned him and Roan found himself rolling across the ground again, having to leave the warhammer spiked into the shaman's chest.

He got to his feet and drew the sword in a smooth motion as the ogre wide haymaker hit a burning tree. Leaves fell in burning showers as a terrible crack filled the air. Slowly the tree tipped to the side and hit the ground with a rumble. The ogre bellowed and shook its head as it turned to look at Roan. In the dim light of burning embers it looked demonic rather than monstrous. Red light danced raced up and down its long tusks as it lowered its head and started toward Roan like a heavyweight fighter.

"Shit," Roan muttered, feeling underarmed with only the short sword. He glanced over toward the dead shaman and wished he had the reach of the warhammer. Roan waited for the ogre to take a step forward, its wide swing tore through the air in a howl. He ducked under the swing and slashed at the elbow, tearing through skin and tendon instantly. Black blood ran down Roan's face as he darted closer to the ogre. The blade was a whirlwind as he cut it apart.

Preternaturally sharp steel sliced apart the flesh of the ogre with ease, but there was a lot of ogre. It swung back and forth with wide ham fists that threatened to take his head if it clipped him. Roan slashed and cut, trying to whittle the big monster down. In the distance he heard the fighting of Darren and the other ogre. There were plenty of roars of frustration mingled with pain. The other man hadn't fled either.

With how skilled he was at moving through the woods it would have been easy for him to abandon Roan. Seconds turned to minutes as Roan continued to slice and cut, sweat rolling into his eyes, mixed with ogre blood to partially blind him. Roan jumped backward and wiped at his eyes, dancing further as the ogre came after him on unsteady feet. With its many wounds it was slowing quickly, its strength fading quickly.

Roan cleared his eyes and stepped into the ogres reach, slicing apart its kneecap after ducking another wild haymaker. The ogre collapsed slowly, as if it couldn't imagine its body failing it. The sword continued to scream through the air, slicing more and more of the creature apart as its howls became pitiful.

"Too tough for its own good," Roan muttered as it finally died. Too strong, too tough, too slow, too thick-witted. Anyone with good training and proper weapons would dismantle the slow moving ogres, but Roan could see the danger of them with groups of the fast goblins around them hemming someone in. Roan took the two necklaces and the shaman's staff, retrieved his warhammer and worked towards the clash between Darren and his own opponent.

It took a minute for him to see the ogre and he saw that Darren had taken the same strategy that he had. Blood and bone hung from the massive beast, Darren's skill with a sword apparent as he continued to dismantle it with mechanical precision.

"Don't have to like him to admit he's decent with a sword," Roan muttered as he checked around himself to ensure he wasn't going to get stabbed in the kidney. There were no other goblins rushing toward him as he looked at the ogre.

"He's mine. Just watch my back," Darren said, knowing exactly when Roan started toward them.

"Hurry it up. We need to get back to the village," Roan said, taking a sip from his canteen and catching his breath. Darren just grunted and picked up the pace, his sword nothing more than a blur.