[Time remaining : 08:31:29]
"Brom!"
"Brom you son of a b*tch. Don't leave me."
Ignoring the sounds of his followers being captured Brom continued to run, he was an exalted solider of the Reunited Nations, a member of the New World American forces. They should be honoured to sacrifice themselves so that he could survive, that was the only reason he even agreed to help them.
They had been doing well, after running from the meadow they had encountered another smaller band of goblins, blowing their horns and beating drums in manic glee. They stumbled upon each other in surprise and swiftly descended into violence.
Brom had brought as many able bodied men as possible, leaving him a smaller group but that made him the leader. Only five goblins were before them, their chances were good. Brom himself managed to kill two goblins, his training in the army meant that he could grossly overpower the smaller creatures, only one man had been lost in the fight but Brom didn't truly care.
The hours had passed quickly for them as they ran and fled as fast as possible, without their drummers the goblins had been disorganised, lost, seemingly confused. It had been a stroke of luck for Brom and his group to run into them, otherwise, they might not have survived for so long.
"Boss…"
Brom had taken to being called boss by the others, he initiated it and couldn't help but feel a sense of pride when they said it.
"... we're all starving here, we can't keep going on like this."
With a sigh Brom couldn't help but agree, he himself was getting hungry as well, he hadn't managed to spot anything that even vaguely resembled food.
"We will find some food soon, only eleven hours are left until we can leave. We can hold on."
Bolstered by Brom's indomitable spirit his men hung on as they followed him, all along he had been looking for a hill or cave of some sort, somewhere where he could lie low or get a lay of the land but everything remained at the same level, even the spacing between the trees barely changed.
This was a truly strange place.
Things had been going well until the timer indicated that ten hours remained. The goblins had begun to rage, turning madder and more feral than they had already been. They swarmed through the trees like a plague as their murky green eyes glinted under the azure sky, something had set them off.
Brom and his men had soon been found and chased, with his larger stature Brom dashed ahead, leaving his men behind even as they cursed at his back. It was their duty to protect the boss.
Spears flew past Brom as he continued to run, his lungs working like bellows as hot air was pushed out, his vision waning slowly as he was running out of energy. Feeling a weight from above Brom collapsed, unaware of the goblins that had been lying in wait, they had taken him by surprise as they jumped from the trees and used their clawed little hands to clutch at Brom's skin and drag him to the ground.
Their feral snarls split into menacing smiles as they tied Brom up along with those that they had captured, even as the captured men bled from the wounds they had received the goblins continued to drag them along the ground with their eyes glinting as they looked up at the two moons hovering above.
Worshipping them.
[Time remaining : 06:01:09]
Kale and Captain Hyun had stopped to 'eat' twice since their first meal, the maggots had enough energy to keep them going for a few hours before they needed to, 'top up'.
Even now Kale ran as he chewed on more of the watery ooze. Kale ignored the bits that escaped his mouth with every breath, he was already stained in the drying remains of previous meals.
"Keep running Kale, we can't afford to stop. I think they've caught our trail."
Captain Hyun and Kale had both assumed that they would be safe for a little while, but soon after they finished their first meal the goblin drums went berserk, the sounds of their frantic beating echoed out endlessly, it seemed to be coming from all around.
Something had angered the goblins.
"We cant keep going like this, we have to hide somewhere."
Kale's words struck true with Captain Hyun, he too agreed that they had to hide somewhere but was unable to come up with a plan. There was nowhere to hide on this damned planet, he didn't even know if it was air that he was breathing in.
"Look out."
Kale's words were too late as a spear flew from amongst the trees and pierced into Captain Hyun's shoulder, easily punching through flesh and exiting out the other side. With a grunt of pain Captain Hyun held in his cry as he continued to pump his legs and clench his teeth to reduce the pain, despite the blood that had already started to run down his arm.
Fearing to slow down Kale ran alongside Captain Hyun as they heard the manic rustling of leaves all around, they had been fools to think they could escape so easily.
Ahead of them was another goblin, slightly taller than before with froth spewing from its mouth as it charged towards them without a weapon. Running ahead of Captain Hyun, Kale levelled his spear in front of the goblin, determined to do something this time, he didn't want to be useless and die helplessly.
With crazed eyes the goblin ran straight onto the end of Kale's spear, it frothed as it continued to edge further down the wooden shaft, smiling as it did so. With a sadistic grin the goblin shrieked into the air before dying and falling to the floor with Kale's spear, the crazed look in its eyes didn't pass even after death.
"What is happening?"
"Keep running Kale, forget the spear!"
He had killed something, shocked at the fact that he had killed something Kale was slow to respond as another small green figure descended on him from above. Kale attempted to throw the goblin off only to fail as it wrapped its green hands around his neck, squeezing tightly as it started to choke him whilst bashing on Kale's head with its own. Struggling to see or react Kale span wildly, unable to see Captain Hyun as he began to run over to help Kale.
Trying to run to Kale's aid Captain Hyun was stopped as another spear flew from behind and pierced through his leg, nailing him to the ground.
"Sh*t."
The last thing Kale saw was Captain Hyun being dragged away and tied up with vines as he fell to his knees, his brain crying out for oxygen as the goblin continued to squeeze his throat until something hard struck the side of his head, rendering him unconscious.
Why now were they being captured alive?
What sadistic game did the goblins have planned?
[Time remaining : 01:05:14]
"Kale…"
A harsh and pain filled whisper entered Kale's ears. Where was he? His mind was groggy and confused from the strike.
"Kale snap out of it! You're concussed but we have no time for that."
He recognised the voice, it was Captain Hyun, he was still alive. Opening his eyes Kale slowly regained focus as he tried to look around as he bobbed along close to the ground, gazing up. He had been trussed to a length of wood like a prized animal, as was Captain Hyun as he bobbed along next to him.
Captain Hyun did not look good in Kale's eyes, his shoulder still had the remnants of the wooden shaft inside whilst his thigh continued to bleed, he looked paler the more Kale looked.
"How… long…?"
"They captured us just under five hours ago, ever since they've been carrying us. See that large one in front, he is keeping us alive, he's already killed a few that tried to bite you."
Arcing his head as best he could Kale could just about make out the figure of a goblin that stood well above the rest, with a club the size of a small tree it continued to lead its war band as it gazed continually upwards, grunting and raising its hands to the sky as long purple strands ran down its back.
"He's the bastard that hit you."
Wincing at the pain of the memory Kale crossed his fingers, hoping that they could survive for the last final hour.
"Where do you think they're taking us?"
Kale's question wasn't answered by Captain Hyun but one of the goblins as it shrieked and spat in his face, leering and licking its lip as it did, wanting to take one small bite. Leaning as far away as possible Kale avoided the sharp teeth that were drawing closer and closer to his face.
With the whomping of air the small goblin was killed as its head was crushed and pushed down between its shoulders, the leader of the band had stepped in to stop it. Looking up Kale saw the absolute wrath in the Goblin leaders eyes as it withdrew its club, wiping it across Kale as the horrendous smell of goblin blood struck his nostrils.
With a sneer the goblin leader turned away, but Kale had seen it, there was a large maggot pulsating and living on its head, feeding off it. The purple hair on the goblins scalp and running down its back was the same as the grass they had walked on.
"Hyun, we really f*cked up."