As he wished to have a minion overlooking the entrance to the valley, Elroy also considered another thing. So far, all his minions relied on themselves to get around the forest, which although fine for the moment, would perhaps be insufficient in the long run. He would have to devise some form of mounts for his minions.
'Although horses and the like would do perfectly fine, it does not exactly fit with the idea I had of mounts for goblins. Were they not often depicted as having wolves for mounts?'
'While wolves may have great endurance and speed, which could make for a great mount, an advantage of the horses is their much greater weight allowing for devastating cavalry charges.'
As the idea continued to churn in his mind, he recalled of a beast he had heard: the warg. These were basically wolves on steroids, being much larger as well as generally associated with evil and goblin tribes. Although Elroy disagreed with the 'being associated with evil' part, he did concede that these fitted his needs perfectly. After finalizing his design for the warg, he proceeded to summon one.
Appreciatively gazing upon the result of his work, Elroy was looking at what could be described as a wolf the size of a horse. Standing as tall as a meter-sixty at the shoulders, being about two meters-fifty in length, clad in ebon-like fur with whisks of grey it truly was a remarkable beast. Its jaws looked strong enough to be able to easily crush a goblin's tiny body. Having created the mount, Elroy now wished to have a suitable rider for it.
Evidently, goblins would not be appropriate as they were too small in comparison to the beast. Whether one would even be able to get on its back being questionable. This left only one of the hobgoblins as being a potential rider. However, as he was reluctant to have one less hobgoblin being present near the dungeons at all times, Elroy chose to summon one more instead to serve as the guard to the valley.
In place of the now standard recurve bow of the hobgoblins, this one was given a Living-wood longbow standing about as tall as itself in addition to longer arrows to accompany it. The reason for this change being that, as it was rarely going to be in the dungeon, the concern that the size of the bow would make it more unwieldy was more or less irrelevant.
'Although you are perhaps the youngest of the hobgoblins, the weight of your tasks makes believe you are worthy of a name. Henceforth, you will be known as Vakt, the one who keeps our border safe.'
Feeling satisfied after role-playing as though he was the lord of some medieval territory, Elroy watched in shock as the hobgoblin, Vakt, took the knee and bowed to the Dungeon Core before mounting on its warg and disappearing in the forest. As he followed along Vakt while he quickly made its way towards its station, the top of a small cliff overlooking the pass leading into the valley, he couldn't help being pensive over what had happened.
After having settled the first thing he wished to tackle on this day, he could now focus on the second. They had found large claw marks on some trees in the surrounding area which indicated some kind of creature had taken residence not far from the dungeon. As it could prove to become a problem in the near future, with his goblins hunting through the forest, he wished to get rid of it. Therefore, he was going to mount an expedition into its territory.
However, to undertake such a hunt, the current equipment of the goblins would not do. After-all, if the beast could maul a hunter to death, what would stop it from killing the children-sized goblins with their knives. A certain weapon had been used since primitive times back on Earth, the spear.
More specifically, the winged spear which could help stop boars from stabbing the hunters hunting it when they strike at it, the bar coming out the sides underneath the spearhead blocking the spear from going through the animal. Elroy therefore made a dozen spear for the goblins which would go on the hunt.
As they were about to depart, he didn't forget to summon four more warg for the hobgoblins. The group that would leave for the hunt would be composed of three hobgoblins and a dozen goblins, leaving the last hobgoblin and the remaining goblins to guard the dungeon.
The goblins were trudging along the forest grounds in a line while the hobgoblins were riding along on their wargs, at times going a bit further away from the group into the woods as though they were patrolling the area.
After a short time, they started to come upon the marked trees more frequently, indicating that they were entering the beast's territory. They started to see some skeletons lying about the ground, the forest feeling quieter as they went further.
Suddenly, one of the wargs seemed to hear something in the distance, as it stopped in its track. It then let out a low growl, facing to the west of the group in the direction of a cave in the mountainside, warning the rest of the group. Therein, bleak cyan eyes could be seen, as though they were letting out light from a flame.
As though knowing it had been spotted, the creature walked out of the cave. As Elroy observed it, he could only describe it as a large bear, seeing as its fur didn't seem very dark in his grayscale vision, he assumed it was some kind of brown. However, its cyan eyes gave him an uneasy feeling as it was, so far, the only thing he had seen colored besides his minions and the Core.
He instructed his minions to encircle the bear, the goblins forming an inner ring with their spears raised, while the hobgoblins formed an outer ring with their bows at the ready. Elroy's uneasiness only continued to grow as the bear did not seem to mind this fact at all.
'Something isn't quite right!'
Just as he had the thought, he seemed to see a glint flash through its eyes as the bear flashed a sort of smile. Then, it rose to its hind limbs before roaring as wisps of Essence covered its claws congealing a sharp coating, even extending beyond them some twenty centimeters.
Then it swiped at one of the surrounding goblins, its Essence claws slicing through it with ease. Although Elroy was in awe at this innovative use of Essence, it was going to spell trouble. He immediately commanded the goblins standing behind the bear to stab its legs and waist, hoping to cripple it for a quick kill. The goblins drew blood, but the beast appeared unharmed as it turned around, sending three goblins flying with a strong blow before slicing another.
As Elroy started to worry, the hobgoblins started to shoot at the bear with their broadheads, each arrow sinking deep into it and drawing a lot of blood. Reassessing the threat posed by the hobgoblins, the bear rampaged about, killing a few more goblins and breaking out of the encirclement. It then broke into a run towards the hobgoblins.
Making the great usefulness of mounts known at that moment, the warg carrying the targeted hobgoblin away from the rampaging bear as they continued to pelt it with arrows, the other hobgoblins forming the other points of a triangle centered around it. If the bear switched target, coming after another hobgoblins, this one would take the position of the head of this triangle.
'They are kiting this bear…' thought Elroy who was watching the breathtaking scene.
As the arrow kept sinking into its flesh, the bear could feel itself growing weaker as its blood kept flowing out from the deep wounds they made. Despair was taking over its eyes at the flames within started to dim. Death was coming.
Suddenly, one of the hobgoblins broke formation, unsheathing its saber as it steered the warg towards the bear. Raising its saber in anticipation, licking its lips as a brutal smile made its way onto its face, it was going in for the kill. At the moment the warg passed by the bear which had raised to its hind legs, a flash of light was seen as the hobgoblin delivered the saber to the belly of the bear. The strike had almost bisected it, passing clean through from one side to the other as blood started to gush out.
As life was leaving, the bear let out one last roar, concentrating all the Essence it could muster into its left claws. In what was the last act of its life, the bear swiped at the air behind the departing hobgoblin, still entranced in the thrill of the hunt, sending what looked like wind blades barreling at the unguarded hobgoblin.
The wind blades sunk into the back of the hobgoblin, exposing bone and sending it to the ground from the top of its warg. The bear appeared to form what resembled a smile at having marked its killer for life before slumping to the ground in a loud thud, life finally leaving its flaming cyan eyes.
Elroy could only worriedly look on as a large gust of Essence, within which traces of cyan fog could be seen, rose from the corpse of the bear before being absorbed by the now unconscious hobgoblin.
'Should you survive your wounds, you shall be known as Orkan for conquering the bear which harnessed the wind.' he thought as the hobgoblin started to be covered in a shroud of light, remarkably similar to when it was first summoned.