"I will show you my power, master." Crystal said, holding her staff to the side as she readied herself and prepared to fight.
Xolvion watched as he crossed his arms, excited to see what she could do against the goblins that charged toward her.
"Crystal, look out!" Gwen said, not sure she would be able to fight them by herself.
"I won't let you get close to master!" She said, letting her magical power burst to life as it glowed around her body.
"Take this!" She shouted, creating a sudden burst of ice that rippled across the ground, creating razor-sharp icicles to shoot up and rip through the Goblins that had been charging towards them, leaving them impaled on the ice.
Gwen and Owen, were shocked at her power, never having seen ice magic like this before.
Xolvion on the other hand had expected nothing less, knowing that if she couldn't deal with a group of simple Goblins, then she had no place being here with him.
"I did it, master look!" She said, suddenly walking over to Xolvion.
"Good work Crystal." He said, patting her on the head.
"Now, how about we keep moving?" Xolvion said, pointing his torch to another pathway in the cave, one they had missed due to the attack.
"I didn't even see that," Owen said, surprised t had been there all along.
"We should hurry though, the goblins won't wait for long before they find us," Xolvion said.
The others agreed and quickly started to head down the passageway, following it deeper into the cave with no other choice.
"We need to get out of here," Gwen said to Owen, who was still leading the way.
"No, we can't leave without finding her. We have already come so far." He said, trying not to shout too loud so that Xolvion and Crystal could hear him.
"But we aren't strong enough," Gwen said, protesting the idea.
"But they are!" Owen said, twisting his head and snapping at her, forcing Gwen to back down.
Gwen decided to stay quiet for the time being, still not agreeing with his idea. Yet after seeing both Crystal and Xolvion in action, she couldn't help but think that with their help they could get out of this alive.
The group continued to follow the cave, leading them down further into the darkness through its twists and turns.
Soon enough the group found the end of the path, leading them to what looked like a large wooden door.
"This must be where their main base is," Owen said, explaining the doorframe and seeing that it was much nicer than anything else in the cave.
"Whatever is behind this door, it must be where they are keeping her... I mean the prisoners." He then said, correcting his words.
Xolvion already knew what he was up to, but decided to play dumb for the time being, finding that it was more enjoyable that way.
"We should proceed with caution." He said, already knowing what was behind the door thanks to his vampire and wolf senses.
"Right," Gwen said, getting her staff ready, this time determined to use it and not freeze.
Crystal also nodded to Xolvion, seeing the look he gave her, telling her to be on her guard.
"Let's go!" Owen said, drawing his sword before he burst through the door.
The room the group entered was a large hall, lit by many torches lining the walls and corners.
The hall was also filled with tables and chairs, surrounded by the spoils of what the goblins had ransacked and pillaged from the raids on any villages they had come across.
"What is all of this?" Gwen said as she took a look around the hall.
"It would seem these are the spoils of their efforts," Xolvion said.
"What have we got here?" A gruff voice said from the shadows, alerting the group to his presence.
Owen and Gwen took a defensive stance, with Owen getting his sword ready and Gwen her staff.
"Who's there!" Owen shouted, waiting for the figure to step into the light.
"Looks like we have intruders." Another voice said, coming from the other end of the hall.
"Two of them?" Gwen said, turning her head to look.
Both figures stepped into the light, allowing the group to lay their eyes upon them and take in their appearance.
Before them stood two large and muscular Hobgoblins, one with green skin and another with yellow, each wearing leather armour with swords strapped to their hips.
"What in the hell are these things?" Owen said, never having seen a goblin like them.
"These would be Hobgoblins..." Xolvion said.
"Hobgoblins?" Gwen asked.
"Yes, Hobgoblins are the evolved form of a normal goblin who has become strong enough to evolve. Hobgoblins have a more humanoid appearance and are both taller and smarter than ordinary goblins." He went on to say, giving the group some knowledge about them.
"I've never seen one before..." Owen said, seeing for himself that the two of them looked strong.
"As if these weak humans made it here." The green Hobgoblin said, placing his left hand onto the butt of his hilt.
"That doesn't matter now, all that matters is that we kill them, and take the woman." The yellow one said, licking his lips as he looked at both Gwen and Crystal with hunger in his eyes.
"You monsters! What have you done with Stacy!" Owen shouted, not liking the look on their faces.
The green Hobgoblin started laughing before he answered.
"I think he's talking about one of the humans we captured." He said to the other Hobgoblin.
"Is that right? He's here to rescue his friend." The other said, also chuckling.
"Might have a hard time with that, see most of the girls have gone a little mad after being used so much as our play things." The green Hobgoblin said with a wicked smile.
"In fact, your timing is perfect, we could use some fresh meat!" He suddenly shouted, charging in towards Owen with his sword drawn, moving way too fast for him to counterattack.
Xolvion moved even faster, quickly appearing in front of Owen as he blocked the Hobgoblin's blade with his own.
"How did you?" The Hobgoblin said, quickly moving back and taking a defensive stance.
"This one isn't normal." The green one said, getting a nod from the yellow one.
Xolvion was interested to see the physical details that each Hobgoblin had, seeing that they both had long black hair that they had tied back into a warrior's bun. Their faces were more human-shaped, with the exception of their teeth, noses and pointed ears.
Their bodies were also built slightly differently, giving them their own unique physiology that was different to humans, seeming thicker and more robust, most likely having a thicker bone density.
"Interesting... Their bodies are both suited for combat." Xolvion thought as he examined them with a simple glance.
"They will make excellent play things." He then said, turning his attention to Crystal.
"Your up, Crystal." He said, giving her a smile of confidence.
Crystal nodded, taking centre stage again as she readied her staff.
"Is this guy for real, you gonna let us fight the little princess?" The green Hobgoblin said, watching as Xolvion took a step back.
"Whatever, let's finish them off!" The yellow Hobgoblin said, quickly charging towards Gwen as he made her his target.
Gwen and Owen didn't stand a chance against these monsters, that Xolvion knew. However, Crystal was more than a match, he only hoped that she would be able to tap into her power and prove it.
"ARGHH!" Gwen screamed as the yellow Hobgoblin charged towards her, lifting his sword as it got ready to strike her down.
"I am your opponent!" Crystal suddenly proclaimed, creating a large wall of ice that halted the Hobgoblin's advance.
"Ice?" The Hobgoblin said, surprised to see the magic.
"I serve my master, and I will defeat you!" Crystal said, slamming the butt of her staff into the ground as she let her magic flare to life.
Both of the Hobgoblins could see the ground beneath her start to freeze over, feeling the icy chill in the air.
"Let's take her out before she has a chance to cast her spells!"
"Agreed!" Both of the Hobgoblins shouted, making their move as they charged on either side of her at the same time.
Crystal watched them move, somehow being able to track their fast movements and react to them, turning to face the green Hobgoblin as she blocked his downwards slash with her staff, knocking his blade to the side and allowing his weight to crash it into the ground.
A large ice wall also appeared behind her, blocking the advance of the yellow Hobgoblin, blocking his path towards her as he slide to a stop.
"Damn it!" He roared in frustration.
However, she wasn't done there, allowing the ice wall to suddenly burst and shatter, shooting a large number of ice shards at the Hobgoblin, who had not been expecting the attack.
"Noo!!!" It roared as the ice shards hit him, ripping through its body like bullets before it dropped to the ground dead.
"That's one down," Xolvion said as he watched from the sidelines.
"No way! She is amazing!" Gwen also said, watching in awe as Crystal fought the other Hobgoblin.
"You bitch!" The green one roared, turning around and taking another swing at her with its sword.
Crystal used her staff again to block the Hobgoblin's attacks, feeling the metal clash against the hardwood of her white staff.
Xolvion watched as she did her best to deal with the monster in close-range combat, knowing that both Luna and Zoranna had been teaching her both martial skills and how to use her magic.
"Looks like I'm too much for you at close range little girl!" The Hobgoblin shouted, watching her with its yellow eyes as his sword hit her staff in an upwards attack, using the force to knock her arms into the air and for her to lose her footing.
The Hobgoblin watched as she stepped back, watching as her large breasts jiggled due to the force before it licked its lips.
"You're mine!" He shouted, swinging its sword down with all of its might, aiming for the side of her neck.
"I don't think so!" Crystal shouted, suddenly dropping back into a back handspring and dodging the attack.
Crystal flipped back over onto her feet before she used her staff to strike upwards, hitting the Hobgoblin between the legs, causing his eyes to almost pop out from its skull.
"A monster like you never stood a chance!" Crystal said, taking her staff back as she spun it above her head with skill, using the momentum and speed to deliver her final blow to the creature's head.
-Smash-
Her staff smashed against the side of the Hobgoblin's head, snapping the creature's neck from the force and sending it flipping in the air where it crashed onto the ground like a ragdoll.
"She did it!" Gwen shouted, amazed at her skill as she ran over towards her to celebrate her victory.
Owen also watched from the sidelines, feeling helpless and weak after seeing how strong Crystal was at both magic and hand-to-hand combat.
"How..." He said, gripping the handle of his sword tight.
"Now is not the time for that," Xolvion said, suddenly snapping him out of his thoughts.
Xolvion could feel the life force of others coming from a hidden room in the back of the hall.
"This way." He said, getting everyone's attention and cutting their small victory short.
Following Xolvion, the others entered the small room being hit by the rotten smell of sex, blood and rot.
"Argh!" Gwen cried out, covering her mouth with her hands at the sight.
Owen was also shocked by what he saw, turning his head to the side to look away.
"Those monsters..." He said, letting his anger get the better of him.
Crystal looked to her master and then back to the broken bodies of the girls that lay before them, seeing that they had been beaten, broken and abused by the goblins, resulting in many of them dying from the cruelty.
"Can you save them?" She asked, taking pity on them.
"I can try."