" Alright, it's time to earn my keep," Dahlia muttered as a dagger appeared in each of her hands.
Her walking pace sped up into a light jog then a full sprint. Her eyes narrowed and she leaped into the air. Silence followed. The guards at the waterway looked around. They thought they had heard something but could find nothing. Though one man just couldn't let it go.
"Pat! Come back here! Nothing comes down here. The resupply for the Barracks happened four days ago. Why do you think my brother told me about this post." A guard spoke with light laughter.
"Free money..." Another guard spoke.
"Pat takes everything seriously until..."
Woosh... Shink!
Dahlia landed softly before the men. Her body spun in a full rotation as two blades slit the throats of the three men. She leaped in the air once more and landed on a beam above the waterway entrance.
'Messing around with Nyx has really improved my skills, ' Dahlia giggled in her heart.
When Pat couldn't find anything in the dark alley, he returned. He paused a few steps away from the bodies that had fallen to the ground. His body trembled at the sight of the soundless, swift murder of three town guards in an instant.
He slowly took a step back, but he bumped into Dahlia. Her arms wrapped around the man, and she palmed his face. Her eyes glowed, and an intense red bled into her emerald green eyes like runaway flames.
The man grunted in pain as his blood boiled. His skin turned red and peeled while blood leaked from his orifices. His heartbeat was like rapid taps on a percussion without any pause.
Pah! His heart exploded, and death overtook him. In an instant, all four corpses were pulled into Dahlia's storage ring. She then crossed the entrance to the waterway. Down a flight of stone steps, Dahlia arrived at the locked gate that led to the moat.
Stepping onto a small dock, Dahlia called out.
One by one, led by Raiders Krisa, Erong, and Tosall, a goblin party climbed out of the moat and up the stone steps into Black Goat Town. It was like a scar across the moat. Dozens of Hollow Reed erected from the canal marking the positions of a goblin. However, under cover of night, no one noticed the oddity.
Meanwhile, at the front gate, Raiders Bog, Tir, and Klukz were making their moves. The shadow stitchers --Dark Affinity Goblins, turned to a shadow mist that rolled over the central bridge like a great storm.
"Thurin! Lose!" Bog commanded.
The goblin archers let their arrows loose, and it sounded like they had struck a gong in unison.
Thung!
Like the trumpets of Armageddon, the bowstrings thrummed, and a deluge of arrows followed.
Thunk! Thunk! Ching!
Hits and misses, bodies turned to empty vessels, and stone debris from the damaged walls fell into the moat with resounding splashes.
The warning bells sounded across the town, alerting everyone to danger. The guards hustled to their stations. The once quiet night was now shattered by the shouts of men and wails of death.
In the distance, a few mid-level adventures watched along with the elders of the Herbalist College. They were naturally calm and assumed the town was under attack by bandits or organizations looking to increase their assets.
Black Goat Town is a natural fortress, and they all believed in the walls, even more so in the guards' ability to defend against a siege. They had all experienced many sieges during their times in Black Goat Town. This appeared to be no different.
"Flame Bows!" Raider Klukz shouted, and the tree line was illuminated but darkened immediately.
Like falling stars, the flaming arrows soared over the great walls of Black Goat Town and ignited the buildings closest to the front gate.
"Mages!" the town guards shouted as the fires grew, swallowing whatever source of nourishment it came in contact with.
Four mages appeared as mages usually joined prominent families, organizations, and the adventure guild. While warriors came by the hundreds, Mages were pulled to unique colleges during their youth when they were found.
So four Black Goat Town to have four Mages at the disposal as guards was a great accomplishment. However, only two could cast water spells to combat the flames, but the rate of the volleys was so rapid that their efforts were negligible at best.
The layout of the guards soon shifted to combat the growing fire, and the reserve guards finally left the barracks by the dozens. As all of the town's guards were called to action, the town leadership was starting to wonder what madmen they had provoked.
Attacking a town is usually for resources and burning the establishment to the ground was generally after the raid. So to set fires so early absolutely confounded them. What the hell did these attackers want, they wondered.
While the guards in the barracks rush out to provide back up to the front gate and combat the fires, Dahlia and the goblin party held their place at the waterway while sending out goblin pairs to sneak deeper into town, causing death and confusion.
When only the Raiders and Dahlia remained, they moved as a unit to get closer to the front gate. Their mission was different from the rest. They had one objective, and that was to open the front entrance.
Now on the move, Dahlia and Raiders Erong, Tosall, and Kirsa moved stealthily street by street, shadow by shadow. When suddenly, the door of an old building screeches open, revealing a handful of guards.
At the doorway of the medium-sized house, Dahlia and the raiders could clearly see into the house, spying, chained, exhausted, and soiled demihumans of different ages, species, and genders.
Raider Erong's chuckle was like a deep rumble as he remembered his younger days in similar dens. He also laughed at the blatant hypocrisy of the human race.
"I thought humans didn't believe in slavery?" Raider Tosall spoke in the Goblin Tounge.
"Of course they do!" Erong replied. "They just don't like when they're enslaved. It shines a light on their obvious inferior existence."
"Hmm," Krisa grunted as she flashed, beheading the lead guard. Blood spewed from his severed neck, splattering over his comrades, waking them from their shock of seeing goblins within the town walls.
This chance encounter triggers a scrimmage that could make or break the town siege as the guards rushed out and engaged the three raiders. The fighting alerted the residents in the area as they looked out of their homes to watch their human guards being slaughtered.
On the second floor of the medium-sized house, a man with long white hair with crimson tips walked down the steps yawning. On his back was a broken spear with a golden blade.
When he reached the ground floor, he kicked a demihuman aside and stepped on another to get to the door. The moment he saw the Goblin Raiders, a hint of a smile dawned on his face. His joints audibly poped as he moved to shake the sleep from his bones while stepping outside just in time to witness Erong tare a young guard into two pieces.
As he drew his broken spear, he stopped, and his eyes sparkled when he saw Dahlia. The hint of a smile became full-blown as red mana surged from the tip of his broken spear.
Dahlia felt the danger, drawing her sword on pure instinct. But it was to block, as she used her only sword drawing skill to face the attack head-on.
The mana spewing broken spear was forced to a standstill, but it was too heavy for Dahlia to slip. This realization caused her angst as the white-haired guard was some she couldn't just brush off.
The moment the two weapons collided, mana exploded outward. Three of the surrounding houses were destroyed, and the guards that held out had finally died as collateral damage because of their warmonger captain.
The Raiders looked on as Dahlia, and the captain faced off. Though the captain had gained their interest, the fight would affect the mission, so Erong chose.
"Er Ahn Gon!" he barked.
Three shadows appeared submissively, shocking Tosall and Kirsa, who were unaware of the three shadow stitchers.
"Take them outside of the wall. Return quickly and help us open the gate." Erong Ordered.
The three shadows walked and brought darkness in tow with every step. The world then went black around the captain and Dahlia. Once the darkness was lifted, the two fell into the moat, confused about what had happened.
"Why didn't you just have the captain killed?" Tosall asked.
"Because they're a good distraction even if it's for a moment. And it would do young Kane some good to lose a slave." Erong chuckled. "He views them too highly."
The women hummed in agreement before the trio moved on. At the same time, death swallowed the town as the goblins that infiltrated began to kill civilians and fight adventures. The town was finally in complete chaos.
As the screams and chaos within the town could be heard from beyond the town walls, Bog, Tir, and Klukz took it as the right moment to storm the bridge and bombard the gate. The walls of Black Goat Town had also become a fatal zone making it challenging to defend against the bombardment.
"Lucien, it's time we joined in." a man with a thick grey beard and hair touching the back of his calves spoke.
"I think you're right, Dai Li. But who would have thought the goblins were this capable outside of their territory. Do you think it's a Yordal?" Lucien asked.
"No, the dragon hunt is arriving. It can be a few Raiders looking for resources to earn a spot. These parties or party is well developed. I'm sure they aren't the average gooks that we send our young ones to hunt." Dai Li replied.
Four bright yellow magic circles appeared high in the sky. An orb formed like a miniature sun and was launched towards the wall. Dawn had come for Black Goat Town, and everyone could finally see their enemies.
"That should help the guards. Three mid-level goblins are beating at the gate. We need to draw them out." said Dai Li.
"Mmm. You take the left gook, and I'll get the right?" Lucien asked.
"Sure."
The two men moved swiftly, appearing at the treeline. In a blink, two low-level goblins were massacred. As they planned, Bog, Klukz, and Tir abandoned the wall to engage them.
"We need to hurry," Erong shouted once he sensed what had happened.
"Why did they pass us over. You're the strongest here." Krisa asked Erong.
"Haa, the strongest here is the reason why they passed us over. And it's not me. It's him." Erong pointed at one of the shadows. Due to the strongest's shadow ability, Erong, Tosall, and Kirsa were cloaked from prying eyes.
While the goblin trio raced to the gate, my party climbed out of the well in the center of the town. With every new addition, chaos intensified bring more death to the inside the walls.
"Sahyia," I called out. "Clear the adventurers first. Nyx, destroy that light spell to free up our shadow stitchers. Rema, with me. We take on the guards until the gate is open. Protect the goblins! Our casualties must remain low!"
Without the need to draw a sword, I flashed step to the first guard, a big burly man with a double side battle-ax. Once in his personal space, I went under, using a knife hand to take his arm off from the armpit, cleaving through the joint. My body shifted, and my foot came down on the outer part of his knee, destroying it. My last motion decapitated the giant man.
Shaking myself loose, I went on a rampage, killing anything close to me as fast as possible before a real threat emerged.