Morning light spilled through the window of their cozy inn room in a light beam with drifting dust, waking the three from their slumber. Through tired eyes and moving their stiff hung over bodies, they pulled on their warm winter wear and migrated downstairs for a bite to eat. With replenished energy, they headed out with their new companions toward the woods where the rumored dragon was said to be.
For the first week of Winterwane, the weather was beautiful and clear. The sun climbed in the deep, blue sky as their odyssey continued. Small divots in the white snow gleamed, shining like millions of shiny crystals. The air was still frigid despite the blue of the sky and the lack of clouds.
"What has brought you out here?" one of the mercenaries asked Jex curiously.
Jex scratched the back of his head, ruffling his hair. "Well, it started out as a small trip. We wanted to get out of the house mostly. I never really thought we'd come as far as actually hunting down dragons."
The man snorted and commented, "I thought I'd ask. Ye don't seem like you get out much or look like the typical adventurer type. If I didn't know any better, I'd say ye do work on a farm all day. What do ye do back home?"
Home; the word settled in Jex's mind and he appeared thoughtful for a moment as he looked at Ray, who was rubbing her hands trying to keep them warm. Her blue eyes stared distantly at the leafless scenery trying not to engage. Something about it made him realize how much she may have missed being at home on her farm and away from her grandparents.
"I actually do usually work on my farm and Ray's back home. We're from Aldoak," Jex admitted.
A low rumble of a chuckle gurgled in the hunter's throat. "I know of that town. It's very small but the people are friendly from what I've experienced," he said. "That's leagues away from here though. That must mean you've been traveling for a long while."
"Maybe too long," Jex said with a laugh.
"Well there must be some other reason you'd just leave it behind," the hunter pried slightly.
Jex's gaze turned back to Nimer who shook his head in response. Nimer's stern gaze told Jex not to mess up. He had warned Jex the night before not to trust anyone, especially people after artifacts. After the run in with the cult, there was no telling who was on their side. Accordingly, they had already devised a plan to try and take the artifact from the adventurers, theorizing that it may be a piece to the key of Zaniah.
With quick wit, Jex answered, "Oh, it was mostly a trip to elope with my beloved, Ray."
Ray squeaked in response to Jex's answer and she stared at him dewy eyed as she turned deep red. "You what!?"
Jex placed a finger to his lips, but the girl continued to shake from utter embarrassment. She gripped her reins tighter, her head in a whirl from the thought of running away and eloping with Jex.
With a small mischievous snicker from Nimer behind her, a fire ignited in her eyes as she glared daggers toward the guide. "Be quiet," she glowered at him mercilessly.
The hunter looked at them curiously, belting a laugh at Ray's response. "Running away from Aldoak to get married? Her father does not approve?"
"It took a lot of convincing, I'll tell you that," Jex replied with a smile.
"Well, I do hope it works out for you," the woman hunter remarked. She then punched one of the men in the arm. "Zesam here has yet to propose to me, isn't that right?"
Zesam rubbed his arm, a hint of guilt in his arched posture. "I plan to when the time is ready. Be patient, Lill," Zesam answered gruffly.
Ray blinked, watching the two interact closely, and commented, "I didn't know some of you were together. I just assumed you were a band of dragon hunters traveling as a band."
The other two dragon hunters chuckled, one of them leaning in close toward Ray. "We keep 'em on their toes," he said with a wink.
"They'd probably be off somewhere having a throwdown in a pigsty if it weren't for us. But I bet you, they are saving up for their hitchin' day," the other said with a laugh.
After the night before and their gambling game, they wondered if Zesam and Lill were even left with enough to eat. Both Jex and Ray glanced back at their guide unamused and sconed him for his actions.
"Saving for their wedding day, huh?" Ray spat bitterly.
"It would be a shame if someone took that away from them, don't you think?" Jex added.
"Don't give me that rubbish," Nimer muttered rolling his eyes.
Lill howled in laughter at Jex and Ray. "I believe your friend here won fair and square last night. Don't you know that dragon meat and hides sell for heaps more than we lost last night?"
"I didn't actually," Ray answered, tapping her lip and then pointing back to Nimer. "That doesn't mean he's off the hook," she added, giving a vicious look at their guide. She would make sure the filthy cheat paid for what he did eventually. She would never be fond of his games, or so she thought.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Nimer asked angrily, raising his voice a little. "I won fair and square. I'm an honest gambler," he said, placing a hand on his chest. "I don't cheat. I honestly."
Jex sighed, hanging his head, and mumbled, "Here we go again."
While Ray and Nimer started to bicker again, something in the trees some feet away caught Jex's eye. He had to double take when it moved and took cover in one of the barren bushes low to the ground. He pulled his horse to a stop, squinting with a hand over his eyes. Everything was so bright with the light reflecting off the snow.
In the flash of a second, a small figure, not bigger than a small child poked its head out from the bushes. Jex could barely make out its features, but its skin appeared a shade of grayish green and it had a shriveled up hooked nose and only a few strands of black hair atop of its head. Small pointed ears that looked like shriveled lettuce stuck out on either side of it. It held a crude bow in its hand. Its beady black eyes stared at Jex as it zipped across the forest floor to another bush and disappeared.
"Hey Nimer," Jex asked, but both he and Ray were still bickering away. A frown creased his face and turned to both of them addressing the whole group loudly. "Hey! There's something out in the woods!"
Both Ray and Nimer both fell quiet as all eyes turned to Jex. He pointed out toward the bush. "Over there, a small green figure with a bow. He looks like a small man and I've never seen a small man before."
"Yes you have," Ray said, looking in Nimer's direction.
Nimer scowled but peered in the direction that Jex was pointing instead. "What would a goblin be doing in this part of the woods? If there is one, there is bound to be more of them. Goblins don't travel alone."
"Woah!" Zesam called from ahead as he pulled hard on his reins. His horse reared and soon everyone was stalled.
A mass swarm of tiny screeches and voices in an incomprehensible language soon erupted around them and an army of small green men emerged from the bushes. A blanket of fog loomed over their heads from their hot breath and their cries. Each one held a makeshift weapon made from rocks, sticks and a sturdy string of some sort. Each screamed, their snaggly yellow teeth bore with their incomprehentional war cries. They started pounding their tiny weapons against the legs and hooves of each horse. Each rider strained on their reins trying to control their horses. They were pushed closer and closer together by the mass swarm of goblins.
"Stay together!" Nimer commanded.
Horror met their eyes when large gray creatures with thick tusks that jutted up from their lower jaw and hairy chests, mounted by larger looking goblins with yellow skin followed the large army. The sound of trees breaking and branches snapping rang out around them as they mindlessly lumbered toward the group, guttural groans and moans lulling from their lips.
"There's too many of them!" Ray cried, scrambling to get her bow off her shoulders without losing control of her horse.
"We can hold them off if you can manage to trample through them!" Zesam called back. He raised his sword and swung it low into the crowd of goblins. The broad side smacked one upside the head, sending it flying and it let out a shrill scream as it flew through the air, landing in the mass swarm of pointy eared fiends.
Jex, Nimer, and Ray nodded and commanded their horses to take off. Shrill cries of goblins being squashed beneath their hooves agonized their ears while the three plowed through the crowd.
Ray snuck one glance back at the four mercenaries and then at Nimer. "Can't you just shred them with your swords or use your magic?"
"I could, but I'm reserving my magic in case we get caught by one of those," he answered, pointing directly at one of the hairy, tusked creatures. "Those are ogres mounted by hobgoblins. One hit by them and their club and you're in a world of hurt."
"Look out!" Jex squawked.
Ropes bound with small hooks flew through the air and anchored themselves around Nimer's boot. With a mighty pull from the goblins, he was dismounted and dragged to the unforgiving forest floor. The same happened to both Jex and Ray. Their mounts fled into the woods, getting away from the hoard as fast as they could. the three struggled against the ropes around their limbs.
"Try and break free!" Nimer demanded.
"That isn't going well!" Jex called back and looked at Ray who screamed in frustration. Soon all three of them were bound to long poles made of thin tree trunks by their wrists and ankles.
The goblins let out a loud war cry as six hulking ogres picked up each tree branch, settling the ends on their broad shoulders. The three struggled trying to get free of their bindings and they were carried off through the woods leaving their dragon hunter friends behind.