Wood Elves didn’t burn wood out of respect for the wild god. Smoke like this could therefore only be the handiwork of goblins or the result of a recent battle.

  We were too far away to inspect whatever it was. But, the rising smoke filled us with a sense of urgency. If the goblins were active in the vicinity, there was no telling when they’d cross our path.

  “Make haste,” Dilwan said, sprinting through the forest. He wove through obstacles like a sprite, leaving the undergrowth undisturbed in his passage.

  The rest of our party couldn’t move with similar grace, save for me. They did their best to travel as noiselessly as possible. However, the punishing pace, combined with the speeding wagon, hampered their efforts.

  Dilwan led us to a section of the path that cut through a dell. “Here,” he said. “This was where we first noticed the pursuers.”

  Warm wind rustled through the treetops.

  Medekeine crouched and inspected the ground. “Goblin Riders, huh?”

  “On large Dread Tigers,” Dilwan said.

  The elves didn’t leave footprints, but the area was filled with indents made by massive paws. A few other signs offered a full picture of the story: torn sandals, an abandoned backpack, and claw marks left on trees by passing Dread Tigers.

  The smoke kept rising in the north.

  “We’ll move quietly now,” I said, even as the hair rose on my nape. “At what point did both groups get separated?”

  “Follow,” Dilwan said.

  We traveled past even more signs of pursuit. Expended arrows denoted the point at which the elves started fighting back.

  Paz studied them intently. “What are the chances that the others are still alive?”

  “Maximum,” Dilwan said. “My own group got the short end of the stick, but the other had twice the number of rankers and fewer regulars to boot. Some of my fiercest fighters counted among their number. They won’t lose to mere Goblin Riders.”

  . . . Says the elf whose village recently got destroyed.

  I refrained from pointing that out, however. Hope was a poison: one which I also imbibed to the point of drunkenness. Dilwan deserved a silver lining after all he’d been through, though the crinkle in his forehead revealed that he wasn’t free from doubt.

  We crept stealthily through the forest, cautious now that we knew we neared a recent battlefield. Before long, we came across the first Goblin Rider corpse. And, his deceased mount.

  Dilwan said, “This is where we went off in separate directions.” He gestured further off into the forest, in a direction where the trees grew narrower even for Dreadwood. “The plan was to lead them so far off the path to provoke an attack from the wild god’s pets.”

  “I’m guessing this worked,” Kajal said.

  “It worked for us,” Dilwan confirmed. “In no time at all, their pursuit was hampered by a troop of Dread Monkeys.”

  “And, you joined in killing them,” I said, “which caused the primals to come after you.”

  Dilwan regarded me with curious eyes. “You know an awful lot about the monkeys, considering they are only a recent addition to the fauna in Dreadwood.”

  “I’ve had my fair share of run-ins with them.”

  “Did you now? A scouting party of mine clashed with a Primal Dread Monkey three weeks ago . . .” His eyes widened. “They mentioned meeting a Dark Elf . . .”

  Eh?

  “Can we get on with this already?” Medekeine said. “The air here smells foul. Like sewage three days old.”

  Dilwan reluctantly returned to the terrain. “The other group went off in this direction. Half of the Goblin Riders peeled away at this point to give pursuit.” He retraced their steps, relying on his keen elven senses. “If my guess is right, they fought off the goblins successfully and continued toward the southern border . . .”

  There it was again. That painful hope.

  But, it turned out that Dilwan was right. The Wood Elves had successfully repelled the goblins, judging by the next scene we encountered. There wasn’t a single monster corpse left lying around, but the signs of battle remained.

  Hastily erected mounds stood out among the battlefield, indicating where slain elves had been buried. Dilwan stared at those graves and made a fist.

  “Not bad,” Logain said. “They were indeed as hardy as you said. I can offer a small prayer of Compassion for the deceased.”

  Medekeine snorted. “A prayer to whom? We have no gods.”

  “That’s what you think. But, there are forces in this world beyond your understanding.”

  Did he refer to the forces behind the summoning of Migrant Souls?

  “Do what you want,” Dilwan said, shutting down a potential argument between the two.

  Logain beamed and faced the corpses. He mumbled some words and clasped his hands in prayer. A brief burst of radiance emanated from his form. Distant bells tolled in my head. I could almost hear a choir singing in the distance, but that faded at the onset of a fresh breeze that blew through the gathering. It erased the stench of death.

  “What did you do?” Dilwan asked.

  “I activated [Hallowed Ground],” Logain said, wearing a serene expression for the first time since I’d known him. “This should help protect the gravesite from scavengers and monsters.”

  Dilwan shivered, then said in a choked voice. “Thank you.”

  We allowed him a moment’s reprieve.

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  “The elves survived then?” Kajal said, tapping her chin. “I guess we’ll find them soon enough.”

  “I told you they would,” Dilwan said, swelling with pride. “We lost the village due to foul magic. But, out here in the forest, we are in our element.” He resumed his role at the front of our formation, scouring the forest for tracks. “When this is over, I will take you to the Wood King. You shall witness the Hinduli? in all their glory.”

  Medekeine stiffened a few meters in and raised his head. Dark scales appeared across his face. “There’s another site of battle. Not too far off.”

  Paz checked the air. “You’re right.”

  “More slain goblins then!” Dilwan said. He surged in the direction that Medekeine pointed, increasing his pace.

  The rest of us followed cautiously.

  I glanced once again at the ominous column of smoke in the distance, and then I turned my attention to the matter at hand.

  Medekeine led us down a slope and into rugged terrain. I flanked the group from the side and came across the first goblin corpse.

  This time, it hadn’t been looted.

  More corpses filled our path: goblins and Dread Tigers both.

  Dilwan beamed. “The steel of the Hinduli? can never be dulled. These goblins learned the truth of the world firsthand.”

  He suffered one crucial blind spot, however. The corpses had not been looted. The only time a Vizhiman ignored the chance to loot was when a greater need hampered their ability to do so.

  One such as death.

  Paz bade us to a halt. “We should probably stop here.”

  Dilwan rose from beside a goblin corpse that he had been inspecting. A knife wound punctured its side. “What do you mean? These are good signs! The goblins didn’t stand a chance.”

  Paz gestured solemnly at a cluster of trees. The foremost of them looked like any other swordfruit tree, with its stout trunk and large branches. But, high up the trunk, a pale corpse dangled . . .

  Tall, humanoid, ochre-skinned . . . with both arms nailed above its head.

  Dilwan trembled. “No . . .”

  The rest of us froze.

  Wood Elves, over twenty in number, decorated the cluster of trees. Some of them bore grotesque wounds on their necks and chests; others had been disemboweled. Each shared a similarity, however: crucifixion in death.

  And, in some cases, the Wood Elves had been crucified alive, only to bleed away in helplessness.

  Dilwan uttered a loud cry. He stumbled toward the trees, fell, and then crawled on all fours through the grass. A broken howl spilled from his throat.

  The sight wounded the hearts of all of us, including brash Medekeine who turned away for a few seconds. Logain muttered a prayer under his breath. Paz wore an inscrutable expression on his face, but he rarely reacted to violence, no matter how gruesome.

  I knew what the goblins were capable of, having fought them myself. But, this level of brutality . . . Gosh. They hadn’t spared a single soul. Rankers, regulars, adults, and children. All dangled from the tree trunks, nailed at the hands. Many had died before the act, but many more had bled to death.

  I closed my eyes to stop the bile from rising in my throat.

  Kajal knelt beside Dilwan, wrapping her arm around his shoulders. Even the div seemed conflicted, watching it all with an odd look on her face. She didn’t need to see this. No matter what the others said, she was still a child.

  Wasn’t there something I could do?

  [Identify].

  The skill could help differentiate between the living and the deceased. If we could save even one elf—!

  Corpse of Wood Elf LVL 10.

  Corpse of Wood Elf LVL 10.

  Corpse of Wood Elf LVL 4.

  Corpse of Wood Elf LVL 10.

  No!

  I needed one. Just one. Please!

  Goblin Scout LVL 29.

  I flung a knife before the notification fully appeared and knocked an arrow out of the air.

  The shooter, who had emerged from hiding among the corpses, blanched.

  “Attack!” I said. “We’re under attack!”

  Kajal tried to turn, but an arrow struck her in the head before she could finish.

  A swarm of goblins rose from the forest floor, as silent as death and just as fatal. They had erstwhile been hidden by illusion magic, and, goddammit, why hadn’t I seen that coming?

  A series of buffs and debuffs went off on all sides.

  You are within range of an allied [Draconic Aura]!

  Your attacks now deal 50% more damage.

  Your speed and defenses have also risen by 50%.

  You are affected by an enemy spell: [Seeking]!

  All missiles will now hone in on your position.

  You are within range of an allied [Heroic Defense]!

  Stamina has risen by 25%.

  Defense has risen by 50%.

  You are affected by the skill [Evil Eye]. You are now [Dismayed]!

  All stats have been reduced by two.

  Hey, it seems you are afraid!

  +1 has been added to all stats.

  The [System] screens bombarded me with an influx of information, thankfully staying in the periphery of my vision. Did all of those techniques leave me better off or worse than at the start?

  Paz’s [Draconic Aura] was recognizable among the clutter, and [Heroic Defense] seemed friendly if unfamiliar. The combination of [Evil Eye] and [Scaredy-cat] gave me whiplash, however. And, what the hell was [Seeking]?!

  Medekeine roared, causing most of the goblins to falter for one moment. He took the chance to assume [Bestial Shape] and crouched to the ground. A massive, four-limbed lizard stood in his place.

  In the light of the sun, I could finally see it for what it was. The long tail, black scales, and stubby limbs joined a thick trunk that sported a beefy neck. It raised its massive head and tasted the air with a pink, forked tongue.

  Medekeine—in Komodo dragon form—darted at a goblin. Blood painted the grass.

  Paz danced nearby with his spear, catching an arrow between his teeth. He skewered a goblin that leaped at him from out of the undergrowth and advanced on another.

  Kajal needed my help . . . but, she seemed to be doing just fine. Together with Logain, they protected a stunned Dilwan who reacted the slowest to the ambush. The arrow that Kajal had been shot with hovered a few inches from her head.

  I faded into [Stealth].

  One devious goblin had been waiting for a chance to gut me and blinked as I appeared behind him.

  [Sneak Attack] tore through his health, and [Silhouette] finished the job. I weaved around a tree and pinned another goblin to the trunk by his throat. His crossbow clattered out of his hands as he choked in disbelief.

  Thanks to the double damage of [Sneak Attack], I didn’t need to strike more than twice. Another goblin met a horrid end on the tip of my blade. The latest maneuver took me out of the thick of the fighting, enough that I could finally assess the situation.

  Fuck.

  A large number of goblins converged on our position, pouring out of the woodwork. The initial assault featured the weakest of the pack who brought knives, bows, and crossbows to bear.

  A separate group made up the second wave, looking bigger and more physically imposing than the rest of the litter. Farther back in the distance, a pack of ten Goblin Riders watched. Three Goblin Sorcerers stood among their number, equipped with hooded cloaks and gnarled wooden staffs.

  It brought the total number of ambushers to a little over fifty. How long had they been in pursuit? This was a losing fight unless we took control of the momentum.

  “Paz—” I said.

  A bright flash emanated from behind a tree. A lightning bolt followed the next instant and struck me dead in the chest.

  Pain radiated from the point of contact, setting my ribs aflame. I ended up with my back to the ground.

  The blasted [Seeking] spell had left me with no chance to dodge. I didn’t even see the caster.

  Grasses rustled around me. Two pairs of toad eyes approached my position and peered down at my face. The goblins behind them smirked and brandished their daggers.

  And then, they stabbed at my chest.