Kai froze.
His heart felt tight when he saw two familiar faces appear through the light rain and the strong smell of blood.
Kai (his voice shaking, eyes red):
"…you guys…"
"THUD!"
An arrow flew past Kai's ear and hit a goblin right in the head. The goblin was about to jump on him from behind. Its small body shook for a moment, then fell to the ground. Blood and gray dust slowly spread out.
Mike was breathing heavily, his voice fast but still a little sarcastic:
"Yeah yeah… you can have your emotional moment later… focus now…"
Duke lowered his bow. His arm was shaking, and his breathing was uneven.
"Damn… this hurts like hell… my shoulder feels like it's about to fall off…"
Mike looked at Kai, worry clear in his eyes.
"Hey Kai… can you still run?"
Kai pushed himself up from the ground. His whole body shook, like he could fall at any second. Pain from his leg and arm hit him again with every heartbeat.
Kai said:
"It hurts… like crazy… but I think I can still move…yet … I lost all my weapons…when im running away "
Without saying anything, Mike pulled out his short, chipped knife and pushed it into Kai's hand.
"Use this. Don't be picky right now."
Kai looked at the knife. His hand was shaking. His blood and the goblin's blood made the handle slippery.
"You're saying like i have a choice"
Duke looked around, listening carefully.
"Get ready… I can hear them… a lot of them…"
From far away, high-pitched screeches and many footsteps came closer and closer, like a wave.
Kai lowered his head, his voice quiet.
"…I'm sorry."
Duke stopped and looked at him.
"Huh? What the hell are you talking about?"
Kai held the knife tighter.
"It's my fault… if I didn't run off… if you guys didn't come looking for me… maybe you would already be safe…"
Mike let out a small laugh, even though his face was pale.
"You really are stupid… you forgot that you just ran out to save someone you don't even know? You think we're going to leave you out here?"
Duke sighed and gave a tired smile.
"Yeah… if we're smart , we would have just leave you die out here, hell we're not going to be friends with you at all but yet…..here we are."
Kai looked up, his eyes shaking.
"…thank you. Really."
Before they could say anything else…
The bushes in front of them shook hard.
Dozens of goblins rushed out. Their mouths were open wide, showing sharp teeth. Their red eyes were full of hunger.
Duke gripped his bow.
"Get ready!"
Kai and Mike answered at the same time, even though fear was clear in their voices:
"Yeah!"
…but the goblins didn't attack.
They suddenly stopped.
They stood in a messy line. Their ugly faces were no longer crazy—but smiling.
A twisted, mocking smile.
Kai swallowed.
"…why aren't they attacking us?"
Duke frowned. A bad feeling filled his chest.
"Something's wrong…"
"BOOM!"
The ground shook hard. All three almost fell.
"BOOM!"
Again, stronger. The earth trembled, leaves fell from the trees.
Mike shouted:
"What the hell is that?!"
Duke felt a chill run down his spine.
"I don't know… but… something is coming…"
In front of them, the goblins suddenly moved aside.
Then all of them dropped to their knees.
Their heads touched the muddy ground. Their bodies shook like they were in front of a god.
Kai's eyes widened.
"…they're kneeling?"
Duke whispered, his throat dry:
"What the hell…"
From the darkness between the trees, a huge shadow slowly walked forward.
Each step made the ground shake.
Its body was massive, full of muscles. Its gray skin was rough and covered in old scars. Two large fangs showed when it smiled.
An orc.
Kai felt his heart sink.
"…are you kidding me… how are we supposed to fight that…"
Duke spoke with difficulty, cold sweat running down his back.
"…it's…like..a damn mountain…"
Mike held his knife tightly, his voice low and dry:
"Yeah…we're… dead…for sure ."
In that moment, with light rain falling and their heavy breathing filling the air, all three of them understood one thing very clearly—
Death was only one step away.