The field outside the goblin den reeked of death. Piles of green bodies lay scattered, blood soaking into the soil, torches flickering as if the fire itself recoiled from the carnage. Roderick wiped his blade clean with a rag that was already stained crimson, his chest rising and falling heavily. His men, fewer now, stood in silence, catching what little breath they could. Even the woods seemed to hold its breath.
Then the ground shuddered.
A low rumble echoed from deep within the cavern, a hollow roar that made the air tremble. Pebbles skittered down the rocky slopes. Dust puffed up from cracks along the cave mouth. Selvara's silver eyes snapped toward the darkness, her grip tightening on her blade.
"Something's coming," one guard muttered, his voice thin with fear.
"No," Roderick growled, stepping forward, his shield arm flexing. "Everything is coming."
The roar grew louder. Footsteps, claws scraping stone, guttural cries of hunger and rage. Shadows writhed inside the cave like a storm of bodies pressed against the walls. Torches flared as if feeding off the madness.
Roderick didn't hesitate. He sprinted to the cave entrance, boots pounding across the soaked earth. With a primal roar, he slammed his shield into the stone archway. The rock quivered, cracks spiderwebbing through its face. He planted his feet, raised his sword high, and bellowed. "Move back!"
The men scrambled away just as Roderick brought his blade crashing down. The air itself seemed to shiver as his spirit surged. Stone groaned, split, and collapsed, half of the cavern's entrance caving in with a thunderous crash. Dust and smoke plumed outward, swallowing the battlefield.
When the dust cleared, the once-gaping maw had been reduced to a jagged, half-blocked hole. Wide enough for goblins to pour out still, but narrow enough to funnel them, choke their numbers, and make them bleed for every inch.
Roderick staggered, panting, leaning briefly on his shield. Sweat rolled down his brow. "That… will hold them."
But not for long.
The first goblins clawed their way through the rubble. Dozens of them, their eyes wild, their blades rusted, their teeth gnashing. Behind them, deeper in the dark, shadows loomed larger. Eighteen of them. Warrior goblins. Their guttural bellows carried across the night like war drums.
"Shields!" Roderick barked, raising his own. "Form the wall! Hold the line!"
Ten men moved instantly, their shields clashing together in a solid row, spears bristling from the gaps. Nick took the right flank, his face grim, while Roderick stood unyielding in the center, shield braced like a fortress.
Selvara stepped aside, her blade gleaming. She said nothing, only lifted her weapon in a calm, deliberate motion. Her silver eyes flicked across the battlefield, reading every shadow, every step. She knew her role.
"I'll keep them off your backs," she said softly, her voice like silk cutting through steel.
Roderick gave her a curt nod, his eyes fierce. "Do it. We can't let them swarm us."
---
The goblins screamed as they surged forward.
The weak ones came first. Hundreds of small, twisted bodies clawing over one another, their stench suffocating, their weapons clanging as they rushed the shield wall. The ground quaked beneath their charge.
The wall held.
Spears punched through throats, shields slammed against faces, and Roderick's roar boomed over the chaos. "Push!"
But they kept coming.
And Selvara moved.
She was there one moment, gone the next, her speed a blur. Her blade sang as it carved through the first goblin's neck, silver light spraying red across the dirt. Before the corpse hit the ground, she was already on the next. A step, a flick of her wrist, and its tendons parted. Another lunge, another slash, her sword sliding between ribs like a whisper.
Her style was merciless yet precise. Every cut clean. Every strike fatal. Where the guards hacked and shoved, Selvara danced. She wove between the chaos, always one step ahead of claw and fang. A goblin lunged, her blade severed its hand before its claw even touched her armor. Another swung wide, her step carried her past it, her sword splitting its spine as she passed.
The goblins screamed louder, clawing at her in desperation, but they only grasped empty air. She toyed with them, letting them think they could catch her, her silver eyes flashing with a cold amusement before she ended them with a single stroke. Fear rippled through their ranks, their charge faltering whenever she appeared.
"Keep killing!" Roderick shouted over the clash. "Don't let them break the wall!"
The first warrior goblin shoved its way out of the cave. Taller than two men, muscles bulging, its armor hammered crudely from stolen steel. It bellowed and swung a massive axe down onto the shield line. The impact was like thunder. Two men staggered back, shields splintering, bones jarring from the force.
"Hold!" Roderick roared, slamming his own shield forward. His sword flashed in a brutal arc, cleaving into the warrior's shoulder. Flesh tore, bone cracked, but the beast roared and swung again.
The guards swarmed it, spears stabbing, blades flashing. It was like hacking at a mountain. Their steel cut, but the goblin's strength was monstrous, every swing threatening to crush men whole.
And more warriors followed.
Another. Then another. Until the narrow path spilled them out like a river of flesh and steel.
The battlefield erupted.
---
Selvara's blade blurred through another trio of weak goblins, her movements flowing like water. One head rolled, another throat opened, another chest split wide. She pivoted on her heel, her blade sweeping low to sever a leg before thrusting upward into another's chest.
A dozen goblins had already fallen at her feet, their bodies crumpled like broken dolls. She did not pause, did not falter. Her strikes were fluid, every movement part of an endless dance. Where the guards struggled to keep from being overwhelmed, Selvara moved with ease, her speed turning the swarm into a game of slaughter.
One goblin shrieked and lunged from her blind side. Without even turning her head, she spun her blade behind her, slicing it across the beast's throat. Blood sprayed her cheek, and she smiled faintly, a whisper of expression that never reached her eyes.
"Too slow," she murmured.
Another wave crashed toward her, ten at once, their shrieks deafening. She leapt into them, her blade flashing in wide arcs, carving through limbs and faces in a single breath. By the time she landed, seven were already dead, their blood still hanging in the air.
The last three stumbled back in panic, eyes wide. Selvara tilted her head, her silver eyes gleaming. She darted forward, her blade cutting them down before their screams could even rise.
Behind her, Roderick bellowed as his shield smashed into another warrior. His sword came down with raw strength, biting deep into its neck. The beast roared, staggered, and fell beneath a dozen spears that pierced its body.
Another warrior goblin replaced it instantly.
"Damn it!" Roderick growled, his teeth bared. "They just keep coming!"
His men grunted and shouted, their voices ragged with effort as they fought to keep the warriors at bay. Shields splintered, armor dented, and men screamed as they were battered aside. For every warrior that fell, another seemed to push forward from the cave.
Selvara glanced at them briefly, her eyes narrowing. She could not break formation to aid them. Her duty was clear: keep the weak ones from swarming.
And so she did.
---
The weak goblins howled and rushed, desperate to overwhelm the line. Selvara carved through them, her blade never resting. Her footwork was flawless, each step carrying her into perfect position, each strike ending a life. She flowed between bodies, never letting them touch her, never letting their claws close in.
One raised a crude spear. She sidestepped, her sword lashing upward to slit its belly open. Another leapt at her back. She spun, slicing its skull in half with a single downward stroke. Two more tried to flank her. She darted between them, her blade flashing twice, and both collapsed, their throats spilling crimson.
Her style was elegant, but merciless. She did not waste strength on flourishes. Every strike was economy of motion. Yet to the goblins, it looked like art. Death as beautiful as it was terrible.
The ground grew slick with blood. Her boots left crimson prints as she moved, her armor stained, her breath steady. She killed and killed, and still they came.
And she smiled faintly, just faintly, as if the battle itself was her stage.
---
The warrior goblins bellowed as they clashed with Roderick and his men. One swung a club that shattered a man's shield in two, sending him flying into the dirt, bones snapping. Another crushed a guard's helmet, blood splattering as the man screamed his last breath.
But the line did not break.
Roderick roared, his shield smashing into a warrior's chest, his sword cleaving deep into its belly. He fought like a titan, every strike brutal, every block thunderous. His men followed his lead, stabbing and slashing, cutting down any goblin that dared push past.
Blood coated the ground, the air thick with screams and steel. The warriors pressed, the guards held, and between them all Selvara moved, her blade a silver storm cutting down the endless tide of weaklings.
The battle raged, brutal and unrelenting, until the last of the wave fell.
A hundred and fifty goblins lay dead, their bodies piled high in heaps. Eighteen warriors sprawled broken and still, their massive weapons silent in the dirt.
Selvara stood among the corpses, her blade dripping, her breath calm. Her silver eyes glowed faintly in the torchlight, unshaken, unyielding. She had cut down more than any man there. Her swordsmanship had painted the battlefield in crimson.
Roderick leaned on his shield, chest heaving, his face grim. Around him, ten of his men still stood, their armor shattered, their bodies bloodied, some heavily injured.
The night was silent again, but only for a moment. From deep within the cave, the guttural roars of more goblins echoed.
This wasn't the end. Not yet.