"Eliron…" came a voice that sounded rather distant.
Eliron could feel a weight pressed against his chest, but still continued sleeping.
He had worked on improving his mana all night and barely had any rest. Sleeping on the hard cave floor without a pillow only made things worse.
Then he felt a tap on his shoulder that stirred him out of his sleep, but when he opened his eyes, to his surprise, Yennefer was resting her head on his stomach.
He wiped his eyes grudgingly.
"What are you doing?"
Still partially asleep, she yawned. "What? Did you expect me to use a rock as a pillow?"
Then she got up and stretched, letting out a satisfied sigh. "Ahhh, far better than using a rock." She said with a smile.
Eliron blinked too tired to even make a rebuttal. "I can't even…"
It was not the first time she was using him as some sort of portable pillow.
"Alright, Eliron, it's time to go." Artie said, offering him her hand.
Eliorn only then realised that she had been standing right next to him.
He grabbed her hand and was pulled up to his feet, after which he did a few stretches.
Ash was by the cave entrance, his sword drawn as he guarded them.
Eliron grabbed his crossbow and strapped it on his back, then placed his sword on his belt before he began walking towards the exit.
"Let's go."
It was barely morning when they set out, the darkness of the night before was still seeping into the day, the sun barely out of its corner.
Their plan was to catch the goblins unaware, hopefully while the camp was asleep.
If their plan were to succeed, then they would be in and out with the girls before the goblins would even wake up.
After they had safely kept the girls in the cave, then they would come back to destroy the goblin village, free of any potential restraints.
They arrived at the ruins of a village after a short walk, their footsteps as quiet as possible. Then they hid in the bushes as they observed the place.
"That must be their base…" Eliron whispered.
There were two goblin guards at the entrance holding long spears made of wood and sharpened stone.
The goblins were dozing, drifting in and out of sleep as they tried to do their jobs.
Eliron turned to Artie and nodded.
Swoosh!
Two arrows sailed noiselessly through the air, killing both goblins the instant they landed.
"Let's go!" Eliron whispered sharply.
They hurried to where the bodies were and then Ash and Eliron disposed of them in the bushes.
Then they snuck into the camp, lingering in the shadows of wrecked buildings as they advanced.
The goblin enclave were ruins of what had once been an elven village thousands of years ago.
The huts were shattered beyond repair, some had sunk, while a few stone buildings remained.
But now, the goblins had decorated the place as they saw fit.
There were ornaments of horns and bones standing on long poles all around the village, some houses had animal skin decorating the entrance, and blood was smeared on doors to draw archaic patterns.
When they took a turn, they paused as they finally made contact with the resident goblins.
There were dozens of them, probably greater than fifty, littered at various parts of the village, all fast asleep.
Some were sleeping at the edge of the buildings, some slept in the center of the streets while a few slept in shallow ditches, hall half buried in sand.
Artie glanced at him, giving him a knowing look but Eliron smiled in response.
As long as there weren't any hob goblins then this much wasn't really a problem.
"They are like ants." Yennefer whispered as she watched them with disgust.
The stench of the village was strong enough to make one nauseous.
"Where do you think they are keeping them?" Ash asked.
Eliron thought it through for a moment. "They would be kept in any building that is still whole, probably close to the center of the village.
"We'll split up, prioritise searching the stone buildings first." He then turned to Yen.
"You will fly up into the sky and keep track of everything that happens. If anyone finds them first, alert the others so that we can meet up."
Yennefer nodded and then they all dispersed to various parts of the goblin camp to start their search.
Eliron was moving swiftly through the village, making his footsteps as light as he could, as he manoeuvred around bodies, peaking into houses as he rushed past.
Some of the houses had goblins sleeping inside them, one of them had the rotting corpse of a dead animal.
'That is probably their way of preserving food…' he thought.
After searching several buildings, Eliron arrived at a more secluded building at the side of the village.
It was a stone house with windows barred shut and a guard in front of the door.
The guard was peacefully sleeping, its back resting by the side of the building as its belly slowly rose and fell.
Then it raised its hand into the sky, sleepishly mumbling a few words before scratching its belly.
Eliron crept up to the goblin, unsheathing his sword in an instant. Then he held the goblins mouth close, just before simultaneously stabbing it right through its heart.
The goblins eyes shot open in death, breathing a disgruntled sound before the light left his eyes.
Eliron grabbed its leg and tossed it to the side, then he let out a breath, just before he pushed the door open.
The room was completely dark so Eliron could not make out what was inside at first, but once the light got in, he sighed with relief.
The girls were huddled together, wincing as the light got into their eyes.
They were all tied up, their hands and feet bound by vines.
A strange green substance that smelled like spices was also smeared all over their face and bodies, as though they were being prepped up to be eaten.
'Good thing we got here early…'
A few hours too late and the girls might have been floating in the belly of the disgusting goblins.
They were shaking with fear the moment they saw him, thinking their deaths were finally upon them.
But after a few seconds, one of the girls recognized him, her eyes widening as tears rolled down her cheeks.
"M-my lord??"
The other girls looked up as well, their eyes lighting up with hope as they realised that it was not a goblin that was standing before them, but their lord.
All this while, nestled in the darkness, waiting to be eaten, all they had hoped for was that their death would be swift and painless.
They knew that no one was coming for them, and praying for that would only be selfish.
How were the wood elves to venture this far into the forest to rescue a few girls who weren't even nobles?
It was absurd.
Never in their wildest imagination would they have expected anyone to come, and now standing before them was not just anyone…
It was their lord!
It was so unexpected that a few girls froze, unable to utter a word, while some felt they were dreaming and desperately hoped for it to be reality.
But before they could say a world, Eliron raised a finger to his lips.
"Shhh, we can't wake the goblins."
They nodded, their eyes teary.
Then Eliron smiled. "Its good to see that you are all alright."
He raised his sword and began to cut their bonds loose, after which he paused, a feeling of dread invading his heart.
"Weren't they seven of you?"