Chapter 3

Early the next morning, as the sun was still rising over the horizon, the companions gathered in front of the Worldend Tavern. Godric was rummaging through her bags, making sure every she had everything necessary. As she picked up each accruement, she made an off-hand comment about everything she saw. Vivificus was annoyed. Already. He had a feeling it was going to be a long journey.

Lafayette clandestinely watched everything. She didn't feel threatened by the Deva, but she wasn't sure of how she felt about the sword carrying Eldadin or the massive Dragonborn. Vivificus and Treks both seemed the strong silent type and they made her nervous. Her eyes moved over to Orion, who was conversing with the tavern mistress Jackie. She couldn't hear their conversation, somehow she never got around to learning a spell to assist in eavesdropping. From what she saw the previous night, however, she was sure that no kind words were spewing from Jackie's foul mouth. After a long conversation, Orion, seemingly frustrated, finally nodded, handed over some gold, and rejoined the group.

"I bartered for us four horses and a draft horse for Treks." He said, looking over his shoulder at the barkeep, who was as giddy as Jackie got, counting her gold. "The price was… high, but we have them for a tenday, though I doubt it'll take us that long to find the thieves." He smiled at his new companions, and a flash appeared in his head of himself and a dwarf, gearing up for an adventure together. He pushed the memory back, hoping to remember more later, but for now focused on the present, asking "Are we ready to go?"

***

The companions rode on in near silence. Orion was leading at a brisk pace, Lafayette and Godric followed behind, conversing with each other in low voices. Lafayette fawning over Godric's safety and Godric assuring her mother that they'd be fine. Treks was riding behind them, looking bored and hungry, and Vivificus was riding about ten paces behind the rest of the group, scanning the trees for any potential danger. He had his sword with him, which occasionally pulsed with a light blue light, but he had no armor that a swordsman usually would travel in. When Orion asked him about it, Vivificus simply laughed, assuring the Deva that he'd be fine.

Treks felt his belly rumble. He was hungry, again. This was nothing new, Treks was never full. He looked over his shoulder at his pack, and reached out for it, his claws got closer and closer, almost there, but he grunted in disappointment when it was just out of reach. He glanced ahead, debating about stopping temporarily to get his food, when he noticed Lafayette's pack dangling off the back of her horse, it's strap open, and a ration sitting on top… a delicious ration of wolf meat. He prodding his horse on until he was riding right behind Lafayette's horse and he reached out, mouth watering, his saurian tongue licking his lips in anticipation.

***

Lafayette sighed, looking up at the sun and smiling. As upset as she was at Godric, she had no complaints at the moment. They had been riding for a couple of hours now, and it was a lovely day. She was having a wonderful conversation with her beloved Godric, and the other three companions were keeping to themselves; and as much as she would never admit it to Godric, she missed these days of being an adventurer on the open road…

"Are you thirsty, dear-heart?" Lafayette asked, turning to her daughter, scolding herself for her memories.

Godric shook her head. "No, I'm fine."

"Let me get you a drink anyway, it's a warm day." Lafayette childed, smiling. She reached over her shoulder, ignoring Godric's arguments that she was a grown woman and knew when she was thirsty. Lafayette still saw Godric as the little cub she had found, not the grown woman she had become. The mage attempted to pull her pack to her and was confused when she felt resistance on the bag… as if her bag was pulling back against her. That was odd, she turned, puzzled, and her eyes widened in shock when she saw the dragonborn's hand inside of her bag, rummaging through.

"What in the Abyss are you doing?" Lafayette screamed her eyes sparkling with untamed magic. This caused Treks to look up, baffled to what was wrong, and made Orion turn his horse around, sighing. The trip had been going so well.

"Treks hungry!" Treks grunted at the sorceress like there was no explanation needed, as if Lafayette was dumb for not understanding his motivation.

Lafayette continued screaming, when Vivificus rode up to them, his hand outstretched. "Quiet." He said, shushing the angry eladrin.

"Quiet? Don't tell me t-" Lafayette snapped, angrily, before Godric cut her off.

"No, mother, listen…" Godric said; her head slightly tilted, listening to something in the distance. Lafayette turned, staring into the woods, puzzled.

"What are we listening to?" Lafayette asked, as Orion pulled his copper mace off of his back. Before anyone could respond to her, a goblin leaped from the brush, ramming himself into Lafayette and knocking her off of her horse. She landed hard on the ground, grunting in pain.

Lafayette glared at the beast, fire burning in her eyes as she struggled to free her hands from the goblin's grip. She wanted to burn this little worm to ash, and the goblin was force to use all of his strength to hold her arms down. The little beast grinned down at her wickedly. She was going to have to do more than burn this simpleton when she was free, she decided.

"Treks coming Lala!" Treks yelled, turning to get off of his horse, when he heard a growl coming from behind him. He looked over his shoulder to see a wolf giving him it's feral grin. The wolf pounced, attempting to drag Treks from his saddle. At the same time Treks twisted his body in order to face the wolf and spring out at the beast. The two collided in midair, and fell to the ground in a twisted array of limbs and jaws, the wolf growling and snapping for Treks' face. Treks played a defensive game, keeping his throat away from the wolf's questing mouth. Treks' horse let out a terrified shriek in its inhuman voice, and galloped away from the battle. In the back of his mind, Treks missed his horse. He was a good horsey. Treks kept his mind on the battle though, deciding to find his horse later.

Godric, the deva, and the eladrin climbed off of their horses planning to come to Treks or Lafayette's aid, but before they were able to help their friends, they found themselves surrounded by goblins as well. Godric started chanting spells, reaching for one of the many charms that aided her magics, as Vivificus and Orion placed themselves back-to-back in a defensive position.

"These are pretty brave goblins…" The eladrin remarked, swinging his sword and taking the arm off the nearest unfortunate goblin. His sword hummed a quick note, the foul blood sliding off the blade.

Orion struck out with his shield, smacking another goblin in its muzzle and shoving the monster away. His eyes scanned the sea of goblins facing them and remarked "They have the advantage in numbers," to Vivificus, then raised his voice. "Fight the foul beasts back my companions. Show them the error that they have made on this day." His voice was loud and clear, something about it resonated and motivated his companions. While he was finishing this speech, he noticed a pinecone flying over his head. It struck a goblin out in their grubby ranks, and on contact burst into flames. The goblin screamed, dropping to the ground and rolling around. The fire didn't stop with one goblin. It spread, using anything as a fuel: grass, leaves, goblins… Orion glanced behind him at a beaming druidic face. He smiled at her before adverting his attention back to combat, smashing in the head of an approaching goblin with a swing of his mace. The goblin used his last breath to curse the deva before falling to the ground.

Lafayette tried once more to push the goblin off of her, cursing the luck that the goblin on top of her was the only goblin she'd ever seen with enough strength to hold her down. She might not be as muscular as Treks, but she knew she was no weakling either. The goblin shouted something in its native tongue, and Lafayette groaned when she realized it was a call for one of its foul companions. The new goblin ran at them, hate in his eyes, as he drew his dagger. The Eladrin knew that no one was coming to her aid, and she had to take care of herself.

She looked back at the goblin holding her down, and feigned terror. She screamed, and passed out. The confused goblin on top of her loosened his grip, just barely, but enough for Lafayette. The tricks she had gathered the last century were not all magical in nature. Her eyes flew back open, fury blazing in them, as she forced her head up with all of her might. The goblin screamed, clutching at its battered nose as it stumbled off of her. Lafayette, still on the ground, threw up her palms and whispered words of no little power, flames poured out of her palms, engulfing the two goblins. When the flames separated, all that was left was two burned corpses. Lafayette stood up, pulled a long slender oaken wand out of her robe, and brushed herself off. She ran forward to join in the battle.

Godric raised open palms to the air and grinned when thorns sprung out of the ground, engulfing a goblin. She could no longer see the goblin, but heard its terrified yelps. Whenever it moved, it grazed part of its body against a thorn, the sanguine plant feeding off of the red water. It would be stuck in there a while. Godric was enjoying herself, feeling the power of nature flow through her. Using this power to defeat these beasts and assist her friends. She knew that her adoptive mother was once an adventurer, and Lafayette spoke fondly of those times, on the rare occasions that she would talk of it, and now Godric knew why. She looked around, and got even more excited when she saw Lafayette approaching her. "Mother look!" She shouted, jumping in excitement. Lafayette pulled her arm back and threw a punch towards her daughters face. Trailing from the fist was a glob of acid. Godric squealed and covered her face, as the acid went over her shoulder, scalding the face of the goblin that was approaching her.

"Stay alert Godric." Lafayette scolded, "the battlefield is not a place to be taken lightly. Orion, what is our plan?" She asked, adverting her attention away from her blushing daughter.

Orion wished he knew, but kept that thought silent. It was his job to bolster his allies' confidence. "What are the goblins goals?" He asked out loud, scanning across the sea of foes once more.

"I do not believe these creatures are smart enough to have goals." Lafayette muttered, raising her hand to throw another acid attack at her foes. Right before she said the trigger word though, a funny feeling came over her. Her nose twitched, her eyes started to water, and she looked down, letting out a sneeze. The acid flew from her hand, not as potent due to the interruption of her spell, but she still screamed as the acid splattered across her feet, burning through her boots.

"Mother!" Godric screamed, running to the elf's side.

"That's not normal. She may be reckless, but I trust her to throw a spell without sneezing." Vivificus advised his companion. Suddenly a mace swung under his defensive position. He willed a bit of his magical energies towards the head of the weapon, and the mace was deflected as if it had bounced off a shield. Vivificus hoped the deva saw this. Orion did, and realized that his companion was no normal swordsman. Orion had enough experience with those who practice these arcane arts, known to the common man as a Swordmage. Vivificus did not need armor to protect him.

Orion agreed with the assessment. "Look, behind these troops." He said. Vivificus glanced up and saw a goblin in a robe, waving a totem in the shape of a bear over his head, chanting magical words. Vivificus was no studious student of the arcane, but he knew enough to know that this goblin was chanting half invocation, half nonsense. However, for a goblin, he was probably one of the better spell casters. Vivificus groaned. "Great."

"We need to take him out. Make your way to him." Orion commanded. Vivificus hesitated, angered by an order, but knew that the Deva was right. He chanted a word, and disappeared. Orion understood Eladrins enough to know what happened. Eladrins are creatures of the Feywild, a plane of existence not unlike their own world. In fact, the Feywild was a reflection of this world, the main difference being that it was brighter and more magical. Those who have a connection to the Feywild can use it for travel, and sure enough, Vivificus appeared behind the goblin warriors, a couple of steps away from the shaman, who started enacting defensive spells.

"Lafayette, are you okay?" Orion asked, concerned for the woman.

"I'm fine." Lafayette said, in response to both Orion and her daughter, fawning over her. She looked down at her mangled shoes, knowing they were useless now, but thankful for their existence. Without them, it might have been her mangled feet she was looking at.

"You and Godric stay alert!" Orion yelled back.

"Where are you going?" Lafyette started to ask, but got no respond as Orion yelled and started barreling through the goblins. He needed to reach Vivificus. "Godric, pay attention to the battle!" She screamed, as a goblin charged right at her daughter. Godric turned, but not in time to stop the goblin as it slammed into her back, knocking her to the ground.

***

Treks groaned as he was flipped onto his back once more, feeling the wolf's warm breath on his face. He was able to keep the jaw away from any vital places, but his forearms were covered in bite marks and he wasn't sure how much longer he'd be able to keep this beast back. But he knew that none but he possessed the strength to hold the wolf back, and he accepted another bite to his shoulder. Some nobility deep in his blood responded, he knew that it was another bite he was keeping off of his friends. But that last bite was deeper than the others, and he felt his blood start to flow down his arm. The scent of blood seemed to energize the wolf, but it was nothing compared to the fury that it awoke inside of Treks. His eyes narrowed in rage as the blood warmed his skin, letting out a growl and releasing his grip on the lupine face. The wolf lunged out hungrily, but Treks wrapped his arms around the wolf's hind leg, pushing out with all of his considerable might.

The wolf struggled, confused as Treks slid his feet beneath him and jumped to a standing position, lifting the wolf off of the ground. He let out a scream, and spun his body, pulling the terrified beast by its leg. The wolf yelped as Treks changed his momentum suddenly, and the wolf flew through the air, smashing into a tree. The leg that Treks was holding, however, stayed with the barbarian. Treks looked at the three-legged wolf, and when he saw that it was not moving, he turned towards the goblins, unsheathing his greatsword.

He was not satisfied yet.

***

"GODRIC!" Lafayette howled as her daughter hit the ground. She ran to assist her, but her path was quickly blocked by more goblins. "Poor choice." She growled, spinning her hands and chanting. She opened her mouth ecstatically. A bolt of bright, yellow lightning flew out of her mouth, blasting away the closest goblin. The bolt twisted back and engulfed Lafayette in a bright light. The next goblin swung his sword out, slashing against her chest. He let out of triumphant yell, but instead of cutting open her chest as he had intended, the lightning, seeking someway to ground itself, travelled into the goblins sword, exploding with energy and flinging the goblins' body back twenty feet. The other two goblins starred at the energized elf, glanced at each other, and started running away.

Lafayette took a step towards the daughter, not caring if the goblins got away. They weren't the one who attacked her precious daughter. The goblins glanced over their shoulder, seeing if the glowing woman was pursuing them, and let out a relieved sigh that they had escaped the furious elf. The sigh turned into a grunt though, when they looked back in front of them, only to realize they had collided with a furious Dragonborn. He smiled down at the two goblins, who gulped in fear.

***

Godric sighed, trying to clear her mind and keep her thoughts off of the pain in her chest. She could tell that the goblin's dagger had penetrated her chest. But she was attempting something she had never been able to pull off before, and she knew that it was the only way to fight this goblin off of her. She needed to concentrate.

She communed directly with the oak father, finding balance in the perfect nature of the world. She prayed to the nature gods, and she felt her face start to stretch, and her heart started beating in anticipation. The goblin hesitated, confused by what was happening, and jumped in shock when the young woman underneath him suddenly grew a layer of silver fur. He stumbled off of her, when Godric's entire body convulsed one final time, knocking the dagger out of her chest. She flipped over, and pounced on the goblin. Eighty pounds of furious wolf knocked over the yellow skinned humanoid. She barred her teeth and ripped out his throat.

***

Vivificus swung his sword again, once more the sword ringing off an invisible barrier. He knew that this lowly beast should not know a spell to enact such an effective ward. A quick survey off the area confirmed his suspicion. There was a discarded scroll. The words of power were no longer visible, but Vivificus knew that this goblin was not the one to write them. The goblin let out a disgusting laugh, launching into another spell. An incorporeal eagle descended, scrapping his talons along Vivificus' skin. No marks appeared though, being deflected by Vivificus' own wards.

"Which one of our defenses will fail first, scum?" He mocked, as his sword started to glow with magical energy. He swung the sword in an arc over his head. The energy condensed into a single bolt of light. The attack shattered through the goblins protections and knocked into its chest. The shaman stumbled back, dazed, as the scarred eladrin struck out once more. With that hit, he felt the magic tremble. It wouldn't hold much longer.

The goblin, fearing for its safety, struck the bear shaped totem on the ground. Black smoked starting spewing from the effigy's twisted mouth. The shaman smiled a wicked little grin at Vivificus, as the two disappeared into the smoke. Vivificus didn't hesitate, leaping into the darkness, stabbing his sword in front of him. He instantly knew he struck nothing but air, and pulled his arm back. He concentrated, listening for any movement in the darkness and waiting for his chance to strike.

He flinched as he felt the effigy crack strike against his spine, but the goblin made a fatal error. Vivificus could take a hit with a blunt weapon and keep going, but as the eladrin flung his sword out he felt it sink into the goblin's chest, teaching the goblin never to trade blows with a swordmage. The shaman coughed, blood trickling out the side of his mouth. With its death, the smoke instantly evaporated. Vivificus pulled his sword out of the body, and the goblin fell to the ground, his eyes staring out from oblivion. Vivificus cleaned his blade with the beast's robe, and turned to see Orion by his side.

***

Treks felt the fury leave him, and he glanced around, seeing the last few goblins retreating back into the forest. He felt an urge to chase after them, but knew that it wasn't worth it. He turned his attention to the two women, to make sure they were okay, thinking that maybe they'd give him some food. Fighting made him hungry.

"Lala, look out!" He screamed as the sorceress bent over towards a new wolf. He ran to her aid, sword in hand, with every intention to cut down the beast. He was shocked to see the wolf hide behind Lafayette. Treks stopped, confused, and looked up at Lafayette, who didn't even notice Treks. She rubbed her hand against the wolves head, and the wolf barred its teeth… not in a threatening manner, but almost in a grin.

"You finally did it, dear heart." She said happily.

"Gogo wolf?" Treks said. He did not understand what was going on.

***

"Thank the Gods that the goblins are useless without their leader." Orion said, at Vivificus' side. The elf was rummaging through the pockets of the beast. "Why are you robbing him?" Orion accused.

Vivificus looked up at the Deva, hurt. "I'm looking for a clue to why they attacked us." Orion nodded, and looked upon the other members of their group, checking that they were safe. While he turned, Vivificus quickly pocketed the bag of coins the shaman was carrying. His hands also moved to the necklace that was around the goblins' neck, but he stopped when he saw what the symbol was. "Huh."

"What is it?" Orion asked, looking down. His muscles tightened when he saw the black fist wrapped in dark plate armor.

"Did you ever hear of a goblin worshipping Bane?" Vivificus said, looking up at his companion. Orion simply shook his head. "Yeah, me neither."

"I know not why worshipers of Bane are attacking us. Perhaps this is in some way related to the robbing of the tombs. If Bane is responsible to me this is all the more reason to stop them. We better tell the others what we know." Orion stated, turning to rejoin his companions. "Leave the unholy symbol where it is." He commanded.

"Yeah, I'm going to pass this up." The elf muttered, pocketing the symbol, figuring he could sell it to a blacksmith to melt down back in town. He looked back to make sure no one was watching, and slipped the totem into his pocket as well. It was a fairly powerful magic item, one he was sure would fetch him a decent price as well. Maybe it was worth coming out on this trip with the fools after all.