Chapter Two:

Unwelcome Guests

Aza struck first. The downward slash took every ounce of strength she could muster. The battleaxe sang its praises to the not-so-holy Hyena goddess before it offered up its sacrifice. The receiver of the heavy weapon, a goblin with a peculiar red quill in his hat, had a good two seconds to think about his life before he was literately split in two like a log for the fire. And much like a log hit at maximum force the two halves flew. One side struck two or three of his other long-nosed companions and the other side made a sickly slap against the base of an oak tree coating it with violet blood.

Gideon covered his mouth and retched. Fortunately, there was nothing left in his stomach to purge but it didn't stop his body from trying. The small creatures were faster than he could have imagined and they were closing in. Brother Benjamin shield slammed one of the little buggers. It was hard enough to fracture its skull, at least that's what Gideon assumed because the thing fell to the ground convulsing and didn't get up again.

Two more of the goblins, one being particularly fat went to work trying to route Aza. They closed the gap preventing her from getting leverage with her battleaxe. They slashed at her with their crude weapons but she dodged away. There was something beautiful in the way she moved. Her combat dance was as much offense as defense. When one got too close, she would kick them and move a few steps back making sure to keep her stance wide.

"Fat Demonspawn, help us!" The hyena growled.

The haft of her axe hammered one of the goblin's helmets hard enough to knock it off revealing it's tall pointed ears crooked and bent. Gideon choked back another wave of sick and got to his feet. He wiped the drool from his muzzle with the back of his hand and held out the dagger. It wasn't until that moment he realized how stupid it was to even attempt to fight with the small blade. There was a better chance of him doing more harm to himself than the little green menaces.

"I've never fought anyone with a knife before," Gideon admitted.

"Never?" Benjamin stepped back under the weight of a goblin throwing himself against his shield.

"Have you ever fought before?!" Aza backed up, close enough for Gideon to smell her.

To smell the wild unkempt beast that she was, was strangely invigorating. It wasn't pleasant by any stretch of the imagination, but it wasn't unpleasant either. Sweat mixed with ferocity and just a hint of rage, it was familiar, but he couldn't place the smell at first. It was doing something to his head, it made him feel strong like when he was a younger.

"Well, yeah. But not with a weapon." Gideon was now moving with the group backing away from the remaining goblin moving in for the kill.

"Hand to hand?" Benjamin mused, spitting a bit of blood from the cut on his bottom lip. Gideon hadn't seen how he got hit but at least it didn't look bad.

"Something like that," Gideon said.

"A monk then, get in there and crack some skulls."

Aza deemed that the time to retreat was over. She swung her axe in a large crescent arc, letting the weight of the blade carry her all the way around. Two of the goblins, the first two, fell victim to the attack before the others wised up. The attack left Aza open and on the run once again. Three goblins picked her as the biggest threat and gave chase while the others focused on Benjamin. The world around the fox was a cacophony of clanks, clatters, and shouts. Whether it was a sword hammering a shield or Aza's axe haft hammering an incoming goblin it filled his head with unwavering confusion.

"Anytime, Monk." This time, it was Benjamin who was losing his temper at the fox's indecision.

Gideon punched a fist into his hand and started to rile himself up. A goblin ran passed him on its way to help bring down Aza, but Gideon caught him by the shoulder first spinning him in such a way to bring a hard cuff across the creatures face. The punch was solid enough to twist its long curved snout sideways sending out a shower of violet blood everywhere. A wave of satisfaction washed through the baker-fox at the fact he'd managed a good solid hit. The feeling didn't last long once the goblin turned to look at him. A cruel, blood-stained smile came to its pinched face. It was a moment of realization for the fox. These were not school-house bullies, these were not drunk patrons at a bar. These were real, honest-to-god, goblins, battle hardened and durable. They'd come looking for a fight, a single punch wasn't going to cut it.

There was a downside to this realization, as Gideon soon found out. The close quarters slash wasn't as deep as the goblin wanted it to be but it was enough to cause the baker-fox to bleed. Blood dripped free from the three-inch cut at his ribs. Not very deep, luckily, but it hurt. Through that pain, Gideon found a new sense of urgency and it came out in the form of rage. Gideon had lost track of how many times he punched the goblin, but he knew that the thing was never going to get up again. The mass that used to be its face was nothing more than a pile of ground, green meat now. Gideon staggered back gripping his side as blood seeped through his fingers.

"Good, now another!" Aza hollered, booting a goblin away only to see it replaced by another.

"We are overrun, we must flee!" Benjamin was backed against a tree struggling to keep a few goblins at bay with a few tired swings of his mace.

The look on Aza's face told Gideon that she was not privy to fleeing a battle, which Gideon had to agree with. With the fresh wound in his side, there was no telling how far he could run before he collapsed. It seemed like a doomed venture and by the lurching goblin coming towards him, it only seemed like it was about to get worse.

The little green menace licked his lips, no doubt able to smell the blood pouring from the fox's side. Much like a shark, it was closing in for the kill. There was no way Gideon could fight another, nor could he take another hit. His desperate blue gaze found Aza, who urged him to do something but for some reason, he couldn't hear what she was saying.

Then something happened, something miraculous, which was saying a lot considering all the other crazy things that had happened this day. The eye of the goblin erupted all over Gideon. Violet blood peppered him from head to toe. Something glinted from the empty socket but the pudgy fox couldn't quite make out what it was. The only thing he could make out was that the goblin slumped over dead and he was no longer in immediate danger.

"By the goddess!" Grunted Aza.

A small figure darted through the underbrush. It was nothing more than a black smear against the green foliage. It moved with such speed that Gideon thought he was imagining it.

"Mind if I cut in!"

A deep voice declared, the throat of a goblin clinging to Aza, split open all over her. A black figure gripped the goblin from behind holding out a blood smeared dagger. The slash had been so precise and quick that the creature had no time to act. It crumpled to the forest floor, soaking the ground with its blood. The small figure, which was an inch or two shorter than the goblins, glared at the Hyena for only a second. Gideon saw that the stranger wore black dyed leather armor. It was so skin-tight that he could see the figure was a male, but a male what. The hood and mask that covered his face completely making it impossible to tell. For a second, Gideon thought he could make out smile lines along the strangers muzzle but he couldn't tell for sure because the stranger was off again to do more goblin slaying.

"You have something on your face."

A chiding voice called from the tree. It was accompanied by the twang of a bow-string and the singing of an arrow. It's target, a goblin, didn't stand a chance since Aza was nice enough to remove its helmet earlier with the haft of her axe. Gideon snatched around to see another fox up in the trees. It puzzled him, how he hadn't seen the brightly dressed creature before. A bright green tunic stuck out amidst the leather chest armor and a brown cape. The ornamental archer's hat was made of the same green fabric as his shirt. Gideon recognized the voice and the smug smile instantly, Nick! Which meant the crazy black leather clad figure must have been...

"Good one!" Laughed the rogue, who eagerly twisted a goblin's head around fulfilled by the satisfying, sickly snap of its neck.

"Thank you, Finn!" The archer called, slipping down from the tree.

Before he touched the ground he knocked another arrow and sent it flying with another tasteful jab. "Got my eye on you."

Gideon followed the shot as best he could watching as it sunk deeply into the skull of a goblin right through the eye just as the Nick doppelganger had suggested with his one-liner. The baker-fox could hear Aza grunt in disgust at the bravado of the fox, while Benjamin worked hard to stifle a giggle.

The three remaining goblins turned their attention to the pudgy fox who was leaning against a tree to keep himself standing. There was blood lust in their eyes and he could tell what they were thinking. They might have lost the battle but they would at least take one of them down with them. The injured one was the perfect candidate. Quickly they converged on him pushing him to retreat further. One pounced on him, bringing him down into the dead leaves that littered the forest floor. It dug a dirty boot into the gash at his side causing another fresh wave of pain and blood. Gideon wrapped his hands around its tiny neck and started choking. The green thing wriggled and tried to get free but the baker fox's grip was stronger. The thing glared down at Gideon, its eyes popping out of its skull as it fought to breathe. The fevered kicks and punches were all solid enough to hurt him but he wasn't willing to let go just to block them. Sure he would be bruised but he knew all too well if he let go of the creature now it would mean certain death.

The hits were coming softer and softer and Gideon knew the goblin was blacking out, soon he could rest, all he needed to do was hold on for just a little bit longer. Finally, the goblin choked its last and fell limp in the fox's strong grip. Gideon could feel it's pulse thumping away slowly against his hand. Not dead, just out, he reasoned as he tossed it aside to gather his strength one again. It was hard since every breath he took caused a sharp pain to spike in his side. The edges of his vision were growing dark, he was dying. And if the wound didn't kill him, the cackling warning of the two remaining goblins surely would.

Gideon could see them closing in. Cruel dirty claws flicking on the ends of thin fingers. They'd dropped their weapons but they were still looking to take a pound of flesh from the helpless fox, in the name of their fallen comrades. Gideon tried to move but the throbbing in his side just made him nauseous, forcing him to lay back. A warm hand touched his leg, then he felt the claw tearing through his jeans into the flesh beneath. It hurt but the pain was dull compared to the spiking pain in his side.

"No!"

Gideon heard Aza approaching. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her snatch one of the goblins up by a scrap of its armor slamming it hard against a tree. Then she did it again and again. Over and over she slammed the poor thing into the tree until it was nothing more than a bloody leather sack. She tossed it aside like a piece of rotten meat and turned to face the other. It let out a scream and started running away.

That was when the other fox, the Nick doppelganger, showed up beside Aza. A teasing smile came to his lips as he knocked another arrow. Then he let out an ear-piercing whistle. Gideon saw the goblin turn around, its mouth gaping wide in a frustrated scream. It grabbed its ears against the power of the fox's whistle. Then all went silent for a moment, everything went into slow motion as if by magic. The archer fox's green eyes locked on the target it was going for. The cruel smile on the fox's lips rippled as he spoke in a lavishly sexy tone.

"I love it when a wench..." He loosed the arrow as it tore through the air leaving ripples in its wake. "...swallows," The arrow struck its mark. Plunging into the goblin's mouth and out of the back of its head. The force of the shot sent it sprawling, dead, into the bushes. Then everything returned to normal.

"Damn, boy. You win this time." The rogue appeared out of nowhere next to the taller fox.

"I told you, Finn, you cannot best me in a game of Puns."

There was a playful laughter in the archer's tone that was contagious to all, except for Aza who rolled her eyes and grunted. Even Gideon chuckled at the pun but it gave way to a sharp pain in his side. The blackness swallowed him up, taking him away from this strange world of swords and sorcery that he'd thought so stupid the night before. His final thought on it before he was gone was that it was still stupid, just a lot more painfully stupid than he realized.