Gerald's mind focused on the memory of gromberrys. Those red slightly tart, but always sweet berries that were the favorites of so many children, whether they were fresh, dried, or even jarred. Not the imported stuff, mass harvested by tieflings and troglodytes from Lower Lueders, but the ones his dear mother used to pick on the hills east of Daggerhall. They weren't as big or ripe as those industrially produced ones, but they were awfully sweet nonetheless. His mother would often ground these berries into a compote and lather the paste onto the crepes she made. The fresh smell would fill their small humble shack, and for a while, everything in Gerald's young hard life would be made right.

Gromberry crepes. So delicious. So satisfying.

It seemed like a fitting last thought for Gerald to hold onto as he was about to be turned into one himself. If he was going to be splattered at least he could have something good to remember this life by.

As the hammer swung downwards, Gerald braced for the crushing blow, protected only by the memory of his mother's comforting cuisine. By blade or hammer he expected it to be the end, but instead he was splattered by a spray of blood and bone.

Gerald winced at the gore that covered him, and looked at the large humanoid with the hammer before him. Did it miss and squish that goblin by accident? He didn't have to wait long as the big creature stepped past him, and booted a snarling red eyed wolf in the jaw. He knocked it aside for a second, and before it could recover, he blasted his hammer into the wolf's flank, snapping bones and bursting organs in the process.

"Ceto, left, "said a gruff voice from the shadows. Gerald glanced around and saw a humanoid similar to the big one, except he was shorter, broader, as well as more armored. This one wielded a great bow almost as tall as Gerald and loosed several shafts into a wolf that was charging his comrade's, surprise surprise, left. The force of the arrows almost lifted the wolf off the ground. Gerald however could not tell if the arrows killed it, or the big hammer that was brought down, crushing both the goblin rider and the wolf's back in one swing.

Gerald wasn't sure if this was a territory dispute, or if these big guys were simply claiming him from the goblins, but he was sure glad that he was alive and not a culinary mockery of his mother's breakfast specialty. The two of them seemed to break up the goblin's advance with their surprise attack, and was moving swiftly into their ranks. The broad one would lay down arrows to scatter or kill any goblins or wolves that didn't scurry for cover, while the tall one, presumably named Ceto, easily smashed any of his foes that he was able to catch.

Though the two killed four pairs of goblins and wolves in under thirty seconds, even in the shadows Gerald could see they were still greatly outnumbered. With their surprise gone, the goblins quickly regrouped and charged the pair in one big wave, hoping to bring them down with blade and fang through sheer numbers.

While the two big guys were tough, Gerald didn't think even they could withstand such a charge. He quickly scrambled to his feet and attempted to flee during the confusion, but as he ran forward a brightly painted red pinecone sailed past him. Gerald wasn't sure why, but he turned his head and followed the flight of this strange object as it landed into the front ranks of the charging goblins.

KABLAAMM!

Gerald was tossed to the ground as a giant explosion ripped through the wolves and goblins. His ears rang from the drums of thunder as he saw what looked like two tiny elven women hop onto a tree trunk and began throwing bundles of vines out of a bottle at the goblins still standing. While her aim wasn't as good as the shorter brute's anything the vine hit or landed close to was entangled to the ground.

"Get them while their stunned boys," shouted the two women that slowly began to merge and become one.

Ceto grunted and began to lay into the shaken and entangled goblins and wolves, crushing them with each swing of his hammer, while the other one drew a big curved blade and began slicing throats with just as much zest as his comrade.

The wolves and goblins at the rear of the failed charge, managed to turn and flee, while the goblins in the front simply wailed helplessly under the trio's assault. It looked like a fairly one-sided battle, before hands of stone burst through the ground and surrounded the small elven woman, quickly trapping her as they began to tighten inwards.

Green Eyes! The two big brutes broke off their attack. Ceto scrambled to the stone hands and attempted to pry them apart. While he was able to snap one of the rocks holding the small woman, even Gerald could see it wouldn't stop them in time from crushing her. The other brute hopped onto a tree stump and scanned the darkness with his bow drawn scanning the woods for their attacker.

Gerald considered running again, but he knew what to look for and caught a glint of green light behind a tree stump. Without thinking he snapped his fingers and a flash of smoke appeared next to the light. The brute with the bow pivoted towards the smoke and loosed several shots into the area.

Gerald wasn't sure if he hit Green Eyes or not, but it seemed to do the trick. The stone arms seemed to lose focus and loosen their grip, giving Ceto the chance to pry them apart and yank the small elven woman out of their clutches.

"They're going to regroup and come back with more. I'm going to see where they're going and maybe harass them a bit more to make think twice about returning, " said the brute with the bow. The small elven woman was still recovering her breath. She nodded before the bowman vanished into the shadows.

Gerald scanned at the impact point of the big explosion and saw that the surviving goblins and wolves took advantage of the stone hands and were able to retreat back into the woods. Gerald thought that was a splendid idea and decided to mimic it and sneak off in the other direction.

After two long strides, a pair of beefy hands grabbed him, picked him up, and placed him before the small elven woman.

"Thank you for marking their caster. I don't know if Armondo hit him or not, but he gave him a good scare, " said the woman as she gave him a crisp salute. Her voice was remarkbly husky for such a small person and had a rich foreign drawl to it. "I didn't expect these goblins to have anyone of talent amongst them."

Gerald bowed tentatively trading glances with the big brute, Ceto?, holding him and the small woman in front of him. Ceto, which he guessed was either an orc or most likely a half orc, was a creature of muscle that seemed to radiate physical power. He had a light brown bun on his head, and a bestial scowl about him. He wore partial plate and mail, that showed of his chiseled chest and nobbly abdomen, it looked more for show than protection. Gerald wondered how he didn't get skewered with that gaping hole in his armor, but then he noticed a slight blue glow around him. Magic perhaps? Besides his hammer he had a strange wicker basket on his back. The small elven woman turned out not to be an elf at all. While he had only seen them once in a caravan that passed through town, upon closer inspection Gerald was sure this woman was a gnome though her nose was a bit small and chiseled for one of their race. A gnome was a sort of cross between a Halfling and a fairy or something like that. There weren't that many in the northern lands, due to a great war the Grommers fought with them around two hundred years ago, but they were noted illusionists, artificers, and cobblers. Besides her delicate elven features, she had long platinum blond hair that was almost white, pulled back into a ponytail. She was fit with a statuesque build, which was odd considering she was only three and a half feet tall in her boots. She wore a form fitting long leather overcoat, that was decorated with many belts, pouches, and buckles. Lastly she wore an odd leather cap adorned with a menacing steel skull.

"Err…hi…I'm Gerald the Mag…err…of Daggerhall. I'm a bard," he added awkwardly.

"I am Tighyihha, former Captain of the Gnommar Second Expeditionary force, but you can call me Tig, and this is my companion Ceto. Armondo is the one with the bow, Ceto's brother, and hopefully he'll buy us some time to get out of here," said the small gnome woman. "You're lucky we came upon you, you looked like you were in a bit of a spot, but then again, maybe we were lucky you came upon us. That goblin shaman appeared out of nowhere and his magic was unexpectedly strong."

Ceto grunted in agreement and motioned that they should leave.

"Yes a fine idea Ceto. Let us leave now," agreed Tig. "This is more than we bargained for, with no signs of profit."

Gerald was overjoyed. He was rescued! He still wasn't sure what goblins and those red-eyed wolves were doing here, or what these orcs and half orcs, and this gnome were doing here as well, but they offered him a way out, and by Koryis he was going to take it. And considering there was still a dragon sneaking around the area, Gerald decided this was all one bad idea. A hundred gold is a hundred gold, but it might as well be a thousand if you were too dead to spend it. All Gerald wanted to do now, was head back to town, and get to the Greenmaiden. He still had some silver left from Sanngror after he had settled his tab, and he was going to order a big stack of Gromberry crepes to wash away the memory of this terrifying evening.

As Gerald nodded his head in agreement to Tig's extraction plan, suddenly the round face of a small young girl with large saucer eyes haunted his mind.

Help me Gerald. Don't leave me. Mouthed this phantasm of his guilty conscience.

Gerald ignored her pleas. She wasn't real anyways. The headed faded away and a terrible image of poor Mina being bound and accosted by leering goblins appeared. They clawed and pawed at her dress, and threatened to do unspeakable things to the poor girl. Gerald shook off the image, only to have it replaced with a more dire image of Mina being tied tightly to a tree stump surrounded by hungry red-eyed wolves. She attempted to scream, but was silenced with an apple in her mouth, which was more surprising since he doubted the wolves cared for fruit. Gerald shook the image off once more, and winced at the imaginary heat, as he imagined Mina chained to a rock, surrounded by a wall of fire, while a great metallic gold and red, or wait was it simply just red? Dragon slithered up behind her. It snaked its serpentine head over her helpless body and was poised to either unleash a blast of fire onto her, or simply swallow her whole in a single bite.

Gerald snapped out of his terrible visions and turned to face Tig. "Err….excuse me….my..my friend Mina is still in the woods. We need to rescue her."

Tig raised an eyebrow, she looked over Gerald before shaking her head. "I'm sorry but we've spied goblins, wargs, bugbears, and even ogres in these woods. It looks like a full warband and possibly more is here. It's prudent that we warn the town as soon as possible about this threat. You've seen their shaman, and I can assure you there will be more like him. We still haven't even encountered their chief. On top of that, there's rumors of a dragon in this territory, but at least we can scratch it off our list of foes. Unfortunately it either doesn't exist or is far away from here right now. Ceto and Armondo are good soldiers but we can't face off against those odds. I'm sorry, but we can't risk everything for your friend."

Gerald was stunned by Tigg's rebuff. He had only met Mina earlier today, and their relationship didn't go beyond telling a story and guiding her into the woods, but he couldn't just leave the poor girl to her fate. He had to do something. Even if it was an incredibly stupid idea to come here to try to get the attentions of the Prince, she didn't deserve any of those terrible fates he imagined for her. Despite this, he couldn't rescue Mina himself, but he knew what he had to do.

"I…I….Mina is…isn't just my friend. She's my girlfriend. My fiancé," he lied, something he was pretty good at. With a spark of an idea in his mind, he allowed his eyes to grow moist as he decided to go for broke with a long Lemball pass. "We…we wanted to simply pick Gromberrys in the woods, an ingredient for my mother's crepe recipe, but those goblins came after us. I tried to lead the goblins away, to give her a chance, but woe is me….I think I've reached safety while she's still in danger. I …I can't just abandon her. The love of my life…."

Gerald's moist eyes started to weep manly tears and he turned away from his audience in hopes he could manipulate them to aid him. With over half the goblins and wolves, or was that wargs? What was the difference anyways? that pursued him slain, it shouldn't be too hard to trace back his steps and grab Mina. Hopefully she was smart and was hiding under a log or had climbed a big tree. If he wasn't sure if he could anything for her if she somehow ended up as the goblin army's plaything, wolf meat, or dragon food, but he had to do something.

After a few sniffles and boohoos, Gerald made an effort to regain his composure and confronted Tig and Ceto again. "Okay…I'm better now. I ..I can help you find Mina, I'm a bard. I can sing to bolster your spirits, I'll do anything to get her back, but if this woods is too dangerous for you...I understand. Not everyone is a hero. I'll…I'll guess we'll just head to town. Hopefully I can convince the militia to help me. Maybe they have some heroes. We'll probably attempt a rescue in the morning. I just pray to Koryis my dear sweet Mina will be alright till then."

Despite her military attire, Tig looked distressed. Her stern face softened as she looked at Ceto for his opinion on the matter.

"I like crepes," shrugged the big half orc as he patted the gnome's tiny head. She squirmed under his grasp before finally escaping and facing Gerald.

Tig sighed. "I want to help, I truly do. We are not bad people, and nothing would please me more than to get your girl back. We probably stand a better chance to extract her than those militia fools, but…I can't risk my men. You did save my life back there, so I guess I owe you one, but I cannot repay you in this manner. "

"I'll tell Armondo to mark a path back to here. At least it will make it easier for you to return in the…"

Before Tig could finish, the shorter broader half orc burst through the brushes, grinning ear to ear with his fang filled mouth.

"Captain, captain. I saw it!" claimed Armondo.

"Eh? What did you see?"

"The dragon! A big thirty footer! A fire breather to boot."

"Really? The dragon truly exists?" asked Tig with wide expectant eyes. Ceto raised an eyebrow as well at Armondo's claim. Tig then retrieved a small box from one of her satchel and flipped the lid revearling a brightly glowing gem. Ceto, Armondo and Tig all gasped at its light. " It does exist. I guess it was just out of range earlier. It must have a wider territory. Was it red? Brass? Gold?"

"Red as a Gromberry."

Ceto and Tig both seemed to straighten at this piece of information.

"Aye, I climbed the tallest tree I could find while tracking the goblins and saw it about half a mile west from here. It was locked in battle with a half dozen knights," exclaimed Armondo.

Tig smiled and turned to Gerald. "Oh, it looks like there's a change of plans. We'll rescue your little girlfriend, but it seems we're going to make a little detour first. You said you were a bard right? Well we could use a hand it seems."

Gerald wasn't sure if this was a good thing, or if he should just take a head start and run screaming back into town.