Nest 5
Part 1
Nest power of 12.
Two days since the complete annihilation of nest 4.
The sun hides behind the lush leafs from the treetops.
It was about to be noon in one hour. The summer heath warming the adventurers as they treck across the forest.
After a prompt recovery from the battle at the frontier neighboring village, the party had hurried following the tracks of a certain gang of goblins.
Goblin Slayer had taken count of the previous nest and concluded they weren't dealing with the same nest anymore, but rather two separated groups that for some unexplainable reason decided to work together.
Or rather, it wasn't that unexplainable as it was said.
Both groups carried on a distinctive equipment with an unique brand stamped upon each piece.
The two nest had been given the task to work together and raid the neighboring village. Resulting in one group being wiped out by the efforts of Goblin Slayer and the hapless elf princess while the other nest was decimated and forced into a retreat by the rest of the party.
And now here they found themselves, tracking after the remainder riders. The ones whose mounts allowed for a speeded retreat when things went south.
"Beard-Cutter, there's something I'd like to know. What are you expecting we should do if we find this boss creature that's been arming all the little devils?" The Dwarf-Shaman asked.
He drew out a bottle of firewine to quench his thirst.
The man in grimy armor stood up from inspecting the tracks, answering without hesitation.
"We kill all the goblins."
"I know, I know, that's what we do always. The question is how? I don't think we're dealing with the average goblin anymore. And we're not exactly in great condition to jump at a fight right now." The dwarf pointed out jabbing a finger at their friend the elf.
The princess gave a moody "hmph!" Indicating she was alright.
Her grumpy response eliciting a deadpanned reaction from the dwarf who tried to show concern for her wellbeing.
A small grunt escapes the man under the slated helmet. Who begins pouring his thoughts into what they've to do.
"We'll make due preparations once we find the nest proper. But right now these tracks are too valuable to miss."
A coalition of nests that organized and well-off functioning together was something he couldn't overlook.
He would chase those goblins down to the ends of the earth by himself if he had to. But deep down he understood the need to look after his party members.
But for now, they would follow after the escapee goblins without raising suspicions. That way once they found what they where looking for, the headquarters and the leader, they'll have time to make their preparations.
It was at this moment when the elf ears suddenly perk up, picking on the noise of something approaching.
"It's the goblins Orcbolg! They're heading this way on their mounts!"
"Hrg… they went back to make sure they weren't being followed." The slayer reported, drawing out his weapon
The party took positions and prepared for combat when one of their members blitzes past them like an elegant arrow before taking off for the trees.
"Long-Ears what are you doing!? It isn't safe going by yourself!"
"Relax Dwarf! I got the terrain advantage so long as fight inside a forest." HEA shot back.
Indeed, her bouncing from tree towards tree was almost magical to watch.
Her leaps would take on five times the length any other race would find reasonable, and the ease by which she waved through the branches was nothing short of astonishing.
The high elf took off towards the front at a height of fifteen meters from the ground and soon closed in on the goblin raiders.
Six of them, each riding a wolf mount just like during their last encounter. Four archers and two lancers.
Dancing with the leaves, the string of HEA bow rings and she fires an arrow aimed straight at one of the mountains.
"Oui!!" The wolf yelps before collapsing.
The bud tipped arrow flew in a true and straight line before piercing at the back of the head. Sending the beast spasming with a last cry.
The goblin archer riding the beast was sent flying by the sudden drop of his mouth and found himself rolling under stampede following. His life coming to an abrupt end after getting run over.
One of the goblin archers took aim towards the tree branches and fired an arrow.
The impetuous elven princess bounced off towards another branch in an attempt to evade the attack, but soon found out it would miss with range to spare.
She loaded a two arrows volley and turns her bow vertically before firing.
The cries of a goblin and his mount rings through the forest, whom dropped death in just an instant after.
HEA kicked off a tree and launched right overhead the rushing gang of goblin riders.
Her bow at the ready and taking aim at a goblin.
Twang.
Her bud tipped arrow pierced through the air in a straight downward line and tore at the skull of a goblin before driving through and hitting a wolf on the back, causing a fracture of the beast spine, sending it into critical condition.
The elf flight had her rebound upon a tree trunk and she fired another bud tipped arrow.
This time ending the life of another wolf mount and causing the rider to be sent rolling over, but this one would survive the fall.
It was as the elf princess bounced towards another tree branch that something struck at her left leg.
"Ahh?!"
A pair of weighted balls tied to a long rope spin around her ankle and caught entangled unto each others.
Bola Throwing.
The princess remembered the weapon very well from not too long ago.
She found herself pulled towards the ground but managed to latch onto a tree branch with both arms.
"Aghh!"
The safety of the trees was all that kept her from turning into beast chow. HEA understood this very well.
The goblin rider passed the rope towards his mount, who bites on and begins to tug with even more force.
"Aghhh!! S-stop it you stupid goblin!"
The tugging intensifies and the elf began to lose her grit.
Below at ground level one of the wolves had started jumping on his hind legs, eager for a piece of the high elf.
Meanwhile the goblin who lost his mount got up and picked his weapon of choice. A two and a half meters, comically long stake used for impaling elegant elven princess.
HEA sweat ran cold upon witnessing what awaited her down at the ground level, and her grip started slipping even more.
It was at this time when a support party arrived on the battlefield.
"Holy Light!"
At the front of the squad ran a lizardman carrying a petite girl of blonde hair and blue eyes.
Her fair skin shelters under a priestly vestment and a chainmail underneath.
From her sounding staff a blinding light flared on the goblins and their mounts.
The searing pain causing the monsters to hunch over and squeezed their eyelids shut.
"My turn!"
The elven princess rises to her opportunity and with a skip of her heartbeat, she lets go of the tree branch and begins falling towards the middle of the monster crowd.
A volley of tree arrows loaded and aimed with peerless precision.
TWANG.
Two goblins and a mount went down in the blink of an eye. Even when shooting three arrows at the same time, the elven princess couldn't miss when it was from such a close distance.
SQUELCH.
Underneath her boots squashed the skull of a goblin once holding a comically long pike, but the monster assumed the great mistake of dropping it after the light burned at his eyes.
The last remaining monster was a white furred great wolf. Who trashed and bites at the air all around him. Searching in his confusion for the source of all the carnage.
The monster managed to jump into his hind legs foaming at the mouth one last time when the high elven princess loaded and fired.
Ending the last of the horde life.
Part 2
The sun rises at high noon.
The cool breeze blows across the Frontier, making the trees sway from the top all the way down to the branches.
The party had come upon a vast meadow on the other end of the forest.
In its wake an old abandoned fortress from the age of the gods.
The party gathered at the edge of the forest with HEA jumping at the front. A spring to her step before she snatches the telescope off the Orcbolg hand before he could even take a look.
"Huh… I see goblins guarding the entrance and windows of that fortress… Orcbolg you think we may have found their leader?" The bombastic elven princess wondered.
A grunt escaped the man under the grimy helmet, who demanded his trinket back immediately.
The princess gave it back with an air of haughtiness right before the dwarf pulled up to argue with her.
"I do not know, but what I do know is that there's goblins hiding in there. And I will exterminate all goblins."
"But milord Goblin Slayer, if we must, first we shouldn't…" Lizard-Priest allowed himself to trail on.
Their leader gave a grunt of understanding. Once having inspected the surroundings with his telescope, he proposed towards the rest of their party.
"Let's head back for now. We're going to need resources for this. It shouldn't take us two days towards the nearest village. Then we can make our way back here."
"Alright! Goblin Slayer sir!"
"Knew you understand, Beard-Cutter."
"A wise leader indeed."
"Hey, any day I'm not hunting goblins is a great day in my book." The high elf completes.
Gaining entryway towards a fortress like that won't be easy, and there's always the risk of an accident happening.
The party could very well charge in there right now and leave everything to the dice, but that wasn't how this party operates.
With the slayer at the front, the party began making their way back towards the neighboring village from the raid of only a few days ago.
It took them two days on the chase because they where giving the goblins time to stop and resume their escape so they could follow them, but without stopping it shouldn't take a days walking to get back.
There they'll rest and prepare meanwhile HEA has to deal with her enthusiastic admirer.
And once all preparations are completed and the party's ready.
They'll be back to slay some goblins.
Chapter rolls and notes.
Days since chapter 4, rolls a 2 so only two days have passed.
Goblin nest power, a 2 roll again.
Turn 1, a 19, HEA deals 7 points of damage to the goblin nest and drops it to 5 remaining goblins, then rolls to summon priestess, a 15, priestess finally comes to the rescue.
Turn 2, a natural 20 HEA and priestess deal 10 of damage to the remaining 5 goblins and roll to summon another ally for flair, a 6, no one comes to the rescue but the fight is over anyways.
Six goblins and six wolf's mounts for a total of 12 goblin power.
End of chapter five.
This concludes the first five easy chapters, now starts the real deal.
First instance of HEA getting to keep all her clothes in one chapter. It's almost a miracle, and though I'm happy we got the scenario at least once, it does makes for one dull chapter doesn't it?
This was also the first chapter from which Priestess joins to assist HEA without the full party coming to the rescue, and the girl only did so when victory was assured.
That's smart of her, as if HEA gets captured while she's assisting her, the two get dragged into the goblin shenanigans together.
That girl really has a good head on her shoulders. I wonder how many of my readers are itching for Priestess to be captured along with HEA?
The dice will decide when the time comes of course.
So, if I was to rank the ranges by difficulty. The 1-5 would be normal difficulty, with HEA taking damage here and there but still managing to win in the end without getting captured or needing assistance.
The range was supposed to be something she could handle by just herself.
Range 6-10 is the new one and is what would be considered hard difficulty.
All chapters on the previous range had a mandatory 10 goblins plus the roll of the d20x which made the minimum nest power an 11 and maximum a 30.
But the range 6-10 adds a mandatory 20 to the initial 10 plus d20 after. Meaning the minimum nest power from now on starts at 31 and caps at 50.
Much appreciated because now we actually have enough nest power to start including creatures like Goblin Champions, lords and other unique non goblin bosses.
The chapters from now on will be much more epic and battles will get more intense, visceral and longer now that I actually have the means to write them over.
I have some really incredible chapters planned but this all depends in how far the dice rolls allow us to go.
And that's not to mentioning the happy or bad endings.
As I said before, at the start of the fanfic I rolled a d20 and the number in which the dice landed would decide wether the princess gets her happy ending or gets impaled on a stick.
All she needs to do is clear as many chapters as that original roll landed and she wins.
So, let's see where her story takes her from now on.
As for when is chapter 6 dropping… sorry but it'll be a while.
I already did the rolls and it isn't short that much I can tell you so it won't be cutting ahead of line like this one.
Nevertheless, now it's the Sus Exvius turn to get an update and after it's time for chapter six of this fanfic, so it'll be like three weeks to a month before chapter 6 drops.
Hope you had fun with our sorry elf adventures so far and let's hope her next chapter isn't so dull as this one.
Love You