Sheriff Hemlock returned to Sandpoint the next day, accompanied by a dozen guards from Magnimar meant to reinforce the town until the goblin threat had been dealt with. Draul reported to the sheriff about what he and his companions had been up to and what they discovered since the incident at the Glassworks. Belor was disturbed to hear that Lonjiku was murdered by Tsuto, who was working with Nualia and the goblins from Thistletop to destroy Sandpoint. It didn't take much to convince Sheriff Hemlock to let the adventurers travel to Thistletop and deal with their enemy directly.
The adventurers rode out from Sandpoint on their horses with Kennick leading the way. They traveled east along the Long Coast Road, with the Sandpoint Hinterlands passing around them. They passed Ravenroost and rode between Shankswood and Tickwood (where they had gone hunting with Aldern) without issue. When they arrived at Nettlewood, Kennick dismounted from Buck and motioned for his companions to do so as well. The adventurers dismounted from their horses with Mariel picking up and dropping Luxford to the ground, and after Kennick tied up the horses in a clearing, led the way into the woods.
Traversing through the densely tangled forest proved to be difficult but Kennick did his best to clear the way. It was around midday that he finally found a route cleared out in the woods, and from the small footprints, believed that they led to Thistletop. Several minutes later, the group arrived at a dense wall of briars that blocked sight to the shore they led to with Draul only realizing they were by water when he heard waves. He looked at the wall and figured that it was taller than some of Sandpoint's buildings and understood why Thistletop was considered the best goblin lair.
"This is it," Kennick told the adventurers. "Give me a moment for my transformation."
"It's a good idea to prepare now," Mariel nodded in agreement, watching Kennick step to the side to assume his coldborn form. "I'll cast a spell real quick to help defend myself before we go through."
"Speaking of, we're not climbing that," Razvan said, frowning at the wall of briars. "Corita, do you think your new sword can burn through that?"
"So, about that, but the blade isn't that hot," Corita told Razvan and took out her magical sword to show. "I think the metal turning red from heat is more of an aesthetic design than it is to set things or people on fire."
"Just our luck," Razvan rolled his eyes.
"Mariel, do you think you can cast a spell to set the briars aflame?" Draul questioned the wizard, seeing her cast a spell to form translucent armor over herself.
"I could but I would prefer not to," Mariel answered with a frown. "I would like to save my magic for battle when we really need it."
"The wall is damp," Kennick, in his coldborn form, noted. "We try to burn it down and we alert the goblins all the while not having a way to Thistletop."
"We don't have a lot of options to cut our way through safely," Draul told the group. "There's no way to get through without the goblins knowing we're coming."
"Hold on a moment," Corita stepped forward. "How can the goblins get through their own wall? They have to leave for raids and come back afterwards, right? There has to be a way through!"
"Good thinking," Razvan said with a nod. "Let's try looking around. There aren't guards so we can take our time."
It only took the group a few minutes before Corita found a "door" on the wall, a mat covered in thorns and vines. She used her sword to carefully move the mat aside to avoid hurting herself on the thorns. The mat covered a hole large enough for a goblin to move through the wall comfortably but not so much for the group. Draul looked at his companions, and with a shrug, crouched down and made his way through the hole. With no other option, they would have to make do with what they had, and so his companions followed after him into a cramped tunnel.
The vines grew over the group, blocking most of the sunlight. Although there wasn't much room to stand, the width of the tunnel meant that those without armor wouldn't need to worry about brushing against the thorns. Draul stepped forward, letting the adventurers in, and noted that there were two paths and he wasn't sure which way led to Thistletop. He looked down at the ground and could make out different goblin tracks leading all over with no way to narrow down which path to take.
"Any idea on which way to go, Kennick?" Draul asked.
Kennick looked down at the ground, and after inspecting the tracks, pointed toward the right-most tunnel. "There are drag marks leading that way. The goblins found something large and brought them that way."
"Good eye," Draul nodded. "Hopefully they dragged whatever they found to Thistletop."
Draul stepped aside to let Kennick take the lead so that the coldborn could follow the tracks. The group proceeded down the tunnel to the right which soon led to a crossroads with two tunnels, one leading to the left and another straight ahead. Draul heard roaring waves coming from the left but Kennick kept going straight with the adventurers following after him. The tunnel led to a "chamber" with a musty smell with the ground covered in rough fur. Gnawed bones were scattered across the ground with five goblin dogs kept penned in the chamber as they were tied to wooden stakes pinned to the ground.
Although the tunnel led to the left away from the goblin dogs, the beasts started to bark and howl loudly. Draul frowned, realizing that they could alert the goblins of Thistletop to intruders. They needed to be dealt with and quickly before any goblins showed up to see what was wrong.
"Take the goblin dogs out, and quickly," Draul whispered to his companions.
The adventurers went into battle, and although the fight didn't take too much time, it wasn't very quiet. Corita permanently silenced one of the goblin dogs with a downward swing of her sword while Mariel blasted another goblin dog with a missile of arcane magic, although it whimpered loudly in pain. Kennick dove towards two dogs, biting at the throat of one and swiping his claws at the other beast to eliminate them both. Razvan rolled towards the uninjured goblin dog, stabbing it through its skull with his dagger, and Draul finished off the dog Mariel blasted with a swing of his greatclub. The goblin dogs, although ready to alert the camp, were taken out before they could fight back.
"Do you think that any of the goblins are coming for us?" Corita asked, looking around the tunnels.
"It's possible," Draul admitted. "We need to continue on. Shalelu said there was a bridge leading to the island that Thistletop is on. If we can make it there…"
"The vines!" Mariel gasped, pointing to the ground. "Get out of the way!"
Draul looked down and saw what the wizard was worried about. The vines were moving beneath them rapidly and he could see that one was trying to wrap itself over his boot. He pulled his foot free from the vine and rushed to the left tunnel to get away from the entangling vines. Razvan and Mariel followed the paladin without the vines stopping them but the same couldn't be said for the rest of the group. Corita and Kennick found themselves wrapped up in thorny vines completely, and although they tried to force their way out, were unable to move from where they were entangled.
"Hang on!" Razvan called out. "I'll cut you out!"
"I think not!" a shrill voice called out from the tunnel he, Draul, and Mariel made it to. "I knew you adventurers would come. Your invasion ends here!"
The trio turned to spot a lone goblin in dark blue robes approaching the group. In one hand, the goblin held a wand of red metal, and in the other, he held onto a sword of literal flames. Stalking behind the goblin was a feline that was larger than him with dark fur covered with bright orange stripes. Draul recognized the creature as a firepelt cougar, a beast native to Varisia. Between the goblin's magic and the cougar following him obediently, the adventurers weren't fighting a typical goblin warrior.
Corita squirmed from where she was entangled. "Don't worry about us! Deal with that goblin!"
The firepelt cougar roared and lunged at the adventurers. Draul stepped up, and with a swing of his greatclub, swatted the beast out of the air. The cougar landed on the ground by the wall of thorns with a sickening crunch and was completely still.
"Tangletooth!" the goblin screeched. "You'll pay for that!"
Mariel covered Razvan's advance by blasting a magical dart towards the goblin, striking him at the shoulder. Razvan stabbed out with his dagger but the goblin moved away from the blade. The goblin swung out with his blade of fire but Razvan kept away from the goblin, fighting as carefully as his foe. Draul charged forward, and although the goblin escaped the swing of his greatclub, Razvan was able to stab one of his daggers through the goblin's robes. With Mariel blasting the goblin across the chest with another magical attack, his eyes showed that he knew he was outmatched.
The goblin backed up toward the wall of thorns, and while Draul thought that they had their enemy cornered, he was mistaken. Without any hesitation, the goblin pressed his back to the wall despite the thorns and slipped through the vines, disappearing. Draul gasped in surprise, and after inspecting the spot the goblin disappeared through, didn't see any sort of hidden tunnel. The goblin's magic was still at work, allowing him to escape without the adventurers having a chance to follow him.
During the short confrontation, Corita and Kennick were able to break free from the entangling vines. They caught up to the rest of the group and Draul could see that they were covered in small cuts from the thorns.
"Did he get away?" Corita asked.
"He did," Mariel nodded. "He must be some sort of druid if he was able to move through the wall without issue."
"The goblins know we're coming for them," Kennick said with a growl.
"There's no time to waste," Draul told the group. "We have to press on! We shouldn't be too much farther out from Thistletop."
The adventurers pressed deeper into the tunnels with a sense of urgency. It was only a matter of time that they would have to deal with the goblins and Draul didn't think it was a good idea to fight them on their terms. Soon, the tunnel widened out and allowed the adventurers to leave the tunnels. Draul noted that there was a makeshift watch tower to their left but it appeared unmanned. With the amount of raids the goblins went on, it could be that there weren't many left to stand guard.
Now that the adventurers could stand up without issue, they could see a rope bridge spanning over a gulf. It led toward a round and flat-topped island off the coast toward the north. While there were patches of nettles on the island, Draul could see that a one-story wooden stockade took up most of the island with two towers rising up from the building. The rope bridge creaked and swayed with the wind and the paladin looked down to see a long drop to the water below.
"This is a bad idea," Razvan said, frowning at the bridge. "This is a death trap."
"It can't be that bad," Corita shook her head. "The goblins make it over the bridge without any problem."
"Goblins don't weigh a lot," Razvan pointed out. "I can probably pick one up with one hand if it wasn't trying to bite me."
"Whatever the goblins found before made it across the bridge," Kennick told the group. "The tracks end here."
"That's not very reassuring," Mariel admitted. "Maybe something went wrong when they tried to bring whatever that was across the bridge."
"One at a time and I'll go first," Draul offered. "With my armor, I'm the heaviest in the group. If I can make it to the other side without the bridge collapsing, it should be safe for everyone else."
The adventurers nodded in agreement with Draul's plan and he approached the bridge. He set his foot down on the first plank and found that it held under his weight. Draul grabbed the rope on both sides of the bridge and slowly made his way toward the other side. There were times where the wood creaked when he stepped on it, but fortunately, the bridge didn't collapse. When he made it to the island, he turned back to face his companions and waved with both arms up to show that the bridge was safe to cross.
Mariel made her way across the bridge next and Draul knew that she would have no problem making it to the other side even if she weren't careful. It made sense that Mariel would want to go next. The wizard knew for sure the bridge would hold her weight and she likely didn't want to be anywhere by the tunnel's exit in case goblin reinforcements showed up. Draul caught a flicker of movement as a bird flew from the tunnel, past the adventurers, and over the gulf. If it hadn't come from the tunnels, he wouldn't have thought much about the way it flew toward the stockades towers. Draul had a bad feeling that the goblin druid that escaped was planning something.
After Mariel made her way halfway across the bridge, Draul could see Corita, Razvan, and Kennick turn to the tunnel exit. A swarm of goblins emerged from the thistle tunnels, led by the druid that escaped. The trio of adventurers on the other side stood their ground with Mariel dashing across to the other side to join Draul while firing off an arcane dart towards one goblin. Draul wished that he had a way to help his companions from afar, but unlike the wizard, he didn't have any way to fight from afar.
"There had to have been at least a dozen goblins," Mariel noted, catching her breath. "With the druid, they're in for a fight."
"Fall back!" Draul shouted, his voice carrying across the gulf. "We'll cut the bridge once we're all on the other side!"
"How will we get back after we're done?" Mariel asked.
"We'll worry about that when we're safe," Draul told Mariel, his gaze focused on the other side.
Corita struck down a goblin with a swing of her sword and backed up onto the bridge, starting to run across. Razvan followed after her, having killed two of his attackers with a dagger each. Draul noted that the rope strained with the two adventurers starting to cross the bridge. He was worried that the bridge would collapse, especially if Kennick stepped back to try to escape. Fortunately, Kennick made no attempt to fall back yet as he struck back at his attackers with his claws, roaring loudly. If the coldborn could stall the goblins long enough for Corita and Razvan, he would be able to make it across, and Draul was certain Kennick could make it until then. A few goblins started to shoot arrows across the bridge, and although their shots missed, Draul took a step back from the edge.
"Push him onto the bridge!" the familiar voice of the druid called out.
Time seemed to slow down as Draul thought as to why the goblins would resort to such a tactic. They must have known how much the bridge could hold and sought to bring it down while there were adventurers still on it. Draul watched helplessly as the goblins started to push Kennick back through sheer numbers. The coldborn grabbed a jumping goblin and threw him roughly into the ground but another slammed into his gut, pushing the coldborn back.
Kennick fell down onto the bridge and one of the support beams by Draul and Mariel twisted out of the ground. The bridge turned on its side, sending Corita, Razvan, and Kennick plunging towards the water below.
"No!" Draul screamed.
The arrows kept Draul from the edge to see them hit the water but he heard their terrified cries that were silenced by the sound of splashing water. Mariel grabbed Draul by the arm and pulled him to one of the few trees on the island for cover. Although she wasn't strong enough to physically move him, Draul found himself moving in that direction anyways despite telling himself that he had to see if they survived or not. There had to be something he could do to help them.
"There were strange knots on that post," Mariel noted, seeing Draul's anguished expression. "It must have been rigged to drop with enough weight. There's nothing we could have done."
"I should have seen that," Draul muttered, still in shock over the loss of his friends. "We have to help them!"
"We can't!" Mariel snapped. "I don't think they could have survived that drop, Draul. I'm sorry but there's nothing we can do for them!"
"They went on that bridge because I made it across," Draul said, his voice cracking. "They fell… they're gone because of me."
The goblins on the other side didn't make any attempt to adjust the bridge so they could pursue the surviving adventurers. Instead, the druid pointed his sword of fire toward the remaining rope, and with a snap, the bridge fell completely. There was no chance of escape for Draul and Mariel now. They were trapped on an island that had more goblins along with Nualia and her allies. If the others had made it across, they might have had a fighting chance, but now…
Draul pushed those thoughts out of the side. He took several deep breaths, trying to fight back against a rage he hadn't felt for a long time. Ever since making the decision to become a paladin in service of Sarenrae, Draul tried to move on from the kind of man he was in the past. He was unable to move past his anger and knew it was because, deep down, he needed it so that he could avenge his fallen friends. Draul gripped his greatclub tightly and turned toward the stockade, seeing the doors leading inside closed.
"Come on," Draul told Mariel, his tone tense.
"You can't be serious, Draul," Mariel said with a gasp.
"I am," Draul told Mariel firmly. "There's only one way we're making it out of Thistletop alive. If you want to survive, stay behind me."
With his warning given, Draul made his way toward the door, ready to strike down anyone that stood in his way.
A/N: So, while I was disappointed with how slow I was taking with Burnt Offerings compared to some of my earlier work, the fact that this is the last chapter I leave off with before shifting toward my next project makes up for that.
This story will continue at a semi-weekly pace. It won't be too much longer before we're done.
Until next time.