A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

Chapter 71  Blades and Blood - Part 2

His feet kicked up dry dirt as he sprinted in the direction of the noise. It hardly took him any time at all to reach the area where the shout had come from, but each moment felt like a lifetime as he willed himself to go faster. 'There can be no mistakes,' was the single thought that permeated his entire being in response to what he only knew to be an emergency.

He arrived, spying Nila's red hair as she looked around her with a distraught expression on her face and an arrow notched on her bowstring.

"What happened?" He asked quietly as he stood in front of her, his knife ready in the reverse grip as he scanned their surroundings. There was blood pouring from a wound from her hand, but as of yet, no enemies in sight.

She quivered and shook her head, tears in her eyes. "I-I don't know," she stammered. "I was tracking a deer… And… There was this horrible noise in the trees, like footsteps. Then it sounded like something was laughing at me… Then something cut my hand, but I couldn't see what."

She fought to control herself and explain things to him without the fear distorting her words. Beam watched the effort in real-time, and he felt his respect for her rising. He'd learned of late just how stabbing fear could be.

He grabbed her hand to look at the wound. Her hands weren't as soft as he'd expect a woman's to be – but they were so small. So much smaller than his. The red blood marred her white skin. The wound was deep. But they could afford to ignore it for now – it hadn't hit any major blood vessels. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Nila," he said firmly, grabbing her by the shoulders and making sure her eyes were firmly on his.

She gasped at the sight of his lively eyes, as they were widened, as though trying to drink every treasure in the world in. But she nodded, to show he had her attention.

"Kekeke," Beam could hear the laughter in the trees that she'd spoken of. A cross between a cricket's chirping and a child's shrieking. It was a sound he recognized.

Beam looked over his shoulder. "Goblins…" He murmured, running through decisions in his head. His strategy was indeed the worst it had ever been, but his body was at its best. He listened to his body then – and he stood in front of Nila, his knife at the ready.

"Stay behind me, no matter what," he told her. "Count their numbers and keep an eye out behind us. I'm still weak at taking in all my surroundings – I'm counting on you."

Nila nodded to show that she understood. "What are they?" She asked, managing to control the shivers that were coursing through her body by sheer willpower.

"Goblins," Beam said, just in time for the first of them to walk out from the trees, a bloody spear in its hand and its jaws twitching in a mad chatter.

It gave a squeal and three more Goblins came out after it, clambering through the trees like demonic monkeys and hollering all the while.

They moved slower than the last Goblins he had seen, as though savouring their superiority, getting a thrill from knowing that they had the overwhelming advantage.

More Goblins appeared from the forest – another three. These came from the north, whilst the others had come from the east. Beam gulped, flexing his fingers on the grip of his knife. He looked at Nila behind him. If not for her, the best decision now would have certainly been to run.

But whilst she was agile and athletic, as he had seen, he knew that she wasn't as fast as him and she definitely wasn't as fast as a Goblin. His only choice was to fight. He sucked in a deep breath, battling his own fear that was threatening to rise up, replacing it with anger.

These Goblins were of the same blood as the Hobgoblin that had shown him up so thoroughly. He had a debt to settle with them. 'Make no mistake – I'm stronger than I was,' he said to no one in particular and all the cells in his body roared in agreement.

"There's seven," Nila murmured behind him. "We're… We're done for at this rate," she said, struggling to keep her voice from cracking. "You could probably get away if you ran, right? Why are you standing still? We can't fight them."

"We don't have a choice," Beam told her, taking a step forward to give himself room to fight. "Do what you can. Stay close to me and let me know if you're in trouble. Watch out for their teeth – they're going to jump at you and try to bite."

"How—How do you know?" Nila asked, her eyebrows furrowed in bemusement. He was just a lumberman to her, after all. Just a dog of Greeves. There's no reason he should know how to fight Goblins – hardly anyone did. Especially not a boy his age.

Beam flashed a smile as the Goblins howled, one that he had to fight to keep from quivering – seven Goblins at once was an intimidating sight after all. And then, he said something that sounded like an outright lie. "I killed five last week – though the conditions were a bit different."

It sounded like a lie, but to Nila, in that moment, it radiated truth. The boy in front of her had an aura of strength billowing off him that she'd never seen before. It infected her like a flame, as though melting away her own fear. Her legs that had earlier refused to move unlocked slightly and she gave a deep and serious nod, finally seeing a path toward victory.

"Get ready," Beam warned, hearing the Goblin's cries reach a fervour pitch, as the party of seven spread out amongst the trees.

Had Beam been of sound mind, he would have cursed himself for being so excited despite the danger they were in. It was as though his body craved action. Ingolsol was clawing at him, howling with delight.