The Forsaken Hero

”Impossible!” The goblin chief groaned, slumping to the ground.

Sorrin straightened, pulling his sword from the humanoid monster’s chest. Droplets of blood slid off the blade as he flicked it to the side and sheathed it in one smooth motion. The other goblin corpses dotted the cavern entrance, split by blades, skewered by arrows, or scorched by magic. Their blood painted the floor red, making for slick, treacherous footing.

I ran over to the prisoners, dropping to my knees beside them. There were four of them, a couple and two children, all pale as sheets and eyes wide with terror. Shoddy iron manacles bound their hands and feet, and filthy rags had been stuffed between their lips. They were Deerkin, the male having three-point antlers, and the woman and two little girls covered in soft, downy fur.

I tore the gags away, and they all gasped with breath. The father’s eyes narrowed as he took in my demonkin features, but remained silent and simply bowed his head in gratitude. The children began sobbing, overcome by the trauma of the experience, and even the wife sniffled.

”I’ll get you free,” I whispered, picking up one of the manacles. It was poor quality, but the iron was cold and cruel. Memories of my torturous experiences beneath the Western University resurfaced, my hands shaking to the point I nearly dropped the manacle.

I shuddered as a soft hand landed on my shoulder, gently pulling me away. ”Allow me,” Dyson said, taking the manacle.

He removed a slender pair of lockpicks from somewhere up his sleeve, and, within seconds, the manacle clicked open. I stood back, my tail coiling anxiously about my ankles, forcing myself to watch as he freed them one by one. When the last chain fell to the ground, the family skittered away from the cave, clustering closely around the Glory Chasers.

”You’re alright now,” Tana said soothingly, ”We’ve come to rescue you.”

The Deerkin father took Sorrin’s offered hand, shaking it gratefully. ”Thank you. We were just sitting down for dinner when they broke through the door, screaming their awful warcries and waving their weapons. I barely had time to grab a kitchen cleaver before we were spirited away. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t shown up when you did.”

”Are there any others in the cave?” Sorrin asked.

The man nodded. ”We were down there for a few days, locked in a cell at the very bottom. I think there were two other families, some of our neighbors, down there, but some of them were already taken away.”

Tana nodded thoughtfully. ”Was that why you were up here?”

”The big goblin said we were going to be slaves,” the man said with a shiver. He squeezed his wife’s hand tightly before continuing, ”Some of the other goblins wanted to eat us or something dreadful, and the fight started. That’s when you showed up.”

At the mention of their narrowly avoided fate, the two children began crying again. The mother leaned over to hush them, but judging by her tender face, she wasn’t feeling any different.

”Stupid bastards,” Rasce muttered, giving a nearby corpse a swift kick.

Goblin warcries echoed up from the depths of the chasm, crashing harshly in my sensitive ears. Sorrin drew his sword and Dyson faded into the shadows against a wall. Rasce slipped an arrow onto his bowstring and took cover behind a particularly large heap of corpses.

”Get to the trees,” Tana whispered fiercely, gesturing at a thick clump of a twisted copse. ”We’ll get you as soon as we free the others.”

”Here,” Dyson’s voice floated from somewhere in the gloom, and one of his many knives slid out on the ground, coming to rest beside the Deerkin man’s foot.

The man picked it up and nodded, eyes flashing determinedly, and led his family to the hiding place. With the risk of collateral damage lowered, the Glory Chasers turned their attention to the cave. The cries continued to get closer and the endlessly reverberating tramp of feet made it seem as though an army descended upon us.

As dark, squirming shadows appeared, I cast a light spell and tossed the bobbing ball of magic down the tunnel. It lodged in the depths of the chasm, illuminating crumbling cracks and stalactites. The whole cave was like a giant mouth yawning open to swallow us.

A group of stunned goblins faltered as the light enveloped them, blinking furiously as the sudden shift in illumination blinded them. Sorrin glanced at me, surprised, but didn’t hesitate.

”Now!” he cried, charging forward.

Arrows whistled over his head, picking off a few stragglers, and Tana launched a third-circle lightning spell, frying an entire cluster. By the time our front line even reached them, the blinded goblins were in full-blown panic, with many already trying to flee back down the cave.

The battle was short and brutal. Any goblins who managed to throw up some resistance were stopped by the Aegis, allowing Sorrin and Dyson to wreak havoc among them. Within minutes, the cave was a mess of blood and carnage equal to the scene outside.

When it was all over, the chasm grew silent, save for the gentle drip of blood running down the stone slope deeper into the earth. Dyson riffled through the corpses’ clothes and armor, apparently looking for something, and Tana ran up and quickly healed the two adventurers before she embraced the blood-speckled Sorrin. The wolfkin arms wrapped around her waist, raising her up, and the two shared a kiss.

”That was amazing,” She cried breathlessly, squirming until he put her back down. ”You’ve gotten a lot stronger.”

Sorrin’s lips curled up in a proud smile. ”We all have. I don’t even think the Silver Blades have killed this many goblins at once.”

”We got nearly fifty of them,” Dyson said, walking over. His smile was bright, and there was an unusual bounce to his step. ”They were rather well off, too, as far as goblins go.”

They all laughed, save for myself, who just watched them in confusion. They must be talking about some other factor only low-level parties considered. With a glance at Rasce, I surrendered the idea of asking about it. There was no need to ruin the victory we’d worked so hard to obtain.

”Starlight, you were incredible,” Sorrin said.

I blinked, taken aback, and looked up to find them all looking at me. I blushed slightly, and my tail curled in embarrassment.

”I didn’t really do anything,” I protested, staring at the ground. ”I’m just too weak compared to help much.”

”Don’t say that,” Tana said. She glided over, taking my chin and raising my head to meet her eyes. ”If it weren’t for you, we might not have been able to make it out alive. What kind of spell did you use to protect them? I’ve never seen a first-circle spell that has such a big range!”

”I-I had to improvise,” I admitted. ”I’m so sorry. If I hadn’t frozen up, I-I should have been able to protect you sooner, and you wouldn’t have gotten hurt.” I bowed my head again, bracing myself for a scolding. In his quest for perfect optimization, Soltair had always been quick to criticize my failings, whether the spell was late or placed slightly outside of his expectations.

”What are you saying?” Sorrin said, folding his arms. ”We won the battle. Even if we didn’t fight perfectly, it would be unfair to blame everything on you. I could have paid more attention, or Dyson could have flanked them from a better position. Any number of things could have changed how it went, so there’s no point placing blame. Besides, you more than made up for it with that light spell. I didn’t even know you could throw those things, but it gave us every advantage.”

”You’re not supposed to,” Tana muttered, elbowing me lightly. When I glanced at her, hurt, she quickly gave me a smile to show she was joking. ”Want to show me that one sometime?”

I nodded, still not quite certain I understood how they felt. Sorrin had almost lost an arm, and Dyson’s blood-stained armor showed just how many cuts he’d accumulated. An Aegis would have prevented all of that, and more. The fight never would have been a challenge, and it wouldn’t have been arrogant to say we could have killed twice as many goblins. Was it truly not my fault?

Pushing aside my feelings of guilt and worthlessness, I followed after the others as they began exploring deeper into the tunnel. Flicking my hand, I summoned the floating ball of light to my hand. I could see through the dark with ease, but even the half-elf Tana needed some light to navigate, not the mention the humans.

The cave reeked of sweat, excrement, and decay, oddly reminiscent of the Warehouse. It wasn’t pleasant, and the reminder almost forced me to turn back, but the thought that there were slaves down there urged me onward.

As Racse had said, there were many traps, but Dyson easily disarmed them all. He was a capable fighter, but he seemed right at home in the dungeon, slipping from shadow to shadow, humming even as he stepped over rusty spikes and marked pitfalls. Occasionally, he’d disappear up ahead, scouting the way, before reappearing suddenly beside us, giving a detailed report of the paths ahead.

The tunnel diverged into countless offshoots, forming a true labyrinth. Every once in a while, we stumbled upon a group of goblins going about their day and ruthlessly slaughtered them. The Glory Chasers were unapologetic and swift to take the lives of even young goblin children, killing them with the same look one wore when squashing bugs. Considered a monster myself, I felt some empathy for them, but my many struggles and experiences had stolen whatever naivety had once stayed my hand, allowing me to feel nothing at their deaths. This world was cruel and vicious. There was no wrong or right, no moral justification. There were simply things you had to do, the only consideration whether you had the power to do it.

After nearly an hour in the darkness, we reached the lower quarters. The offshoots disappeared and the tunnel widened, opening into a vast system of caverns. Faint crying rang in the air, and magical light glinted off steel bars in the distant darkness. A black-cloaked figure stepped into the circle of light. A thick broadsword was strapped to his back, glowing with the might of powerful enchantments.

”Welcome,” he said, his voice filled with condescending disdain. He drew back his cowl, revealing red eyes and a pair of long, curved horns. ”I’ve been waiting for you.”