NPCs by Drew Hayes Read Free Book Online Page B

few hunks of rubble obscuring the way and stepped out of the narrow gap.
    Eric was surprised by how sweet the night air smelled. The tight goblin perimeter had contained much of the soot and violence, so much so that, once on the other side of the buildings, the world seemed almost peaceful. There were still a few more traps and hurdles to get around, but as Eric looked out into the dark depths of the forest, reality set in.
    He’d made it. He was free.
    * * *
    In different circumstances, Gabrielle might have made it. Her idea had been a sound one: sneak behind the bulk of the warriors to a secret get-away path she knew about. It was near the main entrance, obscured enough that one wouldn’t find it unless they knew it was there. Her movements were controlled, careful, and precise. She knew this camp well, and if any of the goblin warriors noticed her making for the exit, they did nothing to impede her. For one thing, she’d been around so much they considered her a friend. For another, they had far bigger problems on their hands.
    The demon in the center of the warriors was beginning to show signs of wear. Tough though its hide was, the sheer number of arrows and polearms were beginning to tear away bits of its flesh. The one near the building seemed to be faring better — not enough of the goblins were focused on it — and the monster was dropping their numbers with nearly every swipe of its claws. Gabrielle couldn’t make out the one that had jumped across the camp, but she assumed it was probably doing well, too. For a time, she didn’t know where the fourth demon had landed. Then she arrived at her exit point.
    At first, her heart felt lighter as she saw the swarm of goblins around the demon. This many would end it swiftly and then they could focus on the other two. The tribe might just have a shot at this. Then she noticed how quickly they were falling and realized few of them had armor or weapons. A quick glance toward the area where the secret get-away was located showed that the entrance was blocked.
    Blocked with goblin corpses.
    The reason there were so many goblins around it was because the demon had caught onto their escape attempt and sealed it. Now it stood between them and escape on the main road. It wasn’t being swarmed with warriors, it was cutting a swath of death through the children and peaceful-goblins that had been trying to evacuate.
    * * *
    Thistle moved with all the speed his crooked, gnomish body could muster, which was, unsurprisingly, not a lot. Thankfully, the focus on the incursion of demons made sure he was the last concern on the minds of the goblins he gently moved past. Along the way, he followed his own advice and snagged a pair of mismatched daggers from the corpses of fallen archers. They weren’t as well-made as the ones he’d taken from the dead rogue, but they had pointy ends he could stab into people and that was really all that mattered in a dagger.
    Of the four, he was the last to reach his destination, both because of the difficulty of what he was moving through and his hobbled size. He did make it without incident, which was more than he imagined the other two would have pulled off. Thistle hoped those two would be safe. Maybe if they survived, they could recruit new people to fill the party’s holes and draw the king’s ire from their town. It was what Thistle would have done; however, he was less confident in his own survival than theirs. They still had the strength and determination of youth. It was then that Thistle broke through the mass of goblins into the area where Grumph was, and all thought of the humans’ safety flitted from his mind.
    Seven fresh goblin corpses littered the ground around the demon, their light purple blood already soaking into the dirt. A few feet away, Grumph lay on his side, struggling to get up with the one arm that wasn’t covered in blood. A shattered goblin polearm stuck out from the demon’s hide, wedged into the shoulder above