Utilizing the darkness and the cover of the storm, the goblins scurried through every narrow passage like rats through sewer pipes. They broke into storehouses and shops, smashed windows and crashed through doors. They shrieked and squealed as they filled their sacks with everything and anything they could lay their hands upon.
Disgusted with the sight, Ryson almost rushed after each and every goblin. His speed would have allowed him to disarm most of them. He could force them to drop their loot and retreat to the gate, but upon seeing Okyiq stalking across a narrow alley and leading eleven goblins heavily laden with plunder, Ryson decided to alter his plans.
The large goblin was the biggest Ryson had ever seen. Even in the heavy rains, the bulky form stood out against the other smaller creatures. Ryson was no longer surprised they had succeeded in unlocking the gate. The colossal goblin looked almost as strong and as sturdy as a dwarf warrior. The delver realized the monster could probably slide the locking post from the gate buckles by himself.
With his keen hearing, Ryson had heard the orders of the massive goblin and watched as the edicts were obeyed without delay. He realized the goblins were not acting in the fashion of a true horde. They did not rush forward recklessly like the incoming tide, unable to curb their instincts. They did not tear through Burbon with a group lust for violence and chaos. Instead, they had turned over authority to a single goblin and it was his voice they followed.
It was not completely out of the ordinary. The goblins had often been used as pawns, pressed forward by the twisted desires of wicked sorcerers or conniving dark creatures of greater willpower. Still, when the goblin threat was unleashed, it was shoved upon victims like a turbulent dust storm rolling forward with constant and frenzied violence.
The actions Ryson viewed did not match such characteristics. The goblins dashed through Burbon as individuals, single goblins following the orders of their master. Even as they clearly reveled in the thrill of the raid, they did so in a manner that reflected control and purpose.
With the nature of the assault unfurling before him like some scripted play on a muddy, flooded stage, Ryson realized that targeting the goblin foot soldiers was not the path toward successfully ending the conflict. He needed to address the real force behind the incursion, remove the very will that pressed each goblin into becoming a dangerous menace to his home.
With his decision made, Ryson raced toward the massive goblin. He readied the Sword of Decree in front of him as he became a flash of light and motion. In an instant, he was upon the pillaging group led by Okyiq.
The goblins froze at the sight. Even Okyiq stood dazed at the near incomprehensible vision. A blazing sword shot at them as if unleashed like a lightning bolt from the sky. Many of the smaller goblins were knocked immediately from their feet and left to roll through mud puddles, struggling with their heavy sacks of loot.
After stunning several of the smaller goblins with quick slaps of his sword to their swollen heads, Ryson turned his attention to the apparent leader of the raid. The delver had witnessed thousands upon thousands of goblins over the past several seasons, but the creature before him stood far more massive than any goblin Ryson had ever seen. A slap on the head was not going to achieve anything beyond incurring the wrath of the creature, and Ryson knew well enough not to grapple with the monster.
Weaving about the goblin, Ryson never slowed. He became a dancing shadow in the rain, moving as if he found the means to evade each drop of water falling from above. He did not strike the goblin with his sword, but he called out a dire warning.
"Recall your minions! Leave now!"
The dizzied motion bewildered Okyiq. He could hear the voice but never focus upon the face that issued the declaration. The glowing blade rushed about him as if death itself had come to take his poisoned soul with a spinning, skeletal finger of light.
The monstrous goblin almost issued the order to retreat. He had accomplished most of his objectives. He had entered Burbon and taken the human food. It sounded as if the humans were offering him free passage back to the hills, back to Dark Spruce.
The thought of the forest, however, reminded him of his burning desires. He had gained control of that portion of the woods. That corner of Dark Spruce belonged to him, and he viewed Burbon as part of his forest. The humans would bend to his will, not the other way around.
As his ambitions rekindled the motivation for his deeds, Okyiq found the clarity to realize that no human could move like the form that threatened him. It was another defender of Burbon, a more dangerous foe than a simple human soldier, and he was aware of the town's protectors. Without a shred of doubt, he realized he faced the delver and not the enormously powerful wizard. In that thought, he found courage. He called out to every goblin within Burbon.
"Attack this delver… or die by my hands!"
The order was roared out as if a lion had become enraged, and it brought a great pause to the goblin frenzy throughout the area. They ceased their shrieking. They stumbled to a sudden halt. Many dropped treasures in momentary confusion. They looked to their leader, saw that he was engulfed by the legendary movements of the speedy delver. Despite their fear of Okyiq, they were at a loss of what to do.
Attack the delver?
Did they dare? That was like attacking the wind… but that was the order. Okyiq frothed with rage, and the goblins could not deny the quandary before them. Attack the delver or face their leader's wrath-it was like a choice of trying to grasp rushing water or standing before an avalanche of boulders, a true dilemma that left the goblins dumfounded.
Ryson decided to break the momentary stalemate. He ignored the surrounding goblins. They were never a threat to him. Even with so many around him, what could they do? They carried short swords, not bows. They would have to get within arm's length to use their weapons. Even had they not carried sacks heavily loaded with plunder, they lacked the physical ability to match the delver's speed and quickness. No, the goblins throughout the streets posed no real danger.
Okyiq was the one real threat to Ryson's home. The large goblin orchestrated the attack, used his unnatural strength to its fullest potential. It was not the frantic call of the horde that urged the goblins forward, but rather the harsh voice of their leader. It was not the furious stampede of the dark gray host that pressed the goblin storm onward, but rather the raised fist of one titanic monster. If Ryson wished to end the conflict, he needed to neutralize the leader of the raid.
With surgical precision, Ryson stabbed at the monstrous goblin's shoulder. The tip of the Sword of Decree broke through the skin, but only by the smallest of margins. It was just enough to invoke the enchantment of the blade, a blade which was capable of burning the spirit, no matter how decrepit in nature.
Okyiq howled in indescribable pain. His eyes shot open wide as every fiber of his being felt as if it was being consumed by the fire of a white hot star. He tried to pull away from the sword, but the cursed delver could counteract his every retreat. Desperate, he swung a free hand at the glowing blade, hoping to knock it away.
Ryson countered by pulling the blade away at the last instant and then stabbing at another vulnerable section of the goblin's body. He danced about the monster's form, twirling about like a whirlwind constrained to a localized area. He stabbed with deft accuracy, always slicing the goblin's hide just enough to engulf the creature's soul with enchanted fury but never thrusting the blade to cause an egregious wound to its body.