Congratulations! You've learned the Battle Skill of Spearman!
More goblins were coming. She could hear them approaching from two directions, so she set a path between them. The two remaining goblins began trailing her, shouting in their language.
Asha stopped and spun around, throwing a fireball into the chest of one. He screamed and ran away as the eldritch flames consumed him. His comrade froze, staring at his friend. She took the opportunity to impale him on her spear.
"Trade. Thanks," she said, abandoning her spear still in his belly, and took his right out of his dead hand. He also had a strung bow across his back with a quiver full of arrows. "You, sir, are too generous."
Five goblins appeared to her left. Asha cast Slow as Molasses. They came to a stop, shocked looks on their faces. She thrust the spear into the ground, and started shooting arrows at the bespelled goblins. One, two, three were killed before the spell began to fade. The sorceress wounded a forth goblin, before she had to take up the spear to defend herself.
Congratulations! You've learned the Battle Skill of Archery!
The goblins weren't fazed by their terrible losses. Anyone sane would quit a fight so costly. No one ever accused goblins of being rational.
"You've made a serious mistake, dogs," she growled.
Two more goblins came up behind her. She shifted into a different defensive stance to keep all three in sight. One of the newcomers stopped and cocked his head.
"Is that the elfmaid we killed yesterday?"
"You're from that village? With Dukk?"
"It is her," he said. "She's the Immortal we captured and killed."
"That makes her more valuable as a slave," another said. "Don't kill her. Go for the legs."
"Aww, you're so not cute," Asha said. "I'm going to kill you last."
All three charged her as one. She threw her spear at one, then snatched up the bow and used her levitating spell to rise a few feet above. Peppering them with arrows put two more down, and sent the last goblin running.
Asha hit the ground running after him. All she could think about was how they captured and killed her, and planned to eat her. So disgusting! It was time to exact her pound of flesh now that she possessed the perfect spells to lay waste to a goblin village.
"Elf witch! Elf witch!" the goblin screamed as he ran.
The fleeing goblin proved elves weren't the only ones that excelled at running through the woods. It took all her strength and will to keep up with the little bugger.
"I changed my mind," she shouted. "I'm going to kill you next!"
Stopping to take aim, she released the arrow at his back. The ugly bastard topped the hill and vanished, making her miss by inches. Asha screamed in frustration and took off after him. She'd already used up more than half of her arrows. Worse, she no longer had a spear.
The village was spread out below when she topped the hill. Little round thatched huts encircled a central fire pit. There were also a good dozen warriors lined up between her and their homes. They looked grim and determined, holding their spears towards her.
"Wrong tactic, morons," Asha said, and pushed off as she used her levitating spell. That sent her flying over the warriors and the village. The sorceress began throwing fireballs at all of the highly flammable huts. Screams of fear and rage rose up. "This is what you get for killing me yesterday! My wrath is great!"
Asha decided she'd taken enough vengeance. Well, it was the dozen warriors racing after her below that decided it. As nice as revenge might be, it paled in comparison next to the horror of death in that realm. No revenge would ever be worth getting killed.
The shaman stepped out of a hut below her. Asha called up a fireball to burn his hut down, but he held up an elaborate staff with the skull of a buck, complete with a huge rack of antlers. Power fetishes and shrunken heads of men and animals hung off the antlers.
He shouted something, and it was like the Hand of God slapped her to the ground.
"Uggh!" she grunted upon impact.
"Grab her," the shaman commanded. "We will flay her alive."
"Actually, I have other plans," Asha said, still struggling for breath. She shot one, two, three arrows at the shaman, who held his staff out to create a magical barrier. By that time Dukk led his warriors up. Rage filled her. "You!"
Asha didn't have time to shoot another arrow. He was too close and running too fast. Instead, she dropped the bow, threw a handful of dirt at his face, and lunged toward him. Dukk had to close his eyes to protect them, giving her opportunity to get inside his guard. The sorceress called up simple fire, setting his loincloth alight.
The goblin warrior shrieked like a ten year old girl.
Grabbing his spear, Asha jerked it from his grasp. He was more concerned with his flaming manparts. The elfmaid turned toward the warriors following their war chief, impaled the first one on the spear and let his momentum help her fling him over onto the shaman. Then she spun left and right, kicking, backhanding, and stabbing with the spear. The warriors parted around her, giving her the space she needed.
"Hold her down," Dukk shouted. "I'm going to cut her head off."
"Goslin! Great God of FIRE!" Asha cried to the heavens. "Let it rain fire!"
The goblin warriors all ducked and glanced up, expecting her god to consume them all in flames. Instead, Asha barked a laugh and raced through their ranks to attack Dukk. He thrust a spear at her heart, but she smashed it aside and slid her spearhead down his shaft and right into Dukk's heart.
"Take that, you big bully," she said, kicking him in the face for good measure. And then she turned and threw the spear into the shaman's belly. "I curse your village for a thousand years!"
With that, Asha turned and raced into the surrounding woods. No one pursued her.
"I bet it was the thousand year curse that scared them and made them stop."
Chapter 20
Forest Road wasn't the most traveled dirt path in the kingdom. It was barely discernible at some points. Killum started singing the Daniel Boone theme song after a while.
"How old are you in real life?" Rand asked. "I think my grandparents watched that old show."
Killum laughed. "Mine, too. I love old TV shows like Andy Griffith, Gilligan's Island, I Dream of Jeannie, and, of course, Daniel Boone."
"Who was a man," Tiana replied.
"A big man," Rand said.
"With an eye like an eagle," Fergus said. "Yeah, we get it. Now sing the Beverly Hillbillies show theme song."
And Killum did, with the others joining in. They sang theme songs from the 60s and 70s until he stopped them in the low ground in the middle of four hills.
"I think this is the perfect place to designate our respawn sites. This way we'll be together if more than one of us is killed in the same fight," Killum said. "Now pick a hill and find a spot on your hill to respawn."