Dawn of the Last Dragon Rider - Chapter 011 - Learning to Fight

Kaen realized he had forgotten to breathe for a moment and tried to take a breath of air very quietly.  His heart was banging against the walls of his chest, and he could feel his fingers tingling.

A goblin!

It was not very tall and did not look very threatening at all.  It wore a small, ratty shirt that hung to its knees and had a rusted and bent sword in what Kaen assumed must be its belt.  He could see blood on its hands and arms.  There was blood across its mouth, and streaks of dried blood ran along one of its cheeks, where it had probably wiped its face with its bloody arm or hand.  His ears were pointy, and one even had what looked like a piercing in it.  Kaen could not think of how to describe its skin color other than a puke green.  Something similar to what one might throw up after eating rotten lettuce or some other vegetable.

Hess never moved.  He was like a stone, sitting there on the balls of his feet.  Kaen was doing his best to imitate him.  Years of hunting together had taught him how to hold still as he waited for the prey to turn away from him so he could take a shot.

Not long after the goblin had picked up the bone that looked like a rib of some sort, it made a weird noise and moved back into the comfort of its cave.

Hess let go of the brush slowly, then quietly leaned toward Kaen’s ear and whispered.

“You have a choice to make.  We can return back to town and tell them we found a cave of goblins and gather a party to come and help fight them.”

Hess paused, and he watched Kaen’s face for a reaction.

“Or we can try and clear the cave ourselves.  I have no idea how many are inside, but there must be at least ten or twelve based on the number of bones outside the cave.”

Kaen nodded and felt his throat go dry.  What should they do?

Pammon, have you seen any other goblins as you have been flying around here?

I have not.  I have stayed out of sight as I was instructed.  I can scout the area if you want, but doing so would mean I would be visible and possibly alarm any creatures out here.

Pammon was right.  Kaen was impressed at how fast he had learned to hunt and hide his presence.  His ability to talk and communicate improved greatly once he had learned how to speak via his mind to Pammon.

“Do you want Pammon to scout the area?  He says doing so might alert any possible creatures in the area, though?”

Hess chewed his lip for a moment.  After a few seconds, he shook his head no.

“If he is spotted, we will have no choice but to fight.  Otherwise, they may move, and then we would have completely lost the element of surprise.”

Stay out of sight.  I’ll tell you our plan in a moment.

Kaen tried to decide what they should do as he felt Pammon nod his head in understanding.  He did not want to go home empty-handed.  He was wearing all this gear his father had gotten for him to fight things like this.  Not killing them left a bad taste in his mouth.

“Let’s try and take them out ourselves,” Kaen whispered.

Hess nodded.  He had known that would likely be Kaen’s answer.

“Listen, there is no trying here.  We have to defeat them all, or we will have a bigger problem on our hands.  If any getaway, they will flee and be harder to track down.  Even with Pammon’s help.”

Kaen nodded, pulled his bow off his back, and readied an arrow.

“I understand.  Tell me what you want Pammon and me to do.”

“Tell him to land as quietly as possible on the other side of the cave.  Try to stay out of sight as much as possible.  I will approach from the other side.  You, however, will be the bait.”

“The bait?!” Kaen asked louder than he had meant to.  “Why am I the bait?”

Hess shook his head and narrowed his eyes at Kaen.

“You need to trust me and just obey.  This is not my first time dealing with goblins.  It is  your first time.  If you cannot do as I command without asking questions, we will turn around and bring back people from town.  Do I make myself clear?”

Kaen nodded and sighed.  He knew he had acted poorly.  The memory of not trusting his father when he required blood came back into his mind just now.  Kaen knew Hess was doing what he thought would work best.

Hess grunted quietly, stood up just a bit, and pointed to the small clearing at the edge of the woods.

“Go over there where the bones and remains are.  Do not have your bow drawn but be ready to use it if I shout or you feel you must.  When you see me wave at you, you will make some noise.  Only do that when I am ready and in position.  Do not run, and try to look weak.  See how many might come out at you.  You must trust that Pammon and I will protect you.”

Kaen took a deep breath and let it out.  It would not be easy if ten goblins rushed him, but he would trust Hess.

“Good. Go get in position and tell Pammon what to do.”

Kaen was crouched at the edge of the tree line.  He could barely believe that Pammon had somehow managed to land quietly.  He had been working on it, Pammon proudly declared.

Hess was almost in position on the other side of the cave.  In each hand were his massive hammers.  Kaen could not imagine a goblin getting struck by one of those and live to tell anyone about it.  As Hess crept closer to the cave entrance, a noise was heard from inside the cave.

That was a woman screaming! Pammon seemed to shout in his brain.

Kaen winced and nodded.  It did sound like a woman screaming.

Hess suddenly stood up and started moving his hammers in the air.  It was time for Kaen to announce his presence.

Kaen walked out of the tree line and moved closer to the pile of bones.  He held his bow in his left hand but did not pull an arrow out of his quiver.

The smell was awful but still not as bad as when Pammon relieved himself.

As he moved closer to the pile, he saw the skull of some creature.  He was not sure what it was, but he was thankful it was not human.  He kicked it, and it clattered across the rocks.  Taking another step, he bent down and lifted up a bone that looked like it had been in the sun for a good week at least.  A few ants were running along the bone, working on eating whatever they felt was worth collecting for their colony.

Kaen heard a sound from the cave, and his head jerked up as he tossed the bone off to the side, listening to it clatter against the rocky ground as well.

Inside the cave was dark.  He could barely see anything inside it.  The sun provided a little bit of light, but after about ten feet, it was a black hole of nothingness.  Two goblins came slowly out of the cave, each holding a sword in their hand.  Both were chattering and glancing around the area Kaen was standing.  He guessed they were looking to see if he was alone.

Kaen noticed they were hesitating.  He knew he needed to do something to draw them out.  Slowly he backed up and then faked that he tripped and landed on his butt.  He saw the goblins smile and assumed the sound coming from them was a laugh.  He held his empty right hand out toward them as he started to stand up.

If they get close to you, I will kill them! announced Pammon.

Stay, wait till I tell you to help!

Pammon was grumbling, and he could feel it in through their connection.

Kaen stood there, acting as if he was frozen in fear and unable to move.  He glanced around the rest of the mountains and the woods, looking as if he was trying to decide where to go.

The two goblins came out of the cave and were now directly in the sunlight.  Both held up their hands a little to shade their eyes.  It appeared they did not enjoy the sun at all.

As they approached, two more goblins came out from the cave.  The one closest to Hess had a piece of wood that looked like a poor shield in his hand and some leather wrapped around his chest.  The small sword he carried looked to be in better condition than what the other two had.  He must be a higher rank than the other three.

The one in armor with the shield grunted and said something, and the three other goblins started approaching Kaen as they spread out some, trying to cut off any chance he might have to escape.  They were only about twenty yards at the most from him.

Kaen glanced at the three of them and then waited to see what Hess was going to do.  He could feel Pammon being anxious and barely staying away.  The closer the goblins got to him, the more it felt like Pammon was going to attack.

Kaen noticed Hess moving up to the edge of the cave.  His eyes were tracking Hess as he moved.

The goblin at the edge of the cave saw that Kaen was not looking at the three goblins approaching him and moved to the mouth of the cave and turned to see what Kaen might be looking at.  As he got to the opening and turned, he saw Hess suddenly charge him.

A shriek escaped his mouth, and the other three goblins turned to see what had caused him to cry out.

Hess was faster than Kaen realized.  In just a few bounding steps, he had closed the distance and, with a swing of his hammer, crushed the shield the goblin had held up to try and block Hess’s attack.  The power of that strike split the wood in half and snapped the arm of the goblin.  Hess’s second hammed fell with just as much power and crushed the head of their leader in one blow.  Its skull exploded like a melon being smashed by a rock.

Kaen did not wait as he stood up, set an arrow on the string, and let it fly, catching the goblin on the left in the chest. It cried out in pain as the arrow flew clean through its body.  Kaen could hardly believe the power from the bow.

He quickly took another arrow, let it loose at the middle goblin, and pierced its neck.  It clutched the hole he had created for just a moment before falling to the ground.

[ Archery Skill Increased ]

Kaen smiled.  He was now at twenty-one with his archery skill!

The third goblin froze, and a few seconds later, its head was missing as Pammon bore down on it in a flash.  All those months of practice he had done killing rabbits had taught him how to spring upon prey in an instant.

Pammon spat out the goblin’s head as its body fell to the ground.  The weapon slipped from its hand, making a metallic cling against the rocks.

The cave suddenly erupted with screeching.

“We need torches now!” Hess shouted as he pointed at Pammon.  “Get some branches and have him light them on fire!”

Kaen nodded, slung his bow over his back, and ran to the forest to grab some branches.

Pammon had turned and was watching the mouth of the cave.  Suddenly Pammon lept in front of Hess right as two arrows flew out of the cave toward him.

The rock-tipped arrows bounced off Pammon’s hard scales, and Pammon let out a loud roar that echoed through the cave.

Hess jumped back to move around the side of the cave.  He had been lucky Pammon could see inside the darkness, or both of those arrows would have struck him.

Pammon stood at the entrance of the cave, growling.  He swayed his tail back and forth in the air.  He moved slightly whenever Kaen moved, always keeping himself between the opening of the cave and Kaen.

There are two with bows.  They ran deep into the cave.  I can hear more, but I do not want to go in there without you!

Thank you for saving Hess!

Kaen felt Pammon’s feelings toward Hess through their bond.  He liked Hess even if Hess made him sleep in the woods away from Kaen.  Pamon knew Kaen was safe as long as Hess was around.

Kaen came running toward Hess carrying about seven good size branches that would work as a torch.

“You sure we want to go in there?  Pammon says he can see in the dark!”

Hess’s eyes went wide, and then he nodded.

“We do not have a choice.  There is a woman in there, and we must act fast, or they will kill her!”

Kaen understood.  They would have to enter the cave and trust Pammon to keep them safe.