//------------------------------//
// (9) Goblin Caves 
// Story: Canterlot High's D&D Club 
// by 4428Gamer 
//------------------------------//


Platick's POV
Dirt Trail
Midday




Stostine's odd act caught several of us off-guard with everyone reacting from indifferent to chuckling at her expense. All except for me. Her eyes. I didn't notice it before but they changed. Right now, and the whole trip I've known her, Stostine's eyes were a bright gold. That in itself already seemed odd but when I learned she had magic it didn't feel out of place.

But to change back and forth? I didn't have a deep focus on magic or magic people but I knew how to spot results.

"That's not going to end up being a problem, is it?" I asked her, not caring if my expression showed how sour I was.

"It won't. You have my word," Stostine stood up straight and replaced her embarrassment for sincerity. "I may get ahead of myself...maybe say something that I would later regret," she muttered to herself.

Probably something she learned from experience, I figured.

"But it isn't as though I become a different person," she explained. "I am still me and my goals stay the same. It's only—"

"We get it," Vareén cut her off. "Just keep it in check."

Stostine cleared her throat and gave a slight bow rather than a nod. "I will. And again, sorry." With a hand motion, the spectral hand of hers went back to the pile of weapons and plucked a small case of crossbow bolts before bringing it back.

"What're ya takin' the bolts for?" Ricven asked from atop the cart. He never bothered stepping off when we dealt with the goblin.

"Well, I know how to use a crossbow but I don't have one. It's not as though we intend on giving these weapons back." Stostine worked to secure the case and the crossbow on her person before glancing back at the pile. "...In fact."

The spectral hand did one more lap, this time swiping a scimitar that Stostine stowed along her hip. "There. Armed for precaution."

"Wait, we're taking their stuff?" Ravathyra, who was standing off to the side up until now, asked with a curious look in her eye.

"I wouldn't bother," Ricven dismissed. "No self-respectin' shopkeep would buy much a' that dirty junk anyhow. Crossbow's prolly the only valuable thang an' Stostine's already set her eye on it. 'Sides, we should be gettin' on our way. Ain't that right Ms. Thorn?"

"Infestation."

"Well? Y'all heard her. Doctor's orders; let's go."

As we all started grouping up on the cart, with Stostine reclaiming her seat, I gave Ricven a sideways glance. "Didn't you not want to come?"

"Ya say that as if you weren't agreein' with me earlier," he reminded me. "But if ya really wanna rough it ta town wit' just me out there keepin' ya company..."

"I'll take point again," I called out, starting down the road and giving a wide birth to the two unconscious goblins and their once interrogated friend. The others followed behind with the oxen and wagon being the loudest among us.

Nevertheless, their noise was never a problem. Even with all of us keeping our eyes out, we never spotted another band of goblins. No sign of the half-orc that ran off, our employers that got captured, or stray bugbears.

Like the path we had traveled so far, the trail widened and narrowed randomly but never seemed to turn or bend in one way or the other. As we went, we found less trees and more shrubbery in its place and more footprints that ran in every direction.

It took ten more minutes of walking before we finally came up on something I would call progress. In the center of the path was a strange pile of leaves poorly set up to look natural. Not only that but the edge of the pile closer towards us was broken to reveal a pit underneath it.

And wouldn't you know it, there was a set of orc prints leading right up to where the pitfall was showing.

I came to a full stop and held back my hand towards the others to do the same. I heard the wagon shift around as Thorn Wielder brought it to a stop while Ravathyra and Vareén stood beside me to keep a lookout for another ambush. Whatever that snare was, Glemerr set it off and an ambush happened.

After a few silent moments, Vareén gave me a 'go ahead' motion and took my chance creeping up to the hole  with a dagger at the ready.

Despite the orc-sized hole, the covering was still stable with thin branches acting as a mesh under the leaves. Then, the revealed side was more like a ramp leading down into a flat, dirt floor pit. And laying atop of it was a bandaged, ragged half-orc staring up at me with a worn smile.

"Heeeey," Glemerr greeted weakly. "Ya found me. Yippee..."

My face flattened to mild frustration as I twirled my dagger in my hand.

"How long have you been down there?"

Glemerr's face scrunched up for a second. "Uh...Ten minutes?"

I turned behind me at Vareén who was close enough to hear the whole thing. She turned back to the others and gave them a weak thumbs up.

"Is Glemerr in there?" Stostine asked quietly. "Is she okay?"

"I'm fine," Glemerr called out. "Ran inta some gobbos but they didn't stop me."

"We saw that. Good thing you kept them alive, they filled us in on their den." When Glemerr started climbing out of the pit to join us I got out of her way. "You're not about to go running off again, are you?"

"N-Nah. Glemerr was gonna rest a bit first." Once she was out, she stood back to her full height and held her right arm that was covered in reddened bandages.

"That doesn't sound like too bad of an idea." Stostine stood up from the bench of the cart and looked onward. "...It looks like there's some sort of large hill not too far. That's probably their cave."

"And that goblin did say there were. A lot," Ravathyra stressed.

"There's a lot?" Glemerr asked in shock. "Glemerr didn't know dat."

"Don't start that again," Vareén warned.

"They do bring up a good point though," Ricven spoke. "If y'all are so gong-how about fightin' a lotta goblins, and the bugbear leadin' 'em all, makes sense that everyone be at their best."



	"How does that work?" Rainbow asked. "I know it's a game but how long does it take to get our stuff back?"

"The only ones injured are Thorn Wielder and Glemerr," Story informed them. "If you guys rest up for a about an hour, called a short rest, you can spend hit dice to heal."

Story explained how it all worked and where to find it on their sheets but the girls didn't have to look hard. The box glowed with their respected color of aura as though to point it out.

"That's probably fer the best," AJ offered. "Anyone gotta problem with it?"

When a chorus of no's and shrugs returned, Story let everyone start prepping themselves for the fight ahead as they chatted amongst themselves about their characters for ideas.






Vareén's POV
Cave Entrance
One Hour Later





It took some convincing, but we had Thorn Wielder guide the wagon off the path and into the grass. She nearly gave us a heart attack when she unhooked the oxen from their bridle but rather than run off like we expected, the oxen calmly walked over to the grass and grazed.

Since then, we took a break. Since the Dwarf had no more of the healing magic she had back in the initial ambush, Glemerr started proving herself useful by taking out some extra wrappings to bandage Thorn Wielder's leg. It wasn't perfect but Thorn Wielder didn't seem to care and let the half-orc do as she wished.

In the meantime, Ricven and Stostine went over a handful of their spells, simplifying them for those of us that knew nothing of magic. That insult magic Ricven used was apparently something he could use constantly and he had enough strength to do one more stronger spell; all of which were mostly passive help save for one.

"Wait. You're saying you can just clap your hands and you make lightning?" Ravathyra asked in shock.

"A thunderwave, Miss Ravathyra," Ricven clarified. "It's only the sound but it packs a heavier punch than whatever Glemerr may have. Although." He cringed. "Not sure if a loud boom in a cave's the best idea."

"I think his other stuff sounded more useful anyway." Platick shrugged as he turned to Stostine. "And you said you only have three useful spells?"

"Well, useful for someone other than me, yes." Stostine nodded. "That fire spell you saw earlier and I have an ice spell that does something along the same lines."

As if to prove this, she held up both hands with one being enveloped with embers and the other one having a single finger erupt in frost. "I can use these as often as I need. And then I have one other spell called Bless. It makes those around me a little...better at what they do."

"I've heard a' that." Ricven rose an eyebrow. "Not really an arcane spell though. That's more somethin' I'd expect the Dwarf usin'."

"I wouldn't know what to tell you." Stostine shrugged herself. "It was actually one of the few spells I learned first. Well, that and this."

Reaching into a pocket, Stostine pulled out a small bag of sand and focused on it for a moment before a bright pale blue light shone from the item as though it were a candle.

I studied it for a second before a single question came to mind.

"...Why do you have a bag of sand?"



	Sunset stared at her paper for a moment before looking up. "Story? Why do I have a bag of sand?"

Story opened his mouth but awkwardly closed it as he thought to himself. And when nothing came to mind, he looked as confused as her.

"...Okay, then," Sunset surrendered.



"I don't know," Stostine replied with a chuckle. "I have just always had it. It has never left my side."

"What about you," I asked, looking to Thorn Wielder. "You used magic to speak with the ox. And that vine lunged out at the goblin. Have any other magic?"

She nodded so faintly I almost missed it.

"Well, what is it? Can it help in a fight?"

She closed her eyes, thinking about it for a moment before abruptly standing up and walking over towards a low hanging tree branch. Then, using her scythe, she sliced off the end of it and caught it in her hands, holding it before her.

It wasn't anything special. Just a handful of leaves on a now severed stick. But as Thorn kept her eyes closed, the end of her thorned vines snaked along the end of the branch she held and began glowing with a warm green light.

In moments, every leaf browned and wilted off the branch as though time accelerated and in their places, plump green berries grew across the branch. They looked like grapes but each one had a faint light dancing around as though fireflies lived within them.

"We didn't mean use it now," Ricven exclaimed as he facepalmed.

Thorn Wielder begun explaining; all in Elven. It was still broken sentences but there was enough to understand her.

"Um." Glemerr scratched her jaw. "Anyone know what she said?" Well, to those that knew Elven.

I, Platick, and Stostine all nodded. So that's another language we all know, I noted.

"Each berry has healing properties and they last for one full day. Growing them ahead of time was a good idea," Stostine translated. As she did, Thorn Wielder began plucking the berries and passing them out among us all. There were ten berries in total and seven of us, so Thorn gave the three extra berries to herself, Ravathyra, and Glemerr.

"Prolly fer the best we save these." Ricven dropped the berry into a side pouch. "Now then. 'Less I'm mistaken, I believe the three of us are the only ones with magic. Anyone wanna prove me wrong?"

When no one came forward, I took out my bow and turned to the cave not far ahead. "I'll scout ahead. If they have goblins to spare for ambushes, they probably have a lookout near the entrance."

"I'm coming too." Platick plucked the dagger back out of his boot as he stood. "I might not be a hunter but I can keep quiet. Plus these things like numbers, yeah? Might be more than one."

"Yeah. They might have a—" "If you say those words," I cut them off without glancing back. "I will use your teeth to sharpen my arrowheads."

Someone muttered 'sorry' while I pulled an arrow from my quiver and started walking.

"The rest of you stay at a safe distance," Platick warned them. "Only rush in if things get loud." Without any response that I could hear, Platick caught up with me as we walked along the edge of a shallow stream.



"Oh! That reminds me."

Story stepped away from the table and walked towards one of the other tables against the back wall of the classroom. The girls watched as he moved a few books before carefully picking up a vinyl map; nearly twice the size of the one he had used before.

Story it down over top the smaller map and the girls saw several pieces of thick paper tapped over it so they couldn't see the map. Then he reached for the paper labeled '#1.'

"So," Story began. "About five miles from the scene of the initial ambush, Platick and Vareén spot the cave's mouth. A shallow stream flows out of it with the east side screened by dense briar thickets. Between that thicket and stream is a narrow dry path leading into the cave. You guys came in on the west side which has no thickets."

Story pulled the paper away revealing a grass plain, stream, and thicket as he described with the cave barely revealed before another piece of paper hid what was inside. However, as the girls watched, the magic kicked in once more.

Or rather, it tried to kick in. The magic sputtered and crackled a handful of times with some of the designs and shapes Story drew for the map trying to animate themselves or form more realistic shapes. However, after a few seconds, the magic simply gave up.

Whether from being spread thin or just too weak, the magic gave up on trying to work on the map and the girls were left with how it normally appeared with Story none the wiser. The girls were either confused or somewhat relieved to see that the magic had reached its limit.

Story placed Platick and Vareén's figures onto the open space west of the stream and prepared the others beside the map. Again, the magic sparked for a moment only fail to effect them as well.



As we got closer to the cave's opening, we heard them. Goblins were typically loud and high-pitched and we could hear more than one voice speaking gleefully.

"They're behind the thicket," I pointed out. The brush was too dense to get a line of sight on them.

"Must be some kind of blind," Platick figured. "Good call on the lookout."

"How many daggers do you have?"

"Just the two," he muttered. "After that, I need to get close."

I looked back at the others. They kept their distance like Platick ordered. Good.

We sidled up next to the stream and noticed it was a little more than a foot deep. Despite that, we were less than twenty feet from those goblins.We took our time crossing as quietly as we could.

"Wo-Woah!"



Applejack hid her face in her hand out of frustration. "Ah have not passed a single one a' these things."

"Well, it's still a small stream." Story tried to ease. "Make me a Dex save. You fail this and your landing on your ass."

"Ah get it, Ah get it," AJ mumbled as she tossed her die in the air as though to get rid of it. When it landed her heart sank. "Rolled an eight."

"...Plus?"

When AJ saw the number she brightened up a little. "Fourteen together?"

Story considered his options before rolling some dice of his own. As they clattered, the girls saw flashes of sinister green aura behind the screen.

"Okay. You get one more stealth check. Go."



Like a comedy of errors, I watched as Platick slipped on a wet rock, catch himself on all fours, and then barely tumble his way out of the water in a way where he nearly tripped again. He landed on his hands and knees on dry dirt and stayed in that position as he registered his failure.

After a few seconds, he glanced up to find me standing with a look of utter disappointment underneath my hood. To our absolute luck, two goblins erupted in laughter the same time Platick tripped. We waited in silence until we heard the goblins started speaking freely again.

"That was pathetic."

"I know..." Platick slowly picked himself back up before I held out a hand to stop.

"Stay. I'll check first."

Platick nodded as I went into a slow crouch, moving along the thicket without making a single noise. As I went, the voices became clearer. I understood none of it but there were three separate voices. Three goblins. And as I reached the end of the thicket, I poked my head around the side to confirm my theory.

All three goblins had crossbows and scimitars like the goblins ambushing us from earlier. One goblin held the crossbow in its hands while the others had them laid out in arm's reach. There was also a small brass bell on the ground between them.

Alarm system. Crude but effective. If this is gonna work, we need to either take them all out at once or snatch that bell.

From where I was, I could peak inside the cave. Not that it helped. The cave's path inclined and it curved right towards the end of my darkvision. Still, I didn't see another goblin inside.

I waited for my chance before darting across the open space between the thicket and the cave's mouth when the goblins weren't looking. When I made it, I flattened myself against the rocky wall. and looked back towards the thickets. Platick locked eyes with me and I grit my teeth before stiffly motioning him to move up to where I was. Then I prayed he wouldn't trip over himself.

What else did I expect?

He didn't trip over himself, thank Traveler for that, but he wasn't quiet either. If it wasn't for the goblins being completely worthless as lookouts, he would have been shot down by now.



	"You know there's numbers with two digits in them. Right?" Sunset teased.

"Ah'm tryin', alright?! 'Least it's addin' up over ten."



Platick gave the ground a forlorn look before poking his head out to eye the scene. I saw the numbers running in his head before he turned to look back at the group. They were still across the stream and a distance further.

So he wants to take them all out at once. Less risky than running for the bell. But we can't run back and forth. They'll hear us eventually. Well, hear him eventually.

However, we didn't have to worry about that. Right beside Platick, a swirl of magic formed into reality in midair. The magic, once a light violet, then swirled into an off-white color as it condensed itself into a flat rectangle until it became a piece of paper floating in the air.

Platick watched it suspiciously as words began to form against it. I couldn't read from where I was but after a brief pause Platick turned towards the group and held up three fingers. Then he made a bell-ringing motion.

The paper quickly vanished and reappeared with different writing on it. This time as Platick read it, he turned to me and tried explaining through hand motions. We. Two. Goblins. Three. We. With group. Make three?

I looked back at the group. Everyone was speaking to Ricven who had his hand held out towards the magical paper and was answering their questions.

Illusion magic. Not bad.

I looked back at Platick and gave him an obvious nod before I watched the one paper get replaced with two statuette-like images of the group. One was Glemerr and the other was Thorn Wielder.

Those are our options? I felt are odds get worse for a moment. Regardless, Platick looked back to the group and made a motion for Thorn Wielder.

After some convincing, Thorn Wielder managed to understand the situation and began walking forward, reaching the stream. Both Platick and I started tensed up when she didn't bother slowing down but rather than splash through the stream she waded through it at a brisk pace without any noise.

Magic people are weird, was my only thought as she got close to Platick and took care to keep herself as quiet as possible as she reached the edge of the thicket and watched the goblins as Platick tried explaining our plan in Elven.

Thorn looked back to me and let her vines coil about her arm before pointing to herself and then holding up one finger. She was on board.

Alright then. I brought my arrow back out and readied myself as Platick and Thorn Wielder did the same with a dagger and vines respectively.

I took a breath and then nodded to them. Mouthing three. Two. One...

All three of us spun around our cover, Platick ducking far enough to give Thorn Wielder, space, and opened fire.



"No!" Sunset cringed heavily.

"What? What's wrong," Rarity breathed.

"They didn't say which one they were aiming for," Sunset stressed, making Twilight, AJ, and Fluttershy instantly turn to Story in a panic.

"Guys, I'm not that evil. You're all new," Story admitted with his hands held out in surrender. Then his smirked widened. "But. Now that you brought it up? Keep it in mind. Also keep in mind the goblins have no idea you're there. You have advantage to hit 'em."

Applejack gave a sigh of relief. "Knowin' mah luck? Ah'll need it." As the group took a moment to laugh, Sunset slid the magic die across the table to her.

AJ quickly snatched it back to in her hand and glanced down at it, watching as the metal surfaced shifted into one made entirely out of wood as though the die had been hand carved. Each letter carved with a beautiful handwriting that has this earthy red tint coloring them like a raw clay.

Applejack eyed Sunset who gave her a reassuring nod before hesitantly adding it to her other die.

The three girls rolled their dice, with each three becoming visibly relieved as they rolled their second die.

"Twenty-four." "Seventeen?" Twi and Fluttershy read out, earning nods from Story.

However, as Applejack stared at the wooden die, memories flashed through her head. Flashes of knife work and twirling acts with small blades were vivid in her mind. So much so that her fingers started mimicking the same motions without fail.

"Uh, that's..." Applejack tried to shake it off by looking between the die and the character sheet, despite the number showing up right in front of her.

"It's. O-Over twenty," she finally mumbled.



Without any of them being aware.

With a spin, I loosed an arrow through a goblin's ear and out the other like a comedy prop before it crumpled on its side. The goblin across from it then caught a dagger to the neck with all the momentum cut short as the blade wedged itself between the vertebrae.

"Gyyaakkkk!"

While those two goblins folded like cardboard, a heavy vine constricted the third like a python, crushing it from its ribs all the way to its jaw before yanking it from the ground and before the feet of Thorn and Platick; too far to ever reach the bell.

The vine lost all tension and coiled back tightly around Thorn's arm, letting the goblin cough and groan. As it glanced up it spotted Thorn and Platick both brandishing their blades with blank stares.

As they dealt with that, I looked down the cave one more time to make sure there weren't any curious goblins before waving the group to catch up.

"That worked better than I thought," I admitted.

"How'd you think that would end?" Platick asked.

"They'd ring the bell, we fight all the goblins at once, and die horribly."

"..." Platick pulled the dagger out of the now deceased goblin's face and stared at me. "I don't expect it...But would it kill you to lay off the dark mood?"

I gave a mock shrug and eyed the arrow I fired. There was no way I was getting that arrow back but I had plenty. Besides, caves were tight quarters. My bow wasn't going to be much help anymore.

Glemerr had run after us, reaching the stream before anyone else, and simply leapt over the thing in one bound, tumbling into a roll for the hell of it before walking up beside us.

"We all set ta ransack d'eir base d'en?" As if to prove her excitement, Glemerr cracked her knuckles in a symphony.

"Hold it." Platick turned to glare at her. "We can't have everyone splitting up again. We outnumbered them before and still some of us nearly went down. No one splits off."

"He's right." Stostine and the others were trudging across the stream at this point. "They have strength in numbers. We need to stay toge—"

Before she could finish, I heard a goblin cackling from within the cave. After shushing the peanut gallery before they gave it away. As we all started to stack up on the entrance, the cackling gave way to scared screaming and wild barking and growling.

"Wolves," Thorn identified, breaking into a run.

"Sto—ow" Platick tried to pull Thorn back only to grab the vines by mistake. By the time he pulled his hand back his palm had a thorn embedded in the center.

No one else was close enough to catch her before she ducked into the cave, making it about fifteen feet in before suddenly ducking to the right down a side tunnel out of view.

I put my hand over my hatchet. "She's gonna give us away."

"She is going to get hurt," Stostine corrected, having different concerns.

As if to prove both of us right, among all the growling and snarling we heard a goblin cry "Intruder!" in a panic.

Well then. She's dead, I imagined before some of the others ran in to join her.





Thorn Wielder's POV
Inside the Cave




The cavern's large tunnel led further into the hill and up as the western stream cascaded out the cave in a hurry. But it was wrong. The water tumbled and sloshed almost violently as it ran. The rocky floor was not smoothed by the water's design.

But rather than stop to learn of why, I rushed on. I found that the eastern wall had a natural opening to a small cavern with a set of uneven stone acting as a young staircase. From how near the wolves' bark was, I knew they were in here.

I skidded to a halt and turned on my bare heel, bounding up the steps before stepping into the chamber. Once inside, I found myself alone with three wolves and three goblins. The Infestation of the Glen.

One goblin tried pulling another's arm free from the maw of one of those poor creatures. From the wounds and taut stomachs each wolf wore, I knew they were being held captive.

The third of the goblins, not nearly as willing to help its brethren, noticed me the moment I arrived and brought out a crossbow to challenge me.



"Well Fluttershy. Looks like it's your turn to fight three goblins." As he spoke, Story finished placing all three of the goblin and wolf miniatures in the very small room. "Roll me initiative."

The rest of the girls watched Fluttershy's worry for the wolves switch to fear as it suddenly dawned on her what trouble she was in.

"I wanna help too," Rainbow declared.

"Me three-sies," Pinkie cheered with a grin.

Story smiled. "Whoever's helping can roll. Just remember, you're in the caves now. Too much noise may make it worse."

That made everyone else hesitate. With a nod from Rainbow and Pinkie, Fluttershy trembled as she gently let the die roll out of her hand. But upon seeing the number she looked more upset. "N-Nine..."

"Fourteen." "Eighteen," Pinkie and then Rainbow called out in hopes to cover her anyways.

Everyone then watched three more goblin tendrils wildly branch out from the behind the screen, catching everyone but Pinkie off-guard. But then, to everyone's further surprise, another three tendrils, this time light gray, tangled themselves among the goblin's. As Fluttershy saw them, she brightened up somewhat.

"Are the wolves helping?"

"...In a way," Story admitted with a shrug. "More helping themselves. For one thing..."



Before the goblin could fire, I glanced at the wolves. Each one had an iron chain strapped around their necks and chaining them to the northeastern wall. The larger of the three, a female, heaved itself forward with all the strength it could, nearly freeing itself from the wall entirely.

"Fall intruder!"

I turned just in time to catch the bolt in my buckler. "You fall. Infestation," I insulted. As I lowered my buckler, I watched the goblin held by the wolf's jaw reach for its sword with its free hand. But even with it drawn, the goblin's wild swings came nowhere near the wolf.

"Heads up," A voice shouted before a Dwarf clambered up the steps with the clanging of her metal armor. With a huff, she shifted around me and hefted her large hammer towards the goblins with both hands. "You good Flut— err, Thorn. Lady?"

Her hammer was mostly ready for the goblins but the Dwarf looked back and forth between the wolves and the goblins. "...No hurt wolves."

"No hurt...You're kidding me."

"Got it! Leave the doggos, take the gobbos." The half-orc stomped up beside me and squared off against only the goblins.

"...Doggos?" I blinked, leaning my head to the side.

Before I could ask what 'doggo' meant, the last goblin left its brethren for the wolves and drew its sword. "'Nother Dwarf! Kill for Klarg!"

The Dwarf tried bringing her hammer down to batter away the curved sword but she was too slow. As her hammer swung wide, the goblin ducked to one side and dragged the blade deep along the Dwarf's hip and sprayed the cavern floor with red.

"Urghh! Ah come on," the Dwarf complained. "That was, like, half!"

Seeing this, I held out my hand and began chanting as my breath became visible and my now outstretched hand cloaked itself in droplets of morning dew. I then flicked them out at the goblin as it moved away from the Dwarf but all it did was gather frost on the edges of its clothes. Nothing.

Weaker, I realized. My power's much weaker still.

The other wolves continued snarling and lunging to break free of their chains. A second one nearly broke free while the third tried rending the arm off the goblin in a frenzy only for the goblin to fight back in its own right.

"Get to Klarg! Wolves kill intruders," the goblin who shot at me commanded. As he did, he loaded another bolt and fired at me one more time. Or rather, he tried.

What instead happened was his crossbow failed him. As he tried to fire at me, the bolt snapped in a mass of mulch, hitting no one as the goblin looked at it in terror.

The Dwarf breathed a sigh of relief as she pulled her shield off her back and balanced her hammer in one hand. "Okay. My turn." She took a few steps forward and swung up in a rage.



"Yes! Twenty! Read it," Rainbow taunted, pointing down at her die with mad joy.

No one had the heart to remind her that Story let her roll twice since the goblin rolled a one. Otherwise she would have missed just like the last time she used that hammer.



The hammer caught the goblin's chin and bent the goblin's head at a sharp angle with a thin crrrk. Its body stumbled for a moment before dropping.

"Wa. Wazzat Re-gah?!" The goblin still held by the wolf asked. He was too busy trying, and failing, to cut his wolf down.

"Uh. R-Re-gah had..." The other goblin could answer, Glemerr stepped forward and towered over the creature as she popped her knuckles as though they were seed pods.

The goblin tried turning to flee but he wasn't fast enough. Glemerr reached out and grabbed the goblin by the back of the head and slammed it face first into a large stalagmite and pulling it back only to do it all over again.

Before the goblin slumped to the ground, I let out another cold breath before chanting once more. This time bringing my dew-covered hand towards the only goblin left standing. Frost crawled across its armor like last time but it kept going.

When the goblin finally tore its arm free from the wolf's maw, every open wound froze over before the ice traced up his arm. By the time it reached its neck the goblin let out one breath colder than my own before falling to falling to the ground in a shivering heap.

But the wolves continued to thrash and lunge, one of them finally snapping the chain off the wall as the collar hung loosely around its neck. With a manic look in its eyes, the wolf lowered itself to the ground at us. However, despite its hunger, the wolf couldn't drool. Its jowls were as barren as a drought.

I turned to the half-orc. "Meat. Food. Quick."

"Huh? Oh, da doggos hungry? Uh, sure?" She slipped off her pack and brought out a small bag that from smell alone I could tell from smell alone would work for the wolves. I snatched it from her hands and pointed to her pack. We'll need more than one.

"Flutter— I mean, Thorn" the Dwarf corrected through gritted teeth. "These aren't dogs. They're wolves."

"Yeah, um, I don't f'ink we should be havin' feedin' time in da middle of da cave." Regardless, Glemerr handed me two more food packs. I ha done for each wolf.

Rather than waste time explaining, I stepped forward to put myself between the wolves and the, lowering myself down to eye level with the wolf that had broken free. The other two were still stuck.

"I know you must be suffering," I spoke in a language the others had no hope of understanding. "We wish to help you. We well cleanse this glen of the infestation. And we offer you a gift for safe passage. Please. Let us be as we work."

I gently reached out and unwrapped the food, revealing dried meats and fish fit to feed an entire orc. Then I laid it on the ground and nudged it forward, giving the wolf and the others behind it pause.



"Thorn Wielder? Make an—" "Animal handling check?"

Fluttershy gave a great big smile as she picked up her die. "I get a plus four to that."

Sunset sat back with giggle. "You've wanted to make that check ever since we started this game, haven't you?"

Fluttershy gave a proud nod and, before rolling, stared at her die for a second. "Um, Applejack? Can I use that, erm, lucky die?"

Applejack looked down at the wooden die and gave a light sigh. "Sure, have at it sugarcube." She flung it across the table where Fluttershy scooped it up and rolled it with the flourish of an expert craps player.

The moment the die came to a stop, it had already transformed and looked nearly identical to what AJ's version looked like. This time it looked like a sweet gum tree's spiky seed pod with most of the spines removed to reveal the green numbers painted onto the base.

"Sixteen," Fluttershy announced happily, taking the flash of magical light to mean she succeeded.



The wolf that was freed of it chains slowly stepped towards me and studied me carefully as I sat on my knees and hands gently folded in my lap. When he was done seeing that I was no longer a threat, he tore into the meat in a fervor, leaving the other wolves to look heartbroken. Well, until they stared up at me with their pleading gazes.

"We have enough for each of you," I said as I rose and walked over to these poor creatures without fear and began to feed them.

"That worked?" The Dwarf asked.

"Yay! We saved da doggos," the half-orc cheered. "Good call Thorn Lady."

"Careful," a gruff voice called from the the entrance to the chamber. "With the wolves not barking, the goblins can hear you now."

"What took you guys so long?" The Dwarf asked. "It was just three goblins. If there was one more of you we coulda had 'em before they took half my hit points."

The human with the knives gave the Dwarf a hard stare. "Okay, first, I don't think we're supposed to just say hit points. Second, if you can't take out three goblins with three of you, I don't know what to tell you."

"Hey, w-we took 'em down. I took this one down single-handedly!"

The human eyed the goblin with a broken neck for a moment before giving a fake shrug. "Well, I didn't see it, so, no way to know for sure."

"What? Pinkie, you were there, back me up."

"Got no clue what a Pinkie is Dashie—err— Rav-a-thy-ra."

"Forget this! I'll going to the back until there's another fight."

As the Dwarf stormed out, she reached into her side pouch and stuffed her face with the two goodberries I prepared to heal herself with.

Once she was gone, the human looked to me with a nervous stare. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

With some work, I found a way to unclasp the metal ring around the wolf's neck. After she was freed, she stretched her neck free of any stiffness as I began to approach the next wolf to help him.

"Uh, Thorn Wielder? You're just letting the wild animals go? Don't you think they'll just start come after us?"

"No."

The second collar I removed quicker than the last, earning a low bark from the wolf before he went back to devouring his meal. "Not wolves' den. Den. Other where. Wolves go to other where."

"They're just gonna leave?"

"Yes."

I reached the wolf who broke free of the wall first and got the collar off from him as he kept eating. He glanced up at me as he laid there picking the fish from the bones and gave me a light howl.

"You're welcome," I told him in our language.

With the three wolves cared for, I turned to face the human. While I was busy, it seems that the others had gathered up outside the chamber.

"Well, if they jus' gon' be taken off," the gnome began. "We should head further in now. Don't wanna be in their way 'case they still hungry."

"Couldn't agree more." The human woman in robes nodded. "Glemerr? Thorn Wielder? Would you be okay guiding the way?"

When neither of us disagreed I and the half-or...I and Glemerr took the front.

"Ravathyra?" The human man called out. "You and me take the back. Goblins probably play dirty."

The others quickly fell in between the four of us and started moving further away from the cave's mouth and the only light source there was. Not too many steps further, we were in the dark and and ready for the infestation to make the wrong move.