Private Tales Relentless

[Houri]

At least that's another elf gone.

Ahdvi! You cannot say such things - that was a child!

A snort.

Houri was a child when they did what they did to her. When they created us. Age is meaningless.

The voices argued back and forth as Houri raised her eyes from the dead child to the one they had come to see.

"We're not healers. If you called us to ask for help in this, then it was a wasted trip," her voice was laced with ice and a hint of irritation. The elf flinched as though he had been slapped and stood, brushing at his cheeks and trying to school his face as though he had only now just remembered he had a job to be doing that was far more important than tears.

"No, I did not call you to help with..." Houri raised an eyebrow as he choked on another sob but at least he managed to not break down in tears this time. "We want these goblins to pay. We will spare no expense, just rout them out. Get rid of them."

 

[Zaire]

There was a smell in this room that made Zaire want to hurl. The mixture of incense and herbal remedies were hung strong and bitter, but there was another smell that laid just underneath that bitterness with a sickly sweetness. There was something rancid about it and he looked around, expecting to see gnats and fruit flies and horseflies flying about.

Just like how they did on the battlefield.

There were no flies, perhaps the incense kept them away. A lightheadedness took over, but Zaire did his best to keep his posture erect and his eyes on Rhorothomir.

“We can do that,” Zaire said, glancing at Houri. “But, just how has this happened, exactly?”

“Because,” Rhorothomir choked out, “they come from underground.”

“I did see those big holes out there. But then why not just stay inside when they attack?” The elf shook his head, frustration etched along his tear stained face.

“That doesn’t matter! They dig through anything, the only reason this building is safe is because it’s on a bed of limestone! But everywhere else? I don’t know how they do it, but they burrow right underneath you before grabbing you and pulling you down into their tunnels with them.” Rhorothomir fell down to his knees, hunching over and hitting the wall with his fists. “We’ve tried flushing out the tunnels but every day they change and move. We can’t keep up!”

Zaire sighed, looking away from the act of despair. It was always uncomfortable to watch.

“And they’re getting bigger.”

“What?”

“The goblins. They’re bigger than when they first appeared.”

“Right.” Zaire nodded his head slowly. “So big goblins making tunnels underneath the city.” It was then that he realized it and he looked at Houri, mouth slightly open in a grimace. “Why the heck would the Academy send us then?”

Houri

 

[Houri]

"Because I've faced them before."

Houri's eyes had taken on that glazed, far off look she often got when thinking of the past. Shadows seemed to creep in at the corners as the different factions of her mind fought to protect her from the other horrors those memories dredged up whilst she fought to recall what had happened last time. They came back slowly at first and then quicker until the room in front of her vanished and was replaced with the churned up field of the Provinces.

What had once been a bustling farming town had been destroyed, it's people slain by the bloated corpse of the creature before her. The First Level Dreadlord Thrit pushed it over with the toe of his boot in disgust.

"We can't track their tunnels. They make them too fast for us to try and collapse them," a guardsman was saying. He looked tired and worn. Houri sneered at him with the same disgust Thrit did; the guards were always so weak. Why send them when just two of them could do the job?

"Fire just seems to make 'em stronger," the guardsman went on oblivious or uncaring of the judgement they gave him. "We've had some luck with drowning, as you can see. But when they realise what we're doing they collapse the tunnel and seal it off."

"Well then, we'll have to flood them all at once. Won't we, my little storm?" Thrit mused and smiled in Houri's direction. She loved when he used that nickname. It meant he was pleased. Houri much preferred that to when Thrit was angry....

"They're Brimstone Goblins," she explained. "Their bodies operate on heat which is why they like to be underground, closer to the heat in the earth. It's also how they sear through the ground."

 

[Zaire]

“Oh.” Zaire said, but that one word felt like a lackluster response, like a drop in the ocean of what he really wanted to say. It made sense now why they would send Houri, after all, Zaire was just there to make sure she could do what she needed to do. “Lumen would’ve been good to have here.” He said, mostly to himself.

“Those wretched beasts.” Rhorothomir continued his lamentations but at this point Zaire had tuned him out. He took a step towards Houri, gesturing for her to get close.

“You’re going to have to do a lot of the heavy lifting on this one. I know we haven’t worked together alone before, but uh,” his ears were red once again. Why did this feel embarrassing to say? He had said it plenty of times before. To Dak, to Marci… but with Houri it felt stupid and cheesy and pathetic. “I mean, I’ll be able to… you know, mitigate any stress. Boost up your magic. And uh, like… you know, support you.” He rubbed at the back of his neck.

Not the heroic speech he wanted to make.

Houri

 

[Houri]

Lumen would’ve been good to have here.

Lumen.

Lumen not her.

Houri would have preferred if he had drawn the sword at his side and run her through with it instead. The roaring in her ears made it hard to comprehend the rest of Zaire's words but she nodded sharply and kept her eyes on the grieving father. There was greater pain in this room than what he had just done to her ego and - if she were being honest - a little piece of her heart.

"I need to inspect the tunnels," she said bluntly and didn't spare Zaire a glance as she turned smartly on her heel and strode from the room. Back the way they came she went, out on to the streets where the air could caress her skin and cool the anger simmering beneath. It didn't take long to be pointed in the direction of the most recent tunnels and Houri soon found herself squatting beside the hole peering into its depths.

 

[Zaire]

Zaire brought his hand back down from where it rubbed his neck. His lips were in a thin line and he glanced down at his shoes. She had disregarded his words, hadn’t she? Was she offended that he suggested she needed his head? Nearly all initiates tended to be prideful. Maybe she was just set on completing the task at hand? She did seem to be rather serious at times.

“Yeah, good thinking.” Zaire said but Houri had already left the room. He jogged after her, keeping his pace brisk. He only caught up when she paused to get directions, but even then she didn’t seem to wait for him. As she inspected the first tunnel, which was one of a few in this area, Zaire stood back for a moment.

He looked at her. There was something about her that seemed off. He just couldn’t place his finger on what exactly. He wondered if maybe she was worried. She knew about Brimstone Goblins. Was she nervous? He walked over to her side.

Should he calm her down? Would it be wrong to do so? When he tried that with Aelita she had told him he needed to ask. Did he need to ask with Houri? It’s not like he was doing anything wrong, he was just trying to help her!

“Houri? Do you, I mean, you seem… upset.” Okay, careful Zaire, remember, girls are like bunny rabbits and you have to be careful with bunny rabbits. “I can help… you know, calm you down. A clear mind is better than a emotional mind, right?”

Houri

 

[Houri]

Does he know?

How can he know?​

He can never know, not about us.​

Never about us.​

He'll report us - send us back.

Back there.​

No, we won't go back there.​

Never.​

Never.

Houri's eyes screwed shut as she tried to block the voices out. They spoke over the top of one another clamouring to be heard, to be the voice that she landed on to guide her through this moment. Anger, fear, sadness, jealousy, loneliness. They warred over the tiny part of her psyche that remained her. She could feel that piece of her curling up tight in on itself as it tried to withstand the battering.

The temperature around them seemed to suddenly drop.

"There was no point in lingering there when we have a job to do," small fogs gave shape to her words as she spoke but she remained glowering at the tunnel, sizing it up. It looked big enough... perhaps she could crawl inside and see how far they went. Would it do any good? "If you want pleasantries and molly coddling perhaps you should request Lumen for your next mission," and with that she stood and stalked to the next hole.

 

[Zaire]

It was cold. Uncomfortably so. Even with his armor and padding underneath it, Zaire could feel the sudden chill that had crept up around them. It was like when Chas sometimes spazzed out, this strange chill that told Zaire something was wrong, emotionally, but always made him feel like he should stay out of it.

Until Houri spoke. Damnit, he had said something stupid, didn’t he? He knew as much, why else would Houri bring up Lumen when it was Zaire who had said her name first? Yet, why did saying Lumen’s name upset Houri?

Houri began walking away and Zaire jogged after her. How should he fix it? If she wouldn’t let him resonate with her, especially if things became difficult, would it affect the outcome of this mission? Zaire had no idea how bad these Brimstone Goblins were or everything they could do. Not to mention going into those tunnels felt like a trap.

He had his lance with him but it would be totally useless in those small underground tunnels. He can already picture the spearhead hitting the ceiling or being unable to maneuver how he needed to fight effectively. Ultimately, he saw this being a battle of attrition and magic.

“I don’t… you’re confused— I mean, you got it wrong. I don’t work with Lumen often. They don’t place me with her because uh… well, I don’t know why, but they just don’t.” Was it because of the Academy? It had to be because of that. Then it dawned on him why Houri was upset. Of course, it was as clear as day! Houri thought that Zaire was saying she was one of the crazy ones!

“I wasn’t saying you’re not all right together up here like Lumen is,” Zaire said, raising his voice a little. “I think you’re one of the, uh, yanno, cool ones. Like, you’re chill.” Quite literally at this point. “Not saying Lumen isn’t chill, she’s cool, too, but she’s… Lumen. She’s kinda in everyone’s business. But I mean, I’d rather have that than her be all frothing at the mouth to kill elves, so like…” he shuffled his feet. “The goblins don’t like the cold? You and Lumen would’ve knocked this out in no time. So you gotta rely on me a little and I can’t really make things cold or hot or blast goblins away but I can make you stronger.”

He shivered. Zaire raised his hand to wipe his nose with the back of his wrist.

“Does it really need to be cold up here, though? I thought all the goblins were underground? Can they even feel this?”

Houri

 

[Houri]

"I don’t… you’re confused—"

Oh ARE we now?!

"I mean, you got it wrong. I don’t work with Lumen often. They don’t place me with her because uh… well, I don’t know why, but they just don’t."

Probably because it's achingly clear he's in love with her!

Yes, the Proctors wouldn't like that on a mission. Imagine!

"I wasn’t saying you’re not all right together up here like Lumen is"

Ahdvi snarled so loudly it made her teeth rattle and her eyes narrowed in her fellow initiates direction. The temperature plunged further.

"I think you’re one of the, uh, yanno, cool ones. Like, you’re chill..."

He's lying, we've seen how he is with us.

He's just worried about his own skin. Worried we'll singe him to a crisp and leave him out there.

Let's flush him down the tunnels with the rest of the verm--

"Stop. Just, stop," she hissed and rubbed at her temples. It was never good when the voices were so loud. It made it hard to think, to act, like her. She just became them, and that wasn't always a good thing. Memories flashed in her minds eye, those dead at her own hands from nothing more than a bad day. Houri took a deep, steadying breath and tried to force them down down where she couldn't hurt these people. Only her targets.

"I don't care what you think of Lumen, or me. You don't like me, fine. I get it. Loud and clear," she hugged herself in an attempt to warm the ache in her heart. Monster, that is what any of them would think when they looked at you. Slamming the door on that particularly vile memory she stood and stiffly walked to the next one. "Let's just get this job done. If you can make me stronger... We're going to cause a flood," her eyes rose to the landscape around them. Where could they send the elves so they didn't drown too? "And drown the bastards."

 

[Zaire]

He stopped. Her tone was enough to make him to stop, even if she hadn’t demanded it with words alone. Something in the back of his head told him that he had messed up. He wasn’t sure what it was exactly that he said that had gotten him into this because he had already said so much. Too much, perhaps.

“I never said I didn’t like you.” Zaire said softly but it seemed his words were drowned out by Houri’s explanation of the plan. She was so far from the truth, but he supposed love and hate were opposite sides of the same coin. He nodded his head, keeping to himself that he thought the plan to be incredibly dangerous. “So we evacuate the elves first?” He wasn’t sure how concentrated Houri’s storms could be but even a quick evacuation would take time. People would want to take their valuables, surely.

He supposed it was better than having him crawl into the tunnels himself though and become a nice lunch for the Brimstone Goblins.

“I’ll go tell Rhorothomir then if you want to keep checking things out. Where should we meet up?”

Houri

 

[Houri]

"Who? Oh."

Houri had been scanning the rooftops for a suitable place on which to stand in order to oversee the storm. She hadn't even considered that people might need to leave the city, that they had to save elven lives. How many times had she stood on a battlefield and been told to bring down death upon their ranks? How many times had she helped set forest fires that had burnt their women and children alive? She shifted uncomfortably. In the Asylum she had never had to think about the why of her orders, but in the New Order...

"I should probably eat - so should you - before we try this too," the guilt of not feeding him sooner crept back in. Lumen would have made him breakfast, one of the voices whispered. Or was it her own thought?

It didn't matter. None of it mattered. They just had to get the job done, which still meant food. Thankfully.

"We can't give them too long. Those goblins will probably come back and soon."

 

[Zaire]

He didn’t understand how she could think of food right now, but his stomach most definitely could. It growled and suddenly Zaire’s mind was filled with a hot meal. Any sort of hot meal would have worked as long as it was warm enough to bring his fingers some relief. That was right, they were supposed to eat before starting all of this anyways.

Maybe that was why Houri was angry? She was hungry. They had skipped breakfast. He tried not to gawk at Houri. She was a tall woman, a strong, too. She’d need to eat more and regularly, too. Compared to him, she needed it more. And perhaps with a full belly she would be in a better mood?

“Okay, breakfast and then evacuation and then killing the goblins. I liked that idea. Good idea, no not just good but great.” Zaire was rambling and the moment he realized it he clamped his mouth shut. But it would be awkward if just stopped talking completely, wouldn’t it? “If we head more into the town’s center I’m sure we could make a street food stall or two.” He cleared his throat, trying to sound far chipper than usual. “I mean, unless you want something else? Then that would be cool, too. You know me, I’m not picky. I think….”

When Houri and Zaire would begin to make their way to the town’s center, there was indeed street food stalls. The village wasn’t a busy travel destination so there was only one small inn. They passed by it and unfortunately could not appreciate it as one wall had been broken down and holes could be seen, even through the wood flooring. There were three food stalls. Each stall owner looked glum or nervous, although one looked both.

“I hate the number three. You can’t trust it.” Zaire muttered.

Houri

 

[Houri]

This is highly uncomfortable, Vayu muttered. The fact none of the others piped up to argue against him - a rare occurrence - only soured Houri's mood. She had been hoping that it was just her lack of experience in social situations such as these that meant she was picking up on the wrong thing but... if the others agreed...

Perhaps he is nervous you discovered he likes Lumen. He might not have told her, Tishya offered gently.

Houri peeked at him out the corner of her eye as they walked. He looked a little tense but there could be all manner of reasons for that. Did he really think she would spill his secret to Lumen? Her lips compressed into a flat line but she said nothing further. He claimed not to like Lumen in that way - an obvious deflection - but the subject clearly bothered him. Bringing it up would only make it worse. Maybe she could prove she was trustworthy in another way...

"Three?" she older initiate blinked. She'd been so preoccupied by her thoughts that she hadn't noticed really where they were. The smells she had been ignoring suddenly reminded her, however. "Why can't you trust three?"

That sounds ludicrous.

Ah, perhaps that's the problem! The boy is merely insane.

It would certainly explain a lot. She stepped up to the first vendor who seemed to be offering some sort of generic meat on a stick.

 

[Zaire]

“Bad things come in threes.” Zaire said, repeating his mother’s words. He never thought it to be superstitious, especially when growing up surrounded by farm fields and orchards. “Plus when you’re in a group of three, someone always gets left out.” This was due to his own experience. Not during the times he had been with Dak and Maz, both of them were quick to include him back into things. Yet in other situations, such as the mission in Dornoch when they had split up, he had felt left out from whatever little pact that Delilah and Vasha had made.

“Three stalls is a bad sign.” He looked up at the sky, seeing three clouds. Okay, now he was being superstitious. He wouldn’t point that out to Houri, not that he could as she went straight to the first vendor. Thank Kress she hadn’t gone to the third. Then that would have actually made that two out of the three bad things to happen. Since she had gone to the first, Zaire chose the second. Which suited him as he usually was the second choice anyways.

He was pleased to see though that this stall had a fried pancake. Although, it wasn’t really a pancake.

“It’s called masser.”

“Right.” So another word for pancake.

“It’s savory.”

“Yes.” He could tell just by the smell. “It’s… garlic?” It smelled like garlic. And oil. Lots of oil. The vendor rolled their eyes and sighed.

“It’s kapahi.” Zaire was already fumbling for some coins. Kapahi. Garlic. It smelled the same, just looked different. If he didn’t know better he’d have placed it to be the green shoots that would shoot out from the head of garlics if they weren’t stored properly.

“Yeah, kapahi. I meant to say that.” He began to mumble and instead held up two fingers. The vendor got to work the moment they received payment. The sizzle of the oil on the flattop was a familiar sound and Zaire felt a twinge of home sickness. Minutes later, Zaire was off towards where Houri stood, holding up a paper-wrapped yellow pancake with thick strips of green and orange.

“Here. I… uh, got you one.” He was staring at one of the pancakes, figuring out which was bigger. He held it out towards her. “It’s called masser. It’s savory.” Zaire swallowed hard. Next he was going to tell her how it was made from kapahi instead of garlic.

Houri

 

[Houri]

Houri held in her hands not two but six of the 'meat on a sticks' fully intending on eating all of them herself.

Shit.

Shit.​

Shit.​

Shit.

Shit​

Shit. Now she had to share.
​

"Uhh... I got you some meat on a stick too," Houri inclined her head towards one of the benches where they could lay out their feast. "I think it's lamb - do you like lamb?" Kress she should have checked that first. Maybe he was vegetarian. The thought made her want to puke but she wouldn't judge out loud if he was. Once seated Houri helped him spread out the odd 'masser' and then went to hand him three of the sticks when she remembered his earlier comment. Instead she pushed the meat off onto the masser and divided it between them turning it into a makeshift kebab.

Houri groaned as she bit into it. Most food tasted divine to somebody who had only eaten rats for a year but this was definitely shooting to at least fifth position in the best foods she had ever tasted. In a very unladylike manner she began wolfing it down.

 

[Zaire]

She had gotten him food as well? Zaire felt the top of his ears get hot. She was so giving, wasn’t she? He had seen it at Friendsgiving, and in Dornoch as well when she shared her drink with Lumen. He knew it wasn’t unique, having grown up where he did it was customary to share, even if one only had a little. Still, at the Academy, when it came to food, many initiates were rather territorial. Especially when they had to go through the regulatory deprivation training. It seemed after that, all initiates hoarded whatever was on their plates and a few fights had broken out if one thought someone had taken something when they looked away.

Houri wasn’t like that, though. Zaire liked that about her.

“Thank you. I love lamb, actually.” Especially the way his mother prepared it with whole cloves of garlic and fresh sprigs of rosemary and thyme. The whole house would smell like the herbs and garlic, and Zaire had grown up with a fondness for the gamy leg of lamb roast prepared on special holidays.

He was patient as she prepared the two items together. What a good idea, to turn it into like a sandwich. Another thing to like about her, her ingenuinity! Was there anything that Houri couldn’t do? He started to roll the edges of his own masser, careful to make sure the chunks of lamb wouldn’t fall out. Zaire froze, hearing the animalistic sound of what could only belong to a bear come from deep within the back of her throat.

He turned toward her slightly, brows raised up and was about to ask if it tasted okay before seeing her take another bite, and another, and another… oh, so it was good, right? Zaire had thought she might have spit it out after that sound but— shit, why was he smiling? He quickly turned his head forward and carefully brought up his own food to take a bite. Yeah, it was good. Somehow he had found more joy in watching her eat it.

That was weird. He shouldn’t think like that. Kress, if anyone knew he had thought something so… so….

Foolish. Zaire ignored that voice, taking another bite and wasn’t even halfway done when Houri finished. He was chewing slowly. When he swallowed, he held out the rest of his.

“I’m full already.” He looked at his empty lap. “You want the rest of this? I don’t like wasting food.”

Houri

 

[Houri]

There were no more beautiful words than you want the rest of this? Houri decided as Zaire held out the half eaten kebab. It took physical restraint - her fingers curled into the bench either side of her thighs - to keep herself from springing upon it without a word. It was not polite, nor was she really that hungry. She recalled the Proctors words when she had explained that what Houri really felt when she was hungry was something called trauma, but it sure did feel like hunger. Her mouth watered.

"Are... you sure?" her eyes flickered between his and the offered kebab like it might vanish.

Just grab it.

What are you waiting for? That's food!

Food we haven't had to kill ourselves - take it!

Yeah - just take it!

Take it

Take it.​

Take it.​

 

[Zaire]

There was a pause and then Zaire would look into Houri’s dark eyes. Another pause but he held the food out closer to her, as if coaxing a rabbit to come and take a bite of a carrot in his hand.

“Yeah.” Zaire said, nodding his head to further confirm to her that it was okay. “I’m sure. I’m actually not that hungry in the morning.” He lied. It was fine. She was still hungry. Would she still be hungry after this as well? “Do you want me to go to the other stall and see if they have anything sweet?” Was Houri a dessert kind of girl? She had to be, right? Every girl loved desserts.

Well except Odessa but she was a strange exception to many things, Zaire had realized.

Houri

 

[Houri]

Didn't he complain on the way here how hungry he was?

He's being nice. Perhaps he's just trying to apologise for what he said earlier.

Yeah, don't get involve Shiva!

Houri tentatively took the kebab still waiting for him to decide at the last moment he had changed his mind and snatch it back. The men who had once run the Asylum had done things like that to make themselves feel big and it was hard now not to expect it of everyone. She waited until he was talking about dessert until she took a bite, trying not to devour it as quickly as she had her own. Her mother would have been horrified.

Tiny bites, Houri. Tiny bites, her mothers voice drifted to her on the wings of a memory of when she had been very small and trying to cram as much chocolate cake into her mouth as she could. Her mother had looked exasperated but as always there had been warmth in her eyes.

"I wouldn't say no to something sweet. Thank... you."

 

[Zaire]

Zaire shot right up, getting off the bench. He wouldn’t have to be told at all to get Houri something sweet, much less be told twice to do so. He was grateful, in that moment, for having his grandparents and parents, for being at the Academy less than his other classmates even if it meant Zaire was constantly at the bottom of the barrel. Because right now, he had just made a opportunity for himself to get a brownie point.

And Zaire needed every point he could possibly get.

“Be right back,” he said over his shoulder, heading into the only stall that they hadn’t yet gone to. He checked his coin pouch and… yep, that was it. After this he was going to be broke. Hopefully nothing would later come up were he might have to pitch in some money. Zaire doubted that to be the case.

Minutes later, Zaire was back, holding up four more skewers. Instead of meat it was fruit. Two skewers were bright red strawberries (they weren’t strawberries the elven vendor had informed him but they looked like them and that was what Zaire was going to call them instead of trying his hand at Elvish) and two were perfectly plump green grapes. There was a harden melted sugar coating on them that made the fruit shine under the sun.

“They call this…” Zaire shrugged. “Well I guess it doesn’t matter.” He was visibly excited, sugar and sweets being hard to get at the Academy. Even certain fruits had been banned on grounds and Zaire had seen one particular tall, blonde noble fight over a slice of canary melon more than once. “We’re gonna have to make sure we brush our teeth really good before we get back.” He held out the skewers, letting her choose first and possibly deciding if she was going to take them all or leave maybe one for him.

Houri

 

[Houri]

Houri's eyes lit up when Zaire returned with sweets in hand. She had been dubious about whether or not the final stall would happen to have something sweet and had been trying not to get her hopes up, but seeing Zaire approach with the sticks of fruit made her realise just how much she secretly had been hoping. She'd finished off the rest of the kebab and was feeling more than full for despite her love of food and need to eat whatever was put in front of her, her stomach had physically not recovered from a year of starvation. She was meant to be taking it easy with what she reintroduced to her body but... sweets didn't count, right?

She collected exactly half of the skewers without a second thought, sharing the obvious and most natural thing to her subconscious mind, and took a tentative bite. Sweet sugar mixed with the tang of the fruit rushed over her tongue making her eyes close in bliss.

"Oh Kress," she groaned. "This is almost better than chocolate." For nothing could be better than chocolate.

"Thank you, Zaire."

 

[Zaire]

Zaire made a small note in the back of his head that she liked chocolate. What a easy way to maybe impress her when it came time to those holidays that should be approaching soon enough. Sitting back down next to her— not too close, not too far— Zaire was beginning to take a bite of the sweet treat. His teeth had just cracked through the light sugary shell when there was a subtle shake beneath his feet.

He ignored it as he crunched on the fruit but there was another shake. A pause. Then a third.

Zaire wasn’t one to waste food but he tossed the skewers to the side as he stood up, the ground beneath them beginning to rumble.

“Houri!” He exclaimed, pulling out his lance but… what was he supposed to do with this? The elves around them were already shouting and screaming, many leaving and going to seek cover by heading to the grand building that Rhorothomir was in.

Houri

 

[Houri]

Houri gave a noise of annoyance. She'd made more headway than Zaire onto her sweets but she still hadn't finished them completely, and clearly interrupted her whilst she ate was far more offensive to her than the goblins returning to cause more chaos. With care she produced a handkerchief from her pocket and wrapped the half eaten sweet up as though there weren't goblins breaking through the earth around them, then tucked it into the pocket of her jacket.

Before them a green nightmarish head broke through the earth. It's mouth split its face in too with a yellow-toothed grin. Bits of elven flesh stuck between the gaps and she was fairly certain the bones of their unfortunate meal were what the thing wore around its neck. Wrinkling her nose in disgust the heavens boomed above them and as the goblin stuck one foot out of its tunnel, a lightning bolt arced down turning it to dust.

"I need to get higher. You should go tell the elf to start evacuating, we're going to have to bring forward those plans."

 

[Zaire]

Brimstone goblins were more ugly than they were terrifying. Their pupils the shape of crosses, the bumps on their skin, the strange leathery look of their ears and rows of pointy teeth were frightening, but all goblins seemed to built in a peculiar fashion. Zaire had never liked how stout and bulbous their torso was, with thin limbs that poked out like twigs used for a snowman’s arms.

As a child he had laughed at pictures of goblins and orcs and ogres. He wasn’t laughing now, even as a vicious lightning bolt turned the hideous creature before them into nothing but dust. Zaire looked at Houri, seeing a expression on her face that was completely unlike his.

Once more, he admired her for her levelheadedness. He felt foolish and glad all at once that she told him what to do, that she said her words with such confidence and certainty. With a sound of agreement, Zaire began to move to the main building, just like many of the elves were doing now. He was small but he could be fast, even faster when using his magic to increase his speed.

The ground around them began to rumble like an earthquake was taking place, the goblins sprouting up from their holes and using both their hands and teeth to latch onto their victims. They did this with acute precision, Zaire realized, seeing how they would use their mouth like a bear trap by practically swallowing the victim’s foot and then using their hands to pull them forward.

He tripped, ground shaking right beneath him, and it was only through his training— and maybe some luck— that he had just enough time to jump up. A hole appeared less than a half second later, the goblin wide mouthed like a snake. Zaire spun his lance up and over, pointing it down and stabbing the goblin in his mouth and down his throat.

Houri

 

[Houri]

Houri spared no time in watching Zaire head off to lead the evacuation; he was a Dreadlord in training and the fact he hadn't died already during the Academy's brutal training suggested he must have been at least somewhat capable at surviving. Instead she cast her eyes around the buildings that still stood. She needed a vantage point from which she could see just how wide this attack went. Was it concentrated on this city? Did it go even further? Why did it bother with the elves in the first place, especially now they were all but forced from their homes? They were questions she shouldn't of had to even think about when it came to Goblins. Their motives were usually simple and crass. This felt... different somehow.

Aside from the building in which the elves cowered, there was another which was taller. A mill of some sorts which must have made the cities grain. It stood abandoned and forgotten, one of its sails burnt and broken from the fighting before. With a deep breath she struck out for it.

Goblins were pouring out of every hole they could find. Screams rent the air as they attacked those too slow to have gotten to shelter. Where she could, Houri intervened but she could do more good if she could get to the top of that mill, so she did not bother to go out of her way to help those in need. As it turned out she had her own skin to worry about anyway. After the third dead goblin, the others seemed to have marked her as a particularly worthwhile foe and they came to her in small screaming clumps. With a flick of her wrists two blades made of storms appeared crackling and hissing and with a cry Houri drove into the hoards which stood between her and her target.