Goblinsbane Ch. 02: The Bashaan Twins

"So there's meaning behind its name, and that name will not be changed by the likes of you."

"First: No, I wasn't paying attention. Second: You religious types are required to remember too many names, which is why I wasn't paying attention. Third: I'm not saying it should be renamed. It's been called THE Morning Star for hundreds upon hundreds of years, right? No point in changing it now. I'm only pointing out that the name doesn't make sense to us non-Mireans."

"I'll be sure to ask the temple scribes to add your observation to the weapon's history."

Eredwal let out a burst of laughter. "Hey, look at you, with a hint of wit! You weren't like this the first time we met. I guess I'm having a positive influence on you, already!

"If you're showing this much improvement after just one day with me, you're bound to be a laugh riot in a few months. Stick with me and I'll make it happen."

Kassus frowned from his saddle. "What makes you an expert on the naming of holy weapons, anyway? How about that hammer of yours? Have you given it a name?"

The smile on Eredwal's lips disappeared, and he went uncharacteristically quiet for a while. Reaching back, he touched the warhammer sticking out from a bundle at the back of his saddle, as though he were making sure it was still there. "Yeah, I named my hammer Akarimei, after my sister."

"How does she feel about you giving her name to something you use to crack skulls?"

"She doesn't feel anything. She's been dead for years."

Kassus didn't know how to respond to that. A heavy silence thus hung between the three of them as they rode on, Eredwal in the lead, Sabine and Kassus on either side of him.

Sabine wouldn't allow the silence to linger for long. As the road took them to the edge of Falo Forest, she raised the Morning Star and asked a question. "Excuse me, Eredwal? I haven't had much formal weapons training. How do you recommend I begin learning how to use the Morning Star?"

Looking over his shoulder, he watched her take a couple of practice swings from her saddle. "What you're doing is a decent start. Swing it around as we ride - carefully! Get used to the weight of it. Build up the strength in both of your arms, not just your primary arm, because out in the field you won't always have the luxury of choosing which arm gets to swing your weapon.

"Whenever we camp, or whenever we both have some free time in town, I can run you through some drills."

"I can teach you as well, Blessed Speaker," Kassus chimed in.

"Yeah, between me and your shiny human shield, you won't be lacking in trainers." Eredwal glanced over his other shoulder at the man he just referred to as 'shiny'.

The Mirean guard was adorned in a brand new suit of plate armor - the gift he received toward the end of the ceremony that was mostly dedicated to Sabine. The plate and the chainmail underneath were, indeed, quite shiny. They was as green as the forest the group now rode through, and trimmed with gold. The apple tree symbol of Mirea was engraved upon the breastplate, as well as on each of the matching gauntlets. Although his armor was not an ancient artifact like the Morning Star, it was still enchanted - it provided enhanced protection, and was also lighter than conventional plate.

Sister Sabine had also been given magical armor. Unlike the full suit of armor that covered Kassus from head to toe, hers was only a breastplate that she wore over her grass green robes, along with a pair of shiny, new bracers. It had been quite some time since she had worn any kind of armor - not since she witnessed the horrors of war as a triage healer during the War of the Wilted Rose - which was why she felt uncomfortable in it. She would have preferred to travel in her normal garb, but Mother Loria and the other priestesses would not allow the Blessed Speaker to leave without magical protection. Knowing how much they fretted over the fact that they could not send a contingent of Mirean guards with her, Sabine accepted the armor without complaint.

As they made their way deeper into the Falo, Sabine followed Eredwal's advice. Being careful, she swung the mace to and fro with her left hand, getting used to its weight. But truth be told, there was not much weight to get used to, for the Morning Star was surprisingly light. She took a several slow practice swings with her left hand before switching to her right. When Eredwal lead them off the road and into a denser part of the forest, she continued this simple exercise. Her practice ceased when her horse began to have a little difficulty traversing the terrain, which required her to take the reins by both hands.

"We're here," Eredwal said when the sun was high up in the sky. He spoke more softly than usual, since being this deep in the Falo meant there could be any number of threats lurking about. Sabine and Kassus both followed his lead, moving as quietly as they could in all the steel they were wearing.

They dismounted. The Goblinsbane walked his mare to one of the smaller trees in order to tie it down. Sabine noticed how he made very little sound in spite of his chainmail-covered coat. At first, she assumed that something he wore was enchanted for stealth. But while she tied her own horse down near Eredwal's, she focused her divine sense on his attire and sensed no such enchantment. She felt no magic from his clothes, at all.

His warhammer, Akarimei, was a different matter. Sabine continued to focus on Eredwal while he removed the hammer from his saddle. She definitely felt magic from his weapon.

Eredwal leaned against a tree. While he relaxed, Kassus scanned the area, his hand on the hilt of his sword and his gaze sweeping across the greens and browns that surrounded them. He appeared to be standing guard, which was expected. Not only was that his job, but considering what happened to them the last time they were in Falo Forest, Sabine wasn't surprised that he took this area more seriously than before.

As for her, she may have appeared calm, but in truth she felt anxious. Her new breastplate felt too heavy, too restrictive. And although it was a mild spring day, she sweated underneath her armor and robes. Worst of all, just being in the Falo put her on edge, because the memory of death here was still too fresh. For a priestess of Mirea, it was unnatural to feel uncomfortable amongst nature, so the fact that she was nervous here agitated her even more. But she hid it well, or at least she hoped she did.

It took about a minute of wordless waiting for Kassus's patience to wear thin. "Well? Are we just supposed to wait here?"

Eredwal nodded.

"Are you even sure we're in the right place?"

Eredwal's knuckles tapped against the tree bark above his left shoulder. Both Kassus and Sabine stepped closer to find that something had been carved into the wood there:

'The Bashaan Twins were here!!!' Sabine wondered why the person who had carved that message saw the need to use three exclamation points.

Kassus looked the tree up and down, and then looked all around. "How did you find this place so easily? Everything looks the same to me."

"I have an impeccable sense of direction and a keen mind for terrain," Eredwal explained while tapping at his temple. "Besides, nobody knows the Falo better than me."

"Right." Kassus didn't sound convinced, and Eredwal didn't seem to care. "Is that the name of your friends? The Bashaan Twins? Where are they? After you made such a fuss about getting here on time, are they going to make us wait all day?"

Sabine expected Eredwal to say something clever and mean, because he and Kassus bickered like school children. Sometimes she found it adorable, other times she found it tiresome.

Instead, he considered the question for a few moments while his lips scrunched up in what appeared to be an expression of concern. "I hate to admit it, Flower Child, but you actually bring up a good point. They usually beat me here. We're here later than I would have liked, so they definitely should've beaten us here."

Pushing off the tree, he began to tiptoe about, his gaze to the ground the entire while. Sabine correctly assumed that he was searching for signs of his friends' passing. Following him, she attempted to spot whatever signs he was searching for, but could find nothing.

It turned out there wasn't anything to find.

"They weren't here," Eredwal said, squatting down.

"Are you sure?" Kassus asked.

"Yeah. No footprints besides ours. No hoof prints, either. If their horses were here, it would've been obvious."

He stood up suddenly. "Hey, be quiet," he whispered. "I think I heard something." The three of them stood in silence for several moments, each one straining their ears. The Goblinsbane held his hammer at the ready, as though he expected trouble.

Trouble announced itself right on cue.

Eredwal was the first one to hear it - the distant neighing of a horse in distress accompanied by shouting. The sounds came from his left, their source hidden somewhere beyond the trees.

"There!" He broke into a run, dashing in that direction without bothering to retrieve his helmet from his saddle.

"Damn it!" Kassus cursed as he, too, broke into a run. He wasn't as quick as Eredwal, but the pace at which he moved and the ease with which he dodged around the trees was still impressive.

Sister Sabine hesitated. Should she untie a horse and ride in that direction? No, Eredwal and Kassus left on foot for a reason: the horses would have difficulty navigating that part of the forest, where the trees were so close together. She started to run two or three heartbeats after Kassus had.

Because the two men had a head start, and because they were more accustomed to running in armor than she was, Sabine struggled to catch up. When she reached the top of a low hill, panting, she saw what was going on.

Two people were being attacked by a group of orcs. Doing a quick estimate, Sabine figured there were at least a dozen of the monsters. Taller and more thickly-muscled than the average human, the orcs had gray-green skin, tusks jutting out out of their lower jaws, and attire made of furs, leather, or both. They looked like hairless apes. Snarling and hollering in their guttural language, they swung cruel, serrated axes or swords in their attempt to kill their two targets.

One of the people - who appeared to be a human woman - rode a horse around the orcs, just barely keeping away from their grasping hands and slashing axes. She was struggling to keep her horse maneuvering between the trees, as well as struggling to stay atop the saddle.

The other person - a man - was up in a tree. A dying horse lay on its side near the base of the tree, blood gushing from a gaping wound in its neck. The poor animal died in a pool of its own blood, which some of the orcs stomped through as they surrounded the base of the tree.

"C'mon, you bastards!" the man yelled as he squatted atop a thick branch. He had a bow in his hands. Taking careful aim, he fired an arrow at one of the orcs on the ground. Unfortunately, his aim wasn't that true, for the arrow struck the orc's shoulder rather than something vital. It staggered back but stayed on its feet.

The greenskin with an arrow sticking out of its shoulder roared up at the man, then threw a handaxe at him. The man cursed when the axe got embedded in the branch he stood on, mere inches away from his boot. Unbeknownst to him, another axe was thrown by an orc behind him. Thankfully that axe also missed and clattered off the tree trunk.

Another orc approached the tree, this one armed with a bow. The man saw it take aim at him. Frantically, he looked around in an attempt to find cover, but besides the leaves on the branches there was no cover to be had. Those leaves would not block an arrow.

The man whispered a curse in a different language as the orcish archer took a deep breath, held it, and prepared to fire.

From its left side, someone yelled, "Graaf ma gosh!" It was an orcish curse, and it was screamed with enough conviction to make the archer temporarily forget about its target. It turned just in time to see Eredwal flying at it. The Goblinsbane, in midair, drove his knee into its face. One of its tusks broke, its head snapped back, and it toppled to the ground with an earthy thud. An instant after Eredwal's feet touched the ground, he spun around and smashed the orc's head with his hammer, ensuring it would not get up again.

"GRAAF MA GOSHIK!" Eredwal screamed again, this time even louder so the orcs around the tree could hear. They turned, growled their response in their language, then advanced on the black-clad warrior, who was obviously more of a threat than the guy stuck in the tree.

Five orcs bared their teeth and rushed toward Eredwal. He did the same, baring his teeth in a feral grin and charging right at them. The first adversary - the one unfortunate enough to be in the lead - attempted to take his head off with a giant sword, but Eredwal ducked it and swept its legs out from under it with his hammer. It crashed and slid upon the dirt, face first, as Eredwal took down another orc with a crushing strike to the side of its head that cracked its skull and snapped its neck at once. Right as that one fell, Eredwal spun around to send his hammer arcing down into the spine of the one he had tripped.

Eredwal then had to face off against the three other orcs at once. Like a pack of wolves, they attacked with animalistic coordination. One came at him from the side in an attempt to distract him enough for one of the others to get through his defense and deliver a killing blow.

Despite their coordination, their numbers advantage, and their savage strength, they could not take the Goblinsbane down. Sister Sabine rushed toward him to help, but as she drew closer it became clear that he needed no help. He dodged or parried each of their attacks with speed and skill she had never seen before.

Eredwal thrust his heel into the knee of one orc, making it drop to that leg. He parried another orc's strike then shoved it away. This bought him just enough time to knock aside the axe of the third, which opened it up for a vicious hammer blow to its chest. The sound of ribs snapping was sickening, and if not for its leather and furs the fact that its chest was now concave would have been visible. That one stumbled backwards, groaning and dying on its feet, while Eredwal brought the spike of his hammer down through the top of the kneeling orc's skull.

One orc remained, its back to the charging Sabine. It brought up its sword and attacked Eredwal again, howling with rage. It slashed at him again and again with a speed it did not display moments before. Eredwal blocked each of the slashes, but his attacker's newfound rage and quickness drove him backwards.

The violence all around her, the howl of another monster from Falo Forest, and the sight of her new friend being attacked awoke something in Sister Sabine that she had never felt before. "MIREA!" Her goddess's name erupted from her lips - her very first battle cry. Running up behind the orc that stood well over a foot taller than her, she slammed the Morning Star into its spine. Right as she swung, she thought she felt the mace somehow propel itself forward, adding to its impact against the body of her foe.

The monster howled again, this time in pain mixed with shock. It stumbled forward, its sword held uselessly to its side. Without wasting a moment, Eredwal swung the haft of his hammer across its cheek, making its head whip around. He then hammered the back of the monster's skull, killing it instantly.

After that orc crashed to the ground amidst a cloud of dust, Sabine saw Eredwal smirking at her. It was an odd thing to see, especially considering what was happening around them, and considering how he had a splash of green blood upon his face.

"Thanks for the assist, Sister." A look of surprise crossed his face. "Hey, take a look at that!" He pointed at the mace in her hand.

Sabine was out of breath, and adrenaline was pumping through her veins. Her heart pounded in her ears, which was why she had a bit of trouble understanding what Eredwal said. "Huh?" She glanced down at the Morning Star, just now noticing that a white-gold glow had enveloped its head. Immediately, she knew what that glow was, for she had seen it before emanating from her hands - it was the Holy Light of Radain Brih.

"I don't need to be a priest to tell that thing's powerful," Eredwal said. "Why don't you use it to help your friend?" Pointing with his hammer, he directed Sabine's attention toward the remaining orcs. Half of them were still trying to chase down the woman on horseback, who worked frantically to stay just out of their reach. The other half were busy with Kassus.

"Oh!" Once she saw her friend in trouble, Sister Sabine hefted her mace in both hands and ran over to help.

Eredwal watched her go, chuckling. "She's a bundle of energy, all of a sudden," he said to himself. He then turned to the tree, where the man was still up in the branches. "Hey, Akam! Are you just going to stand there and watch? Get down here! Help us save your sister!"

"Of course, of course!" Akam yelled down as he wrapped his arms around the tree trunk as best he could. "I was merely catching my breath!" He climbed down the tree while Eredwal dashed toward the fight.

Kassus was doing an admirable job fending off multiple attackers at once. Making excellent use of his new armor combined with his defensive fighting style, he either knocked each attack away with his blade or he forced certain strikes to scrape off his spaulders, bracers, or breastplate at just the right angles to become harmless.

Kassus was obviously quite comfortable fighting in full armor. The orcs couldn't seem to touch him. The problem was he wasn't harming any of them, either. They were engaged in a stalemate.

Sister Sabine's arrival ended that stalemate. While she ran toward Kassus, she loosed another battle cry. Rather than shout out Mirea's name again, this time she shouted with primal emotion that needed no language to be understood.

One of the orcs trying to flank Kassus turned and saw her. It snarled, opening its mouth much wider than she thought possible. She could see its yellowish teeth, as well as its two, sharp tusks pointing straight at her. It then rushed her. Sabine was startled by how immediate and swift that orc's response was. Her battle cry ended, she slid to a halt, and instinctively she began to backpedal as the hulking humanoid rapidly approached.

It raised an axe with a jagged blade over its head. The Morning Star pulled on Sabine's hands, as though it were reminding her to defend herself. Following her artifact's unspoken command at the last second, she thrust her weapon upward just in time to catch the orc's axe against the handle. The mace glowed with even more divine light.

"Oof!" The impact made her knees buckle. The greenskin was so much larger and stronger than her, yet much to her surprise, she held her ground against it. The orc did not give her time to be impressed with herself, however. Growling in frustration, it reared its axe back and went for another swing. Because she wasn't sure she could block this one as effectively as the last, she dodged it instead.

"Sabine! I'm coming!" Kassus yelled right before he swung his sword with both hands, slicing open an orc's throat. Seeing Sabine go one-on-one with an orc lit a fire under his ass and inspired him to finally take one down. He ignored the blood that sprayed onto the back of his head and neck as he ran in her direction.

There were two other orcs that were about to chase after Kassus, but Eredwal got in their way. His hammer slammed into the hip of one of them, shattering it. It dropped to the ground, paralyzed from the waist down and howling in pain until a blow to the head put it out of its misery. The other one stood no chance against the Goblinsbane alone, but it didn't know that. He smiled as he faced it.