The sun was falling quickly in the western sky when Captain Prince Classius arrived at the Port Turin Livestock Gate. Borgu, Kara, and Sir Red were already there, but the one that caught his eye was Cedar, or to be more accurate, his horse. The slender elf sat astride a beautiful white mare. She was sleek, yet muscular, with a beautiful flowing mane. The horse matched the elf quite well, and Classius found himself wondering where he had found such an animal.

The five riders set out, just as the sun left the horizon. It was that unique period when the sun was gone, yet there was still some light left in the sky. When they left the port city, they crossed through the lily fields at a trot and entered the pine forest where they could parallel Gilead Road while they travelled north.

They had barely entered the woods when Cedar, who was in the lead, signaled them to stop. He hopped from his horse and took a few steps forward, unslinging his cluster bow. It was a customary weapon amongst his people of the Eastern Tree Village. The bow was about half the size of the common longbow, and could only shoot about half the distance.

It had three notches near the hand grip, each a position for an arrow, allowing the weapon to fire three at once. While it didn’t have the distance of the elven longbow, its deadly punch usually killed whatever it hit.

The elf stopped suddenly and stood motionless for several seconds, watching the trees ahead. Captain Prince Classius[D1]  climbed off his horse, a little perturbed at stopping, because he knew that Nehi and Fidium had left hours earlier. We are still close to Port Turin and don’t have time for this dramatic nonsense.

He approached the elf, and started to say, “What . . .”

Cedar brought his bow up and fired three arrows into one of the nearby trees. At first, Classius thought the elf had missed, but then he could see that the branches were moving, and even heard some of them snapping.

A moment later, a Bone Breaker archer crashed to the ground. He landed in a heap of dead green flesh, three arrows in his chest. Classius could hear Sir Red draw his sword behind him.

Cedar knocked three more arrows and cocked his head, as if listening. The elf fired the cluster bow again, this time at a different tree. A second goblin crashed to the ground, dead.

The enemy’s response was immediate. Several goblin arrows struck the ground around Classius and Cedar, one bouncing off the prince’s white shield of Port Turin. These shots had come from ground level, where Classius could now see several goblin archers firing at them from behind some pine trees.

Cedar disappeared behind a tree, moving faster than the inexperienced young prince. Classius dove for cover behind another tree and watched Borgu launch a spear through the air.

The spear struck one of the Bone Breakers in the stomach, pinning him to one of the big pine trees. The scrappy green creature struggled for a moment, then became still.

Classius’ attention was caught by something crashing through the brush to his left, where he saw a yorg and two underlings rush from the bushes near the still mounted Sir Red.

The goblin leader carried a large nasty looking axe while his two underlings carried smaller hand axes. The big blond warrior urged his horse towards the trio and dove from his saddle, bringing his huge two-handed sword down on one of the smaller Bone Breakers while in mid-air.

The large blade split the creature from head to groin, but Sir Red didn’t have enough time to admire his handy work. He landed hard after killing the first goblin, and rolled forward, coming up on his knees.

In this position, he swung at the second underling, slicing him completely in two, right at its waist. Captain Prince Classius had watched Sir Red take out the two goblins and knew he did not see the big yorg coming up behind him with the large axe raised over its head.

Classius cursed himself, realizing he hadn’t even drawn his sword yet, but instead was acting like a fool watching a stage play. By the time he could un-sheath his weapon, his best friend would be dead.

Classius rushed forward, and lowering his shoulder, plowed into the attacking yorg. Both man and beast went sprawling into the dust. They landed on their butts, but the yorg was much quicker and jumped back to its feet.

The goblin leader quickly charged at the still seated prince, again raising its nasty axe over its head. Classius kicked backwards, moving on his hands and feet, looking much like a crab as he tried to back pedal away from the attacking creature.

The yorg closed the distance rapidly and began to bring the sharp axe down. The young prince raised his hands in a futile attempt to block the impending blow.

At the last second, a loud “thunk” signaled a spear piercing the yorg’s chest. It had been thrown from just behind Classius. The goblin leader dropped its axe into the dust next to the prince and staggered backwards, clutching at the spear.

The beast then fell on its back, still holding the wooden shaft of the spear. Classius looked over his shoulder and caught sight of Borgu, who gave him a wink. The former pirate had saved his life.

“Guess that answers your question, my young prince,” the big black man said, grinning from ear to ear.

“And what question would that be?” Classius asked, getting to his feet.

“You have been wondering if you can trust me.” Borgu laughed. “Now you know the answer to your question.”

“You wouldn’t be here if I didn’t trust you,” Captain Prince Classius said, realizing he hadn’t really fully trusted the man until now, and surprising himself at how much his answer had sounded like something his father would say.

Sir Red walked up and slapped the prince on his back. It was his way of saying thanks for saving him from the yorg. He then began cleaning the green blood off his sword.

The slap from the large man nearly knocked Classius over. It wasn’t that Sir Red was necessarily muscular, he was just big. He stood six foot six inches tall and was a big boned man with a barrel-chest.

“Where’s the female?” Cedar asked, walking over from the tree he had been couching behind.

Prince Classius looked about, realizing that Kara was gone. Figures he surmised, as soon as the arrows began to fly, she had abandoned them. Well, Classius thought, that’s what you get when you trust a thief.

“Guess you can trust me too!” a female voice said, coming from the tree line in front of them. A moment later, Kara exited the woods, carrying a scrawny dead goblin archer over her shoulder, while dragging a second one by its foot. She was sweating with the effort.

Kara tossed both of the goblins at the prince’s feet. Each one had their throats slit from ear to ear. Even though the dead goblins were smaller than the thief, Classius realized with admiration that she was actually quite strong.

She stood there, breathing heavily, and eyed him curiously with a brown curl falling over her left eye. The prince was startled to realize he was happy that she hadn’t abandoned them.

“I bet you thought I had deserted you?” she giggled.

“Of course not, I hadn’t even noticed you had left,” he lied, and then looked down at his feet, because her intense gaze made him uncomfortable, or maybe it was her pretty blue eyes.

“While you were tackling yorgs, I was busy taking down these two who tried to flee. Didn’t want them alerting more,” she explained.

“Good then. I’m . . . ah . . . glad you stayed,” Classius stammered, realizing she had been watching him even while she was dispatching two of the enemy.

Kara stepped in very close to him, forcing him to look into her light blue eyes, because she was nearly a foot shorter and said in a serious tone, “I understand the importance of what we are doing and I have never done anything of importance before, so you can count on me until we finish the mission, my handsome blue-eyed prince.”

“Of . . . course,” Classius replied, nervously.

“Besides, once we have saved the Glen, I can go back to snatching purses from the rich fat socialites of Port Turin!” she said with a wink and brushed past the now blushing prince, returning to her brown mare, which she mounted in one fluid motion.

“Probably a goblin scouting party,” Cedar scowled. “No doubt they’re watching your father’s every move.”

“Good job spotting them,” Captain Prince Classius praised the elf. “Let’s ride before any more show up. No time to burn the bodies, as night has already fallen, and we can’t afford to delay any further.”

He wanted to get away from this place. I performed very poorly in the fight, but at least now, I know I can trust my companions. They had just spilt blood together and protected each other.

The small group mounted their horses. Classius was glad to get moving. That’s as close to a goblin as I ever want to come. Hopefully, we will see no more of the vile green beasts.

But war did not concern itself with the whims and wishes of man. War had a way of writing its own story and little did Classius know, as they rode off into the darkness, that this was only the beginning of what was to come.