Life in a new Kingdom

The creatures' roaring shouts vibrate the air. With the appearance of their leader, they stand with crooked smiles. Witnessing the vessel for the ritual, Syphine, carried by his underlings, begins to voice the final rites. Tension running high, Caleb lets out a long sigh, wiping the sweat from his brow. Nana also watches with a distasteful expression. Caleb swiftly approaches the side, has a clear line of sight of the horde, and observes the Hobgoblin.

"Shaar! Shaar! Shaar!" The goblins begin to shout a name in a common tongue. It was the name of their leader, the Hobgoblin Shaman. Wielding his black twisted staff, he conducts the kneeling goblins to bow and chant. Shouting his name while reciting the words in their tongue, he steps onto the platform where the ritual circle lies.

"We have a special one with us! I have prepared this elf for this glorious moment! Giving birth to many, she shall give us more warriors!" His words resonate with the pack, causing them to go feral. He raises his hands and motions the ones carrying her to place her before him. She is placed with care, and they are back away from Shaar.

Caleb motioned for Nana to conduct the plan they had discussed. She nods and readies her blade, chanting some words under her breath. Shaar recites some words before reaching for Syphine; a white blur obstructs his view—a piercing blade slices through his arm, which he quickly retracts. Dark red blood drips onto the platform as Caleb lunges for his throat.

After having to use a Sword Art to increase his speed, he loses his breath for a moment and barely misses Shaar's neck. The Hobgoblin flicks his staff to hit Caleb's brow before reaching to grab the boy. Dark purple energy wraps around his fingers. Seeing the dark magic, Caleb ducks back and catches himself by stabbing his sword into the platform as leverage. Just barely avoiding being grabbed, he kicks both feet into the arm to push it away. Shaar snarls with his nasty fangs before he watches Caleb retreat, grabbing Syphine and attempting to run. Shaar shouts to his followers to seize him.

"Nana! Now!" Upon hearing his words, Nana recites the words from a Sword Art that she had learned long ago. "Stone Edge!" Infusing a powerful ability into her blade, she easily carves into the pillar and shoves against it with all her might. Causing it to collapse toward the platform. Shaar screeches as he rolls out of the way, only to watch a handful of goblins be obliterated by the falling pillar. Their bodies turned into a pile of mushed blood and flesh. The unstable ceiling begins to crumble, and pieces start to break off and fall to the ground. Causing a large panic, goblins attempt to run out of the way of the falling debris.

"Don't let them escape!" Shaar still barks his orders, raises his staff, and casts a spell that reaches all of his followers. They quickly grow in size; their muscles begin to bulge out, and their eyes white out in a blind fury. The spell to make them much stronger causes a large mass of goblins to go berserk. They only listen to the caster without question and turn their attention toward Caleb, carrying the unconscious elf over his shoulder. Even with his strength, his size limits his movement while carrying a fully grown woman.

Noticing the unnatural change within the creatures, he barely has the time to react as they rush after him. Nana quickly leaps to the next pillar and uses the same ability to carve through it and shove it onto more of the goblins. Much more of the ceiling breaks off and plummets to the ground. Caleb just barely manages to avoid being crushed by one and runs toward the tunnels where Uzel and Eriie await.

Until a sharp pain strikes his arm. The blood shooting from the wound causes him to stumble. One of the goblins caught up to him and took a swing. Having no choice but to take it out, Caleb switches stance and kicks the creature in the face before slicing off its head. The disgusting dark blood coats his blade and chest before he attempts to move. However, the large ogre, a pale green hulking creature, stomps towards him and reaches to grab him.

Caleb watches as he puts up a barrier to stop the ogre, but it quickly crushes the protection instantly and reaches closer before the ground begins to shake. The ogre loses balance and barely misses him. Nana breathes heavily as she once again uses Stone Edge to cleave through the last pillar. She shoves it down and watches as a large part of the ceiling breaks in conjunction. Knowing that her work is done, she attempts to retreat but is quickly cornered by a group of goblins that leap toward her in their rage.

Even exhausted by the use of Sword Arts, she quickly twists her blade to deflect their bodies and slams them into the ground. They cough blood before she leaps into the air and uses the momentum of her blade to carve through their bodies instantly and land after finishing her spiral strike. They lay dead and torn in half before she watches as Caleb defends against a couple of goblins himself.

"Caleb!" She shouts, attempting to leap down the incline, but quickly jumps to the side to avoid a falling rock.

"Nana! I got this! Hurry and return to Uzel and Eriie!" He stabs through one of the goblin's stomachs before ripping the blade out, causing its entrails to fall onto the ground and blood pooling out of the wound. He runs to the side to avoid another falling part of the ceiling and runs toward the exit. Nana gets up and leaps forward; using her beast features, she easily maneuvers toward Uzel and Eriie, who quickly begin to lead the way.

Suddenly, the large ogre from before, grabs one of the fallen pieces and chucks it toward Nana. She quickly tackles Uzel and Eriie to protect them. The piece hits the entryway and breaks apart, nearly destroying the entire exit. Nana realizes they are trying to trap Caleb and Syphine before they reach them.

"Caleb! You need to hurry!" Eriie calls out; Uzel struggles to stand before Nana places her hand on him and holds back, trying to think of a way to help him until a couple of goblins attempt to approach. Moving forward, Nana slashes through them, they fall easily but fatigue is quickly taking her.

Caleb does his best to move but with the unstable ground and the goblins after him, he realizes instantly he isn't going to make it...

"Nana! Catch her!" Stabbing his sword into the ground, he holds Syphine tightly in his grip, and, putting his strength and focus into everything, he launches the slender elf into the air. Letting out a large cry, he throws her high into the air. Surprising Nana with his strength at that moment, she jumps and catches the girl before hitting her back against a wall and sliding down to her feet. Eriie quickly takes her sister to allow Nana to aid Caleb.

However, after throwing Syphine, the ogre had grabbed another large rock and began to throw it. The creature throws it, but it instantly is stopped in mid-air as Caleb creates a barrier to stop it. The barrier breaks, causing the debris to fall onto him. He jumps to avoid it, which he rolls to his feet but is quickly surrounded by approaching goblins. Shaar steps through the rubble and commands them to attack.

Caleb is pounced on by one of them, and they try to stab him. But the moment the creature raised its hand, an arrow strikes into the side of its head. Caleb kicks the corpse off of him and turns to see where the arrow came from. Until a couple more arrows fly past his head and strike a few more goblins, killing them instantly.

"Hey! Get off your ass! We've got you covered!" Gale shouts as she draws a bow and fires another arrow, striking a goblin in the chest. Lukia quickly backs him up and fires several arrows, providing a path forward. "Once you're clear, we will meet you both there!"

Caleb wondered what he meant by both. Getting to his feet, he grabs his sword and turns to see a morning star mace crush the head of a couple of goblins, a large shield smashing the face of another. Standing before him is the last member of the Scarlet Hunters, Yorn, the half-elf cleric.

"I got your back! Let's get out of here!"

"Y-Yorn? I thought you were dead!"

"Turns out I got more life in me than I thought! Gale and Julia helped me from a ditch. I'm just returning the favor, now go!"

"You better be right behind me!" Caleb turns and runs toward Nana, who defends the exit from any goblins. Yorn smiles and speaks a few words before unleashing a holy spell. Causing a blinding light, he turns and retreats after Caleb.

"We are leaving! Get over here!" Nana shouts toward Gale and Lukia. They nod and slide down the incline, making their way toward the rest of the group. Yorn passes Caleb as he defends against another goblin that leaps into the air. Stabbing his blade through its chest, he kicks it down to the ground. The violent shaking of the unstable ceiling grows worse, and more begins to fall on top of the rest of the goblins. Shaar raises his hand and commands a couple of goblins to attack Gale and Lukia as they approach.

"They aren't going to make it!" Yorn comments.

"I won't leave them!" Caleb steps down and grabs onto his arm, channeling his magic through the artifact; he pushes past his limits and creates a large barrier wall that cuts off the goblins from Gale and Lukia. The wall extends and protects him as well. Shaar twirls his staff and launches a large black ball of energy that strikes the barrier. Straining Caleb as he holds off the assault from the goblins and Shaar's magic, he feels his body burning from the pressure. Surprising everyone, Caleb withstands the pain until Gale and Lukia arrive.

"Let's go, Caleb!" Lukia grabs his shoulder, and he quickly releases the barrier. Returning to the group, Nana notices Shaar begins to cast another spell.

"I'm going to try to seal this path! Hurry!" She shouts as she winds up her blade, ready to unleash another Sword Art to cause the entrance to collapse. Waiting for Caleb and Lukia to run past her, she struggles to take the breath she needs to focus. She swings with less strength which only causes a portion of the entrance to be block, but enough to at least slow them down.

Nana stumbles back and coughs a bit of blood. She over did it with the Sword Arts and it costed her a lot of her strength. Turning back, she sees the party has reunited. Caleb gasps for air, trying to recover from his own fatigue. Uzel holds himself against the wall while Eriie holds her sister in her arms. Gale looks after Lukia and Yorn who exchange some words before they turn their attention to Nana.

"I couldn't close the path all the way. They will get through soon; we need to move now!"

"Caleb needs a minute to-" Lukia tries to speak but Caleb pounds his hand on the stone to gain their attention.

"I'll be fine... We need to go, now!" Gale grabs Caleb and aids him forward, Uzel is held up by Yorn and is carried forward. Lukia helps Eriie with Syphine and they proceed forward. Nana watches them move forward without her. She coughs a bit and holds her stomach. A dark bruise from the magic from Shaar that had hit her before closing the entryway caused intense amounts of pain. She took a painful breath before continuing forward, hoping she could hold out until they made it out...