The armored goblin screeched at the mage and began backing away, even as the mage fired a dark blast at Oracle. She managed to dodge but called out a warning.
“It’s death magic! Don’t let it hit you!”
I stabbed forward, the tip of my naginata sending sparks flying as it skittered across the goblin’s armor. It jumped back with a hiss of fear before slashing wildly at me. I blocked with the haft of my weapon, releasing with my right hand as the goblin’s blade slipped towards it. Leaning forward, I grabbed the top of the creature’s breastplate, yanking it off balance into a headbutt that stunned it long enough that I managed to sweep its legs.
Once it was on the floor, I lashed out hard, driving the metal-clad butt of the naginata down into its face, feeling bone crunch underneath the blow as the body spasmed and went still.
I glanced up just in time to see Lydia block a sword that had been aimed at my face, then lash out with her mace. A loud crash reverberated through the air as her blow met the goblin’s helmet, sending it staggering back. I glanced around again, seeing that the mage and armored goblin had retreated nearly to the door while we’d been killing the main group. I was about to cast a spell myself when the pair moved too close to the corridor, and the darkness resolved into three figures. The first and tallest drove two spears and a dagger into the robed figure’s back, while slashing downwards onto the exposed arm, nearly cutting its hand off with the last dagger.
The other two figures appeared next to the armored goblin. One yanked his shield aside, twisting the arm quickly and violently enough that the snapping of bone was heard clear across the room, while the second figure grabbed its hammer and yanked back, immobilizing that arm. Both figures stabbed out rapidly with their weapons. The long, kinked daggers that seemed to be a signature weapon of the Mer punched through the weakly covered areas such as the armpits, throat, and groin, driving deep and coming out in sprays of blood.
I turned back to the remaining goblins, only to find Bob smashing the last one from its feet, Arrin firing a firebolt into its face a second before. Bob drove a fist down, crushing its skull and ending its life with a messy splat.
I looked around frantically, making sure, but it was over, at least for now. I could hear shouting, and the sounds of more goblins deeper in the building.
Jian was laid to one side, his breath whistling through teeth gritted in pain, while Miren looked like she was going to throw up.
His leather armor was covered in blood, and his left arm…looked like it’d been hit with a hammer blow. The bones were obviously shattered; the arm hung limply, bone fragments poked through the skin, and a quickly widening pool of blood was spreading under him.
Oracle was there already. She didn’t dare waste the mana on shifting sizes, and without her asking, I pulled out the last mana potion, downing it.
As soon as there was enough, Oracle started casting our newly evolved ‘Battlefield Triage’ spell. It tore through the little mana we had quickly, causing me to wince as the expected mana headache bloomed, but Jian rapidly looked better, the wounds on his arm closing as the bones were drawn back into their correct places.
“He’s lost a lot of blood.” Oracle said quietly as I moved to her side.
“I can fight, Lord. I am strong!” Jian whispered, but his face was white with pain still, and I shook my head. I didn’t have the mana to spare for Identify to check on him properly; hell, I’d wanted to use it so many times since this fight began, especially on the last two goblins that had tried to escape the room, the mage and its protector. I just didn’t have enough. The triage spell had pulled him back from death’s door, but he looked terrible, and it had run out of mana before he could be healed fully.
I could see the glowing red ‘1’ symbol in the emptied-out mana bar, and I shook my head sadly at Jian.
“No, mate,” I said quietly, gripping his other shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze. “I know you’re strong, but you can’t keep going, not wounded as you are.” I checked on the others, finding that Miren was trying to hide a blackened side, the skin appearing grey and rotting. I ignored her weak protestations that Jian needed help more and I looked her over, pulling my last health potion out and forcing her to take it.
“Do we have any charges left on the healing rings?” I asked, getting negative head shakes as my only response. I swore, low and fervent, and looked the others over.
None of them were in good shape, save the Mer; even Lydia was trying to hide a long gash on one cheek, and I growled to myself. I checked my mana and did a quick bit of math…
With one point of mana left, and a regen rate of two point six per minute, bolstered by the mana potion by an extra point, it would take me about fourteen minutes to regenerate enough mana to cast Cleansing Fire, and I had no idea if I could alter the spell to not harm my party, or what it would cost.
I looked over the team’s details in my vision; the Mer and I were the only ones above half health, though Miren’s health was starting to tick back up now that she’d taken the potion.
“Okay, let’s get the stone benches over to the doors,” I said, coming to a decision. “We need to create a barrier so we can hunker down and rest for a bit, then we’ll move on.” As soon as I
