Thirax rears up to his full height and roars a defiant challenge. The dark gray, hulking figure looks down at the Gnoll and roars back. Not bothering to roar, I jump forward and smash my mace down on top of the thing's head as hard as I can. Skull gives way under the sharpened flanges of the spiked club. I leap backward to avoid being gutted by the swinging cleaver as the redcap spins and retaliates out of pure reflex.
The monster continues to spin around with the blade, unsteady as it loses its balance. Blood is already streaming down its face, staining its white beard. One of its red eyes hangs by the optic nerve, having been popped out by the force of my blow when I shattered the back of the skull.
Thirax grabs it by the head with both hands and holds it steady. Olivia then buries her ax right through its forehead. She tears the blade free as the body falls over, lifeless.
We rush to throw on our armor and grab our gear. Our bags have stayed packed, just in case we needed to leave fast. Until this morning, I was starting to think we were paranoid, now I'm calling it a good plan.
“Thirax, give Acri his staff and gear back. I think we're gonna need his magic,” I order as I pull the breastplate over my shoulders and tighten the straps.
“I heard rumor the redcaps could travel through plant roots, but I thought it was just a story they spread,” Acri says as he grabs his equipment from the Gnoll.
Olivia goes to the doorway and peers out around the hanging tarp. “Cool story, Elf. Save it for the people who weren't there. Okay, here's the plan. Thirax, grab that table and use it as a shield; you're our point man. We all stack up behind 'Rax and break left when we clear the door; head for the ridgeline, away from the forest. Only engage when you have to; try not to get bogged down in a slugfest. The key here is speed. Questions?—Good, we ain't got time for them; let's go.” Her green eyes shine intensely cold. I can easily see how she led an ESU team.
I stuff the last blanket into my rucksack on top of the MREs and sling the sack on my back. “Acri, stick with Olivia, and don't be shy with the fire magics.” I pull out the mace and get a good grip on it.
The Gnoll takes off at a sprint, despite holding a four-foot oak table in one hand. He tears through the heavy tarp covering the opening and encounters the next redcap. Or rather, he hits the damn thing with the edge of the table like a battering ram and knocks the seven-foot-tall monster clean off its feet. His comrade buries a cleaver into the table, getting it stuck for a second.
Olivia swings her ax in a short arc, cleaving the 'Caps calf muscle in half. Smart move, no time to finish it, but she made sure it can't give chase very well. The steel of her ax leaves a smoking, burning wound.
Acri stops short in front of me. I swerve to avoid running him down and turn to see what froze him up. The scene in the village proper is a gory mess. The legion of redcaps has turned his small village into a slaughterhouse, complete with bodies hanging from trees and lying in snowbanks.
The villagers were caught completely unaware. We lucked out being housed so far from the village itself. But the elves have already organized quickly, with pockets of resistance popping up. Arrows rain down from trees, and the redcaps try to cleave them at the base or set them on fire.
“There they are!” comes a guttural shout from a 'Cap, and all the others not actively fighting turn toward us. A collective roar rolls over the hills, and the rumble of their charge begins to shake the ground.
“Oh, shit!” I yell. Acri is chanting fast and holding his staff in two hands, almost like a person would hold a rifle when shooting from the hip. A series of small pops and individual sparks shoot from the end of the staff. They streak across the clearing like little stars, leaving trails that look like comets.
The first one hits a 'Cap in the chest and detonates, blowing a hole clean through its armor and its chest. What’s left burns with an unnatural fire. A total of five hits, much like the first, with only a few misses—redcaps explode, and body parts go flying. The rest of the marauders dive for cover wherever they can. It stalls the charge and gives us a minute to move.
A few short spears are launched at us, but none land close enough to worry our flight. I duck my shoulder low and hoist Acri up on my shoulder, trying not to jostle him too bad and interrupt his next spell. He's pretty light despite his near six-foot height, and I take off in a fast jog after the other two.
Thirax loses the table when it smashes to splinters caving in another monster's head. Acri continues to chant while I run. Olivia has located the trailhead between two large boulders; I follow her, knowing the trail is steep, but it's also very narrow. They can only come at us one at a time until we hit the plateau at the top. From up there is a great view of the mountains, as well as a sheer drop into a raging whitewater river about thirty or forty feet below. In other words, a dead end.
Acri fires off another series of tiny fireballs, but the redcaps are ready for them this time. A few manage to
