Giant slayer

The treacherous grin revealed my intentions to the other three rats who slinked back in fear. Despite being a child, the creature still outmatched us in size. 

I gave them a sharp stare while lamenting I didn't have thassius with me. 

Sniffer was the first out of the three to gain his composure back as he slowly drew his long steel halberd from his back. A weapon that was fitting for the job at hand. The other two now realising they were actually going to have to fight also drew their weapons. 

I went back to studying the creature. It danced around the pile of mushrooms occasionally stopping to admire their subtle blue glow. 

Its skin was coarse and leathery. Most likely a tough match for our weapons. his muscles fit his build in that they were equally as large as he was. It was impossible for us to win a match of strength. 

His 4 eyes seemed redundant as only one eye at the front of his face remained open the whole time. The other 3 seemed to occasionally peek out before quickly closing again. Most likely all 4 eyes were only open in unfamiliar territory. It was probably more draining on the mind to see in all 4 directions at once and so the 3 not facing forward would remain closed. 

His dancing was a fumbled mess of steps often tripping over himself which led to him stopping for a second before continuing. Clearly not a dextrous monster. That was good we should be able to circle around him to deal out small cuts without much of a worry about him catching us. 

He did not wield a weapon like his parent seemed to. His large hands however looked like more than enough to snap an unruly rat into two pieces. 

The creature continued its dance. I eagerly awaited for it to turn away from the entrance to the cavern and slunk in. The cavern looked inhabited with large bundles of leaves and softer grasses bundled up in huge mountains most likely acting as a bed for the larger creature. 

Despite the size of the cavern, it's likely the large monster needed to go on hands and knees to enter however could most likely stand up straight in this area. 

large spikes grew from the roof of the cavern which may have been a useful tool if we could reach them but alas the climb and set up would take too long. We would be in danger of the big one coming back. 

Instead, I crept closer to the smaller creature who had stopped in his tracks after almost tripping over in one of his more complex-looking dance moves. 

Sniffer tailed me closely with the other two fanning out behind us. 

My swords were already drawn and hung loosely in my hands. A sneak attack could end the fight in one go. It just needed to be aligned just right. 

I finally came within slicing distance as I stared up at the monster. Now much larger looking from up close. I kept my own eyes transfixed on the back of its head. A twitch. The eyelid shot open as a look of surprise shot through the now open eyeball as it locked its gaze with my own. 

I moved quickly slashing clambering onto the back of the beast and unleashing a quick slash across the eye with my smaller weapon. 

A large slit formed as liquid gushed out. The beast now aware of our presence moved equally as quickly making moves to try to grab me off his back. 

I tampered with the idea of staying on but decided not to risk another attack. One grab from the beast would be almost certain death. I could not afford to die via some shitty little monster in a cave. 

I kicked off the creature and disengaged. The creature now clearly looked furious as it had just managed to reach its arm back to grab at where I previously was turned around and eyed its four attackers. 

I kept my distance as I slithered around the creature intending to encircle it with the other three rats who followed my moves. 

The creature's rage quickly turned to a sense of caution and fear. It had been surrounded and while one rat might be easy to deal with committing to just one would open up to three more potentially deadly attacks. 

The occasional stab from Sniffer's halberd and slash at the beast tore away at its flesh. Whenever it began moving towards one of us the other three pounced allowing the fourth to escape its grips.

Pained moans began escaping the creature's mouth as its hopeless attempts at grabbing one of us seemed to only drag it closer to the grave. It was almost pitiful. 

The idea was working. The creature was not nearly dexterous enough to catch the smaller rat and would suffer the consequences when it tried. 

I couldn't help but let out a wiry little grin as I let out a few more slashes as it tried to jump to grab Sniffer. However, a plan never goes perfectly. One of the other two rats got too confident. He moved in to kill the creature as it lunged for Sniffer. 

Sensing the weakness the beast shot its arm out and laced its large heavy fingers around the rat. A quiet and panicked squeak preempted the sickening crack as the rat's centre exploded. Its brittle bones crumbled beneath the weight of the creature's grip. The lifeless mangled cadaver slumped to the floor as blood leaked out forming a pool. 

Sniffer backed away keeping the point of his halberd between the now blood-soaked creature. 

The once strong circle broke down as the creature managed to escape through the gap now made in the circle. 

Now charging after another rat which I never did get the name of. The rat panicked attempting to run before getting snatched up. I launched up the creature hacking away with both my swords. I stabbed one deep into the left eye causing it to release the now fearful rat. before I could retrieve the weapon the creature thrust its arm out grabbing me around my waste. 

For a brief fleeting second fear engulfed me. The pressure from its large meaty hand slowly increasing. My arm moved on its own in one finally desperate attempt I sliced down at the wrist of the creature. Unrat-like strength coursed through me as I slid through the wrist and out the other side. The pressure released instantly, I fell back onto my feet with the hand landing next to me. 

The creature looked horrified at the now stump as a shriek left its mouth as thick red blood poured out the stub. 

I dove back onto the creature's back. My weapon was dull from the thick leather and flesh of the beast's hand. Using my claws I sliced into one of the gashes already made across its back. 

My instincts took over as I burrowed. Deep into the creature's flesh. Claw and tooth grinding away at the soft meaty back of the beast. A weak hand attempted to grab at my legs but I shook it off. The pain had made the creature weak. Sniffer closed in slicing and stabbing at the creature's face with his halberd. 

Undescribable noises fled out of the creature's mouth as desperation and fear seemed to take over. 

I clawed deeper and deeper into the beast creating a hollow cave of my own within its guts. 

Finally, its legs became limp. It toppled face-first into the rocky ground. I emerged from my flesh cavern and stepped above the creature. Retrieving my blade from its eye I began carving. Slicing carefully through its neck. Its head popped off and rolled for a while. 

This should be good enough to piss the creature off. 

Retrieving our backpacks we placed the goblin stench throughout the cave. 

The rat blood mixed well with the giant blood which managed to overpower its scent. 

Sniffer shouldered the remains of the dead rat as we left the cave. 

I turned once more to admire the scene we had forged. The horrifically disfigured corpse lay brutalized on the floor with goblin clothes and weapons strewn about the place. A distinct goblin cleaver lay embedded in the creature's head which was now mounted on a wooden pike in the centre hoisted up and kept standing by the mushroom pile. 

we moved quickly back through the cave being careful to spread the goblin scent as much as we could. Reaching the entrance we made a speedy departure. We would have to rush back to the hole for final preparation. Time was ticking now since all it took was for the creature to return home for the battle to begin. 

It took no more than 2 hours for us to find our way back to base camp. Thassius had already returned and was staring out at the camp barely noticing our return. 

I sauntered up next to him and stared down into the camp. My eagerness however vanished upon the sight. At least a thousand goblins stood guard around the camp. Armoured to the teeth each wielding a different weapon of their own. What once were small platoons of goblins patrolling the streets had become miniature armies. 

Why. Why were they so prepared all of a sudden? 

If they were aware of our plans they could have just come to wipe us out. 

I scanned the area before my gaze landed on the huge building in the centre. Out front of the building stood Vrogg seemingly overseeing the village defences. 

To his left stood a small creature. Adorned in black cloth it looked like a child compared to Vrogg. 

However, beneath the cloth small tufts of white fur seemed to emerge. 

I recognized the creature and it seemed thassius did too.

It was the small white rat from our brood. Another stained. 

So she was sent by Styx to warn Vrogg. It seems their relationship was deeper than I first imagined. Styx was not just using Vrogg to kill the honour guard. But instead directly working beside him. 

The white rat was sent a few days behind us to check if we were dead yet. Upon finding both goblin alive and no rat bodies she must have warned Vrogg of an impending attack. 

At least she did not know where we were hiding out because we would have been wiped back before the three of us had even arrived. 

Shit. I underestimated Styx's drive to see us dead. 

This would make the attack far harder. What was once a sure victory would be dependent on chance. Ideas such as poisoning the barrels and assassinating the stronger-looking goblins would have to be scrapped it would be too dangerous with this many guards.

But even with them being prepared for an attack they still only believe a small contingent of 100 or so rats would be attacking them. 

Where Ballista once guarded the towers now stood leagues of goblin archers. Clearly, they were preparing for the assault of smaller infantry in comparison to large monsters that may stray too close to the village. 

A potentially fatal mistake.