Goblin Ambush

"Damn goblins, chase them down!" Grayson bellowed. Katheren drew her silver pistols, leaning halfway out the carriage door, guns blazing as she fired several shots at the goblins. But due to the distance, she didn't hit her targets.

"Hold your fire! Wait until we're closer!" Grayson pulled Katheren back inside. The sleigh, pulled by the seals, quickly closed the distance with the fleeing goblins.

The goblins, despite exerting their utmost, couldn't outrun the sleigh, and soon they were within Katheren's shooting range.

At Grayson's command, Katheren leaned out again, her volleys splattering goblin brains and scattering their bodies across the snow.

"Good shooting! They won't escape now!"

Just as Grayson prepared to disembark and seize the black-cloaked man, a cluster of green heads with pointed ears popped out from the snow ahead. Meteor hammers whirled through the air, pummeling the sleigh with the force of a hailstorm.

"Jump!" Grayson shoved Katheren out of the sleigh and helped Morven leap out. As he turned to grab Seraphine's hand, a barrage of meteor hammers forced him to retreat again and again.

The relentless meteor hammers peppered the area around the sleigh, trapping Seraphine inside. Grayson made several attempts to approach and assist her but was repeatably driven back by the onslaught.

The weighty iron balls soon cracked the sleigh's icy frame, sending shards flying. Suddenly, a meteor hammer descended from above, smashing through the roof and crashing into the cabin.

With a crash, the sleigh's crystalline structure collapsed, shattering into a storm of ice fragments.

"Seraphine!" Grayson cried out, as a red flash lit the scene. Ice shards turned a bloody red, and a little black figure wobbled out from the crimson glow, tumbling into Grayson's arms.

"Elyra!" Grayson was both startled and relieved to see the little owl, who had been hidden inside Seraphine's hat. Now, she squinted against the harsh daylight, flinging a twitching fish to the ground.

The red flash intensified, and the fish transformed back into Seraphine's form. Grayson quickly steadied her, clutching Elyra as Katheren helped Morven retreat from the goblins' reach.

"It's a good thing for this little one. Without her, I'd have been smashed to a pulp!"

Seraphine gratefully embraced the little owl, who buried her head in Seraphine's arm to avoid the bright light, chirping, "Don't thank me; I just wanted to keep a fresh fish by my side. Dead fish stink and taste awful!"

"Say what you will, little rascal!" Seraphine affectionately kissed the owl, who shrank into her embrace, silent.

"It's good everyone is safe, but the black-cloaked man has been taken by goblins. We need to think of a way to get him back!"

Grayson glanced at the direction where the goblins had vanished. The black-cloaked man had been dragged away, and the goblins had ceased throwing hammers, disappearing into the snowy expanse.

"If we're going to snatch him back, we'd better move fast!" Morven expressed his concern. "Goblins capture people mostly for one reason: to fill their stomachs. They don't distinguish between humans and animals, only between what can be eaten and what can't."

"What does human flesh taste like? Is it good?" The little owl suddenly piped up from Seraphine's arms.

"You might want to ask the little crow next door; maybe it'll share a piece of human flesh for you to try." Grayson glanced at the little owl, adding, "Maybe you really do have a bit of crow in you, little black feather!"

"You're the half-breed, your whole family is!" The little owl huffed in protest and buried her head deeper into Seraphine's arm, ignoring Grayson.

"Alright, let's discuss our next steps," Grayson turned to the trio. "Given Morven's injuries, a frontal assault on the goblins is out of the question."

"Don't worry about me, brother. I'm fine!" Morven assured him, with Seraphine's support.

"I know you are, but I don't want you taking unnecessary risks. This is a deadly mission. If we can achieve our goal without a direct confrontation, why not do so?" Grayson rested a hand on Morven's shoulder, his voice heavy with concern.

"So, what's your plan?" Seraphine asked, sensing a strategy behind Grayson's words.

"I'm glad to say 'yes'." Grayson bent down and pulled out a map from his boot, spreading it out for everyone to see. "This is a map of Ice Snow Island I 'borrowed' from the Mage Tower..."

"It was plainly stolen!" Elyra popped her head up to interject before burying it back in Seraphine's embrace.

Grayson shot the little furball a look and continued, "We're here, near the edge of the Mage Tower's territory. A bit further north lies the land of the Titan Giants."

"At the border between the two lands, right here, is a Mage Tower border outpost with great wizards stationed. Seraphine, you can take Morven there to rest, while Katheren and I will try to sneak out the goblins' dinner and then rendezvous with you. How does that sound?"

Grayson looked around, seeking consensus. Morven and Seraphine seemed hesitant.

"The plan seems feasible, but the goblins may take him back to their den. You might encounter countless goblins. Just the two of you—it's too dangerous!" Morven worried.

"Danger is my middle name, brother!" Grayson reassured, extending his hand to Seraphine. "Besides, we're not alone. Come on, Miss Seraphine, hand over that little shirker hiding in your arms. I won't let her off that easily!"

"Are you sure about this? Should I come too?" Seraphine handed over the little owl while voicing her concern.

Grayson took Elyra and placed her in his cloak's hood, asserting, "No, you need to stay with Morven; his wounds haven't healed enough for peace of mind. Take care of my brother for me; after all, he took that bullet for me."

"Alright then, please be careful!" With Grayson's determination clear, Seraphine agreed. He handed her the map, directed her and Morven to the outpost, and then, along with Katheren and Elyra, headed off in the direction the goblins had vanished.

They cautiously approached the spot where the goblins had disappeared, finding no one left but plenty of tracks that pointed the way. Grayson and Katheren followed the chaotic prints to a low overhang.

"See down there? That's the place!" Grayson pointed at the cave entrance below.

Katheren saw a depressed snowy field beneath the cliff where the goblins' footprints and dragging marks led down a slope and into a dark, foreboding cave.

"Let's check it out," Grayson led Katheren down to the hollow and they crept to the cave entrance, backs to the wall, peering into the darkness. It was impossible to see anything from their position.

"We're going in, be careful," Grayson gestured to Katheren, and they both stepped into the cave, descending the sloping path into the enveloping darkness, growing eerier by the moment.

Katheren followed close behind Grayson, but after only a few steps, she felt a chill across her back. She slowed her pace and looked over her shoulder to see a hideous, blood-toothed mouth grinning at her from the darkness.