Drop, Drop, Drop!

Callum could hear the destruction the Bearfolk was causing on the other side of the ice wall. His summons was a great help to stabilize that flank, at least for as long as the bear was around.

However, the pressure along the front was increasing with each wave of goblins that tested their line. The frontline was barely holding the goblins back; more goblins were making their way through the line.

They worked to ensure that as few goblins as possible made it past them, and since they prioritized dealing with the bigger threats, only Goblin Warriors were able to get past the battleline.

However, the goblins that made it through the line often attacked the spellcasters; this compounded the worsening situation as Osmar's spells were crucial in patching the holes the three melee fighters couldn't reach in time.

The individual goblins were easily handled by Ravi or Osmar, but that took their focus away from assisting the buckling line. The distractions diverted time and Mana away from the frontline when it was needed most.

It took time to kill even the lowliest Goblin Warriors, much less the more powerful goblins. Time that they didn't always have if they wanted to keep goblins from taking advantage of the distraction caused by needing to deal with the other goblins.

Amarok, Callum, and Boren did the best that they could; there were simply too many goblins over too large of an area. Boren's taunts and Callum's <<Long Reach>> helped to close gaps. But those abilities cost Mana and had a cooldown period before they could be used again.

Callum wasn't sure if it was <<Holy Sanctum>> or something else, but a barrier kept all of the enemies' arrows from reaching them, it even weakened the magical attacks from the Witch Doctors. The Skirmishers were forced to pick up the dead goblins' weapons and become melee fighters.

"It's going to get windy!" shouted Osmar.

"Callum and Amarok, drop prone as soon as I say. Once it's clear, rush out and kill as many as you can," Ravi ordered as he sent a heal to Callum's Bearfolk.

Callum didn't really understand Osmar's statement, and Ravi's follow up order left him even more confused. A slight wind blew across his back and started to increase in intensity, it was hardly worth calling out ahead of time.

"Now! Drop, drop, drop!" Ravi ordered.

Callum immediately complied and he abandoned his attack against a Goblin Champion to drop to the floor. Suddenly, a powerful gust of wind threatened to toss him into the air. The wind was powerful enough to slide his body along the floor.

As suddenly as it began, the wind was gone. He opened his eyes and didn't see a single goblin in front of him; they were all piled up around some of the columns and against the far wall. He quickly regained his feet and charged at the nearest pile.

As he ran towards it, he realized that many goblins had been impaled by their own weapons. Others sported broken bones when they collided with other goblins or the hard stone wall or columns.

Some of the goblins were picking themselves up, but most were incapacitated. He took a second while he was running to glance appreciatively around the hall; he saw that Amarok had already reached another pile of goblins.

Callum mercilessly cut down every goblin that he was able to reach.

The horde had been battered and disorganized by Osmar's spell. They needed to take advantage of the situation and kill as many of the goblins as they could; the goblins were only able to pressure them so heavily due to their sheer weight in numbers.

The five highest leveled goblins had been at the back of the horde and escaped without any major damage. They were rallying the goblins that had been at the edges of the spell to them, including some from the ice wall perimeter.

Callum debated going after them.

If he stopped killing off the wounded goblins, they could recover in time, especially if a Witch Doctor healed them. However, the five goblins were formidable by themselves and it might be prudent to deal with them now before they rallied more goblins to their sides.

His internal debate abruptly ended when he heard an anguished scream behind him. He turned around and saw a dagger wielding goblin standing behind Ravi. Ravi's eyes were wide open in shock as he stared down at the dagger points sticking out of his chest.

Goblin Twilight Assassin [M] (Lvl 38)

HP:(520/520)

Ravi's body collapsed to the ground.

Callum saw that Ravi's party icon indicated he was still barely alive, but he was bleeding heavily. Callum felt helpless as he raced back towards Ravi; the Twilight Assassin began to raise its blades to finish the job.

He was too far away to get there in time, even with <<Long Reach>> to bridge some of that distance. The daggers flashed as they descended towards the helpless healer; a clash of metal erupted as the daggers instantly came to a stop.

Alea stood over the helpless Ravi.

Alea's blades rapidly clashed multiple times with the Assassin's as she defended Ravi and the Assassin persistently tried to land a killing blow on the dying man. Alea was on her back foot, but she was able to hold off the Assassin long enough for Callum's <<Long Reach>> to strike out at the goblin.

The Twilight Assassin vanished into the shadows just before Callum's blade would have buried itself in the goblin's chest. Osmar was wrapping bandages around Ravi's wounds while Alea poured a healing potion down his throat.

"The Assassin used some sort of ability that has blocked us from using spells or abilities for a full minute," Osmar explained when Callum arrived.

Callum quickly understood why the Assassin had come so close to killing their healer and why Osmar hadn't been able to do anything but watch helplessly. Spellcasters without their spells or abilities were at the mercy of melee fighters in a close range engagement.

"There's that little coward," Alea pointed at something in the distance, "I was able to mark him, so he won't be able to carry out another ambush."

Callum was able to make out a glowing red mark floating in the air. The Assassin must have realized he was marked and was circling around to join up with the last remaining major goblin strength; the five higher leveled goblins and their minions.

Ravi was able to sit up once he had recovered from his ordeal; his health was low, but his spirit was high.

"Callum, go over and help out the others."

Callum was about to protest when Ravi shook his head, "I'm safe now, and Alea will stay with us until we can cast again."

Satisfied that Ravi was safe, Callum followed the sounds of battle until he found Amarok, Boren, and the heavily injured Bearfolk fighting a small cluster of goblins on the other side of the ice wall; Amarok and Boren was preventing them from joining up with the other goblins.

Caught between the three individuals, the goblins were forced into the defensive. Callum's arrival only hastened their demise; and the small pocket of goblin resistance was soon eliminated.