Chapter 65: Unstoppable Grash
Grash slowly pulled his battle axe free from the earth with a single arm before resting the enormous weapon across his shoulder. Dust rolled from the blade as loose pebbles tumbled back into the crater his landing had created.
His calm expression had not changed, yet the slight tightening around his eyes betrayed the irritation growing beneath the surface. He watched Ru’k’s figure disappear toward the colony with Ka’z slung across his shoulder, his fingers unconsciously tightening around the axe handle until the wood creaked beneath his grip.
One after another, the remaining members of his elite squad regrouped beside him. Brox casually dragged two lifeless kobold hunters by their ankles, leaving twin trails of blood across the scorched earth. Tal lazily twirled his sword before wiping fresh blood from the blade onto one of the corpses without a hint of guilt. Lucy slung her bow across her back while Poh stretched his long limbs with a lazy yawn. Rudor arrived last, his crimson cloak fluttering gently as the unsettling rasp of his breathing once again became the only sound surrounding him.
"I guess we finally got the attention of the tough ones," Brox remarked with a grin as he tossed one of the bodies aside like discarded meat.
Across the battlefield, hurried footsteps echoed from the cave entrance. Nearly a dozen veteran kobold warriors rushed forward carrying the superior shields and weapons salvaged from the previous raid.
Unlike the earlier defenders, these warriors wore hardened expressions. They formed a disciplined wall behind Tud’or and Lan’ka without needing a single command. Moments later, Tong’a slowly emerged from between them, leaning upon his weathered cane as he advanced toward the battlefield with measured steps.
"Stop!"
Ka’z suddenly dug both feet into the earth and violently shoved Ruk off before the two of them reached Tong’a. Their bodies rolled across the dirt together.
Ka’z struck the ground hard and another mouthful of blood escaped his lips, staining the soil crimson.
Ignoring the burning agony throughout his chest, Ka’z forced himself onto trembling elbows before crawling the remaining distance toward Tong’a. His bloody fingers reached the elder’s ankle and gripped it with surprising strength.
"You... cannot... win..."
Every word scraped painfully from his throat.
"Withdraw... to the cave..."
His breathing became increasingly ragged, his vision swimming as the neglected wound across his chest continued bleeding beneath his scales.
Tong’a lowered his gaze toward the desperate child clinging to his leg. He remained silent for several seconds before gently placing a wrinkled hand upon Ka’z’s head.
"We will buy enough time for everyone to retreat," Tong’a replied with a gentle smile that failed to hide the sadness in his eyes. "Then we’ll withdraw ourselves. Don’t worry."
Ka’z’s head shook violently despite barely possessing the strength to move.
"You don’t... under..."
His sentence never finished. The last of his strength abandoned him.
His fingers loosened around Tong’a’s ankle before his body slumped lifelessly against the ground.
Tong’a’s expression immediately changed. He quickly crouched beside Ka’z, lightly shaking his shoulder.
"Ka’z."
There was no response.
A faint panic flashed across the old oracle’s face.
"Quickly! Take him!"
Ru’k needed no further instruction. He darted forward, scooped Ka’z back onto his shoulder and immediately resumed sprinting toward the colony without uttering a single complaint. Normally he would have cursed Ka’z for causing trouble, but after witnessing the child’s condition, not even he found the mood to joke.
"Stupid fool..."
Ru’k muttered beneath his breath while accelerating.
"Try thinking about yourself once in a while."
Far behind them, Grash never once looked away from Ka’z’s retreating figure until it disappeared behind the defensive lines.
"I’ll clear a path. You five bring that boy back to me."
His cold eyes shifted toward his companions.
"Understood!"
The five goblins answered in perfect unison.
Immediately, Lan’ka and Tud’or tightened assumed fighting stances. Neither of them blinked. They knew exactly what was coming.
"Chief!"
"Captain!"
Two veteran kobold warriors hurled their spears forward simultaneously.
Without looking, Tud’or and Lan’ka each caught one from the air in a single smooth motion before assuming their stances.
"COME!"
Both commanders roared together.
Grash merely snorted.
"Hmph."
His battle axe spun once above his shoulder.
"Vael Mael."
Swoooosh!
Violent winds exploded outward.
Grash surged forward while continuously spinning, the blade of his axe dragging the surrounding air into an ever growing vortex. Dust, broken shields, severed branches and loose stones were all pulled into the expanding hurricane as he advanced like a natural disaster given physical form.
The approaching storm howled across the battlefield. Yet Tud’or remained perfectly still.
Thud!
He planted both feet firmly into the ground and the earth beneath him visibly sank under the immense force. Flames gathered around his right fist, growing brighter and denser with every passing heartbeat while his left hand stabilized the accumulating mana.
He simply watched the hurricane approach. His scales glowed crimson beneath the blazing light.
Against this opponent, retreat did not exist.
"FIRE MAGIC: FIRE FIST!"
Tud’or drove his burning fist forward.
A gigantic flaming fist nearly twice his own size erupted from the attack and shot toward the incoming hurricane with overwhelming momentum.
Boom!
Fire and wind collided head on and the explosion shook the battlefield. A deafening shockwave blasted outward, flattening grass, snapping nearby trees and forcing every observer to shield their eyes as fire and wind devoured one another in the center of the battlefield.
For a brief moment neither side advanced.
Then...
Swoosh!
A figure burst through the collapsing inferno.
Grash descended from above with terrifying speed, his battle axe engulfed in crackling azure lightning.
"Lightning Cutter!"
The enchanted blade descended like a bolt falling from the heavens. Tud’or’s instincts screamed.
Without exchanging a word, both he and Lan’ka leapt sideways. Only after moving did both commanders realize exactly what Grash wanted.
"Damn it!"
Lan’ka’s eyes widened.
Several shadows shot past the opening they had unintentionally created.
All five elite goblins ignored the commanders completely and charged straight through the gap toward the veteran kobold formation protecting the retreat.
"They’re after Ka’z!"
Tud’or roared while twisting around.
Thud!
Grash landed heavily behind them, one knee bent against the earth as his battle axe carved another deep trench through the battlefield before finally stopping. He slowly rose to his full height, casually rolling his shoulders as though the clash moments earlier had merely served as a warm up.
His axe remained planted beside him and a massive gash stretched across the ground beneath his feet from the force of his landing.
He lifted his head and cold eyes swept across every kobold present.
"Nobody blocks my path."
Silence followed.
The chieftain who had crushed every goblin tribe throughout the eastern region and united them beneath a single banner did not become ruler through luck or words alone.
He had carved that throne from blood and he had no intention of surrendering it to a handful of kobolds.