"We have to keep fighting back until the others arrive!"

Ragnee shouted hoping she could motivate us to give it our all.

"Yea? And when will that be?!"

Kasim asked in a panic as goblins began to charge at her. Quickly she shot two straight in the head with what looked like pocket crossbows?

"They should have started their march an hour after we had entered, meaning if they had taken the same route as us, we need to hold out for at least another fifteen minutes!"

Ragnee yelled as she sucker-punched one of the goblins right in the face. Moving her fist towards the ground she crushed its skull leaving nothing but broken bones and a pile of blood.

"It seems there is no other way out, is there?"

I asked hoping to spark my focus as I tried to look for a way out while holding back a few goblins that attacked in unison. They launched at me with daggers. Jumping back I instantly countered them taking Ragnee"s punch as inspiration.

I grabbed both goblins by the head and slammed them against each other, as they fell to the ground I wanted to make sure they wouldn"t get back up. I ignited my hands, as I quickly burned their heads, first they tried to struggle free as I slowly melted away their flesh. Soon after my hand got though their skull igniting their brains and allowing flames to shot out of their ears, eyes, and mouth to finally collapse them onto the floor like ragdolls.

Having to fight like this, with my life on the line, my body began pumping adrenaline at an incredible pace. Sometimes there were moments where I felt like everything began to move slower as if I knew what was going to happen...

I couldn"t describe the feeling it gave me...At the same time, it wasn"t happening often enough to rely on it. Which is why I did everything I could to create some distance between us and the goblins.

Having killed more than I could count on both hands I began to slow down and feel weakened...but there was still no reinforcements to be found. The goblins on the other hand seemed to have their numbers grow larger by the minute, as there were now more than thirty in total.

Yami having killed the few goblins in front of her,saw a goblin approaching me from my blind spot.

Wanting to protect me she rushed to my aid, kicking the goblin in the back of his head and sending it flying towards the group boss of the goblins.

He didn"t seem to care much for it as he instantly crushed the skull of the little one as if nothing was there. It didn"t feel like the numbers were decreasing... instead, it was like we got two back after each one we killed.

With Maria in the center we couldn"t spread out too much, the goblins had us pinned down as their back row began preparing bows to shoot a volley of arrows. Maria had finally calmed down, as she saw we gave if our all to protect her.

She quickly began supporting is sighting cantatas to create a wall of fire.

"Oh Holy deity of the sun, give me the strength and warmth to protect those dear to me, those who would lay down their lives for others! Oh holy deity of the sun, summon forth thy powers to protect what is right. "Ignite!!"

The volley began raining down on us when in the nick of time a flaming spiral shot upwards blocking all incoming arrows.

Thankful for the chance to counter-attack we prepared ourselves for the moment the pillar would vanish, but before it did one of the bigger monsters stuck its arms through the flames like it was nothing.

Desperate to protect what was in front of me I jumped in trying to block the monster"s path.

Quickly realizing I was no match for the beast, it was too late to react... The Tuskan Troll grabbed me with both arms as it tried to separate me from the others.

Unable to fight back I got hurled towards the cave wall... Ragnee quickly tried to come to my aid, but couldn"t because they got overrun by the number of goblins.

The sheer force the Tuskan Troll had thrown me with slammed me to the wall making me collapse to the ground. The others must have seen this happen as goblins were trying to attack me from afar.

A few charged towards me, hoping to corner me against the wall. I knew this must have been the plan of one of those trolls. As goblins usually aren"t smart enough to come up with strategic ways to corner their opponents.

As I tried to keep them at bay, a few arrows rained down, distracting me from what was most important. Shortly after the other goblins closed in trying to strike me with rusted axes.This couldn"t have been planned by them… nothing like this ever happens… Unless…The only thing I could think of as I desperately tried to evade the onslaught of attacks was lighting myself on fire.

Uncertain what would happen I had to take the chance, The goblins rushed closer as I closed my eyes. Just before I was able to recite the incantations I curled up in desperation as I knew it was a long shot, but I still had to try… I refused to give up!

And that is when a shadow jumped in front of me, blocking the attacks of the goblins. Team Shield had arrived!! Brendan and the others stormed towards the large group of goblins, quickly clearing the grounds for us, allowing the opportunity to quickly regroup.

Just when we had the chance to regroup Maria"s Holy barrier gave in, allowing her to join the battle.Celeste then quickly prepared a healing spell to aid the wounded.

"Oh Lord of Holy light, please grant us your guidance, for we, your humble servants ask…For forgiveness and salvation! We, the bringers of light ask you to rain down upon us your warm and soothing lights… To heal those in peril with your might!! "Radiant Wave"

Light rained down on us, blinding the beasts who had never seen the light of day ever before in their lives. At the same time healing those of the same party. With newfound strength, the others stood proud making quick work of the little goblins, as only the Tuskan Troll remained…

Brendan had come to my aid, together with Zinnia and Karen. The mages quickly regrouped forming a squad together with Serenity and Karim.

Even if the teams were improvised we were glad to help had arrived, as the situation looked grim… The Tuskan Troll saw his comrades fly and drop like ragdolls as nothing but piles of blood remained.

We tried to fight the last remaining Troll off together, but even with all of our strength bundled together, the beast had proven difficult to kill.

Hide as though as steel, with strength on par to that of a silverback gorilla… It was clear why it crushed skulls as if they were grapes.

Now, cornered and outnumbered rage came over the beast as he growled in with desperation.The screams could be heard throughout the caverns, echoing throughout the tunnels, they began to rumble… Soon after, the team "Serpent" had arrived, quickly joining our flanks.

Not a moment too late as the Tuskan Troll wasn"t alone anymore, two others had joined the last remaining one.

"d.a.m.nit! As if "ONE" wasn"t enough…."

Kasim screamed annoyingly as she threw off her cape revealing her weaponry once more.I could now clearly see she had iron bolts all over her arms, legs, and torso. The bolts were connected to the pocket-sized crossbows she had mounted on her wrists. She couldn"t wait for the leaders to give the signal as she quickly started to shoot at one of the beasts of their arms.

Enraged by the attempt to hurt it, the beast brushed off the bolts as if they were nothing and stormed at Kasim with blinding speed. Unable to react towards the beasts speed, Kasim got pierced through her shoulder as the beast slammed into a wall.

Unable to break free Kasim slammed into the wall with high velocity. Blood was gushing out as she screamed in agony. The other two Tuskan Troll smiled and slammed their hands together as they too began to move towards the others.

We knew s.h.i.t was getting real… as we could barely fight back against one with fourteen of us.Let alone two with twenty members. We knew… We knew we couldn"t win… But giving up wasn"t an option anymore! I cleansed my teeth and slapped my cheeks trying to pump myself up.As I calmed down I screamed at the top of my lungs hoping the others would follow.

"I know! This wasn"t what we had signed up for!! Still, we can"t give up! Not, since we have come so far! Not for those who have lost their lives today!! We have to fight to live another day!!"

Everyone raised their fists as they had heard me scream, responding to my call everyone screamed in unison. "Chaaaaarrgeeee!!" The three leaders took the front together with Yami, Zinnia, Karen, Rika, and me backing them up.

The archers launched a volley of arrows hoping to distract and damage the Trolls along the way. While this happened the mages prepared their magic to attack the one stuck in the wall.

The arrows quickly got repelled by the two remaining trolls as their skin just made them bounce back, the third one began breaking loose, now was the time to attack him as he was focused on Kasim.

The four remaining mages bundled their strength into one ma.s.sive spell, attacking the one stuck in the wall. The other two got close to Brendan as they slammed into his shield with full force.

Brendan stood his ground creating a small window of opportunity for the rest of us to attack before he got hurled towards the back. I took this time to ignite flames on my hands, as I stormed towards the troll on the left. Rika slammed her fists together as she joined me, jumping towards the troll on the left.

In a pincer move, we attacked it at the same time. Thinking we could take it, we readied our attacks unaware of the sheer strength of the beasts.

The Troll blocked both our attacks instantly grabbing our fists with his ma.s.sive hands.

"Rooooaaaaar!!"

As the troll roared it slammed up to the ground. Wanting to trample us he rushed raised his leg to slam it down on us. At that moment Brendan rushed towards us holding back it"s leg.

Saving our life in the process. Quickly the others struck at the one on the right inflicting minor injuries as their blades chipped away at its flesh. The mages launched their combined attack towards the troll that was stuck at the wall.

The beast furiously tried to break free, but couldn"t in the end. The orb of bundled flames slowly hurled towards the troll, with the slightest touch it ignited in a huge explosion, taking Kasim and the troll with it in collateral damage.

The other trolls got enraged by this and stormed in a blind rage past us, towards the mages.It appeared they had seen what the mages had done to its companion. Defenseless against their onslaught the mages got ripped limb from limb resulting in a huge pile of blood and flesh.

The only ones who survived the rampage were Maria and Sh.e.l.ly, as Sh.e.l.ly had used her last remaining energy to summon a barrier strong enough to protect them from the onslaught of punches.

Sheila jumped back and fired specially prepared bomb arrows towards the troll who was trampling and tearing the mages creating large wounds on its arms and legs.

As I had to move I quickly made my way to the troll that got hit by the bombs igniting its flesh with my flames the troll exploded from the inside out.

But… before I could reach the last remaining troll struck straight through my right shoulder,leaving a clean mark and immobilizing my right sight.June and Ragnee made sure to keep me alive and distracted the last remaining troll…

"s.h.i.t!! We are losing people like moths to a flame here!! Quickly Michael, run towards the center room, where we found the shrine, we will hold them off until Geo comes to our aid. Now, Go, go, go, GO!!!"

With pa.s.sion burning in my chest I honored Ragnee"s final request and dashed towards the area of the shrine. In the background I could hear the others giving their all in a last-ditch effort,struggling to survive.

"June! Take him from the right, and Karen!! Quickly flank him from the other side!!"

As I rushed towards the area I thought I was the only one left, but little did I know…Yami had disobeyed her orders and followed me to the shrine. As I arrived there,it became clear where the other goblins had run off to.

The sight we saw in front of us… was gruesome… to say the least… Meiko and the church apprentice had been taken captive and were used like toys… The little b.a.s.t.a.r.ds took a turn as they finished one after another, digging their disgusting fingernails into their human flesh.

Trying to control the rage that boiled up inside of me I walked towards the goblins that enjoyed their price. I knew the girl couldn"t be saved anymore… that they were beyond the point of living…But still… I couldn"t bear what transpired in front of me.

Giving in to the rage my eyes ignited quickly lighting up the veins in my arms. Using what I had learned even with my intense bloodl.u.s.t… I was able to mask my presence in the shadows.I stepped up to the goblins in the back and mercilessly trusted my entire arm through its back. Ripping out its still-beating heart without remorse…

Yami silently jumped the two last remaining goblins immobilizing them and pinning them down,as she wanted to show mercy I walked up to them and made short work of them.

"We cannot allow these foul creatures to live another day… having slaughtered and even used our friends for their benefit… disgusting… just disgusting…"

Disgusted by the nature of these animals, deep down inside I knew…I knew, what they did,was nothing more than giving in to their primal urges… As I did the same giving in to my urges, slaughtered them all, like life stock on a meat farm.All I could do was laugh at the satisfaction and frustration it gave me, only to shortly after, break down in tears, realizing what kind of monster this experience had turned me into.

The thought of it made me sick… looking around and making sure all goblins were taken care of...We let escape a sigh of relief.

*Sigh*

We could hear that the others were still fighting hard when suddenly Ragnee and June ran towards us. Thinking they came to meet up with us, we ran towards them.Not knowing what was about to transpire we screamed towards them with joy.When suddenly June revealed what their plan was all along. I didn"t know for certain, but before we could realize there was a huge explosion, making the surrounding walls and ceiling collapse.

"Look out Master!!"

I didn"t see it coming as Yami tried to save me in the spur of the moment, pushing me away from the boulders that fell from the ceiling. Quickly I jumped up trying to reach for Yami as she was laying inside the fallen rubble…

"Yami! What have you done… No… Yami!!"

I fell on my knees in front of Yami, as her head was free of the rubble, but couldn"t get free anymore, she smiled at me relieved that she could save me.

"M-master… don"t be sad… Even if Yami can"t be with master anymore,she is happy, master isn"t hurt…"

I held her hand tight as she gently lay it against my cheek.

"In this short life, Yami has had… she is blessed to have known someone as kind and warmhearted as master. Maybe we will meet in another life, who knows. One thing is for certain though.I will forever remain inside my master"s heart. Hehe."

As she silently laughed her last dying breath was that of joy.Tears began streaming down my face as I knew there was nothing I could do…Before I could tell her how I felt about her, another volley of boulders slammed down on the rubble. Ending Yami life then and there.

"Y-Y-Yami!! Uuaaaaahhh!!"

I cried more than I ever had in my life, something inside me felt empty as I had lost someone dear to me. I knew I could never see her smile again, or have fun adventures together… Again tears fell streaming straight to the ground. On the other side, I heard laughter…Followed by the ranting of those on the other side of the rubble.

"Pffffttt Hahaha! This is just hilarious… Did your little pet wolf get crushed by the boulders?! Huh?! I"ll let you in on a little secret... Those were meant for you!! Kyahahaha!"

June ranted on the other side. Hearing her voice made it even worse…

The pain I felt at that moment... I wasn"t able to describle them clearly at the time,but it felt like they had litterally ripped out my still beating heart, just to crush it in front of me.

"Why did this happen? Why was this expedition in the first place?! Wasn"t it to earn some money, live together and go on an adventure together, YAMI?! How are we supposed to do that when I don"t have you by my side anymore…I"m useless without you…"

I sulked… on as hate, fear and frustration began taking over, clouding my mind.

"And you! June!! Wasn"t this a mission to explore some newly discovered ruins?!How come we have to die here?"

Ragnee began to laugh at my pure and naïve nature.

"Kuh, kuh, kuh… You are an idiot… aren"t you? There never were any ancient ruins inside the forests, to begin with!"

Shocked and betrayed I tried to make sense of it all, as I couldn"t bear the betrayal from those dear to me.

"What do you mean? There aren"t any ruins close by?"

June sighed of disgust.

"Uugghh! You don"t get it, idiot? What we are saying, is that you got played… everything up to this point in time has been a ploy. A secret mission to us, to exterminate the one cursed by the void… As you are now locked inside an area with the only entrance blocked out, you will soon starve.

This makes our job a heck of a lot easier, Shishishi. Just starve to death, there on your own,as we will collect the reward the king had personally put on your head!"

I couldn"t believe those words, the ones who had been training me, the ones who had been with me for so long… Stabbed me in the back for... what? Money?

"You must be joking… right, Ragnee? Then what about all the history you told me about.The Orochi: Kage no Hikari… Was it all a ruse to you… a plan to win my trust?! I can"t believe I trusted you… I-I even started to like you even!! Raaaaggghhh!"

"That is true shishi, she played you like a deck of cards… the only thing we had eyes for was the gold that we will receive from the reward!"

Ragnee ran towards the wall unable to bear her guild.

"That is not true!! That is a lie! Don"t believe her Michael!I… too… everything that I told you was true! Even The kiss we shared… was genuine…but… you have to understand…I can"t betray my clan. For that means certain death…I certainly hoped we could have met under better circ.u.mstances. If we had met each other at a different time and place, we could have been friends… Lovers... even..."

It grew silent as June and Ragnee left the scene, quickly making their way to the entrance of the caverns. Arriving there Geo, knew something was wrong as not many had returned save and sound.

Lucky for him he was working on some grub while the others returned allowing him to pick up on the conversation as none of them could stop talking about the gold they would receive,Quickly it became clear someone had set up the mission to get rid of most of those who joined the mission. Deciding it was best not to make anyone suspicious about him he decided to bring everyone something to eat.

After everyone had eaten their share Geo sparked up the conversation.

"Hmm… not many of you returned… what happened in there?"

June and Ragnee looked at each other as well as the others before staring at the ground.

"We… got ambushed by goblins, it appeared they had trolls leading them,which is why we got stuck inside of an ambush."

"What about Michael, or Yami? I mean… those two are inseparable, right?"

June looked up, as the remark of Yami felt odd to her. She let slip her suspicion.

"Why is it, that you knew, Yami was here?"

"Oh… nothing special! It"s just most of the time Yami tails after Michael even if she isn"t invited…Haha, you see, she was here shortly and I told her where she could find him. She then quickly bolted into the caverns in search of her master. Why? Did something happen to them?"

June playfully looked away to give away the fact that they had just killed us both.

"Hmm… no… but, I have to say, we got separated in the end… Maybe you could try and look for survivors later on?"

Geo joyfully jumped up, as happy as a young boy with Christmas he was happy enough that they gave him the chance to do his part.

"Then, after everyone is finished eating, I will go in and try to find any survivors of the ambush."

Ragnee laughed and petted him on the back.

"You do that big boy! We"ll leave you to it, who knows... Maybe you"ll find your friends inside.We will head towards the capital after were done eating here, we have to report back to the king, you see."

"Well… good for you, then I"ll make sure I"ll scout every nook and cranny inside the caverns, without leaving any rock or stone unturned, you can count on me.If it"s digging Geo is your man, haha!"

The others had left Geo, to fend alone for his rescue mission.Unaware of what to find, he set off into the depths of the cave…