The Chase Begins

Heaps of scorched earth! Nat suddenly felt sick. He had been away “defending” his home and here he returned only to find it gone. They hurried into the village and inspected house after house. There was a surprisingly small number of fatalities it appeared. In fact…the village appeared to have been...deserted. But why would anyone desert their homes. Suddenly an older man by the name of Jerlom shouted something unintelligible. All the soldiers gathered round and peered at what he indicated. A wicked looking dagger lay on the ground. It was pure black, long and curved. The last 2 inches of the blade were serrated. It had strange markings all over it which no one could decipher. “Goblins” Jerlom stated matter-of-factly. “They probably came in here and took everyone they didn’t kill as slaves. That would explain for the few corpses. Unless they were all eaten…but we would find skeletons and bones if the goblins had eaten them all.”

“This couldn’t have happened more than two weeks ago,” another veteran put in. “Everyone spread out and see if you can find tracks of any kind to follow. We shall search for survivors and then decide what to do.” Nat hurried off. His mind was reeling as he scanned the ground for anything unusual. An hour later there came a shout and soon everyone assembled to find a young dirty faced boy, whom Nat recognized. He had often played pranks on people. Now he seemed scared witless and could hardly tell the men anything. After some good food though the boy calmed down and launched into the tale. The goblins had come in the night. They had carried off many people to be sold as slaves. Others had fled into the woods and he had been sent to search for some tools to build shelters.

“Well obviously our kinsfolk are still living! We should go after them and slay these foul goblins!” Jerlom shouted. He was not usually one to get riled up but after inspecting his home in ruins it had finally worn down his patience. Dyl was just shocked silent the whole time. Other men wanted to stay and rebuild so that their families would have food and shelter for the winter. That night a few of the men were reunited with their families but the rest spent the night tossing and turning. Trying to digest this sudden change. The next morning the villagers met and discussed whether to rebuild or pursue the goblins. Nat could not believe it! Some of the villagers just wanted to leave and start over somewhere else. He had not found his mother and he determined to rescue her if it was the last thing he ever did! Dyl’s family was also gone. Dyl grimly muttered, “They will never get me to stop pursuing those goblins. I will pursue them to the end of the earth and if they do not have my family with them, I shall make them pay for every ounce of discomfort they inflicted upon them!” Nat was stunned at Dyl’s expression but he nodded.

That day they discussed where the goblins could have gone. “The most obvious place would be the Southern wastes. Nothing but scorching desert or freezing mountains down there. Then after that you come to the great city-state of Tyldaria. Supposedly it is a city full of all sorts of creatures. But there is a thriving slave trade in the south and in the North towards Siltinia too.” Jerlom finally ended all the debating and announced that they would head south. He was the senior soldier here so everyone had to listen to him if not obey him. “We pack light and be ready to ride hard in the morning!”

Varrelle had been saddened by the sight of the devastation. As Nat and Dyl packed their blankets and weapons she came up to them and smiled sadly. “Leaving already? It is good to rescue your family…” she trailed off as if thinking of her own family. Nat wondered if this is what she always felt like, having had a similar thing occur to her family. Soon however he was back to his work.

The next day dawned bright and early. Nat and Dyl were up and in the saddle awaiting the others when suddenly Varrelle and the old woman rode up to join them. Jerlom noticed and rode over. “I am sorry ma’am but this journey will be much too hard and dangerous for your old bones, grandmother,” he said politely and then gave Varrelle a look which meant that she also was not supposed to come. Varrelle started to make a fuss but then the old woman gave a quick glance and she held her peace. We set out at a quick trot, though Nat wished he could gallop. It would reunite him with his family no sooner however so he held his pace. Dyl talked little. Jerlom and the other thirty men offered little conversation to anyone. They soon passed a neighboring village which was also razed to the ground and ransacked. They picked up a trail at this village. Jerlom pointed out the wider and heavier foot prints and identified them as goblin tracks and the lighter ones were human tracks. The tracks set out southward. They were off to Tyldaria.