NOVEL NEXT 22. Fighting and Healing
Eloisss yanked a quick release on her backpack and pulled out her falcata as she slid in front of the other two. Her tail rattled a warning as she coiled it up underneath her. “Miu, there are knivess in your bag, if you need them. Bonny sstay back.”
Miu dropped the backpack and started digging through it.
Bonny was still naked. She backed away, cursing at herself. Why had she made the stupid decision not to wear anything when she knew there were goblins around. Did it matter how gross their old armor was, if the alternative was dying?
Just before the goblins reached them, Eloisss struck. Lightning fast, she shot forward, biting out the throat of the biggest goblin and pulling herself into the mob. Her falcata went to work, the heavy blades easily shearing through arms, legs, throats, skulls, anything that came into reach, armored or not. Her tail was busy as well, tripping goblins and occasionally wrapping around one's neck to strangle it.
Periodically, she would coil and strike at a goblin outside of the crowd immediately around her, then pull her tail in and loop it back around herself. She used the quick movement to reposition and escape the ring of goblins, then attack them from behind before they could respond.
Miu took up a defensive stance behind Eloisss, defending Bonny against any goblins who made it past the lamia blender.
Bonny paled, her previous goblin confrontation not preparing her for the sheer brutality and savagery of the scene in front of her.
They backed away slowly, giving ground and more and more goblins from the Clowder assault noticed the trio and decided to try their chances. Eloisss left a trail of bodies stacked two or three goblins deep as she slowly retreated, preventing any from passing her.
Over time she took wounds, exhaustion slowly wearing her down.
“Triage!” Eloisss’s body lit up in a soft glow. She was hurt, but not seriously, yet. Bonny didn’t think she would make it much longer alone, though. The memory of Eloisss lying, almost dead, at the first battle site, forced her to to act.
“Miu, can we move up? I can help her.”
Miu nodded, then yelled ahead. “Eloisss, healing incoming, can you break away?”
Eloisss didn’t respond, but after a moment she coiled up, then sprang back, leaving a gap between her and the oncoming horde. She quickly sheathed one of the bloody falcata and pulled her shield around, slipping it over her left arm.
Bonny ran forward, grabbing for Eloisss’ tail and shouting, “Mending!” She felt the tug on her mana and a few of the wounds closed up, but the result was underwhelming. As she was trying to decide what else she could do, the goblins reached them.
Eloisss used the shield as a barrier to shelter Bonny, while still cutting though the goblins with her right arm. She coiled her tail in a wide loop and used it as a base to shift from side to side as needed, dodging and covering most of the road with her mobility. She pulled the tip of her tail forward and used it to harass and trip incoming goblins, while shield bashing and slicing with her weapon.
Miu stood further to the left, just past the protection Eloisss offered, cutting down anyone who made it around the death zone surrounding the lamia. "Bonny, here!” Miu shouted as she disarmed a goblin and shoved it toward Bonny.
Realizing Miu’s intent, Bonny grabbed the goblin by the arm, her other hand still on Eloisss’ tail. “Wound Transfer!” Several injuries vanished from Eloisss and appeared on the goblin, it quickly bled out, the damage much more significant on him than her.
“Another Miu!” Bonny knew she could do more with her magic. How else could she use sacrifice? Oakleigh had said it was versatile.
Another goblin came stumbling into her reach and she grabbed at it. “Sacrificial Heal!” She had done that before and had some practice forcing her will through his. Fortunately, goblins were pretty weak willed. It wailed and disintegrated as its life force was ripped away and poured into Eloisss.
Eloisss was panting. Even though she was moving less, due to trying to protect them, the constant fighting was wearing her down. The goblins weren’t going down as quickly, with her wielding just one weapon, but having Miu take care of some of them helped.
There was a gap on the right, beyond Eloisss' reach with her sword and a goblin eventually made it around. Eloisss was busy and Miu was too far to the left. Just as Bonny started to worry, the orange fox showed up. It made a high pitched yip and the goblin turned around, heading back into the horde and attacking the other goblins. It was quickly cut down by its former allies.
Bonny eyed the fox and it eyed her back. They both nodded in silent agreement and went back to work: Bonny healing and the fox defending the right flank just as Miu defended the left.
“Another!” They settled into a rhythm, slowly backing away, Eloisss taking out the majority of the goblins, often with a single slice of a falcata. The fox confusing any coming around on the right, while Miu fought any that slipped by on the left. Miu also occasionally shoved one toward Bonny. Those were always disarmed and occasionally dis-arm-ed.
Renewing Triage and using the occasional Mending drained her small mana pool, so Bonny tried to use Sacrifice or Wound Transfer as much as possible, relying on the demon spirit to do the majority of the work. Bonny still had to force the spell through, but since the goblins were often wounded and distracted, she managed fairly well. Over time, though, she was wearing down. Not physically, so much as mentally.
A thought struck her, could she replenish her mental fatigue with the goblin’s? Would a goblin even have enough willpower to help, after she had forced it down?
When the next goblin stumbled over, she tried, focusing on her fatigue. “Sacrificial Restore!” She felt energy flow into her as the goblin sank to its knees, exhaustion overwhelming it. Bonny kicked it in the head, not caring if it died or was just knocked out.
“Two, Miu. Quickly!”
She restored Eloisss' energy with both of the next two, also kicking them when they went down.
With the extra energy, Eloisss went to work again, sliding forward and engaging the remaining goblins. They heard a roar as the gates to the cat Clowder opened and the cats flanked the goblins, taking advantage of the opening.
Bonny moved over to Miu and healed her wounds with the two goblins she had left exhausted and unconscious. The fox had disappeared.
The two watched as the cats and lamia slaughter the rest of the goblins. None of the goblins ran or surrendered, they fought as if possessed, or overcome with anger.
Once the battle was over, it was clear Eloisss had killed the majority of the goblins. Many had already been wounded, by arrows or other projectiles, but the road had close to a hundred bodies strewn along it.
Eloisss was covered in gore, including her face, since she had continually used her fangs as additional attack. She returned to Bonny and Miu. “Thankss for the help. If we had you with uss in the last battle, we would not have losst.”
“Are you still injured anywhere?” Bonny looked her up and down, but couldn’t see much under the mess.
“No, but I need a bath. Miu, sshould we go back to the river or iss there somewhere closer?”
“Pond, below, nya. Let me explain to Leader Fluffy, then we go.” She motioned to where the large lion was walking toward them.
Bonny could see a slope down not far past the palisade that surrounded the Clowder. She was happy to let Miu do the talking, but before Miu walked over to meet Fluffy, Bonny pulled her into a hug. Then, once she let go, she turned to Eloisss and looked for a clean spot, before finally moving down and hugging the lamia's serpent body instead.
“Thank you for protecting me.”
“No thankss are needed, I have ssworn to you.”
“Thank you anyway.”
