Chapter 24: 1.24 The Cavalry has arrived!

Faragi

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It appeared it was late morning. Not that I would have known due to the lack of windows, but the elven knight had told me. It appeared she had just finished breakfast as when heard my scream coming from the bathroom.  

I had gone through my usual morning routine and put on a black shirt for the day. Velariah finished the last of her tea, which had long gone cold, and had Elly help her out with her armor before we moved out.  

I had put on a simple black shirt and instantly felt my body warm up as we set foot outside. I closed my eyes and let the warmth of the sun flow through me. It seemed I was desperately craving sunlight right now, as I felt I could have just laid down right here and now and be perfectly fine with it. 

Velariah's gloved hand on one of my legs broke my meditation. 

Come to think of it, why was she even wearing armor anyway? We weren't planning to do quests. Maybe I should actually bring my spear with me as well.  

I had told the elf about it and she knocked the door with a sigh. 

A confused Elly opened. Soon after, we were on our way again. This time I was armed as well.  

''Did anything happen in the time I was out cold?'' I asked.  

A lot had happened in the few days I had been here, I couldn't imagine nothing happening for two days straight.  

''Not much, just tied up a few loose ends here and there. Got our payment for the extermination quest, handed Draco his share of our previous quests and I believe the guild has started to explore the dungeon.'' 

Seems like I did not miss much, phew.  

''Also, it appears we have an applicant for our party.'' She added. 

''Really?'' I asked with a smile. 

Now this had piqued my interest. 

''Yeap, apparently a promising archer in Allina's squad decided to choose the adventurer's life, said she wanted a job better befitting her skill. Allina decided to refer her to me.'' 

''Better befitting?'' I frowned, realizing where this was going.  

Velariah realized what I was getting at. 

''Yeah, she is quite cocky, a good archer, reliable, but cocky.'' 

''As if we don’t have enough freaks in our party yet.'' 

''Did you just call me a freak?'' She asked incredulously. 

''So, what if I did?'' I couldn’t withhold a wicked grin.  

Velariah rolled her eyes.  

''Hey, you're the one who wanted a ranged damage dealer, you should be happy.'' 

Touché. 

''When did you plan on meeting her?'' I asked. 

''I was planning to wait until you'd woken up. Maybe, later today?'' 

''Uhm, maybe later, if things aren't so sensitive anymore...'' I almost hung my head dejectedly.  

She didn't reply to that, we simply walked in the direction of the guild. We decided to make a quick stop to see if Draco was present.  

Velariah entered the building and came back to me within a minute, without Draco.  

The Lore keeper had told Velariah that Draco was currently working on a gathering quest for some of the more uncommon herbs that were used by the treemenders in their concoctions. I couldn't blame him for not waiting, it was not like I was in a state to do anything but sunbathe, anyway. 

We took the dirt road leading directly to the forest. With a bit of luck, we would run into the archer that Allina had relayed to us later on when they switched patrol groups.  

I couldn't believe how sensitive my skin had become. Normally I wouldn't care or even notice but a few of the guards at the checkpoint had apparently thought it funny to try to make me trip over a spear or two. There was no way in hell that was going to happen, but for the first time I actually got annoyed when their weapons touched my legs.  

Velariah must have noticed I was getting frustrated as she tried to calm me down after we'd passed them. 

Even my mood became volatile because of this shedding thing. Please tell me this wasn't going to be a monthly thing. I could so do without monthly inconveniences... 

A light breeze across my body made me shudder. I could feel its warmth as it passed over me. I didn't think I ever felt the wind before on my spider parts. Either that, or I had never really paid attention to it. 

Damn hypersensitivity. 

I decided to settle down in the grass about forty meters from the forest, Velariah followed suit.  

No words were spoken as I simply basked in the sun's warmth while resting my human body on my arms.  

I should have brought a pillow with me. 

The elf laid next to me and gazed at the sky. She'd have to be careful not to look into the sun, it was especially bright today. 

Not that I minded. I started to see why reptilians enjoyed infrared lights in terraria, this was better than heaven. I could actually feel my carapace harden out as I relaxed and enjoyed the warmth. 

Screw this, might as well get a tan. 

I raised my head and looked around. There was nobody nearby except for a certain white-haired heterochromic elf. 

Good. 

I took off my shirt and put it under my face as I stretched out my arms to have them get a nice tan as well.  

''What are you doing?'' Velariah ruined the moment. 

''What does it look like, I'm getting a tan!'' I turned my head to face her.  

''But you can't... whatever.'' 

That's what I thought.  

I planted my face in the shirt again.  

I would have to be careful not to lay like this for too long or I'd get burnt. Then again, I did seem to have a certain affinity for shedding my skin.  

That was a funny thought, it almost made me chuckle. 

Hmm, I never knew sun could feel this good. It made me wish I'd gotten outside more in my past life. Oh well, no going back to that anymore.  

I had tried to think that with nonchalance but failed. Soon after thinking that, I started to feel a certain sadness for not being able to at least say goodbye to my family. This world really hadn't seemed so bad so far. If I were to be living here, I could probably have lived with it, but I'd at least wanted to say goodbye... 

I wiped away a tear of loss before turning around to let my belly (bellies?) get a good tan as well.  

Couldn’t have me looking like a jar of mixed Nutella now, could we? 

Wait, I guessed I kind of already did. 

Stupid body. 

Oh well, at least this would make me look less like it. The black shirt certainly helped with it too. It seemed to go well with my lower body. It made it look as if my spider and upper body were one part from the distance, which was definitely a hundred percent more intimidating. Until you got close that was. 

I was pretty sure that even up close I could be intimidating if I wanted to. All I had to do was pull the fangs from under my body and I'd have people running for cover.  

Getting my body to turn around when the sensitivity slider was moved to max turned out to be more of an issue than I would have thought. After many tickles and struggles, I had finally managed to get into my upside-down turtle position. 

I could probably have leaned back on my abdomen instead, but I concluded it would be a good idea to have the underside of my abdomen get some sunlight too. It seemed to have an effect with regards to the outer structure, after all.  

Velariah didn’t pay much attention to my antics, she was still laying on her back with her eyes closed. I wondered if she would actually fall asleep? That would be so cute. 

I doubted I'd be so lucky to see that happen.  

I closed my eyes as well and attempted photosynthesis. I wasn't going to succeed in doing that, but the warmth of the sun's rays did in fact allow my exoskeleton to strengthen. That was something at least. 

Seems I had been right about this.  

I took pride in myself for coming to the right conclusion, at least this time around. 

After several minutes of taking in as much sunlight as possible I decided to play it safe and put my shirt back on again, lest I get burnt. 

I rolled around and rested on my arms again. The feeling of all this warmth flowing through every inch of my body was just divine. I could stay like this for hours... 

A loud yell came from the woods ahead. It seems I was not going to get hours of fun and relaxation... 

A swift, lightly armored archer ran past us with posthaste, yelling to the guards at the checkpoint in the distance. 

Velariah stood up in an instant, I followed her lead. 

''What's going on?'' I questioned. 

''Goblins...'' She replied with a single word. 

Shit, and I didn't bother to check whether the dwarf was finished with my armor yet. 

''You have anti-venom with you?'' I asked, knowing she would be rushing headlong into danger.  

I had gotten a fair understanding of her character, after all.  

''Only the base mixture.''  

''Gimme one quickly, while there's nobody to see.'' 

She didn’t hesitate and reached for her pack, she handed me the base mixture within seconds. I quickly deposited a drop of my venom in it before handing it back to her. 

''I'll be back in a sec, there's something I need.'' 

I didn't wait for her reaction. I rushed off into the direction of the checkpoint and barracks. I ran as fast as I could, though, I think jumping may have been a better description. In any way, I was fast, extremely so, I even managed to catch up with the marathon elf in the meantime. I quickly asked her what was going on as we were running, to which she replied goblins were on the move to attack.  

I'd heard enough. I sprinted forward to the towers. It seemed the guards at the checkpoint had already started to assemble to hear the messenger out. Seeing as I got there before her, I warned them of the incoming goblin attack. I think it was an officer who went inside the building and convened all stationed soldiers to march out.  

In the meantime, I walked to one of the towers where a couple larger shields were resting against the wood of the tower's foundations. I picked one up and didn’t find it as heavy as it looked. Was this one enchanted with a featherlight gem? I didn't bother to check, at least I would have some kind of protection now.  

I hadn't thought about it before but if these enchants existed this may not be too bad of an idea to try out some day. This shield was very handleable for me now.  

This had to be enchanted, there was no way a large tower shield would be this light... 

Besides, I could still manage to handle the spear well. I would have a good grip on this shield with two hands which still allowed me plenty of control over the spear. The only thing was that I'd have to stab from above the shield, I could not move my arms around the sides.  

I ran back to Velariah as quickly as I could. I once again passed the running elf, who was on her way back now. I left the marching guards behind as well. I swore I'd gotten faster... Maybe that molting really had increased my abilities. 

I reached my companion without breaking a sweat. A group of elven archers came running out of the woods in the meantime. I could see Allina among them. She looked to be in a terrible state mentally as she has shock written across her face. A few seconds later, two more elves carrying another elf by his hands and feet came into view. He had a small arrow sticking out of his chest. 

Ouch, that didn't seem healthy. 

''Get him to the treemenders quickly!'' I could hear Allina shouting instructions to the two bearers.  

That ''quickly'' part she could forget. They were trying to run as fast as they could, but it just wasn't close to fast... 

''Vel, potion!'' I quickly said to her, holding up my hand. 

She reached for her pack and pulled out the anti-venom potion we had prepared earlier.  

I took it from her and closed my palm around it so it couldn't be seen.  

I then ran over to the two elves carrying the third one and they looked at me in shock what I ''sat down'' on the ground next to them.  

''Quickly, put him on my back, I'll take him to the tree.'' 

They were about to question when Allina shouted: ''Do it!'' 

With slight hesitation they put the wounded elf's legs over my midsection. I made sure to hold on to his chest with one of my arms when I started sprinting back to Dawnleaf.  

I ran with spear in one hand, shield in another and the potion in yet another. I had only one hand free to keep his chest away from my back to prevent the arrow from penetrating deeper. 

When nobody was close enough to see, I took out the potion and forced its entire contents down this half unconscious man's throat. At least he would not die to poison. I threw away the potion and held him properly, with two arms now, before setting off with even more velocity than before.  

I reached the village with record breaking speed; I was sure of it. I continued forward to the tree while trying to avoid running into people. Fortunately, the streets were fairly empty at this time.  

I reached the massive tree in the center and ran into the area.  

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Within seconds I had several treemenders upon me including Master Pylanor. This guy might be lucky enough to survive this if Pylanor was here... 

They swiftly transferred him from my back to an open bed. I could see three of the healers start to work on the wound with magic before they closed a curtain. 

I was starting to feel slightly tired but knew that I would have to return to where battle was about to commence. From what I had seen the elves were going to set up a defense line in the open with the combined effort of the checkpoint guards and the archer squad.  

I was about to run back when I ran into Draco, or rather, he ran into me. 

He told me had seen me run in with an elf on my back and asked me what was going on. 

''Incoming goblin attack.'' I had quickly said. ''I'm on my way back right now, if you can, try to get some of the adventurers to join or something.'' 

''I doubt they will, but I can give it a shot. I'll join you guys soon.'' 

I ran off before I could process the information. 

What did he mean by ''I doubt they will''? 

Don't tell me these adventurers would only do things if there was a reward linked to the work.  

Don’t tell me they didn't care if people died. 

I'd expected adventurers to be noble hearted souls who would rise to the occasion to defend a village if it was under attack. Seems I had been fed propaganda.  

This world was messed up. 

I ran back out the village with moderate speed until there were no more people in my way. Then I really turned up the heat and tried to push the limits on what I could achieve.  

I was fortunate to have had the time to let this exoskeleton harden out, this would probably have been quite painful otherwise. I could still feel more than I could before, but it wasn't preventing me from running anymore. Quite the opposite. 

I reached the guards who had grouped up with the rangers and Velariah. It appeared each of them was taking position in a battle line and waited for the incoming... was there an entire army coming? 

I found Allina who was talking with Velariah. 

''How bad is it?'' I turned to the archer captain. 

''About fifty goblins, most of them melee, but there were a few archers, and at least one mage.'' 

Fifty? How many did we have? 

I counted ten guards with plate armor and shields, eleven rangers including Allina and then Velariah and me.  

So we were outnumbered two to one.  

If I was honest, I liked those odds. Goblins didn't seem to be strong creatures at all, we'd just need to make sure they wouldn’t find any good targets for their arrows.  

''Allina, you got anti venom?''  

''Yeah, I've got a green anti venom and a base mixture with me. Why?'' 

She didn't seem to catch on as quick as Velariah had.  

''Give me the base one, quickly, there's something else I want to do before the goblins get here.'' 

She reached into her pack and handed it to me.  

I looked around to see what the others were doing. Apparently, the officer from before was talking to his troops and the rangers at the same time, so none were paying attention to us. 

Good.  

I turned away from them, pulled up one of my fangs and turned this base mixture into a high-quality anti-venom potion. I handed it back to Allina who swiftly secured it in her inventory. 

''How long until they are here?'' I asked.  

''Minutes, tops.'' Allina answered. 

''Minutes is all I need. Vel, tell the others to set up a defense line. I got a plan.''  

''It's Velariah, but sure, I'd like to see what you came up with time.'' 

Was that sarcasm in her voice? 

I couldn't quite confirm it. 

She did as I asked and I walked forward. If this idea worked out, we would be able to keep the casualties to a bare minimum. 

Long live the police. They had given me a great idea. 

I was going to give these goblins a taste of advanced warfare. 

I walked up in front of the group, dropped my behind onto the grass and started excreting sticky silk. My spinnerets were had not completely hardened out yet it seemed as they were even more sensitive than they had been before... 

I ignored the feeling as best I could and started running in a line, creating a line of sticky silk in the grass as I went. I then took a U turn and ran another line of silk next to the one I had just created. I repeated this several times until I had a nice trap set up.  

I had received some awkward glances from the soldiers but could see Velariah smiling at my actions. She was quick to pick up on things and I was certain she already knew what I was doing. Well, to be fair, it was hard to not grasp the idea of the trap I was setting. Soon the other soldiers seemed to get it and they formed a defensive setup about twenty meters out from the silk trap in what somewhat resembled the age-old shield-wall formation.  

If only I had nails, I could turn this into a real nasty nail mat.  

That was kind of cruel though. 

Not that it mattered anyway, if I could manage to immobilize at least a portion of the goblins, this upcoming fight would become so much easier.  

The moment I saw movement from the forest, I stopped what I was doing. I didn’t want the enemy to gain knowledge of the battlefield through my actions. 

I moved to the flank of the formation with Velariah. From behind us I could see Draco closing the distance to us as well. 

Perfect timing. 

In front of us was a large sticky trap, we were positioned far enough away from it, and the trap itself was hidden well enough, that the goblins wouldn't be able to know what happened to them until it was too late. 

That was the plan at least. 

I quickly came up with a plan of action with regards to my role in the upcoming battle. If we could separate the archers from the melee fighters, I could flank them with my unmatched speed and lethality. I would literally act as the cavalry in this battle. It wouldn't be too far from the truth. I was probably the size of a horse, too.  

This shield would cover most, if not all of my upper body and I had the options to finish off whatever was in my way using either my fangs or spear.  

As long as I wasn't going to receive an arrow to the back of my human part, I should have no issues in the upcoming battle. It kind of made me feel like I was cheating. Maybe I was? 

A large mob of small green men exited the forest as one. 

When they reached the bottom of the slope of the forest, they started running into our direction as a green wave of locusts. I couldn’t quite make out the difference in the preferred fighting style between them yet.  

I could however, clearly see a couple of them wearing large (for them) clubs. I doubted those were going to do anything against these armored guards. They had to be either insane or desperate to attack a somewhat professional army out in the open. Did they always fight like this? 

Their battalion seemed incredibly uncoordinated, some of their archers already opened fire. Their small arrows didn't even get close... 

It seemed they would really need the guerilla advantage that the forest would provide them. This was beyond pathetic.  

I couldn't get complacent though, if any of those arrows hit, they could still kill.  

A coordinated volley of arrows flew their way and mowed down at least four goblins from what I could see. Their loincloths did little to protect them from those. Their only advantage was that they were small, so harder to hit. Their stupidity to stick together though, completely negated that. It was a mystery to me. 

Another volley of arrows was unleashed upon them, taking another two down.  

Their archers fired again as they approached and actually got close to reaching us this time. It seemed the elves had a far superior range.  

The elves shot again; I couldn’t quite make out how many they took down as I was looking if I could spot all the archers in their group so I would have an easier time taking them down.  

As I had hoped the goblins in question had stopped moving and took another shot at us. Some of the arrows hit the grass in front of us but most of them were blocked by the tower shields that the guards held up.  

The elves shot another volley from between the shields as the goblins started to approach the trap. 

Several more fell. 

A fireball smashed itself into my shield. 

Fuck, I had lost focus.  

I scanned the area and saw a goblin mage with an orange-orbed staff preparing another fireball. It would seem this goblin in specific had enough intelligence to make out I was a proper threat for them.  

I would get him first. 

I held up the shield and tried to keep an eye on the mage at the same time I was watching the goblins walk into the trap I had set.  

It worked like a charm. 

A large portion of the mindlessly advancing goblins got stuck into the webs. Due to them not splitting up, they even managed to cause a fair amount of friendly fire when goblins that were struggling to escape caused others to trip over and get stuck as well.  

The archers were smart enough to not focus on them, instead they focused on the few goblins that did make it through the trap unscathed.  

By now Draco had activated his ''Berserk mode'' and charged into the approaching horde. 

I had no idea if it was actually called berserk, it just sounded cool in my mind. 

I had enough wits about me to notice an incoming fireball which I handedly blocked with my shield. 

It was time for me to spring into action.  

I made a circle around the approaching horde. My speed was unparalleled and I was upon the mage while he was still growing a fire within his palm. 

A quick jab with my spear made an end to that. I had him pinned down to the ground with my pedipalps as I drive the spear into his heart. At least that would end it quickly for him without too much suffering. I wasn't killing for fun. I was killing to protect this village and my friends which were few. But, I couldn't deny there was a certain thrill to all this. 

Adrenaline was truly dangerous. 

One of the goblins with a spear had noticed me and was charging at me. I ignored him as I rushed off to my next target. 

A goblin archer was soon killed in the same way as the mage. 

I started to draw attention and had an archer take aim for my head. I quickly ducked behind my shield as he fired and heard the impact on the shield. After that, I rushed to him, pinned him down and finished him off. At the same time a goblin with a sword rushed up to. 

I had no time to take out my spear in time and use it to defend myself.  

Not wanting to let down the shield which would protect me from arrows I quickly pinned the approaching goblin down with my front two legs before sinking my fangs in him.  

The life drained from his face within seconds and I took up my spear again.  

I finished off two more archers but received an arrow to my abdomen in the meantime. I ignored the pain of an arrow in my still fairly new and not completely hardened exoskeleton and took down another goblin that came charging at me with nothing but two short daggers. 

They never stood a chance.  

I had dealt with all the ranged enemies there were. When I turned to see how the others were doing it was nothing short of slaughter.  

Due to their small and weak frames and the fact that their only strength, numbers, had been significantly reduced by arrows and my trap before battle even commenced, they were all too easily mowed down by the much better equipped guardsmen. 

I could see Velariah with blood on her sword and Draco who literally severed a goblin's torso from his waist with his large axe.  

The last remaining goblins fled in panic but most of them were mowed down by coordinated arrow fire from Allina's squad. Only very few made it back to the safety of the forest.  

There were still a few goblins alive on the battlefield. Most of the ones who had gotten stuck in my webs were as they had been ignored up until now. It didn’t seem like the elves were interested in finishing them off just yet.  

Maybe that was for the best. Enough blood had been spilt, maybe they could use them as prisoners. They could offer some leverage in certain deals... 

I sighed. Happy that this was over. It seemed we had suffered no casualties on our side. I would call that a huge win for Dawnleaf. 

I approached the incapacitated goblins in my trap, horror was visible in all their visages and they dropped their weapons in fear.  

At least they were smart enough to know when they were defeated.  

Hold on a second.  

One of the goblins looked familiar to me. 

There was no doubt.  

Among the defeated was the very same goblin that I had run into when I had just appeared in this world. The same bite mark in his ear made it all the more evident. 

He seemed to recognize me as well. I mean, it was hard not to, after meeting me once. 

Allina approached with her bow drawn, aiming at the goblin that was staring at me. 

I held one of my hands up to her in a stop gesture. 

''Hold on.''

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