Chapter 156: The Mackenzies

Bob led them out of the encampment, past sharp-eyed guards, who were giving envious looks to their group with the twins. Most wouldn't realize right away that they were all siblings, other than Karl, so having not just one but two good-looking women with them would look like an envious situation.

"So, what are your specialties?" Karl asked as they moved out of sight of the camp.

"We're both mages. I'm better with Constructs, and Donni is better with arcane barriers." Danni explained.

They got a kilometre into the woods and Doug gestured to Karl. "Call out your team. It's better that we have a chance to meet them in advance, even if they're resting until we're in the threat area."

Karl called the three out, and Bob froze in place, staring at Rae.

Donni laughed. "Oh, this should be fun. Bob is terrified of spiders. Even little ones. Is she friendly?"

Karl nodded. "Generally. She's not always a people person. But Thor is friendly enough for two people, so it works out well."

Rae laughed at that as Thor made his way to the cleric looking for attention.

Hawk flapped up above them and sighed in relief at the chance to stretch his wings.

[What am I even looking for?] He asked.

[Groups of monsters. There should be goblins, big goblins, ogres, ogres with two heads that use magic, trolls, and maybe something else.] Karl explained, knowing that Hawk hadn't paid any attention to the briefing.

Karl sensed Hawk's dismay at the announcement, but he knew that Hawk wasn't afraid of Goblins, and probably wasn't afraid of ogres either, considering how much fun he had harassing random bears, which were neither smaller nor weaker than the ogres were.

[Goblins smell terrible. But at least they will be easy to find.] Hawk finally explained.

That would explain his reluctance, but he was already off and scouting the area for threats.

[Hey, this mission is stupidly simple. They're right here. Just turn right a little and you will find them.] Hawk informed Karl a few seconds later.

"Hawk says there are Goblins just ahead to the right. I wasn't expecting them to be this close, but he says they're here." Karl explained quietly to the others.

The mages looked startled, and turned in the indicated direction.

"Seriously? We're barely out of sight of the camp. What are Goblins doing this close to civilization? Our intelligence suggested that they first appear further into the mountains, and that is why we were going there to hunt for them."

"I only know what Hawk tells me. Should we go?" Karl asked.

Bob nodded. "I will take point with the casters in the middle. You take the rear, with the beasts protecting our flanks. You can have them move further from us, so the Goblins don't realize we're all together."

[I can smell them already. They're coming this way.] Rae informed Karl.

[Split off and hide. Ambush when the time is right.]

"Thor, move forward to fight beside Bob and protect the flank. The Goblins are coming our way." Karl warned.

The shouts of a goblin hunting squad became audible seconds later, and Karl took out his sword. He stepped off to the side, preparing to defend any attacks that might come from the left while Thor was on the right, but Doug shook his head, and Danni summoned four wood Golems to encircle the casters.

The cleric cast a spell on them, and the wooden bodies turned more sturdy, strengthened by magic. The two of them had a system and worked well together. Then Donni cast a barrier over everyone, and they settled in for the Goblin charge.

A flurry of Rend attacks came down from the sky as Hawk started his offensive, and then there was a shadow moving through the hunting squad like a whirlwind, throwing dismembered limbs in the air as the Goblins screamed and tried in vain to run.

"What in the Goddess' name was that?" One of the mages asked as Rae finished her work and retreated into the trees to wipe herself clean again.

"That would be Hawk attacking from above, and Rae ambushing from the trees. They're just common rank monsters, so it wasn't a big deal for them to clear them out, I guess." Karl replied.

The whole clearing was covered in dismembered goblins, and Karl hesitated. He had been reminded that they might have uncommonly good items on them, but Hawk was right. Goblins smelled terrible, especially the insides of them.

The others seemed to be thinking the same thing, as they all hesitated to get any closer.

[Time to do your part. Don't miss any good stuff.] Rae taunted him as Karl prepared to go loot the Goblins.

[You could have at least left them intact, so I wouldn't have to check so many pieces.] Karl complained.

[They're too squishy, they just blew apart when I hit them. I didn't want to use my mandibles, in case something got in my mouth. You already made me drink that potion, I'm not eating goblin.]

Hawk chimed in to the conversation. [I see shiny things. Metal shiny and gem shiny. I don't know if they're good things.]

Karl sighed and stepped forward, earning himself a curious look from the others. "Hawk and Rae say that there are shiny things, both metal and gems, on the bodies. We should see if it's valuable or useful. The Bureau of Elite Development said that these are escaped from a spell, and they might have loot that they wouldn't normally own."

The others sighed, then spread out in a line, so they could clear out the bodies in one pass, with as little contact as possible.

"I recommend that you grab a long stick. Poke the bodies to open bags and search them. It might not find everything, but it's better than actually touching them." Doug, the green dragon cleric, suggested.

Karl quickly grabbed a stick, and got to work checking the bodies.

He wasn't sure what was actually worth keeping, but his equipment had a fair bit of storage, and the first thing he found was a decent sized leather pouch that could hold anything that he gathered.

Then there were a few gold rings on one Goblin, a quality steel dagger on another, a few scattered gemstones, and finally a golden necklace.

"Lay your loot out on the ground and I will purify it." Doug offered helpfully once they were all on the other side of the clearing, where Thor and Rae had joined them.

Karl dumped everything out, and then laid the bag on the ground with the rest of the loot.

"Well, that's interesting. The majority of this is just shiny metal, and simple gems, but one of those rings is magical, and the bag is also enchanted." Doug noted as he finished cleaning.

"Do you know what enchantment?" Karl asked.

"I know that it's not a curse, but that's not my area of expertise. We will have to have it identified by the spell crafters when we return. They will know what it does." The cleric explained.

Karl shrugged and dumped the loot back into the bag, which he hung by its straps from his belt. If they were going to keep gathering from Goblin bodies, he would keep it there, instead of stuffing it in his pack next to his food and spare clothes.

The bag wasn't particularly large, but it would hold a half dozen hauls like this, as long as he didn't keep picking up more weapons. He wrapped the dagger in freshly purified cloth and stuffed it in the bag, as the decoration was pretty, and if he could find a scabbard for it, he would keep it with him.

"Should we burn the bodies?" Karl asked the others.

Bob shook his head. "The risk of a forest fire is too high. They will decompose quickly out here, if the other monsters don't eat them."