Children of the Sun and Moon by P. D. Stewart Page A

fury. He had to get to Eric
before these creatures killed him. Being the only goblin trained to
use a long sword helped him. The blade sliced right through the
skin with ease. The creature tried to fight back, but the goblin,
being smaller, avoided the hits with simplicity. Eric stabbed the
thing, then dove to the side and came up swinging at its ribs. The
being, realizing he could not survive the attack, ran off leaving
its companions behind. Nak, seizing the opportunity, went on to
attack the creature by Eric in the same manner. Fortunate for him
these creatures did not learn very quickly. The creature was
injured, and tried to swing its club at Nak but was unsuccessful.
Nak was a very experienced fighter and attacked with the fury known
to all who attack goblins. His hits were very precise and the
creature was no match. Wanting to finish this, Nak went for the
creature's neck. Anticipating a killing stroke, the creature
smashed Nak down and shuffled after its cohort who had run off. Not
wanting to leave the prince, Nak didn’t follow.

    Tallmeken and
Goulerick, in peril of their own, were struggling with one of the
creatures. The beast’s strength was amazing. It picked up Tallmeken
and threw him into a tree without even trying. Goulerick heard
Tallmeken’s shoulder snap as he hit the tree and began stabbing the
beast with his short sword to no avail. The creature’s thick hide
was barely scratched, and its boar like face growled at Goulerick
and took a swing at his head. The goblin at least had size on its
side. Ducking and rolling away from the creature he almost fell
over a cliff hidden from view. This gave him an idea, but before he
could implement it, the creature picked up Tallmeken and threw the
injured goblin at his friend. Not expecting this kind of attack
Goulerick was hit full on.

    The beast
howled in glory and charged on all fours towards the wounded pair.
Its claws ripped the poor goblin’s skin, but they continued to
fight back. Tallmeken took a few swings, but his broken shoulder
kept him from making any good hits. The pain was unbearable and as
he was coming around to attempt another hit, the blood loss caught
up with him and he fainted. This didn’t stop the creature from
attacking and it made another charge at Goulerick. Nak, after
seeing Eric was okay, ran to help.

    Charging the
creature from behind, Nak raised his sword and attacked. Striking
downwards at the kneeling creature, Nak hit it right in its back.
The beast howled in pain, twisting its body to try and pull the
sword free. Nak did it for him and struck again, this time slicing
across the beasts hamstring. The creature, blinded by pain, was
swinging aimlessly. Unfortunately, for Nak, he was hit. It threw
him back a few feet and as he was trying to get up, he saw the
creature charging towards him. Nak threw himself down to try to
avoid the attack but it never came. He looked up to see the
creature burst into flames and disintegrate. Nak and Goulerick
looked around and saw Eric standing facing them. “I could not let
it harm you,” he said, then fainted.

    After he was
certain the creatures were gone, Nak surveyed their situation. The
one creature hadn’t even attacked, it just grabbed Dilmek and left.
The rest of the group was in bad shape. Tallmeken’s shoulder was
broken, and he had lost a lot of blood. Goulerick had many
scratches on his back and legs. Eric had a large bump on his head
and some scratches, but he was going to be okay. That only left the
already injured Mork. It was lucky for them the creatures had left
him alone. Not long after, Eric woke up and was able to offer his
services.

    “I have some
spells which can help heal,” he informed Nak, and was told to just
worry about healing the small scratches and gouges the goblins had.
“I may be able to do something about Tallmeken’s broken shoulder,”
he added.
    Nak looked at
the boy and saw how drained he already was. “Wez bez fines,” he
said to Eric.
    Eric