Page 39 of The Daughter of the Scarred Elf

“It’s …” Where to even begin? That Ragnarök and Revna had destroyed a hole in the barrier between the Mistlands and Rosain? Or did she have to first explain the barrier and rune magic? Or that Blár had erected an ice wall so it shouldn’t be a problem? But first of all, could she even talk about it, or was it confidential? It wasn’t like she was a Royal Guard anymore. “It’s a long story.”

Gunnar dragged a hand across the rough wall of the cave. The corpses were already out of sight behind them. “What did you read about them? All the information we have is what we’ve gathered these past few months.”

Kolfinna wracked her brain for characteristics of goblins and their personalities. She had read and reread so many passages of that book on magical creatures, but she hadn’t focused much on the simple monstrous creatures. Her focus had been on the sirens, the mermaids, the elves, and all the interesting humanoid creatures.

“Goblins are intelligent.” She nodded at the sconces. “They live in communities much like humans do, but they lack empathy. The book described them like a colony of ants, except they don’t have a queen, they have a king. They also enjoy eating … children. Whether that’s human children, fae children …” Orelf children, but she didn’t want to include that since they likely didn’t think they existed. That and she didn’t want to remind herself of elves and what it meant for her.

“What about weaknesses?” Herja asked.

“They’re physically stronger than humans, so you can only really kill them with magic. Whether that’s an Enhancer or Elemental.” She shrugged. “But if you’re asking if they have something in particular that they’re weak to, then no.”

“Hm.” Ivar frowned. “So are you sure these goblins are the same thing as these green-skins?”

“I think so. Everything sounds the same so far.”

“Thesegoblins,” Eluf said, “might be weak compared to us, but we still have to be on our guard. They have the advantage of numbers.”

His words and a new sound made uneasiness wash over Kolfinna. Finally, she realized what she was hearing were muffled grunts and screams from somewhere—below, maybe? But the more they walked through the winding hall, the less sure she became. They didn’t meet any more goblins, which was also strange. If Kolfinna and her group were at the hideout of these creatures, shouldn’t it have been teeming with the creatures?

Something shuffled behind her. Kolfinna spun around, hands raised and mana flaring, but there was nothing. The fire in the sconces flickered, illuminating the empty hallway they had come from. Kolfinna narrowed her eyes at the walls and then up at the stalactite-covered ceiling and the small holes along it.

The group had stopped moving and was now watching her. Herja’s palms were blazing with bluish fire, water was dancing on Ivar’s fingers, Inkeri had air swirling over her arms, and the two brothers had their fists raised for battle.

“It’s nothing,” Kolfinna said. “I just thought?—”

The ground began to crack. Fissures formed in the center of the hallway, widening in seconds. Kolfinna tried jumping fromthe suddenly uneven, cracked ground, but it was too late. All at once, the ground collapsed beneath their feet and she was plummeting. A scream ripped through her throat. Her mana flailed, trying to latch onto something, but she was falling too fast to get a good bearing on her surroundings. Finally, she slammed onto something hard, the wind knocking out of her. Immediately, her ankle throbbed. The stalactite-filled ceiling—which had been the ground just seconds ago—gaped above her. She must’ve fallen at least two stories.

Clothes rustled, steel clanked together, and crumbling rocks peppering the ground filled her ears.

Kolfinna blinked and shoved herself into a sitting position. The rest of the party was similarly sprawled on the ground. But they weren’t groaning and holding onto their sore bodies. They were instead staring at the room. The hall, really, because that’s what it was. A giant hall full of crude wooden tables with slabs of raw, bloodied meat at the centerpieces.

They weren’t alone.

Hundreds of bulging blood-red eyes were on them. The goblins were all around the hall, their weapons haphazardly left on the tables beside their meals.

Ivar rose to his feet, glancing at the horde of goblins. “Oh shit.”

It happened so fast—an earsplitting screech pierced through the air from the closest goblin and everyone sprang into action. Goblins grabbed their weapons and screamed their battle cries, which coalesced together into a horrifying cacophony of grunts and squeals and monstrous sounds.

Kolfinna scrambled to her feet. Her heart was already pounding, adrenaline rushing through her veins and her magic warming her core.

The closest goblin grabbed its club off the table and charged at her. Kolfinna didn’t think. Her body moved on its own. Shechucked a hunk of the broken ceiling at it, cleaving its head off its shoulder with a single strike. A spray of blue blood arced through the air and another goblin was already on her.

Kolfinna moved her arms, directing her mana to flow into the stones by her feet and slam at her targets. She didn’t have to worry too much about accuracy due to the sheer number of goblins. If she did miss, it ended up striking another one, so it didn’t really matter. The only thing she had to make sure of was that she didn’t accidentally hurt any of her comrades.

In her peripheral vision, between piercing the magic beasts with stone spears and huge chunks of the walls, she could make out Herja’s blue fire blazing in giant streaks. Gunnar and Eluf were fighting with their backs against each other, both of their fighting styles mimicking each other. They were both Enhancers, and their punches and kicks sent the creatures flying across the hall. Inkeri had drawn her sword and was fighting with both air and steel, her movements lithe and graceful. Ivar kept close to her side, his water viciously shoving the creatures away and making them burst in seconds.

Kolfinna fell into a rhythm. Spread her mana through the ground, create stone spears from the ground, and pierce the goblins before they could get close to her, then repeat. She kept a close eye on the goblins but also on her comrades. Anytime Herja had her back turned and a creature was coming up behind her, Kolfinna would raise a pointed stone from right below the creature’s feet, slowing it down enough that Herja had time to turn and burn it. Eluf and Gunnar fought seamlessly together and didn’t give the goblins an opening. Ivar filled all of Inkeri’s openings. Only Herja had no one to watch her back, not that it seemed like she needed the help—she was laughing and launching her fire wildly, butprecisely.

When Kolfinna had been at the West Border mission, she clearly remembered Yrsa losing control and burning Eyfura andthe surrounding trees, and how Magni had reprimanded her.Our magic is the most volatile magic there is. It’s incredibly easy to hurt someone with fire. Whether yourself or your teammates. As fire elementals, we have to be extremely careful of our surroundings. We don’t want to burn other people or cause unnecessary collateral damage.But Herja, despite her flashy display of blue-violet flames, was deliberately ensuring that not even a spark of fire touched her teammates.

It only made sense that Kolfinna watched her back for her. So, in reality, Kolfinna was the only one who had no one to watch her back. It was fine, though. She could handle herself.

Her mana seeped out of her unreservedly. It spread to the ground, to the stray rocks, and pulled apart chunks of stone to chuck at the creatures. Adrenaline rushed through her system, making her go faster, more efficient. Sweat formed on her brow. She had forgotten the thrill and excitement of battle.

She tried not to move too much, since her ankle throbbed from the fall, but the longer the battle progressed, the less it throbbed. Until, eventually, it stopped altogether. She didn’t understand how her healing abilities worked, but even in the thick of battle, she seemed to be healing herself.

The entire battle must’ve taken fifteen minutes, but it only felt like a few. Kolfinna was moving stones so fast and without hesitation. She was completely in the zone—strike, strike, strike. She didn’t stop until there were no more goblins lefts. Until only a sea of corpses filled the hall.

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