Chapter 62
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Val stood as a large raven alighted to the ground, clutching two tightly bound scrolls in one of his talons. "Huginn, what took you so long?"
"I was serving as a messenger between the nine houses. I was not entirely expecting their decision to be so quick."
Asha ran over with Muninn, paying no mind to the double lines of Val's ward. Huginn turned to her, setting the two scrolls before him. "Her Majesty bids you to deliver these, one to the Kar Lodihr senate and the other... To Emperor Aurulius."
Asha frowned. "The Aurulian Empire?"
"Indeed. Her Majesty prepares for war."
"What?!" Asha looked shocked, Val stood to the side, keeping quiet, while Muninn also wore a look of surprise.
"The Queen called for the houses to convene, seven reached a consensus. The Ljosalfar joins the war. The Draug have been spotted further up in the North, she will bring twenty-thousand, and she will lead them herself. The majority of their forces must remain to defend against the Draug. These two letters are summons for Kar Lodihr, the other, for the Aurulians."
"That can't be right... The Queen decided this? Did she say why?"
"You know your people better than I. While I did ask for aid, she herself said they will no longer hide. They march to battle in a month, there's little time if we are to rally the Dwarves and the Aurulians."
Asha was silent as she picked up the two missives. She looked about to unfasten the cord and read them herself for a moment. After almost a minute, she broke the silence with a resolute tone. "I'll deliver them. We'll meet Kar Lodihr's senate, then we head for the Aurulian capital."
Huginn nodded. "I will see you at Boldir's."
Val looked at him curiously. "You're leaving now? Aren't you exhausted?"
"Hmph. I can travel the world without rest if I need to. Dwarves can be difficult. I will go to ensure the Senate is ready to convene when you arrive."
"Why not take the letter, then? We can head straight for Aurulia."
Huginn held a conflicted tone. "Her Majesty was very particular about her letter being delivered by Elven hands, and while I do not like it, I agree. The Dwarves hold much respect for the Aesir host, but our time was long ago. Their alliance with the Elves holds more... Weight."
In the evening, Val was sitting outside, enjoying a cigarette as the sky's color approached the black of night. A soldier approached hesitantly, carrying a small envelope.
"Sir, we developed the film. We can't produce the photos here, but you can still make out the details." Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click www.webnovel.com for visiting.
"Thanks, and enough with the 'sir' bit. My name's Val, and you guys risked your lives saving hundreds while I was asleep in my car. Give yourself some more credit."
"T-thank you, sir— Uh, sorry."
Val rolled his eyes and waved a hand. "Yeah, alright, thanks."
The soldier did not move, standing there awkwardly, beginning to annoy Val with what looked like a question he was struggling to ask.
Val turned to look at the man, who he now realized must have enlisted straight out of high school. He looked to be barely twenty. "What is it?"
"Um... How do you do it? Those things are horrifying, they get into your head... We never trained for anything like it."
Val smirked. "I dunno. For me, dying a hundred times more or less did the trick."
The soldier looked confused, gawking at him and causing Val mild annoyance as he tried to enjoy the last of his cigarette. "Look, just think of your friends, comrades, maybe people you care about. Who cares what they look like or what they do. To us, they're monsters and the enemy. Either you find the courage to pick up your rifle, find some other way to help, or stay away from the fight. In my case, the best thing I'm good at these days is killing with my sword or my magic."
"Right, right, thanks... And thank you again for saving us, it's an honor to count you among our own."
The soldier saluted, and whether by guilt or annoyance, Val almost snapped at him, his eyes flaring slightly with orange color. "Kainoa saved you, not me, and don't count me as a comrade. I killed a dozen of your brothers in arms a couple of weeks ago and hardly felt a thing. I'm grateful to you and the others, but I came up here to save my friends, you all were just a bonus. Thank you for the photos."
The soldier finally left with a mix of emotions on his face. Val fished out another cigarette in an irritated mood.
"You could be less of an ass. The kid just finished basic not long before this all went down." Kainoa sighed as he took a seat on the bench next to Val.
"That 'kid' is barely younger than I am. I don't know, something about him as a soldier pissed me off. He'll get himself killed before he can fumble the safety off. I'm not going to be his inspiration to some idiot act of heroism."
Kainoa sighed. "Didn't have to tell him about killing those bastards if that was your intention, especially only half the story. No one here is ready for any of this, sure they're terrified of you, but you're also the closest thing to a hero around here. 'One man stands against a horde of monsters.' It's straight out of the movies, seeing you cut down those things."
"I only did it to get our friends out of there."
"So you said, is that it then? People are inspired to stand with you, and you send them away?"
"I send them away if they can't handle themselves. I'm not crazy enough to think I can do it all myself."
"As long as I have your word on that. For you, you finally found your friends, for us, we got you back from the dead."
Val smirked. "I almost forgot how nosy you can be."
"Heh. Someone has to make sure you stay alive."
"Yeah... I've got several 'someone's' on that job."
Kainoa's tone took on a note of concern. "What did you mean when you said you died a hundred times?"
"Technically a hundred and seventeen, it's a bit of a story. The guy who teaches me the sword has a brutal teaching method. He and Judy should chat, no clear learning outcomes, mistakes are punished with death."
"That's the whole 'god in your head' thing, right?"
"Mmhmm."
Kainoa paused, seeming to expect the rest of the story, but Val merely sat and inhaled his cigarette. The large marine stood and clapped him on the shoulder. "Just be careful, alright? The Val I remember... Was much more into tinkering with computers than hacking monsters to bloody bits, not too different from that 'kid.'"
Val looked up at him in mild confusion as he left. Annoyed, Val discarded his cigarette and put it out under his boot.
. . .
As the sun was just beginning to rise, five trucks and two armored transports fitted with machine-gun nests rumbled out of the gates. Val followed behind on his bike with Asha and Muninn. Everyone had piled into the vehicles, with two of the trucks mainly bearing supplies and equipment. As agreed, Val would travel with them through Oregon at least, and from there, they would split up.
"Can we not go faster?" Asha asked loudly with annoyance as if to purposely let the soldiers hear her. They were traveling barely above thirty, sometimes forty miles an hour. The moments that annoyed the elf the most was when they had to stop. The armored vehicles in front would push a car out of the road, as they were currently waiting for. In nearly eight hours, they had traveled little over half the distance Val could make.
"We're halfway to Kar Lodihr, we'll be there before too long. We've passed the worst parts of the road. At least it's been a safe trip, no Aurulians, no Goblins, and no Draug."
"You *are* aware there are other dangers? And the urgency of our mission."
"Yeah, like your neverending complaints. My ears are right there, you know."
"Oh, really? These ones? Since you're so fascinated with long ears, perhaps I can stretch them out for you." Asha pinched his right ear and pulled painfully.
"Ow-ow, fucking hell, let go!"
"Hui! Lovebirds! The road's clear, we're moving out!" Kainoa called out, his head sticking out of the driver's seat window.
Val glared at the chuckling marine while Asha crossed her arms in annoyance. "Bikes don't have seatbelts, y'know." Val commented.
"I'm aware."
"Oh, good, just reminding you." Val twisted his grip, and the bike lurched forward, causing Asha to lose her balance for a moment before she gripped the strap fastening his sword to his back.
A few hours later, they were exiting Oregon, traveling through dense woods. They had to stop again to clear a few cars when Asha yanked on the strap she had been holding onto.
"What?"
"Shh. We're surrounded— at least thirty..." Asha continued looking around into the woods suspiciously.
Val's eyes took on fire as he ignited his magic. He parked his bike and hopped off, quietly approaching Kainoa's truck in front of him. He rapped the window gently, and Kainoa opened the door. Upon seeing Val's eyes, the marine turned serious.
"What is it?" Kainoa whispered.
"We need to keep moving or get ready for an ambush. Asha picked up thirty or so enemies, not sure what."
Kainoa banged the side of the truck twice with his fist as he reached towards the passenger seat for his rifle. Five soldiers quickly got out of the back, already armed. The vehicle in front of Kainoa's heard the noise and repeated the motion, in a chain of wordless communication, all of the soldiers got out and checked their weapons.
Muninn landed on Val's shoulder. "Val, goblins."
For a moment, Val looked disappointed as he reached for his sword, before pausing. Kainoa looked at him curiously. "Goblins?"
Val grunted. "Yeah, almost exactly like what you're thinking. Short, vicious bastards, they're not entirely brainless, but they have a poor ability to assess their enemies. Most importantly... They're highly susceptible to small arms fire."
"Oh, good." The other soldiers looked mildly confused but followed Kainoa as they formed a perimeter around the convoy.
"Alright, listen up! We've got thirty or more tangos who have no idea who they're trying to ambush. We need a few more minutes to clear the road, safeties off!" Kainoa's voice carried far as every soldier clicked off safeties and checked their sights.
Val cooled his magic and walked back over to the bike and took a seat. Asha was standing next to it, mildly confused by his actions. "Not going to help?" She asked with a raised brow.
"It's goblins, I'm still recovering, and believe me they don't need our help for this one."
In another minute, screeching cries came from the woods as several dozen creatures with skin of various shades of brown to mustard yellow came running out. As soon as they appeared, the loud popping sound of gunfire rang out as goblins were mowed down by the wall of bullets. Asha covered her ears as she observed the scene. She had witnessed modern weaponry already, but it became much easier to understand their destructive capacity with the scale of a couple of dozen automatic weapons.
For reasons owing either to their stupidity or their bravery, the goblins were relentless, never retreating until their body count numbered just over thirty, and they were no more. Some of the soldiers looked disturbed, but the honking horn from the vehicles in front called them all to click safeties back on and board the trucks.
"Like I said." Val brought the bike back to life as Asha took her seat, mildly unsettled by the scene.
"Barren Worlders have managed some terrifying things." The elf remarked.
"Trust me, that's nothing. You can see now why I want them on our side against the Draug. I'd hardly call it one-sided, but at least as far as those mindless Draug are concerned, a team like this could take out several hundred at a distance."
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Val stood as a large raven alighted to the ground, clutching two tightly bound scrolls in one of his talons. "Huginn, what took you so long?"
"I was serving as a messenger between the nine houses. I was not entirely expecting their decision to be so quick."
Asha ran over with Muninn, paying no mind to the double lines of Val's ward. Huginn turned to her, setting the two scrolls before him. "Her Majesty bids you to deliver these, one to the Kar Lodihr senate and the other... To Emperor Aurulius."
Asha frowned. "The Aurulian Empire?"
"Indeed. Her Majesty prepares for war."
"What?!" Asha looked shocked, Val stood to the side, keeping quiet, while Muninn also wore a look of surprise.
"The Queen called for the houses to convene, seven reached a consensus. The Ljosalfar joins the war. The Draug have been spotted further up in the North, she will bring twenty-thousand, and she will lead them herself. The majority of their forces must remain to defend against the Draug. These two letters are summons for Kar Lodihr, the other, for the Aurulians."
"That can't be right... The Queen decided this? Did she say why?"
"You know your people better than I. While I did ask for aid, she herself said they will no longer hide. They march to battle in a month, there's little time if we are to rally the Dwarves and the Aurulians."
Asha was silent as she picked up the two missives. She looked about to unfasten the cord and read them herself for a moment. After almost a minute, she broke the silence with a resolute tone. "I'll deliver them. We'll meet Kar Lodihr's senate, then we head for the Aurulian capital."
Huginn nodded. "I will see you at Boldir's."
Val looked at him curiously. "You're leaving now? Aren't you exhausted?"
"Hmph. I can travel the world without rest if I need to. Dwarves can be difficult. I will go to ensure the Senate is ready to convene when you arrive."
"Why not take the letter, then? We can head straight for Aurulia."
Huginn held a conflicted tone. "Her Majesty was very particular about her letter being delivered by Elven hands, and while I do not like it, I agree. The Dwarves hold much respect for the Aesir host, but our time was long ago. Their alliance with the Elves holds more... Weight."
In the evening, Val was sitting outside, enjoying a cigarette as the sky's color approached the black of night. A soldier approached hesitantly, carrying a small envelope.
"Sir, we developed the film. We can't produce the photos here, but you can still make out the details." Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click www.webnovel.com for visiting.
"Thanks, and enough with the 'sir' bit. My name's Val, and you guys risked your lives saving hundreds while I was asleep in my car. Give yourself some more credit."
"T-thank you, sir— Uh, sorry."
Val rolled his eyes and waved a hand. "Yeah, alright, thanks."
The soldier did not move, standing there awkwardly, beginning to annoy Val with what looked like a question he was struggling to ask.
Val turned to look at the man, who he now realized must have enlisted straight out of high school. He looked to be barely twenty. "What is it?"
"Um... How do you do it? Those things are horrifying, they get into your head... We never trained for anything like it."
Val smirked. "I dunno. For me, dying a hundred times more or less did the trick."
The soldier looked confused, gawking at him and causing Val mild annoyance as he tried to enjoy the last of his cigarette. "Look, just think of your friends, comrades, maybe people you care about. Who cares what they look like or what they do. To us, they're monsters and the enemy. Either you find the courage to pick up your rifle, find some other way to help, or stay away from the fight. In my case, the best thing I'm good at these days is killing with my sword or my magic."
"Right, right, thanks... And thank you again for saving us, it's an honor to count you among our own."
The soldier saluted, and whether by guilt or annoyance, Val almost snapped at him, his eyes flaring slightly with orange color. "Kainoa saved you, not me, and don't count me as a comrade. I killed a dozen of your brothers in arms a couple of weeks ago and hardly felt a thing. I'm grateful to you and the others, but I came up here to save my friends, you all were just a bonus. Thank you for the photos."
The soldier finally left with a mix of emotions on his face. Val fished out another cigarette in an irritated mood.
"You could be less of an ass. The kid just finished basic not long before this all went down." Kainoa sighed as he took a seat on the bench next to Val.
"That 'kid' is barely younger than I am. I don't know, something about him as a soldier pissed me off. He'll get himself killed before he can fumble the safety off. I'm not going to be his inspiration to some idiot act of heroism."
Kainoa sighed. "Didn't have to tell him about killing those bastards if that was your intention, especially only half the story. No one here is ready for any of this, sure they're terrified of you, but you're also the closest thing to a hero around here. 'One man stands against a horde of monsters.' It's straight out of the movies, seeing you cut down those things."
"I only did it to get our friends out of there."
"So you said, is that it then? People are inspired to stand with you, and you send them away?"
"I send them away if they can't handle themselves. I'm not crazy enough to think I can do it all myself."
"As long as I have your word on that. For you, you finally found your friends, for us, we got you back from the dead."
Val smirked. "I almost forgot how nosy you can be."
"Heh. Someone has to make sure you stay alive."
"Yeah... I've got several 'someone's' on that job."
Kainoa's tone took on a note of concern. "What did you mean when you said you died a hundred times?"
"Technically a hundred and seventeen, it's a bit of a story. The guy who teaches me the sword has a brutal teaching method. He and Judy should chat, no clear learning outcomes, mistakes are punished with death."
"That's the whole 'god in your head' thing, right?"
"Mmhmm."
Kainoa paused, seeming to expect the rest of the story, but Val merely sat and inhaled his cigarette. The large marine stood and clapped him on the shoulder. "Just be careful, alright? The Val I remember... Was much more into tinkering with computers than hacking monsters to bloody bits, not too different from that 'kid.'"
Val looked up at him in mild confusion as he left. Annoyed, Val discarded his cigarette and put it out under his boot.
. . .
As the sun was just beginning to rise, five trucks and two armored transports fitted with machine-gun nests rumbled out of the gates. Val followed behind on his bike with Asha and Muninn. Everyone had piled into the vehicles, with two of the trucks mainly bearing supplies and equipment. As agreed, Val would travel with them through Oregon at least, and from there, they would split up.
"Can we not go faster?" Asha asked loudly with annoyance as if to purposely let the soldiers hear her. They were traveling barely above thirty, sometimes forty miles an hour. The moments that annoyed the elf the most was when they had to stop. The armored vehicles in front would push a car out of the road, as they were currently waiting for. In nearly eight hours, they had traveled little over half the distance Val could make.
"We're halfway to Kar Lodihr, we'll be there before too long. We've passed the worst parts of the road. At least it's been a safe trip, no Aurulians, no Goblins, and no Draug."
"You *are* aware there are other dangers? And the urgency of our mission."
"Yeah, like your neverending complaints. My ears are right there, you know."
"Oh, really? These ones? Since you're so fascinated with long ears, perhaps I can stretch them out for you." Asha pinched his right ear and pulled painfully.
"Ow-ow, fucking hell, let go!"
"Hui! Lovebirds! The road's clear, we're moving out!" Kainoa called out, his head sticking out of the driver's seat window.
Val glared at the chuckling marine while Asha crossed her arms in annoyance. "Bikes don't have seatbelts, y'know." Val commented.
"I'm aware."
"Oh, good, just reminding you." Val twisted his grip, and the bike lurched forward, causing Asha to lose her balance for a moment before she gripped the strap fastening his sword to his back.
A few hours later, they were exiting Oregon, traveling through dense woods. They had to stop again to clear a few cars when Asha yanked on the strap she had been holding onto.
"What?"
"Shh. We're surrounded— at least thirty..." Asha continued looking around into the woods suspiciously.
Val's eyes took on fire as he ignited his magic. He parked his bike and hopped off, quietly approaching Kainoa's truck in front of him. He rapped the window gently, and Kainoa opened the door. Upon seeing Val's eyes, the marine turned serious.
"What is it?" Kainoa whispered.
"We need to keep moving or get ready for an ambush. Asha picked up thirty or so enemies, not sure what."
Kainoa banged the side of the truck twice with his fist as he reached towards the passenger seat for his rifle. Five soldiers quickly got out of the back, already armed. The vehicle in front of Kainoa's heard the noise and repeated the motion, in a chain of wordless communication, all of the soldiers got out and checked their weapons.
Muninn landed on Val's shoulder. "Val, goblins."
For a moment, Val looked disappointed as he reached for his sword, before pausing. Kainoa looked at him curiously. "Goblins?"
Val grunted. "Yeah, almost exactly like what you're thinking. Short, vicious bastards, they're not entirely brainless, but they have a poor ability to assess their enemies. Most importantly... They're highly susceptible to small arms fire."
"Oh, good." The other soldiers looked mildly confused but followed Kainoa as they formed a perimeter around the convoy.
"Alright, listen up! We've got thirty or more tangos who have no idea who they're trying to ambush. We need a few more minutes to clear the road, safeties off!" Kainoa's voice carried far as every soldier clicked off safeties and checked their sights.
Val cooled his magic and walked back over to the bike and took a seat. Asha was standing next to it, mildly confused by his actions. "Not going to help?" She asked with a raised brow.
"It's goblins, I'm still recovering, and believe me they don't need our help for this one."
In another minute, screeching cries came from the woods as several dozen creatures with skin of various shades of brown to mustard yellow came running out. As soon as they appeared, the loud popping sound of gunfire rang out as goblins were mowed down by the wall of bullets. Asha covered her ears as she observed the scene. She had witnessed modern weaponry already, but it became much easier to understand their destructive capacity with the scale of a couple of dozen automatic weapons.
For reasons owing either to their stupidity or their bravery, the goblins were relentless, never retreating until their body count numbered just over thirty, and they were no more. Some of the soldiers looked disturbed, but the honking horn from the vehicles in front called them all to click safeties back on and board the trucks.
"Like I said." Val brought the bike back to life as Asha took her seat, mildly unsettled by the scene.
"Barren Worlders have managed some terrifying things." The elf remarked.
"Trust me, that's nothing. You can see now why I want them on our side against the Draug. I'd hardly call it one-sided, but at least as far as those mindless Draug are concerned, a team like this could take out several hundred at a distance."
Val stood as a large raven alighted to the ground, clutching two tightly bound scrolls in one of his talons."Huginn, what took you so long?" "I was serving as a messenger between the nine houses. I was not entirely expecting their decision to be so quick." Asha ran over with Muninn, paying no mind to the double lines of Val's ward. Huginn turned to her, setting the two scrolls before him. "Her Majesty bids you to deliver these, one to the Kar Lodihr senate and the other... To Emperor Aurulius." Asha frowned."The Aurulian Empire?" "Indeed. Her Majesty prepares for war." "What?!" Asha looked shocked, Val stood to the side, keeping quiet, while Muninn also wore a look of surprise. "The Queen called for the houses to convene, seven reached a consensus. The Ljosalfar joins the war. The Draug have been spotted further up in the North, she will bring twenty-thousand, and shewill lead them herself. The majority of their forces must remain to defend against the Draug. These two letters are summons for Kar Lodihr, the other, for the Aurulians." "That can't be right... The Queen decided this?Did she say why?" "You know your people better than I. While I did ask for aid, she herself said they will no longer hide. They march to battle in a month, there's little time if we are to rally the Dwarves and the Aurulians." Asha was silent as she picked up the two missives. She looked about to unfasten the cord and read them herself for a moment. After almost a minute, she broke the silence with a resolute tone. "I'll deliver them. We'll meet Kar Lodihr's senate, then we head for the Aurulian capital." Huginn nodded. "I will see you at Boldir's." Val looked at him curiously. "You're leaving now? Aren't you exhausted?" "Hmph. Ican travel the world without rest if I need to. Dwarves can be difficult. Iwill go to ensure the Senate is ready to convene when you arrive." "Why not take the letter, then? We can head straight for Aurulia." Huginn held aconflicted tone."Her Majesty was very particular about her letter being delivered by Elven hands, and while I do not like it, I agree. The Dwarves hold much respect for the Aesir host, but our time was long ago. Their alliance with the Elves holds more... Weight." In the evening, Val was sitting outside, enjoying a cigarette as the sky's color approached the black of night. A soldier approached hesitantly, carrying a small envelope. "Sir, we developed the film. We can't produce the photos here, but you can still make out the details." Find authorized novels in Webnovelfaster updates, better experiencePlease click www.webnovel.com for visiting. "Thanks, and enough with the 'sir' bit. My name's Val, and you guys risked your lives saving hundreds while I was asleep in my car. Give yourself some more credit." "T-thank you, sir Uh, sorry." Val rolled his eyes and waved a hand."Yeah, alright, thanks." The soldier did not move, standing there awkwardly, beginning to annoy Val with what looked like a question he was struggling to ask. Val turned to look at the man, who he now realized must have enlisted straight out of high school. He looked to bebarely twenty."What is it?" "Um... How do you do it? Those things are horrifying, they get into your head... We never trained for anything like it." Val smirked."Idunno. For me, dying a hundred times more or less did the trick." The soldier looked confused, gawking at him and causing Val mild annoyance as he tried to enjoy the last of his cigarette. "Look, just think of your friends, comrades, maybe people you care about. Who cares what they look like or what they do. To us, they're monsters and the enemy. Either you find the courage to pick up your rifle, find some other way to help, or stay away from the fight. In my case, the best thing I'm good at these days is killing with my sword or my magic." "Right, right, thanks... And thank you again for saving us, it's an honor to count you among our own." The soldier saluted, and whether by guilt or annoyance, Val almost snapped at him, his eyes flaring slightly with orange color. "Kainoa saved you, not me, and don't count me as a comrade. I killed a dozen of your brothers in arms a couple of weeks ago and hardly felt a thing. I'm grateful to you and the others, but Icame up here to save my friends, you all were just a bonus. Thank you for the photos." The soldier finally left with a mix of emotions on his face. Val fished out another cigarette in an irritated mood. "You could be less of an ass. The kid just finished basic not long before this all went down." Kainoa sighed as he took a seat on the bench next to Val. "That 'kid' is barely younger than Iam. I don't know, something about him as a soldier pissed me off. He'll get himself killed before he can fumble the safety off. I'm not going to be his inspiration to some idiot act of heroism." Kainoa sighed."Didn't have to tell him about killing those bastards if that was your intention, especially only half the story. No one here is ready for any of this, sure they're terrified of you, but you're also the closest thing to a heroaround here. 'One man stands against a horde of monsters.' It's straight out of the movies, seeing you cut down those things." "Ionly did it to get our friends out of there." "So you said, is that it then?People are inspired to stand with you, and you send them away?" "I send them away if they can't handle themselves. I'm not crazy enough to think I can do it all myself." "As long as Ihave your word on that. For you, you finally found your friends, for us, we got you back from the dead." Val smirked. "I almost forgot how nosy you can be." "Heh. Someone has to make sure you stay alive." "Yeah... I've got several 'someone's' on that job." Kainoa's tone took on a note of concern. "What did you mean when you said youdied a hundred times?" "Technically a hundred and seventeen, it's a bit of a story. The guy who teaches me the sword has a brutal teaching method.He and Judy should chat, no clear learning outcomes, mistakes are punished with death." "That's the whole 'god in your head' thing, right?" "Mmhmm." Kainoa paused, seeming to expect the rest of the story, butVal merely sat and inhaled his cigarette. The large marine stood and clapped him on the shoulder."Just be careful, alright? The Val Iremember... Was much more into tinkering with computers than hacking monsters to bloody bits, not too different from that 'kid.'" Val looked up at him in mild confusion as he left. Annoyed, Val discarded his cigarette and put it out under his boot. . . . As the sun was just beginning to rise, five trucks and two armored transports fitted with machine-gun nests rumbled out of the gates. Val followed behind on his bike with Asha and Muninn. Everyone had piled into the vehicles, with two of the trucks mainly bearing supplies and equipment. As agreed, Val would travel with them through Oregon at least, and from there, they would split up. "Can we not go faster?" Asha asked loudly with annoyance as if to purposely let the soldiers hear her. They were traveling barely above thirty, sometimes forty miles an hour. The moments that annoyed the elf the most was when they had to stop. The armored vehicles in front would push a car out of the road, as they were currently waiting for. In nearly eight hours, they hadtraveled little over half the distance Val could make. "We're halfway to Kar Lodihr, we'll be there before too long. We've passed the worst parts of the road. At least it's been a safe trip, no Aurulians, no Goblins, and no Draug." "You *are* aware there are other dangers? And the urgency of our mission." "Yeah, like your neverending complaints. My ears are right there, you know." "Oh, really? These ones? Since you're so fascinated with long ears, perhaps Ican stretch them out for you." Asha pinched his right ear and pulled painfully. "Ow-ow, fucking hell, let go!" "Hui! Lovebirds!The road's clear, we're moving out!" Kainoa called out, his head sticking out of the driver's seat window. Val glared at the chuckling marine while Asha crossed her arms in annoyance. "Bikes don't have seatbelts, y'know." Val commented. "I'm aware." "Oh, good, just reminding you." Val twisted his grip,and the bike lurched forward, causing Asha to lose her balance for a moment before she gripped the strap fastening his sword to his back. A few hours later, they were exiting Oregon, traveling through dense woods. They had to stop again to clear a few cars when Asha yanked on the strap she had been holding onto. "What?" "Shh. We're surrounded at least thirty..." Asha continued looking around into the woods suspiciously. Val's eyes took on fire as he ignited his magic. He parked his bike and hopped off, quietly approaching Kainoa's truck in front of him. He rapped the window gently, and Kainoa opened the door. Upon seeing Val's eyes, the marine turned serious. "What is it?" Kainoa whispered. "We need to keep moving or get ready for an ambush.Asha picked up thirty or so enemies, not sure what." Kainoa banged the side of the truck twice with his fist as he reached towards the passenger seat for his rifle. Five soldiers quickly got out of the back, already armed. The vehicle in front of Kainoa's heard the noise and repeated the motion, in a chain of wordless communication, all of the soldiers got out and checked their weapons. Muninn landed on Val's shoulder."Val, goblins." For a moment, Val looked disappointed as he reached for his sword, before pausing. Kainoa looked at him curiously. "Goblins?" Val grunted. "Yeah, almost exactly like what you're thinking. Short, vicious bastards, they're not entirely brainless, but they have a poor ability to assess their enemies. Most importantly... They're highly susceptible to small arms fire." "Oh, good." The other soldiers looked mildly confused but followed Kainoa as they formed a perimeter around the convoy. "Alright, listen up! We've got thirty or more tangos who have no idea who they're trying to ambush. We need a few more minutes to clear the road, safeties off!" Kainoa's voice carried far as every soldier clicked off safeties and checked their sights. Val cooled his magic andwalked back over to the bike and took a seat. Asha was standing next to it, mildly confused by his actions. "Not going to help?" She asked with a raised brow. "It's goblins, I'm still recovering, and believe me they don't need our help for this one." In another minute, screeching cries came from the woods as several dozen creatures with skin of various shades of brown to mustard yellow came running out. As soon as they appeared, the loud popping sound of gunfire rang out as goblins were mowed down by the wall of bullets. Asha covered her ears as she observed the scene. She had witnessed modern weaponry already, but it became much easier to understand their destructive capacity with the scale of a couple of dozen automatic weapons. For reasons owing either to their stupidity or their bravery, the goblins were relentless, never retreating until their body count numbered just over thirty, and they were no more. Some of the soldiers looked disturbed, but the honking horn from the vehicles in front called them all to click safeties back on and board the trucks. "Like I said." Val brought the bike back to life as Asha took her seat, mildly unsettled by the scene. "Barren Worlders have managed some terrifying things." The elf remarked. "Trust me, that's nothing. You can see now why I want them on our side against the Draug. I'd hardly call it one-sided, but at least as far as those mindless Draug are concerned, a team like this could take out several hundred at a distance."
