第五章：ゴブリンと冒険者
私は日本出身ではなく、西洋から来ました。翻訳がうまくできないため、英語で投稿しています。私の物語を楽しんでいただけると嬉しいです！
"Grog?!" Tulls yells out to the goblin, still facing the warg that is awaiting a single twitch of a mistake.
The warg dashes again at Tull, feigning another headbutt against his shield and suddenly twisting its head to lash at the arm holding his blade. Tull manages to avoid a direct bite, but the horn cuts into his arm, drawing blood and causing him to let out a pained groan before making more distance between himself and the warg.
The warg tilts its head sideways to let the blood drip down into its mouth, lapping up the string that falls onto its tongue before turning back towards Tull. This creature isn't like a normal animal, it's intelligent and capable of understanding fear. And it's trying to squeeze every bit of it out of Tull as they fight.
"Grog!" Tull calls out again, pained and afraid that this could be both his first and last battle.
The goblin's eyes dart up at Tull, who is still holding out against the beast. Each blow they share flashes a memory of the other goblin that protected him before. He's seen how this beast fights and knows what it takes to beat it. Suddenly, the flashes in his head stop as he realizes he is still in real danger, and this human, Tull, is trying to protect them both. His sword is stronger than the makeshift spear the other goblin had. And his shield is sturdier than the ramshackle wood planks put together. He knows Tull can fight this monster and win. Because if Tull loses, he would be the beasts next meal.
Grog shakes his head and slaps his cheeks to snap out of his panic and becomes serious. This was his chance to do something and save them both. He isn't a fighter, but he's seen this fight before. He can help.
"Keep the shield at his muzzle! Wait for an opening to swing!" Grog yells out.
"W-what?" Tull looks back in confusion. He's already been doing that, and is still struggling to land a hit on this creature.
"Just do it and listen to me!" the goblin yells back, his determined gaze meets Tull's, who then nods and readies himself back into a defensive stance.
The warg leaps towards Tull, fangs ready to bite. As soon as it leaps into the air, its gaze set on Tull's neck, Grog takes a deep breath.
"Bash its ugly mug!" he shouts out, and as if by instinct, Tull pushes his shield into the warg's face, its eyes widened in surprise, nose scrunched into the metal. Tull adjusted his shield to avoid its horns that would normally guard its muzzle, and a sudden pain from the blow is seen in its eyes.
"Now take the hit!" Grog closes his eyes and yells, Tull swings his sword into the warg's side, getting a clean hit. The warg collects itself after the blow and leaps back, looking at its blood dripping from its side and growling towards Tull upon noticing it got hit.
Its dark fur begins to raise up in anger, letting out a low growl before charging full-force towards the armored Adventurer. It turns its head sideways to prepare for a bite onto his leg, making an attempt to trip him.
Grog's eyes widen, yelling out "Strike the ground!"
Tull quickly swings his sword across the ground towards the warg, causing it to hesitate and stop before its head gets cut.
In its hesitation, the goblin yells "Bash 'em!"
WHAM!
Tull slams his shield into the warg's face again, with the impact forcing them both back. Each of them takes the opportunity to ready themselves to attack again. The warg is slowly losing blood, but still maintains a calm composure and showing no signs of weakness. Tull, on the other hand, is beginning to pant from blocking its endless assault.
"It ain't over yet, kid! Be ready!" Grog's eyes are still focused on the warg, reading every twitch and detail it makes to ensure he calls the next action at the right time.
The warg then lowers its body and postures its horns forward, lunging at Tull in an attempt at a full-body gore. Its eyes unblinking and determined to land another blow.
"Block!" Grog yells as Tull pushes his shield onto the horns as it charges, body sliding back upon impact.
"Break it upwards!-" the goblin shouts and points ahead of him, then throws his finger towards the sky. At the same time, Tull pushes his shield down and then throws it up, causing the warg's head to shoot up from the force.
"AND STRIKE!" Grog screams with determination as Tull yells, putting every ounce of force into his next swing, striking the warg's head, scarring the eye all the way down to the base of the neck. Upon impact, the warg starts to back off as blood soaks into its fur where it was cut.
AWOOOOOOOO!
The black-furred beast lets out a howl. After a moment of quiet, other wargs begin to howl through the woods. Suddenly, five more wargs appear from the shadows of the woods and surround the two Adventurers.
Tull keeps his sword ready as they both back up to each other, the wargs slowly surrounding them as they move closer. Tull's gaze meets the warg's, realizing it was just toying with him. Absolute dread begins to wash over them. It took too much effort to fight just one of these monsters, there's no way they could take on five.
Grog swallows his fear and begins to chuckle at the situation. He was surely dead here.
"Well, it was nice knowin' ya, kid."
Tears begin to well up in Tull's vision. This was it, this was the end.
WHOOOOSH
Suddenly, a wall of fire surrounds them both and blocks off the wargs. One of the beasts jumps out from the flames attempting to bite Tull, but a bolt of fire slams into its face, forcing it away. The crackling of the fire begins to die down as a male human in black robes, messy black hair, and an arrogant smile is revealed walking towards them.
"Tch, weaklings," he says as he points at several of the wargs, small pillars of fire erupting below them. The human reaches out both of his hands and then raises them, increasing the size of the flame pillars before running his fingers through his hair, causing the fire to stop.
Three of the wargs, badly burnt, begin to flee. The other two growl at the three of them, but realize the battle is lost before running back into the shadows.
