With a violent cough, Eric rolled over on to his hands and knees. Around him, black smoke mixed with the mist to create a dense cloud that was almost impossible to see through.

"Ryan! Zwei! Sery! Kifax!" Eric attempted to shout, but the words wouldn't come out. His airway was blocked with a mixture of ash and blood. Coughing again, he tried to clear his throat, doing his best to make a sound as he hunched over.

With a retching sound, Eric threw up, a mixture of ash and debris flowing from his throat to the ground. Ignoring this, he called for his squad once more.

"Ryan! Zwei! Sery! Kifax!" Eric's voice sounded distant, even to himself, as if he was hearing himself over a speaker from far away.

"I'm here."

"Same."

"Are you okay, Captain?"

"Don't call me that," Seryllia's voice was the last to emerge from the smoke surrounding them.

"See if you guys can meet up with me. We need to find out what happened," Eric shouted.

Climbing to his feet, Eric surveyed the surroundings. What had been a misty forest encampment only minutes ago was now a grim h.e.l.lscape. The wind carried smoke and embers through the air, making visibility difficult as the fires continued to burn. Straining his eyes, Eric looked towards the source of the explosion, a pulsing column of thick reddish-black smoke that rose into the air high above the base.

Following the column of smoke with his eyes, Eric could just make out an enormous hole in the far wall of the base. From the hole, goblins were streaming in, headed towards the command tent where Alistair and the scouts were currently engaged in a harsh battle. As Eric strained his eyes, looking towards Alistair's last position, he could just make out numerous figures flashing in the smoke as elite goblins wielding sabres clashed with the beleaguered scouts.

"What's the situation, Captain?" Kifax emerged beside him. Behind him were the other three, all looking significantly worse for wear, but alive.

"The goblins have blown up a section of the wall and are attacking Alistair's unit. We need to go aid them," Eric responded tersely, pointing to the figures in the distance as he began to sprint towards the opposite end of the base.

Eyes widening, the rest of the squad made to follow their leader, sprinting through the smoke and ash as they headed for the scout unit. From afar, it had been tough to tell, but getting closer, Eric could see that numerous scouts now lay motionless on the ground below. Alistair had grouped the rest together and put them into a shield wall formation, which was slowly backing up towards the wall of the base. However, this didn't stop the goblins from throwing themselves at the unit, their sabres glinting in the firelight as they bayed for human blood, their war cries resounding throughout the encampment.

"Militia! To me! We move to aid the Captain!" Owin's voice pierced through the base.

Spying the lieutenant, Eric moved his squad towards Owin's own, regrouping with the others as they a.s.sessed the situation.

"We need to aid Captain Alistair. There are two hobgoblins among the forces attacking his unit, he can't hold out without us," Owin explained urgently, grouping the militia who'd gathered into a rudimentary formation.

Before Owin could make any further adjustments however, another scream echoed through the air. Turning around, Eric watched in horror as Tanix flew through the smoke, his left arm severed at the shoulder as he crashed into the ground, skidding helplessly across the dirt. Behind him, Soren Gunnarson was also sent flying, his shield dented from the blow he'd just received from the enormous figure who'd just appeared in the gateway. Eyes widening, Eric's hand gripped his falchion tightly as he beheld Grimarok for the first time since his death at his hand.

Sitting upon an enormous blood-red worg, Grimarok was fully clad in heavy plate armour. His thick sabre was held easily in one hand, while the other held a large javelin. As Eric watched, Grimarok hurled the javelin, piercing an unfortunate militia member and pinning them to the ground. With a vicious smile, Grimarok's sabre flashed as he descended upon the remaining militia who'd been tasked with guarding the doorway. Standing still in fright, Astrid closed her eyes tightly as the sabre descended, only to feel a hard yank instead as Jun grabbed her braid and pulled her out of harms way.

"Move!" Jun shouted at her, avoiding Grimarok's next swing as he grabbed Astrid's arm, pulling her bodily away from the gateway as he retreated.

Behind Grimarok, countless elite goblins swarmed, their eyes glinting with a cruel glow as they swarmed through the gate, sabres flashing as they hacked at the militia who hadn't had the presence of mind to flee.

With horrified gazes, Owin and the rest of the militia watched as their companions were slaughtered, their agonized cries resounding through the smoky air.

"That is a ma.s.sive hobgoblin," Owin gulped, his sword trembling slightly as he beheld Grimarok's brutal majesty.

"Owin, what's the plan?" Eric asked in a low voice. "Do we still go to reinforce Alistair?"

"No. We have to block these reinforcements. Alistair and the others will have to survive on their own. There are far more goblins here than we thought, and three hobgoblins on top of that. If we allow the two groups to meet, we're doomed."

Looking behind him, Eric realized that Owin was right. Alistair's forces had reached the wall and set up a defensive formation, but their numbers had been drastically reduced. More than a dozen bodies lay where they fell, still burning from the explosion that had caught them by surprise. Yet more corpses could be seen beyond that point, almost unrecognizable from all the sabre strikes they'd taken as the goblins had overrun their position.

Even now, Alistair could be seen struggling against two mounted hobgoblins. Although neither were as big as Grimarok, both were still enormous, their sabres pressuring Alistair as his claymore flickered in the firelight, taking on both monsters and their mounts singlehandedly in order to relieve the pressure upon the rest of the scouts.

Eric swore. "Alright. What's the plan then?"

Doing his best to regain his composure, Owin pointed towards Grimarok.

"My squad will engage the hobgoblin lord. The rest of you, engage the elite goblins and keep them from attacking my squad as we deal with the brute. We're not defeated yet!" Owin roared, doing his best to keep morale high.

As if to punctuate this statement, Owin took a flask from his belt. An orange mixture swirled within, glowing slightly as tendrils of violet mana snaked through the liquid. Aiming towards the gate as elite goblins continued to pour through, Owin threw the flask, watching as it traced a beautiful arc in the air, descending upon the unfortunate goblins.

Watching with antic.i.p.ation, the militia members eyes grew wide as the flask struck the ground, igniting into an enormous conflagration which consumed more than a dozen elite goblins, their cries filling the gateway as the magical flames burned their flesh.