Heroes Without A Plan

Three days had passed since their great triumph. The sun scorched Eliot’s back as he practiced his magic on Alyssa’s arrows as she fired them one by one.

“OI! Breakfast is ready!” Agatha opened the door and watched as Eliot missed one of the arrows and quickly dodged it before it had a chance to pierce his arm.

When they sat down at the table, Mike served them all crepes filled with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. Alyssa licked her lips before stuffing her face with the delicious treat.

“Wow! It’s so good!” Eliot cooed with his mouth full.

After a moment’s silence, Agatha spoke. She told the heroic group that they would have to leave the nest, that the goblins would not come to them, and that they would have to go on a journey around the world. As she spoke, her tone became more serious than they had ever seen. No, it wasn’t mad, just resolute. Sure, it would take a long time for the goblins to truly disappear, but she wouldn’t wait any longer.

Before there could be any argument, the one-eyed hag was out of the room.

“Now what?” Alyssa asked her companions.

“Hm, we leave. Just like she said,” Mike advised them.

“But how? Where do we go?” Eliot asked the fireman.

“No idea, but we’ll find a way!”

The trio packed their belongings into their bags for the journey into the vast unknown. The sun shone down on the heroes as they made their way through the forest, which eventually opened into a field. Before they left, Agatha had told them that there was a camp where orcs and humans lived.

As they approached their destination, the heroes could see a plume of smoke in the distance. They gazed at the smoke rising above the revenue trees and wondered if it was normal.

“Maybe somebody’s cooking,” Eliot suggested.

“I don’t know, looks like a lot of smoke for just food,” Mike said, squinting at the smoke with suspicion.

“Maybe a bonfire then?”

When the three reached the camp, they heard screams throughout it. They watched in disbelief as orcs and humans ran for their lives. The goblins had set fire to the camp. Everything was burning, and several were injured. Some of the goblins were flying around on their bees, shooting corn in all directions. Others were on the ground, setting fires and killing innocents.

Arriving a little late, the heroes ran to the camp.

“We’ve got to do something! Mike, get that fire out!” She pointed to a well near one of the burning tents, and he nodded. He began dousing the tents with buckets of water. He was not afraid and remained calm, he had done this many times and this was only alittledifferent. Alyssa started shooting bees from the sky while Eliot helped the citizens out of the camp. Mike sliced through a goblin while carrying an orc out of a burning tent.

As chaos ensued, Alyssa felt a small tug on her cloak, and when she looked down, her eyes stopped on the tiny orc child on the ground, snot running down her nose as she cried. The child’s pleas for the rogue’s help were desperate, and left Alyssa uncomfortable with the situation, as she had never been good with children.

Fortunately for the hero, Eliot rushed to the girl in distress. Crouching to her level, the wizard spoke tenderly to the frail orc.

“Hey, it’s okay. Where are your mommy and daddy? Any idea?” When the fragile girl did nothing but shake her head as more tears rolled down her face, Eliot gently picked her up and led her to the rest of the survivors.

Twenty grueling minutes later, all the goblins in the camp were spread out on the ground. A few tents were still burning, but everyone was safe. The three of them helped the citizens back into the camp, where some had died. The camp leader, an orc male who looked terrified after the confrontation, stepped forward to thank them.

Truly indebted to the trio, the leader and his people kept offering them things, but to Alyssa’s annoyance, Mike kept refusing. After the heroes finally got a healer to patch their wounds, Mike helped the camp put out the rest of the fire while others cleared away the corn and goblins that littered the paths.

As everyone reassembled, the leader spoke.

“Oh, I never asked for your names! What shall we call you?” Hearing his question, Alyssa opened her mouth to speak, only to be rudely interrupted by the wizard.

“She’s Steelbow! And I’m Proudflame.” His smug comment infuriated Alyssa; she had never agreed to that. Mike noticed and joined in as well.

“Yep. And call me Truesword!”

After hours of cleaning the camp, the ether was pitch black as the trio prepared to sleep. The citizens and their leader were very grateful and gave the heroes one of the largest unburned tents to sleep in. It was big enough for all of them, with three beds.

Another successful battle was won by the young heroes. How did they get so good so quickly? Perhaps fatehadchosen them. And maybe they had a chance after all.