’This can’t be happening. Is this what Rapunzel was talking about? Is this how I’m going to die?’
Steve’s thoughts thundered in his head, frantic and tangled, as his wide eyes remained locked on the hulking figure before him.
The Hulking Goblin, monstrous and grotesque, glared down at him with a hunger in its gaze that made the blood drain from his face.
Inwardly, Steve found himself answering his own question in a hollow, dazed tone.
’No...she said a sword through my heart from my rear...there’s no way in hell this beast can do that!’.
He turned his eyes away from the beast for a flicker of a second, glancing toward the grueso scene, where chaos reigned.
Blood sprayed the grass like sick paint, bodies of fellow rookie magic guards strewn like broken dolls. Screams pierced the air, young voices of the unprepared. They were crying out, yelping in disbelief, in horror.
So were broken. So were gone. And the rest? Staggering around in utter devastation, watching loved ones and comrades beco torn limbs and scattered entrails.
"Tsk..." The sound escaped Steve’s teeth like a reflex.
He forced his gaze back to the beast.
Viewing as the goblin growled, low and guttural, then unleashed a terrifying roar that rattled the very bones of the dead. It raised its hand— which yielded its monstrous blood drenched blade, which was already forming small pools beneath its feet.
’If I don’t do anything.’ Steve thought, panic rushing back like a flood.
’It’s going to kill all of us.’
And in that mont, it happened.
A sharp whoosh.
Poof!
A ball of fire shot through the air, streaking across the battlefield with blinding speed and a suddenness that shocked Steve to his core.
It collided against the goblin’s face with a harsh sizzle, forcing a screech out of the beast—a screech raw with agony and rage. The goblin staggered.
Steve blinked.
"Huh?"
He turned to his left, eyes narrowing through the smoke and dust. There, one of the magic guards—bruised, bloody, and trembling—had risen to her feet.
Her arms stretched outward, shaking, but determined as another fla flickered into life in her palms, bright and flickering like a newborn star.
She moved with purpose, launching the fla again.
The fireball flew, connected with the goblin’s shoulder, and left a smoking scorch mark.
The goblin groaned louder this ti, stumbling back. The flas might not have been enough to kill it, but they were hurting it. The damage was real.
"Kill it! We have to fight back! If we don’t fight back, we won’t—we can’t win!" she shouted, her voice cracking but filled with desperate resolve.
She conjured another fla, then another. Each one flung at the goblin, each blast earning a growl, a stagger, a mont of weakness.
Others were moving too.
The goblin, realizing the sudden shift in attention, snapped its furious eyes toward the girl. It moved—a terrifying, bone-crunching lunge toward her.
Before it reached her, another figure dashed across the field.
Another mage-guard. She burst forward, sword outstretched, cutting through the smoky air. With a wild cry, she clashed against the goblin, her blade colliding with its bloodied weapon.
Clang!
tal scraped against monstrous bone, sparks bursting from the impact.
The goblin roared again, enraged. But the girl held her ground, using every ounce of strength to push back.
Behind her, fire rained down. The first magic girl was still going, flas bursting from her hands one after another, blasting the beast’s torso and legs, forcing it to recoil.
And then, from behind, another rookie mage charged forward.
She was fast—so fast that even Steve had trouble tracking her.
She leapt up the goblin’s massive leg, each movent calculated, each footfall finding a joint or weak point. With each leap, she slashed—cutting into its skin, drawing deep wounds that spilled green-black blood.
The goblin screeched, arms flailing.
Still, she kept going. Slashes at the hips. Then the shoulder. Closer and closer to the head.
At the final mont, she launched herself upward. Her blade stretched out toward the goblin’s thick neck, ready to end it in one clean motion.
But the goblin was faster.
Its hand snatched her mid-air, its claws locking around her like iron bars.
Wham!
It slapped her hard against the ground.
The fla mage gasped in horror, a shrill sound that pierced the smoke. She conjured one more fla—a bigger one, the largest yet. She aid. Ready to throw.
But she froze.
The goblin raised its hand again, this ti holding the limp mage-guard like a doll. Without a doubt, it was about to use her as a weapon.
The fla mage’s eyes widened. She couldn’t throw the fire now—not without hitting her comrade.
She hesitated.
The goblin didn’t.
It reeled its arm back, preparing to throw the body. To shatter bones. To use her as a projectile of destruction.
And then, just as the mont reached its peak—
"Unravel."
The word left Steve’s lips like a breath, like a whisper.
The goblin froze.
Its body shuddered.
Its arm trembled.
It tried to move. Tried to throw. But its joints locked.
Its blurry eyes scanned the field, confused and twitching, then slowly focused on Steve.
There was no longer fear in Steve’s gaze. No panic. Just fury.
Pure, blazing, unrelenting fury.
Power crackled around him, his aura growing like a storm. His presence sharpened, cutting through the battlefield like a blade.
The goblin kept trembling, its muscles twitching and resisting. But it could not move. It was bound. Its body seized up.
And then, slowly—horrifyingly—it began to act.
In a gentle glide, it dropped the magic guard it had wrapped around its palm on the safety of the grassland, and taking a step back-
One hand reached up.
The other followed.
One gripped the crown of its skull.
The other, its lower jaw.
Its mouth frothed. Its eyes were full of confusion and terror, but its hands obeyed.
With a grunt, a groan, and a sickening twist—
Snap!
The goblin snapped its own neck.
The sound echoed across the field like thunder.
Blood sprayed from its mouth. For a second, it stood, trembling on its knees. Then, slowly, like a tree falling in a dead forest, it collapsed to the ground with a thud that shook the grass.
Silence.
Just for a mont.
Steve gasped, catching his breath, chest heaving.
He turned to Fiona, who had been watching, stunned.
He reached out a hand.
"Co on. Get up. We have to get to the forest. Now." he muttered.
There was no need for hesitation. No more ti to waste.
The fight wasn’t over yet...and this was their chance to escape.
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