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The leaves rustled in the darkness. A rustling that kept the tension high amongst the men who now stood in the middle of a clearing in the forest. They were soldiers, ready to fight the enemy.
This was no ordinary enemy, but beasts. The beasts were tall, dark grey, and walked on two legs. Their faces were wide and had long noses with tiny eyes. Their heads were covered in black fur. These were the creatures considered to be the most terrifying of all creatures: goblins!
The soldiers wore shiny armor of solid steel on their upper bodies. The armor was colored iron red. The soldiers had army pants on as well. The red pants had black stripes down the sides for better identification of the men.
There were thirty-two soldiers. Most of them were young men – in their twenties. Nearly all of them seemed inexperienced. There were also five older soldiers. These guys were battle-hardened and seasoned, capable of bringing down many goblins with little problem.
The five old soldiers were all different. Some wore partial armor. All of them carried a shield and a sword.
Father Bernard was a middle-aged man with black hair and a beard. He wore a half helmet and carried a large shield. He was relaxed with a hand on a sword hilt.
Jaryl was about fifty years old. He had a long, gray beard and a partially bald head. He wore a full helmet and carried a huge, double-headed axe. It was one of the biggest axes I had ever seen.
Nalian was a tall man. He had a full head of black hair. He wore a blue half helmet and carried a large, curved shield.
Captain Bernnard was a young man. He had short brown hair. He wore a baldric holding his sword across his back and nothing on his upper body.
The most terrifying of them all, though, was the man who seemed the most relaxed of all men there, Master Hopper. This man had a green patch over his left eye. He wore a short brown beard and a leather hat. He seemed to exude a quiet confidence.
It was clear these old men were the strongest of the group. In fact, they all looked quite frightening indeed.
The old soldiers entered battle formation. Father Bernard took the middle position. Nalian was on his left. Captain Bernhard was on his right. Then Jaryl was in front of him. The remaining soldiers were ranged across the formation.
Master Hopper took the lead and explained to the other soldiers their plan.
"Tomorrow night we will have two teams. We will send a team to attack through the forest. Another team will wait in the woods near the bridge.
They will leave the bridge with a fast horse team. They will wait there until Mr. James and the others arrive with the supplies. At that time, they will hurry back with the supplies.
We will use mainly the goblin headwaters to hold them. We will then use three other rivers to attack towards the village to our right.
Our goal is to draw out the goblins' main forces. If we have enough goblins in the watery headwaters, we could use those rivers to ambush them.
We will know the village is attacked when their citizens start fleeing from us. We will then turn the goblins towards the other rivers. Once we have the goblins' main forces, we will use the river to their left to sneak through the forest and surprise the goblins from the rear.
We will use the secondary team to protect the escape route of the first team in the forest and on the bridge. I will lead the secondary team. I will stay behind near the front of the first team. Captain Bernhard, as you are the strongest here we will send you with the next second team to ensure our retreat. We will sneak along the river to serve as an ambushing force to any goblins who catch up to us."
Father Bernard was the strongest of the five. It was decided he would go with the first team. Captain Bernhard was the strongest of the second team. He was sent with them. Nalian and Master Hopper stayed with the second team. Jaryl agreed to take part in the attack in the forest and by the bridge. He was the strongest there due to his size. It was a good decision since he was at his best in that area.
There were five other soldiers playing roles assigned to them by Master Hopper. They would be in charge of providing bright dance lights, prepare and drive horses, and help with other subordinate tasks.
Captain Bernhard and Nalian would join the first team in the front. Jaryl grabbed his sword and shield. He walked over to the other soldiers.
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