Hobgoblin Tag Team

The woman shouts something to you, but it's unfortunately in the goblin tongue, as she sends out another fire bolt your way. You climb the roof to avoid it but walk straight into another arrow piercing your chest. You pull both arrows out as you struggle to breath, beginning your healing spell. He's good at hiding and apparently really good at hitting people in their vitals, so he has to be an Assassin. You struggle to dodge more attacks, trying to focus on healing and stabilizing your breathing. Deciding to focus on the hobgoblin you can see, you begin making your way to her, opting to fly instead of wade your way through the vegetation camouflaging the roof. Panicking, the woman looses another bolt, but your airborne maneuverability allows you to quickly roll to the side to avoid it. However, as you stop trying to heal yourself, ready to shove this woman off the building, a blur steps between the two of you, raising a real, metal blade to strike at you. You raise up an arm to defend yourself, but you can't avoid the strike or slow yourself enough to stop. The blade cuts deep, sticking into you as you quickly cast recompense, the dark energy engulfing your opponent as you fly off the building.

You pull the dagger out of your arm as you come to a stop midair, turning to get a clear look at your assailant, a hobgoblin man who is slouching a bit. Just as I thought, he's got a class, too. He steps back into the foliage as they both fire simultaneously at you. Dodging sideways more easily since you can see both assailants, you fire back, launching your own light bolt toward the sorcerer. She doesn't dodge in time, ending up with your bolt graze her side. She noticeably winces, covering the burnt hole in her dress with her hand as she fires again. You duck down, using gravity to accelerate yourself back toward the woman. As you approach though, you feel an arrow in your wing, punching a hole straight through it. The sudden impact throws off your aim, causing you to crash past her into the foliage instead of grabbing the woman.

Ow...there goes my flight advantage... You pull out the arrow and toss it over the side of the building as you stand, the same wing shielding your body from another fire bolt. "You two are so annoying..." You launch another bolt of your own to the sorcerer, with her ducking down into the greenery. "Almost feels like I'm fighting Cap..." Despite the lull in the battle on the roof, the one below is still roaring as you ready the dagger you're holding, preparing to deflect whichever strike comes next. The assassin is the bigger problem. Even though my defense is pretty good, he's piercing through much better than the hornets could. You tune out the battle cries and shouts down below and focus on what you can see and hear on the roof. You're not anywhere near as good at this as Eve is, but you walk up toward where the sorcerer had last been. As you approach, you hear the rustle of something to your right. You narrowly deflect an arrow as it scrapes your cheek.

Unfortunately, the sorcerer takes advantage of your distraction. By the time your focus returns to her, she's sprung back up, both hands full of flames that spew forth, engulfing you. You instinctively recoil from the heat, unsure what to do. You bring your wings forth to shield yourself, feeling another hole puncturing one of them. Did she focus on learning new spells? I've got nothing like this! You feel another thunk against your wing. You take a knee as the flames continue to torrent around you. When is she gonna run out of mana!? You drop your blade and begin healing again, desperately regenerating the only 'shield' you have.

You feel a piercing in your back, but...something swells within you. Reactively, you cast recompense, feeling the swelling subside as your attacker recoils away. The flames don't recede, though. Think, think! What the hell can I do?! "Come on! You really think this is good enough?" You pray that taunting will work, even if they can't understand you. "I've got far more mana than you! You can't beat me like th-ack!" You cast recompense again, after feeling another dagger stab into you. You take a strained breath in the suffocating air. This can't go on... You **** yourself to your feet and step forward, trying to approach the sorcerer assaulting you.

The inferno doesn't cease, but you continue forward, unable to withstand the pain much longer. You **** yourself to approach the apex of the heat, the flames bending more the closer you get to their source. Taking a chance, you fit your hand between your wings, almost backing out from the heat before you launch a light bolt outward. You hear a scream, and the flames die out.

You fall back to one knee, watching the woman before you fall on her rear as you return your wings to a resting state against your back. Your momentary victory is cut short when you feel another stab in your back, cutting straight through your wing and piercing into your back. Once more, you erupt dark energy, and you can hear the thud and crunch of someone falling back into the burnt shrubbery of the roof.

You take a moment to heal up a bit, now satisfied that your two foes have fallen. Standing, you walk over to the edge facing the battle below.

[[Translated from the goblin tongue for reader convenience]]

Eve wasn't happy that her chief had left her behind, but this was her chance to prove herself. Being Chief's cocksleeve wasn't...bad. In fact, she was still proud and happy about her duty. The problem ended up being this itching feeling she'd felt ever since the day before. She had barely known any of the human tongue before, but it was like something clicked when he had started speaking to her. Since then, she'd felt like there was...more, just out of reach. But Chief was able to help. It had started with him, and she'd kept remembering more and more about herself with him around. If she wasn't able to prove herself, would he stop trying to help her?

Shaking off the anxious feeling, at least for the moment, Eve began to address her ally. "You take the-"

"Shut it, Cocksleeve." Borak quickly retorted. "You're not in charge here."

"Really?" Eve took aim to a nearby tree and fired, amplifying the strike with her magic. Bark exploded from the plant as an arrow stuck out of it. "Chief is counting on both of us, and I would hate for only one of us to make it back to him."

Borak gulped, then nodded. The threat was clear. "Then what do we do?"

"You keep the others away from me. I'll take care of the rest." She stepped closer to the action, enough to have a clear shot of the action and everyone in it. There were around forty or so goblinoids still alive. Eve wasn't sure how she could determine the number so easily, but guessed it had something to do with being a ranger. She paused for a moment. There's...someone else here. She looked to the odd building, vaguely sensing someone in there. "Borak, we need to get inside that building." She lined up her shot, trying to find the best way to get inside.