Perhaps it was seeing her savior getting hit by an arrow that spurred Shadowheart to action. Perhaps it was Karlach's words that did it. Perhaps it was a simple fight or flight response. Whatever it was, the half-elf finally snapped out of her stupor. Calling magic to her fingertips, she cast Cure Wounds on Karlach's side. The hole the arrow had punctured mended itself, and the tiefling was back in fighting shape.
"That's more like it!" The barbarian cheered, grabbing a goblin shield from the ground and forcing it into the cleric's hands. "We're gonna try to make it out that gate, same way you came in! Now you block those arrows, soldier, while I deal with their swordsman."
"Right!" Shadowheart agreed, raising the shield. The fear had disappeared from her eyes, replaced by the hardened resolve of a Shar cleric.
It was a tough fight back to the gate. Karlach dealt with the approaching goblins well enough. They made the classic mistake of attacking one at a time, allowing the barbarian to cut them down in turn. It was the archers on the roofs that were the real problem. Try as she might, Shadowheart could not stop every shot. Each girl got pricked a few more times, the worst being a crossbow bolt lodged right in Karlach's thigh. However, they were nothing a healing word could not fix, and Shadowheart kept them moving.
Past the gate was a bridge, and from there untamed wilderness. "As soon as we are on the other side of that wall," Karlach warned, decapitating another goblin. "We book it into the forest. Lose them in the trees. Got it."
"I'm... I'm not that fast!" Shadowheart replied, worry in her voice. An arrow thudded against her shield, sending splinters everywhere. "I don't know if I can keep up!"
"Well, soldier, I think I got a solution for that!"
Without warning Karlach sheathed her battleaxe and turned to Shadowheart. She grabbed the half elf around the waist, throwing her over her shoulder as she squealed in surprise. With the girl secured, Karlach sprinted away from the town. She crossed the bridge with ease, arrows landing around her to no avail. Soon she was gone, deep in the forest and away from harm, while the goblins could only hurl curses at each other.
Comments