The Journeymen

Arise

The village was the picture of ruin and destruction. The wooden fence that surrounded the village had more parts burned or on the ground than were still standing. The majority of the houses had been burned down with several still smoking. At the gates there were at least a dozen dead goblins.

There had been no fallen goblins further from the gates, indicating the goblins were unchallenged until they broke down the gate. Fifteen yards inside the gate were the bodies of five of the watchmen that had been left behind. Meaning six of the eight left behind were confirmed as having been killed in the assault.

The members of the watch of a destroyed village ran in through the gates past their fallen comrades, desperately searching for survivors. Aside from Thompson, Jack was sure that each man had some kind of a family in the village. Some were sons of older parents, but most were fathers or even grandfathers.

As the frantic members of the watch rushed into the village, Jack and Chuck moved slowly and carefully. The pair had cleared dozens of houses while working as SWAT officers before The Separation. Chuck of course had his valuable experience as an Army Ranger as well. Then following The Separation, Jack and Chuck had even more opportunities to work tactically as a pair, covering all potential landscapes for threats.

Initially the pair only focused on clearing the outside portions of the fenced in area as there were at least twenty-five houses in the village with around ten still standing, as well as storage buildings, sheds, and small barns. Everywhere they went they saw fallen, mutilated bodies. Fortunately for the fallen the unsightly acts had occurred post-mortem rather than while the victims were alive. They had been killed by various weapons as there was little that was standard about goblins. Strangely the Journeymen continued to find the straight shafted modern arrows in the occasional body.

The busily searching Journeyman winced every time he heard a watchman cry out, clearly discovering a fallen loved one. There were fallen goblins scattered around as well but the fallen villagers clearly outnumbered them. Some seemed to have attempted to fight but the squad that the Journeymen accompanied had been the best armed fighters in the village.

The remaining members of the watch had some firearms but at least three were armed with bows. Jack saw an old man whose head was nearly completely severed that was still clutching a bloody wood cutting axe in his wrinkled hands. The black blood on the blade of the axe hopefully meant the old man had taken at least one goblin with him.

Jack and Chuck had cleared all of the exterior of the neighborhood together before going to work individually on the homes. Normally clearing a house alone was generally avoided but calling the Journeymen skilled fighters was an understatement. They worked carefully in the dark confines of the village houses which had been designed to be lit by fully electric houses.

The lone Journeyman approached one house that had an open door and several fallen goblins outside the house. After carefully clearing as much of the front room as he could from outside the door, he rushed in, looking directly into the only corner he had not been able to see. What Jack saw in that corner caused his stomach to drop.

He saw Sam Thornhill knelt down weeping on the ground over the remains of his wife and his oldest two daughters. They had obviously been killed quickly and had gone down fighting as there was an empty twelve gauge shotgun with several spent shells on the ground. Perhaps out of anger for their fallen comrades, Sam's wife and eldest two daughters had obviously been angrily hacked at by the crude goblin weapons long after they were dead.

Thompson stood next to Sam, holding her left arm around his shaking shoulders. Jack saw tears running down her cheeks as well, for her fallen friend but also likely out of sympathy for Sam's immense pain.

Thompson turned and looked at Jack and in a shaky voice said, "I already checked the rest of the house, Sam's son and youngest daughter aren't here. There are people all from all over the village who are unaccounted for. Some of them must have gotten away."

Jack nodded to her, "That's right. There is still hope. And there are still two members of the watch who are still unaccounted for. Who did Meyer leave in charge?"

Thompson wiped her cheeks on her sleeve and took a deep breath, pausing to collect herself. "Jim Evans, Meyer's second in command. Do you know him? He's an old retired jailer," she said, now more clearly.

Jack nodded, "Older man, long gray dreadlocks and a beard, right? I'm pretty sure I met him before at the watch post when Chuck and I were coming through once. I didn't see him at the gate."

He walked over to Sam and helped him to his feet, "Sam, I can't begin to understand your pain. But I can tell you one thing for sure. Your son and daughter are still out there. And they need you. There will be a time to mourn, I promise. But right now we need your help. While we look for Jim, I need you to take Thompson and look anywhere you think your kids would go to hide. Any of their favorite places in the woods around the village."

Thompson handed Sam a gray bandana from her pocket which he used to wipe the tears from his flushed face. With red eyes, the mourning widower nodded and walked out the door with Thompson following.

Jack walked out the door just as Chuck came jogging up to him. "Hey, man, you remember Jim Evans? That old jailer that always gave us trouble at the watch post? I think you need to see this," Chuck said with a grimace.

Again Chuck, showing all of his emotions across his face. The somber man led Jack to a the front porch of a partially burned out house at the center of the village. There, tied to a post was Jim Evans. His hands had been cut off at the wrists. His feet had been cut off at the ankles. His eyes had been gouged out and he had several long shallow cuts across his body. His throat had also been cut. Unlike the other mutilated corpses, Jim seemed to have undergone the torture before his throat was cut, based off of the blood from his wounds. There was also a word carved across his bare chest. It only said "ARISE."

"I didn't know goblins could write in English, Jack," Chuck said in a hushed tone, "And you saw those modern arrows. Those weren't shot by goblin bows."

Jack moved to cut the ropes that tied the body of Jim Evans to the post, pulling the knife from the top of his boot, "I never thought I'd see humans fighting alongside goblins. This attack was far too well executed to have been planned by goblins. The brutality looks about right. Except Jim here." Jack paused and cut the ropes, sending the mangled corpse tumbling to the ground, "I've never heard of a goblin having the patience to torture an enemy. The Council of Masters needs to know what happened here."

The Journeymen both nodded in agreement, realizing their break at home would not be happening. At that moment, Thompson came pounding up, panting, "Survivors! We found them!"