Beginning of the betrayal

"KHEEK!!"

A short green skinned humanoid creature with an ugly face, jumped towards a group of six humans from out of the bushes. With eyes full of madness, the creature swings its mighty branch to bring judgement upon the humans.

The ambush went as planned and the creature could already see how the future would look like. It would kill all the male humans, so it could feast on their flesh and capture the female for breeding. After that it will claim all the riches these humans got for itself.

It would all start with smacking the human in front of it to death with the mighty branch its holding. While it was already drooling for the future, it didn't notice a sword touching his neck and suddenly the world was spinning before its eyes and that was the last thing it saw.

"Dammit, this is already the eleventh time we are attacked by these pesky goblins."

Stan couldn't help but complain about his current situation. When he came to this new island, he had high expectations of what he might discover, which treasure he might find. However, his expectations were crushed rather quickly after having wandered through the forest for a couple of hours.

There wasn't anything special or new in the forest Stan found himself in. Just some regular tree's, bushes and wildlife. Not to mention the only "threat" he came across were some goblinoids that jumped upon him.

Goblins have low intelligence, that is a fact everybody knows. However, a lesser goblin takes that to the extreme. Although crappy, where common goblins know how to create weapons and a community, lesser goblins do not. Even the instinct towards danger or death is lacking for a lesser goblin.

That is also why Stan is feeling so frustrated. During their exploration in the forest, they were "ambushed" by such a lone goblin ten times already. At first, they would wander the forest with a high vigilance, taking each battle serious. But at some point, it felt more like a walk in the park with the goblins attack being an annoyance.

They all started and ended the same. The goblin would scream and jump out of the bushes while holding a stone or branch in one hand. Then Stan would step in and swing his sword. After swiftly decapitating the goblin, they would leave the body and move on.

"Well, at least we have reached the end of the forest, so we won't be ambushed anymore." Ian spoke towards Stan while looking towards where the forest ended.

Everyone already noticed how the density of trees and bushes around them was declining since a while ago. So, Ian's remark came as no surprise to Stan, nor did it reduce his frustrations.

'There still annoying to deal with' Stan thought, but he didn't say it out loud.

As the group passed through the forest, they found themselves at a small clearing in front of a mountainous area. No words were spoken while everyone stared at the rugged path leading uphill through the mountainous area.

"Sigh* let's get going the core should be somewhere close by" Stan let out an involuntary sigh, while he trudged on further ahead. This was going to be a tiring hiking trip he was sure of it.

Somewhere along the way they had let down their guard, as the group didn't have anu encounter since the last goblin that Stan decapitated.

Ian however was looking around the place with great attention, until he finally found what he was looking for. Not far from the group, there stood a tree full of live in this mostly barren mountainous area. Ian's eyes lit up when he saw the tree and started guiding the group towards the tree.

Upon arriving at the tree, Stan quickly noticed a cave entrance behind the tree. Of course he wasn't the only one who noticed cave entrance. Ian, who already knew about the cave, gave a meaningful glance towards Tom, Dick and Harry.

The trio saw Ian looking at them and knew what they had to do next.

Tom started while pointing towards the cave, "Look leader! It's a cave, let's check it out."

"Maybe we'll find some treasures in the cave?" Dick quickly chimed in before Stan could respond.

Following Dick, Harry spoke while already walking towards the cave, "Yes, yes! We should explore this cave immediately leader."

Stan didn't know what to say. It is guild protocol to always report the finding of a man-made structure or cave, so that a secondary team can be send as backup. All guild members know this and Ian being the vice-guild leader should stop this idea.

But noting of the sorts happened and Stan started to have that uncomfortable feeling like something was amiss. However, Ian was quick to notice that Stan felt conflicted, so he signaled Cassie to come in action.

While Stan was still having doubts about the current situation, he suddenly felt two soft buns pressing against his arm. Cassie was holding his arm while pressing her body against his, making the uncomfortable feeling he was having disappear in an instant.

"Let's go inside darling. If anything happens, you can just protect me, right?" Cassie spoke with a cute voice while rubbing her body against his arm. 'Come 'on now Stan, just a little more and I can be with Ian.' Of course, her thoughts were differing greatly from what she said.

Stan couldn't concentrate on anything but the soft sensation of those two buns that he was feeling on his arm, which caused him to lose focus and make bad decisions.

"You're right honey. I can protect you guys, so let's go inside!"

Tom, Dick and Harry were all wearing a smile that wasn't really a smile. The same is true for Ian, who was currently beaming from joy, because everything is going as planned.

Having made his decision, Stan stepped forward and was the first to step inside the cave.

This isn't the first time that they are exploring a cave, so the group walked inside with a predetermined layout. With Stan and Tom at the front for close combat. Harry and Cassie in the middle for healing and ranged attacks, while Ian and Dick stand at the back for support, and to defend against any unexpected ambushes from behind.

As Stan was taking the lead, he always remained vigilant of his surroundings. Making sure to be ready for anything.

The cave was reasonable wide, easily allowing three well-built men to walk side by side, with height of at least four meters. It was a dark and dreary place where only the sound of his, and his group's, footsteps can be heard. As Stan walked further into the cave, it became so dark that Harry was forced to cast [illuminate].

While the increasingly humidity air in the cave started to make breathing uncomfortable, Stan could finally see the end of the cave, which also made him lower his guard. Although they didn't find any treasure or something, at least they didn't face any dangers.

Having reached the end Stan was ready to turnaround and head back when suddenly,

*Woosh*

*Woosh*

*Woosh*

The sound of arrows being shot rang throughout the cave and the next moment Stan let out a painful scream.