Part 2

The Playground was a ruin of long forgotten fort, now overgrown with grass and surrounded with the forest. Other than the theory that it once belonged to the dwarves of the Azerlisia Mountains, nothing else was known about it. The only life it had seen for most of village's history were the village's children that often made trips for having fun away from their parents. Every villager had at least one nice memory of the place. Now, it served as the only possible defence against the goblin horde.

Felsi also once had fond memories of the place as she played there with her friends. Now, those memories were sullied by life itself. She was on official Adventurer's Guild's mission away from the village when the conscription happened so she missed seeing off her lifelong friends. She had returned just as the news of the Katze Plains massacre arrived.

So many tears were shared for the village men lost in that battle. The parents of those lost in the battle were especially inconsolable since not even their bodies were returned. Sad mood remained in the village since then. Felsi shared her feelings with the rest as her boyfriend was one of the dead.

While the villagers were setting up whatever meagre defences they could made, the wounded and the supplies were carried to the secret cave that had an entrance inside the fort. Among them was Felsi.

She was having a hard time. She hadn't visited that place in months. Now she couldn't even reminisce as she was handling the loss of her eye poorly. While the blade fragment was removed, the only cleric available was unable to restore her eye. After few crashes, they forced her to stay put.

After a villager brought her some water, she had a chance to see her appearance. Even in the dim lightning with only the torches providing light, she was able to see her reflection in the cup she was holding. Her violet hair stained with her blood. Her left eye wrapped up in bandages. Her sad expression. It truly felt as if the world was putting her down.

Felsi didn't have much time to wallow in self-pity. Tolle had sent one of the soldiers to bring her to him. In the end, the soldier also had to assist her to walk as she wasn't adjusted to her lack of vision yet.

Tolle was in the central room, trying to figure out what to do from there. Some of the villagers helped him make the map of the area. As he was staring at it, while resting his injured arm, Felsi stumbled into the room. After greeting her, Tolle asked about her state. "How are you feeling? Can you handle this?"

Felsi retorted back. "Can you handle with your wound over there?"

Tolle nodded. "Good point. Ignore my question. Anyway, now what?"

Felsi took a peak at the map. "What else can we do? We have no idea what's out there, let alone the goblin numbers."

Tolle pointed at the keep. "Any way we can reach it from here?"

Felsi shook her head. "Unlikely, if what you said is true. No, our best bet is to lay low for now. Maybe use the forest to make guerrilla style raids? I would also wish to see what had happened to Grimrock village to our east. One of the villagers rode out earlier today to warn them too."

Tolle was worried. "So far, no one else came. Hopefully it's just because they went to the village rather than here."

Felsi sounded determined. "Do you think I can borrow some men to check?"

Tolle acknowledged her request. "Take several people in the morning. Try not to attract attention."

Felsi nodded. She then decided to take the chair in the corner and rest for the night. Tolle left her alone. After organizing the watch schedule, he also turned in for the night.

The next morning Felsi, together with small group of soldiers and villagers, were sneaking through the thick forest towards Grimrock. Felsi was starting to adjust to her lack of vision, but she still crashed often into foliage and bushes.

While on the way, they had a chance encounter with a small goblin patrol of equal size. Their uniforms weren't dyed in red yet so they used red ribbons to distinguish themselves. As the patrol hadn't noticed them, the group had a chance to sneak away. Yet, after a single look on everyone's faces, Felsi knew what to do.

The villagers snuck away for perfect sniping spots, while two soldiers and Felsi silently approached goblins to charge them. Despite their best effort, they weren't silent as they hoped and so goblin's attention was drawn towards them.

When one of the goblins nearly discovered the ambushing unit, the archers fired, killing one and knocking two down. Felsi and the soldiers charged, starting the short and bloody brawl.

Several minutes later, 6 goblins laid dead on the ground. The ambushing force got away with only cuts. Felsi truly struggled in her first fight since losing her eye. Wild swings, misses and difficultly blocking strikes were all that she accomplished in that fight. Had she been alone, she would have most likely died.

Nevertheless, it wasn't time for self-reflection. After a short break, the group pressed on. After 20 minutes, they arrived to a horrible sight.

The village was on fire as the thick black smoke rose in the sky. Thick forest foliage prevented the group from noticing it until they were close enough. The group was shocked and unable to think what to do now. Unfortunately for them, they were broken from their stupor by the screams of one of the villagers.

A young girl was trying to run away from the goblins, but by the time she was noticed by the group, she was knocked down by an arrow. The group tried to approach, but a horn blown meant that they were discovered. A massive group of lightly armoured troops responded to the call. The fear that the group felt at that moment was so powerful no one wanted to try and revenge the village started running as fast and far as they could, dropping everything behind.