Catching Up part 2

"Why were they carrying you?" Heather asked.

"Apparently because they could tell something was approaching where we were and that they knew it would soon find that we were there," Elin answered.

"Did it catch you?" Sonya asked,

Elin couldn't help but feel like they were wanting to ask questions more than actually listen to what happened. Otherwise she would have thought that they'd wait a little more patiently to what she was saying.

"I guess you could say it did, but that was after we beat a hobgoblin that was waiting for us on the stairs from the room we had fought the goblins before we had to run," Elin answered.

"So, what was behind you?" Sonya asked, excitement clear in her voice.

"Uh, it turns out it was a doppelganger," Elin said. "Kim defeated it, but I overused my MP trying to heal her after."

"Wait, why did you need to heal her?" Heather asked.

Elin sighed. She'd skipped some detail because they were clearly wanting her to go faster. Yet, she'd done it in a way that made them want her to go back a little. She couldn't help but start to feel a little regret at wanting to catch up with them right away.

However, at the same time, she found she couldn't bring herself to say what had happened. She could recall what happened, but the emotions that seeing Kim being disemboweled brought up coursed through her again, making her throat feel like it was closing up. The edges of her vision also started to darken, though she couldn't think of how she'd be able to stop it.

"Kim nearly died in order to defeat the doppelganger," Elmo said suddenly, startling Elin out of the downward spiral she'd found herself in.

Elin looked at Elmo surprised at him saying that, but also grateful. Suddenly she felt like she could breathe again. His eyes were focused on her, worry painted all over his face.

Elin smiled at Elmo, as a silent 'thank you' before she turned back to Sonya and Heather. "After that, I don't know what happened, but when I woke up, Kim and Jonas were arguing about whether we should continue or rest again. I tried to say something, but they wouldn't let me," Elin continued. "They only let me say anything when they decided to let me decide which idea to go with."

"Did you go continue on?"

Elin sighed at Heather's question. She was just about to say that they had. Would these two ever let her continue without urging her on like that?

"Yes we did," Elin answered, unable to hide the annoyance she was starting to feel. "We found two goblins by the portal and five young women that they'd captured and had in the same state that you two had been in."

"The goblins were a hobgoblin and a Goblin Mage," Elmo interjected, surprising Elin.

Elin then looked at Elmo, puzzled as to why he'd felt the need to say that.

"What?" he asked. "Just thought I'd give a little clarification as what kind of goblins they were."

Elin sighed as she shook her head, pushing that matter out of her mind. "Anyway, Kim went to fight the hobgoblin and Jonas went to fight the other one," Elin continued, not wanting to call it a 'goblin mage' just because she felt it should have a better name than that. "Elmo and I were supposed to work at figuring out how to close the portal."

"Did you?" Heather interrupted.

Elin took a moment to push her annoyance down. She was sure Heather wasn't doing it intentionally. Or at least that's what she told herself in that moment.

"Of course we did," Elin said when she had been able to suppress her annoyance. Though she doubted that she'd be able to do that for long if this continued. She was at least glad that she was almost done. She couldn't say if she'd have an easier time with her annoyance if she wasn't.

"But I'm not sure what happened exactly, but goblins started coming out of the portal and made Kim and Jonas unable to focus completely on their opponents. I also had to fight the goblins to give Elmo time to deal with the portal."

"I should have helped fight the goblins in stead," Elmo muttered, loud enough they could hear him.

"Elmo, we talked about this," Elin chided him. "I can't say we'd have been able to beat all the goblins if you hadn't closed the portal when you did."

"It still nearly killed us," Elmo protested, sounding to Elin like he didn't want to get pulled out of his misery about the subject.

Yet, Elin could understand why he might feel that way. She herself had been feeling like that, and it was actually Jonas' speech when they were having dinner that help her resolve at least some of those feelings.

"It didn't kill us and that's what matters," Elin told him. "You did what you were supposed to do and that's what matters. You were reliable with that."

"Wait, did you feel like you were in the way or something?" Heather asked Elmo.

"Well, when the portal finally closed, it pretty much nearly killed everything in the room, including us. Uh, well, I think the young women were okay. Jonas said something about how they were laying down when it happened and that helped them or something," Elmo answered.

Elin couldn't help but giggle as the words poured of of Elmo. As if a flood break had broken, allowing the words to pour out with Elmo only being able to watch in horror as he spoke, unable to stop.

"So, what happened after the portal closed? Did it kill the goblins?" Sonya asked, amusement clear in her voice, despite the serious nature of her question.

"Let me back up a little," Elin said, wanting to clarify something first. "While Elmo worked at closing the portal, I made sure that the goblins wouldn't get to him, though I didn't try to fight them to push them back, but rather to hold them where they were. That way I'd be able to keep them from interfering with Elmo's efforts."

"So, what happened after the portal closed?" Sonya reiterated. "You gotta tell us something about that."

"Uh, well…" Elin trailed off. She couldn't remember if she was conscious after that or not. All she could really remember was waking up the next morning. Did she do something or witness something then?

"Okay, I'll say it," Elmo said, looking to Elin like he was finally relaxing around them. "The portal blew up. Like an explosive, but I was the only one who it threw against the wall. I think everyone else was just knocked down or something."

"So, How many goblins did it kill?" Sonya repeated.

"Well, I can only say two for sure," Elmo confirmed, "I mean, those two were coming through the portal when it closed, so it kind of sliced them in half vertically."

Heather and Sonya winced at the imagery Elmo's words conveyed, and even Elin found the description a little nauseating.

"Anyway, I really didn't pay attention to the ones that had died. I was more worried about the ones still alive. Though, Kim killed the hobgoblin shortly after that, but then I did what I could to mop up the smaller goblins, leaving the goblin mage. When I finally killed it, it had run out of MP and I was on my last spell, I think, too," Elmo continued, Elin noticing his eyes were struggling to stay open.

Elin suddenly realized that she was rather tired herself. She hadn't expected that just talking would make her so sleepy, but wrote it off as the effects of having been worn out with the fighting as well as having to have walked the past three days to get back to the village.

"Anyway, after we beat it, we all went to sleep and in the morning, Jonas and Kim worked out how to take care of the young women. Once that was handled, we then met Patrick and Patricia on our way out and I'm sure you can figure out the rest on your own," Elmo finished.

"Well, I'm sure both of you remembered that Murdock and Tina were here to protect the village while you guys were gone. We had a few attacks of goblins and while we really weren't able to work as well you guys had, we didn't have any troubles with the goblins," Sonya told them. "It was almost like we were just spectators here. Murdock and Tina did the most of the fighting out of everyone in this village, but Heather and I weren't worried about that. We were sure that things would work out and we were both happy that we could at least see the combat before us."

"Murdock and Tina left, I believe yesterday. They felt like they should be able to find somewhere else to fight. I think that's what they were most hoping for in this village," Heather added.

"Well, how about we pick this up in the morning?" Elin asked, feeling a yawn coming on. "I'm not sure I'd remember anything you said if we continued this now."