Dream Read Online Free Page B

easily. There were some Jinxman belts and harnesses in the price list, but apparently my starting money roll was low.”
    “What can you do with them?”
    “Right now, a couple variations of heal, bug repellant, and cure poison.”
    “I never saw you as a medic,” Jeff grinned.
    “Needs must when the devil drives,” Shad positioned the charm bag behind his dagger. “Not the best. Like Derek said, we need to raise some cash.”
    “Speaking of that, maybe we should get some names,” Derek observed. “If we’re going to be worried about being watched for, we might want names that blend.”
    “Point,” Jeff conceded. “Until we know better, why not just old English ‘em up? Joffre, Frederick, Chadwick…what does Derek work as?”
    “Devon,” Fred stood and heaved his pack into place. “And call me Frostmere. A barbarian wouldn’t be a Frederick.”
     
    The road was graveled and had drainage ditches, but was also deeply rutted. The four picked up the pace, veteran hikers all.
    “Been a while since they pulled maintenance,” Jeff observed.
    “Cow pats are fresh,” Fred pointed out as he avoided a pattern of them. “Traffic seems to be pretty regular.”
    “In more ways than one,” Jeff grinned, avoiding a pile of horse dung.
    A scream made all four jump. “Around the curve, sounds like a woman,” Fred had his hands on his pack straps as more shouts and cries rang out ahead.
    “Keep your packs,” Shad was already moving. “Double time, drop ‘em once we know what’s up ahead.”
    Just around the curve a battered wagon drawn by a tall mule was tangled in a freshly-fallen tree, the mule loudly braying its displeasure. A small cluster of people were backed up against the wagon side as a group of short humanoids menaced them.
    “Sonofa bitch ,” Jeff yelped. “Those…are...”
    “Goblins,” Fred grunted as he dropped his pack.
    The humanoids were just that: scrawny, just shy of five feet in height, olive skinned and hairless, with bat ears that swooped up the side of their skulls and narrow, pinched features that radiated malice.
    Fred bellowed something none of the others understood, a cry that tapered off into a wordless snarl that sounding like nothing Human as he rushed the enemy.
    Free of his pack, Shad followed, drawing his short sword and dragging his buckler from its hook on his belt. A bolt of silver-blue light flashed past him and struck a Goblin, burning through its thin leather armor like a hot knife through butter. It didn’t kill the creature, but it drove the Goblin to its knees.
    Fred was roaring through the Goblin ranks like a tank crashing through bamboo, axe wreaking havoc, Jeff covering his back. Shad found himself squaring off with a Goblin wearing a rusty iron cap that was stuffed with moss to make it fit, and armor that looked to be made from raccoon-sized pieces of leather with bits of chain tied on as added protection. There was nothing slapdash about the spear it had, however: five feet of seasoned ash topped with a rusty but sharp-looking iron leaf blade.
    No armor and a buckler a foot across made Shad’s skin crawl, but when the Goblin thrust he automatically slapped the point aside with his buckler, the impact producing a metal shriek as the spear point ground across the iron boss, and stepped forward in a lunging thrust that ran the point of his short sword through the Goblin’s neck. The creature spun away, blood leaping in arterial gouts of bluish fluid.
    As he stepped back from his dying foe he could see that the fight was over: Fred was stalking amongst the fallen checking for signs of life, and Jeff was stabbing a Goblin in the back as Derek parried its club with his quarterstaff.
    A quick count put eight Goblins down, two with smoking craters in their torsos. There were three Humans clustered against the wagon, all wearing simple clothing: an older man with the look of hard labor in the sun, and a younger man and woman whom Shad guessed were his children, now