-----Suddenly, growling and cruel voices alert Whisper. The Elf throws himself face down on the field’s surface as another patrol passes by maybe only twenty yards from his position. They continue on and Whisper does not rise from his position until they are well away from him.
-----Before Whisper chooses how to infiltrate the village, he notices that more hobgoblins have taken up positions around the three largest structures: The barn the children are kept in, the Inn and the other barn that might have belonged to a blacksmith.
-----With the moon safely hidden behind the thick clouds, Whisper decides that the best place to enter the village is from behind a shop residence similar to one he had climbed up two nights ago. Quickly, he covers the expanse keeping as low as he can. All the time, the hobgoblin voices in the village get louder and closer. Within moments, he flattens himself against the back of the small building and slowly exhales. As he peers around the building, he can see the ‘command center’ of the soldiers. Aside a large bonfire not far from the Inn, at least a half dozen large hobgoblins receive reports and shout orders to small patrols that they then send off in different directions. These larger hobgoblins wear chain as part of their armor covered with small tabards of red.
-----Suddenly Whisper freezes! At least two hobgoblin voices are heard very nearby! As Whisper turns to look, he sees the shadows of two humanoids walking around the building toward his position! Whisper can tell by the shape of their shadows that they have their weapons in hand and are moving very cautiously.
-----Blue eyes narrowed. Had he gotten careless, or complacent? The question was largely academic, but it still flitted through his thoughts.
-----He could try to remain hidden, relying on providence, which would be suicide. Scaling to the roof was also dangerous - the abrupt movements might be seen...
-----... and so the only safe option would be to eliminate the pair. He would need to regain the initiative, and for that he needed them to turn away from his position for a moment.
-----He hunkered down into a crouch, his right hand drawing the forward-curving dirk, and holding the dark blade against his thigh, even as his left hand dove into the satchel at his side and withdrew the mapcase which contained the crude map he had drawn earlier on the other map that Rinda had provided.
-----It should be enough to sound like a loose pack if thrown an intermediate distance.
-----So he skimmed the case off to the side, aiming for a rough ten to fifteen feet away. The fact that the Hobgoblins had not already raised a hue and cry either evinced that fact that they were fools, or hoped to have some private sport with an interloper.
-----He tensed to glide smoothly and silently forward.
-----As the flung map case lands against some tall weeds, Whisper sees the hobgoblins’ shadows tense. With hushed growls, they flinch and then continue easing forward. By this time Whisper has moved to within reaching distance of the building corner they will be coming around. Silently he hunches down, holding onto his breath.
-----A booted foot appears from around the corner and the first hobgoblin comes into view, luckily his vision focused on the disturbed weeds! He carefully passes the unnoticed, shadowed elf and his steps lead him into the darkened gloom. A moment later, his fellow soldier tracks forth in the same fashion. Both humanoids stare toward the weeds ten feet behind the building and Whisper waits until the second has his back to him in shadow.
-----With a slick strong movement, Whisper stands and rips his weapon across the hobgoblin’s throat. As the dead goblinoid hits the ground, Whisper is already behind the first soldier. It turns slightly gasping at the sight of its fallen companion and Whisper immediately stabs in! The dagger slices into its belly spilling dark blood over Whisper’s hand. With a pained and excited grunt, the hobgoblin turns and fully faces the Wood Elf. At first the hobgoblin looks dazed and it’s unclear if it is because of its new wound or the change in light its eyes are adjusting to. Whisper lunges at it, but the hobgoblin staggers back. As it does so, it clumsily swings its sword. Both Whisper and the soldier miss each other and Whisper sees an expression of desperation come over the foe.
-----Whisper dives for the hobgoblin, but suddenly his dagger slips from his hand! Seeing the movement, the hobgoblin moves but ends up stumbling and dropping his own weapon! The monster grimaces in pain and frustration while Whisper quickly draws his short sword. With a smooth movement, Whisper quickly slices in and stabs the soldier through the chest. As the enemy drops, its last breath hisses through its teeth.
-----Standing over the bodies in the shadows, Whisper listens to hear if the action had been detected. No change in the sounds of the hobgoblin army in the village square can be heard, so he waits. As he peers around both corners, he sees nothing moving in his immediate direction.
-----Momentarily safe, Whisper crouched down, and took up a handful of dirt with which to rub off his blood spattered hands, before scraping the blood, and last vestiges of weaponblack, off his shortsword's blade.
-----A grimace flitted across his hidden features. Of such luck, songs were sung. He shook his head, and made his way back to where he had lost his dagger, regretting that his clumsiness had forced him to use his sword. He had another two vials of the oily gunk, but in the wilderness it was hard to come by.