An alarm bell rang from the courtyard as soldiers rushed about. Several men and women grabbed bows and headed for the north wall. Avdren was halfway down the stairs and pressed himself to the wall as the archers charged by. "They got someone," he called out to them. The last one nodded, a look of determination on her face. He hurried down the rest of the stairs, still clutching the spear in a death grip. Adrenaline was hammering through him. He heard several orders being shouted out, as he stumbled across the courtyard. He had to get inside, out here he was in the way. Without magic he was nearly useless to these defenders.
"What the hell is that?" A solder was standing close by the portcullis, staring out to the north as something barreled out of the darkness beyond it. A maniacal cackle reached his ears cutting off as the night lit up in a sudden explosion. The concussive force sent him sprawling, and he watched several nearby guards get shredded by the debris. Viscera splattered the ground around him. He coughed, trying to stand as his vision blurred and darkened. Avdren shook his head and snarled, stamping the butt of the spear into the earth and leaned heavily on it as he pushed himself up. He hobbled forward a few steps until his balance returned. He could hear shouts from the walls and the pained cries of the people being cut down by arrows. Soldiers were pouring out from the barracks and heading for the walls, or the massive hole that used to be the north gate. He saw David follow them out and ran for him, pulling the man back to the wall.
"David, we have to get out of the way and find cover. We are of no use to these men, unless you're hiding some skills I'm unaware of." David shook his head, looking around with fear in his eyes. "Didn't think so." Avdren pushed him toward the stables since they were on the south side of the garrison. "We can hide there, near Beth." More screams echoed into the night, and Avdren saw the forms of a dozen goblins and a hobgoblin climb through the hole in the wall. David suddenly froze, refusing to move. When he looked back ahead of them Avdren saw several small forms climbing over the unguarded southern wall. The goblins didn't take long to spot the two of them, and high-pitched shrieks of excitement split the air as the little creatures charged down the nearest staircase. David was petrified, unable to move, as one of the goblins drew back a bow and fired an arrow. Avdren shoved the man forward, tackling him to the dirt as the arrow rushed past. The monster howled in frustration and started to nock another arrow, as its fellows rushed nearer. Avdren said a silent prayer to whichever god was listening and threw the spear with all his might. There was a crunch and scream as the weapon managed to impale the goblin's stomach. The goblins slowed their advance, showing a bit of hesitation now that one of their own had been hit. Avdren drew the heavy knife that Simon had given him and mentally cursed. David still refused to move. He thought back to his studies, remembering what he could about Goblins. The little bastards loved to kill, but they weren't very strong or skilled. They just swarmed like insects. He had to run. The spear was dumb luck, but now he was outnumbered and would soon be surrounded. The soldiers were all occupied, so no help would be coming. David was a lost cause. The man had curled up in a ball. Avdren hated himself for doing it, but he charged passed the whimpering form and off to the right where Beth was tied up. As he suspected, the little monsters focused their attention on the quivering defenseless farmer on the ground. Avdren shushed the frightened mare as he approached, getting her to calm a bit before touching her neck gently. He reached up and slashed the rope holding her before sheathing the knife and swinging up onto her back. He had never ridden bareback, but he trusted that Beth didn't want to be here any more than he did, and prayed he could just hold on.
The frightened horse tossed her head and whinnied, but Avdren managed to calm her enough to turn her head and get her moving out into the courtyard. One of the goblins lunged for his leg as he rode by, but he managed to land a solid kick on the monster, sending it sprawling in the dirt. Avdren did his best to point Beth towards the shattered gate and encouraged her to gallop as fast as she wanted. One goblin was too slow in moving out of the way in time and received a hoof through the skull for its error. Horse and rider shot through the wall and out onto the road, picking up speed now that they were clear of the fighting. Avdren heard arrows flying towards him as the goblin archers turned their attention to the fleeing rider. He thought they were too far, but one lucky goblin managed to land a shot on his blind side. He yelled in pain as the arrow slashed through his shoulder before careening off into the night. The horse kept running, fear pushing her to her limits. Avdren felt hot blood pouring from the wound, but didn't dare try and stop it. Removing a hand to staunch the bleeding would more than likely lead to him falling, and that meant death by any goblins that may have given chase. He retched over the side of Beth and then spat. He had never seen so much death like that. Then there was David. Avdren knew the man was dead, or soon would be. The soldiers might be able to drive off the horde of goblins, but he had left that farmer to his fate to save his own skin. He let out a growl and mentally forced the emotions down, focusing on the pain in his arm instead. He had to live; the rest of it didn't matter.
Back at the fort, the soldiers fought for all they were worth, but the goblin force was too numerous. The defenders ended up being pushed back to the south side of the garrison, and a few sacrificed themselves to open the gate while the others retreated. All in all, the fifty troops that had manned the garrison were reduced to less than ten. The survivors retreated as fast as the wounded would allow, leaving the garrison to the goblins. One of the survivors, a man who had been eating when the attack started, recalled the farmer and his odd companion who had arrived that night. In the back of his mind, he wondered about the stranger and what he was really doing there. The farmer was dead, butchered by goblins in the courtyard, but his horse and the other man were gone. One of the others claimed to have seen the man with the eyepatch make a lucky break through the north gate, but the soldier had to wonder how much of it was actually luck.
By the time Avdren managed to slow Beth to a panting halt, they had traveled nearly to the top of the mountain pass. Despite the time of year, the elevation that had reached made the wind rather brisk. Avdren slid off the mare gingerly, leading her over to the side of the road where she could nibble at some of the foliage. He gritted his teeth before quickly shrugging the pack off his shoulders. He tugged out the cloak, finding the bottom of it and ripping off a strip of fabric. He pulled out his remaining water skin and poured a bit over the arrow wound in an attempt to clean it out a bit. Wrapping the cloth around the wound, he managed to use his good hand and his teeth to cinch the makeshift bandage tight. That done, he donned the cloak and hooked it shut, pulling up the hood against the chill night. Avdren struggled for a moment to put the pack back on before finally getting it over his bad shoulder. He wearily grasped the rope attached to Beth's bridle and tugged the horse onward a bit. Further up the road, the sound of running water reached his ears. He paused, listening for a moment before stepping off the road and trudging toward the sound. After a few minutes, he found the stream, and both horse and man sank down eagerly to drink their fill. The icy mountain stream was refreshing, and Avdren splashed some on his face before refilling his water skins. He let Beth finish her drink before leading her back toward the road and gingerly pulling himself into the saddle. It was going to be a long night of riding, but he knew goblins couldn't be the only threats that lurked in these woods. He urged the horse onwards at a trot, letting her save energy. Avdren knew he still had a few days of travel ahead of him, but having a horse would shave precious time from the trip.
Back in Agrenon, the guards' bodies had indeed been discovered. After Avdren left, Simon asked Mildred to stay in her house and went to find Commander Geoff. He reported having found the burned bodies when he went back to look over the burned house. Geoff allowed him to pull a few men off the search for the missing envoy and take the bodies back to the barracks. Over the next day, Simon managed to make a few inquiries in a way that didn't implicate Avdren, focusing mostly on citizens who hadn't seen much, and Mildred. It was also in his favor that Geoff discovered none of the guards whom the scarred man had taken with him had returned either. After that, it was easy to deduce that the deceased guards were part of those missing through squad checks and inspections. For now, the heat was pulled from Avdren, as Simon and the Commander needed to focus on the mystery of the missing men.