The Last Snow

Chapter 91: Fateful Encounters

WARNING: very long chapter

Less than a minute after Aang left Jennie and Mino, Aang saw the panicking children running in different directions. He had to chase after each one with the help of the few dwarves that were old enough to help. 

And over the constant ringing of bells, Aang shouted instructions to the dwarven teens. It was a miracle that none of the kids got seriously hurt by the flaming boulders. He gathered all of the miners' children at the center fountain of the residential area.

"Your parents are safe and on their way home! Teens, make sure that all the kids are here. We need to get to safety as quickly as possible!", shouted Aang. He handed out wet clothes to the children to cover their noses from the smoke around them.

"All the kids are here, mister. I double-checked.", said a teenage dwarven boy who had an ore basket on his back. Inside it was his sibling, a female dwarf who's still too young to walk on her own.

"Good. Follow me.", said Aang. He ran slowly so that the dwarven children could keep up.

"Hopefully, no monsters have made it this far in.", thought Aang.

Before exiting onto the main street, Aang held his hand up and hid behind a corner building. He looked at the kids and gestured to them to be quiet.

"Shhh. Goblins.", whispered Aang, not realizing that the word goblins would scare the children behind him.

One by one, the younger kids cried. And to Aang's luck, one of the three goblins looked at the street he was hiding in.

"Shit... They probably heard us already.", thought Aang. Dealing with three goblins was simple for Aang. He could even handle five by himself. But having kids to protect behind him made the task more daunting.

"I can use stone magic, mister. Please, let me help.", whispered a young female dwarf from the center of the group. He walked towards Aang and showed a determined look.

The girl looked to be a little over ten years old. She placed both her palms on the left wall and squinted her eyes, causing her held-back tears to fall.

And when the first goblin revealed his head, three apple-sized stone bricks hit him on the face.

Aang kicked the goblin down and stabbed it with his sword as the other goblins drew their weapons.

"We can do this. Three goblins is not so bad.". thought Aang. That's when he saw two more goblins behind the pair, both of which were holding bows, nocked and ready to fire.

"Tsk... Stay there!", shouted Aang to the kids as he placed a Shield on himself and charged the two goblins in front.

The goblins, Zorth and Gorth, flanked Aang left and right, attacking with their blades that were even shorter than Aang's short sword.

Aang deflected the first attack with his elbow. He disarmed the goblin with ease, causing the very short sword to fly up into the air. Aang caught the weapon and threw it at one of the goblin archers.

The archer managed to shoot his bow before the sword hit him on the cheek. His arrow flew straight in Aang's direction, hitting Zorth on the leg.

Gorth slashed at Aang's side, hitting the Shield in the process. Frustration and fear showed on his face as Aang turned to look at him. 

With the pommel of his short sword, Aang knocked Gorth in the head. And as the goblin lost his balance, Aang used his other hand and pushed the goblin onto his knee, crushing part of its skull in the process.