Harper's Pathos

Chapter Three: A Theft on the Dunes

"Stop, or I'll break your legs when I catch you!" Morgan hurled and snarled curses and threats towards the figure she pursued. It was hard to make out against the muted colors of the desert. The light had been drained over the horizon by now, and all was faded to dark violets and blues. Even so, Morgan quickly gained on the thief, long legs covering great distance in each stride. The figure was noticeably smaller than she had thought initially. Even smaller than Harper.

"The food and water is gone!" the nephilim shouted from the camp.

This sent Morgan into a fury. Harper bounded forward to catch up, and the sorceress dove after the cloaked figure as soon as she was close enough. Her hand tightened around ragged black linen and she yanked backward.

There was a hiss from the figure and a string of gibberish as it shed the cloak. Fabric pooled on the sand behind them as both continued running. Still cloaked in shadow, many features of this creature were still concealed. However, what became obvious were the large, pointed ears, toothy mouth, and huge, wild, amber eyes

Another snarl came from the creature as Morgan shouted, "It's a goblin! There's probably mo- ARGH!" She was interrupted by a sharp pain that shot deep into her calve. The mage stumbled, sliding forward onto her hands and knees.

A second form stirred beneath the sands. The blade that had struck Morgan was held by an arm sticking out of the sand, and the rest of the creature soon followed it out of the ground. Sand pouring off it as it dug out from its burrow, the second goblin lunged at Morgan, letting out a screech of gibberish.

As the creature threw itself toward her, the necromancer -still on her knees- readied herself. As he fell upon her, snarling and thrashing his dagger about, she managed to hook her hands around his underarms. Held away at arms length, the only flesh he could slice was that of Morgan's forearms. She winced as the flailing creature lashed small cuts through her sleeves and into her skin. 

She lifted herself to her feet and the goblin into the air. Then, as hard as she could, she threw the creature. With a gargling scream, the creature landed face first in the sand several feet away. Wasting no time, Morgan dashed forward after the first goblin. As the one on the ground began to stand, her undamaged leg delivered a powerful kick. The creature went flying several more feet before landing with a thud. It didn't get back up.

As their friend blazed a trail towards the thief, Harper did their best to rush to her side. This was made difficult when two more goblins erupted from the dunes, brandishing more of their long, jagged knives. They both screeched in a language Harper didn't understand and charged.

Harper didn't like to hurt people, but their options were rapidly disappearing. The goblins attacked with a flurry of slashes. The onslaught was vicious and untamed, just like the one that attacked Morgan. However, they were more coordinated together. One attacked after the other. One goblin's backswing was covered by the other's strike. 

Harper stumbled back, dodging two, three, four, then five strikes in quick succession. A strike flew dangerously close to the blonde's chest. At the last second, as if by instinct, a gust of wind carried them backward, just out of reach of the blade.

The breeze rustling their shirt gave Harper an idea. As the next slash was thrown forward, the nephilim lept straight upward instead of back and away. Another magical air current carried them up and over the wall of goblin blades, a strike passed right under their foot. 

The surprised pair of sand-dwellers turned around just in time for a blast of air to catch them off guard. Sand sprayed into their faces and they each let out surprised yells as they were toppled off balance. Harper was already halfway to Morgan by the time the pair of goblins regained their senses.

Morgan's heart raced, each of its beat sending a pulse of pain through her injured leg. Even the copper sent of her own blood was not enough to slow her, however.

The sorceress did her best to make out the speech of the goblin she was pursuing, "Turi turi! Glib grik!" It wasn't a tongue she could understand, but it was clear he was giving orders to the rest. She noticed and hand reach out from the sand ahead of her, no doubt it would attempt to trip her. As she approached, a quick stomp to the hand resulted in a crunch and a pained screech from the goblin beneath the sand.

She began to gain on the thief once more, but then... He disappeared? No... Oh shit, Morgan thought, planting her feet firmly into the sand. Her boots scraped the ground to stop her momentum, and not a moment too soon. The ravine had come from nowhere, simply materialising out of the inky darkness. This was exactly why they didn't travel the desert at night. It might've been twenty, thirty feet down? Not easy to tell without light. The goblin re entered her view on the other side of the miniature chasm

She spent a moment wondering how the little shit had gotten over there so quickly. They could probably see in the dark for one, and living out here they likely had methods to get around quickly. 

Morgan quickly reminded herself that this was no the time for speculation. Harper charged forward at top speed, and showed no signs of slowing down. "There's a chasm, dolt! Stop!" 

"I know! I see it!" conviction fortified Harper's words, and Morgan winced as she realised their plan. Before she could catch them or even protest, Harper jumped. Wind threw the nephilim forward further than any human could jump. 

As they lost altitude, their fingertips grazed the opposite end of the ravine, but only just. Air rushed past Harper as their descent began. They were off by only an inch.

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A/N: Sorry for the shorter chapter, I just couldn't resist the urge for this (literal) cliffhanger! To compensate for the length, the next chapter will be a week early! (Sep 25) After that we'll go back to our normal two-week waits, so chapter five should be due on Oct 9.

Thanks so much for reading, see you next week!