[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/JS8jLJq.png[/img][/center]
[b][color=000000]Time[/color][/b]
🌑 Late Morning.

[b][color=000000]Location[/color][/b]
🌑 Riverport - Deep Forest.

[b][color=000000]Interactions[/color][/b]
🌑 [@funnyguy] - Darius.
🌑 [@Alivefalling] - Dante.

[b][color=000000]Mentions[/color][/b]
🌑 N/A.

[b][color=000000]Equipment[/color][/b]
[hider=🌑 Blackguard's Casuals]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/sK6gTru.png[/img][/hider]
[hider=🌑 Ebony Thorn, Ebony Ward]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/v7YyneW.png[/img]
[/hider]
[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/ToiIM6a.png[/img][/center]

And fight they did, fingers grasping swords before the two young men rose to the occasion, joining Ashari’s side in combating a green-skinned menace. The Blackguard held a certain distaste for goblins, creatures violating the sanctity of battle with trickery and mischief. Honor among goblins was mere fiction, a fantasy no one in their right mind would dare entertain, and as Ashari’s ornate blade continued to clash with his opponents’, the war demon took full advantage of his newly acquired position. Springing forth, the infernal raised his sword before it flowed into a weave of breezing cuts, a sharpened wind unforgiving and fluid as it moved from one goblin to the next. With his flank covered, the boy was able to narrow his focus, and with it, lean towards a more offensive approach. 

Indeed, there was a certain beauty to be found in the echoes of Ashari’s combat. One would be forgiven for mistaking it a choreographed dance, an artform rather than a gruesome, crimson display. His breathing remained at a constant calm, the boy’s heartbeat maintaining itself at a slow, steady pace as air slipped in and out between ashen lips. A moment was spared to gaze towards those he had rescued, the [i]humans.[/i] Were these the saviors of Avalia? The warriors of legend prophesied to stand against ever-growing darkness? How intriguing, and how utterly unbelievable. No, Ashari did not deign to entertain this particular notion, this [i]insult.[/i]

With his blade vanishing in a mist of black and gold, the boy’s shield soon followed as he now stood motionless amongst a gathering of green-skinned cadavers, eerie eyes settling on the humans. They were spared danger, for now, with goblins having met their fate at the end of sharpened steel, supernatural or otherwise. In silence, the demonic lad took stock of his new presumed allies, a long, slender tail swaying from one side to the next, the glow of Ashari’s spectral orbs illuminating shaded darkness beneath his hood. Where would they go from here? [i][color=b18f71]’Turn around and leave, Ash. You didn’t need to save them, you shouldn’t have.’[/color][/i]

Sharp teeth clenched as thoughts began to yet again encircle the demon’s mind, confiscating his attention amongst broken flora and slain beasts. They were caught in a trap, both of them, which allowed the three to fight unhindered by further machinations, once the brothers had been freed from death’s grasp. Events lined up in their favor, despite how the scenario otherwise appeared. Springing a goblin’s trap in the middle of a battle was a death sentence, and it brought Ashari’s focus to the demi-human he had come to find. With this many goblins roaming the forest, rather than guarding their den, a conclusion could be made. There were no prisoners to keep in check. The demi-human was dead. 

Allowing his eyes to fall shut, Ashari lamented these circumstances, if only momentarily. Though, it begged a question he would repeatedly ask himself. [i][color=b18f71]’Why do I care?’[/color][/i] Again, the lad looked ahead at his newly acquired companions. If he left them alone in this forest, their safety was not guaranteed. If they were here, it stood to reason that Riverport was their destination, and as it was, the forest held no more development. Ashari had found what he was looking for in a result staining the forest floor. Goblins did not leave their prisoners unattended, and they only hunted in packs of this size if their den was left without the requirement of supervision. 

[color=b18f71]”Let’s go,”[/color] the demon spoke, his soft voice accompanied by a turn before he began to walk. Was it because the three were likely heading in the same direction, or because Ashari felt some form of responsibility arise from his actions? He did not want to consider the latter, despite its relevance.