He was glad to hear his hard work on learning some spells was appreciated, especially by a fellow mercenary. Often time he felt like a very poor wizard rather than a Swordmage in earnest. He knew differently though, and this Swordmage couldn't hide his grin at her remark on when they got back.
One more reason why I want to live through this. Though honestly, he was quite excited for what lay before them. He was pragmatic, and he'd like to think he wasn't stupid, but there was a reason he took on this job. No one forced him into it, and it seemed Valerie felt the same way. A passionate sense of adventure and excitement, and knowing by the end of the day that they had survived great odds.
"I'm not sure. Orcs probably." he said to her question, as they began again. "There aren't any people out here... Save mainly some bandits." His last remark was an afterthought, but he realized that very well might be a truth.
They trudged through the ever thickening forest. Branches and leaves making a ubiquitous and oddly shaped roof that shielded them from the majority of the sun. Somehow, it was not so cold in the forest as it should have been, as if the air was thick enough to leave some residual heat for itself. He'd heard tales of deep wilderness like this one, many from his Elven tutor. In the far woods, you could be beglamoured by Nymphs, assailed by Centaurs, meet beasts the size of townhouses, or Elves that were not as forgiving or as accustomed to civilization as his old master.
It seemed their next obstacle wouldn't be nearly as fantastic as these, but dangerous if left unchecked, nevertheless. The two young sellswords first heard a chittering and a barking laughter. Markus held his hand out just in case Valerie had not heard it yet so she would stop to listen, but she probably had. Better to be safe than sorry.
Goblins.
The Swordmage crouched, unsheathing his sword as quietly as he could and making his way to the closest bush that was toward the noise. He knelt down and peered through the brush, and he was quite glad he had not been humming an Elven tune a bit ago or they would have been discovered.
At first it was hard to see them with all of this green, for their skin was a sickly and mottled moss green. They were barely waist height and thin, with elongated ears and noses. Their eyes were filled with malice and a cruel cunning, however. Their hands gripped spears and jagged scimitars, and they chatting among each other in what looked like a small meeting. There were 7 of them in all, it seemed, standing at the center of the next clearing. Two of them prodded each other with their devilish fingers at the side of the meeting, clearly on opposing sides of whatever was going on.
@Luminosity