Chapter 69

After watching for around ten minutes, it was obvious to the two of them that the monsters were just slowly milling about in the wide-open area. While they did not seem to have any actual destination at the moment, they all continued to move away from the power station as more flooded out of the dark pits. There just seemed to be no end to them. For the first bit, they had just kept an eye on either the creatures closest to them, or the spewing pits in the middle of the horde. As time went on though, Natalie in particular started to notice a few more subtle signs. Almost in tandem with when the monsters came out, parts of the power station seemed to age. Metal was gathering rust at a visible rate, the concrete was cracking and breaking apart, and the structures inside were starting to bend and sag. It was as if the structure itself was sacrificing itself for the portal. Quickly getting her notebook brought out, Nat wrote down her observations as well as a couple questions, before getting a pup to bring it back in. Looking back up, she saw Shannon wide eyed facing the monster horde.

Turning her gaze back towards the power station, Nat's view was returned by the eyes of hundreds of gobs and hobs, dozens of orcs, and a couple of the bigger ones, that she had yet to decide what to name them. Every single one was focused right on her. Could they sense items entering and leaving the Soulscape? Before she could bother with that question though, her feet were already moving. "Run!" she shouted at Shannon, as they fled back into the residential area, screams and cries sounded out behind them, swiftly followed by the thundering of their feet as the horde gave chase. Running back down the street towards Shannon's house cut off the horde's view the fastest, while also leading toward the river valley.

As the two of them got halfway down the street, the first monsters rounded the behind them. Gobs and hobs flowed out, chasing down their fleeing prey. While they were similar in speeds, the goblins were slowly catching up to the two fleeing women. Their injuries had not fully healed, as it had only been a couple days, slowing them down immensely from where they would be at their prime running speed. "Really, you sure that dream was about goblins chasing you in a forest? Not here, in the city?" Shannon screamed at her best friend. As Nat was about to respond, a loud crashing noise came out from behind them. Looking back, their speed increased as well as their wish that they had not looked in the first place. Some of the bigger ones had just ran diagonally instead of going for the opening where they were seen. While there were houses in the ways, the monsters either did not care, or were not worried about the obstructions. The crashing sound they heard was multiple of the ten-foot-tall freaks just running through the houses, breaking the houses apart as they moved closer.

Shrieks and cries continued getting louder and closer as Natalie and Shannon ran through an open construction site. It was one of the few that did not have the back closed off by a fence yet, giving them the ability to just keep running away. When they passed out the other side, they had already entered the hilly crags that led down toward the river below. Running along the tops of one of the hills, they continued forward despite the soreness prevalent throughout both of their bodies. After they ran out, suddenly some of the cries sounded to be heading sideways instead of closer. Nat looked back only to see that some of the goblins had more dexterity, despite being at the front of the chasing horde. Wrong foot placements caused the occasional goblin to fall and start rolling down the hill, causing blood to fly in a spiral behind them as their heads made contact with the rocks dotting the hill.

Sadly, the drop was not that big, as most of the ones that fell got up again, albeit clutching their heads while trying to stem the bleeding. Thanks to a lot of monsters falling down the hill, the two increased the gap by a fair margin, until the larger ones had some sort of bright idea. Their only warning was a scream, swiftly increasing in volume. Turning around, they barely had enough time to duck as a goblin went soaring past them. Seeing that the fuckers had started picking up more goblins, Nat quickly led Shannon down off the hills and into the river valley. With it being late March, the river was both swift and deep, which would have made them take a more cautious approach for crossing it. However, with goblins constantly flying at them, with the horde close behind, they quickly agreed that the only option they had left was to cross the stream. Facing upstream, they moved as quickly as they could, keeping one of their feet on the bed of the river at all times while they held onto each other's arms by their forearms.

While the water got up to their necks, they were barely able to get across. Shannon had almost been swept away once, but Natalie's grasp held true. Getting up onto the other bank and away from the water, they turned around to see what would happen. As they expected, the first couple gobs immediately tried to cross when they got there. However, their short stature had them go sailing downstream, carried by the current. Seeing this, the rest of the monsters hesitated. The big guys, which now that she had a minute of breathing room Natalie had dubbed them ogres, had started picking up hobs and gobs to throw them across. This time though, neither of the girls ran. Slowly, they got up and started walking towards the hills leading up and away from the river to their west. As for the goblins that had been attempted to be thrown over, the three wargs had decided that it was a fun game of catch. As they flew through the air, the goblins were snatched up like frisbees, only to have their necks broken in the strong jaws of the large canines. Neither of the women gave any care to it however. They were sore and exhausted already, yet it was not even noon.

Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Eric, Corgi, Lachlan, Coen, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Hades, Neal, Sebastian, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 25 patrons, which I will then open up an official discord for everyone to come and discuss the story in and hang out!