Adventure of Robby the Gobby 1

Salt wind lashes the smuggler's cove. Black water slaps the rocks below, and the cliff face sweats with spray. Robby the Gobby crouches with Augustus at his side, just as three mercenaries turn at the sound of hooves on stone.

Midori Musashi is pinned against the cliff, wrists bound tight in heavy rope. Her braids stick to her damp face. One mercenary keeps a blade at her throat while another watches the cove mouth for trouble.

Augustus snorts hard and stamps, tusks scraping wet stone. The nearest mercenary flinches, then raises his sword toward the warthog instead of the goblin.

The leader shifts his footing, trying to keep both Robby and Augustus in sight. His two companions fan out, blades lifting as they decide whether to rush or bargain.

Robby gives a sharp whistle, and Augustus launches at the wrong beat, skidding on the slick stone instead of crashing into the man by Midori.

The mercenary jerks back with Midori, blade wavering as he shoves her side-on into the cliff to keep her between him and the warthog.

Augustus catches his footing short of the blade, tusks snapping air, but he has forced the line of guard to open for a heartbeat.

Salt spray flashes through the gap, and Robby sees the knot, swollen and dark with seawater, hanging within reach if he can seize the opening.

Robby slips in under the lifted sword arm and saws through the seawet rope. The knot parts with a wet snap, and Midori’s wrists spring free.

The mercenary leader recoils, suddenly shielding an empty grip instead of a hostage. His boot slides on the slick stone, and he catches himself with a curse.

Augustus surges in close, head low and snorting, while Robby’s cut rope whips away into the spray.

Mercenary Two flinches toward the cliff edge, eyes darting seaward, and the line of the ambush starts to break.

The leader raises his sword again, but now it points at four threats instead of one, and the cove suddenly feels too small for his plan.

Robby lunges through the spray and slams into the leader’s guard. The man backpedals on the slick ledge, sword jerking high as he loses his footing.

Robby’s shoulder catches him hard enough to drive his breath out, but the hit also shoves the blade arm wide. The leader staggers into the cliff face with a crack of wet leather and stone.

Mercenary One hesitates, suddenly staring past Robby at an opening he cannot safely reach. Mercenary Two swears and shuffles farther from the edge, fear winning for a heartbeat.

The shout comes too late. Augustus surges in close beside Robby, snorting spray, and the leader’s attention splits between tusks, bow, and the cliff behind him.

Robby plants himself in the space he just made, but the rush costs him. His boot skids, and a sharp sting bites his shoulder where the leader’s hilt clips him in passing.

Robby shifts his weight to leverage the slick stone, but the ledge is too narrow and uneven to provide the necessary footing for a shove. The mercenaries regain their balance just as the ground beneath them holds firm.

Robby gives ground on the slick ledge, and Augustus swings in with him, broad shoulders and snorting breath making a living wall between goblin and steel.

The mercenary leader checks his advance, sword hand wavering as the warthog's tusks cut off his line.

Midori shifts out from the cliff side, freed hands up, weight low, eyes locked on the men who held her.

The two mercenaries start edging away along the wet stone, boots skidding toward the cove mouth as Augustus keeps them pinned in place.

Robby drives in with his shoulder and hips, and the mercenaries give way at last, stumbling backward toward the cove mouth.

Augustus surges with him, forcing the line to break, wet stone scraping under hooves and boots alike.

The leader snaps the order, but his own retreat turns the command into a rout.

Midori steps into the gap they leave, free at last, while Robby feels his boots skid from the shove and his bow strap bite hard across one shoulder.

The mercenaries spill into the cove exit with their backs turned, but one of them glances over and spots the loosened bindings at Midori's feet.

Robby plants himself between Midori and the glance-back, his body a hard little wall of green and leather. The mercenary catches only a glimpse of goblin and bow before hesitating.

That half-second is enough. Midori shifts behind Robby’s shoulder, free hands up and ready, no longer the easy target in the open.

Augustus swings his tusked head toward the same man, snorting salt spray and fury, and the mercenary recoils instead of pressing in.

The warning cracks through what is left of their nerve. Boots scrape on the slick stone as the pair nearest the mouth turn fully away.

One last mercenary stumbles on the loose bindings at his feet, glances back at Robby’s bow, then chooses the exit over another step inward.

Robby breaks from the standoff and sprints after the fleeing mercenaries, boots skidding once on the wet stone before he catches the slick footing and drives on.

The nearest mercenary glances back too late, and Robby closes the gap in a handful of strides, driving him toward the cove mouth where the path narrows.

Augustus barrels in behind him, forcing the pair ahead to split, and that split exposes their back line to Midori’s reach.

One mercenary staggers over the loose bindings, drops his grip, and a small iron key skitters free across the stone toward Robby’s feet.

Instead, the men keep running, and Robby is already between them and the exit, turning their retreat into a dead end.

Midori follows hard behind, free and dangerous, while the mercenaries bunch up at the mouth of the cove with no clean way through.

Robby snatches the iron key from the wet stone before it can wash into the dark below.

He comes up with water on his hand and the key clenched tight, already hearing the mercenaries crowding the exit.

Augustus plants his hooves and snorts at the mouth of the cove, keeping the men boxed in.

The leader reaches toward the choke point, then freezes, staring at the key in Robby's fist as if it might matter more than steel.

Midori steps in behind him, and the trapped men have to decide whether to stand, strike, or throw down.

Robby drives the key into the leader’s wrist cord and loops the slack around the cliff-root beside him. With a sharp yank, the man jerks forward and locks in place against the stone.

The mercenary leader stumbles, pinned by his own bind, while Robby twists the knot tight enough to steal his balance.

His words cut off as Augustus crowds closer, snorting hot breath into the trapped man’s face.

Midori steps in from behind and wrenches the leader’s free arm up, turning him fully helpless at the choke point.

The leader swallows, then gives a thin, bitter laugh. His eyes flick past Robby, not to the sea, but to the broken trail behind the cove.

Augustus grunts, easing one hoof back but keeping his bulk in the doorway. The leader’s bravado frays as he looks from Robby to Midori, calculating whether honesty might buy him air.

Robby drives the blade closer, and the leader’s swagger finally breaks. He jerks his chin toward the cove mouth, then spits the name through clenched teeth.

The answer lands hard in the salt air. Robby’s hand stings where the cord has burned his palm, and the leader sees it, smiling as if that small hurt buys him mercy.

Augustus snorts from the exit and stamps the wet stone, keeping the path pinned shut while the two trapped mercenaries trade a frightened look.

Midori shifts her weight toward the other two men, ready to move, while the leader’s jaw tightens against the cord at his throat.

Robby tightens the blade, and the leader’s smirk gives way to a shallow swallow. The cord bites, the cliff stone cold at his back, and his bravado finally leaks out through his nose in a ragged breath.

Midori’s eyes flick toward the mouth of the cove, then back to the captive men, weighing the new name like a thrown knife.

One of the trapped mercenaries takes a step back and knocks loose a scatter of pebbles, the sound sharp in the hush. Augustus lowers his head a fraction, still blocking the exit, while the leader holds perfectly still against the threat at his throat.

The leader’s eyes dart between Robby, Midori, and the warthog at the gate, and he hesitates just long enough to show he is choosing his next lie.

Robby fixes the leader with a hard glare, and the cliffside seems to shrink around the man in the cord. The threat does the work for him, his stalling dries up at once.

The trapped mercenary at the exit lowers his gaze, while Augustus snorts once, still filling the mouth of the cove with his bulk.

The leader’s shoulders sag as soon as the words leave him. He has given up shape, names, and a trail, and the bargain in his eyes goes thin.

Midori steps nearer, free at last and unbound, while Augustus keeps the exit shut with a low, steady snort. The cove holds its breath around the three trapped men.

The words spill out fast, stripped bare by fear. His head drops, and the name becomes a place Robby can reach.

Augustus snorts once at the exit, and the two remaining mercenaries flinch hard enough to lose their footing.