“Oh! I’m sorry Miss Helena!” a child apologized after bumping into an old woman, walking down the cobblestone streets of a small town.

He looked at the old woman with widened eyes. His wool clothes were covered in dirt, his black hair was a complete mess, and the pale skin of the child had smudges of mud and even a scrap. In his hand, he had a small stick, one that was likely being used as a make-believe weapon like the group of children that were not too far behind the old woman, who, like the boy, looked just like him; though, all of them stopped as they waited for this one.

“It’s fine,” she said with a smile, “You go on now.”

“Yes ma’am,” the child replied, and quickly dashed to the side to catch up to the others.

“And don’t you forget to do your spell exercises, young man!” the old woman, Helena, loudly said as the boy got further and further away, only to sigh as it seemed like he either didn’t listen or chose to ignore her.

She could have reprimanded him for that, but seeing the boys joyfully playing as if they were knights-in-training by swinging and blocking each other’s sticks caused her to softly smile, shake her head and turn to continue walking down the streets.

It was a rather small town, with most houses being built from wood, and a few of them a mixture of stones and wood, but they weren’t big, as all were either one or two floors high. Helena was in the middle of the merchant’s street, so at the front of every other house or so, she could see wooden stalls supplied with whatever variety of things the store had. They were mostly food or things needed for the households, but there were a couple selling armors and weapons for any would-be adventurer or hunter.

“Looking good today, Lady Helena,” a burly man with lightly tanned skin and a bald head said to her as she walked by from one of those stalls, one selling swords.

“Oh, thank you,” she replied with a soft smile.

The burly man returned the smile and inspected her from top to bottom with an obvious leer. “Y’know, if I was an old man myself, I would definitely find a way to make you mine.”

Helena, despite her gray hair, still carried a youthful stride. Today, she was wearing a pale blue tunic with a leather belt around her thin waist. She was slightly taller than the average woman, and she stood straight, with her chest puffed out and her steps certain, so if one were to look at her from afar, she could easily be mistaken for a young woman—only giving away her age because the wrinkles around her blue eyes, and the edges of her mouth.

“Oh you,” she replied, placing a hand on her cheek, but neither blushing nor getting angry about it. “I already have more than enough.”

The man nodded in agreement. “I’m sure those rowdy boys o’ yours are already getting in trouble—hey, if you ever need someone to put them in their place, you only need but ask. I know I sure needed it when I was their age.”

Helena chuckled but just shook her head. “That wouldn’t be necessary. I can handle them just fine.”

The burly man shrugged, only to then smile and gesture with one hand towards his merchandise. “You wouldn’t happen to be interested in a new sword? Finely crafted by these hands.”

“No. I don’t need such things. But thank you, I’ll be on my way now,” Helena replied with another shake of her head, a slight bow, and a turn to continue down the road.

“Bah, alright. You take care now!” the old man replied, waving his hand to her back, and getting a small wave back from her.

She continued walking, passing by a few other people, who also stopped here and there to inspect what was being offered. Helena didn’t need much, and her dark brown straw basket already had more than enough for a few days, so it was likely time for her to leave. However, she saw some bright red apples a couple of stalls away and approached it. She inspected them with her eyes for a while, but ignored the reddest ones to go for ones that weren’t quite as bright.

These were the sweetest ones, and better yet, since most people preferred the brightest ones, these would usually be cheaper; simply for having a few pale spots here and there.

She stretched her hand to pick a couple, only to be stopped when she heard a conversation from the stall next to this one.

“Do you really think that the Goddess’ Hero already defeated the Hellborne Empress?” asked one man, leaning back on the stall with his arms crossed.

“Absolutely. It’s already been—what?—two years since that guy came here with all of those beautiful women? He’s had more than enough time to get to the empire and their demon ruler,” replied another man, standing in front of the leaning one. “Besides, look at the sky—Blue, sunny… no age of darkness as the priests warned.”

“Ah… you might be right… We’ve also not seen any demons, goblins, or a dragon since that guy stayed here,” the first man said, finally stepping away from the stall. “I guess I was being a bit too worried.”

The second one laughed and started walking down the street, in the same direction Helena came from. “How about we buy a new sword? Just in case, if you’re going to be such a little kitty.”

“H-hey! I’m not being a—”

The banter between the men continued down the road, and Helena couldn’t hear it anymore, but her hand remained in place, with her eyes simply staring at the apples.

“Is something wrong?” asked the owner of the stall, leaning slightly to look into Helena’s face.

“Ah, I’m sorry. I was just lost in thought for a moment. Happens with age,” she quickly answered with a smile.

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“Tell me about it. Sometimes, my mother-in-law does the same thing,” he said with an understanding nod. “Will you be taking these?”

“Yes, thank you,” Helena replied, taking the couple of apples that she wanted, before turning to finally leave the merchant’s street.

* * *

“Uwah!” a girl screamed, her short brown hair blowing back as she tripped and fell.

In front of her, in the air, a magic circle, glowing yellow, was crumbling down as a fist-sized rock was summoned from it and shot through the air. The rest of the children inside the empty room—one made of wooden floor planks, and wooden walls and roof—looked with widened eyes as the rock flew straight at their instructor at the front, Helena.

“Watch out Miss—!”

With a loud slap, the rock was torn to pieces, leaving nothing more than a small dust cloud in the air, right in front of her. Helena didn’t suffer a wound and just looked calmly at the children. However, the girl that had her spell misfire quickly stood, nearly in tears, and held the hem of her shirt. “I-I-I’m sorry—I-I don’t—I just—I-I—”

“It’s okay, child,” Helena replied with a soft smile, “You’re all here to learn, and these things happen, which is why I’m here; so you can make those mistakes and nobody gets hurt.”

“B-but…” the girl continued, lowering her head as tears started rolling down her face.

“Come now,” Helena softly said, approaching the girl and lifting her face while wiping a few tears. “You can’t break into tears after such a little mistake.” The girl sniffed a couple of times while looking away, so Helena shook her head. “If you don’t want this to happen again, then remember to practice your exercises—and please ask questions next time if you’re not sure.”

The girl slightly nodded a couple of times, and then finished wiping her face herself. Helena stood straight once more, and as she was about to turn to continue with the class, she noticed the few older women who were already standing by the open door of the small shed they used for classes. She took notice of the angle of the shadows outside, and realized that it was time for the children to leave.

“That’s going to be all for today,” she ordered, gesturing with her hand to the door.

The children picked up whatever stuff they had—if any—and quickly rushed outside. Most of them didn’t have anyone waiting for them, but they knew they had to go home to their parents, while others rushed to the older women waiting outside. Helena just picked up the few things she bought earlier and walked over to them as well.

“Good work today as well, Helena,” said one of the older ladies, one that was hunched over, with a head full of white hair, and wrinkled skin so cracked that her eyes were already somewhat lost in them. “I hope that they didn’t give you a hard time.”

“That’s right, that’s right, us old grannies can’t keep up with them, and you’re not a young woman yourself,” said another one, not quite as old, as her hair still carried a few locks of black hairs. She was holding a boy that was already reaching her height—not that it was too tall to begin with.

Helena chuckled. “Well, what us grannies don’t have in youth, have in knowledge, so I know what to expect from the little ones.”

Another old lady laughed. “You call yourself a granny but I wish I still had that youthful body of yours.”

“Magic does help keep one strong, but I’m not that much younger than you lot,” Helena nodded, keeping a soft smile.

“Heheheh, well it also helps not having to pop children like I did,” a fourth one followed. “But it’s good to see that with these kids you’re not aging any faster.”

“Demons and monsters are a bit more trouble, so don’t worry, I’ve faced worse,” Helena refuted and laughed, followed by the chuckles of the others.

“Oh! Speaking of magic,” the oldest one said once the laughter died down, “I’ve brought you this as thanks for healing that terrible back pain.”

From a small leather bag, the old granny pulled out a tiny bread in the shape of a ball. It had a fresh golden color at the top with a pale white bottom, not quite like the ones that were usually sold at the bakery.

“What is this?” Helena asked as she took the piece of bread and brought it close to her nose.

“It’s a new one that my son-in-law is trying out. He filled it with mashed fruits, very tasty,” the old lady said. “I would’ve brought you more, but the guy refused to let them go for free, so that’s it for now.”

“Ah, there’s no need for more. Thank you,” Helena said with a smile and putting the piece of bread in her basket.

As one of the grannies opened her mouth to say something else, a boy pulled her from the side of her dress. “Grandma! Let's go already!”

The sun was already threatening to hide behind the distant green mountains, so Helena nodded. “It wouldn’t be good to be walking at night for us old women, so we better get going.”

“Right, you take care of yourself—and hurry up, that hut of yours in the outskirts isn’t exactly the safest of places… Really now, why you want to live there is beyond me,” said the old lady who still had a few black hairs while shaking her head.

Helena smiled. “I like the solitude.”

“If you say so…” replied the old lady, being continuously pulled by a boy.

The others followed suit, and while holding their grandchildren, they each went their own way, leaving Helena alone and in front of the shed they used for magic classes. She watched for a moment as their silhouettes disappeared behind the corners of others houses, before finally turning and closing the wooden doors of the shed. There was nothing of value inside, but it wouldn’t be good to leave it open for wild animals, so after making sure that it wouldn’t open on itself by giving it a couple of soft pulls, Helena left with the sun going down behind her back.

* * *

Helena’s house wasn’t inside the town, so she had to walk a certain distance beyond the wooden gates that protected it, which were being watched by a couple of volunteering men from the town. They already knew her, so they just nodded as she passed by them and went on to the dirt road that led into the woods closest to the town. There was still some sunlight, so she didn’t need to summon any light sources to see her path, but it wouldn’t last much longer, so she picked up her pace.

Once the town was out of her sight, she sensed something strange coming from the direction of her home; beyond the trees. There was a magic signature there. Someone—or something—was inside her home. Her eyes sharpened, and she hid her own magic presence as best as she could while keeping the same quick pace.

Her small wooden house was on top of a short hill, hidden between trees and bushes, so for someone to be there, they must’ve been desperate enough to find it, but not welcomed inside the town.

After a short moment, she finally saw her home. The door remained closed, but one of the windows was wide open—the wooden planks used to keep it close while she was away torn to pieces. Inside, she could hear quick steps moving from one side to another, and she could hear a few of her things hit the floor.

Whoever invaded her home was about to pay the consequences of doing so.

She quietly approached the door… and with one swift kick, her wooden door blasted open.

“Aaarrhhgh!” a couple of beings shouted simultaneously, who then turned to look at her.

She looked down at them with cold eyes. They weren’t taller than any of the children she taught, their skin was dark green, eyes abyss black with a small red dot in the center, noses long and pointy, and stocky bodies with long arms and short legs. They were dressed in brown rags, and both of them had their eyes wide open while frozen and looking at her.

Goblins.