Ai knew the moment she woke that something was wrong. Typically she woke to the bustle of the village, the women working the clothes on the street. A couple of children shrieking as they played or singing rhymes together.

Now, there was nothing.

Across the room there was an empty space where Tal had lay, still warm to the touch.

Ai hooked her weapons to her belt before she left the room, feeling slightly paranoid. Brandi was not, for once, stood in the kitchen offering everyone food or telling them to hurry up. It was bizarre.

She left the house, shivering slightly at the cool misty air outside. Her ears swivelled on her head as she set off with purpose.

She kept her hand firmly on the handle of one dagger as she peered around a dark corner. It was immediately obvious where everyone had gone.

All of them stood in front of the village elders house. As Ai approached, she could heard what the old crone was saying.

“…know that these people were killed by a large beast, likely to have been driven out by others of its kind further South…”

As the crowd of people parted Ai inhaled sharply. That turned out to be a mistake as she coughed on the heavy stench of decay that wafted off the pile of bodies. Gnawed at limbs, faces with eyes and mouths shrivelled black holes in their heads. Perhaps worse the more recent bodies of goblins, not yet in the cycle of decay. Their flat accusing eyes were far too familiar.

“…the survivor will be questioned provided it recovers well enough-” Ais ears peaked up.

A survivor? Somebody had survived this massacre? A woman somewhere behind her began ushering her child away from the pile of broken corpses. Ai couldn’t blame her. It got to her and she was fully grown.

“...but it is currently in an unstable condition. It is uncertain if it will survive the night, or has lost too much blood…”

She kept calling the survivor it. Ai didn’t think it was a mistake. Ai eyed the grey corpses in the pile, the too long arms with stretched tendons and short stumpy legs.

She was almost sure that somebody was playing a very cruel trick on her. The spirits, perhaps, as she hadn’t thought kindly of them. It seemed that would be a petty thing to do for something that was supposed to be omniscient though. In all likeliness Ai was just being oversensitive. This had nothing to do with her and everything to do with whatever monster had been driven into the forest.

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She swallowed and hardened her shoulders, making her way to familiar faces through the crowd.

She hesitated for a moment behind Tal before whispering in her ear. “What happened?”

“Something attacked a caravan, then some goblins that came to root around the remains. Depending on the creature it might be a threat to the people that needs to be taken care of. Either way we need to send the souls of these creatures back to the spirits.”

Ai nodded. She was surprised that Tal was really talking to her, given the lack of communication between them recently. Not to mention the vague friendship that Ai had with her that was messed up over a boy. Who she saved.

But it wasn’t as if Ai was holding grudges-so the girl had problems telling other people her problems, everyone had their issues.

“Do goblins count as people?” It wasn’t odd for her to ask that right? Ai could just be curious. Not digging for more facts to torture herself with later. Such as a little ugly goblin family or something.

“They’re not people. People look like us, they look like them.” Ai just kind of stared at her for a moment, Tal sighed. “Different species, similar souls. Both feel emotions, speak and argue. Think.”

That made far more sense. And made her feel far more guilty. But they were eating people, so it was a bit early to judge them yet.

Ais eyes danced around the crowd, purposefully skipping over the pile of rot in the middle. After a moment she realised that one person was missing.

“Where’s Ermine?” Ai dreaded that she already knew the answer to that question. Tal gave her a long look over her shoulder.

“You know where.” Then turned back to her gran, who was waving her arms in the air pledging to do whatever necessary to keep the villagers safe. Which wasn’t disturbing at all. Ai imagined the old woman was capable of far more than anyone expected.

Ai was about to ask something else when she noticed that Tals shoulders were shaking a little, her face turned away from Ais field of view. That shut her up fast.

She had only come over to talk to the girl for five minutes and she had already made her cry. In retrospect, perhaps it wasn't the best idea to ask about Ermine, but by the way Tal was reacting anyone would've thought she was the one who killed the rats.

All the time she stood in the crow Ais hand continued to rest over her dagger. She had the feeling that there was change in the air. Not the good kind.

***

All the small grey goblin felt was pain. Pain and pity. Smaller than its brethren and with a far more agile grip, this goblin was not the sort that was often seeing ranging with the common ones. If its kind weren’t killed at birth, then they spent a life time of scavenging off of stronger goblins. Their society was not build around brains.

This particular goblin had always thought of itself as a survivor.

Now it was going to have the real badge of survivalism shoved on its status screen. If it survived the night. It looked down at the bandaged, bloody stumps that its legs had become. When it wasn’t looking, it swore that it could feel its toes. Burning with pain.

Everything that was no longer attached to its body radiated pain. The goblin gritted its jaw, drawing blood. It clutched at the furs to keep it warm and hide the truth of what had happened to its legs.

It was with the People, not an innately cruel society, but absolutely ruthless when it came to dispensing their own form of justice.

It would leave as soon as it thought that it could.

Feeling its imaginary legs screaming at it the goblin lay back, all its muscles taught. It might take a while.