The adventurers paused at the big woman which wasn’t surprising. Ratface wasn’t the one Abigail was facing off and even she could feel the aura of violence wafting off her.

They didn’t run away though. She could see them all doing the maths. There was a lot of them but only one of her.

“Before we start this, would anyone like to explain themselves?” Abigail asked.

“That there goblin got the kids ambushed, one of them died,” cried out a voice from the crowd. Abigail glanced at Ratface, who lay down on the floor feeling broken and useless, then back to the crowd.

“This child orchestrated an ambush in a village she had never been to. On whose word was this confirmed?”

“One of the other kids said so,” grumbled one at the front.

“This has been confirmed?” she asked. Silence greeted her and her voice came out like ice. No like the tremor of a volcano before it erupted.

“You would kill a child on another child’s unconfirmed word?” She glanced at Albert and Anna who stood in front of Ratface and were visibly injured.

“You would kill children who protected her?”

“We were just going to capture the goblin lovers. They’re young and don’t know what they’re doing,” said the same man, who had become the unofficial leader. If he had thought his words would calm Abigail down, he was sorely mistaken.

She drew her sword from her back and slammed it into the ground in front of her. The blade burned blue.

“I am Abigail the Rune Knight. Leave now with your honour intact or come die to murder a child. There will be no mercy for those who step forward.”

At her words a mist spread from the sword. It curled around the adventurers and twined itself around them. Ratface could just make out the whispers from where she lay.

“Rune Knight”

“Dragon Slayer”

“King’s Guard”

“The Witch’s Greatsword”

That was what the mist whispered but a far more common title was whispered by the adventurers.

“Granny Greatsword,” they said. Awe and fear mixed in their voices.

“There’s enough of us that even you can’t stop us. Step aside, please,” the adventurer pleaded. The fear in his voice didn’t surprise Ratface, only monster got old in the world of violence. The pain in it did though. For the first time Ratface wondered on the title of Granny they all gave her. It wouldn’t just be because she was old. Old adventurers had cool nicknames usually, or terrifying.

Instead, they called her Granny, like she was a part of their family. Ratface couldn’t help but wonder how many she had helped on her travels. How many she’d cared for.

“Perhaps you will, William,” she called. The man flinched as his name was called out.

“But how many of you will fall before then? Is it worth it for a suspicion?”

The adventurers trembled and Ratface watched as they fought against Abigail’s words with what they thought was right.

Could you kill the one who had helped you for what was right? Ratface wondered, what if you weren’t sure?

“There are many faces in this crowd I recognise; Emma, Catherine, Nick, so many more,” said Abigail. Her voice was gentle. She pleaded with the adventurers just as they had pleaded with her. “Let me remember you as someone of worth. Don’t let me remember you as someone who raised a blade to a child.”

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That seemed to break something in them and the adventurers left. The mist receded and Abigail’s sword ceased to burn as she sheathed it. She stood tall but Ratface could see the weariness in her eyes.

Only two group stayed. One group of two and the other a man on his own. They looked familiar to Ratface, and she realised they looked like her two friends. It must be their parents. Ratface startled at the thought of adventurers being her friends, but she wouldn’t take it back. How could she, after they faced down a mob for her? After they did it twice?

The two ran to their parents. Abigail whipped out a healing potion and straightened out a bone in Ratface’s leg, then relocated her shoulder. The shock was helping hear deal with the injuries and after a moment the cool feeling of healing potion soothed away her pain. She could feel her bone still rearranging itself in her leg and rather than focusing on that, she watched her friends reunions.

Tiffany’s family looked to be farmers, simple gear covered them and Ratface couldn’t spy a weapon in sight. They’d come because their daughter was in danger. Tiffany’s parents hugged her fiercely, not letting go of her in the moment.

“You have to run,” they said to her, “it isn’t safe for you here.”

There were tears in their eyes, but they handed the girl a pouch of money and a bag presumably stocked for an adventure. Their eyes shone with pride. It made sense, the girl was far too soft to not have doting parents.

Albert’s father looked different. An adventurer for sure, he looked like what Albert might have grown up to be. Knives covered him and he wore sleek armour under that. It would have faded into the swamp and Ratface wouldn’t want to fight him. That was before she saw his weapon but it only reinforced the feeling. The spear he held was sturdy and runes twisted up its handle to the blade. The blade glowed faintly red. It cast Albert’s father’s face into a harsh judging light. Although given how he stared at his son, perhaps that was how he always looked.

“Father I-”

His father cut him off with the flick of his spear. He grabbed something off Albert’s shirt. A small crest she hadn’t noticed. The man dropped it and crushed it under foot.

“No son of mine would side with a goblin,” he said. He walked away, leaving Albert staring at the crushed badge.

Ratface couldn’t get up, but Tiffany walked over to the boy and gave him a hug. He didn’t move but eventually he straightened his shoulders a looked back to Ratface with a smile. It was a pure smile. One filled with a mix of pain and pride.

“I don’t regret it,” he said. Ratface looked at him with awe. How had such a boy come from such a father? She was ashamed on the father’s behalf, that he could not live up to Albert’s image.

“Honourable,” whispered Abigail. She scooped up Ratface like a child, careful not to nudge her only recently healed body. Ratface for her part kept very still. A mix of not being sure she could move and the comfort of being cared for keeping her frozen.

Abigail carried her back into the inn where a few patrons looked on with awe. They quickly looked away when Abigail’s eyes met them as she made her way up the stairs. Isabelle joined them and Abigail gave her a nod of respect.

“You have my thanks for the illusion,” she said.

“Well, if you failed I rather suspect the inn would have suffered some damage,” the other woman said. Her relieved smile gave her away though.

Abigail gestured back outside.

“There’s two lost children out there, mind brining them in?” she asked. Isabelle nodded and made her way out to Ratface’s friends.

Abigail took Ratface to a room and lay her down on the bed in there. She checked the shoulder and leg.

“Wiggle your toes,” she ordered. Ratface did and the old lady sighed.

“Thank goodness. What kind of girl jumps of a building.”

“The desperate kind,” Ratface said.

Abigail hummed in agreement.

“Yes, I wondered about that. What happened to your mask? Where’d you get the helmet?”

Ratface walked her through her day all the way to the destruction of the mask. Abigail said nothing for a moment.

“You really do attract trouble, don’t you?” she said at last, “I’m impressed you killed a rat noble. Not an easy feat.”

“Technically it wasn’t me but Halmir.” Ratface’s eyes widened, and she checked her pockets for the rat. She pulled him out and found him staring at her groggily. He’d been asleep but otherwise fine. He still looked bloated though.

Abigail glanced down at the rat with interest but seeing he was okay left him. She went to move away but Ratface grabbed her wrist.

“Thank you for saving me again,” she said.

Abigail lifted the helmet off Ratface’s head and smoothed away her hair. She smiled as she absentmindedly pat Ratface’s head.

“I said I would. You did the right thing coming to find me.”

Ratface digested that information and the head pats. It reminded her of her mother which gave her conflicting emotions. It was soothing though, so she didn’t ask Abigail to stop. As her mind drifted, she thought about her two friends. They were alone now. Like she’d been.

“Can you help my friends?” she asked, her voice soft as she teetered on the edge of sleep.

“Where we’re going, there’s always need for noble adventurers. I would help those children even if you hadn’t asked.”

Ratface smiled at the comment and closed her eyes.

It had been a long painful day, and she was tired. She felt safe and Abigail’s petting was pushing her into the land of dreams.

She let it, knowing the woman would keep her safe.