Ratface had always been planning on leaving the village. She’d just been hoping to do it carefully, in a way that didn’t involve and adventurer on her heels. Her plan for leaving had now adjusted from, ‘when it was safe’ to ‘this afternoon’. A series of break-ins later and Ratface had gone from a goblin with nothing to a goblin with some things.

After sneaking back into the midden, Ratface took stock of her new things she’d gained. Her favourite find had been the backpack. It was a small thing, but it wasn’t like she had much to fill it with. Next up had been a knife. She didn’t know what she was going to do with it but if the last month or so had taught her anything it was that having a knife was never a bad thing. She had taken the worst one she could find but even that was pretty good. Turns out people in an isolated village took care of their equipment.

Other than that, she had grabbed some spare rags and a water pouch. This probably wasn’t all she would need for the trip. Ideally, she’d find something to eat on the way out. Starving while traveling was a possibility but death by adventurer was a certainty.

She packed up the things she’d borrowed forever then stuffed her sandwiches into the bag . Finally she shoved the pie into her mouth. It was delicious. The meat juices ran down her chin and she wiped her hand over it then licked it when she finally ran out of pie. Had she known it was this good, she would have stolen more.

Breakfast and her only meal of the day sorted, she set out. She moved away from the village and into the swamp that surrounded it. In hindsight there was something pretty funny about a village called Pinewood being in a swamp. She’d stayed here for a month and hadn’t ever thought to ask. She wished she’d had the luxury to be curious.

Ratface saluted the village that had homed her then moved into the swamp. She clambered up into the trees and made her way through the swamp. Would be embarrassing to spend so long avoiding the adventurer only to get eaten by a crocodile.

Ratface was lost. When climbing through the swamp she’d kept away from the road to avoid running into the adventurer or running into other travellers.

That had been a mistake. Ratface had stumbled into Pinewood when she’d first run from her own destroyed village. It had been pure chance she made it. This time she hadn’t been so lucky, and she found herself deep in the swamp with no idea of where to go. It was already late afternoon, and the swamp had been crawling with wildlife. Mosquito’s and alligators all waiting to take a bite of her.

At least where she was now it was quiet. Wait.

Ratface looked around the swamp. The area she was in had literally no creatures. It was deadly quiet. The trees too had cleared into an opening. She’d walked here without thinking partly to bask in the sun and partly because she thought she was out of the swamp. Instead she found an area clear except for a small hill in the middle. A small hill that was looking at her.

Ratface’s eyes widened. She’d found her way to the golem.

It began to glow as it rose out of the water. Ratface scrambled away trying to get behind the tree. She ran towards the end of the clearing. If she could just make it to the edge. She tripped as she tried to run through the mud and fell on her face. It was the only thing that kept her alive.

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The tree in front of her was smoking. There was a hole burned through it in line with where her head had been. Ratface turned from the tree to look back at the golem. It stared down at her from the middle of the swamp. The eye it had used to shoot the beam was read and steaming. It was a stone golem about the size of one of the trees. It looked like someone had taken boulders and stacked them on top of each other to make a man. The swamp had grown onto it and cracked its skin. Fresh plants seemed to grow out of it. It was like she was being attacked by a swamp treant. If she ignored the red eye. A thing she wasn’t about to do.

It began to glow again and Ratface dove to the side, a beam of energy shooting into the ground where she’d been. The once lush undergrowth burned away until all that was left was cooked earth.

Ratface got her knife out. Her hands shaking. She didn’t really think she could beat the golem, but she knew she couldn’t outrun it. She’d just have to hold out until a moment revealed itself. Fight to run away.

The golem waded through the water closer to her. Its eye glowed again and Ratface started to run. One more beam passed her. This time it followed her as she pumped her legs to keep in front of it. Her legs making slurping noises as she pulled them out of the mud.

The heat stopped and the sound of steam let her know the beam had finished. She stopped sprinting and turned back to the creature. Her lungs were burning both from running and from breathing in the smoke that was spreading as golem burned the area around her.

It was close enough now that it didn’t try to shoot her with its eye. It raised its arm thought it seemed to struggle to do so. Ratface looked at the joint and saw vines tangled in her. Hah! It’s time in the swamp had got it tangled. It couldn’t go at full strength. The arm came down but Ratface neatly side stepped out of the way. The arm slow enough that she could do so. She grinned in satisfaction until she heard a grounding from the arm. It was dragging it across the ground towards her!

Ratface vaulted the arm. Diving and rolling through the as the force of it sent her tumbling. She scrambled out of the way as the golem stomped down where she had been. Its leg sunk into the mud. The two of them paused as it tried to pull the leg out and failed.

Ratface grinned. One limb down.

The golem lifted its arms and swung at her. It was careful not to let its arms hit into the swamp now that it had seen it could get stuck.

Their stuck joints meant that even she could keep dodging it while it did these awkward movements.

The two of them were in a stalemate. So long as the golem didn’t commit, she could keep dodging it but if she tried to run away it would shoot that beam at her. She had to get behind it somehow so she could run away.

Ratface danced away from the punches. She got further and further away until she was right on the edge of its reach then she took a risk.

Ratface let her legs sink into the mud. She pulled at them like they were stuck as the golem raised its arms. She grinned then went to jump out only to find her legs were actually stuck.

She panicked. Desperately pulling at her legs. One came out with a slurp, and she hurled her body out of the way of the golems fist. She felt something twist in her stuck leg as it came free, but she still got out.

She looked back where she’d just been and sure enough the golem was stuck. Her plan had worked!

She tried to stand but found she could barely put any weight on her left leg, the one that had been stuck. She half limped and half hopped away from the golem. She made sure to keep in its blind spot lest it got beamy again.

Ratface slunk back into the swamp forest, keeping on moving until she could hear the noises in the forest once more. She climbed a tree and curled into it. In pain, but alive.

She’d survived but only barely.

There was a problem too. She hadn’t been sure, but today’s activities pretty much confirmed it.

There was only one way out of this place, and it was through that golem.