Zuss dashed into the cold night air. Her bandages protected her face from the wind. Immediately, she noticed the hoard. Dozens of gremlins, three goblins. But, she didn’t have time for that. She had to check on Klaw.

Thinking ahead, Zuss emptied her potion into her mouth but did not swallow. Then, she activated Deepen Shadows and skulked towards the back. The sensation was like a thin, heavy blanket being placed over her. She could feel which part of her was in shadow or not.

Silent as a grave and as dark as night, Zuss turned the corner of the cottage. Fire and carnage lay before her. Goblin guts splattered everywhere and gremlins lay in pieces. What the hell had Klaw done?

At a glance, she didn’t see Klaw. She went to investigate… but hesitated. Memories of searing pain flashed through her. Just looking at the fire made her sick. Klaw was fine, right? Surely.

Zuss turned her back on the flames. Gremlins scoured the land like rats. Already, she could see Calion fighting off dozens of them at a time. What could she do to help?

Stragglers. She could see gremlins at the edges of the battle, at the darkest corners, waiting to move in to back up their allies. Under the mask, Zuss smiled coldly. Unnoticed, she moved behind the attacking army.

She found her first prey, alone and watching the fight with awe. Zuss grabbed him from behind and pulled him into the shadows. She rolled him onto his back, then used her prehensile feet to grab hold of his wrists. Her hands closed around its throat. Zuss didn’t hesitate. She squeezed until it stopped moving.

She picked up its dagger and moved to her next prey. A slice to the throat and it was dead, a second dagger was added to hers, dual-wielding the tiny blades.

Zuss was not the only hunter, that night. From above, a predator descended. Its furred wings spread wide, it landed on an unsuspecting gremlin. Birdy ripped and tore at it with her claws. The screams and hisses brought the attention of more gremlins.

She couldn’t let Birdy get hurt. Fellow predators looked out for one another, and she owed the cat a dept for teaching her the ways of the night stalker.

Moving like a minnow, Zuss closed the distance and slit the throat of one of the gremlins moving to attack the cat. But, the other noticed. Its eyes focused in and out, but it saw her.

The gremlin screamed and attacked. Zuss easily sidestepped the attack. It was moving so slowly. Her reflexes were too refined from her biotraits. Amused, Zuss let the gremlin continue to attack. Every stab missed. The whole time, Zuss never made a sound. Finally, she grew bored and killed the nasty creature.

She was a gremlin as well, true. But there was a tangible difference between them and her. Daggat, as she loathed to admit, had helped mold them into elite varieties of their geneseed.

“What’s going on?” A goblin approached. Zuss watched it, standing atop a fence post like a rooster. This goblin was muscular and shirtless. Its hands were large and curled into firsts. Stone-like knuckles flexed as he attacked. “The fuck are you? What’s wrong with your face? Too ugly to show it?” Zuss held up the daggers, then used one to beckon it forward. “Oh, this bitch has a spine. Alright, I’ll fight ya. But it won’t go the way you think it will.” He took in a breath, then kicked the post with a low sweeping him. Zuss leaped in the air just as it shattered. She flipped and landed on her feet.

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Then, she dashed. Her mind was racing with all of the different points of attack. The environment, potential weapons, and the distances involved. Daggat was smart, in his own way. But he had nothing on Zuss when it came to killing. Until now, she had only hunted rodents in the camp. These were not much better.

With one foot she picked up a stone, lept in the air, and threw it. The goblin blocked it lazily, and she came in to stab him. Even though she had done well against the gremlins, Zuss was no knife fighter. He ignored the untrained attack and jabbed at her.

Her dodge was almost too late. He was FAST. She felt the wind of his fist rustle the bandages of her head. She did not dodge the second attack. A fist slammed into her gut, sending her flying. This goblin felt stronger than Klaw. As she rolled, she coughed and sputtered. She drank the potion instinctively, to avoid choking on it.

The low, smoldering anger flowed through her as the smoke billowed up. With new strength and dexterity, her roll turned into a dash and she ran towards her opponent. Smoke followed her like a wall. She had a few seconds. Just enough time to run around the goblin and slash. The smoke darkened to a pitch black as she activated deepen shadows. She cut and jabbed at the goblin, scoring small hits. He was entirely encased in dark smoke and began to cough as he threw wild punches and kicks in the dark.

At the last moment, she used her smoke wings to leap high into the air. Feeling the transformation fade away even as she flew. Smoke would now dissipate, but it would last long enough.

Zuss landed lightly onto the goblin's back and gripped with her prehensile feet. Then she stabbed. One dagger into the ear, not strong enough to pierce the skull. Another in his face, cutting his cheek. Another stab to his chest, again not deep enough. A last stab to the top of its head before the goblin grabbed her and threw her off.

She tumbled through the smoke wall, then stood. She ached, but could still fight. A moment later, the goblin stepped out. He was covered in cuts and stabs, oozing blood from every part of his body. His head wound washed half of his face in crimson and she bared his teeth. “I’m going to kill you SLOW!”

The goblin closed the distance with ease, blocked Zuss’s attempt to stab him, and brought a foot down on her leg. The first noise Zuss made in the battle was her scream as her leg snapped. Tears soaked her smoke-covered bandages.

Standing over her, the goblin has a sadistic smile on his face. The blood only made him more terrifying. “What should I break next? What’s your least favorite limb?”

With a yowl, Birdy descended onto his head. She cut and scratched at him like a storm of blades. The goblin cried out in shock and pain as small cuts raked across his face. He twirled around, trying to catch the cat. Eventually, he did. With one hand, he grabbed her by the wing and threw her to the ground. The cat screeched in pain and there was a sickening snap. One wing was bent the wrong way.

Zuss saw red. By then she had managed to stand on one leg. Ignoring the pain in her leg and her throat, she screamed as she moved. She scampered up the goblin's back, faster than she had ever climbed. On the climb, she dropped a dagger and caught it with her good foot. The goblin tried to reach behind to grab her, but his muscles were too large. Then, holding onto his shoulders for leverage, she kicked off and brought her entire body weight into the dagger held by her foot.

It pierced the center and dug deep. She felt something give, then snap. Immediately, he fell to the ground. Legs flopped down like bags of jelly. She had paralysed him.

Zuss was not done. She stabbed again and again while he lay helpless. Finally, he stopped struggling. Panting, she rolled off of him and groaned. Her leg hurt. Blisters had opened in her burn wounds. Her throat was sore.

But she won. Zuss couldn’t help but laugh. Then, almost as an afterthought, she took the goblin's scarf. A trophy earned.

The fight was ending on the other side as well. Gremlins running for the words or dead. One goblin was dead, killed by a panting Calion.

She looked for her siblings. Klaw was nowhere to be seen. Daggat was still inside, she thought.

Daggat screamed from inside the cottage and she noticed a flame burst from INSIDE the cottage. Then the scream was cut off.