As Grimaline ran, an idea came to her mind. A bit of a revelation: There were other boats in that little port, and they wouldn’t simply let the others go without chasing them… if she let them, they would easily catch up to the others with their superior knowledge of how to manage a boat. She was even surprised that they had managed to make the thing move in the first place!

She could simply keep running and maybe she would survive this encounter, but it would come at the cost of the others…

Cursing herself, Grimal suddenly stopped and turned right around, just as she was about to reach the town’s walls. The humans were chasing her, no signs of the Huntress though. SHe was probably leading the group who would go after her Clan… good.

“It stopped! Kill it!” One of the humans cried triumphantly.

The old lady took a deep breath as the group approached her, begging her body to endure just a little longer as she dashed to the group, her hammer swinging straight to the kneecaps of everyone on her way. The shock of seeing the critter fighting back stunned them for a moment, long enough for Mama Grimal to batter the ones in her way and slide right back towards the port.

These were not warriors, not guards or soldiers, these were just townspeople wielding weapons… as long as she intimidated them, she would be safe. At least that’s what Grimal thought. She was barely able to dodge the piercing forks trying to stab her, feeling the air burning inside of her lungs.

‘Just a little longer’, she begged. ‘Just a little longer!’

Her legs were trembling, she had started panting without realizing, as she ran right back to the boats. And to no one’s surprise, she could see the Huntress rallying people into a boat. The caped human turned to look at Grimaline with curious eyes, aiming her gun at her…And time came to a crawl.

Mama Grimal’s mind was making the calculations, taking everything into account: the wind, her exhaustion, the time it took the Huntress shoot that thing. She only had one shot…

Imagine the Rune.

Feel it in your bones.

Scream it to the skies.

“GHOLTHOI!”

Flames burst like never before on the hammer’s head. With all the strength she had left, Grimal bid goodbye to her beloved weapon, and threw it like a little comet upon Jericho’s surface. The Huntress didn’t see it coming, her head slammed and nailed right into the boat behind her by the burning bolide that was that warhammer, her last seconds of life used to shoot her gun.

Thunder roared for one last time.

Grimal felt a pain like none other, piercing deep into her chest as suddenly her insides were keenly aware of the air passing through them. She was hit in the gut, everything burst in an instant… and she fell on the floor, her legs twitching.

Sensibility soon abandoned her body, luckily enough. Maybe the bullet broke her spine as well, she couldn’t really know. The old goblin looked up from the floor, and saw the boat being abandoned. People were panicking, running from the flames that now consumed it all. Grimaline smiled… that should keep them off the other’s scent for a bit at least.

Slowly, she turned around, looking to the sky. The other humans wouldn’t take long to reach her… but suddenly, she was no longer afraid. She couldn’t feel a thing, only life abandoning her body as a pool of blood formed around her.

In her last moments, she remembered her beloved Krank.

“I hope you were watching…”

And then, the shadows consumed it all.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Little Olk didn’t talk to anyone. He refused to get near her parents, or even Halueve. The moment the others returned without her or Murdagrok… he simply boarded into their stolen boat and found the smallest crevice inside to hide into, a spot in the barracks away from the rain and the light of the day. The Clan at large soon left the poor little kit to his own, they never really paid that much attention to Olk anyways… but Halueve and his parents were quietly watching over the boy as he processed his grief.

Lamentations were sang to the skies as the boat changed course, heading straight for the seas and soon enough leaving behind land and trouble. The Clans had no one to guide them anymore. Luckily, the power vacuum was ignored in favor of grieving… to think that the two grandmas would sacrifice themselves for this trip…

Perhaps it was the memory of those cranky old ladies that kept people from fighting over who would direct them, at least for now.

As they sailed, soon they started to realize that food would be a concern. None of the Clans who met for this trip had brought enough food for a trip beyond where land touches the sea, so now that they were in the middle of the raging waters, they had to ration their food dramatically.

Halueve eventually approached the little kit with a bowl of mushroom soup.

“Little one… you must eat, you can’t just keep to yourself all trip.” She said with a kind, soft voice.

“I don’t wanna.” The little one protested.

“You will stay small and frail if you don’t eat.” The old elf continued her gentle pushing, sitting besides Olk.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“I said I don’t wanna!” The boy yelled, curling into a ball defensively.

Halueve sighed, but remained close to the kit, just waiting patiently. Eventually, he spoke once again.

“Why did she have to go…? Why did she leave us?”

“She felt it was important.” Halueve sighed. “Sometimes, people do foolish things if it is important.”

“I miss her.” Olk sniffled. “I miss her a lot… no one in the Clan treats me like she did. She listened, she was kind, she believed in me!”

“...I believe in you, too.” The elf grandma ventured.

“... Do you?” The little goblin looked up, his eyes reddish and swollen.

“I do. And she did, too… so you have to grow up strong and wise, just like her.” Halueve grinned, pulling the food close once again.

Olk protested a little more, grumbling, but he finally accepted the food and began to eat. Rather eagerly, too, he had been quite a bit of time without a bite. Halueve ruffled his hair softly.

“She watches over us now, from the Heavens.” The elf smiled warmly.

“Do goblins go to Heaven?” Olk asked, a little afraid.

“Of course you do, especially if you are brave and wise like she was.” Halueve didn’t use to believe that, but maybe living among these critters had softened her heart. “She watches over us now, this I swear.”

The thought made the kit smile for a moment… maybe she was still here after all, watching over, smiling sternly, guiding him.

But that smile soon dissipated as little tears fell on his plate.

“I miss her.” He repeated, finishing his soup and then hugging the elf, trembling. “I miss her so much…”

“... Me too.” The elf admitted, sighing and rubbing the goblin’s back.

They remained there, silently crying for a bit longer, before Halueve finally convinced Olk to accompany her back to the deck. She carried the critter on her shoulders, walking over to the steering wheel where an Orc had wrestled control over the ship from three complaining goblins, who still refused to leave the premises so they could give their invaluable advice to the now captain.

The skies were finally clear once again, and they could see the stars shining brightly above them. The orc was using this to keep navigating in the direction of the now invisible Sun.

“Ahhh, the knifeear returns.” The orc teased. “And the little one too. I was worried, really. You had us all fretting, baby!”

“Sorry…” Olk pouted slightly.

“It is fine. You’re being strong, like us. That is commendable.” The orc offered a warm smile, before looking to Halueve. “We’ve started seeing ships in the distance… should we be worried?”

Halueve blinked, looking at the other goblins for confirmation. The trio nodded quickly, pointing to port: several little boats and canoes could be seen. One of them was approaching them.

“What do we do!?” Asked one of the goblin guards.

The elf narrowed her eyes, and then sighed.

“Let them come.”

“Are you sure!?” Another goblin gulped.

“We don’t have enough control over this ship to really run away, so be ready to fight if they try to board us.” Halueve nodded softly. “I will go talk to Pramok.”

Pramok, who had become the temporary leader of the group, stood on the very tip of the ship, keeping guard. Ilma, who had actually become a bit of a personal guard to the young leader, looked at Halueve and Olk with a bitter smile as they approached.

“You saw the boats too, right?” She asked.

“We did.” Olk said quickly.

“We are letting them approach, but I want everyone to be ready to fight if it’s necessary… Pramok.”The elf suddenly called to the goblin on the ship’s head. “Can you get in touch with the Orc leader and get everyone ready?”

“Ah…” The goblin turned to look at Halueve. He had been deep in thought since they left Grimal behind. “Sure, sure…”

The young leader sighed. He considered himself a rather smart leader, a vivacious little guy. But Grimal’s sacrifice shook him to the core. Was that what was expected of a leader? To stay behind for everyone’s sake? Would he be able to do such a thing in the face of death…?

Despite all the thoughts plaguing his mind, he does manage to get everyone ready. Critters were hiding all around the boat, giving the Wavecrasher the look of a ghost vessel as another ship approached them… but in the distance, what they could see in the other boat weren’t humans, but elves! And a few gnomes running around nervously.

Pramok peeked out, then signaling the others to come out of their own hiding places.

“They are friends! Calm down!” The goblin leader called, making quick gestures for Halueve to come. “They are your kind, old lady! This is your talk, not mine.”

Pramok had been rejected by elves before, he didn’t want to experience such dishonor again, so he left it all on Halueve’s shoulders. She sighed softly, leaving Olk behind for a moment before approaching the side of the ship and waving to her compatriots… her heart pumped harder when recognizing a few of the people in the boat, her Clanmates! They had survived!

“My beloved!” She said with emotion pouring down her eyes. “I am so glad you are all safe!”

“Sister! Come quick! You must endure the goblins no longer!” Someone on the other side called. “Come, we shall sail together to Mu!”

For a second, Halueve doubted. Being back with her people did sound nice but… at the same time…

“I am not enduring them, my dear. These beings saved me.” She admitted with a little embarrassed smile. “They are friends of ours, at least dear friends to me.”

There was silence on the other boat, as the elves shared looks of consternation. Clearly, their sister had gone insane.

“Halueve, please! Just jump here. Your people are worried about you!”

“I will not.” The old elf shook her head. “We shall encounter once again in Mu, but right now, I have a responsibility with these goblins. If this is all you wanted to say, then we are done for now.”

There was some uncomfortable quiet among the elves on the other boat, and then one of them spoke up.

“Actually… could we sail close by? That way, it is less probable that humans will approach us…”

Pramok now jumped at the chance and waved at them with a smile.

“Of course! Tell your people everyone is welcome to sail with us!”

Clearly the elves were a little disgusted at Pramok’s display but, with a sigh, they simply nodded and acquiesced. They started to sail further away to tell the other ships to approach… when suddenly, a flash of light burst from the sea in front of them. A pillar of pure white rose from the waters, like a white tear in the world. People looked at each other, confused and excited, making sure the others could also see such a display from nature.

“Mu…” Halueve whispered, quickly going to check on Olk and his family. “Everyone stay close together!”

This was it, finally an end to their journey… There were those among the Clans who were really nervous about this. They had never even dreamed of the chance of being free from Humans but, here they were! Orcs and goblins gulped, holding their hands as the captain of the ship took a deep breath… and trying to leave their fears behind, they sailed into the white.

To never be seen again.

==================================================================

The Sun rose once again soon enough, to a world that lost a big part of its magic. It would be months until the people of Jericho realized what had happened, and the exact ways in which the ‘demihuman’ population disappeared are still cloaked in mystery. For a few years, they all celebrated their ‘victory’, expanding through the land without a care in the world… but soon enough, the more sensitive among them would notice that something was missing in Jericho, that everything suddenly felt… empty, and hostile.

Some of them could see disaster approaching their now unbalanced planet…

But this was none the concern of the magical creatures… no, they were far, far away now. Safe from the people who rejected them, in a plane of Imagination and Fantasy. They had escaped reality, at least for a while, and for a few centuries, they would live in peace and prosperity.

They cried the loss of those who couldn’t reach Mu with them, but they also thanked them. For they knew that each sacrifice had been for this precise moment in time. And that they had to take advantage of it…