I spent the day in my room, sleeping away the drunkness. And by the morning of the following day, Hulian woke me up and guided me out of the brothel, Nama and Mira were there too, Scarlett's words from yesterday echoed in my mind and for a moment I thought that they would come with me. But no, Morgana was there waiting for me, dressed in a thick and elegant light-brown fur coat. And she looked as thrilled about what the future holds as I was.

There were five wagons of a decent size, and the sun was barely up, hidden behind heavy clouds, there was almost no one in the streets at this hour, except a drunken man laying on the floor or a few guards that didn't bother to look at us.

"Everything as requested by you" Morgana "Plus the honor of hosting me for some time. The Mistress wants to keep an eye on you"

"Everything I demanded" I clarify walking past her and looking inside one of the carts "What about the more lively goods I was promised?"

"Oh, they are in there, sleeping tightly until I undo the spell. Inside some of the chests and barrels, all thirty of them"

"Thirty? Scarlett had promised fifty" I say frowning at her.

"You did complete the task she gave you, that would get you the original forty she promised, but not only were you seen by several people, you also derailed from your task by undoing the spell Anaid had put on you...I personally talked her into seeing that a proper punishment was put in place for you, after all, the Mistress has standards to uphold." She smiles maliciously, enjoying my increasing anger with delight.

"She can't change the terms of the deal just like that"

"She can do whatever she wants, the sooner you learn that the better. Besides, so long as you complete every task to perfection, you shall get your forty, or fifty disgusting little men" She walks up in front of one of the wagons and is helped to the driver's seat by the driver who is cloaked "And believe me, I will make sure to let her know of every little mistake you make. Always aim for perfection! You are welcome"

I let out a sigh in defeat, I know even if I do go back inside and demand to be given what I was promised, what would be the point? Like it or not I am at her mercy and must be content with what she gives me, at least by the looks of it all the materials I demanded were provided. Especially the books as I grab one containing detailed drawings about architecture.

"Whoa! You sure are smart if you can read!" Nama exclaims looking over my shoulder on her tiptoes.

"But with a boring taste from what I can see, you could have asked for some erotic books, they provide some detailed drawings," Mira says as she walks up next to me "You are leaving then"

"Yes...Thank you, for everything" I say putting the book back in place.

"It's what we do," Nama says with a cheerful closed smile, making her cheeks look bigger than they are, reminding me of a squirrel "Just don't tell me you fell in love with me and want me to say exclusive or something, I am a whore"

"Although I wouldn't blame you, it would be hard for a man to resist our charm," Mira says leaning close and kissing my cheek, it does make me a little bit flustered even if I hide it well "Don't be a stranger," She says walking back inside the brothel.

"Yeah, it would be nice to have your ass back around here," Nama says grabbing my face and giving me a kiss "Will miss this guy too," She says biting my lip and grabbing my crotch, Hulian giggles to himself.

"Stop whoring yourself for free and let my pet go, we have places to be," Morgana says loudly. Nama sticks her tongue out at her knowing she can't see it.

"But seriously, do come back. You are nice...and a good fuck" She makes a bit of distance and gives me a new smile, I'm quick to notice these things...it is warmer"Oh! And this...the Mistress wanted you to have this, I think it's about the spoiling or whatever, can't read. Has pretty drawings though"

She pulls out a book from inside her coat, it is thinner than all the books I have seen, but with a quick read of the title, my attention is grabbed, After the Spilling. I grab the book and quickly pass through its pages.

"Now give me your hand, I want to give you something too" She opens her hands and I give her my right hand, which she quickly tucks inside her dress, letting me get a good feel of her left breast "For the cold winter nights out there, and so you know who to ask for when you come back" She gives me a thin smile and quickly let's go, almost hopping her way back to the brothel.

"Gods, are you done? These hobgoblins won't look like humans forever, the spell wears out!" Morgana shouts.

I turn at Hulian and with a friendly smile he nods, I nod back, and he returns to the brothel as well. I climb inside the wagon, sitting on top of a chest I slam it twice and hear Morgana whisper finally as the driver commands the two horses and we begin to move. The other wagons follow close.

As we leave the center of the city I put the hood of my heavy, furry cloak over my head and notice how my breath can be seen when I exhale. Winter has finally arrived, and soon the snow will begin to fall. My thoughts briefly return to my men, I hope they are alive and back at camp, not caught in the middle of the woods. Or dead.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

After an hour or two of travel, I decide to distract myself with some reading and pick up After the spilling. It is a fairly detailed take on the events that took place after the event that forced the humans out of their continent.

Long ago, when the realms of men were not united. Fear ruled. Hunted by the terrible Rokanun, terrible hairy beasts of fang and claw, mankind was but a few homes and families that strived for survival.

Until from the treacherous sky fell a comet, its blue light inviting the first few naive men to its site. And from there, the first mages were born. With this incredible power mankind unified under one ruler and we fought against the Rokanun until we defeated them all. Then, we set our sights on all the creatures of the night and nightmares until none were a threat anymore.

But when looking outwards was no longer exciting, centuries after the comet fell, the mages began to look upwards. On deaf ears had fallen the advice from elders and wise men, and they could have been as good as blind since they didn't see the signs of what was the true nature of the comet.

They didn't care when their skin burned under the sunlight, or how all color drained from their flesh. They didn't bother to think why this magic allowed raising the death, why was it so powerful? They only wanted to see more, to peek into the unknown, into the dark above us.

And they did, they knocked on the window of the endless void, and twilight came when the other side of the window answered.

For no Gods awaited them, only death. The night sky spilled into the world, killing most of what it touched, and transforming the others into monsters, unlike anything that had ever been seen before. It was by the combined effort of the mages that the rift was sealed, but the damage was done.

The mages all burned as punishment for their foolishness. And we would have all died, were not for Galatros and his cursed brother, Danteros. Together they guided what was left of mankind into ships and sailed away from our ancient home, now twisted and corrupted, until we reached a new place we could call home. Volatia.

I decided to read the story in bits later on, after all, for all I knew this was all a fabrication. Although, if Scarlett wanted me to have it, perhaps there was some truth in it. Either way, I preferred to focus on books containing knowledge I could test and found myself digging into the herbology book, fascinated by the combinations I didn't know about, and reading once more old recipes I had forgotten.

Days passed and we reached the border zone without much difficulty, most guards were busy watching over their rich barons to bother with us, and whoever did was confronted by Morgana, who quickly made any and all suspicion go away, ensuring a smooth journey into the Farwoods. It was when we were about to reach them that we went through a burned village.

It wasn't the one I and my men had attacked. There were slaves working to clean the trash and by the looks of the armor of some corpses, it was clear this had been a target by the Orcs. How close were they to my camp? We would soon discover it.

After speaking with the guards atop the wooden towers we entered the woods without complication, and the goblins woke up, in total I had twenty-two goblins, and eight Hobgoblins. Not a bad number. Once in the Farwoods, I took out the necklace and returned to my original form...funny, how at the beginning of my life in here I would have been thrilled to be a human once again.

Now I couldn't wait to stop looking like one.

Thankfully Hulian had gathered a set of comfortable and warm clothes, most of leather and fur, together with a studded armor that covered my chest, groin, and shoulders. It was painted black and had a thick neck of wolf fur, he really did have an eye for picking out clothes.

Iron boots, dark-green thick leather pants, as well as a brown tunic with a hood I could wear beneath the armor. I could tell all of it had been made specifically for me, and it was a little bigger than needed, in case I grew taller.

In my real size, the shortsword was just a regular sword. And I occasionally touched the glass vial containing the Starblood that Scarlett gave me, wondering when would I use it, and for what purpose. But any thought would have to wait because, after almost two weeks of travel, I began to recognize the woods we were in.

"We are close," I jump down from the wagon and rush ahead, Morgana stopping the rest of the wagons as the goblins follow me, they too had been provided with shoddy yet functional fur and leather for protection from the cold and maybe damage. However, they only had daggers.

"Good, I want to sleep in a proper bed already," Morgana says followed by a jawn as she gets down from the wagon, followed by the rest of the hobgoblins, who wore gambesons and took from within the wagon large shields and swords "Well then, why don't you go ahead and prepare a worthy welcoming for me?" Morgana says as she snaps her fingers and one of the hobgoblins lays on all fours on the ground, serving as a living chair for her to sit on top of.

I ignored the annoying witch and looked at the goblins behind me, I knew that there was activity, I could smell the food being cooked, so I made my way to the camp with care, not sure if what I would find would be my men, or a camp taken over by bandits, or orcs.

But I was pleasantly surprised.

"What?" One of my men says as he stands up from his chair, looking at me stepping out from the woods "Rokan is back! Rokan is alive!" He shouts as quickly as my men get out from their new tents and gather around to see me. Some cheering, but I do see some worried faces.

"Boss! Fuck me!" Jorr says as he pushes his way to the front and rushes to me, he smiles and laughs loudly "Welcome back" Then, his smile goes away, and he looks at me with seriousness "We thought you were dead"

"Yes, after that witch took you, nobody thought you would just walk back to us, chief" Nojus adds as he stands next to Jorr, I can see Lina off in the distance, she seems shocked.

"But I'm back, that's all that matters"

"And not alone by what I see" Jorr adds as he glances at the anxious goblins in the woods "There are some explanations to be given, got a new fancy armor and everything"

"There is, gather the men in front of my tent and-"

"YOUR tent?!"

I hear a loud shout coming from behind the crowd of men as they one by one walk away. Letting me see who it came from. The woman I fought against, with pale skin and black arm, except she doesn't look at all how she did back then. She is now thin, and that arm is now gone. Her face still has scars from the fight we had.

"MY tent!" The woman shouts once again with a vicious grin, it is clear she doesn't speak our tongue all that well.

Soon the other woman that attacked me with the arrows appears next to her, carrying the frail-looking man in her arms. Who raises his hands defensively.

"Let's go somewhere private to speak alright? Um, there is no need to get violent" He says to me, perfectly fluid too.

I look at Jorr in confusion and he gives me an awkward smile as he shrugs and steps away. What the hell did I miss?