I watch Fogosh's goblins jump at the warriors, who jump off their carts with shields and swords in hand. A melee ensues and everything stops.

To kill without need, to seek conflict, and bring death upon others for the sake of somebody else. Do I have the right to make that choice? Does anyone have the right to do so? Who can put value in life other than their makers?

However, aren't they the ones to blame for the suffering this world grows? For the malevolence in the beasts that dwell among the shadows of the night? Aren't those forces also responsible for cursing me into this flesh? Am I really to blame if I'm forced to do was monsters do?

But no. It is Maeld, it is someone else who needs me to do this, in truth I have no choice. I can't abandon someone who gave me kindness once again. And if I have to kill to save her, to be the judge on what is the value of another life, I will do what I must. For I am a victim of the wicked whims of the invisible forces that surround us.

I am not a monster.

With a deafening war I run, and my brethren cheer excitedly as they follow behind me, hatchets raised, spears pointing ahead of them. With animalistic speed I run low to the ground, the wolf pelt on my back tricking the eyes of the first guard that spots me.

"Wolf!" He shouts, raising his shield and preparing to slash at me.

But that is a stance I recognize, a slash sideways, so I keep moving forward and when his arm begins to move I jump to the side, has he only now seen my spear? It is too late, he has exposed his right side to me.

In one thrust I pierce between his ribs, cutting through the tabard and chainmail piercing this man's heart with deadly accuracy. His eyes are in shock, he slashes at me once more, a final attempt at ending my life but I dodge out of its way receiving only a minor cut on my cheek.

"More are coming! Shoulders!" one of the tabard men shouts and the remaining six men quickly disengage the goblins, trying to stick together with their shields raised. One of them had already fallen after Fogosh's attack.

I grab the spear stuck to the barely conscious man and I push him off it with my legs. In one sole motion, I then throw the spear at the closest one but he sees it coming, raising his shield and stopping it completely from harming him.

Except that wasn't my only move.

When he lowers it I'm already gone and with all the noise around him, he can't hear me right in front of him, as the shield he used to save his life covered his vision, now sealing his fate. I slip beneath his shield and strike at his knee with my hatchet, its pointy end piercing between his bones and separating them with a scream of pain as he drops to the ground.

I move on, knowing better than to waste time trying to pull out a stuck spear in the wood, a pair of nearby goblins jumping at his now vulnerable position.

Without stopping for a second I lay eyes on a pair of guards, protecting each other's backs they have already killed three goblins. I throw my hatchet at one of them, aiming for the head but he raises his shield, so I repeat what I had already done once.

Pulling out my dagger this time I stab his feet through the hard leather of his boot and jump back as he raises his arm to cut me in half. With the guards no longer engaging in a one-on-one, the goblins begin to crowd around the two guards.

They slash and thrust, keeping them away from them.

It is then that something occurs to me, a memory from my fight with the wolf. I begin to run around them in circles, and I see them struggle to keep an eye on me with the other five goblins surrounding them, so I make it even harder and zig-zag in and out of their range.

This proves harder on the already injured man, who can't move around as quickly as his companion, his feet cut open and he knows it, I can see the fear in his eyes, the uncertainty of what's to come, the ever-increasing reality that his life is approaching its end.

And when we can see into our eyes, for the briefest of moments that we can, I see his fear.

I can feel the darkness swell within me, giving my limbs energy, keeping my senses keen and ready as in the heat of battle I allow it to grow and feed me. Then, there it is. The already injured man is terrified, his temple broken, his courage shattered, and now slashes around wildly, trying to force his way out of the encirclement.

"NO!! STAY HERE, ADAM!!" his companion yells, knowing that if he is alone there won't be any way to protect himself from all sides.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

The man named Adam screams as an answer, fear completely taking over as he cuts a goblin's face and manages to get out of the circle, only to be met by my unrelenting bloodlust as I jump at his exposed back, digging my dagger in his neck with such ferocity it pierces to the other side.

As I jump away from him, he throws away his shield and sword, dropping to his knees as he holds his neck, blood flowing out of his wounds like a river that paints it all red. Dubby then begins to stab him with his makeshift spear.

The small goblin yelled as ferociously as it can, stabbing repeatedly the dying man on the ground.

I turn around and see the goblins slowly cutting and stabbing into the guard, two more goblins already dead, I pick up the sword and throw it at him, failing to stab him completely of course, but I simply meant to force him to raise his shield, so the remaining three goblins jump at him and end his life.

One side of the battlefield cleared I look at the remaining three men, protecting each other's back they are much safer than what I just now had to deal with.

"Stick together, do not break formation and we will get out of this together!" an experienced voice spoke among the guards, the same one who commanded them to move closer to each other, the leader.

My mind begins to think of a solution, I can't try to repeat what I have done before with them. I know that compared to me the leader is visibly much more experienced. Yet cautious enough not to try and engage a crowd of goblins on his own.

And then I feel it, the trance. But haven't finished the fight yet, and I could still die if things go wrong, was it because of the amount I have killed? Because I had to think fast and harder? It doesn't matter right now, I let it take me to my memories in the greatest of details.

I look all around and try to find something that can be used to separate the three guards, all while my mind flashes memories of the objects that I see. Until I lay eyes on the scared horses pulling the carts.

The sound of hooves, the neigh of the horse, and the crushing pain and sound of broken bones. I can remember it clearly, my mother, clad in armor and on top of the horse. The way she held the reins of the horse, how she directed its path to take.

It had been so long since I thought of her, and even with my vivid vision of her I can't make out her face among the shadows, the orange strikes of the flames away from us show me the fairness of her skin, even if a little bruised. Her sapphire blue eyes and golden hair.

And a tabard I had not seen before, never focused on it until now for I saw something I recognized. A golden sword.

Many questions grew inside of me but I had no time to waste on them now. I focused on her hands, how she held the reins of the horse, the way she pulled, and how she lightly kicked on the side of the animal to make it do her bidding.

I understood it then.

Leaving my trance with both the rudimentary knowledge of how to ride a horse and taking also the stance and moves to strike with a sword. I looked at one of the two horses still standing anxiously by the carts.

I rushed to them, taking my hatchet from the shield and picking up another on the ground, one of my goblins had died. I held with my mouth as I climbed atop the brown horse as it moved uncomfortably, noisy as it was I ignored it and freed it from the leather contraptions that tied it to the cart.

The horse immediately began to yell and jump around, if I had not held on to the reins I would have fallen already. But with the knowledge I had gained, I forced it to do what I wanted, if only barely, but I do not need it to trust me.

I simply need it to run.

Surrounded by the goblins, the guards were afraid and anxious, the older among them, a man who had served many years as a guard and had fought with kobolds, gnolls, and even harpies, didn't fear the goblins.

Among all races, goblins were the most idiotic in warfare. Usually only engaging in brawls or occasionally, some of their kind used short bows to attack from afar, but they never were much of a threat.

How was it then that they had managed to kill almost all his men? A simple request to guard two carts carrying food for a settlement far out into the borders that needed it badly after surviving a raid from the orcs had turned into a true fight for their lives.

They were not expecting an ambush deeper into the kingdom's land, and even then they knew it would be just goblins. But now things looked grim for them.

So long as they stick together, the impatient goblins would one by one fall until they ran away, they would survive this fight and-

What is that?

I smashed into the three guards with the horse, too occupied with the few remaining goblins that kept them in one place, maybe they thought the fight was nearing its end after injuring them so much. But my entrance forced them to either jump or be hit by the heavy beast as it raged and kicked around.

With a quick jump, I dropped from the horse with a hatchet in each hand on top of the leader of the guards, he had been hit in full force by the tackle of the beast and now lay defenseless on the ground. With uncontrollable bloodlust, I hacked and slashed away.

His screams of fear, cries of help, and pleas of mercy fell on deaf ears as I cut so many times that when I was done, his neck was open, his chainmail trashed and organs spilling out. My entire body was drenched with his blood.

Only then did I look around, two other goblins had fallen but one of the guards was overwhelmed, falling to the ground as goblins stabbed him mercilessly with their daggers and knives, maniac laughter filling the bloodied road.

The remaining guard screamed as he ran away.

Dubby ran to my side, did I call him? How did he know what I wanted? It doesn't matter, I have to finish what I began.

He hands me his makeshift spear and with the greatest strength I have ever put on a throw I make it fly far into the guard, going through the thigh of his leg as he falls to the ground. I walk towards him.

He drags his body, begging, tears falling down his eyes. And only then do I return.

I see my bloodied body as if a bucket of cold water had been poured onto me. The warm blood in my hands makes me remember the corpse of Ismeina's daughter. Oh, what have I done?

Before I can do anything, Fogosh appears in front of the guard and cuts his head clean with his shortsword. I can hear the remaining goblins cheer as they stand behind me.