The town looked like it had been abandoned for years. Roofs were missing several tiles, whole portions of walls had crumbled down to debris, and most windows were broken. But the town wasn’t lifeless. Soft winds were rustling through opened doors, creating spooky noises. Eroded bricks and broken tiles fell occasionally, pushed down by scurrying lizards or the weight of time.

The most impressive was the greenery: vines, ferns, and moss had invaded the place, finding crevices and cracks to grow in, covering walls, and hanging down from half-fallen roofs. It made the town almost unnoticeable in the surrounding forest. Soon, nature would wholly reclaim the place.

There was no one there. No one except for the frail woman slowly walking down the paved street. She was leisurely looking around, stopping from time to time to examine a house closer or grumble about her aching right hip. She went through the streets, alone. Depending on what she discovered, she smiled thinly or pursed her lips, deepening the wrinkles marking her face. And as she did, she could hear her late husband's teasing voice saying, “You look like an angry duck, Sondra darling!”

The old woman let go of the fond memory, her eyes fixed on a stain on a wall. For Sondra wasn’t walking randomly for sightseeing. What she saw confirmed what she knew. Even though the place had been nicely cleaned up by looting and scavenging, she still saw the traces, the little clues of what had happened.

As she came to a square, she found a stone bench half-covered by moss to sit on. Sighing, she glanced around. Fallen leaves covered the ground, hiding the uneven ground. Trees like silver birches, blooming magnolias, or a few old sycamores towered above the ruined houses while thick roots crept above the ground and broke down the pavement. It was easy to figure that this square had once been a place of pleasure and relaxation. Now, it had become a wild jungle. A sure sign that nature magic was strong here, for it had only been months since the last inhabitants had left the town.

Taking a deep breath to fill her lungs with the moist smell of the vegetation, Sondra lifted her head toward the sky. “You’d have loved it here, dear.”

Tired by the walk, she closed her eyes to rest. She could hear the wildlife around her. The insects buzzing, the birds fluttering around, the leaves rattling in the trees.

She opened her eyes when she heard panting. A big hunting dog trotted through the square, the sound of his claws softened by the fallen leaves and the grass growing through the stones as he came to sit down in front of her. He had a strong, tall body. His coat was made of long, dark, rough hairs. His bright eyes were full of intelligence and he had a nasty scar across his nose. He had two leather bags strapped on his back.

“Did you find anything interesting, Beau?”

The dog woofed once and wiggled his tail.

“Oh. You’ll have to show it to me later.” She looked around the square again. “I’m thinking of one of these houses. Any opinion?”

The dog got up to sniff around the square, carefully examining each house. The woman left him to it. Once the dog was satisfied, he stopped in front of one of the houses and woofed twice. “This one? Alright, let me see.”

The woman got up with a grumble as her right hip protested. She joined the dog and observed the house. The door looked functional, it had the least broken windows, and being a two-story house, the holes in the roof wouldn’t be a bother. Lifting her gaze, Sondra noticed the vines hadn’t crept over the chimney yet. “Yes, you’re right, Beau. It’ll do nicely. Let’s get to work.”

***

Zroz hated the forest. No, not the forest, this gloomy forest. Who would like the Shrewlants Forest? Zroz sent a disgusted look at his teammates. Terx was using his slingshot to hit Huct with stones when the other goblin stopped to look for food in the bushes. Huct liked the forest. Zroz hated his teammates too.

Huct wasn’t so smart, but at least he was pretending to do his job. Terx was messing around and Stealiard was off doing his own things away from the path. What was he doing? Zroz didn’t want to know. If a goblin wished for privacy to do something, it was better not to know. Zroz hated scouting.

The forest was full of strange smells, full of strange sounds. The bushes and the thick foliage made it impossible to see far. Zroz knew that the forest was full of beasts and monsters.

Mind you, he knew that goblins were monsters too, but they were sentient monsters. That made all the difference! And these beasts and monsters were bigger and stronger than goblins. Zroz wasn’t stupid. What was the use of goblins scouting? If they found anything dangerous, the goblins would die before they could report it to the chief. If they found anything interesting, they wouldn’t be strong enough to kill it and bring it back to camp, or if the goblins were strong enough to kill it, it wouldn’t be worth the effort. Scouting wasn’t a decent job. It was a useless and suicidal job.

But Zroz wasn’t as lazy as his teammates. He did his job. If not for him, who would do it? Not his teammates. And don’t listen to Terx mocking him and saying he was only on the lookout because he was a coward. Zroz didn’t like scouting, so he thought if he did a good job, he would be allowed to ask for another one. Yes, he was smart like that.

That was how he saw the smoke. Just a thin trail of smoke above the canopy in the valley down the hill. Smoke meant fire. Fire meant that sentient beings were over there. That was bad. Zroz hesitated. He was the only one who saw the smoke. Maybe he should pretend nothing happened.

“Little coward, what is it? Did you see a shadow again?” Terx guffawed at his own joke. Huct saw him laughing and stupidly imitated the other goblin. Sometimes Zroz wondered if Huct’s mother hadn’t been a sow.

Zroz wanted to answer that it was nothing, but if he did, Terx would continue to mock him, accusing him of seeing danger everywhere. So he kept silent. Another goblin – a dumber goblin – would have lost his temper, but Zroz was a sophisticated goblin.

“What did the little coward see?” Stealiard asked nosily, one hand arranging his pants as he emerged from the bushes. The mangled bloody corpse of a hare hanged down from his other hand. “Really, little coward, you have to tell us what you’re taking. It’s potent stuff. Share it with the tribe!”

“I’m not drugged and I’m not hallucinating! Look, if you don’t believe me!” Zroz pointed to the sky in anger, but he immediately regretted it. Losing his temper had been stupid. He wasn’t stupid.

“Prey!” Stealiard said excitedly. “Let’s go!”

Huct nodded eagerly, always following the lead of the louder goblin, like the dumb ass he was. Terx shrugged. Zroz believed the only things that interested Terx were hitting or insulting people. Even if there was no prey over there, Terx would still have Huct to hit or Zroz to mock, so going or not didn’t matter to him.

“No, no, no!” Zroz didn’t want to go. Who knew what was over there?

“Shut up, little coward! We’re scouts, let’s go scouting!” Stealiard took a self-important air as he led the way.

Now they wanted to do their job? Hypocrites, the lot of them! But Zroz was alone, and his teammates were three. He had no choice but to follow. Not because he was a coward, but because he knew these goblins were sloppy and unable to do a good job. That was why he followed them toward the smoke.

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After walking for some time, they came upon a human town. Zroz recognized the place. Under the lead of the Great King, their tribe had raided it several times already. It had been before the alliance crumbled down to infighting. The humans had tried to build back the town each time, but they had all left some months ago. Since then, the goblins had come to scavenge all they could and the town held no interest to them anymore. Did the smoke mean that the humans were back?

The four goblins sneaked around and entered the town. Zroz thought it was a bad idea. Humans were strong. They had weapons and armor, they were taller and stronger than goblins and sometimes they even knew magic! Zroz was smart but he was no shaman, so he knew no magic. This wouldn’t be a fair match. But Zroz held his tongue since he knew the other wouldn’t listen to him.

The overgrown vegetation made it easy to hide. It gave Huct a false sense of safety and Zroz had to pull him back several times as the stupid goblin tried to wander off alone. Yes, they hadn’t found anything, and the town still looked abandoned. But it wasn’t reason enough to forgo all caution. Terx saw him fussing over Huct and sneered at Zroz, making enough noise to alert the enemy to their presence. Zroz glared at Terx. These goblins would be the death of him!

Stealiard finally led them to a square. Since entering the town, the goblins had lost sight of the smoke, so they wandered around aimlessly. Well, Zroz was sure it was aimless, even if Stealiard pretended to follow a trail. If Stealiard were so good, he would be part of the hunting parties, not sent on low scouting missions. Stealiard was a bad liar.

Zroz saw Terx putting a stone in his slingshot. Looking around, Zroz spotted Huct rummaging inside a badly ruined house. They had been sneaking around for a long time, and Huct’s attention span couldn’t take it. Zroz pondered if he should stop Terx. Huct wouldn’t be grateful. And to do it, Zroz would have to leave his hiding place. The goblins hadn’t yet scouted the square, so it wasn’t clear of danger. No, Huct’s head was hard, getting hit by stones wouldn’t hurt him. But what if the noise attracted enemies?

Zroz’s eyes carefully darted around. Despite his alertness, he was surprised when the door of one of the houses on the other side of the square opened suddenly. A gray-haired woman went out with a bucket of dirty water that she threw outside. Zroz bent down, trying to make himself smaller. He only released his breath when the woman returned inside without glancing in his direction.

Focused on the woman, Zroz didn’t notice Stealiard and Terx sneaking towards the woman’s house. Zroz’s heart skipped a beat. What were they doing? In a panic – no, not in a panic, in concern – Zroz looked around for Huct but didn’t see the dumb goblin. Alright, maybe now, he was panicking.

Zroz fretted around, worried about his teammates, not knowing if he should look for Huct or join Stealiard and Terx. The decision was soon out of his hands as these two returned from scouting.

“It’s just a woman and her dog. An easy mark!” Stealiard announced gleefully.

“You weren’t there long enough to be sure she’s alone.” Zroz didn’t believe in easy marks.

Slealiard scornfully snorted at Zroz. “Her scent is the only one around.”

Zroz couldn’t counter the other goblin, as he didn’t go over. Still, the idea of attacking didn’t sit well with him. “We should report it to the chief.”

“And share the loot? No way!” Stealiard took a menacing step towards Zroz. Greed was shining in his eyes. Zroz hunched his back. He still didn’t like the idea.

“Shut up, little coward, it’s an old woman. She’s weak.” Terx walked up behind Zroz and threw an arm around his neck, almost strangling him. “Stealiard is right, let’s attack!”

Zroz grabbed the arm choking him. He knew he should stopped, but he still asked, “How do you know she’s old?”

“She has gray hairs, idiot!” Terx punctuated his answer with a punch to Zroz’s rib. Zroz had to defend himself or would become the other’s bitch.

“I found a lizard!” Huct pushed himself into the conversation, a half-eaten bleeding lizard in hand.

Zroz took the opportunity to get away from Terx. He would get back at the violent goblin later. The urgent matter was to convince them not to attack the woman. “That’s not – ”

Terx threw another punch at him. “I told you to shut up, little coward.”

Zroz reeled back from the hit. Terx got him in the jaw. As Huct and Stealiard laughed at him, Zroz decided they didn’t deserve to hear his wisdom. He knew the woman couldn’t be an easy mark. The situation was strange. What was strange was dangerous. Really, what was an old woman doing here, alone?

***

Sondra put the bucket back down near the kitchen entrance. The cleaning had taken two days, but she was almost done. The house was too beat down to be cozy, but it was enough for Beau and Sondra.

She pensively considered the place, her sight stopping at the stone blinking in red light on the dining room table. A lot of furniture was broken or missing. This was the only table in the house. Sondra didn’t want to have to clean up everything again. It was better to do the strenuous activity outside.

She equipped herself and stepped outside again. Beau trotted out after her. It was easy to spot the armed goblins coming over. There were four of them like she thought, even if she had only seen three when she went out to check.

Two of them attacked from afar with slingshots. Sondra easily blocked the stones with swift and accurate movements of her staff. Long-ranged attacks – even sloppy ones – were annoying. “Beau, go play with the two big ones.”

At her order, the dog rushed the bigger goblins, who were charging her. They were armed with short swords. Seeing a big dog rushing at them, the two goblins switched their target. Satisfied that their attention was on the dog, Sondra held her staff with her left hand to throw one of her hidden daggers with her right hand.

She targeted the goblin with a nasty smile first and got him in the eye. He truly had an ugly face. As he dropped screaming, the smaller goblin who had stayed behind his teammate stepped back. His globular eyes darted around. With a sleight of hand, Sondra made another dagger appear in her hand. The nervous goblin turned around and fled.

Sondra didn’t bother with the running goblin and turned her attention to the ones fighting Beau. The dog couldn’t hold the two goblins for long. As Beau chomped down on the arm of the burlier goblin, forcing him to drop his sword, the other goblin sided-step the dog and approached her. Sondra threw her dagger at him. She got him in the left shoulder, briefly slowing down the approaching goblin.

“I’m rusty.”

The goblin ignored his injury and rushed to attack her. Sondra parried with her staff. She grumbled about her hip. It was messing up her stances. And a messed up stance meant a messed up form. The goblin got through her guard and slashed her side. The cut should have bitten deep into her flesh, but no blood came out.

“There goes another dress.”

Distracted by the absence of blood and Sondra’s nonsense, the goblin screamed incoherently and attacked in a frenzy. Sondra parried faster and observed the goblin. While the green monster was dangerous, the fight was still manageable. Goblins were untrained, but they could deal a lot of damage during bouts of fury.

“That was a nice warm-up. Let’s get serious.”

Sondra ignored her aches and used her footwork to get to the left of the goblin. Once there, she strongly hit the throwing dagger still embedded in the goblin’s shoulder. He howled in pain. Not wasting any time, Sondra dropped her staff and unsheathed two daggers. She sided-step the goblin on the left again and ruthlessly stabbed him in the back. As he fell down, she turned around to check on Beau.

The hunting dog had never let go of the goblin’s arm. Without any weapon and hindered by his mangled arm, the goblin feebly tried to punch the dog without any success. Sondra finished off the monster with another throwing dagger.

The only noise around was Beau’s growls and Sondra’s sharp intakes of breath. “Easy, Beau. We’re done.”

Despite her words, Sondra still carefully surveyed the surroundings. She didn’t forget the fleeing goblin. As the adrenaline dissipated, her aches made themselves known. Not sensing any danger, she eased her guard to clean her daggers with a rag and sheathed them. She clenched her hands when she noticed they were trembling.

She looked away, imagining what her late husband would have said. “Not a word, dear. I know what I’m doing.” A bitter smile came to her lips. “And you’re not here to stop me.”

Sondra wrinkled her nose at the goblins. They never smelled good alive, but it was worse when they were dead. It was time to clean up the mess. She hated that part of the job and had always let her boys take care of it. She missed her two sons as much as her husband.

Beau woofed and came to her, asking for petting. At least, she had her second son’s pup. The hunting dog was a wonderful help.