“These will do,” I say to myself. “Get in position.”
Istruan tightens a makeshift shield to his arm as he and Kat move to each side of me. Iris, and Blue Hair make up the back with Axel, Ellis, and Sio in the middle. We sneak close to the hobgoblins as they idle around a fire waiting for some meat to cook. Three of the six rest against trees, spears and shields set to the side.
We could use a few of those.
“Everyone ready?”
“Let’s do this,” Istruan bangs his short sword against the wooden board. “Hey! Over here!”
They turn with a start and the others stumble to their feet, hurrying to arm themselves. The largest one, probably the leader of the group, lets out a mixture of a growl and a roar. Larger and more human-like than goblins, hobgoblins are the benchmark for D-ranked adventurers, at least, before the Awakening. Now I don’t know where these monsters would place. They’re even bigger than the “old” hobgoblins, more intelligent and agile too.
Istruan asked me before we chose them, “How strong were they before the Awakening?”
“In the past Blue Hair, and I, with a mercenary named Jones, took on a group of maybe a little under a dozen? I can’t remember the exact number but that’s not to say they’re weak. The mercenary we were with turned out to be stronger than I thought.”
“Were any of you hurt?”
“No.”
“Thought as much. That academy really took in some talented people.”
“Talented or not, these monsters are different. I wouldn’t bet on any academy students to make it out without a scratch,” I said to him.
The hobgoblins send four ahead while two draw back their bowstrings. I throw a knife into Hobgoblin One’s shoulder. As it pulls it out, I leapt into a fight with Hobgoblin Two, Istruan and Kat taking on Three and Four. Axel, Ellis, and Sio hurl spell after spell at the hobgoblin archers. Even with their suppression, a few arrows fly. Barriers from Iris and Blue Hair render them useless.
Hobgoblin One runs toward Kat. I finish Hobgoblin Two, jamming my knife into its throat and pulling it back out. It’s not enough. Hobgoblin Two lets out a death rattle shaking even me. It swings the spear like a club slamming it against my arms and grazing my head as I put distance between us.
What the hell. That should have killed it. Instead, it’s fighting even harder. Kat! The first one’s getting closer to her.
“Kat! Help Kat!” I yell, throwing another knife at Hobgoblin One. It misses.
“Guh!” Istruan stumbles. Hobgoblin Three stabs at him from a distance his sword can’t reach. Cuts appear on his thighs, arms, body.
I quickly glance over at Kat and our backline. Kat’s on the defensive, dodging and running away from Hobgoblin Four while Hobgoblin One veers her away from us. Iris and Blue Hair cast barriers to bock Hobgoblin One and Four’s attacks but Kat can’t seem to make progress and they keep driving her further into their own group.
I have to do-
Hobgoblin Two charges with its spear raised high. I roll out of the way and fling a fireball at it. It scorches the monster’s arm but doesn’t stop its rampage. Two more point blank fireballs and steam rises from the hobgoblin. I deflect the spear with one knife and slide the other into its side. It groans. I twist the knife and stab the other one through its jaw. The hobgoblin staggers backward and I blast it away with an earth spell.
Blood pounds in my eardrums as I catch my breath. Did I use too much magic or am I getting out of shape? Breathing is so hard.
A blood-curdling scream brings me out of the haze. An arrow sticks out of Ellis’s shoulder. She falls to the ground and curls into a ball.
“E-Ell-”
“Ellis!” Iris break formation for a split second.
Kat groans as Hobgoblin One knocks her off her feet with its shoulder.
“Sio!” Istruan calls. “Help Kat!”
Hobgoblin Four pulls back its spear to impale Kat. Sio interrupts the hobgoblin with a lighting bolt powerful enough to temporarily paralyze it.
“I-Iris!” Blue Hair shouts as she watches in terror.
Iris stops in her tracks and encases Kat in a barrier protecting her from Hobgoblin One. “Make sure another arrow doesn’t get through,” commands Iris.
“O-Okay!” she responds.
One knocks an arrow and releases it. She casts a barrier but it's misplaced, she was too late. The arrow flies straight at Ellis.
She’s going to die.
I drop my knife and reach out for the arrow. It pierces my hand. I tighten it into a fist, stopping it halfway through. The pain sends a jolt through my body but it clears my head for a second. I snap the arrow and pull it out. A wind blade finally connects with one of the archers tearing its unprotected chest wide open.
I pick up the knife I dropped and rush Hobgoblin One. My grip isn’t strong, I barely manage to cut into the monster’s skin so I focus my attacks from the left. Taking so many hits to the stomach, the hobgoblin sacrifices its arm. Kat manages to stand and gets back into the fight.
Its spear useless, Hobgoblin One lunges at me. We roll on the ground trying to get the best of one another. I stab and stab into its side and it tries to pin my arms down, tries to wrestle the knives out of my hands. I lose grip on the right knife. I slam my fist into its head and gouge at its neck. The hobgoblin gurgles on the blood. It wraps its hands around my neck and squeezes, digging in its sharp nails. It's so strong, strong to the point where I think I might lose. I leave the knife buried in its neck and lock my hands together using them to collapse one of his arms. It loosens up and I roll on top. I dig the knife as deep as it can go and twist. The hobgoblin’s eyes roll back into its head.
I stand and survey the battle. The last archer was taken out, another sword like slash from its shoulder down to the chest. Istruan’s all cut up and bloodied, his foe lying on the ground charred beyond recognition. Ellis has her hand pointed in that direction, she’s helped up by Iris. Hobgoblin Four rests against a tree twitching. Kat can’t bring herself to finish it so Sio snuffs it out with another lightning bolt. Axel has his hands on his knees, sweat dripping from his brow. Blue Hair’s eyes scan the field, still stuck in fright. Despite no wounds on her, everyone’s come out worse for wear.
What the hell? Are humans this weak? Do we even have to worry about Saelac and his men anymore when these monsters could kill us at any time? No, that’s the difference. Saelac and Robin didn’t want to kill us. If they did, we’d already be dead.
We pick up anything from the corpses that might be useful. Istruan’s board of a shield is broken beyond repair so he grabs one from them. I gather my knives and the others take the cooked meat from the fire. We head back to our resting spot in silence.
“Oh my… What happened out there?” Fia heals Istruan the instant we return to the house. She sits him down and starts from the deepest wounds. “Don’t move. This will take a bit.”
Sio sits next to Emile while Blue Hair and Iris finish their job on healing Ellis. Aisha’s eyes linger on me a second before she disappears into the next room, Axel following after her. They emerge with bandages and split up between Istruan and Ellis.
Iris walks up to me and I take a step back. She grabs my hand and starts healing. I close it, not even feeling the pain. She shakes her head, “Keep it open.” she says as she uncurls my fingers. “Axel, I need a few bandages here too.”
“Right, gotcha boss.”
Aisha peeks over her shoulder. I move my hand out of her sight and whisper a thanks under my breath. Iris nods and finishes the job by wrapping the bandage around my hand. She glances at Ellis but goes and assists Fia.
It takes a moment for the pain to set in whether because of the adrenaline or the slight warmth of the house over the numbing temperatures of outside.
After we escaped from Robin’s hideout, we went south-east and took shelter wherever we could. Sometimes the trees were all we had. Sometimes we went without a fire as it was too windy or too risky. If we were lucky, we found some rock to build our fire behind or a cave. If not for the blankets Gideon included in our packs, we’d have frozen to death by now.
We saw what looked like a road and followed it. Wheels marked the ground and we were more excited than we had any right to be. It turned out to be misplaced as a few hours later, we found a wagon thrown onto its side, its contents spilling out with no signs of a people save for the wagon itself. We couldn’t even find the animals who pulled it.
From there we scavenged a few supplies, all the food looked to be gone but it wasn’t our biggest issue. We were tired. We spent the first three days in fear of Saelac and his men, in fear of the monsters in the forest of their wails and hungry growls.
We ran low on food three days after and during that time I brought up the suggestion of fighting the forest monsters. I told Axel about it first and he agreed almost immediately, I then told Istruan who also agreed. The only one who voiced a different opinion was Blue Hair, albeit quietly. I felt a bit of uncertainty from Fia, Kat, and maybe Emile as well but they said nothing, most likely because of Istruan. Outnumbered, Blue Hair withdrew her opposition and we searched for some suitable monsters that night. As much as it was about food, I wanted everyone to gain experience against the new monsters. If I disappeared someday or we were separated, I wanted them to be able to take care of themselves.
Our first target was a vattrida, nasty monsters with no eyes and hair all along its spine from its tail to its nose. It was injured, bleeding from its massive disklike shoulders. I went out first and could have taken it by myself but I didn’t need the experience. This vattrida didn’t seem to be apart of the new emergence of monsters either.
I caught its attention and the monster’s long upper lip curled back showing the teeth growing from it like hair on the skin. I held its attention for as long as I could while the others took turns attacking it. While not particularly strong alone, its magic resistant fur and our overall inexperience made the test longer than I hoped. In the end, it rolled over from all the wounds and I finished it.
We took a rest for two days as we searched for some better place to rest and resupply. We found nothing. Despite that, I wanted to keep us sharp, prepared for anything.
Three more days later, we ran into the village. We thought we’d caught a break but our hopes were dashed just as fast as they began. Fences were broken, houses had holes in their walls the size of cannonballs, dried blood stained the wood, and not a single soul walked the streets. We chose the house that looked the least damage as our temporary home and prepped for more training.
Group battles were the true test of our skills. What I’m afraid of isn’t huge monsters like Vormar, but of packs and other groupings of monsters like the hobgoblins. They were our second go at fighting more than one enemy at a time. The first went better but not by much. While I acted as a stopgap in case any of the monsters were more dangerous than expected, it wasn’t anything like training knowing my master was there. Istruan and the others might have trust my ability in a fight but I wasn’t, and I’m still not, confident against these awakened ones. The hobgoblins were way stronger than expected and I’m losing focus, not just during the fights but at times my mind just wanders.
That’s bad. Especially when I’m at the front leading everyone. Not to mention that it looks like every magic user in our group is slowly losing in the number of spells they can use in a day. Being admitted into the academy already proves they’re better than the average mage but that doesn’t mean their mana is infinite. Especially not when we’ve been traveling in such bad conditions.
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“What happened out there?” Fia asks, breaking the silence. “This is worse than last time. How come no one protected you,” she says glancing at the other side of the room.
Blue Hair, though not facing her way, shrinks. Istruan replies, “We were careless.”
“We’re an unconventional team,” adds Iris as she wraps more bandages around him.
Emile nods. “Too few people in the front.”
No, there are too many in the back. Usually, there’s only a couple in the back with the majority in the front. Iris is right about us being unconventional.
“It’s my fault. I’ll be ready for the next one.”
“Hey, no worries. Take it slow buddy,” Istruan says, sucking air through his teeth and flinching.
Fia bites her lip, “I’m sorry. If only I knew better spells. Wind magic isn’t as good as light or water magic is for this kind of job.”
Once again, Blue Hair shrinks. Her quiet exchanges with Ellis turns into silence. Even when Aisha calls the job done, the wound closed and the bandages wrapped, she doesn’t turn and instead hangs her head, slouching while watching over her friend.
“Here Emile,” Kat hands him one of the pieces of food we took from the hobgoblins.
He unsteadily holds his hand out for it and begins to take bites out of the tough meat. His teeth hold it down while he tries to pull off the rest. It looks like the toughest meat in the world, his arms tremble like he’s been made to hold himself up on a rope for hours. Emile finally manages in breaking off a piece but the rest falls into his lap. He pinches it up but his fingers twitch like an irritated eye. He scoops it up in his palm and throws the whole thing into his mouth.
Istruan watches with pensive disposition. He waves Fia in closer and whispers something into her ear. She whispers something else back and he just nods.
Axel taps me on the arm, “Spacing out? I don’t think we’re up for any more fights so what’s the plan for tomorrow?”
“I’m still thinking.”
“Glad to see you’re actually planning. Now that we’ve got some downtime that’s probably the best thing to do. Oh… Watch out, the little lady’s coming.”
I shove my hand into my pocket as Aisha comes up to me.
“We haven’t looked at all the houses yet. I think we could finish before it gets too dark.”
“Good idea. Axel, Kat, you two wanna go search the rest of the houses with Aisha?”
“Will do,” Axel says.
“Sure, beats sitting around,” says Kat.
“I’ll go too,” Emile insists. “Unlike Kat, I’ve actually been sitting around all day.”
“You sure you’re up for it?” Fia asks.
“Yeah, you still look a little rough,” Sio adds.
“I need some exercise too. Come on, I’d like to find another blanket before the sun sets.”
----------------------------------------
God dammit.
I sit up and make sure I haven’t disturbed anyone. I quietly step around the sleeping bodies and sneak out the door. The moon’s been cut in half since we were in town but its light still reflects brightly off the snow. In the low light, it’s almost as if the village is sleeping, exactly like the forest and its inhabitants. I use my ability to teleport as far away as I can and use it once more after that.
I don’t want anyone to follow me.
A few minutes later, I arrive at cliff edge overlooking another forest, one with evergreens coated in white. They stretch on for as far as the eye can see all the way to mountains in the distance and even further.
I don’t know how long I stayed there just staring off into space, losing myself in my thoughts and in the quiet liveliness of the world but it must have been longer than an hour. When I return to the house we’re staying in, I see footprints leading away from the house. I quickly check inside and see most are still sleeping.
Who would leave? Aisha? No, she’s still in there.
I decide to track my teammate, whichever one it is, to where they went using my ability. Though I have a feeling who it is, the other possibility isn’t something I’d like to think about. Despite their reasons, it’s not worth going into the forest alone.
My suspicions are confirmed, and I’m somewhat relieved when I recognize Blue Hair. In her hands is the usual book, her bag off to the side, and resting on her shoulder is her spirit. It emits a faint light a bit brighter than that of the moon. It doesn’t seem to notice me approach but I don’t figure out why until I’m closer.
Why are you out here you idiot? Unlike running from other people, anything with four legs is going to catch you before you make it back to the house. I don’t get what’s with you and reading alone somewhere in low light. Don’t your eyes hurt? It doesn’t matter, not right now anyway. I’ll tell her off for always doing these things so late. Maybe this is why she’s so lacking when it comes to doing her job in fights. She’s spending too much time doing unnecessary things. Ellis might have died today if I hadn't blocked the arrow…
That’s when I hear it, something I didn’t expect to hear. Guilt gnaws at my mind because of those thoughts I had. I don’t pull her back to the house or even say a word to her. Instead, I sink to the base of the tree and listen to her spirit’s reassuring purrs and her quiet sobbing.
----------------------------------------
“I already know what you’re going to say but I’m coming along,” Emile states, holding the scabbard of the sword at his side. “A repeat of yesterday will happen again if we keep holding people back.”
“Emile you-”
“Don’t say it, Fia. Do you want to be stuck in the house with me while the others are fighting out there? I didn’t think so. Take me along. I’ll prove to all of you I’m fine. Then we can stop babying me and find Rainen’s master.”
Most eyes turn to me looking for a response, for my answer.
“I’m personally against it,” says Istruan straight away.
“I agree that he’s not in top shape but we can’t slow down anymore,” I say. “Today, everyone will participate in monster hunting. Tomorrow, we leave the village.”
Istruan lingers on the subject a while longer than I do and I’m out the door with everyone in tow. If he wants to say something, he doesn’t. He hangs in the back behind Emile, seemingly engrossed with his shield. I nod in Axel’s direction and he slows his pace until he’s side to side with Istruan.
Blue Hair is even further back, the last person in the line.
I don’t know whether to talk to her or to leave things as they are. Is she in the back because of last night or because she’s always floating around there within the group? Should I start with Iris, tell her about it? No, I don’t think she really likes me. Ellis is the same way. This is stupid. Blue Hair was probably just homesick or something, I was for a long time too. If she thinks the thing with Ellis is her fault then she should focus more on the fight.
Aisha nudges me, “Where are we going?”
“Huh? Oh… You guys wait here, I’ll go ahead and scout for some monsters.”
I can’t be thinking about everyone and their personal problems. It’s not my business. I just need to find my master as quickly as possible. Once I do and we deal with the demon, I’ll ask him to help take care of them. He’ll know what to do. He always does.
During my scouting, I find tracks leading to around the area we encountered the hobgoblins yesterday. Another group? I pull out a knife and press against the trees, sticking as close to their own tracks as possible. Fourteen goblins watch the old hobgoblin site from a distance as three wolves feast on the corpses left over from yesterday. One goblin, a fair bit taller than the others with a staff decorated with various skulls, direct them at the wolves. They push two of their own out with spears in hand, the rest follow from six feet behind.
It all happens in a flash. The wolves bare their fangs and snarl scaring the front two goblins. The ones behind them let out their own feral snarls and pull out ropes. The largest goblin, Goblin Leader, hold out its hand and is given a cloth. It ties a piece of string to each ear, the cloth covers all of its lower face. It begins chanting, holding the staff with both hands.
A fight ensues and the two front goblins are mauled to death, only able to wound one of the wolves. The other goblins throw their ropes aiming for the heads and legs of the wolves. In the end, the two uninjured wolves decide to flee and leave their friend behind. The goblins surround it, restrain it, and the Goblin Leader directs its spell at the wolf.
Its tensed legs relax, the wild snarls and menacing growls soften. The wolf falls to the ground and the goblins cheer. Four goblins haul it away.
I’ll need to be more careful around these guys but they don’t look like they have that many weapons. They’re weaker than the hobgoblins too, except for that shaman. Are they part of a tribe? It doesn’t matter. I don’t plan on staying long.
I gather the others and explain the situation, the monsters we’re hunting, the equipment they have which are mostly clubs, and our new formation with the addition of three more people. Aisha and Fia in the back, with Fia given the freedom to move up to the middle in certain events, and Emile at the front. Istruan doesn’t say anything so I stick with it. The formation leaves much to be desired but, as awkward as it is, is the best we can do right now with the people we have.
With them slowed down by the weight of a wolf, we easily catch up to them.
“Why are they doing that?”
“They’re either going to eat it or it’ll be a new pet,” I tell Kat.
“Sounds like it could be fun.”
“Having a wolf as a pet?” Istruan asks.
“No, I meant eating it. Of course, I meant having it as a pet.”
Emile shrugs, “Eating it could be fun though.”
“I’d prefer some bread,” I respond. “I’ll try to take as many out as I can before we start a melee. Everyone in the back, focus on protecting us from that shaman. I’ll get to him as soon as I can.”
“Got it boss,” Axel says, saluting.
“If only we had a bow,” laments Kat. “Then we wouldn’t have to rely only on your knives.”
“Then we’ll by a bow for someone the next time we head into a town,” Emile happily chimes. “I don’t think I’m suited for it though.”
“I could just blast them all away with my magic,” says Ellis. “That’ll teach them for shooting me with an arrow!”
“That defeats the purpose of training,” Iris scolds. “Though I don’t necessarily disagree. I think supplies and finding a safe place to rest is the top priority.”
Iris stops there, though she could go further, she knows why I’m having the group do this.
Two knives fly out of my hands and two knives hit their mark. The goblin shrieks as it falls alerting the others to our presence. I fling another pair of knives, wounding one wolf carrier but not taking it out of the fight.
I engage in a fight before anyone else. Three goblins charge me. I stab one in the head, one in the neck, and kick the other away. Two down. I yank out both knives and throw them at the shaman who’s busy dodging fireballs, wind blades, and lightning bolts. Despite the pressure mounting on the shaman, I hear mumblings and see green energies surround it.
The goblin I kicked away, Goblin Three, takes a jab with a spear it picks up. I grab the spear, pull the monster in close, and kill it with one flick of the wrist.
Two charred goblin bodies lay in the snow, killed by either Ellis, Axel or Sio. Istruan’s already killed two of his own three goblins and looks like he’s studying the last one. Kat’s finished off one and is holding up well against the other two. Emile, on the other hand, breathes heavily, keeping the goblin at bay with his longer weapon.
The goblin’s injured and Emile’s not. He should be fine. I have to bring down the shaman.
Then, the shaman finishes its chanting. Some kind of rock monster rises from the ground. I leap on it so the others can focus on their fighting. I yell orders for the magic users to focus down the shaman. The rock monster is stronger than I thought it’d be but, using the help of some enhancement magic, I blast it to pieces with a punch. The use of magic leaves me more tired than expected but I take a breather once I see the shaman dead.
Looks like our magic won’t be the most decisive advantage in battle anymore. They’re all tired. Axel, Ellis, Sio… They didn’t even cast that many spells. It looks like everyone’s finished fighting…
“Kat! Help Emile. Now!”
The injured goblin, on top of Emile, hammers away with its club. A barrier protects his head and arms from most of the attacks. Kat grabs the monster, throws it on the ground, and stabs it through the chest.
She helps Emile back onto his feet and he barely musters a ‘thank you’. When confronted by Istruan, Emile shakes his head, wipes the blood from his face, and runs off. Istruan calls out to him be he doesn’t stop.
“I’ll go after him,” says Fia.
“Me too,” says Sio.
Istruan gives them a disheartened nod. “We’ll be back at the house in a bit. Take him there for me.”
Fia and Sio go after him. After they leave, we search the bodies of the goblins for useful supplies. I kill the wolf as Kat wanders over to the shaman and calls our attention. “Look… Look at this.” She points at something on the shaman’s body. It’s a hand… A human hand. “Dis-Disgusting!”
Blue Hair immediately turns away, shielding her eyes from the sight. Aisha does the same. Iris stares at it in horror, a flame dances on Ellis’s fingertips, Axel shakes his head, and Istruan closes his eyes while whispering a prayer. I kneel down and inspect the hand.
It looks fresh. Could it be someone from the village?
I send everyone back to the house, walking with them most of the way just in case before turning back to follow where the goblins came from. Thanks to the snow, I find their home, a cave, in a little under an hour and stumbling towards that home is an injured goblin, one with blood running down its back from two wounds. It’s the goblin I thought I killed.
I start marching up to it. It turns around and screams. I kick it down, pressing my boot against its throat.
“P-Please!” It cries. “No kill! No kill!”
I regard it with cold eyes, “So you can tell other goblins? So they can come and kill us?”
“Nooo. I no tell. I no tell!”
“Fine. I’ll let you go.”
“Thank youuu! Nice human! Kind!”
“But first you’ll tell me about the village, about what happened to the people there.”
“Village? Me know no village.”
I press down harder, “Then what about that hand I found on the shaman?”
“Him? He- he kill adventurers. He take trophy.”
“Where are the adventurers?”
“In cave,” it croaks. “Me show you way no one knows.”
I shake my head.
“Okay, okay. Me no tell goblins. Me say wolf kill friends. Me let go yeah? Pity weak goblin? Me no tell of human.”
I take my foot off its throat. The monster thanks me and wobbles to the cave where a guard is sitting down. I pull out the knife Aisha gave me, the heaviest one in my collection and the one most guaranteed to kill the goblin in one throw but I swap it out for another one. I don't want to get it dirty. I aim, wait, and throw. It lodges itself into the back of the goblin’s head, the monster crumples.
I pick up its body and take it back to the scene of the battle. I hastily bury the burned goblins under snow and stage everything else the best I can. I use my knives to slash up the bodies and stick a spear through the wolf, laying it on top of the shaman. At the end of my preparations, I go over each goblin one more time and stick a knife in their gut.
I wonder what it was thinking as I let it go. Was it truly grateful? Or was it laughing, planning the moment it would come back to the village with all its friends and slaughter us? Who knows? I do feel something about killing the weak but the one benefit of having a demon inside of me is that it made killing that goblin easier. As soon as I let it know about the village, I’d already decided its fate.
The question is, do I go into the cave to look for those adventurers?
Yes. I will. But before that, I have to go back. Make sure Aisha doesn’t come looking for me.
On the way to the house, I spot something moving between the trees. A group of them. Upon closer inspection, I realize it’s Sio and the others.
“Rainen!” Emile pants. “We found some bodies!”
They lead me away from the house and back deep into the forest away from any trails, away from where we killed the goblins. There they show me the naked bodies of the adventurers, stripped of almost everything they had. Fia chooses to stand a distance away. Their guild marks and cards show that they’re the lowest rank.
“To die on their first quest…“
“...”
When we arrive at the house, we tell them of the deceased adventurers and I inform them of the goblin nest. The house falls completely silent and for a moment, we become like every other house in the village, empty.
Iris stares at the ground, “That’s… troubling. There’s still some daylight left. Should we leave today? According to the map, if the village is near here, the town we’re headed toward should be three days away.”
“I think we should rest for another day,” Istruan says. “I can tell we’re all a bit exhausted from today. If we get caught out there by those goblins, it’s all over.”
“N-Not if it’s a small band,” Blue Hair says.
“But what if it’s not?” Fia fires back.
Iris shakes her head, “You’re acting under the assumption that we get caught.”
“And you’re acting under the assumption that we won’t,” Istruan replies.
They turn to me for a decision. I glance at Emile who can barely keep his hands from shaking and at Blue Hair who’s hiding behind Iris and her scarf.
“We’re sticking with the same plan. We’ll leave tomorrow morning as soon as we rise. We’ll take a route to avoid the cave and I’ll keep watch tonight. Goblins see well in the dark so no wandering outside at night. That’s all.”
Iris shrugs. With the possibility that goblins may be lurking around here, tension rises. The slightest sound from outside the house is treated like the knocking of death. As the sun sets and twilight takes over for its few precious minutes, I catch my old partner alone.
“Hey,” I say to Blue Hair.
She hides most of her face behind her scarf, “H-Hi…”
“No going out tonight, got it?”
Her eyes go wide, “Y-You, You were awake? Sorry for waking you… And I won’t.”
“Why did you leave the house yesterday?”
“Huh? Oh, I um… I wanted, I wanted to read…”
“You couldn’t do it here by the fire? It’s not like back in town. The moon isn’t as full.”
“I-I didn’t want to disturb anyone…”
“Then how about upstairs? There’s an old lantern you could have used.”
“I-I was worried about our o-oil…”
I sigh. If I hadn’t heard her crying yesterday and just saw her leave, would I even be asking any of these things? No, probably not.
Ellis marches over, “Are you picking on El?”
“N-No, he’s not.”
“It’s fine.” I push off from the wall. “Blue Hair, about yesterday, don’t worry so much about it.”
“Mmm…” she mumbles, losing herself in thought as twilight fades and night sets in.