( John POV )

My eyes skim across the page like hover-yachts tacking too and fro against the wind. Each wave is a word, understood and navigated, but giving little insight into the underlying current. I can barely remember the beginning of the sentence by the end - the overall meaning is as incomprehensible as the random noise of the ocean.

Sighing, I put down my pad. I’ll read through the design spec in the morning, when my frontal cortex is cooperating, rather than just telling me to sleep. Besides, it’s nearly midnight - far too late to start working.

But... maybe there’s just enough time to take a quick dive before going to bed. It’ll only take a couple of minutes, right?

“Jade? Could you boot up TtA, please? I want to take a quick dive. Just check on the village, drift across the plains a little.”

“Sure? You’re exhausted, John - you were up half the night, fidgeting, and started the day at 5AM. You need to rest.”

She doesn’t sound thrilled by the idea.

“I know, I know. Really, it’ll be quick. I just need to… disconnect from work a bit. Otherwise I’ll be tossing and turning tonight, as well.”

Jade’s voice softens a little.

“Oh, alright. I’ll start booting it up. Actually, I hadn’t mentioned it, but earlier I got a notification that we’d gained an artifact. I’m quite excited to see it.”

I blink, a tad muzzily. Right now, I’m not really ready for strategy or long term planning or, well, thinking.

“Just as long as it doesn’t take too much brainpower. I just want to feel the wind on my skin, see the moonlight. Live in a different world for a few minutes.”

“Very poetic. Well, don’t worry, I can do the thinking for you. After all, that’s what I’m for.”

The jibe has no sting to it - I can hear the smile in her voice.

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I materialise above the village with a crackle of burning static. It’s night in game, too, the stars standing out like dead pixels amidst the burning spans of galaxies, splayed across the moonless sky. The knots in my shoulders ease with every lungful of cool, clean air. My shoulders relax, the troubles of the other world retreat to the back of my mind, to fizzle in dark corners. I sometimes wonder why people still pay to travel the globe, when everything you could ever want is gated only by the price of a discount dive pod.

“Good?”

“Great! Just… great. This place is such a relief after a long day of… life. No deadline, no pressure, no buildings strangling the horizon. It’s like a drug.”

“It’s like an addiction.”

I huff at her concern and glance away, but I can’t think of a riposte. After a few moments, she tries again.

“Perhaps you should visit your sister. Might be nice for you to get out to the countryside for a bit. Could be a nice change of pace?”

I shrug halfheartedly. Perhaps I should. Maybe later, when there are fewer contracts to complete, fewer assignments on my desk, when the kitchen’s cooled enough that I wouldn’t feel that I was fleeing it.

So. No time soon, then. That’s the price of the career I’ve expended so much effort in building.

“We’ll see. Anyway, no use just standing here, we’ve data to go over. Could you just drift us down the river while we scan today’s developments?”

“Alright, but only the important stuff. You promise we’d be quick, and you’d get some sleep.”

Jade conjures a flying carpet from the digital ether, something bleak and elegant from some new-wave Saharan designer, and we begin to snake our way along the surface of the waterway, barely outstripping walking speed. She pulls up a pane of information with her other hand, starts swiping through data, sorting.

“Ok, here’s a noteworthy stat: We’ve now accrued twelve advancement points since the big battle, none of which we’ve spent. Only two are from the humans, the rest are all from goblins.”

I let out a low whistle in appreciation.

“Really? An additional ten goblins in… maybe fourteen in-game months? That’s insane population growth.”

“Seems that goblin pregnancy takes about seven months, but quite a lot of the goblin women were already mid-pregnancy when we, ah, ‘recruited’ them. Not many new pregnancies since then, but that might change now they’ve finished their nursery hut.”

“That’s the big dome thing they built, right?”

“Yeah, it’s basically just a large, armoured saferoom where they feel comfortable keeping kids. Has to be bloody huge, too, because they never let the children out. Goblins only leave the nursery when they’re considered adults - which is about four years.”

“Wow. Four years old and they’re already considered adults? That seems fast, even adjusted for goblin-time.”

“Not really. They aren’t fully grown at that age, true - they reach their full strength at the age of seven - but that’s not so different to how our humans do it. The humans are considered adults at the age of fifteen, which is pretty much consistent with a lot of historic cultures. It’s honestly pretty generous, actually, by archaeological standards.”

“I guess the devs wanted to avoid the whole ‘having children at age twelve’ thing. Bit of a minefield, really. And it makes sense given that goblins tend to die off at thirty. And the humans are lucky if they reach seventy, even discounting infant mortality.”

“Yeah. They’re probably going to die young whatever happens, so they have to live fast to compensate.”

We fall into contemplative silence for a moment, the carpet rippling in the air currents above the river’s surface. Already the village is just an indistinct blob, edging towards the horizon.

“So, that artefact you mentioned?”

Jade conjures up yet another pane from the byte-side abyss.

*Shoreline’s Bounty*

Item awakens Nature affinity while worn

Item awakens Water affinity while worn

Functions as a focus for Nature magic

Negates loss of charisma on wearer due to old age

Durability: 98/100

“Well that seems… Hmm. Well, that last buff seems utterly useless for us, but is probably a bit of a winner from the perspective of the bearer. Awakening multiple affinities on a person, though… That seems pretty awesome! Yeah, holy shit, this is it! This is our way into opening up the magic mechanics!”

“Don’t get too overexcited - we’ve already got a few awakened affinities in our tribe, and it hasn’t given us a lucky break yet. Actually, the artifact’s owner already had her nature affinity up and running, so we just gained a lesser water affinity user instead of both nature and water. Which is fine, but nothing world-shattering.”

“Uh… right. I see. If the affinities don’t seem to do anything, it’s probably not worth spending points to persuade her to give it to someone else. So I guess we just… leave it? Unless we find something better to do with it. I suppose the worst that can happen is that we end up with a very attractive old lady.”

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( Nym POV )

“It’s my life and I’ll decide what to do with it!”

I storm from of my parents’ hut. I don’t care where I’m storming to right now, it’s the act of defiance that matters. That and putting some distance between my mother and I, so that tempers have time to cool off. An unhappily detached bit of my mind points out that it’s mostly my temper that’s glowing, and that mother was remarkably calm and reasonable under the circumstances. I decide to ignore that shard of self awareness, as angry self-pity seems a much more attractive proposition right now.

After all, how could they?! I know what I want, and nothing they say will change that!

As my irate stride crosses the threshold of the village, I find myself directionless. On a whim, I head towards the river; I need to be alone for a while and I know just the place.

A few minutes pass quickly in bitter brooding and a furious pace, and I reach a small hollow in the riverbanks, where the waters form a small pool. It’s not large enough to hide anything dangerous but is deep enough to swim in, and as a result has always been a favourite spot of mine.

I don’t particularly feel like braving the murky waters today - the annual rains have washed silt into the waterway and stirred it up into a muddy soup - so I find a place to perch and hang my feet in the current. The water swirls around my ankles, I watch as the resulting eddies curl and twist downstream.

I lose track of time amidst my indignant silent recriminations, but far too soon I hear sounds approaching from the village.

I jerk my feet back onto the bank and glance around, half-heartedly looking for somewhere to lurk out of sight, where I might be overlooked and left alone. Too late, however.

“Nym. Come.”

She sits on a wind-swept rock, dried by the morning sun, and indicates beside her with a tilt of the head. I pause for a moment, not exactly in the mood for conversation, wondering if I can just ignore her until my sister gives up and leaves. I abandon that hope before it’s even fully formed; Lani’s always been the patient one of the two of us. Instead, I bow to the inevitable and follow her command.

“So, did they send you?”

“No. I just thought I should probably come and defuse your brooding. I spotted you as you were marching through the village, loudy demonstrating your studious attention to Elder Gordune’s teachings.”

I glance at her in confusion. It’s not as if I was preparing herbs or channeling magic...

“The swearing, Nym. Your voice rather carried.”

I hadn’t even realised I’d been cursing as I walked. Seeing my embarrassed realisation, Lani chuckles. After a moment I join her, the laughter utterly collapsing the sulk I’m already struggling to maintain.

“It’s, um… Well, you do tend to pick it up! After a while of working with the Elder, I’ve sort of stopped noticing!”

We share a companionable moment, grinning like idiots in the weak sun, watching the river. It can’t last.

“So, what did they want from you that warranted such a reaction? I haven’t seen you that angry… ever.”

I mumble something, and edge off the boulder, but Lani snakes an arm around my waist and pulls me back down.

“Come on, now. You’re not getting away that easily.”

I shrug, and stay silent. Lani sits, motionless, her arm not moving an inch. She watches the water as if she’s prepared to do so all day. She has the unyielding patience of a hunter, honed by practice.

I break first.

“Oh, all right. Fine, you really want to know? They’re trying to push me into letting them choose me a husband. There, happy?”

Lani remains quiet for a while before answering.

“And?”

“And what? I don’t want them to push me!”

“They just want the best for you, you do know that right? You’re almost eighteen now, you’ve already waited quite a while. It can’t come as a surprise.”

She watches my face, and no doubt correctly interprets my utter disdain for that particular line of argument.

“Alright, who did they pick.”

“Galeo.”

She winces.

“Ah. I suppose he has crossed the threshold to adulthood, now. I understand that you’d rather not, but there isn’t anyone else close to your age available. Unless you’ve another candidate.”

“There was one.”

“Oh! Then what’s the problem? Unless… Oh, no, it’s not a goblin, is it Nym?!”

“What? No! off course not, why would you even ask?”

She sighs in relief and grins.

“Well, you do work with the Elder, and spend more time with them than most humans. The thought had crossed my mind. Still, definitely a relief.”

“Yeah, the parents would never accept that.”

“Or the village. A lot of wounds still unhealed. Too many of us look at the goblins and still think of the raids. It would cause... problems.”

Her mouth has compressed to a flattened slit, her riverward gaze troubled.

“I… hadn’t realised tensions were so high.”

Lani looks at me, an eyebrow raised and sudden anger in her eyes. She points to my bracelet.

“Of course not! You spend all your time with them and carry that thing on your arm! Do you have any idea how insulted dad was when you went to ask a goblin for an apprenticeship, instead of him? The only reason that he didn’t complain was because Jormu…”

Suddenly, she stops, comprehension dawning. Acrimony swept aside, she grins and grabs my hand as I flinch back.

“Ohhh! It’s Jormund, isn’t it?! You’re still pinning your hopes on Jormund! I suppose I can see why, he has his father’s confidence, he always looks so sure of himself! The way he was filling out, he’d probably have been the biggest guy in the village in a few years, too! Honestly, Nym, I always thought you’ld go for someone quiet and clever, but apparently not, eh!”

She nudges me gently with her elbow, teasing me. I smirk unashamedly, secretly just glad she’s recovered her good humour.

“Yeah. Well. He’s smart, as well as tough and self-assured. And I’m pretty sure he’s sweet on me.”

Slowly, Lani’s expression clouds.

“Nym… He’s also gone. And he’s probably not coming back. Are you really going to wait, just in the hope he’ll return?”

I say nothing, a warm blush warming my face as I realise how ridiculous that probably sounds. She sighs.

“I see. You really are going to wait for him, aren’t you. Well, the parents aren’t going to be thrilled, but I understand. And, knowing you, the harder anyone tries to force you to change your mind, the harder you’ll stick to that position.”

I can’t think of any reply to that. After all, it’s the truth. I’m more set on Jormund now than I was when our parents raised the subject earlier.

Lani stares into me for a while, quiet in concerned pondering. Eventually, she seems to come to some sort of conclusion, and nods once, sharp as a flint skinning knife.

“Alright. Well, you’ll need allies. I’ll see what I can do to get mother off your back.”

She leaps up, all speed and purpose. I turn to thank her, but she’s already striding away.

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( Dutori POV )

I already regret this conversation. It would have been best to stay silent.

“I’m just suggesting we take a short break! Why are you reacting like this?!”

“Just because I’m pregnant doesn’t mean that I’m weak and stupid, you oaf!”

“I’m just a little worried, that’s all! It’s been less than forty years since your last pregnancy, I’ve never known anyone have two children so close together! I don’t know that it’s necessarily safe!”

I’m awash with conflicting emotions: honest worry over Hinyr’s health, delight over the prospect of another child, residual grief for the family and friends that child will never meet, and increasing irritation at my wife’s unreasonable reactions to even the mildest caution. It’s enough to strain the mental discipline of even the strongest elf, and I’m starting to wish for a pause if only to meditate and regain my balance.

“Let’s just keep walking! Jormund’s village is supposedly nearby, we should be able to reach it in a few day’s travel, at most! We just need to find the river and turn left, and then follow until we either reach it or are eaten by the wretched kraken! And then we can stay there for a decade or two, until the child is capable of travelling!”

She really insists on finding somewhere to stay, which normally I’d protest, but then again she’s closing on the last four months of her three-year pregnancy and is looking… well, encumbered.

Honestly, I’d really rather not spend the time amongst humans, but our choices in this are limited - even assuming they haven’t been eaten yet.

We march onwards in silence for a few hours, Hinyr striding ahead and setting the pace. Then, she stops.

“Eh… Dutori, am I seeing things? Or is that a Bok-Tar being lead about by some humans and a goblin?”

I squint along her pointing finger, and indeed, spot the scene a few thousand strides away. Extraordinary, a giant beetle, being wrangled by tiny figures bearing nothing more than a cane and lead.

“Indeed you’re not mad, my dear! The pregnancy has left your eyesight intact! Ah… I’ve no idea how they’re doing that, however. Why is it not attacking them? And... where are they leading it?”

Hinyr shrugs, and resumes the journey.

“Does it matter? However they’re doing it, we should go talk to them.”

“Ah… Are you sure, dear? We don’t know them.”

She looks at me, pained, as if I’ve missed something really obvious.

“How many tribes around here do you think contain both goblins and humans? It’s probably Jormund’s tribe.”

I suppose it’s a reasonable assumption.That said, I’m not sure it’s must of a reason to trust them. Elves know their place in the world: to create, learn, rule, and perfect. The role of humans is to strive, no matter how hopelessly.

I’m damned if I know the purpose of goblins.