ã€ŠGoblin Orphan and Granny Greatswordã€‹


 Chapter one: The Village Rat

    Ratface woke up hungry which was an improvement on waking up starving. She listened out from her little nook and upon hearing nothing dug herself out of her small den she¡¯d made. She covered it then hunted through the junk piles around her.

    Her home away from home was placed in the village¡¯s midden, a fancy name for their trash pile. If one man¡¯s trash was another man¡¯s treasure, then right now she was surrounded by treasure

    She hissed as she cut her hand on some pottery, sucking on the wound to stop the bleeding. She was about to give this morning up for a loss before she heard rustling in one of the other piles.

    Ratface creeped closer to the pile then dived towards it. There was a flash of brown followed by a squeak and Ratface held her hands up in triumph.

    ¡­ Her empty hands.

    Ratface stared at them then turned to the rat who stood on another pile further away from her. The rat squeaked at her mockingly then sauntered into the pile.

    ¡°One day,¡± Ratface swore. She dusted herself off and went to look for a more nutritional, less mobile meal.

    Ratface had been in the village of Pinewood for approximately a month, so she was pretty much a part of the village by now. Yes, she was a part of the village that would be described as ¡®an intruder¡¯, but still she¡¯d been around long enough to get their routine down. For instance, most people at this time of the morning would either already be at work or otherwise occupied so she could walk around relatively freely. With the understanding that freely meant flitting from shadow to shadow until she found her meal.

    As a result of everyone being busy, Ratface has the dubious honor of being the first person to see someone coming to visit. A giant of a person covered in metal was walking down the road. Ratface weighed the pros and cons of approaching them and decided that better the giant armored person you know than the one you didn¡¯t.

    Ratface slunk out of the middens into the grass. She crawled through the grass until she was close enough to see the metal person. Despite her attempt with the rat, she was actually pretty stealthy. That rat was just a prodigy.

    Up close the metal creature was revealed to be a metal woman. It was an old granny covered in armor. The armor was beautiful. It had runes carved into the joints and seemed both well used and well kept. The knight look was ruined by the old lady wearing a straw farmers hat and whistling a cherry tune as she walked past.

    Ratface¡¯s eyes narrowed. What the village had right there was an adventurer. The number one fatality of rogue goblins. She¡¯d seen some of them in her old settlement before it¡¯d been destroyed and they¡¯d never let their hand get too far from their sword. This one didn¡¯t either but that was because she was using her sword as a walking stick. Wouldn¡¯t that actually be harder than walking with it on her back? Was it a statement?

    The adventurer got close enough that Ratface¡¯s keen nose could smell her. She expected the usual smell of sweat with the faintest undercurrent of dried blood. She didn¡¯t smell like that at all.

    She smelled like baking.

    Ratface let the smell ingulf her. The granny smelt like cookies. The faint whiff of chocolate carried with her as she walked. Ratface had only seen chocolate once at her own village¡¯s festival.

    The smell of baking made her stomach rumble. Right. She hadn¡¯t had breakfast yet. She slinked away to see if she could find something in the village.

    The village of Pinewood was not a big place which was good and bad for Ratface. Good because as a result of having not that many people they didn¡¯t have anyone dedicated to guarding or maintaining the wall around the village. Bad because everyone knew everyone, and she couldn¡¯t just become another face in the crowd. Particularly when her face was green.

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    Ratface still had some time before everyone would be coming back for lunch. If she was quick, she could sneak some food from the tavern before they all filed in. She scrambled under the wall into the village slipping into an alley. She looked up the alley towards the village proper.

    Popular opinion among goblins was that humans were just awful at looking up. Usually when dealing with them up was where you¡¯d go. Pinewood was terrible for this. These people all thatched their rooves and so she couldn¡¯t jump from place to place unless she was willing to fall through one. Daylight also wasn¡¯t a great time for rooftop slinking.

    In an ideal situation she would sneak in here at night. She¡¯d been doing that until they started locking the place. They just used a block of wood too so even if she had known how to picklock it wouldn¡¯t have been of any use. The good thing about them is they couldn¡¯t be used without locking yourself in, so the houses were still open during the day at least.

    Ratface snuck down the alley. She moved from shadow to shadow until she was just across from the tavern. An open street separating them. This was where it would get dicey. She leaned forward to check if anyone was around and seeing no one sprinted across the street and into the shadow of the tavern. She didn¡¯t stop moving until she was out back where only the cook might come out for a break. Ratface made her way to the window and listened. No obvious sounds that she could pick up. She risked a peak into the room.

    The kitchen wasn¡¯t a big place. It could fit maybe two people in easily. Three if those people didn¡¯t mind elbows. There were slices of meat and bread out on the table waiting to be assembled. She could smell the pies in the oven. She¡¯d smelt those every day and never been able to take one.

    Ratface clambered in through the window and into the kitchen. She landed with a faint tap as her feet hit the floor. She paused. Her ears stretching to hear someone moving to investigate. There was a big window that looked out into the tavern itself, but no one seemed to be coming from there. After a few minutes of silence, she figured no one was coming and moved towards the bread and meat.

    Raiding the village was an exercise in balance. If she took too much, she became a nuisance, and they¡¯d start looking for her. Too little and she would starve enough to make stupid mistakes. It had been a delicate dance to avoid people knowing for sure she was here. A lot of tipping and wasting food to make it look like a rat or something had gotten in.

    Ratface eyed the loaf of bread. The cook had already sliced it which made her job much easier. She grabbed four pieces from the middle then pressed the bread together. She went to the meat and grabbed all the scraps that had been put to the side and put them in to make herself some sandwiches. Hopefully the cook would assume he¡¯d cleaned up before going out. Ratface eyed the oven with the forbidden pies before shaking her head. Too risky.

    She was halfway through making the second sandwich when she heard the main door open. She grabbed the ingredients and ducked down before she could be seen. The door swung closed, and she heard the sound of footsteps followed by several people sitting down.

    They started talking and as they went on Ratface realised she didn¡¯t recognise one of the voices. It must be the adventurer. She got as close to the window as she could and listened in.

    ¡°Well dearies what seems to be the problem?¡± said the adventurer. She had a kind voice. A voice more suited to asking how their grandkids were than about adventurers.

    ¡°Well Lady Abigail,¡± began the cook but the adventurer interrupted him.

    ¡°Abby is fine Tom, we¡¯re all friends here.¡±

    ¡°Well Abby,¡± the cook, Tom, continued, ¡°It¡¯s the old golem out in the swamps. It¡¯s gone rogue and now traders can¡¯t get in. It¡¯s a wonder you got here.¡±

    ¡°An old girl like me has her ways.¡±

    Ratface would like to know what those ways were. That golem kept her stuck here too. It was only a matter of time before the villagers actually did something to her.

    ¡°If it keeps up like this, we won¡¯t have enough food come winter. That brings me to our other problem actually.¡±

    Ratface kept listening but began assembling her sandwich underneath the window.

    ¡°There¡¯s a little creature stealing our food. We don¡¯t know for sure but some of the kids swear they¡¯ve seen a little goblin girl running around. I know it¡¯s a big ask but I don¡¯t suppose you¡¯d be willing to take care of her?¡±

    Ratface froze.

    There was a long sigh followed by the sound of a thud as something heavy hit the ground.

    ¡°I suppose I can deal with that too. Well, I guess I should get a handle on those two tasks.¡±

    ¡°Well don¡¯t rush off too fast. Let me at least give you a pie after you gave us these cookies.¡±

    Ratface had heard enough. In a few minutes the cook came into the kitchen, but Ratface was already gone. The only confirmation she¡¯d been there a small pie missing from the tray.

 Chapter two: The Logistics of Leaving

    Ratface had always been planning on leaving the village. She¡¯d just been hoping to do it carefully, in a way that didn¡¯t involve and adventurer on her heels. Her plan for leaving had now adjusted from, ¡®when it was safe¡¯ to ¡®this afternoon¡¯.  A series of break-ins later and Ratface had gone from a goblin with nothing to a goblin with some things.

    After sneaking back into the midden, Ratface took stock of her new things she¡¯d gained. Her favourite find had been the backpack. It was a small thing, but it wasn¡¯t like she had much to fill it with. Next up had been a knife. She didn¡¯t know what she was going to do with it but if the last month or so had taught her anything it was that having a knife was never a bad thing. She had taken the worst one she could find but even that was pretty good. Turns out people in an isolated village took care of their equipment.

    Other than that, she had grabbed some spare rags and a water pouch. This probably wasn¡¯t all she would need for the trip. Ideally, she¡¯d find something to eat on the way out. Starving while traveling was a possibility but death by adventurer was a certainty.

    She packed up the things she¡¯d borrowed forever then stuffed her sandwiches into the bag . Finally she shoved the pie into her mouth. It was delicious. The meat juices ran down her chin and she wiped her hand over it then licked it when she finally ran out of pie. Had she known it was this good, she would have stolen more.

    Breakfast and her only meal of the day sorted, she set out. She moved away from the village and into the swamp that surrounded it. In hindsight there was something pretty funny about a village called Pinewood being in a swamp. She¡¯d stayed here for a month and hadn¡¯t ever thought to ask. She wished she¡¯d had the luxury to be curious.

    Ratface saluted the village that had homed her then moved into the swamp. She clambered up into the trees and made her way through the swamp. Would be embarrassing to spend so long avoiding the adventurer only to get eaten by a crocodile.

    Ratface was lost. When climbing through the swamp she¡¯d kept away from the road to avoid running into the adventurer or running into other travellers.

    That had been a mistake. Ratface had stumbled into Pinewood when she¡¯d first run from her own destroyed village. It had been pure chance she made it. This time she hadn¡¯t been so lucky, and she found herself deep in the swamp with no idea of where to go. It was already late afternoon, and the swamp had been crawling with wildlife. Mosquito¡¯s and alligators all waiting to take a bite of her.

    At least where she was now it was quiet. Wait.

    Ratface looked around the swamp. The area she was in had literally no creatures. It was deadly quiet. The trees too had cleared into an opening. She¡¯d walked here without thinking partly to bask in the sun and partly because she thought she was out of the swamp. Instead she found an area clear except for a small hill in the middle. A small hill that was looking at her.

    Ratface¡¯s eyes widened. She¡¯d found her way to the golem.

    It began to glow as it rose out of the water. Ratface scrambled away trying to get behind the tree. She ran towards the end of the clearing. If she could just make it to the edge. She tripped as she tried to run through the mud and fell on her face. It was the only thing that kept her alive.

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    The tree in front of her was smoking. There was a hole burned through it in line with where her head had been. Ratface turned from the tree to look back at the golem. It stared down at her from the middle of the swamp. The eye it had used to shoot the beam was read and steaming.  It was a stone golem about the size of one of the trees. It looked like someone had taken boulders and stacked them on top of each other to make a man. The swamp had grown onto it and cracked its skin. Fresh plants seemed to grow out of it. It was like she was being attacked by a swamp treant. If she ignored the red eye. A thing she wasn¡¯t about to do.

    It began to glow again and Ratface dove to the side, a beam of energy shooting into the ground where she¡¯d been. The once lush undergrowth burned away until all that was left was cooked earth.

    Ratface got her knife out. Her hands shaking. She didn¡¯t really think she could beat the golem, but she knew she couldn¡¯t outrun it. She¡¯d just have to hold out until a moment revealed itself. Fight to run away.

    The golem waded through the water closer to her. Its eye glowed again and Ratface started to run. One more beam passed her. This time it followed her as she pumped her legs to keep in front of it. Her legs making slurping noises as she pulled them out of the mud.

    The heat stopped and the sound of steam let her know the beam had finished. She stopped sprinting and turned back to the creature. Her lungs were burning both from running and from breathing in the smoke that was spreading as golem burned the area around her.

    It was close enough now that it didn¡¯t try to shoot her with its eye. It raised its arm thought it seemed to struggle to do so. Ratface looked at the joint and saw vines tangled in her. Hah! It¡¯s time in the swamp had got it tangled. It couldn¡¯t go at full strength. The arm came down but Ratface neatly side stepped out of the way. The arm slow enough that she could do so. She grinned in satisfaction until she heard a grounding from the arm. It was dragging it across the ground towards her!

    Ratface vaulted the arm. Diving and rolling through the as the force of it sent her tumbling. She scrambled out of the way as the golem stomped down where she had been. Its leg sunk into the mud. The two of them paused as it tried to pull the leg out and failed.

    Ratface grinned. One limb down.

    The golem lifted its arms and swung at her. It was careful not to let its arms hit into the swamp now that it had seen it could get stuck.

    Their stuck joints meant that even she could keep dodging it while it did these awkward movements.

    The two of them were in a stalemate. So long as the golem didn¡¯t commit, she could keep dodging it but if she tried to run away it would shoot that beam at her. She had to get behind it somehow so she could run away.

    Ratface danced away from the punches. She got further and further away until she was right on the edge of its reach then she took a risk.

    Ratface let her legs sink into the mud. She pulled at them like they were stuck as the golem raised its arms. She grinned then went to jump out only to find her legs were actually stuck.

    She panicked. Desperately pulling at her legs. One came out with a slurp, and she hurled her body out of the way of the golems fist. She felt something twist in her stuck leg as it came free, but she still got out.

    She looked back where she¡¯d just been and sure enough the golem was stuck. Her plan had worked!

    She tried to stand but found she could barely put any weight on her left leg, the one that had been stuck. She half limped and half hopped away from the golem. She made sure to keep in its blind spot lest it got beamy again.

    Ratface slunk back into the swamp forest, keeping on moving until she could hear the noises in the forest once more. She climbed a tree and curled into it. In pain, but alive.

    She¡¯d survived but only barely.

    There was a problem too. She hadn¡¯t been sure, but today¡¯s activities pretty much confirmed it.

    There was only one way out of this place, and it was through that golem.

 Chapter Three: Adventurers can be useful

    At some point Ratface had fallen asleep. A new day greeted her. So too did her throbbing ankle.

    The thing had swelled up like a cabbage. She gave it an experimental poke and hissed at the pain. She wouldn¡¯t be able to walk on that, she¡¯d have to find a stick or get good at hopping.

    She reached into her bag to pull out a sandwich and came back with a rat. It wiggled in her hand. The usual grace it had was lost now it had been captured.

    Ratface grinned. A nice wriggly meal to start her day. She brought it up to her mouth but paused as the thing squeaked desperately at her.

    She sighed and put the rat down, where it scrambled to the other part of the tree and began grooming itself. She reached into her bag and grabbed a sandwich which she ripped a quarter off and split that for her and the rat. The two munched as they watched each other.

    The rat must¡¯ve found its way into her bag when she wasn¡¯t looking. She snorted. It must¡¯ve been in there as she¡¯d fought the golem. It would¡¯ve been a rude awakening from its impromptu caravan service.

    The thought of caravans brought her back to her current problem. She needed to get passed that golem. The village of Pinewood only had one road in or out and it was through the golems stomping grounds. Emphasis on stomping. There might be another village in another direction, but she needed to find a reliable source of food quickly and her best bet was another village to stock up at until she found more goblins. What was currently considered stealing would just be sharing in a goblin village. At least it had been in hers.

    The swamp was noisy in the way a place filled with life was noisy. The swamp attempted to swallow the noises but between the frogs and the insects it was a losing battle.

    ¡°I wonder how edible frog is,¡± mused Ratface. She eyed the different pools of water throughout the swamp dubiously. The issue with a swamp is that it¡¯s a dangerous place. It wasn¡¯t that every log in the water was an alligator waiting to get her. It was that she didn¡¯t know which was which.

    All of this could be avoided if she could just get closer to the road but that would put her in the way of the golem again!

    She was between a living rock and an alligator place. It wasn¡¯t a fun feeling.

    Her best bet was to get closer to the golem. All her problems lead to there so she might as well scout it out. Ratface crawled towards where she¡¯d last seen it. The rat soon joining her on her travels. They kept to the trees where they could which was slow going but a lot better than becoming alligator food. When Ratface had first come to Pinewood she¡¯d crept along the outskirts and watched as one of the alligators pulled another creature into the water and thrashed it around. She wasn¡¯t keen on joining the poor thing.

    Ratface crawled closer and closer to the golems lair. She kept her eyes open and more importantly her ears. The closer she got the less noise she heard until the steady hum of the swamp had hushed to barely a whisper. She stopped there and looked for a spot with a better vantage point.

    A few minutes of climbing and hopping later and she found herself a safe spot to watch from.

    The cleared area stretched out before her and evidence of her battle was still there. There were rents in the ground where the golem had shot at her and thick furrows where its limbs had dug into the ground. She looked for the golem itself as it had gotten itself free. If she looked where they¡¯d fought there were new lines of water. It looked like the golem had given up trying to pull its way out and simply dragged its limbs through the mud until it got back into the deeper water. There it sat in the middle once more. It looked just like a hill again, covered in vegetation and dirt. If it wasn¡¯t for the water around it faintly steaming, she wouldn¡¯t have been able to reliably find it even knowing it was there. Had it been steaming the first time she came in too? She didn¡¯t know golems ran that hot.

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    The other things Ratface could see from her vantage point was where the road got close to the area. It lightly intruded in the golems space which was unlucky for the travellers bound for Pinewood. She could already see a few broken caravans, all bearing telltale burn marks. Hopefully the people had made it out and only lost their valuables.

    There was the faint glint of metal from the road and Ratface spied the granny adventurer making her way towards the golem. The woman kept walking until she was just on the edge of the golems area then set her travel bag down. She didn¡¯t put on her helmet, instead electing to continue wearing the straw hat. A helmet probably wasn¡¯t going to stop anything the golem did anyway.

    Ratface¡¯s breath caught as she spied something in the side of the bag. The telltale deep red of health potion glinted out there. With that her mobility problems would be solved. She settled in to watch the battle as the granny drew her sword and walked towards the golem. Her sword was huge. A giant thing that would have looked out of place on anyone who wasn¡¯t as imposing as the grandma. She walked towards it at a leisurely pace.

    The moment she crossed the invisible line the golem reacted. Its eye began to glow, and it shot a beam out. Unlike Ratface, the granny didn¡¯t dodge to the side. Instead, she whipped the flat of her blade towards the beam. It blasted into the blade threatening to topple the woman, but she planted her feet. The beam deflected away from her and into the golem itself. It stumbled at the hit and immediately stopped shooting the beam.

    The golem paused for a moment as the granny got closer. Ratface could feel its annoyance from here. It must¡¯ve decided against the beam again because it began to wade through the water towards her. The moment the two got close it swung down at her. The granny stepped to the side almost casually, like she was out for a midday stroll rather than fighting a thing twice her size. The arm slammed into the ground, and she raised her sword and swung it down on the arm. Once. Twice. A third time! With a crack that echoed across the swamp the arm dislocated from the golem. The golem turned to look at its useless arm then back to the old woman. It began raising its leg to stomp on her. The runes on the granny¡¯s armour glowed blue for a moment and she dashed forward, dropping her sword and grabbing the golems leg as it was still raising it. Her armour shone blue for again and with a groan she pushed the leg up. The golem wobbled for a moment before it fell to the ground, a huge splash announcing its fall. It tried to stand up and began to thrash when it found it couldn¡¯t.

    The old woman walked back to her sword. She fished it out of the mud and flicked some dirt off it before making her way back to the golem. She walked onto its thrashing body. Her feet sure as she walked towards its centre. Ratface thought she¡¯d stab it in the head but instead she grabbed her sword by the blade and began to slam the pommel into its chest. There was another crack as she did so and suddenly a bright blue light shone out from the golem. The grandma reached into its chest and pulled out the source of the light. Ratface mouth gaped open. That was a mana core. It looked intact from where she sat in the trees. The golem stilled the moment the core was taken out. The old lady shook her head then dunked the core into the water where it erupted in steam. She pulled it out and made her way back to her gear. Wrapping the core in a silvery cloth, the woman popped it into her travel bag. A quick clean of her sword and then she was off, walking away from Pinewood into the world at large.

    Ratface looked at the road. Thanks to the adventurer, her path was clear.

    Now she just had to steal from a woman than singlehandedly killed a golem and she¡¯d be good to go.

    She gulped. Grabbed the rat and put it on her shoulder, then hopped after the adventurer.

 Chapter Four: The Master of Stealth and Ratface

    When stalking someone, the sweet spot between getting caught and losing them is a fine line. A line that was made infinitely harder for Ratface by having to aggressively hop after her target. The Granny at least didn¡¯t set too gruelling a pace for her to keep up with thought with the hopping it still left her gasping for breath.

    The rat didn¡¯t help either. It just sat on her shoulder making hopping even harder. They passed a whole day like that before old¡¯ granny finally took the opportunity to set up camp. Ratface took the time while the old woman was setting up her camp to crawl her way closer. When she was close enough that she could see the fire, she settled in to wait.

    The old woman sat down and ate her dinner and Ratface was reminded that she so far today she had only had quarter of a sandwich to eat. Which she¡¯d shared with a rat. If there was any of that stew left in the end, she might take that too.

    After the agony of watching the older woman eat it wasn¡¯t long before she settled down. She got up once to check the perimeter of her camp. That had Ratface pushing herself into the grass and hoping the woman wouldn¡¯t see her. She wanted to run away but knew any movement would just confirm she was there. The old woman walked closer and closer to Ratface before stopping. If she just looked a little to the left, then she would see her.

    The old woman walked back to her camp and lay down in her bed. She didn¡¯t take her armour off which was smart out here in the wops. Ratface watched her intently. She listened to the woman¡¯s breathing until it began to relax. Once it did, she still waited another half an hour before moving. When she did, she crawled through the grass. She moved with agonising slowness. One part of her told her to rush in there and take the risk but she knew that was a trap. She had eight hours to grab that health potion, she didn¡¯t need to rush.

    When she first moved into the light, she paused to look at the old woman. She had lots of wrinkles with a face that looked like it was used to smiling. Crucially, her face was relaxed enough that Ratface didn¡¯t think she¡¯d wake up any time soon.

    The rat during all this was already exploring the camp. It scampered around and investigated the pot, the bag, basically anywhere but the old woman herself. It was annoying how silent it was even as it scrambled up the bag to look around. No wonder it had snuck into Ratface¡¯s bag without her knowing.

    Inch by inch Ratface crawled closer. She let out a slow breath when she finally got to the bag. Her bad foot had been dragged around with her tonight the entire time and it was throbbing with pain now she could take a moment to acknowledge it. Her original plan had been to take the potion and run but the thought of doing that made her want to scream.

    She fished out the health potion. It was the same colour as blood, but she had it on good authority that it tasted like raspberry. She grabbed the cork stoppered lid and pulled it out. It made the faintest pop as she opened it.

    Ratface looked up in alarm. Had the old woman woken up? No. She was still there snoozing away. Ratface looked at the open bottle. Was she meant to drink this or put it on the wound? It had instructions written on it, but she didn¡¯t know how to read anything but goblin.

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    ¡°You put one drop on the wound first and then drink some depending,¡± an old voice said.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Ratface. Then her eyes widened as she realised who¡¯d been speaking. The old woman was sitting up and watching her.

    Ratface went to move but the old woman was quicker. She grabbed onto Ratface. One hand wrapped around her arm while the other steadied the hand holding the potion. Her grip was firm but gentle. It wouldn¡¯t hurt Ratface unless she tried to struggle.

    Ratface immediately tried to do so and found the woman moved with her, doing her best not to hurt Ratface as Ratface did her best to get free. After a little while of this Ratface accepted she wasn¡¯t getting out and stopped moving.

    Running from the village and starving for a month and now she dies at an adventurer. It was unfair!

    The tears wanted to come but Ratface didn¡¯t let them. A goblin couldn¡¯t cry in front of another race. They¡¯d take advantage of it. It was the first lesson her mum had taught her.

    Now that the old woman could see she wasn¡¯t moving, she relaxed her grip.

    ¡°That was some good stealth for a kid with a bung leg. How¡¯d that happen?¡± the old woman asked. Ratface said nothing.

    ¡°My names Abigail, you can call me Abby if you want. What¡¯s your name?¡± she tried again. Still Ratface didn¡¯t say anything. The old woman, Abigail, sighed then looked at the leftover stew. She watched as Ratface¡¯s eyes lingered on it and the old woman¡¯s face split into a grin that fit her wrinkles.

    ¡°Want some chow?¡± she asked.

    Still Ratface didn¡¯t say anything, but her stomach gurgled a response for her. Abigail chuckled and let go of Ratface. Ratface thought about running but figured it wouldn¡¯t do much. She might as well have a meal before she died.

    Abigail poured a bowl for Ratface then gave her a spoon and popped it in front of her. She leaned back against a log which creaked under her armour and eyed Ratface thoughtfully. Ratface searched the old woman¡¯s face but didn¡¯t find any malice in there. She put the health potion down carefully, like her life depended on it because it did. Then she dug into the stew.

    It was really good! The meat was well cooked and there were even vegetables and spices in it! Of course, Ratface had brought the ultimate spice with her; hunger. The two sat in silence while Ratface stuffed her ratface. After a while her rat companion came and joined her, and she grudgingly gave the little sneak some food too.

    ¡°My name¡¯s Ratface,¡± she said. Her stomach was full, and it made her sleepy but she fought to stay awake, ¡°Is this the part when you kill me?¡±

    Abigail looked at her in confusion.

    ¡°Why would I be killing you?¡± she asked.

    ¡°The villages,¡± Ratface began. She gestured with the spoon in the air as if to signify them, ¡°they told you to take care of me.¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°Well, I know what that euphemism means.¡±

    ¡°Ah,¡± Abigail said. Her face turned up to a grin. ¡°There has been a miscommunication. I don¡¯t hunt goblins.¡±

    Ratface snorted. Sure she didn¡¯t.

    ¡°I don¡¯t,¡± Abigail insisted, ¡°and I definitely wouldn¡¯t waste good stew on them if I was going to.¡±

    Ratface paused at that. She supposed she had to concede that. It was pretty good stew. The old woman picked up the health potion. She put a couple of drops into Ratface¡¯s stew then put a drop on her leg. The throbbing immediately began to ebb.

    ¡°When they asked me to take care of you, they literally meant it. The villagers don¡¯t have enough food for you so they asked me to take you somewhere they might.¡±

    Ratface tried to keep her eyes open, but it was a struggle. The food plus the lack of pain plus the assurance that she wasn¡¯t about to die was doing a lot for her.

    ¡°If you kill me in my sleep, I¡¯ll be sure to haunt you,¡± Ratface threatened.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be sure to take that under advisement,¡± Abigail said. She slipped a pillow under Ratface¡¯s head then put a blanket over her.

    Well, it¡¯d be rude to stay awake after that. Ratface did the polite thing and fell asleep.

 Chapter Five: Surprisingly Not Dead

    Ratface woke up to a delightful surprise; the act of waking up.

    She checked herself and found that even better all her body parts were still attached. She even had her, admittedly stolen, stuff.

    It was even better than that. Her once swollen leg was now looking fine and dandy. She put some weight on it and found that it was handled it okay. She¡¯d only really know when she tried to walk. All in all, a real great start to a day after falling asleep in front of a goblin¡¯s mortal enemy.

    It took her brain a second to catch up with that last thought and she quickly scrambled around and looked at Abigail.

    The old woman hadn¡¯t move too far. She¡¯d was over by the fire with a pan draped over it. There was an unmistakable sizzle coming from it and Ratface took a deep whiff of the sweet greasy smell of bacon. She had never been so well rewarded for failing to steal from someone.

    She tried not to let her failure sit too firmly with her. It wasn¡¯t like she was a thief by trade. It had been an exciting opportunity provided by the risk of starvation. Strictly speaking her actual profession had been child. That¡¯s what her mum had said when she asked.

    Abigail passed her a plate of bacon and eggs and Ratface did her best to savour the meal. A task she failed in spectacularly as she wolfed it down. The rat squeaked at her in indignation, but she was too deep in bacon bliss to notice its complaints.

    After breakfast, Abigail directed her to do the dishes. Ratface gathered up the plates and was about to set off for the swamp before Abigail stopped her.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± she asked.

    Ratface gave her an odd look.

    ¡°The dishes?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re just going to take food to the edge of the water in a swamp and you don¡¯t see a problem with that? Didn¡¯t you ever go camping before?¡±

    Ratface shrugged.

    ¡°Sure. Just not in a swamp.¡±

    The older woman handed her a jug with a rune attached. Ratface pressed the rune and water gushed out into the pot which she used to start cleaning the rest. Abigail watched her in silence as she saw to her own chores. Her face was thoughtful.

    Once that was done, they packed up and headed out for the day. The old woman set a brisk pace. Ratface worried about her leg at the start but found that it held her weight easily. She could even carry the rat which had attached itself to her shoulder. She was so pleased with her working limb that she dug out another quarter of her sandwich and fed it to the rat. The thing munched away on her shoulder, and she resigned herself to become a person who had a rat. She¡¯d have to name it.

    She¡¯d heard a story about a master adventurer turned thief once. In the version Ratface had heard he¡¯d take a goblin treasure from a goblin sorcerer, taking away their magic.

    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

    ¡°You shall be Halmir the Sly,¡± she announced. She gave the rat a single pat which it did not appreciate, and smiled to herself. A fitting name for a rat who¡¯d made her life more difficult.

    ¡°I¡¯m glad to see you¡¯re having fun but keep an eye out. With the golem gone monsters are going to start coming back into the area,¡± said Abigail. She had her greatsword out as a walking stick again.

    Ratface kept an eye out but only saw more swamp. There were logs on the side of the road but they seemed to be just logs. The most dangerous thing that approached them was the mosquitos she kept slapping or that were grabbed and eaten by Halmir. That probably had to do with the giant of a woman she was travelling with. Beasts weren¡¯t stupid and something that big and metal had been quite literally hammered into wildlife to avoid.

    ¡°The golem was meant a guardian?¡± she asked, ¡°also what¡¯s up with your sword? No way it works as a walking stick.¡±

    The old woman laughed. She lifted the sword and handed it to Ratface. She was surprised to find it was about the weight of a walking stick.

    ¡°The scabbard is enchanted to lift its own weight and help support mine.¡±

    ¡°That feels like a waste.¡±

    ¡°It was a gift from my partner. She got sick of me complaining.¡± Abigail held out her hand and Ratface handed back the sword. In the shadows she saw something approach them, but it quickly backed off when Abigail turned towards it.

    ¡°City gator,¡± Abigail murmured, ¡°Not much different to their alligator brethren other than their smarts. It¡¯s probably going to gather the local alligators into a tribe. I¡¯ll have to warn the artificers that come to fix the golem.¡±

    She kept walking but Ratface noticed she was more alert now. She gestured for Ratface to come closer which she did with some trepidation. The woman might want to use her as bait. While not killing Ratface had made her more trustworthy. That was a low bar to clear.

    ¡°It¡¯s probably got a group that¡¯s set an ambush ahead,¡± Abigail said softly, ¡°act normal but stay close.¡± In a louder voice, she continued her lecture, ¡°to answer your other question. Golems are often used in the far-reaching villages to keep the local monster population down. Surely there was one in your own village if you¡¯re from around here?¡±

    Ratface kept an eye on the road. She imagined the alligators ambush would look like a whole bunch of logs, but she didn¡¯t really have a frame of reference. Maybe they¡¯d come from the trees? She eyed the top of them and tryied to imagine a climbing gator.

    ¡°There were no golems where I¡¯m from. Tribes were expected to take care of themselves.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m surprised given you¡¯re out here. Where¡¯d you say you were from?¡±

    ¡°Lurian.¡±

    Abigail stopped and turned to her with surprise. The information making her lose her focus. The City Gator used the opportunity to strike.

    It came from the trees and Ratface had to commend it on its athleticism. It didn¡¯t help it though. In one smooth movement Abigail drew her sword and cleaved the thing in half. The rest of the alligators, which had just been beginning their ambush saw that and recoiled. Only one continued. It lunged towards Ratface, and she darted to the side. Its teeth snapped shut where her ankle had been a moment ago. It was going to be the same leg she¡¯d twisted too.

    Ratface hissed and stabbed forward with her knife. She followed her mum advice about fighting creatures and went for the eyes. She slammed the knife into the creature¡¯s eye all the way to the pommel. It twitched once then stopped moving.

    The other alligators, seeing the swift punishment of the two who¡¯d struck, began to back away deeper into the swamp. There must still be a city gator with them Ratface thought, because that was the smart move. She grabbed her knife and tried to pull it out of the alligator¡¯s eye. It was a few tugs before she realised it was a futile effort. She¡¯d really jammed it in there.

    ¡°What gives? You told me to watch out for an ambush,¡± she complained. Abigail said nothing for a moment. She grabbed Ratface¡¯s knife out of the eye before handing it back to her pommel first. Ratface wiped it on her pants then put it back on her belt.

    ¡°Lurian is in another country. It¡¯s in elf territory. How¡¯d you get here?¡± she asked.

    Ratface shrugged.

    ¡°I walked.¡±

    She could tell by the older woman¡¯s face that it wasn¡¯t a satisfying answer.

 Chapter Six: Alligator Skins and Passports

    Abigail had decided that following Ratface¡¯s announcement, it was time the little girl learned how to skin an alligator.

    ¡°I¡¯m not a little girl,¡± said Ratface. She still watched the skinning process though. You never knew when you¡¯d need to be able to skin an alligator.

    ¡°If your age is more than thirteen then I¡¯ll happily retract that statement,¡± said Abigail. Following Ratface¡¯s silence she went back to skinning. She was using Ratface¡¯s knife to do it. A few quick cuts at the head, limbs and butthole. Ratface frowned at that, she¡¯d have to wash the knife.

    Abigail made another cut then peeled the skin off. She struggled a bit at the tail but eventually she got it out. When she was done, she rolled it up, tied it, then passed it to Ratface. Ratface looked at her package then back at Abigail.

    ¡°Am I supposed to carry this?¡± She demanded.

    ¡°There¡¯s a waystation about another days walk from here. Surely you can make it that far.¡± Said Abigail.

    She butchered the rest of the alligator. Ratface had no frame of reference for whether the skin or the meat was butchered well but she could confirm it was messy. Abigail put the meat in Ratface¡¯s bag and the little goblin sagged under the weight. She was essentially carrying a whole alligator.

    She chucked the skin over her shoulder and got marching. Well, it was really more of a trudging under the weight of all of this.

    The trudge was long. She gave up on looking forward on her destination quickly and settled for watching her feet so as to not fall over. She really hoped there weren¡¯t any more of those city gators because she was not watching for ambushes at all.

    ¡°Can I assume you don¡¯t have a passport?¡± Abigail asked. Ratface took a while to answer. Attempting to gain enough breath to do so.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what that is,¡± she said. She immediately focused back on breathing. Sucking in as much air as she could. This was for punishment for her answer about how she got here wasn¡¯t it? She still didn¡¯t know why it wasn¡¯t a good one.

    ¡°Is it so hard to walk here for Lurian?¡± She asked. Immediately regretting talking instead of breathing.

    ¡°The nearest waystation is about a walk away. The next village is a week. Lurian is over a month.¡±

    ¡°Ah. I did not walk that far,¡± Ratface said.

    Abigail snorted and kept walking. Ratface grunted. She felt like she was walking that far right now. She was too hungry for this.

    A part of her was proud. She¡¯d successfully killed the alligator and now she had all its parts. She was set for food for at least a week if this lady abandoned her. Probably more.

    That part however was suffocated by most of her body lodging complaints. Was she really unfit? Wait.

    ¡°When you say another day. Do you mean we¡¯ll get there tonight or tomorrow night?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Tomorrow night,¡± Abigail responded.

    Ratface groaned.

    It was dark by the time they stopped. Abigail stopped much later than when Ratface had been following her. In hindsight, she had probably stopped so early so Ratface could catch up on her injured leg.

    Ratface shrugged her burdens down and collapsed onto the floor. She only moved when Abigail shoved more stew towards her which she raised her mouth to shovel the food into it. Halmar the Sly tried to live up to his name and sneak her food but she growled at him. He went to greener pastures in the form of Abigail. She handed him some bread and cheese she produced out of somewhere.

    ¡°How are you carrying so much?¡± Ratface asked.

    ¡°Dimensional storage in the bag.¡±

    ¡°If you have that, why am I carrying the lizard?¡±

    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

    Abigail grinned.

    ¡°It builds character.¡±

    Ratface grumbled. Why she didn¡¯t get a choice in building her character was anyone¡¯s guess.

    ¡°So, I¡¯ve been thinking about your predicament,¡± said Abigail.

    ¡°Must be nice to have the energy,¡± said Ratface into her stew. Abigail snorted but kept going.

    ¡°Way, I see it. Lurian is going to take a while to get to. I wonder if its better to send for a carriage to take you.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know where you¡¯d be sending it. My village is gone.¡±

    ¡°Monsters?¡±

    ¡°Other goblins.¡±

    Abigail sat up at that. Her eyes suddenly alert.

    ¡°Goblins don¡¯t attack each other.¡±

    ¡°I mean.¡± Ratface gestured at herself. ¡°Clearly they do.¡±

    ¡°What were the goblins that attacked you like?¡± Abigail asked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s hard to think about. Like literally hard. I¡¯m getting a headache.¡± Ratface gestured for the water jug which Abigail passed over. She took a deep drink, but it didn¡¯t help.

    ¡°Glamour,¡± Abigail whispered. She looked around quickly, like someone would suddenly appear.

    ¡°Okay new plan. We aren¡¯t taking you to Lurian. That seems like a bad idea. Instead, I¡¯m going to take you to an expert.¡±

    Ratface waved at her but was more preoccupied with her headache. She wasn¡¯t stupid. The mention of glamour follow by sudden suspicion was probably not a good sign for her overall future health. She couldn¡¯t really do anything about that right at this moment though. She delegated it to future Ratface to deal with and promptly fell asleep.

    Somehow her muscles hurt more the next day. She groaned all through breakfast and would have done the same during the walk if she had the breath.

    Abigail set a harsher pace and was even more diligent in her searching of the perimeter. Ratface heard more than one city gator meet its end when it made the mistake of getting too close to them. At least she didn¡¯t make Ratface carry them.

    It was late afternoon when they spied the waystation in the distance. Ratface hadn¡¯t really had a point of reference for what that was, so she was interested to see it.

    It was a nice secure little home. It was made from stone with basic window and gave off the feeling of somewhere made to weather the elements and monsters rather than give off a homey vibe. It even had a ditch and a wall.

    Next to the building was a stable. Ratface recognised it from just outside Pinewood. This one however had a few carriages next to it along with the horses.

    Abigail slowed to a stop while they were still far enough away they wouldn¡¯t be seen. She eyed Ratface, then dug into her bag. Eventually she pulled out a mask.

    ¡°I wont force you to wear this,¡± said Abigail. Ratface snorted, like she could force her to wear anything. She looked at Abigail who towered over her almost like the golem. She reassessed. This woman could definitely make her wear the mask.

    ¡°I wont lie to you though. It¡¯ll make our life easier if no one knows you¡¯re a goblin.¡± Abigail finished.

    Ratface feigned mock surprise.

    ¡°Do you mean to tell me that not everyone takes care of goblins?¡± she asked. She grabbed the mask and inspected it. It was blank but maybe she could find some paints to pretty it up later.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be sassy. I¡¯ve got some gloves for you too. Let me do the talking.¡±

    Ratface made a sealing gesture over her lips then put the mask and gloves on. The two of them walked towards the waystation.

    When they got closer Ratface was able to make out more details and her skin crawled. There were people sitting outside drinking around a table. They had bows and sword and all manner of weapons.

    They could have been mistaken for hunters if it wasn¡¯t for their god-awful colours. Adventurers came in two flavours from what Ratface had seen. The first were like Abigail. Their gear was well kept, and they reeked of danger. They looked like they should be fighting golems.

    The rest looked like they¡¯d gotten into a fight with a dye shop. Their colours clashed and were always so bright as to almost be painful to the eyes. Ratface was convinced that rogues were only stealthy because the rest of adventurers were so eye catching.

    It didn¡¯t make them any less dangerous though. Ratface had seen these people cut down all sorts of creatures. She made sure the mask was on her face securely before walking closer.

    One with a bow and an orange vest topped with a bright green hat greeted Abigail. They were a little stiff about it.

    ¡°Granny Greatsword. We didn¡¯t expect to see you here,¡± he said.

    ¡°They used to just call me Ms Greatsword,¡± Abigail grumbled quietly. She called back to the adventurers, ¡°I heard there was a golem on the fritz, and I thought I¡¯d give it a look.¡±

    Green hats companions groaned and he himself smiled ruefully.

    ¡°Can I assume then that the golem is dealt with,¡± he asked.

    ¡°No need to assume Fletcher. I can guarantee it.¡±

    ¡°Your name is Fletcher? Isn¡¯t that a little on the nose?¡± someone asked. Ratface was horrified to realise it was her.

    ¡°Yes to both little one. What might your name be?¡±

    ¡°Ratface,¡± she said. They grinned at that, but she stood there proudly.

    ¡°The adventurer name she chose,¡± Abigail explained. She gave Ratface a look to shut up and stepped in front of her. Abigail waited until their eyes were back on her before continuing. ¡°Pinewood will still have need of adventurers. They¡¯ve already got city gators coming in and you know that¡¯ll attract bigger creatures.¡±

    ¡°There is that,¡± Fletcher conceded. He seemed appeased and laughed. ¡°Still. I will leave making everyone else here aware of it to you. You know how golems grow a crowd.¡±

    Abigail waved him off then made her way towards the door. Ratface followed behind but she could feel the adventurers¡¯ eyes on her still. Abigail steered her next to her then pushed open the door.

    Ratface followed her in and tried not to think about the face that this place was apparently crawling with adventurers.

 CHAPTER SEVEN: THIS ISNéˆ¥æ©³ AN INN

    The inside of the waystation was an assault on the senses. It was more colourful than a songbird and the smell was rank. Take a room filled to the bring with people who got in guts for a living and then consider they had been on the road for weeks. It smelt like swamp sweat in here and Ratface wrinkled her nose. She hadn¡¯t washed either, but she¡¯d been starving and trying to scrape by a living. What was their excuse?

    It didn¡¯t help the room was too small for the amount of people here. If all these adventurers were going to Pinewood, then the town was going to double in size. She guessed a golem wasn¡¯t an easy creature to deal with. The eye beams did suggest that too.

    The hierarchy was clear by who had a seat and who was forced to stand. Some people must have been really high up because they even had a table. Ratface looked to the side where some stairs probably lead to the bedrooms. It didn¡¯t take much maths to work out this many people weren¡¯t going to fit.

    Next to her, Abigail was scanning the crowd. She clearly found who she was looking for because she nudged Ratface and pointed to an older man. He was on his own sitting at a small table. Unlike the rest of them he did just look like a hunter. He was dressed in dark colours and had a bow and a knife with him. The seat next to him already had a few skins.

    ¡°Go sell your skin to that man over there. He should take it assuming he hasn¡¯t made his quota yet.¡±

    ¡°What will you be doing?¡± Ratface asked. Abigail grinned.

    ¡°Informing the masses.¡±

    Ratface shrugged and started making her way through the crowd. It was clear that there was a respect for Abigail because the moment Ratface left her presence she was having to push her way through to get to the man. A big sword did tend to encourage giving someone space.

    Ratface thanked her parents for blessing her such short stature as she slipped through people¡¯s legs towards the man. Tall people really had it rough.

    She made it towards the man who eyed her shoving with some amusement. When she got close, she was delighted to see that his table was a camp one he¡¯d brought in and set up for himself. She¡¯d need to get one of those.

    She dropped the skin in front of him then had to move to the side as it blocked her from vision.

    ¡°You and I have some trading to do,¡± she stated. The man watched her silently. Ratface watched back. This carried on for a while until with a sigh he fished into his pocket to pull out a pipe. He took his time lighting it and took a big drag. The pipe¡¯s glo illuminated his face. It was a boring face that was revealed. The pipe lighting added some softness to it but there wasn¡¯t anything about it that stuck out. No big nose or scars. This man needed to get himself a moustache to give himself some memorability.

    ¡°Caught that yourself, did you?¡± He asked eventually.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

    ¡°Does it really count as catching if the thing is trying to eat you?¡± asked Ratface. That earned her a chuckle from the boring man.

    ¡°Well, we all use bait from time to time. Using yourself is unorthodox but I won¡¯t judge.¡± He undid the skin and gave it a once over. ¡°Not a bad cut for a kid. You still got the meat?¡±

    Ratface pulled her bag off her back and dropped it on the table. She¡¯d seen the light about this man. If he could get rid of that weight, he was the most important person here.

    Mr Boring pulled the meat out of her bag and Ratface saw Abigail had done a neat job of packing it all. No wonder she¡¯d been able to fit so much of it in there. Ratface watched the crowd in the meantime. There was a lot or shoving and drinking. Ratface¡¯s mum had explained this was how adventurers networked so she knew the score.

    Her eyes eventually found her quarry. It wasn¡¯t too hard. Abigail may be many things but hard to find in a crowd was not one of them. She was talking with an older woman. This one was in a robe which inclined Ratface to think she was a mage even if she wasn¡¯t wearing a big hat. She had a bunch of scrolls sticking out of her bag and the two were in an in depth conversation. Abigail pointed over to Ratface and the two looked over. She made sure to look like she was scanning the crowd but kept the corner of her eye on the two of them. The robed woman watched her for a bit as she tapped her finger on her lips. She said something to Abigail which made the other woman frown and the two of them went back to talking.

    Ratface tried to follow the conversation. She couldn¡¯t lip read but it was clear by their gestures they were haggling something. The hair on her neck raised as she watched them.

    Abigail had been kind to her so far but that didn¡¯t make her trustworthy. Her tribe had been kind to the pigs too before they butchered them. Was this woman the butcher they¡¯d been waiting to meet.

    ¡°I¡¯ll give you two silvers for all of this,¡± said Boring, interrupting her thoughts.

    ¡°That seems low,¡± said Ratface. She had no idea what the actual sale price was but people were always trying to cheat you, so it was a good bet.

    ¡°Not as low as it could be. The skins good but not amazing. The meats better but it I have to move quickly to sell it before it goes off. Going to Pinewood is a waste with all these adventurers so I¡¯ll have to go to a town for all this.¡±

    Ratface hummed to herself.

    ¡°Two silvers and twenty coppers,¡± she said after a while. Boring smiled and held out his hand which she clasped. She was surprised to find he had delicate hands though they were still callused in all the right places.

    ¡°Trade accepted,¡± he said, ¡°names William by the way. This your first trade?¡±

    ¡°Ratface. How could you tell?¡±

    He fished out the coins he owed her and handed them to her which she shoved to the bottom of her bag lacking a coin pouch.

    ¡°Pretty clear you didn¡¯t know the price range. You could have probably argued me up to three silvers if you did. Calling out the bluff was good instinct.¡± William held up a hand, stopping any arguments from her before they could begin. ¡°The price is still fair but don¡¯t be afraid to add a silver to the initial price. Most people will happily argue down from that. The ones that won¡¯t were probably trying to cheat you anyway.¡±

    Ratface filed that information away for later then looked across the room to where Abigail was now talking to the adventurers in mass. Their pained expressions told her she was probably telling them about the golem.

    ¡°Hopefully Abigail news will open up a room to rent,¡± she said. William snorted at her in amusement.

    ¡°Rent? Ratface this is a waystation. I had to bring my own table. You think there¡¯ll be anything as orderly as renting a room? You¡¯ll be lucky if you get one to share.¡±

    Ratface leaned against the table in despair. She¡¯d been hoping for a real bed. With a sigh she went to leave but found her path blocked by a group she recognised. It was Fletcher and his gang of gaudy adventurers. Something about the way they were standing told her they weren¡¯t just here for a chat.

    The hands on weapons really gave it away.

 Chapter Eight: Everyone has a plan until they get a rat to the face

    There was five of them and they all spread out to enclose her. Ratface stepped back to the relative comfort of William. He wasn¡¯t much but so far he was the only one that wasn¡¯t specifically here just to get her. She heard a quiet squeak from her backpack and felt Hamir crawl up onto her shoulder. At least she wouldn¡¯t be dying alone.

    ¡°Can I help you gentleman? Interested in some skins?¡± William asked. He gave the men a smile like he was talking to his favourite traders. It would¡¯ve been believable apart from the fact he¡¯d drawn his knife.

    ¡°Nothing for you hunter. Our business is with the wee adventurer,¡± said Fletcher.

    ¡°If this about making fun of your name-¡± Ratface began only to be interrupted.

    ¡°Nothing so dull. There¡¯s a rumour going round do you know?¡± Fletcher asked. He twirled his knife around. Unlike William¡¯s knife that looked like it was mostly used for skinning, his one was more of a sword masquerading as a knife. ¡°A young goblin escaped for Lurian. They want her back.¡±

    ¡°You think I¡¯m from Lurian? That¡¯s a month away.¡± Ratface scoffed at the accusation. She was going with the technique of lying through her teeth.

    ¡°It¡¯s funny you should mention that because she¡¯s been gone for a month,¡± said Fletcher. He shared a smile with her, and she realised he was toying with her. That seemed pretty stupid to her, goblin tactics were hit someone before they even knew you were there. Still, if he wanted to gloat then she¡¯d take advantage of it. She just had to work out how.

    ¡°Only by carriage,¡± she argued back,  ¡°what you think she raced here of all places? You think she¡¯d get passed the golem?¡±

    William might be able to help her, but he was one guy to their five and they were adventurers. She didn¡¯t doubt he was a great hunter, but these guys hunted bandits as well as monsters. No, her best bet was to get to Abigail. She glanced at the other woman who was still talking with robes.

    ¡°I think hiding in the swamp would be a great spot. I think a malfunctioning golem acting as a barrier is pretty convenient for a runaway goblin girl. I think a lot of things, but here¡¯s the main one.¡± He leaned down to her, his teeth taking up her entire vision.

    ¡°I think you¡¯ve got a Lurian accent.¡±

    Ratface grinned right back. She had a plan. She whipped her head forward in a headbutt. The pain was blinding, and it had her stumbling where Fletcher barely moved. But It wasn¡¯t him she¡¯d been trying to move.

    A confused and irate Halmir clutched onto Fletcher¡¯s face. She¡¯d launched Halmir from his hiding space with the headbutt. Halmir, finding himself on an adventurer¡¯s face, did what every cornered rat did. He bit.

    Fletcher stumbled as he grabbed at the rat. He pushed passed his teammates and into another adventurer. A wild limb catching them across the face. He managed to fling Halmir off who scampered away. Fletcher righted himself to go after Ratface, but the damage was already done.

    A fist cracked into the side of his head as the man he¡¯d hit accidentally struck back.

    Here¡¯s what Ratface knew about adventurers. They were gaudy, dangerous, and most importantly unprofessional.

    The ensuing fight set of a cascade of limbs as more and more people were drawn into its nexus. Some of Fletcher¡¯s cronies tried to help him but one remembered their quarry and came after Ratface. It was then she revealed her second advantage.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

    She dived between people¡¯s legs and deeper into the brawl. The man tried to follow her, but he was too big and got caught up in the fight. Ratface crawled through the many legs and did her best not to be kicked around the room. Her best turned out to be not great and her sides were aching and she got sent from place to place.

    A desperate crawl later and she found herself thoroughly lost as the room got more and more chaotic. She found a desperate Halmir darting around trying not to get stomped. She scooped him up and put him in her backpack. He¡¯d really pulled through. She¡¯d have to get him something nice when they weren¡¯t getting kicked around a room.

    Her original plan had been getting to Abigail, but she couldn¡¯t see the old woman in all the confusion. She decided to change tactics and aim for making it to the wall. She could always regroup then.

    She was about halfway there when someone grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and pulled her up.

    An angry Fletcher held her. His face was red with anger or maybe rat bites. Ratface tried to get out of his hands, but he was holding her the wrong way for her to do anything but flail.

    ¡°Listen you little runt. I¡¯m sending you back to them if I have to do it in a box. They weren¡¯t that particular,¡± je hissed.

    Ratface scrabbled but he was making his way to the door. She was out of options. If she didn¡¯t do something, then he was going to kill her. In desperation, she did the last thing available to her.

    ¡°Abigail!¡± she screamed.

    ¡°Please,¡± Fletcher sneered, ¡°she won¡¯t be able to hear you over all of this.¡±

    The room shone blue for a moment.

    Abigail charged through the room in an instant. She ploughed through the group like a one-woman cavalry charge. A charge that was aimed at Fletcher. Her fist collided with his face, and he was punched away from Ratface and through the front door. Ratface felt the disorientation of being grabbed out of the air as Abigail pulled her close.

    The room went silent. Abigail stood surveying the damage. It had been bad enough from the brawl, but her own charge had left people groaning on the ground. There was a clear line from where she¡¯d been to where she was now. It reminded Ratface of when the golem had burned away the swamp just with its eye.

    ¡°Who started this?¡± she asked. Her voice channelling every furious mother into one. Most of them couldn¡¯t meet her eyes. Some of the adventurers looked to Ratface who pointed towards the now open door. Fletcher was crumpled on the ground and was groaning as he tried to get up.

    ¡°He tried to take me,¡± Ratface whispered. To take her back to whoever wanted her. Abigail turned to face him, still holding Ratface on her hip.

    ¡°You tried to kidnap a child?¡± she asked. Her voice had gone from furious to entirely too calm. Her hand gripped her sword which burned with blue energy.

    Fletcher sat up. He stared into Abigails eyes and realised any reason he came up with wasn¡¯t going to cut it. He took the smart way out and ran. Abigail turned to his lackeys who held up their hands in surrender. They grabbed their stuff and followed their leader. It was only after they¡¯d all run away that Abigail let go of the sword.

    The room started to breathe again as the blade powered down. People picked up the hurt and the room hit a quiet hum as everyone returned to what they were doing before the brawl as best they could.

    Ratface wiggled in Abigail¡¯s arm.

    ¡°You can put me down now,¡± she said. The old woman eyed her for a second before doing so.

    ¡°How did you mange to get in trouble so fast? Did you practice it or is it just natural talent,¡± she asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m just talented,¡± Ratface said. She hesitated then looked back up at Abigail. The woman was watching her, but it was with concern. Her eyes lingered on where Fletcher had grabbed her so roughly. It was weird, they¡¯d only been together three days, but the woman did seem to care about her. She¡¯d even come when Ratface called.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Ratface eventually. It felt weird to say to an adventurer. ¡°If you hadn¡¯t been there, I don¡¯t know what I would have done.¡±

    Abigail looked away and scratched at her cheek but she looked pleased.

    ¡°I¡¯m glad I could help. Let¡¯s see about finding a room to sleep for the night.¡±

    ¡°William told me that we¡¯d have to share with people.¡±

    Abigail snorted.

    ¡°After what I just pulled, I don¡¯t think anyone will be too hard to convince.¡±

    It turned out Abigail was right and soon Ratface found herself in a room with a bed all for her that she promptly curled up into and fell asleep.

 Chapter Nine: The act of quickly putting one foot in front of the other

    Ratface woke up in a nice soft bed. It had a mattress and a blanket which was luxury as far as she was concerned. She snuggled back into the sheets in a move of pure decadence. Her body protested the initial movement but not the decision to stay lying down.

    It was her sides that hurt the most from where people had stumbled into her during the brawl. Fletcher¡¯s hand grabbing her neck had left it stiff, but his goal was more to grab her then to do damage. Now that the danger was gone, she could take immense satisfaction in him being hit. The image of his face bending under Abigial¡¯s fist was on she¡¯d treasure forever.

    The sound of padding and weight on her chest announced Halmir the Sly. He sat grooming himself on her. He tried to look put out when she pet him but he still leaned into her touch.

    She wouldn¡¯t have thought they were friends when they were in middens but apparently, he¡¯d considered that bonding. She remembered her promise and with a groan she scooped him off her chest and got out of bed. When she was ready, which didn¡¯t take long given her lack of extra clothes, she popped him on her shoulder and headed downstairs.

    The waystation was nearly empty by the time she got there. A few people still nursing headaches either from hangovers or concussions but otherwise the crowd had decided to leave before Abigail woke up.

    Ratface spied the aforementioned old woman sitting with Robes. They had a pot of tea between them and the table was set for three people.

    Ratface sat down at the table and glanced out the window. It looked to be late morning which meant they¡¯d let her sleep in. She went to dig into breakfast, which was a combination of different meats but paused as Halmir squeaked from her shoulder. She cut a quarter of each piece of meat off and pushed it to the side for Halmir who scrambled off her shoulder and into the feast.

    Robes made a face about that but otherwise didn¡¯t respond.

    ¡°You let me sleep in,¡± Ratface commented. She dug into the food without waiting for a response.

    ¡°I figured if you were unconscious then you wouldn¡¯t be able to get into trouble,¡± said Abigail.

    ¡°Also, a half-starved girl needs her rest,¡± said Robes. Ratface stopped eating, focusing on the woman who¡¯d so casually butted in.

    ¡°Who are you?¡± Ratface asked. There was a cup of tea in front of her which she grabbed and slurped down in one gulp to the other women¡¯s horror.

    ¡°Illusionist Isabelle. My friends call me Issy.¡± She waved her hands and a smaller image of her came and stood on the table. It bowed to Ratface. That was impressive although Halmir swiping his hand through the illusion did lose it some of the awe. Isabelle frowned at that but continued.

    ¡°I¡¯m here to provide you with a passport and a disguise. One that will deal with moderate scrutiny by the time we make it to the next village.¡±

    ¡°And you¡¯re doing this for us why?¡±This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

    ¡°As a favour,¡± Isabelle said. Abigail nudged her and the other woman sighed. ¡°Also, for money. That golem was going to be my big payout too.¡±

    Ratface felt better about that. Some people did jobs as a favour but there wasn¡¯t anything in that to stop them going back on their word. At least money came with consequences if you didn¡¯t do the job.

    ¡°Once we¡¯re back on the road she¡¯ll work on enchanting your mask to give you a human face,¡± said Abigail.

    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t an elven one be more common?¡± Isabelle tapped the table.

    ¡°That¡¯s a Lurian assumption. Outside of their own country elves are seldom seen. Though whether that¡¯s because they¡¯re disguised or because they aren¡¯t there its hard to say. Most can make a glamour.¡±

    ¡°That reminds me. Issy is also going to be working on cracking the glamour in your mind. See if we can¡¯t find out why a goblin attacked a goblin.¡±

    ¡°Is it really that weird?¡± Ratface asked. She¡¯d seen plenty of goblins argue and fight. Sure, it never got dangerous but that¡¯s because they were all from the same tribe.

    ¡°It¡¯s unprecedented. Part of why there aren¡¯t many goblin adventurers is that they refuse to fight their own kind even when they deserve it,¡± said Isabelle. She coloured under Ratface¡¯s stare, but Ratface shrugged. It wasn¡¯t like she didn¡¯t know goblins could attack people. Her own village was proof.

    ¡°The last thing we¡¯ll be doing is training you,¡± said Abigail, ¡°so far I¡¯ve yet to see you go a week without being in a fight so you might as well be able to hold your own until I can get to you.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve known me for less than a week,¡± Ratface protested.

    ¡°That¡¯s not as good an argument as you think it is,¡± said Isabelle.

    Ratface sighed. It wasn¡¯t that she didn¡¯t like the idea of training.

    She just wasn¡¯t a fan of the glint in Abigail¡¯s eyes.

    <hr>

    She was right not to trust Abigail.

    The moment they¡¯d left the woman had her moving. Ratface had to keep running from one tree to another, then run back over to them. She also had to hold the knife in her hand the whole time. To get her used to the feel of it supposedly.

    Ratface had argued that she was good with a knife. She¡¯d even shown Abigail some of her moves! The old woman had made her do more drills after that not less.

    If that had been all of it, then she would¡¯ve been fine, but she also had to talk the entire time.

    ¡°Try again. You need to learn to pronounce you ¡®r¡¯ as an ¡®r¡¯ instead of an ¡®l¡¯¡± said Isabelle. Ratface was jogging in place next to the woman as her lungs burned. Apparently, the elves didn¡¯t speak common like everyone else. Abigail said they were too haughty for that and Ratface was mildly horrified by the blasphemy being said out loud.

    ¡°Off you go,¡± said Isabelle. Ratface grumbled and went running again. Isabelle wasn¡¯t running at all. She sat atop an old horse as she worked on Ratface¡¯s mask. ¡®Mages don¡¯t run¡¯ she¡¯d told Ratface when the girl had complained. That just seemed lazy to her.

    At first, Ratface had been worried about running into another city gator. Abigail had insisted the roads would be clear after the hoard of adventurers that¡¯d come by, but she hadn¡¯t believed her. The knife had been a great comfort to her around then. It was about half an hour in that she started to believe the old woman and then the knife became a chore to remember. It wasn¡¯t often you gripped something for an entire day.

    They never let her work too hard though. That first half hour had been marked by a break where she walked besides the two older women. She didn¡¯t get a rest from talking though. She¡¯d quickly run out of her stories from sneaking through the village and now had resorted to telling the story of Halmir. They all listened including Halmir who was interested in his namesake¡¯s exploits. She was about halfway through, the moment where Halmir first met the goblin sorcerer when she they reached their camp for the evening.

    ¡°Wont you finish the story? It¡¯s so different to the one I heard,¡± said Isabelle. Ratface shook her head. Halmir was a children¡¯s story and she¡¯d been talking all day. It wasn¡¯t like either ending was that different.

    Isabelle huffed but didn¡¯t push, seeing the little goblins exhaustion. She pulled out a small branch from her gear and gave it a tap. Dinner first so the girl could recover.

    After that she¡¯d attempt to remove the glamour.

 Chapter Ten: Stories and Glamour

    Ratface sat in a circle made of ash. Isabelle had explained that this was a ¡®slapdash rural substitution¡¯ for what she was doing but she seemed confident in her abilities despite this.

    ¡°A glamour is just an illusion,¡± she explained to Ratface as she finished the circle.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that you couldn¡¯t tell if they were walking around because of their glamours?¡± Ratface countered.

    ¡°Only because I don¡¯t go around inspecting every person I meet,¡± Isabelle said as she inspected her work. Ratface thought Isabelle could stand to be more paranoid, but she supposed that was up to her.

    Isabelle nodded as she confirmed her work then turned back to Ratface and grabbed her head.

    ¡°Uhh,¡± Ratface said but Isabelle hushed her.

    ¡°Hush. I need you to concentrate on the same thing as me.¡± She smiled at Ratface which would have been more reassuring if she wasn¡¯t both way too close and doing a magical ritual on Ratface.

    ¡°So, I¡¯m going to tell you the version of Halmir that most of us here. About Halmir the cunning.¡±

    ¡°You mean the sly.¡±

    ¡°Semantics. Hush.¡±

    She pressed further on Ratface¡¯s head until she could feel a pressure building on her mind.

    ¡°Once upon a time. There was an elf named Halmir. He was clever and strong and always willing to help the innocent.¡±

    Ratface went to protest then stopped as Isabelle disappeared from view, and she was granted a vision.

    It was hazy, but Ratface recognised her village. It didn¡¯t have a wall because goblin villages weren¡¯t allowed them so the only way to know where the village ended and the forest began was a small fence. She was standing in the middle of the village. Frozen as a sea of green bodies stood in front of her.

    ¡°One day Halmir met a group of small green people. We¡¯d come to know them as goblins. They were a savage people but had heart. They were suffering when he found them.¡±

    In the vision, Ratface was aware of a presence. She couldn¡¯t make it out, but she remembered the fear of it.

    ¡°The goblins were ruled by a goblin sorcerer who had stolen all their magic. He was cruel but too powerful for Halmir to defeat, so he hatched a plan.¡±

    The shadow came closer, and it spread out across the village, eating into the green.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    ¡°He befriended the sorcerer and the two celebrated with merry food and drink. Eventually, the sorcerer, who was not used to such fine food, lost himself to drink and fell asleep.¡±

    One of the green creatures grabbed onto Ratface. They seemed so important, but she couldn¡¯t remember their face.

    ¡°Halmir slayed him while he slept but there was a cost. When the sorcerer died, he took the goblin magic with him. Seeing this, Halmir took the rest of the goblins in, giving them leave to his lands until they were protected.¡±

    The vision paused and the shadow seemed to look outside. It reached and grabbed onto Isabelle, who fell into the vision world. She screamed as the shadow reached all around the memory and the vision cut out.

    Ratface and Isabelle pulled back from each other in pain, both clutching their heads at the snap of the vision stopping. Ratface held onto hers like it would break if she didn¡¯t. It throbbed as she felt the glamour resettle itself over her mind. Holding the mind together.

    She recovered faster than Isabelle who still rocked around on the ground. She seemed like she was still stuck in the vision as she sat on the ground muttering to herself about a shadow. Ratface didn¡¯t know what to do so she grabbed the water jug and dumped it over Isabelle until the other woman started to gurgle. She¡¯d stopped clutching her head though, so Ratface counted it as a win.

    Isabelle sat up on the ground, coughing up water as she caught her breath. She managed to calm down and the two looked at each other.

    ¡°I don¡¯t suppose that worked, did it?¡± Isabelle asked

    Ratface thought back to the vision. The woman who had grabbed her at the end. There was so much she could remember about her mother, little things she¡¯d told her through the years. The glamour had taken away her last words. The glamour had taken away her face.

    Ratface shook her head. The loss stung but even now she could feel the glamour easing it away.

    Isabelle coughed one more time and stood up. She rinsed her hair out. She wanted to lecture Ratface not to drown people, but she watched in fascination as the expression of loss left the young goblins face.

    ¡°I can¡¯t break that glamour. Even if I had better equipment, I wouldn¡¯t be able to break it. This needs someone with more magical authority.¡± Isabelle looked at the goblin who continued to look lost.

    ¡°We do know someone like that,¡± said Isabelle gently, ¡°Abigail¡¯s partner was my master, and she can break that thing much better than me.¡±

    Ratface looked at Isabelle for a long time. Eventually, she spoke. Her first words after the vision.

    ¡°But you¡¯re really old.¡±

    Isabelle laughed. She grabbed a broach that hadn¡¯t been there until she reached for it and pulled it off her outfit.

    Isabelle¡¯s hair went from faded grey into a deep black and the sags in her face disappeared. The Isabelle she¡¯d come to know broke apart and, in her place, a younger woman stood in front of her. She was about twenty years old.

    ¡°It¡¯s much easier to get around when people think you¡¯re an old lady.¡±

    ¡°I took orders from you, I thought you were old and experienced,¡± said Ratface. She was accusatory but Isabelle could see that the hurt had been pushed out of her mind by the sudden shock of the illusion being broken. She decided to lean into it rather than let the little goblin dwell.

    ¡°To be fair I am older than you. So, you¡¯re not inherently wrong.¡±

    Ratface frowned and reached for the water jug which had the other woman darting back.

    ¡°At least this way you know I¡¯m going to do a good job on your human illusion,¡± she argued.

    Ratface stopped. It wasn¡¯t a bad point. She felt tired. Her body was exhausted, and her heart hurt though she struggled to remember why. She put the jug down and left it. She tried to be her usual snarky self, but it didn¡¯t feel right.

    Abigail watched this from her spot at their camp. She didn¡¯t say anything. What could she say that would help? Yet, if you looked closely, you would have noticed the sword on her back was faintly burning blue.

 Chapter Eleven: Goblin doping is not illegal

    The next week brought more travel and training for Ratface.

    The two other women had taken two different approaches to Ratface¡¯s sudden change in mood. Isabelle treated her a lot more nicely. Her criticisms started to always begin with ¡®that was good but-¡¯ which meant that Ratface struggled telling when she was screwing up or not. She wanted to call the woman out, but she could tell the woman had her own troubles after the glamour. She had started drinking a tea all day that smelled fowl and by Isabelle¡¯s grimaces tasted even worse.

    Abigail had a different take. Ratface¡¯s physical training had gone from exhausting to hellish. She was doing more shuttles and carrying extra weight.

    The worst one was the new addition of ¡®push ups¡¯, a hellish exercise made up by goblin haters no doubt. She had to force her entire body up by just her arms then lower herself and do that ten times and only after that could she go running to catch up to the other two. Oh, and did she mention she was doing all of this with her backpack on that Abigail had stacked with extra weight? Because she was.

    She complained but it was working. In fact it was working better than it should be. Ratface could feel herself getting stronger each day. It was unnaturally fast, and she hadn¡¯t realised why until she¡¯d spied Isabelle putting something in her food one night.

    ¡°Are you drugging me?¡± Ratface had asked in horror. Isabelle had tilted her head in thought. Without the illusion making her old, the woman was much more expressive.

    ¡°Functionally yes,¡± she answered. Her lips twitched in amusement, so Ratface didn¡¯t immediately stab her despite what her instincts screamed.

    ¡°A little bit of health potion in your meals to help your muscles heal and develop faster,¡± Abigail interjected as she took the meal from Isabelle and gave it to Ratface. She eyed it sceptically.

    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t that not work?¡± Ratface asked. Once, her village had had a goblin to try and do just that. There¡¯d been an uproar when everyone realised that he¡¯d wasted the village¡¯s year supply. The outrage had only gotten worse when they all realised that he was weaker, not stronger, after it. His selfishness had cost them deeply in winter when they¡¯d had to go hunting and had no way to heal injuries. Goblins had to rely on potions a lot given their lack of magic.

    ¡°Health potions are magical in nature,¡± Isabelle explained, ¡°not many people know this but the potion causes your body to sacrifices part of itself to heal the rest. That¡¯s why warriors don¡¯t just constantly drink them during a fight. Eventually their organs would be eaten into and there¡¯s no coming back from that.¡±Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

    Ratface looked at her own stew and back to the two women. She didn¡¯t feel organ failure, but she had no idea what that would feel like. She began to push the meal away, but Abigail stopped her.

    ¡°If you¡¯re careful then a few drops of health potion on top of a higher intake of food can offset the sacrifice. The royal guards use this to train.¡± said Abigail.

    ¡°We¡¯ve been feeding you twice as much as a goblin your size needs. More importantly we¡¯ve been feeding you mana rich food,¡± said Isabelle. Ratface looked at her meal. It had been alligator meat for the entire trip, but alligators were normal creatures.

    ¡°This is city gator meat?¡± she asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s a delicacy in this area, though usually hard to find. With Abigail taking out the golem though they are flocking towards the area. They¡¯re particularly interested in us though because they can feel the core.¡± Isabelle noticed Ratface¡¯s look of confusion. ¡°Oh right, I suppose as a goblin you can¡¯t sense the magic. Right now, Abigail is basically a beacon to monsters. That¡¯s part of why so many adventurers turn up when there¡¯s a golem, to help with the parade of monsters after.¡±

    Ratface grimaced at that. Magic was a whole world denied to her because of her species. Now that she wasn¡¯t starving every day, she had enough energy to worry about such things.

    ¡°Just eat your food,¡± said Abigail. She pushed the bowl of city gator meat closer to Ratface. ¡°The only negative is that with your muscles developing so quickly you¡¯ll lose flexibility if we don¡¯t stretch. Which reminds me that we need to add that to your training.¡±

    Ratface chewed down on her meal. At the end of the day if they wanted to waste resources on her that was their decision. It did seem to be working as she felt stronger. She¡¯d never done stretching before so she was interested what that¡¯d be like.

    It was hell as it turned out. Abigail contorted her though a series of awful combinations like she was piece of rope instead of another thinking creature. She¡¯d push Ratface right to her edge where she¡¯d be convinced something was on the verge of breaking and then hold her there. It was a wrenching pain that all her other exercises didn¡¯t prepare her for.

    At least she noticed the improvements the next day. Her backpack felt lighter as she ran, and she told Abigail as much.

    The old bag put more weight in her bag after that.

    That training carried on for a week and by the end of it Ratface felt much more capable. She bet if she¡¯d been back in that brawl this time, she would¡¯ve been able to run away much faster. Running away is what she¡¯d be doing as well.

    Her knife skills hadn¡¯t improved nearly as fast. While her body could be improved through the health potion trick, there was no trick for speeding up learning a new skill. The unfortunate reality was that if she got into a fight that anyone else who wasn¡¯t a complete beginner like her, then she was going to be doomed. That was the lesson Abigail was trying to hammer into her anyway.

    It was a pity they didn¡¯t have a crossbow to give her. That at least she was pretty good with. All the goblin children got taught how to use them in case monster ever made it to the village. Knives hadn¡¯t been as much of a priority because if a stone boar got too close and she hadn¡¯t already killed it, she was probably screwed anyway. Here¡¯s hoping she could buy a crossbow with the money she¡¯d made from the skin when they got to the next village.

    She went to sleep that last night thinking it¡¯d be exciting to see a place filled with humans instead of elves or adventurers.

 Chapter Twelve: Small village (goblin) girl

    In the morning Isabelle passed Ratface the mask to put on and showed her an image of what she looked like when she did.

    It was weird to stare at the little girl that looked back at her. Her lovely green skin had been turned pale. Her wonderful pointy ears turned into green snubs and her eyes had lost their red sheen for blue. She even had a pupil of all things.

    Her hair was still black at least which was nice. The girl before her looked entirely too adorable. She bet this kid had never even been in an adventurers¡¯ brawl let alone caused one. She frowned at her image and was disgusted to see it turn into a cute little pout.

    ¡°I¡¯m not doing that,¡± exclaimed Ratface. Abigail looked over and snorted.

    ¡°That¡¯s the face you make every time. Did you not know?¡±

    Ratface was horrified. Her dignified frown looked like this? They must be lying to her.

    ¡°Hold still,¡± said Isabelle. She walked around Ratface eyeing her work with a critical eye. She got Ratface to run in place and flex her hands. She even got her to tumble over the ground. Finding nothing out of place, the woman nodded and held out her hand to Abigail who deposited a bag of coin to her. Isabelle quickly ferreted the coin away and the group started to make their way towards the village.

    Ratface decided she¡¯d been lied to the closer they got. This place was far too big to be considered a village. The wall that spread around the place was all stone and looked sturdy and well cared for. She doubted any monster was breaking it down. The fact she could see some buildings from outside meant they¡¯d have to be at least three stories high and the ground that the place was situated on was far too firm for a swamp. In hindsight so were all the roads they¡¯d taken to get here. Someone must have done some serious earth moving.

    The biggest difference was the amount of people. Pinewood had only had about one hundred and her own village had had one hundred and fifty.

    This place was practically bursting with people. There had to be at least double that if not triple. There was enough that there was a line of people just to enter. Several roads connected just before the entrance and entered into the village. There were guards standing out front to guide them all through. Presumably all those roads came from similar little villages like Pinewood skirting the area.

    ¡°There¡¯s no way this is considered a village,¡± she said to Abigail. The woman glanced at her.

    ¡°This is about normal for a village how many people were in yours?¡±

    ¡°One fifty.¡±

    Abigail snorted.

    ¡°Guess you were from a hamlet not a village then,¡± said the old woman. She smiled under Ratface¡¯s frown, and she was reminded again that it looked like a pout. She wiped the look off her face which seemed to only amuse the woman more.

    Isabelle had reactivated her own old lady illusion and the three of them joined the line. People smiled as they saw her join and she realised she looked like she was out with her grandparents. At least they hadn¡¯t made her hold their hands.

    They stood in the line for a while and Ratface was able to get a look at the rest of the people trying to get in. Some had the gaudy outfits of adventurers, though none she recognised from before. Most were just normal people, hunters and traders. They were dressed in simple pants and tunics and either wearing a cloak or had one wrapped up on their bag. Ratface and her group didn¡¯t look too out of place waiting and when people looked it was only to look at the ¡®cute little girl¡¯. Gross.

    After half an hour of trudging forward the group made it to the guards. They were both in leather armour and seemed bored but alert. They didn¡¯t expect any trouble but that didn¡¯t mean they weren¡¯t keeping an eye out for it.

    The one in the front had a little sash of blue on tired onto his arm and he was the one who spoke to them.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

    ¡°Passports,¡± he commanded.

    Isabelle handed over her own and Abigail handed over hers and Ratface¡¯s. It was time to see if Isabelle¡¯s forgery would hold up. The guard paused as he read the name on hers.

    ¡°Ratface?¡± he asked. His face painted with confusion but not suspicion.

    ¡°That¡¯s me,¡± she said. She was careful not to let any of her Lurian accent come through when she talked. She heard Abigail groan next to her.

    ¡°I told her to put her real name, but she insists by going by her adventurer name,¡± the old woman said. This earned her the glimmer of a smile from the guard before professionalism whipped it away.

    ¡°Adventurer names are fine. I suppose you¡¯re here for your first adventure Miss Ratface?¡± he asked.

    Ratface frowned, you could argue that this whole trip was her first adventure.

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right,¡± she said eventually. The guard smiled again, and she heard chuckles from further down the line as well as a few, ¡®how precious¡¯ comments and other such things. Halmir hearing the commotion made his way to her should and squeaked.

    ¡°This is Halmir the Sly. He doesn¡¯t have a passport.¡± She assumed that animals didn¡¯t need them but then she hadn¡¯t ever needed one before.

    ¡°We will let him in on your good word,¡± said the guard. The grin had won its battle with his professionalism and was now on clear display. He waved them through and wished her luck. Ratface got to see her first ¡®real¡¯ village.

    As she¡¯d noticed from outside it was the amount of people that stood out the most. Outside they could at least spread out on the road but here the building boxed them all in and Ratface was closer to people than she felt comfortable with. She found herself placing herself between the two older women just to avoid bumping into people.

    ¡°I have some people to meet here,¡± Isabelle announced, ¡°meet at the River Rat?¡±

    ¡°Sounds good,¡± said Abigail. Isabelle sauntered off and Abigail turned to Ratface.

    ¡°You and I are going shopping. You need to complete a quest before we leave here to get your trainee badge for your passport, and I didn¡¯t bring you all this way just for a rat to get you.¡± Halmir squeaked in indignation that a rat would do something so ignoble, but Abigal pushed through.

    ¡°We¡¯ll get you some basic armour and a short sword and buckler. Your knife should really be a last resort. Heck, maybe this place will even have a crossbow so you can try and backup your skills on that.¡±

    They went and did just that. After a little bit of wandering they came to a shop called, The Little Quest. It had a picture of a little boy and girl fighting against a dragon made of straw.

    ¡°This is where everyone brings their kids when they first get the adventuring bug,¡± Abigail explained, ¡°it¡¯s cheap but the gear is solid for an adventurer starting out.¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t have peoples kids dying if they want to stay in business,¡± said Ratface.

    ¡°Exactly.¡± Abigail pushed open the door and they walked in.

    The shop was well stocked and organised which worked well for the poor owner who was currently having to contend with multiple children trying to find their way through the place and dragging their parents.

    The parents wore pained faces as they looked at the price and Ratface joined them when she looked. None of these prices were lower than silvers, emphasis on silvers and not silver. Two was the smallest price she saw that was available and that was just for boots.

    This was incidentally where Abigail led her first and she got Ratface to try on and walk about on a bunch of different boots until she found some that balanced walkable with protective. They worked their way up from there, making their way to gambesons next. Abigail eyed the group critically until she could find one, she would approve. Ratface was surprised how well it fit her.

    ¡°Ideally I¡¯d want to get you a cuirass to put over that but you¡¯re not really going to find a good one here.¡± The owner looked up and Abigail smiled, ¡°no offence.¡± The woman shrugged and went back to trying to wrangle the latest child in front of her.

    They found Ratface a sword and buckler, but she¡¯d stopped caring about that when she saw her real prize. A beautiful thing sitting behind the counter. A crossbow.

    She rushed over with the rest of her stuff, and she eyed the beast.

    ¡°How much?¡± she asked. The shopkeeper eyed Ratface in her rags then looked at the crossbow.

    ¡°It¡¯s twenty silvers.¡±

    Ratface¡¯s face fell. That was more than all the rest of her equipment put together. Abigail came and joined her at the counter and looked from the crossbow to her.

    ¡°Complete the quest and I¡¯ll think about it,¡± she said. She handed over the money for the rest of the gear and Ratface was now the proud owner of all the adventurer gear. They left to the envious eyes of the other children.

    Afterwards Abigail took her to lunch and grabbed meat on a stick which Ratface latched onto. She recognised the sweet taste of alligator which was in abundance but the spices on it were a pleasant surprise. After chewing for a bit, she turned to Abigail.

    ¡°Why are you helping me so much?¡± she asked. This was the kind of help she¡¯d expect from a goblin not an adventurer.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have anyone at the moment you know?¡± she walked forward, her eyes looking ahead to something Ratface couldn¡¯t see, ¡°I want somewhere to be there for you, and I¡¯ll be that person if I can.¡±

    Ratface looked away from her, absorbing the information. People watched them walk by and she realised how much Abigail looked like her grandma taking her out for a stroll.

    In that moment, she didn¡¯t mind.

 Chapter Thirteen: Baby Adventurers

    Ratface found herself in the adventuring guilds training area with a bunch of other children in adventuring gear. She didn¡¯t know if it was luck or fate but apparently today had been one of their adventurers¡¯ experience days for the kids.

    The were getting sent out on a mission appropriate for their experience, which was to say none, and were just waiting for the guild instructor to come out and give them said quest.

    The guild itself gave her mixed feelings. The receptionist had been very professional for a group that Ratface associated the opposite expectations. She¡¯d looked harried when she dealt with both the children and the adventurers and Ratface got the impression that her usual job and taking care of the children here were more similar than she¡¯d admit.

    Hearing Abigail¡¯s request, she¡¯d sent Ratface out to mingle with the other children while they did all the paperwork.

    Ratface was glad she didn¡¯t have to do that, but mingling with children wasn¡¯t really her vibe either. She hadn¡¯t been good at it at village meet-ups and that was with other goblins. This was with adventurers. Well, baby ones anyway.

    She walked up to the biggest group. They were led by a wide shouldered boy with similar armour to her. He had some of that metal chest armour on that Abigail had mention to separate them though. His gear also didn¡¯t look like it had been bought from a store but had been made just for him. In his group were a bunch of fawning children though two stood out; An archer girl with the kind of arm and back muscles that told Ratface she practiced, and a kid wearing a belt that was more knives than belt. He also was holding a spear which was confusion about what exactly he did.

    The stopped talking as she came closer and gave her a once over. Ratface knew her illusion didn¡¯t look impressive and tried not to think about the fact it was based off her own body.

    ¡°Hello, my name is Ratface,¡± she offered. She gestured to Halmir on her shoulder. ¡°This is Halmir.¡±

    The kids eyed the rat first and then Ratface. The boy sneered which wasn¡¯t a great sign.

    ¡°You brought your pet with you? Are you even taking this seriously?¡± he asked. Ratface interjected to point out that Halmir had probably been in more fights than him, but he ran over her.

    ¡°Look at your gear as well, it¡¯s so cheap.¡±

    ¡°I think it¡¯s fine. If it does the job,¡± said Ratface. The boy shoved her, and she stumbled back a bit though not as much as she would have before her week away. Halmir hissed and tensed to jump. She hissed to stop him.

    ¡°No wonder she¡¯s called Ratface. She even acts like a rat!¡± said the big boy. The other children laughed at her. She didn¡¯t really get it. Rats were clever and dexterous and clean. The worst thing she could say about Halmir is he hadn¡¯t let her eat him when she was hungry.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    ¡°Get out of our faces rat girl,¡± said the big boy. He shoved her again. Ratface was tempted to set Halmir on him. She looked at the group around them and held back. She wasn¡¯t stupid. A goblin struck when no one knew until it was too late.

    She left the group, and their circle immediately closed back around shutting her out. Well, that hadn¡¯t gone well.

    Ratface wandered around until she spotted another outcast. A little girl in robes was sitting on her own. She had her hood firmly up so no one could see her. Ratface made her way over and sat next to her.

    ¡°I¡¯m guessing your integration to the group didn¡¯t go so hot either?¡± Ratface asked. The girl scribbled at the ground with her staff.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t even try. Franklin already has it out for me.¡±¡°He¡¯s the big one?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s the rich one,¡± the girl said, her tone bitter.

    ¡°Still, a mage at your age. Wouldn¡¯t they want you?¡±

    The girl waved her staff around and the area around them had a sudden growth of vegetation.

    ¡°Druid,¡± the girl explained to Ratface¡¯s confused face. Ratface had heard about those. They were notable to goblins as one of the few types of adventurers that absolutely refused to kill them. Maybe that was why the other kids didn¡¯t like her. Her esteem of the girl rose, and she held out her hand.

    ¡°Ratface and Halmir,¡± she said to the girl as Halmir clambered onto her hand. The girl gave Halmir a quick pat, then took Ratface¡¯s hand.

    ¡°Tiffany,¡± she said.

    The guild instructor took that opportunity to come out and join them. Ratface frowned when she saw the woman. She wore simple leather armour that made her seem almost boring and had two daggers strapped to her side. Ratface wasn¡¯t close enough to smell it, but she bet if she was closer she¡¯d get a whiff of different poisons from the other woman. A rogue. Alarm threated to overwhelm her, but she held it in as she watched them.

    If knights were a terror to goblins, then rogues were the thing of their nightmares. At least with a knight if you managed drag them down to the mud then you could at least crack them open. With a rogue, you wouldn¡¯t know a rogue had been in your midst until you noticed that your ¡®sleeping¡¯ group wasn¡¯t breathing and then you¡¯d feel your own throat seize up. Ratface hadn¡¯t been on any such situation thankfully, but she¡¯d met enough older goblins terrified of the profession that she¡¯d learned to fear them by rumour alone.

    ¡°Would-be adventurers, welcome to the first day of the rest of your lives. Today we¡¯ll be sending you on a time-honoured tradition for all first adventurers; the sewer clearing.¡± She smiled to herself and Ratface shuddered. ¡°The sewers here haven¡¯t been cleared for several months and so will be infested.¡± Her smile dropped and she cut her hands through the air. ¡°Take this seriously. We will not be helping you and people can still die on this quest. Good hunting.¡±

    With that the woman walked into the shade and faded away. Ratface wasn¡¯t alone in looking around for the woman. That shouldn¡¯t even be possible.

    ¡°That¡¯s talent,¡± whispered Tiffany, ¡°I don¡¯t even know how you would do that.¡± Ratface didn¡¯t really want to hear that from someone who could do magic. She¡¯d have to ask Isabelle about it after.

    The children had started forming into groups and it didn¡¯t take a genius to understand that Ratface and Tiffany weren¡¯t going to be put in anyone else¡¯s group. She stood up and pulled Tiffany to her feet.

    ¡°Well, shall we work together?¡±

    The other girl looked to her with surprise.

    ¡°You¡¯re not worried I¡¯ll be a burden.¡±

    Ratface grinned.

    ¡°Worst comes to worst, you can hit them with that big stick of yours.¡±

    Ratface followed the crowd. She was only half listening as the other girl explained why that was such a bad idea.

 Chapter Fourteen: No Such Thing as a Quiet Sewer

    The sewer was much bigger than Ratface had expected. She¡¯d never been in a sewer before so she didn¡¯t have anything to compare it to, but she wouldn¡¯t have expected it to be so open. It still smelt bad and the kids in front of them gagged as they moved through the sewer. Ratface had just spent the last month in a junkyard so she didn¡¯t mind the smell so much, but she was surprised to see Tiffany wasn¡¯t having a problem either.

    ¡°Once my parents found out I was a druid they made me do all the animal work,¡± she explained when she caught Ratface looking. Ah. That¡¯d do it.

    The group at the front was Franklin and his posse of course. They were grinding through the creatures so efficiently that by the time they got to the two of them which they were little more than chopped meat. So, it had been an easy quest so far. So far Ratface had seen corpses of rats the size of a toddler and alligators the size of an alligator but they¡¯d yet to run into anything worrisome.

    Tiffany seemed bothered by their doing nothing, but Ratface had listened and was pretty clear on the details of the quest. They didn¡¯t actually have to murder anything, the sewer just needed to be cleared. If someone else want to do the hard work for her then that was fine.

    She enjoyed their easy street right up until they reached a crossroad. There were five paths, and the rest of the groups went off on the other four. Franklin sneered as he walked the two of them but otherwise didn¡¯t engage. Ratface had yet to see him not sneer and was beginning to think that might just be what his face looked like.

    Ratface went to trot off before Tiffany brought out a small lantern. Tiffany pulled the sheet off it, and it was filled with glowworms. With a tap they started to glow and they had a small pool of light. Ratface didn¡¯t know why she¡¯d need it; it was still easy to see. She was about to say so before she froze.

    Humans had worse eyesight. She¡¯d nearly given herself away on such a small thing.

    Tiffany hadn¡¯t seemed to notice, and she smiled at Ratface as she walked next to her.

    ¡°Couldn¡¯t afford a glow lantern huh? Smart not to bring a normal one.¡±

    ¡°How come?¡±

    ¡°Big boom.¡±

    With that cheerful message they kept walking through the sewer.

    <hr>

    They¡¯d been walking for a while now and hadn¡¯t run into anything. It had Ratface on edge. At the start when they¡¯d all been together, they¡¯d run into lots but they had just been dregs. They¡¯d yet to run into anything like a monster and while that wasn¡¯t always a guarantee she couldn¡¯t help being nervous it hadn¡¯t happened.

    The sewer didn¡¯t help. The damn place had been relatively clear at the entrance but further in the place had been overtaken by the swamp to the point it was basically a jungle. Vines lined the walls and trees had started growing into the tunnels. It wasn¡¯t enough to block them, not yet anyway, but it was enough to hide things from view. Ratface found herself questioning if the noises she heard was dripping water or something sneaking up on them.

    The lantern didn¡¯t help either. It let Tiffany see sure, but it also threw up strange shadows that had her twisting and turning. If they didn¡¯t have the damn thing, she¡¯d actually be able to see better but with it on her vision was reduced to just the small amount of light they had.

    They turned a corner and Ratface kept peering ahead. She stopped when Tiffany made a faint sound of alarm.

    She turned around and the girl¡¯s leg was caught by a vine.

    ¡°Can¡¯t you use your druid power on that?¡± she asked the girl.

    ¡°I can¡¯t. It¡¯s not actually alive.¡±

    Ratface grinned ready with a joke as she went to reach down. Weird that a dead vine had caught her. It reminded of how goblins in their own area used platted ferns for traps.

    No sooner did the thought finish then was Ratface suddenly alert. She looked around and saw a flit of a shadow.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

    With a yell she charged in front of Tiffany. Shield first. She felt the weight on her arm as the shield crashed into something and the pained sound of an alligator reached her ears. She stabbed at it, but it darted backwards.

    ¡°There¡¯s a knife in my sheath, use it to get yourself free now,¡± she commanded Tiffany. She felt the other girl pull the knife out and bend down to cut herself free. It made the light shift as she moved with the lantern and that¡¯s when they struck.

    The one she¡¯d been eyeing darted towards her, and she sliced at it. It feinted backwards and from the corner of her vision she saw something lunge at her. She managed to get her shield in front of her just in time, but it just took the bite. The thing scrabbled against her. Trying to push her under the water where it¡¯d have the advantage. She hacked at its arm, and it pulled back.

    The two alligators in front of her did something weird then. They stood up.

    Ratface hissed. They were both city gators. If she listened now, she could hear others sliding through the water closer to them. The question was whether they were all city gators or if was just these two. She had to wonder if it even mattered.

    Most of her was screaming to run but she ignored that part. Even if she ignored that she¡¯d be leaving Tiffany, an ambush was designed to make you make stupid decisions. She couldn¡¯t give in to instinct.

    Besides, she couldn¡¯t let a bunch of gators trick a goblin.

    She pretended she was going to help Tiffany and they both charged her. The moment they did, she darted away from Tiffany. Their movement didn¡¯t stop and soon she was on the side of the one with the injured arm. She shoved into it with her shield. With her weight and the pain from its arm, it stumbled back into its friend. The two got tangled up for a moment and that was all Ratface needed to slam the sword into the first one¡¯s neck. It thrashed but she pulled her sword out and stepped back so it¡¯s thrashing only messed up its friend. The friend tried but couldn¡¯t move and watch Ratface at the same. It looked away as it skirted around and Ratface used the blind spot to dart in. She hacked into its head until it stopped moving.

    She eyed the corpses until she was sure they were corpses and then quickly went over to help Tiffany. She grabbed the knife off the girl who had made no headway and felt about in the water. Yeah, it was a pretty standard trap that¡¯d wrapped around her. She pushed down on it which made a little bit less tension then flicked the knife through it to cut her out. Tiffany stumbled but she was free and now they could run so long as they run carefully.

    Ratface listened and tried to work out if there were more noises coming from behind them or in front of them. She couldn¡¯t tell so she went with her gut.

    They¡¯d push forward. If it was her ambush, she¡¯d put more behind them to cut off their escape.

    She grabbed Tiffany and pulled the woman after her. Watching for the next thing that¡¯d come out at them.

    ¡°I don¡¯t suppose you have a way to slow them down behind us?¡± Ratface asked.

    ¡°One but it¡¯ll cut us off from that way too.¡± Ratface frowned. There were no good options so she¡¯d choose the least bad.

    ¡°Do it. With monsters chasing it¡¯s cut off from us anyway. Your way is less bitey.¡±

    Tiffany raised her staff for a moment until it glowed green then swept it across the path behind them. The growth that was already there shot up. Trees twisted around the tunnel and vines wrapped around them making not quite a wall but something that¡¯d at least stop a bunch of smart gators from getting through.

    That just left whatever was ahead of them. Ratface slowed their pace down but kept them moving quickly. She was keeping an eye out for anything log shaped.

    She saw one sitting innocently across the water and she grinned and stabbed down.

    The gator caught her sword it its teeth and locked it in. Not a winning move in her mind as she¡¯d just stab it with the knife.

    In the pause two rats that were half her size leaped towards her. She managed to backhand one away with her shield but the other one was coming right at her and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

    Halmir came to her aid. He jumped off her head and onto the rats back. He bit into it and the big rat screamed as they both fell into the water. Ratface let out a cry, but she didn¡¯t have time to help.

    The gator hadn¡¯t been idle while this had been happening. It started to roll and Ratface let go of the sword before she could be pulled with it. She pulled out her knife and slammed it down into the rolling gator. It punctured its skin, and its own roll did the rest.

    The other rat jumped at her, but vines shot up out of the ground. They latched onto the rat and pulled it into the water. Ratface watched as the water bubbled for a moment then stopped.

    Ratface looked in the water for Halmir but couldn¡¯t find him. She started to panic until she saw felt claws too tiny to be the big rat latch onto her leg. Halmir skuttled up her leg looking drenched and panicked but otherwise okay. A moment later the other rats body floated up. Its neck had been savaged. Halmir must have grabbed on and not let go.

    Three more city gators came for them out of the water and Ratface grabbed her sword and got ready for them.

    Tiffany grabbed two with her vine and held them up while Ratface fought the last one. Tiffany had even managed to grab this one¡¯s legs and without it being able to jump away Ratface made short work of it. Killing the two that Tiffany had was more of a formality than anything.

    Ratface eyed the druid with respect.

    ¡°Whoever thinks druids suck are morons,¡± she told the other girl who was obviously pleased by the comment.

    With the fight over the sewer was suddenly quiet again. The two girls shared a smile then glanced back the way they¡¯d come from.

    That was blocked off. Either Tiffany''s work or the imminent danger stopping them. They trudged forward carefully. Ratface kept an eye out and watched for more traps. In the downtime her mind kept drifting to one thing.

    No gator was smart enough to plan this.

 Chapter Fifteen: A secret in the dark

    Ratface and Tiffany moved through the sewer without rest. Which was a problem because they needed it.

    Tiffany¡¯s magic had been less and less impressive as they carried on. The girl reaching her mental limit without a moment to collect herself.

    Ratface herself was struggling as well. Little cuts were littered across her face and gear reflecting the little mistakes she made. If wasn¡¯t for the armour she was wearing they¡¯d be much worse. It had already justified its cost to her, and she was thankful Abigail had bought it.

    It wasn¡¯t as if the fights had been as simple as them against a gator or a rat. Each one was a new ambush, or a trap set up to hold them in place.

    Part of the problem was the sewer being neglected for so long. Ratface didn¡¯t know if the mastermind of the sewer had been working the entire six months since they¡¯d been cleared but it had to have been close. The rats and the gators worked way too well together. Even the normal gators they ran into had been trained. It wasn¡¯t like an alligator was stupid either so they were dangerous enough as it was.

    The other part was the lantern. That little bit of light did let Tiffany see but it also registered where they were for ages down the tunnel. By the time they turned a corner the creatures had had plenty of warning to set the area up to be hell for the two to fight their way through.

    They made their way through another corner and gators lurched from the water. Rats scampered about and made a nuisance of themselves as the two of them dealt with the bigger creatures. Ratface hissed as a rat latched onto her arm and started biting and tearing. She grabbed the creature and flung it down the corridor but that had left her open to one of the gators and only a lucky kick stopped her from being dragged into the water in what would have been a death sentence.

    Tiffany battled beside her. She was struggling to cast spells and fight so her magic could only do simple things like grow in front of the monsters for a delay. She¡¯d taken to using Ratface¡¯s knife at this point and her robe was covered in rips.

    They took care of the most recent group of monsters. Their ragged breathing no doubt echoing down the corridor warning the next group. That had almost been it for them, and they both knew it. Tiffany looked at her in desperate panic and Ratface grit her teeth. She was out of options. It was risking turning off the lantern or seeing if they had one more fight in them.

    ¡°Turn off the lantern,¡± said Ratface, ¡°we can¡¯t keep letting them get the drop on us like this.¡±

    Tiffany watched her for a long moment before covering the lantern again. She whispered to the bugs inside it and the light slowly faded away. Ratface waited as her vision started to adjust and then grabbed onto Tiffany. The other girl flinched in surprise but didn¡¯t scream. Small mercies.

    ¡°Carefully,¡± Ratface whispered. Her voice barely carrying to the other girl. She waited until she got a nod before they started to move. She had a plan. They needed to move from where they¡¯d last been heard, then rest and regroup. It wasn¡¯t much of a plan but right now their goal was survival, and she¡¯d become a master of that over the last month.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.

    She moved them very slowly. Taking each step in a way that didn¡¯t require them to splash around. Tiffany was struggling without her own sight to rely on but she managed to move without making too much noise. They made it to another intersection and Ratface listened.

    There was something moving on the right path. It was so faint that it might just be water lapping against a stick, so she waited.

    The alligators could probably sit without moving. Abigail had told Ratface that sometimes they sat in the same place for the entire day just waiting for something to come closer. The groups hadn¡¯t just been made of alligators though and eventually she heard the faint patter of little feet moving. The rats were not so patient. The right confirmed as dangerous, Ratface lead Tiffany to the left. They were quiet but not soundless and she could only hope that the other animals weren¡¯t listening as intently as her. They kept going for a while and when Ratface didn¡¯t hear anything anymore they stopped. She listened out for another few minutes before confirming they finally had a moment to themselves.

    ¡°Let¡¯s rest for a second. Try not to make too much noise,¡± she said. She found them a relatively dry spot and tugged the other girl over then dug into both their packs to get out their respective lunches. Ratface still refused to turn on a light and the other girl had brought her food separated. This resulted in Ratface having the surreal experience of making the other girl a sandwich in the darkness as they both listened out for creatures trying to kill them. Ratface tried to make sure she layered the ingredients in a way that it wouldn¡¯t all fall apart. She handed over the food and waited until Tiffany grabbed onto it before she let go and sorted herself out. The chewed in silence for a bit next to each other. Eventually Ratface leaned close to Tiffany.

    ¡°How long does this quest usually last?¡± she asked. The girl stiffened at the quietness and closeness of the voice but eventually answered in the same whisper.

    ¡°They set aside a whole day for it.¡±

    Damn. They wouldn¡¯t start looking until dark. They could maybe manage to hide for a few a while but in the entire day the creatures would ferret them out.

    ¡°Are you looking through Halmir¡¯s eyes?¡± asked Tiffany.

    ¡°No,¡± said Ratface. How would she even do that. She only realised her mistake when the other girl spoke again.

    ¡°You¡¯re a goblin then huh?¡± She asked a question, but it was clear she knew. Ratface didn¡¯t speak so the other girl did, ¡°it¡¯s that or an elf and they wouldn¡¯t be here in the first place. I could tell from the moment our hands touched, a druid¡¯s sense.¡±

    In the quiet Ratface thought about just leaving her. Ratface might survive without the other girl if she was careful, and the alligators would take care of this problem for her.

    She couldn¡¯t do it. They¡¯d fought together too much. Besides,  she was too curious.

    ¡°What¡¯d it feel like?¡± she asked.

    ¡°An open wound. My magic wept when it recognised you. It was like it was grieving.¡±

    Ratface hissed. That didn¡¯t sound great, but it explained why druids wouldn¡¯t attack them. She bet it felt like desecrating a friend¡¯s corpse.

    They sat in silence for a moment longer before the other girl spoke again.

    ¡°I won¡¯t tell anyone.¡±

    Ratface patted her on the shoulder and stood up. She hadn¡¯t even had to ask. She pulled Tiffany into standing.

    ¡°What¡¯s the plan?¡± Tiffany asked.

    ¡°We only know the one way back. We have to go looking for someone else and hope their own spot hasn¡¯t been cut off.¡±

    ¡°How? Our light will give us away and we¡¯d just bring twice the monsters.¡±

    Ratface grinned then realised no one can see it.

    ¡°We won¡¯t be travelling by light,¡± she said. The other girl looked confused. She clicked when Ratface dropped Halmir in her hand.

    There was a moment before the two connected, but Ratface could tell they had when the girl flinched back from looking at her.

    She didn¡¯t think her grin was that bad.

 Chapter Sixteen: Dangerous Druid

    It was comforting fighting in the dark. Most goblins were taken out on night walks from when they were little, and it built a sort of appreciation for hidden places. The sun was fine, it kept you warm, but there was nothing quite like the dark to keep you safe. It¡¯s probably why they found rogues so terrifying, using their safe space against them.

    Ratface¡¯s mum had often talked with fondness about nighttime raids. It¡¯s how she¡¯d met Ratface¡¯s father although it had been a one raid thing. She¡¯d settle down after than and it had been just her and Ratface growing up.

    All this to say. Ratface felt a lot more comfortable fighting in the dark. The alligators fought well but without the warning of the light, they couldn¡¯t set up an ambush. On even footing Ratface cut into them. Sometimes she even caught them off guard and there was a lot of satisfaction in ambushing the ambusher.

    It got even better when Tiffany and Ratface realised that they wouldn¡¯t register Halmir as an enemy until he helped them. They ended up sending him through as a scout and then Tiffany would cast her vines around the creatures tying them up for Ratface to quickly disperse. It had the benefit of being both quiet and quick and they were zooming through the tunnels.

    They had yet to run into any of the kids with them which was concerning but they¡¯d also seen no sign of them being dead. Ratface was beginning to suspect the tunnel they took was known for being disconnected from the rest. It¡¯s probably why it was left until last.

    Ironically that¡¯d been what had made surviving possible. If they were so disconnected, then they were getting the smaller groups, and the bigger ones would be concentrated around the others. There had to be a word for that kind of luck.

    They kept walking and they saw something in the distance. They¡¯d found a light in the tunnel though they were still far on the edges of it. Ratface reflected again on how terrible those lanterns were for stealth as she edged ever closer. She peaked her head around the corner and nearly groaned with that she saw.

    Franklin and his lot were fighting desperately against the alligators and rats. They¡¯d managed to find a lip to stand on that was luckily stuck between a few trees that Tiffany had told her were called mangroves. The mangroves worked as a natural funnels and Franklin and Spear Boy were able to hold the creatures at bay while Archer Girl did the actual damage. It was a pretty good system, but Ratface could see where it could go wrong.

    It was the rats, not the alligators, that¡¯d be their downfall. They kept swarming through the branches at the boys and while they manged to keep them at bay, each swarm pushed them a little further back. A couple more steps and the alligators would be able to make a foothold on their little safe spot and then it would be a series of worse and worse choices until they were overrun.

    The numbers were stacked against them and Ratface and Tiffany charging in wasn¡¯t going to make a big enough difference. Ratface watched and considered that she could also use this opportunity to sneak passed. That was the fear talking though. There¡¯d be more blocking off the tunnel. Besides, it was time she reminded these alligators which green species was the top of the food chain.

    She turned to Tiffany.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

    ¡°Can you tie all of those gators up in your vines?¡± she asked. Tiffany worried at her lip.

    ¡°Yes, but it¡¯ll take time. I¡¯ll need to give it full concentration as well, so you¡¯ll need to guard me.¡± The implication in that was clear. They wouldn¡¯t be able to help until the spell was done.

    Well, it was their best option. She¡¯d have to hope it was fast enough. She nodded for the other girl to start, and Tiffany bent down until she was touching some of the vines in the water. A little gross but Ratface figured with all the fighting they were pretty much covered anyway. Ratface resolved herself to keep watch.

    The boys were doing their best, but the rats kept swarming them. She had to give credit where it was due, she may not like this group, but they were holding out better than she would have expected. Spear was mostly using his namesake to keep the alligators at bay, but it was when the rats swarmed that he excelled. The boy was quick and brutal with his knife. The swarms would eventually push him back but not before he made them bleed for it

    Archer was shooting faster than Ratface had thought possible, and she saw the difference between a crossbow and a bow. Yeah, a crossbow was easier to learn, but this girl was showing the speed difference handily. Accurate too, even when the alligators tried to dive, she managed to hit them and there was enough bodies floating belly-up with an arrow through their eye to attest to her kill count.

    It was Franklin that stood out the most though. Ratface had hoped with all his pretty armour and terrible attitude he¡¯d actually be terrible in combat but annoyingly that was far from true. The boy wielded his sword and shield like he¡¯d been born with it. A brutal combination of offence and defence that put every creature that ran into him on the back foot. Ratface watched more than one poor beast get shield-bashed into oblivion. He made Ratface look like a novice, which to be fair she was.

    He was strong too. Showing his size wasn¡¯t just for show. He caught entire bodies on his shield and shoved them back and he just keep going. At one point Spear got pulled to the water and she thought it was the end.

    Franklin charged into the group, sending them tumbling back. They tried to pull him down, but not only did he not get pulled but he reached into the water and pulled out a half drowned Spear then shoved him back into line. Then he just made his way back.

    It was impressive but it cost them. The next swarm hit, and they broke. The alligators pushed through with the help of the rats. Ratface watched knowing she couldn¡¯t do anything.

    Next to her, Tiffany burned green and every creature that could feel mana flinched.

    Vines tore out of the water and wrapped around the alligators. Some were pulled back so hard that Ratface heard a snap and knew she wouldn¡¯t have to do anything about it.

    It was good but it hadn¡¯t stopped the rats and Ratface wasn¡¯t sure it¡¯d be enough.

    That¡¯s when the mangroves grew sharp branches that thrust out all around them and caught the rats in a deadly spiked trap. It was so bad that Ratface went to cover Halmir¡¯s eyes until she remembered that¡¯s what Tiffany was using to see.

    The battle turned immediately and Ratface stood with her mouth open.

    ¡°Your terrifying,¡± she said to Tiffany.

    ¡°Hurry,¡± Tiffany said, her voice in pain, ¡°I can¡¯t hold this forever.¡±

    Ratface made her way out quickly, forgoing her shield to have her knife and sword out instead. She was quick about her business. Aiming for throats and eyes and giving each creature she saw a couple of shanks just to make sure. When the other group got over their surprise and saw what she was doing they came and joined her, and they managed to get through the monsters before Tiffany gave out.

    Tiffany slumped to the ground and Ratface caught her before she caught a mouthful of something foul.

    Halmir moved from Tiffany¡¯s shoulder to Ratface¡¯s and Ratface half carried, half dragged Tiffany over to the lip the others had found. She dumped her on a relatively dry spot and left her to catch her breath.

    Ratface watched Tiffany. Here would be the moment she¡¯d tell her secret. She knew what she¡¯d promised but it was a promise to a goblin and how much were they worth?

    Tiffany met her eyes and gave her a tired smile. She shook her head and Ratface knew her secret was safe.

    That just left dealing with Franklin and his group. She wouldn¡¯t even gloat to them. Well, maybe a little.

 Chapter Seventeen: Unite and Defend

    Franklin¡¯s group looked like they¡¯d had it rough. They were covered it cuts and nasty gashes. Spear boy had a particularly gruesome cut down his face from when he¡¯d been dragged under water. The Archer girl looked the least injured but that was only if you ignored the way she was standing. Her arms were trembling, and her fingers dripped blood from where they¡¯d ripped. Didn¡¯t look like she could use them so well either. She was struggling to open her water and had to ask Franklin for help. None of that was great but Ratface didn¡¯t really have anything that could help. All of them had a look in their eyes that said they knew exactly how close they¡¯d come to dying. They¡¯d be a little more prone to running until they got over that. Ratface¡¯s mum had taught her about that look. That the problem with it wasn¡¯t that it made you run but that it took the choice of when away from you. She didn¡¯t know how to deal with it.

    Franklin was doing well apart from that look. He stood tall and let his two teammates lean on him. Right now, they needed a pillar, and he was doing the job. Still looked like he¡¯d got in a fight with a bunch of angry cats though.

    ¡°You saved us,¡± Franklin said. He looked like he¡¯d bit into something foul admitting it which actually made it better for her.

    ¡°Saved is subjective. You all got some healing potions?¡±

    ¡°Just one.¡± Franklin pulled one out and dangled it. He went to give it to Spear who had the face wound, but Ratface stopped him.

    ¡°Leave it,¡± Ratface said. That earned her a glare from the two boys. ¡°He¡¯s stopped bleeding. It¡¯s not affecting your vision?¡± Spear boy shook his head and Ratface nodded. ¡°Then you should give it to your archer. Her hands are messed up and we¡¯re going to need her. I¡¯ll start grabbing her arrows.¡±

    ¡°My name is Anna,¡± said the Archer but she took the healing potion.

    ¡°Albert,¡± said Spear boy. Ah dang, there went her clever nicknames. Ratface started pulling the arrows out. She had to be careful to not break them when she pulled but she didn¡¯t know how, so it was mostly luck. It was easier then when she¡¯d got her knife stuck anyway.

    ¡°So, we¡¯re leaving now?¡± asked Albert as he came to help her.

    ¡°No,¡± said Franklin and Ratface. They turned to each other in surprise, but Franklin recovered first.

    ¡°The clean up group will be coming through soon and they¡¯ll be bigger than the one we faced.¡±

    Ratface nodded. She didn¡¯t have a lot of experience with all strategy, but her mum had hammered in raiding and ambush tactics.

    ¡°They told on themselves as well. Dividing us gives us more opportunities to escape which means they had to do it as a necessity. They either don¡¯t have that many left or, more likely, it¡¯s just alligators and rats without a lot of heavy hitters. Get enough of us together and we can either push back or take them entirely.¡±

    The others looked at her in surprise and she shrugged.

    ¡°I don¡¯t suppose any of you know the way through? We¡¯re sort of lost here as well,¡± Ratface finished. Albert stuck up his hand.

    ¡°My dad¡¯s part of the group who made the sewers. I don¡¯t know everything, but I¡¯ve got a pretty good idea.¡±This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

    ¡°How many more groups?¡±

    ¡°Three or four, five in each. We¡¯re the smallest groups,¡± that was Franklin.

    Ratface wondered if the enemy ambusher had taken those numbers into account. She hoped not. Not many of the other kids had the quality of fighter that they did. If they had as many after them then they might have been overrun.

    Well, no point worrying until they got there. Time to pick up their strays.

    Albert led the way with Ratface following next to them and Franklin taking the rearguard. Their two ranged fighters were chucked in between them.

    The first group they found was a mess. They¡¯d been separated from each other and two of them were fighting desperately to survive while the other three tried to cut a path through to them. They were fighting so hard they didn¡¯t recognise they were getting surrounded.

    Ratface went to the three and left the other two to the rest of her group. Of her group she was the least effective at group clearing so she was on yelling at children which she did.

    ¡°Fall back you morons,¡± she roared. The kids flinched and took a step back before they even noticed then looked around and realised what they¡¯d nearly done. Their faces went grim, and they fought to stop the circle from closing.

    Ratface kept to the sides. She was still using the knife and sword, and she snipped at the sides to be distracting more than to kill. That wasn¡¯t to say she didn¡¯t kill when she got the chance. Nothing more distracting than dying. She spared a glance for the rest of her group, and they were doing just fine. Franklin was basically working as a battering ram while Anna once again showed off her archery skills. The health potion had helped, it seemed. She was taking it slower than before which was good. Each time Franklin slammed a creature into the water vines rose up to keep it down and Albert was methodically stabbing into them, so they didn¡¯t get back up.

    Back on her side, her little group of three had finally gotten into good order and were holding in place. They took out what they could, but their main focus was on not dying which Ratface approved of. The other group was so brutally efficient that all they had to do was hold out until they cleaned up.

    They did as much and soon Franklin was next to her making her look bad. The sheer weight and strength he brought in was a little terrifying. Ratface looked at her own abandoned shield and decided the knife and sword combo worked better for her. She was really a stabby girl at heart and she¡¯d struggled to take a full hit on her shield anyway.

    They cleaned up and gave the new group a bit of time to recover while they explained the plan and headed off.

    The next group wasn¡¯t so lucky. There was only four of them and they flinched when asked about the fifth. Ratface couldn¡¯t see a body but there was also a lack of alligators here. She winced. It must have been a hard choice.

    The next group was all there but one kid was had a bandage wrapped around his arm where his hand had once been and another had a cut running across his eye keeping it closed. They used the potion on the eye and thankfully it healed okay. There wasn¡¯t anything they could do about the hand though.

    The final group was fine. They¡¯d had the remarkable luck of making a group of four spears and one archer. They¡¯d found a similar spot to where Ratface had found Franklins group and had the sheer numbers to not worry about the swarms like the small group had.

    When they finally got the groups together, they all looked to Franklin. It stung but it made sense. He had the fancy armour, and he was loud on the battlefield. Franklin paused then gestured for her to speak. She was surprised but nodded to him. Turns out fighting for your life got rid of the rudeness.

    She stood there for a second. What to do now. She wanted to go straight for the exit, but she felt like that was the wrong call. Waiting the monsters out hadn¡¯t been an option at first but with a bigger group time was back on their side. They didn¡¯t know the sewers as well as the monsters either so doubling back opened them to an ambush again.

    ¡°Alright listen. We can all agree that this situation sucks,¡± she began. Not a great start to her speech but oh well. ¡°Now, much as I want to get out of here, there¡¯s still a wall of monsters between us and the way out. I say we go full defence and wait them out.¡±

    ¡°Wont they flank us?¡± asked one kid.

    ¡°Buddy, we¡¯re already flanked. I don¡¯t know if you¡¯ve noticed but we¡¯ve all been swarmed.¡± That seemed to stop any arguments, but the kid had a point. They needed to make a funnel so the numbers wouldn¡¯t get them. She turned to Tiffany.

    ¡°I don¡¯t suppose you¡¯ve got enough juice to help make defences, do you?¡± she asked. Tiffany nodded and Ratface grinned.

    Time to ruin someone¡¯s day.

 Chapter Eighteen: Green Siege

    When they army of creatures came, they didn¡¯t charge immediately. Some might say it was out of respect for their foes, or to intimidate them and break their spirit.

    Ratface thought it was out of fear.

    With Tiffany and the rest of the groups help, Ratface had turned this place from a sewer into a dungeon level. At first, she had got Tiffany to surround the closest area to them with all sorts of roots until they had essentially a wall. The boring stuff out of the way, she¡¯d started getting creative.

    She¡¯d chosen a corner as her choice and stuck them in the middle of it then got Tiffany to grow brambles and trees until there was only one path to them. Sure, the alligators and rats could try to tear down the walls, but with what weapons? Instead, they¡¯d have to go through the walkway she¡¯d made just for them.

    On the outside was a group of alligators and rats. Ratface reflected that usually she¡¯d be on the other side of this battle. Three creatures emerged from the shadows, and they finally got to see the masterminds behind the ambush.

    ¡°Friends of yours?¡± Franklin asked. She barred her teeth, but she couldn¡¯t deny it. The creatures that stood before them literally had ratfaces. Rat men she guessed. It was amazing how close to the actual rats faces they were. One almost looked like Halmir. They were humanoid but tails wrapped around their waist like a belt.  The two on the side were in armour. One of them was in full heavy armour the other was wielding a dagger with its tail. The one in the middle was in robes and stared out at her work. He waved his hand, and the first set of their defences shrivelled away. Ratface felt her stomach lurch.

    ¡°Druid?¡± she asked Tiffany.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know but I don¡¯t think so.¡±

    ¡°Rot mage,¡± whispered Franklin. He turned to Anna, ¡°keep him away. He touches us and its game over.¡±

    The archer aimed for him and took a pot shot that the armoured one blocked. They let out a screech and the rats charged. She guessed now she knew why they were so big.

    The hole in their defence was that Tiffany had to make her defences out of trees so there was plenty of space for the rats. The robed Ratman wasn¡¯t holding anything back and he sent the entire swarm into them. They¡¯d be so busy dealing with that that the alligators could approach for free.

    Well, that¡¯s what they thought anyway.

    ¡°Now,¡± said Ratface and Tiffany¡¯s staff burned green and then spiked. All the plants she¡¯d made did the same and the army of rats suffered as they were impaled and trapped throughout the defence. It hadn¡¯t killed them all, but it had killed a lot and now they¡¯d be wary to go there.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

    The Ratman screeched again, and the alligators began to advance. They walked through her pathway and Ratface smiled as her traps began to do their thing.

    The first alligator stepped on one and there was a snap as something slammed into its legs and cracked the bone. It reeled back as did the rest.

    That¡¯s when her forward raiding party struck. The spear boys darted out and stabbed into the group then jumped back into the trees which grew over them to cover the escape. This carried on at each pocket until eventually the alligators stepped into a clearing and there was nothing.

    Arrows and slings slammed into them as the ranged members of the group took advantage of the pause. With their own allies pushing them forward, the vanguard alligators had no choice but to rush forward to the next ¡®wall¡¯ of trees for cover. The spear boys were waiting for them again and they stabbed them down. The entire front line of the alligators shuddered. Then they walked forward again into her maze.

    The path got more and more clogged with the creatures as they grinded away at the defences. They were losing a lot of alligators, but they were grinding the defences down. It was an effective strategy if you didn¡¯t care about the creatures you sent to die.

    It was when her trap was well and truly engaged that the rat men began to walk down together. Anna kept trying to hit the robed one, but armour was always in the way. With every step the Ratman got closer more of their defences weathered away. There¡¯d be a sweet spot where he got close enough to completely eradicate their defences. She had to hope that they¡¯d thinned the heard enough by then.

    Ratface frowned. Why hadn¡¯t they come from the start? Ratface¡¯s entire strategy hinged on Tiffany¡¯s abilities and if they¡¯d done this at the start then she would have been screwed.

    It was when they walked forward over a dead alligator she realised.

    It was the traps. They were afraid of them. She¡¯d miscalculated. The rat men didn¡¯t care if their entire army died so long as they survived, and the kids didn¡¯t. She watched grimly as they marched ever closer.

    The kids at least were doing their best to grind the groups down and they were effective. The spear boys were brutal as they got close and the closer the alligators got the more of the children joined in with the strike squads. Ratface had done her best to adapt her mother¡¯s raiding tips to defence but as she watched the rat men grow ever closer she knew it wouldn¡¯t be enough.

    She didn¡¯t know what to do and she could feel panic crawling in her belly. She should¡¯ve tried to force her way through. At least some of them would have survived instead of them all being cornered like this. What was she-

    Her thought came to a halt as a hand clapped down on her shoulder. It was Franklin. He and Albert were looking at her and their faces looked determined.

    ¡°We¡¯re going out to fight them,¡± Franklin said, ¡°we¡¯re the best available and this whole thing fall apart without you. We¡¯ll buy you some time.¡±

    Ratface had to hand it to him. She¡¯d thought all he was only a sneering rich boy but when since things had got rough, he¡¯d proven himself as someone she could rely on. Loathe as she was to say it, she was glad he was here. First impressions be damned.

    ¡°You¡¯re wrong,¡± said Ratface. They looked at her in confusion and she gestured at Tiffany.

    ¡°The plan rests on her. I¡¯m just another body. Let¡¯s go kill ourselves some overgrown rats.¡± Halmir squeaked on her shoulder in defiance, and she gave him a pat. He was just the right size.

    They told Tiffany and she made them a path out of the defenced and straight towards the rat men. The three rats watched this happened but allowed the children to get ever closer. They were confident.

    Ratface could feel her arms shaking but she had her knife and sword ready. It was about time she indulged in a time-honoured goblin tradition.

    Everyone knew you hit the mage first.

 Chapter Nineteen: Three v Three

    Franklin gave them all one final piece of advice before they close enough to fight.

    ¡°Don¡¯t let the mage touch you. Not even your armour. The spell will rip through it and into you unless whatever he touches is enchanted. You might survive if it is, at the cost of the enchantment, but I still wouldn¡¯t risk it.¡±

    Ratface shrugged, she didn¡¯t have anything enchanted so the point was moot. Guess dodging was the aim of the game.

    They were close enough to the rats now and the six of them squared off with each other. There was a pause as they each assessed but none of them bothered with introductions. They weren¡¯t knights down here, just rat men and wannabe adventurers.

    They all moved, each person arriving at their own conclusions. Franklin went for the robe but was cut off by the one in armour who caught his strike on his arm. His arm shuddered but didn¡¯t move and Franklin¡¯s eyes widened as he was pushed back. The tail knife one tried to finish Franklin while he was held but Albert swung his spear towards the rat which had it dodging back. Albert followed it up with a series of stabs to keep the rat away.

    All that was left was Ratface, Robes, and Halmir waiting nestled in her hair. Robes opened his mouth to talk but Ratface literally cut him off. She slashed towards him so he was forced to back away. Talking only benefitted a mage. She¡¯d watched Tiffany enough today to know that you didn¡¯t give them a chance to cast.

    One of his hands reached for her and she darted away. Franklin¡¯s warning about the monster¡¯s touch still running strong in her mind. The rat stepped forward and she stepped back but slashed at the hand that got close to her. She kept an eye on the vegetation. It hadn¡¯t decayed when he got closer so her had to concentrate on that. She had to keep him on the backfoot without getting caught. At least he didn¡¯t have a weapon. You know, apart from the instant death touch.

    She took a deep breath then took the plunge. Abigail had spent the last week drilling into her the ideas of a fight.

    ¡°There¡¯s only two parts that really matter to a fight,¡± she¡¯s said, ¡°action and reaction. You might lose if you act too hastily but you will never win with just reactions.¡±

    Ratface charged at Robes. She kept her sword out and her knife close. She thrust at his head, and he ducked and she brought the sword down towards his body. He dived out of the way and took advantage of her miss as he reached towards her. Her knife flashed across his hand. He hissed and scampered back in pain. She kept pushing forward. It was dangerous, she was pushing far enough that the other rats were behind her now and could strike at will. They¡¯d have to turn their backs on the boys though and she was betting they weren¡¯t that confident. She just had to hope the boys held out.

    She sliced at Robes again and took his retreat as an opportunity to check on the rest of their group.

    The kid adventurers were doing well but they weren¡¯t getting through the alligators fast enough. The distraction of the rat men had meant that the gators and left over rats were being taken out, but the kids still couldn¡¯t push too far or they¡¯d risk being overwhelmed. Ratface hissed as she realised, they didn¡¯t just have to keep the rat men busy, they had to beat them.

    That glance nearly cost her. Robes rushed her and she scampered back in a flurry of wild slices to keep him away. He kept away from the attacks and Ratface kept up the pressure as she moved forward on him again. Each time he ducked and weaved just out of the way. At first, she took satisfaction that all he could do was dodge but it didn¡¯t take long for her to realise what was wrong.

    He dodged yes, but only ever enough to just miss her blade. He could tell she was an amateur and he was toying with her. Waiting for her to slip up or for his own backup to finish their fights. She sped up her attacks and made a risky play. When he next reached for her, she stepped into the touch and brought her knife down on his forearm. Attempting to sever it.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    There was a clang as her knife struck into something metal. She hissed in frustration. The sneak was wearing armour under that robe. It had to be light to be hidden but it was enough to stop her attack. She danced back as his other arm reached for her. So, targeting the hands wouldn¡¯t work. She¡¯d need another plan.

    Robes suddenly screeched in pain, and she looked at him in confusion. Had the armour not held in the end? Except no, he wasn¡¯t looking at his arm but past her. She kept the sword between them as she glanced back just in time to see Albert pull his spear out of tail knife. Albert was panting and all the knives on his belt were gone. She could see a few sticking out of the now dead rat as it slumped into the water.

    Franklin was not doing so well. The armoured rat was beating him around the floor, and it was all her could do to keep his guard up. His arms shook with every blow and his head was bleeding from where he¡¯d somehow got hit. Albert looked t her and she nodded. He rushed off to join his friend. The two of them only managing to hold the rat at bay.

    Ratface returned to her own battle and now Robes was angry. He clawed at her. His hands getting cut up as he fought more recklessly to touch her. Ratface desperately kept her blade between the two of them as he kept pushing her back. His robes looked different from before as well. What had changed.

    The tail, it was gone.

    She realised it just in time to dive back from the rat. He¡¯d snuck his tail to her blind spot and had been trying to catch her with it.

    She barely had time to scramble up as he came for her and suddenly, she was fighting a creature with three limbs instead of two. It was all she could do to defend as she caught the tail on the flat of her sword. Each tail hit left a circle of rust, and she knew she was on a countdown to her sword breaking and her losing the fight. Somewhere in the fight, they¡¯d circled around each other, and she watched as the two boys fought desperately against the armoured one. He didn¡¯t have any real flesh showing apart from where his face guard opened and they were struggling to do any damage. The rat backhanded away Albert and caught Franklin¡¯s sword hand. Franklin slammed his shield into the rat¡¯s helmet and managed to dislodge it but the rat grabbed his other hand.

    Ratface saw all this out of the corner of her eye, and she knew she had to do something or Franklin was about to die. She had to risk something.

    She caught one of Robe¡¯s wrists on her knife, letting her knife slide until it caught on the armour. She pushed his limb down to hold it in place. He reached with his other hand, and she did the same thing with her sword but pushed it up. He gave her a nasty grin as his tail darted between them to strike her heart.

    His unarmoured tail.

    Rat face jumped back and brought her two blades slicing towards each other with the tail in-between them. They sliced into it the tail like a pair of scissors. Even the faint snip was the same.

    Robes screeched and clutched at his dismembered tail. Ratface didn¡¯t waste the moment. She aimed her knife and threw it at the armoured ones now unarmoured head.

    She¡¯d been aiming for dead centre. She missed, but still managed enough to leave a nasty gash on his cheek. He flinched and clutched at his cheek, freeing Franklin¡¯s shield arm. The boy didn¡¯t waste the opportunity. He shoved his hand into the face wound and shoved, bringing his leg behind the rat as it tried to step back. It fell into the water with Franklin on top of it. Franklin held the rat down as it scrambled desperately. Albert recovered and brought his spear down on the rat¡¯s head and its movements stopped.

    Robes screamed again. Hate deep in his eyes as he grabbed onto her blade, not caring that it cut deeply into his hand as the thing rusted away.

    His other hand reached for her face as he dived at her and Ratface knew she couldn¡¯t get away. She still tried. She let go of her sword and pulled away, but it wouldn¡¯t be enough.

    Halmir dived out of her hair and onto Robes¡¯ neck. He bit deep and Ratface knew that Robes would die shortly after her. It wouldn¡¯t be quick enough to save her.

    His hand touched her face.

    There was the faintest clink as his hand touched the mask covering her face before there was an explosion of light as his hand was pushed back. Ratface felt the mask crumble off her face. The last rat man stared at her in confusion.

    ¡°Why¡¯d you help them? You should have been helping me,¡± he asked. She looked at him.

    ¡°Maybe,¡± she admitted. She looked at the kids fighting desperately to survive. After this they¡¯d move on to become hardened adventurers.

    ¡°But they¡¯re just kids,¡± she said eventually, ¡°Mum wouldn¡¯t want me killing kids.¡±

    ¡°That sentiment didn¡¯t stop them from killing mine,¡± choked out the robed rat man. A mournful father. She didn¡¯t know what to say to that. There¡¯d be no one to hear anyway.

    She turned away from the corpse and looked at the kids fighting. Without the rat men¡¯s leadership, the remaining creatures were unorganised and the kids were making short work of them. They¡¯d managed to survive.

    ¡°You¡¯re a goblin?¡± Franklin asked, his eyes wide as he stared at her.

    She sighed. She¡¯d survived her enemies anyway. Now to see if she survived her allies.

 Chapter Twenty: Character in the dark

    Ratface took stock of her options. She had a knife that was halfway across the room, a sword that was starting to rust, and a rat that was clutching at his stomach. She picked Halmir up from where he lay on the dead rat man. It looked like when he¡¯d bitten into the man¡¯s neck to kill him he¡¯d hit an artery and he¡¯d ended up drinking a lot of Robes¡¯ blood. Hopefully he was just bloated, and rat people blood wasn¡¯t toxic or anything like that. Of the two of them he might be able to survive this.

    ¡°I asked if you¡¯re a goblin?¡± said Franklin again. She looked at him. She didn¡¯t think she could usually take him in a fight, but he was exhausted and wounded. The adrenalin would be wearing out by now and he could probably feel all his injuries. She, in comparison, had no new injuries from her fight. The benefit of her death touch battle she supposed. Hopefully it wouldn¡¯t come to that.

    ¡°I am,¡± she said eventually. No use beating around the bush, only orcs shared their green skin, and she didn¡¯t look like one. They didn¡¯t have a much better reputation than goblins anyway.

    Franklin took a step towards her and some vines bloomed in front of him. With the fight over Tiffany could watch them and had come to help. She was surrounded by kids- no. Ratface shook her head, these kids were adventurers through and through now and she was an adventurer¡¯s favourite quest. The adventurers gave Tiffany looks that swung between fearful to angry. Ratface¡¯s heart surged. Brave little druid. Stupid though. She was surrounded by enemies.

    ¡°It¡¯s not actually illegal to be a goblin. Some of us travel,¡± Ratface tried. She could tell that it didn¡¯t work, and Franklin¡¯s sword hand shook in rage.

    ¡°You lead us to this. You helped set the trap,¡± he accused. That hurt. Ratface looked across the rest of the group and saw they were reaching the same conclusion. She could understand it even if it still stung. In the battle between goblins and adventurers, goblins were pretty firmly on the monster¡¯s side.

    ¡°If I wanted that, all I had to do was nothing. My actions today saved your lives. Surely you can see that through your fear?¡±

    ¡°Liar. One of us is dead, some of  us are maimed. I haven¡¯t even counted what¡¯s left of us after your doomed defence. You corralled us all together for them to slaughter. I bet you were happy when that rat was about to kill me weren¡¯t you?¡±

    Ah, there it was. The running her mother had talked about. She could tell him she saved him but anything she said would be a lie to him. He¡¯d had one too many scares in today¡¯s fights and when he thought they were all over he found another. Ratface got ready to run.

    She hadn¡¯t done it at first. In this enclosed sewer all running from them would do was delay the inevitable. Still, delaying was better than dying and that¡¯s the only place this conversation would go.

    Franklin took another step towards her, and she got ready to strike at him to make him flinch, then make a break for it. A hand stopped Franklin, and someone stood between them.

    ¡°She saved your life,¡± said Albert. He looked scared. His shoulders were hunched like he thought she¡¯d stab him yet in spite of this he still showed his back to her. It wasn¡¯t her he was facing doing.

    ¡°I saw it with my own eyes,¡± the boy said. His voice shook but he spoke clearly, ¡°at the end, there was a moment when you were going to die. It was her knife that gave us enough time. If it wasn¡¯t for whatever enchantment she had she would have died to save you.¡±Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

    ¡°That was you knife, don¡¯t feel mercy for the goblin,¡± said Franklin. Ratface winced, just ¡®the goblin¡¯ now. Her chances weren¡¯t looking good.

    ¡°No, it wasn¡¯t, I was out of knives.¡± Albert gestured to his empty bandolier.

    ¡°We-¡± Franklin began but Albert interrupted him.

    ¡°I was going to run,¡± he yelled. The whole room went quiet at the declaration. He continued in a quieter voice, ¡°I was going to run. You were about to die, and the rats would kill us then overrun the rest of them. No one was watching me. I could have fled to the entrance in the chaos. I was going to do that when she threw her knife to save you.¡±

    The room was silent, the anger was gone replaced by something more bleak but less violent. They¡¯d all felt it at the end, like a rabbit being chased down by a wolf in an open plain, desperately watching as all their paths dwindled into one violent end. Death, a moment away. The fight was out of Franklin, but Ratface could see he hadn¡¯t forgiven her. Well, that was fine, she wouldn¡¯t apologise for being a goblin.

    ¡°We wont attack you,¡± Franklin agreed. He walked over to join the other adventurers.

    ¡°We also wont help you. Find your own way back through the village to the guild.¡± He pointed at Albert. ¡°You too goblin lover.¡±

    The group started to walk away. Tiffany came to join their tiny group, and they watched as the rest of the adventurers left, shooting them hateful expressions the entire time.

    ¡°That was brave,¡± Tiffany said.

    ¡°It was stupid,¡± Ratface countered, ¡°they could have turned on you.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know if they¡¯ll let me stay in the village. They definitely won¡¯t let me be an adventurer here.¡± He looked dejected. Ratface touched his shoulder until he looked at her.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± she said. She stared into his eyes and willed the heroicness of what he¡¯d done to come through. He must have seen something because he gave her a tired smile as he touched her hand. They shared a moment then Ratface turned away, embarrassed.

    ¡°On the bright side, they left before they could get any loot,¡± she said. She started going through Robes¡¯ pockets. There was a health potion in there and even some coins. He was bare other than that. She pulled sleeves up to get a better look at his arm guards. They seemed light but sturdy. She undid them and found they fit her pretty well. Goblins and rat men must have similar bodies. They were engraved with little rats as well. A rich rat man.

    The others paused then started looting. At the end of the day, they had time to kill, and looting was one of the easiest ways for an adventurer to supplement their income. They might as well get started now.

    At one point Tiffany weaved them a barge out of vines and after some experiments they found it floated. They chucked as many city gators on that as they could. The skin was useful and would sell. The meat might too after a clean.

    Albert spent most of the time retrieving his knives. He also grabbed the knife that had been wielded on the one rat¡¯s tails. He gasped.

    ¡°It¡¯s enchanted,¡± he said. He pocketed it and Ratface tried not to feel too jealous. He had saved her life after all.

    They hadn¡¯t known how to take the armour off the armoured rat plus stripping a creature made even Ratface feel a little weird. In the end they chucked the three rat men on the barge and while it dipped, it was still floating enough to be useful. With that they finished looting and they faced their next problem.

    ¡°How are we going to get you through the city? There¡¯ll be a mob if they see your face,¡± said Tiffany.

    That was a good point, she needed something to cover her face. Oh!

    Ratface stared feeling around in the water for where they¡¯d fought the rat men. It had been churned up a lot but surely it wouldn¡¯t have gone too far. After a while her hands brushed across something metal, and she pulled it out of the water triumphantly.

    The armoured rat¡¯s helmet was in her hands, and she waved it around. She frowned when she looked at it. It had an interesting look, like it was moulded into a specific shape. It was only when she pulled down the face guard to inspect it that it became clear and Ratface laughed.

    These rat men must have been important wherever they were from. They had enchanted gear and engraved stuff. The armoured one must have been their champion. That dampened her mood a bit but still left her smiling though more in respect than in humour.

    In front of her was a beautiful helmet. It had been lovingly made so that all that gazed upon it would see its glory. He should have been fighting in the sun not down here in the sewer where it couldn¡¯t be appreciated.

    Ratface looked at the helmet that had been made for their champion. A sturdy helmet.

    Crafted to look like the face of a rat.

 Chapter Twenty One: Rooftops are a goblinéˆ¥æªš best friend

    It was dark when the three of them emerged from the sewer. With how long they¡¯d taken Ratface figured they were half an hour behind the other group. Given that there was no angry mob waiting for them, either the others hadn¡¯t told on them, or the group was on its way. There was a chance that the guild and the village didn¡¯t care and would just let them come back but goblin philosophy said you should expect the worst and understand it¡¯d somehow be even worse than that.

    ¡°So do we just walk back to the guild and hope for the best?¡± Tiffany asked.

    Ratface shook her head. ¡°At best we¡¯ll run into someone who holds us up. Anyone who runs into us won¡¯t be intimidated by a bunch of tired kids. What we need is a big stick.¡± What they needed was Abigail. That woman had stopped a brawl with one punch. What was the inn they had been at again? Ah that was right.

    ¡°We need to get to the Drowned Rat. I don¡¯t suppose either of you know how?¡±

    ¡°Do you mean the River Rat?¡± Albert asked.

    Ratface nodded and he smiled in that defeated way that was becoming a permanent look for him.

    ¡°Sure, I know where it is, on the other side of the village. How do you suppose we get there through an entire village?¡±

    Ratface looked around. All in all, her time in this village had been worse than in Pinewood which was a terrible endorsement given she¡¯d been starving there. It did have one thing over the other town though. Good, solid, climbable rooves.

    Ratface scrambled up the side of one building until she was on its roof. She gave it an experimental tap and found it was as sturdy up close as it had seemed from the ground. She waved the other two up. They began climbing and Ratface was surprised to see Tiffany was faster than Albert. He gave off a ranger vibe so she¡¯d thought he might be faster.

    It was when the girl got closer that she noticed she was cheating. Vines spread out across where she climbed making her a ladder up to Ratface.

    Albert noticed the cheat and sighed before climbing up it himself.

    They made it up and Ratface introduced them to the famous goblin movement that was skittering. She spread herself out on all fours across the roof and began to move quickly across it over to the next one. The rooves here were close enough for now and it¡¯d only be crossing a road that might get them. She watched the other two shudder.

    ¡°Like a spider,¡± Albert whispered, and Tiffany nodded in agreement. They did their best to emulate her and succeeded in looking like two clumsy cats. It was still better than just running across.

    Albert took the lead, and they made their way across the rooves towards the inn. It was slow going. It was difficult to find a path across them. This was only enhanced by the fact Albert was very clearly scared of heights. He kept taking them on slightly longer routes that didn¡¯t have as many jumps.

    Still, it was working. They passed multiple adventurers scanning the street for them and Ratface was forever thankful that people so seldomly looked up.

    It was good to be back in rooves, the favourite place of goblins and rogues.

    Ratface smiled at the thought before she caught up with the last bit of it. She didn¡¯t think and dived out of the way. The other two looked at her with confusion until the shadows made a tsking noise.

    ¡°Goblins, what a horribly paranoid group of people,¡± said the Guild Instructor. She faded into view, her knife where Ratface had been before she dived away.

    The three of them froze as she placed herself between them.

    ¡°Taking the rooves was good instinct. No doubt you have her to thank for that.¡± She nodded at Ratface. ¡°I do wonder what your plan is now that you¡¯re caught.¡± She smiled at the three of them and Ratface knew they were dead. Fleeing wouldn¡¯t work, she¡¯d just run them down, so they¡¯d have to attack. Not that it¡¯d do anything, this woman would just fade into the shadows again and strike them down regardless.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    Ratface frowned. In fact, she should have been able to do that already. Yes, Ratface had moved out of the way of her stab, but it wasn¡¯t like she¡¯d actually known she was there. The woman could have just stabbed her again. Her brain moved faster knowing she didn¡¯t have that much time. She could see the other two preparing to strike as well.

    The woman hadn¡¯t been in a stabbing movement either. Her knife was just sort of there, like she¡¯d placed it where she¡¯d been to make her think she was about to be stabbed. Why would she do that?

    It¡¯s not actually illegal to be a goblin, her own words came back to her. They had yet to do anything wrong.

    It was illegal to attack a Guild Instructor though.

    ¡°Stop,¡± Ratface yelled and ran in front of the instructor. She shielded her body from the others¡¯ prepared attacks, and they stopped in confusion.

    ¡°Clever,¡± whispered the Instructor into Ratface¡¯s ear.

    Ratface jumped away from the other woman and next to her two allies. Her heart was beating from being so close to a rogue with her back turned.

    ¡°She can¡¯t attack us. She¡¯s the guild instructor,¡± Ratface explained. The other two relaxed but Ratface noticed their weapons stayed up. Wise of them.

    ¡°So, what? Are you here to help us?¡± asked Albert.

    The instructor chuckled. Ratface hated how the noise came from behind them instead of where the woman was.

    ¡°Normally yes. You are apprentices under persecution, and it would be my role to protect you.¡±

    ¡°Here comes the but,¡± Ratface whispered.

    ¡°However,¡± the other woman said, ¡°you are currently on your adventurer test, and I¡¯m not allowed to help you. At least no one else has seen you.¡± She pulled something out of her pocket and idly chucked it up and down. The last throw was too high, and the thing sored into the air.

    ¡°Oops,¡± said the instructor as she faded away. A moment later the thing in the sky exploded into light and sound. It didn¡¯t do any damage thankfully.

    It did however get all the adventurers to look at the sky towards the roof the explosion could come from.

    They stared at the three people on the roof, the light shining so they were clearly visible.

    A girl with a staff, a boy with a spear, and another girl with a suspiciously covered face.

    It didn¡¯t take a genius to put it together.

    ¡°There they are,¡± screamed one of the adventurers and they all charged toward the roof. Some began to climb up while others followed the road hoping to cut them off.

    ¡°Run,¡± said Ratface. She grabbed the twos hands and pulled them over to the next roof. Dragging them along until they got their legs under them. Albert strode in front of them and lead the way. An adventurer tried to get in their way but had to duck as Albert threw a knife at him. It whizzed past where the man¡¯s head had been a moment before. The boy did not muck around.

    Tiffany¡¯s staff was a blur of green as she grew vines to trap adventurers. It was useful but it was slowing her down. Ratface picked the other girl up with a grunt. She wasn¡¯t in armour and was small, so she was light. The adrenalin of running for their life pumping through Ratface helped as well. Tiffany screamed as she was carried along, particularly when Ratface leaped across a gap with her. She didn¡¯t stop casting once though and more than one adventurer tripped on a random vine. It wasn¡¯t big magic, but it didn¡¯t need to be. They just needed to make it to the inn.

    They kept running. Tiffany and Albert used their range to keep people away and Ratface wished she had that crossbow from the shop. The net of adventurers was closing but Ratface could see the inn now, it was just across the road.

    Two adventurers climbed up in front of them, blocking their jump the inn¡¯s roof. They probably expected them to slow down. Then the adventurers to just hold the three kids long enough for back up to help capture them.

    They certainly didn¡¯t expect Ratface to speed up. She sprinted directly at the men and smashed into the one on the left. From the corner of her eye, she saw Albert do a flying kick into the one on the right.

    They tilted, and then all of them were falling off the roof. Ratface landed on the man as he hit the ground and covered Tiffany as much as she could. They rolled across the ground, and she felt something break. She groaned and let go of Tiffany who pushed herself up off the ground and over to Ratface. Albert was fine but by the groaning his cushion was not.

    Albert and Tiffany grabbed either side of Ratface and pulled her towards the inn. It hurt. It hurt so much she couldn¡¯t even tell you which part was causing the pain. It was still way better than getting caught by the adventurers. They dragged her to the door and were trying to open it. Ratface could hear the sound of a locked door. It sounded like death.

    ¡°Abigail,¡± she called weakly.

    The door unlocked and Abigail stepped out. She looked at the three of them in surprise and her eyes widened when she saw Ratface crumpled on the floor.

    ¡°I was just coming out to get you, what happened?¡±

    Ratface gestured vaguely in the air towards the road. The adventurers had lined up while they¡¯d talked. They were four rows deep in front of the inn, but they gave the actual entrance a wide berth.

    Abigail stepped in front of the three of them and stared the group down. Ratface heard Abigail¡¯s gauntlets creak as she clenched her fists.

    They¡¯d done it. They¡¯d made it to their defender. Ratface looked across the crowd still watching them.

    She hoped it¡¯d be enough.

 Chapter Twenty-Two: Bluff

    The adventurers paused at the big woman which wasn¡¯t surprising. Ratface wasn¡¯t the one Abigail was facing off and even she could feel the aura of violence wafting off her.

    They didn¡¯t run away though. She could see them all doing the maths. There was a lot of them but only one of her.

    ¡°Before we start this, would anyone like to explain themselves?¡± Abigail asked.

    ¡°That there goblin got the kids ambushed, one of them died,¡± cried out a voice from the crowd. Abigail glanced at Ratface, who lay down on the floor feeling broken and useless, then back to the crowd.

    ¡°This child orchestrated an ambush in a village she had never been to. On whose word was this confirmed?¡±

    ¡°One of the other kids said so,¡± grumbled one at the front.

    ¡°This has been confirmed?¡± she asked. Silence greeted her and her voice came out like ice. No like the tremor of a volcano before it erupted.

    ¡°You would kill a child on another child¡¯s unconfirmed word?¡± She glanced at Albert and Anna who stood in front of Ratface and were visibly injured.

    ¡°You would kill children who protected her?¡±

    ¡°We were just going to capture the goblin lovers. They¡¯re young and don¡¯t know what they¡¯re doing,¡± said the same man, who had become the unofficial leader. If he had thought his words would calm Abigail down, he was sorely mistaken.

    She drew her sword from her back and slammed it into the ground in front of her. The blade burned blue.

    ¡°I am Abigail the Rune Knight. Leave now with your honour intact or come die to murder a child. There will be no mercy for those who step forward.¡±

    At her words a mist spread from the sword. It curled around the adventurers and twined itself around them. Ratface could just make out the whispers from where she lay.

    ¡°Rune Knight¡±

    ¡°Dragon Slayer¡±

    ¡°King¡¯s Guard¡±

    ¡°The Witch¡¯s Greatsword¡±

    That was what the mist whispered but a far more common title was whispered by the adventurers.

    ¡°Granny Greatsword,¡± they said. Awe and fear mixed in their voices.

    ¡°There¡¯s enough of us that even you can¡¯t stop us. Step aside, please,¡± the adventurer pleaded. The fear in his voice didn¡¯t surprise Ratface, only monster got old in the world of violence. The pain in it did though. For the first time Ratface wondered on the title of Granny they all gave her. It wouldn¡¯t just be because she was old. Old adventurers had cool nicknames usually, or terrifying.

    Instead, they called her Granny, like she was a part of their family. Ratface couldn¡¯t help but wonder how many she had helped on her travels. How many she¡¯d cared for.

    ¡°Perhaps you will, William,¡± she called. The man flinched as his name was called out.

    ¡°But how many of you will fall before then? Is it worth it for a suspicion?¡±

    The adventurers trembled and Ratface watched as they fought against Abigail¡¯s words with what they thought was right.

    Could you kill the one who had helped you for what was right? Ratface wondered, what if you weren¡¯t sure?

    ¡°There are many faces in this crowd I recognise; Emma, Catherine, Nick, so many more,¡± said Abigail. Her voice was gentle. She pleaded with the adventurers just as they had pleaded with her. ¡°Let me remember you as someone of worth. Don¡¯t let me remember you as someone who raised a blade to a child.¡±Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

    That seemed to break something in them and the adventurers left. The mist receded and Abigail¡¯s sword ceased to burn as she sheathed it. She stood tall but Ratface could see the weariness in her eyes.

    Only two group stayed. One group of two and the other a man on his own. They looked familiar to Ratface, and she realised they looked like her two friends. It must be their parents. Ratface startled at the thought of adventurers being her friends, but she wouldn¡¯t take it back. How could she, after they faced down a mob for her? After they did it twice?

    The two ran to their parents. Abigail whipped out a healing potion and straightened out a bone in Ratface¡¯s leg, then relocated her shoulder. The shock was helping hear deal with the injuries and after a moment the cool feeling of healing potion soothed away her pain. She could feel her bone still rearranging itself in her leg and rather than focusing on that, she watched her friends reunions.

    Tiffany¡¯s family looked to be farmers, simple gear covered them and Ratface couldn¡¯t spy a weapon in sight. They¡¯d come because their daughter was in danger. Tiffany¡¯s parents hugged her fiercely, not letting go of her in the moment.

    ¡°You have to run,¡± they said to her, ¡°it isn¡¯t safe for you here.¡±

    There were tears in their eyes, but they handed the girl a pouch of money and a bag presumably stocked for an adventure. Their eyes shone with pride. It made sense, the girl was far too soft to not have doting parents.

    Albert¡¯s father looked different. An adventurer for sure, he looked like what Albert might have grown up to be. Knives covered him and he wore sleek armour under that. It would have faded into the swamp and Ratface wouldn¡¯t want to fight him. That was before she saw his weapon but it only reinforced the feeling. The spear he held was sturdy and runes twisted up its handle to the blade. The blade glowed faintly red. It cast Albert¡¯s father¡¯s face into a harsh judging light. Although given how he stared at his son, perhaps that was how he always looked.

    ¡°Father I-¡±

    His father cut him off with the flick of his spear. He grabbed something off Albert¡¯s shirt. A small crest she hadn¡¯t noticed. The man dropped it and crushed it under foot.

    ¡°No son of mine would side with a goblin,¡± he said. He walked away, leaving Albert staring at the crushed badge.

    Ratface couldn¡¯t get up, but Tiffany walked over to the boy and gave him a hug. He didn¡¯t move but eventually he straightened his shoulders a looked back to Ratface with a smile. It was a pure smile. One filled with a mix of pain and pride.

    ¡°I don¡¯t regret it,¡± he said. Ratface looked at him with awe. How had such a boy come from such a father? She was ashamed on the father¡¯s behalf, that he could not live up to Albert¡¯s image.

    ¡°Honourable,¡± whispered Abigail. She scooped up Ratface like a child, careful not to nudge her only recently healed body. Ratface for her part kept very still. A mix of not being sure she could move and the comfort of being cared for keeping her frozen.

    Abigail carried her back into the inn where a few patrons looked on with awe. They quickly looked away when Abigail¡¯s eyes met them as she made her way up the stairs. Isabelle joined them and Abigail gave her a nod of respect.

    ¡°You have my thanks for the illusion,¡± she said.

    ¡°Well, if you failed I rather suspect the inn would have suffered some damage,¡± the other woman said. Her relieved smile gave her away though.

    Abigail gestured back outside.

    ¡°There¡¯s two lost children out there, mind brining them in?¡± she asked. Isabelle nodded and made her way out to Ratface¡¯s friends.

    Abigail took Ratface to a room and lay her down on the bed in there. She checked the shoulder and leg.

    ¡°Wiggle your toes,¡± she ordered. Ratface did and the old lady sighed.

    ¡°Thank goodness. What kind of girl jumps of a building.¡±

    ¡°The desperate kind,¡± Ratface said.

    Abigail hummed in agreement.

    ¡°Yes, I wondered about that. What happened to your mask? Where¡¯d you get the helmet?¡±

    Ratface walked her through her day all the way to the destruction of the mask. Abigail said nothing for a moment.

    ¡°You really do attract trouble, don¡¯t you?¡± she said at last, ¡°I¡¯m impressed you killed a rat noble. Not an easy feat.¡±

    ¡°Technically it wasn¡¯t me but Halmir.¡± Ratface¡¯s eyes widened, and she checked her pockets for the rat. She pulled him out and found him staring at her groggily. He¡¯d been asleep but otherwise fine. He still looked bloated though.

    Abigail glanced down at the rat with interest but seeing he was okay left him. She went to move away but Ratface grabbed her wrist.

    ¡°Thank you for saving me again,¡± she said.

    Abigail lifted the helmet off Ratface¡¯s head and smoothed away her hair. She smiled as she absentmindedly pat Ratface¡¯s head.

    ¡°I said I would. You did the right thing coming to find me.¡±

    Ratface digested that information and the head pats. It reminded her of her mother which gave her conflicting emotions. It was soothing though, so she didn¡¯t ask Abigail to stop. As her mind drifted, she thought about her two friends. They were alone now. Like she¡¯d been.

    ¡°Can you help my friends?¡± she asked, her voice soft as she teetered on the edge of sleep.

    ¡°Where we¡¯re going, there¡¯s always need for noble adventurers. I would help those children even if you hadn¡¯t asked.¡±

    Ratface smiled at the comment and closed her eyes.

    It had been a long painful day, and she was tired. She felt safe and Abigail¡¯s petting was pushing her into the land of dreams.

    She let it, knowing the woman would keep her safe.

 Chapter Twenty-Three: Time to get out of here

    Ratface was house bound. Well, inn bound. She didn¡¯t have a home.

    It was by unanimous decision that she wasn¡¯t allowed out of the inn until they left. Abigail offered to go get their loot and certification from the guild, but was voted to stay with Ratface. Part of that was because she was the only one who was enough of a deterrent to keep the adventurers away.

    The other part was that they weren¡¯t convinced she wouldn¡¯t beat down the entire guild. She was still very visibly angry, and she said, ¡°get their certification,¡± like it was a threat and not an administrative task.

    Isabelle had gone out with Albert and Tiffany. She had put them in full illusions and instead of the three people Ratface was used to seeing, she was presented with two old men and a young woman in her prime. Albert and Tiffany seemed grumpy in their old men disguises, but Isabelle had waved away their concerns.

    ¡°It¡¯s perfect. Old men are always grouching about something. You were born for these roles.¡±

    She¡¯d ushered them out before they could get a word in otherwise and left Abigail and Ratface to mill about at a table.

    Abigail was reading the paper, and she made an annoyed noise before slapping it down in front of Ratface.

    ¡°Look at this nonsense,¡± she said. She pointed to the front page.

    Ratface looked at the page. It had a sketch of a goblin terrorising children in a sewer followed by a full article. She stared at the foreign writing in front of her. Goblins used runes that were all straight lines and dots. Reading goblin was like making pictures out of constellations. In comparison, this was common script. She could tell because it was sweeping curves, and it took so long to write a single word.

    ¡°I can¡¯t read this,¡± she said.

    Abigial looked at her in surprise.

    ¡°You can¡¯t read?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t read common,¡± Ratface clarified, ¡°I can read goblin and struggle my way through elvish given that it¡¯s just copying goblin.¡±

    ¡°I think the elves would disagree with that,¡± Abigail said. A hint of a smile in her voice.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s true,¡± Ratface said. She crossed her arms in a huff. Yes, stating that goblin text was older would get you in trouble, but she¡¯d still heard her mother loudly arguing with any goblin who said otherwise. She didn¡¯t do it anywhere an elf would hear though which basically meant she only argued about it in her own home.

    Ratface was already out of elf country and saying bad thing about elves gave her a little thrill.

    Abigail scanned the newspaper then pointed down at a series of letters.

    ¡°That¡¯s your name,¡± she said.

    Ratface dipped her finger into her drink and drew on the table. She drew a little picture that if you tilted your head looked like a tiny rat baring its teeth.

    ¡°That¡¯s what it looks like in goblin.¡±

    Abigail looked with interest and then wiped the table before the owner could tell them off. She started to read the paper to Ratface as she explained what the different letters meant.

    Abigail was clearly annoyed by what they¡¯d written but Ratface couldn¡¯t really get too bothered by it. It wasn¡¯t like it was anything surprising. The newspaper insisted that it had all been part of her master plan to lure the poor children down to the ambush. Ratface was a little flattered by how competent that made her sound. Their version of her was a monster sure, but at least she was an effective one.

    She was upset when they finally got to her name. They¡¯d called her rat face with a space.

    ¡°That¡¯s horrible. Why would they do that?¡± She asked.

    Abigail shrugged.

    ¡°That¡¯s just how your name translates.¡±Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

    ¡°But it¡¯s all wrong. You know enough goblin to know my name. How can you not see the problem?¡±

    ¡°I know it translates to rat face but that¡¯s about it. A lot of goblins have the same name, so adventurers learned it. I guess that it¡¯s made its way into common knowledge?¡±

    ¡°This just means the face of a rat,¡± Ratface grumbled, ¡°my name, ¡®Ratface¡¯ means a to be like a rat; noble and helpful to the community.¡±

    ¡°Well, everyone is assuming your name means the face of a rat.¡±

    Ratface hissed. No wonder why people always laughed when she said her name. They were missing all the nuance. Even her brief explanation to Abigail didn¡¯t really get across what her name meant. Most Ratface¡¯s ended up becoming village heads, or raiding leaders. That¡¯s why so many adventurers recognised it.

    Abigail saw how visibly upset she was and pushed her drink towards her.

    ¡°I¡¯ll know what it means, at least.¡±

    Ratface grumbled but that did make her feel better. She¡¯d just have to become famous enough that the name was associated with her deeds rather than what a rat looked like. She paused at that. Fame wasn¡¯t really something she could afford to gain. She¡¯d always assumed she¡¯d end up a raiding leader like her mother but now she didn¡¯t know what she¡¯d be. So far, her plans extended to being alive and that was it.

    ¡°Do you have a plan for me?¡± she asked Abigail.

    The woman drummed her hands on the table in thought before answering.

    ¡°As I said before, I aim to help you. My main plan is to give you the tools to survive in this world. I¡¯ve focused on violence because I suspect outside of goblin lands you will struggle and in them you seem to be hunted as well. Where we¡¯re taking you will be someone who might be more useful. I don¡¯t say the place in case anyone is watching.¡± She looked out the window. ¡°It looks like the others are back. We¡¯ll be heading out soon.¡±

    The door pushed open and sure enough the rest of their group came in. Their illusion faded off them as they entered the relative safety of the inn.

    Isabelle took a seat at their table and the others followed suit. Her friends¡¯ faces were giddy which hadn¡¯t been the expression she¡¯d expected. She looked at them curiously and they slid her a gold coin.

    ¡°That¡¯s your split of the loot,¡± Albert said. He was practically bouncing in his seat and that clued her in that it was a good haul. Tiffany was a farmer¡¯s daughter so only knew a bit more about quest prizes than Ratface did. Albert¡¯s sham of a father was an adventurer though so if he was excited clearly it was a lot.

    ¡°How¡¯d it go?¡± asked Abigail. Her tone dry.

    Isabelle huffed.

    ¡°Oh, you know how she is, ¡®surviving the adventurers is also part of the test¡¯¡± Isabelle said. Her tone was high pitched as she mocked the instructor. It was a terrible impression, but Ratface was inclined to give it full marks given that the instructor had nearly gotten her killed.

    ¡°She compensated well enough for it through,¡± Isabelle conceded, ¡°a full apprentice certification for all three, as well as buying all their loot at highest estimated price.¡± She pushed a small book over to Ratface. ¡°She even included a written endorsement of Ratface here.¡±

    Ratface picked up the passport and leafed through to where the endorsement was. It was written in common so the only thing she could read was ¡®rat face¡¯.

    ¡°I suppose this is good,¡± said Ratface.

    Isabelle chuckled.

    ¡°I think she was worried that Abigail would come down if she didn¡¯t. She seemed a little too relieved to see me instead of you.¡±

    ¡°It always works,¡± Abigail said. Her face split into a grin. Ratface looked at her in confusion.

    ¡°Do you know what the second most important thing for an adventurer is?¡± Abigail asked.

    ¡°Reputation?¡± said Albert.

    ¡°Not quite but that helps with it. The second most important thing for an adventurer is to make sure they get paid.¡± She shrugged at their looks, ¡°we send Isabelle because she comes across as reasonable, but the implication is clear. Don¡¯t give us a fair price¡­¡± Abigail began.

    ¡°¡­and I send over the angry old lady,¡± Isabelle finished.

    Ratface nodded at the concept. Her mother had done a similar thing when raiding. Have a big ugly goblin standing next to her while she offered a reasonable deal to whoever they¡¯d caught.

    ¡°The trick to raiding,¡± she¡¯d explained to Ratface, ¡°is to fight as little as possible.¡±

    Apparently being an adventurer had more in common with her mother¡¯s work than either side would find comfortable admitting.

    Abigail pushed herself out of the table.

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s enough dilly dallying for us. Isabelle, did you get a wagon?¡±

    Isabelle nodded.

    ¡°Outside and loaded up apart from whatever¡¯s in our rooms.¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s get to it.¡±

    A quick scrabble through the room to grab her few items and her still sleeping rat and Ratface was on her way. They made their way out of the village. People gave Ratface heated looks, but nobody was brave enough to act on them. They got out of the gate and on their way out. Ratface sighed. Finally free.

    A woman stepped out of the forest and Ratface resolved to stop tempting fate. The woman was holding a spear, but she didn¡¯t look aggressive. She didn¡¯t even acknowledge the rest of them and instead faced Albert.

    ¡°Albert,¡± she said.

    ¡°Mum.¡± He tensed up like he was bracing to be stabbed.

    ¡°Daryl told me what happened,¡± she began. She sent Ratface a heated glare then turned back to Albert.

    ¡°I can¡¯t understand why you¡¯d side with a goblin, but I can¡¯t live with my son thinking I hate him.¡±

    She handed the spear to Albert, and he took it with shaking hands. Now that it was closer Ratface could see the craft that had gone into the thing. Isabelle was eyeing it with interest so it must have some enchantments on it.

    ¡°I was going to give you this on your first real adventure. I guess I still am.¡± She choked back a sob but pushed through. ¡°Take it and remember that even if I don¡¯t understand your decisions, I still trust you to make them.¡±

    She faded back into the forest and was gone before Albert had a chance to respond. He stared down at the spear then kept walking.

    Ratface eyed the forest, then let out another sigh. Now. Now they were done with the village.

    She looked around but this time nothing corrected her.

 Chapter Twenty-Four: Oops all alligators

    Ratface brought back another alligator. It was just a normal one and had been easy to deal with. That was particularly true because of a boy who was good at tracking and a girl who could control the plants around them. Ratface had largely been on carrying and skinning duty.

    She cut into the alligator and started skinning it. She had gotten better, but her attempts were still declared amateur by Abigail. A few cuts and some tugging later and she¡¯d finished the job. She left the meat for the old woman to deal with for dinner. Of the group she was the best cook. Ratface and Isabelle were tied for last.

    ¡°Just a normal gator again?¡± said Abigail. She started chopping it up into little pieces and added some of the meat to the pot and others to their provisions.

    Ratface nodded and Abigail made a face as she prepared the stew. Ratface watched in disappointment. She was sick of stew by now. Yes, she¡¯d been starving only a while ago but since she¡¯d met Abigail it had pretty much been all stew all the time. She said as much, and Abigail rolled her eyes.

    ¡°Stew is a good adventurer food. It makes the food last longer,¡± she insisted.

    Isabelle came over to join them. She had her old person illusion on which made her smile seem extra big as her wrinkles merged with her smile lines.

    ¡°City gator?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Normal gator,¡± said Abigail. The two of them exchanged a look but stopped when they noticed Ratface watching them. They¡¯d got more and more concerned every day she brought back a normal alligator.

    Ratface didn¡¯t ask. She suspected they wouldn¡¯t tell her if she did. She had an alternative source of information she could bother anyway.

    Ratface went to join Tiffany and Albert. They¡¯d made their own fire at Abigail¡¯s insistence. She phrased it as practice. Ratface reckoned that it was an excuse to let the adults have some space to themselves for discussing whatever was happening with the alligators.

    Tiffany was using her magic on the grass where she planned to sleep in an attempt to make a comfortable bed for herself. So far, her experimenting had had mixed results. One night she¡¯d managed to make herself a nice moss bed to sleep in. Most of the time time she¡¯d just grown the grass up and made herself a tick nest. This current attempt was leaning more towards the latter if Tiffany¡¯s frown was anything to go by.

    Albert was lost in thought staring at the spear his mother had given him. His expression was complicated and Ratface could imagine his emotions were even more so. Ratface wasn¡¯t sure what to say to him.

    Her relationship with her own parents was pretty simple. Her dad was a goblin she didn¡¯t know, and her mum had been great, until she died. Ratface felt sad about it but not as much as she probably should. The glamour probably helped make that easier to deal with admittedly. Hard to feel an emotion about someone when you couldn¡¯t remember their face.

    Okay, so her emotions were a little complex.

    Still. It¡¯s not like she had to deal with one parent disowning her and the other parent somehow being even more complex. Ratface didn¡¯t really know what to do to help with that.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

    Tiffany usually gave him a hug if he looked too down but Ratface wasn¡¯t really a hugger.

    Instead, she¡¯d gone with interrupting him.

    ¡°Is it weird that we¡¯re only seeing alligators?¡± she asked. She plopped herself down next to him, so he was forced to pay attention. He looked away from the spear as he contemplated the question.

    ¡°Yes and no. What animals do you know are in swamps?¡±

    ¡°Pretty much just alligators.¡±

    He paused in whatever he was about to say and looked at her in surprise.

    ¡°Wait, really?¡± He asked.

    Ratface shrugged. She wasn¡¯t from around here. Lurian didn¡¯t have alligators to her knowledge.

    ¡°Usually, the swamp has a bunch of different creatures in it,¡± said Tiffany. She¡¯d given up on her bed to sit closer to the fire, ¡°alligators, rats, snakes, there¡¯s even bugs.¡±

    Ratface looked at the mosquitos swirling around the fire. Albert snorted.

    ¡°She means proper bugs. Big ones that swarm.¡±

    Ratface shuddered. She didn¡¯t like the idea of fighting a swarm of something that could fly.

    ¡°I¡¯m glad we didn¡¯t get any of those in the sewer,¡± she said.

    ¡°Well, the sewers are designed to encourage rats and alligators to move in, not bugs.¡± said Albert. He kept explaining when he noticed her confused face. ¡°Most areas have an artificial breeding ground for monsters. It¡¯s a good first quest for kids like us.¡±

    That seemed stupidly dangerous to Ratface. They¡¯d nearly died because of what seemed like wilful negligence. Her mother would have never sent her to a sewer.

    Admittedly, in another year her mother would have sent her out to help in raids, but it¡¯s not like they were sending her out in the vanguard to fight adventurers. Not unless something went wrong.

    Ratface was saved from her cultural reflection by Albert¡¯s continued musing.

    ¡°With that many city gators dead we should have run into something. We should see some monsters migrating at least. Something is either gathering them or somethings scaring them away.¡±

    Ratface nodded. It was like how Abigail had explained creatures would come back with the golem gone. She looked over to Tiffany.

    ¡°Could a druid gather up creatures?¡± she asked.

    Tiffany shrugged.

    ¡°Maybe a persuasive or powerful one. Druid magic is sort of convincing things to work with you. That¡¯s why vines are so easy, it doesn¡¯t take a lot to convince them to grow.¡±

    ¡°What about the rot rat?¡± Ratface asked.

    ¡°He shouldn¡¯t have been able to control them at all. I don¡¯t know what that was,¡± said Tiffany.

    Ratface frowned. That was weird. The creatures in the sewer had stopped being so organized when he died but if he wasn¡¯t controlling them then shouldn¡¯t that not matter? Had something else been watching them fight?

    The thought didn¡¯t fill any of them with happy thoughts and they tried to change the subject. They moved onto lighter stuff like Tiffany¡¯s first interaction as a druid with a pig.

    The creatures were gluttons and gave off a level of ruthlessness that was hard to ignore. The pig had assured Tiffany that if she brought it any ¡®scraps¡¯, the pig would deal with them. Ratface resolved to never turn her back on a pig again. The others eventually went to sleep and Ratface checked on Halmir.

    The rat was sleeping again. He hadn¡¯t been the same since he bit the rat man. Ratface was worried about him but both Tiffany and Isabelle had checked on him and declared him physically healthy. Abigail had taken a look and started giving him the last of their city gator meat. The only time he woke up these days was to eat. He kept eating too much to the point he was starting to swell. Abigail had assured her it was fine but to keep feeding him. Ratface wouldn¡¯t lie, she was worried about the little guy.

    Abigail had told her to wait and see which hadn¡¯t helped at all. She didn¡¯t know what the other woman knew but she knew there was something. She¡¯d at least told Ratface that if he was still sleeping this much by the time they got to their destination, someone there could help him.

    Ratface didn¡¯t miss the implication that he needed help. If it wasn¡¯t something wrong physically then maybe he had magical disease? No one seemed concerned as much as she did. Isabelle had assured her that he wasn¡¯t dying, and Tiffany said rats slept most of the day anyway and this was normal.

    Ratface wasn¡¯t convinced. He had always woken up with her when they¡¯d been at the middens. She stroked his fur until she started getting sleepy, then set him down before she fell asleep on top of him.

    Maybe when she woke up, he¡¯d be back to his old self.

 Chapter Twenty-Five: Road Bump Monsters

    Their journey continued. The further they went, the weaker the swamps hold over the territory as it gave way to more trees and turned into a forest. It sped up their progress as the road became a little firmer and their wagon didn¡¯t suffer as much to move. The horse pulling it seemed to snort in relief at the change.

    Ratface finally saw something she recognised from home as they walked. There were a few Kauri trees littered around the forest. They dominated the areas where they grew. A wide tall tree that had a deep shade to its canopy.

    These ones were small for what she¡¯d seen.  They were still bigger than most of the trees in the area. It was a little nostalgic to see them outside of home. Her own village had been in proximity to one of these. Most of goblin villages were close to at least one of them.

    She pointed it out to the group. They agreed the tree was big but clearly didn¡¯t feel the sheer awe as what she did. Tiffany was closest as a druid.

    ¡°These trees can grow to be really old. I got told that they don¡¯t like to listen to druids at all.¡±

    ¡°Good wood on those trees,¡± Isabelle said, ¡°it¡¯s great for enchanting.¡±

    She saw the look of horror on Ratface¡¯s face which was reflected faintly by Tiffany.

    ¡°Uhh. Not that I would ever use it for that,¡± she said. She looked away when Ratface kept staring at her.

    Taking care of these trees was one of the few things that elves and goblins agreed on. Even an elf would get punished if they damaged one of these.

    ¡°Don¡¯t go to Lurian,¡± Ratface told Isabelle after a while.

    Abigail snorted.

    ¡°She wouldn¡¯t be able to even if she wanted to. You have to be a high-level adventurer to even be considered. Or a noble.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s that dangerous?¡± Tiffany asked.

    ¡°Yes and no. It¡¯s the elves and goblins sanctuary. You need a specific hunting license for goblins there.¡±

    Ratface hissed about that. Sanctuary isn¡¯t how she¡¯d describe a place that still let you be hunted so long as there was a license. Her mother had kept a wall of the certificates from people she¡¯d slain with them. If someone was found with it in a raid they were never offered any mercy.

    Their wagon came to a stop and Ratface saw that two paths stretched ahead of them.

    ¡°It¡¯s time we told you where we were going,¡± said Abigail, ¡°I¡¯ve kept it quiet because I didn¡¯t want anyone knowing for sure. Once we take this path it¡¯ll be obvious to anyone who knows the area. Particularly if they know me.¡± She gestured to the path to the left. ¡°We¡¯re going to the Redwood.¡±

    There was a silence to her statement followed by horrified exclamations.

    ¡°The witch¡¯s forest?¡± Tiffany squeaked.

    ¡°We¡¯ll die,¡± cried Albert.

    Ratface kept silent. She didn¡¯t know what the fuss was about. The name told her the trees might be red but that was about it.

    ¡°You¡¯re not going to die,¡± said Abigail. She was clearly irritated at the insulation as she got the wagon moving again. ¡°The Redwood is only dangerous if you don¡¯t follow the rules or challenged the trees.¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

    Ratface frowned at that. How did you even challenge a tree?

    Abigail gave them all a hard stare.

    ¡°You need to be prepared as well. Something is out there. It might not have anything to do with us but if it does, then we should be prepared for monsters.

    It was only by the afternoon that Abigail¡¯s paranoia was proven correct. A swarm of bugs came for them and Ratface was treated to her first true swamp experience. The irony that it came after she got out of the place wasn¡¯t lost on her.

    The bugs were big creatures and looked like if a mosquito was designed to drain all your blood instead of just a bite. They had a barbed needles for mouths and Ratface was dismayed to discover they had six of them. Their feet ended in tiny claws, and she resolved to not let one of them touch her. The bugs dove towards the group. Isabelle threw a small fireball into their centre which sent them scattering. A few of them dropped but not as many as Ratface would have liked. The main benefit was that some of the bugs swooped low to dodge the spell which Tiffany took advantage of as vines shot up from the ground to catch and crush the creatures.

    The rest of the bugs made it into close range. The three melee members of the group took over. Ratface had wondered how Abigail would deal with them. A greatsword seemed like a big enemy kind of thing. To her surprise the woman wielded the weapon with surprising dexterity. Cutting down the swarm and sometimes letting their own momentum split them apart of her blade.

    Albert was in his element. She¡¯d seen him deal with swarms before, so she wasn¡¯t that surprised he was good at it. His new spear seemed to be almost worth the trauma of getting it as he stabbed and swept it through the creatures. He barely seemed to put any effort into cutting them.

    Ratface was not so graceful as the other two. She¡¯d learned a bit more about how to fight with her knife and sword, but her fighting could still best be described as a cat stuck in a sack. She was a lot of quick slashes and stabs. Her armour was a big help and Ratface saw why Abigail insisted their skin was covered with it. The claws and little spears stabbed into her clothes a little, but it was clear they were used to fighting animals that only had skin to get passed. They always seemed surprised to not draw blood, and she used that moment to cut them down with her knife.

    Tiffany and Isabelle kept behind them and Ratface worried for the two. She didn¡¯t know about Isabelle, but Tiffany definitely didn¡¯t have any armour on under that robe. Sure, it was a pretty sturdy robe, but it would only take one stab for it to start going downhill.

    Thankfully the bugs seemed relatively stupid. It was like someone had thrown them in their path and then left them to it. They concentrated on the three at the front because they were closest. Some made it to the wagon. Ratface got ready to throw her knife to protect the sleeping Halmir, but she couldn¡¯t get a clear shot. Tiffany saw them and swung her staff through the bugs. She met Ratface¡¯s eyes daring her to say something and Ratface wisely kept her mouth shut. She was glad the helmet was hiding her antagonising grin. The way the other girl kept looking at Ratface made her suspect Tiffany could still sense the grin anyway.

    The battle was over quickly, and Abigail got the wagon moving.

    ¡°Grab the bodies,¡± Isabelle called to Albert and Ratface. They scooped up as many as they could then hurried to catch up with the wagon.

    It was only a few hours later that another swarm caught up to them. Then there was another a few hours after that. It even came with a few city gators.

    Ratface frowned after the second group. While she wouldn¡¯t underestimate the monsters, with the group they had it was unlikely that their group would be overwhelmed by these small groups. It¡¯d be better to swarm them. They were less coordinated than the monsters in the sewer as well, so she was obviously missing something.

    The next group had more alligators and less flyers. It also had a big deer of some sort that had antlers as sharp as blades. It charged and Abigail specifically got in its way. She grunted when she caught the thing before cutting it down. Ratface wondered what they¡¯d do if a herd of those had hit them.

    She watched Abigail quickly grab the deer, then leave the rest of the bodies on the floor. She got the wagon moving and Ratface noticed she was pushing the wagon to go faster. Abigial drained some of the blood of the deer and put it in the horse¡¯s oats as well as a couple of dips of healing potion. Ratface had wondered how they kept moving so fast. Now she knew.

    The doping of the horse was the last part of the puzzle to make it click.

    Whatever kept sending the creatures at them wasn¡¯t trying to take them out with the monsters, though she imagined it wouldn¡¯t be upset if it did so. No, it was trying to slow them down while more of its creatures got together. She¡¯d thought they were in a battle, but they were actually in a race.

    With that information, each stop to fight them was filled with a little more panic. It must have shown in her fighting because Abigail nodded at her with a grim expression. It was that expression that really filled her with dread.

    Whatever was chasing them, Abigail didn¡¯t want to fight it.

 Chapter Twenty-Six: Marathon battles

    It was a race, but it wasn¡¯t a sprint. In hindsight Ratface should have worked that out by how careful they were with the horse¡¯s doping.

    The first day was the most hectic. The quick monsters had been thrown at them in swarms of whatever could reach them first. It had slowed them down, but not been particularly effective otherwise. Ratface wondered if their nameless pursuer had been panicking when they sent them.

    The first night was when they started to get more cunning. No matter how many potions they pumped into the horse it still needed a few hours rest. The rest of them took the same opportunity.

    ¡°Two hours,¡± Abigail said. She was rubbing the horse down and checking on its joints. Ratface didn¡¯t know anything about horses and only a little about health potions. She imagined even with the extra food it had been giving the potion must be wearing on its insides. The horse looked tired. It must have been exhausted if Ratface for Ratface to notice.

    Ratface sympathised. She wasn¡¯t used to fighting all day and she felt dead on her feet. She found herself grateful for all the running training Abigail had got her to do or she might not have made it to the night. She collapsed next to the wagon and curled up to sleep.

    She was out quickly, and it was only an inbuilt paranoia that woke her up in time. A faint hissing noise was coming from ahead of her. A snake raised to strike the horse. Ratface dived forward and yanked it back by the tail, its mouth clicked shut just before the horses ankle. She kept pulling it back and the thing turned towards her. It snapped at her, but she dived out of the way. Somehow, she¡¯d still kept hold of the things tail and she spun around until it wasn¡¯t able to turn towards her. After a moment she threw the thing into the forest.

    A few of their group looked up at the commotion. Their faces were groggy after just being woken up. Abigail had been the only one awake. The snake had snuck up in her blind spot. She watched it fly into the forest with concern.

    Ratface wasn¡¯t surprised the woman had missed the thing. It had blended into the grass, and it was only luck that had let Ratface notice it. She wasn¡¯t even sure it was a monster. It looked like it was just a normal snake.

    A normal snake would be enough though. A thought that Abigail seemed to share as she got them moving again. It was much slower so the horse could at least get some rest, but it was some time before they stopped again for a quick nap. Abigail got them all to sleep around the horse this time. She still stayed up and kept watch.

    They picked up the pace once the sun came out again. The two magic users were bundled up for a nap which left the rest of the jogging next to the wagon. Ratface wished she could be having a nap too, but she understood the logic. A mage needed their rest to be able to deal with the mental strain of casting and they were a lot more useful against the swarms than she was.

    The extra rest was made up for later. A pack of those deer things was charging the wagon, and it was all Abigail could do to keep them away. They moved like they were a cavalry instead of monsters. Abigail bloodies them each time that got close, but they darted away before she could do serious damage. The deer were slowing them down and Ratface knew Abigail couldn¡¯t retaliate without risking the wagon.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

    Ratface jumped onto the wagon and shook Tiffany awake. The girl looked at her in a moment of confusion before snapping up and looking around.

    ¡°You should¡¯ve woken Isabelle up. I can¡¯t kill these things,¡± Tiffany said. Ratface shook her head and pointed to their legs. She was taking a leaf out of the snake¡¯s book from last night.

    ¡°Grab their ankles, you don¡¯t have to get all of them.¡±

    The other girl nodded and then focused on the deer. Her staff began to glow green as she got ready to cast.

    The deer charged and Tiffany let her spell out. There weren¡¯t any vines in the area, so roots shot out of the ground and wrapped around the deer¡¯s legs.

    There was a series of horrible snapping noises as the creatures tried to run forward and found they couldn¡¯t. Most of them collapsed to the ground in pain as their leg gave out. one managed to dodged it all. That one completed its charge only to find Abigail waiting for it. She slammed into the creature before it could get too close. The deer had one moment to look back at the rest of its herd before it was cut down.

    Albert went to finish off the rest of the deer, but Ratface stopped him.

    ¡°Keep going,¡± she told him. The deer were either out of the picture or whatever was following them had to stop to heal them. No matter what option it was, they gained time that finishing the job would only lose them.

    They kept going and Tiffany settled back to go to sleep.

    Tiffany was a powerful caster, but she wasn¡¯t used to fighting yet and needed direction to be effective. Isabelle in comparison didn¡¯t need anyone¡¯s help to use her magic. When the woman was awake their travel was noticeably easier, and they would go long stretches without running into anything.

    The reason was simple, Isabelle was an illusionist.

    Ratface had thought illusions were a useless sort of magic. Great for when you were in a town, sure, but not great in a combat situation.

    Isabelle spent the rest of the afternoon correcting her of that assumption.

    At first, she just kept the creatures away from them. They would follow the false wagon¡¯s she sent off or close their ambush on a fake one of their party that Isabelle had sent running too far ahead.

    It was when they were finally forced into combat that Ratface was faced with the fact that Isabelle might be more dangerous than Abigail.

    Ratface knew sight was important to a fight, there was a reason why goblins liked to attack at night. Still, she had never been in a fight and had no access to magic. Her approach to using sight in a fight was pretty much deny as much of it from the enemy as you could. She hadn¡¯t stopped to consider what it would be like to manipulate it like Isabelle could.

    Some of it was stuff that Ratface could understand, a deer would charge her then suddenly dart away as a wolf charged at it. There¡¯d be multiple images of them for the monsters to attack and leave themselves open as a result.

    It was the subtle illusions that really impressed Ratface. So small and yet so deadly.

    Abigail''s sword appearing just a bit shorter was the end for one monster as it darted just out of what it thought the swords reach was only to be cut down. She watched one deer crash into the ground as the flat grass ahead of it it revealed itself to be filled an illusion over a path filled with roots and holes.

    An illusion layered over Ratface struck high while the actual Ratface attacked low. It looked so natural that if Ratface hadn¡¯t been the one attacking she wouldn¡¯t have been able to tell the difference.

    Thousands of little things that caused the monsters to make a little mistake and a little mistake was all it took.

    Ratface watched the work in awe. Not only did it help them, but not once did Isabelle make an illusion that hampered their own movements. The woman was in complete control of the battlefield in a way that spoke of an underlying knowledge of not only illusions, but countless other topics that let her use the illusions to their deadly potential. Ratface had never wished for magic so strongly as she did in that moment.

    Another day passed and they kept making progress. The monsters were cunning, but the sheer competence of their group meant they were pulling ahead. Ratface began to think they were going to make it. A thought the world immediately punished her for.

    They survived the next swarm. The horse and wagon didn¡¯t.

 Chapter Twenty-Seven: Last ditch sprint

    It hadn¡¯t been anyone¡¯s fault.

    Alternatively, it was all their faults for a failure of imagination. The battles they¡¯d been fighting had been strategic. The puppeteer of the monsters pulling back their resources when it became clear the balance between the damage they could do and what they¡¯d lose was too high.

    It had lulled them all into a false security that their enemy cared about the monsters, that they wouldn¡¯t waste them.

    Ratface looked at the broken wagon and dying horse and realised they¡¯d been played. The final charge of the monsters had been costly, but it had worked. Deer had sprinted in with rats clinging to their fur, flying bugs swooped out of the air, and even a few dregs of city gators rushed in. Ratface had readied herself for a fight, but they only fought her as much as they needed to get past her. She was able to cut down plenty by virtue of not really needing to defend herself.

    Albert and Abigail were devastating, anything that got too close to them died. They could only deal with things that got close though; the rest of the monsters used the barrier of flesh to rush past them. Tiffany¡¯s vines pulled down more and more but there was too many for her to deal with, and eventually they overwhelmed her. Isabelle took one look at the situation and scooped up the girl. She jumped off the wagon a moment before one of the deer broke through and smashed into it. It then slashed deep into the horse¡¯s belly. The horse reared up and slammed its hooves into the monster. The deer died but the horse stumbled to the floor.

    At the end, the swarm was dead, but their goal had been accomplished.

    Ratface ran to the wagon and looked through their bags. She sighed in relief as she found Halmir asleep in hers. He looked battered but nothing seemed broken. He still didn¡¯t wake up but that had been true for most of their escape. They¡¯d had to save most the monster meat for the rest of them to keep going. Halmir still woke up to eat when he sniffed the meat, but it was like he was sleepwalking.

    She picked him up and found an intact health potion next to him. She looked to the horse and hesitated.

    She shouldn¡¯t bother. It¡¯s not like the horse would be able to help them. The sacrifice the potion took to heal it would leave it barely able to walk let alone run.

    Yet it had carried them this far. It hadn¡¯t flinched in the face of monsters and had gone down swinging.

    She hurried over to the horse and poured some on the wound and the rest down its throat. She didn¡¯t know if it would be enough. The gash in its stomach looked like someone had tried to butcher it while it was still alive.

    The stomach started to stitch itself together before her eyes and the horse¡¯s breath became more even. Eventually it had enough strength to stand up.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

    One look at it confirmed her theory it couldn¡¯t help them. Its legs were shaking, and it had bags under its eyes. She hadn¡¯t even known that could happen to horses.

    She looked over to the others. No one had stopped her, and it seemed no one could bring themselves to criticise her choice.

    Abigail was eyeing the wagon and how far they needed to go.

    ¡°We can make it if we run,¡± she said. She didn¡¯t wait for an answer before she did just that. The two mages were slowest, and Abigail scooped up Tiffany while Isabelle grabbed onto her back.

    She was still the fastest even with the two extra weights. Ratface guessed some of it must be the armour helping her, but a lot of it seemed to just be she was used to running. Her stride was long and measured and her feet always seemed to fall on easy footholds propelling her forward.

    Albert and Ratface ran behind her with considerably less grace. Ratface could at least sheathe her weapons without it affecting her stride, but Albert was stuck awkwardly holding his spear. He¡¯d be faster without it, but Ratface wasn¡¯t stupid enough to suggest it. One look at his eyes told her how that would go.

    They kept running. Ratface was so tired that all she could focus on was keeping one step ahead of the other. Her lungs ached and she could feel her heart beating. It was like a drum matching her mad run.

    She nearly collapsed when they finally stopped. Her brain reminded her of the situation she was in, and she stood up. She leant on a tree while she gulped down air to get her brain running enough to see.

    She wished she hadn¡¯t.

    The forest around them had been clearing until it verged onto being a plain, she¡¯d been too busy running to really notice how the terrain was changing.

    The area in front of them was cleared completely. It looked like someone had cut a huge line through the area until there was about a one hundred and fifty meter clearing between the last of the forest trees and what lay beyond.

    It wasn¡¯t difficult to tell that what she could see was the Redwood. The trees and plants colour explained the name. They looked like they were burning from the inside, flashes of red and yellow light peeking through their bark.

    Even the grass was red, they looked like a sea of embers on the ground. Only their little blades revealing it to be anything else. Ratface could understand Albert and Tiffany¡¯s fear now.

    It wasn¡¯t what scared Ratface though; a fear so great that her legs collapsed underneath her as she kneeled.

    The thing before her was something scarier than even the rogue had been. A potent mixture of hate, fear, and awe warred in her brain as she stared at the lone figure between her and sanctuary.

    The elf spared her a glance and nodded at her kneeling form. It expected it as its due. It turned back to face Abigail and Isabelle who¡¯d placed themselves in front of the children. Ratface remembered to breathe as the elf¡¯s ire moved away from her to settle on someone else.

    It was perfect, as all its people were perfect. Daylight pooled around the elf. In its green clothing, it was like a keeper of the forest. They were the interlopers it had come to remove.

    The only thing marring its face was the faint twist of annoyance cutting through it like a gash.

    Ratface spared a glance at the Redwood. They¡¯d been so close to safety but they might as well have not run at all.

    The elf¡¯s eyes burned as it stared at Abigail. It seemed the look of annoyance was for her.

    Abigail stood in front of them all, defying the creature.

    She¡¯d drawn her sword and placed it in front of her. Her face was set in a grim line as she stared at the elf.

    Yet she did not shake, her eyes didn¡¯t betray fear. She met its eyes, face grim, but calm.

    Her sword was burning blue.

 Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Keeper

    Ratface couldn¡¯t move. She knew she should, but she couldn¡¯t.

    It was worse than that, Ratface refused to move. Albert and Tiffany tried to pick her up and she struggled against them the entire time.

    ¡°If we can get to the Redwood, we¡¯re safe,¡± murmured Abigail. She eyed the red burning wood beyond the elf as if rating their chances.

    ¡°We need to run,¡± Albert hissed at Ratface. He didn¡¯t understand.

    ¡°Will you run guest?¡± asked the elf. Her eyes lingered on Ratface again and it felt like her heart stopped beating.

    Isabelle glanced over to Ratface.

    ¡°Glamour?¡± she asked.

    The elf laughed. Her laugh was like a bell as it rung through the air. The light seemed to giggle with it.

    ¡°You attribute magic to what is natural. The guests must pay respect to their hosts.¡±

    ¡°We goblins are guests in the elves¡¯ home,¡± Ratface forced out, trying to explain, ¡°it is only right that we treat our hosts with courtesy.¡±

    ¡°The guest speaks true. Fear not guest-child. I am only here to take you to the safety of my home.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s not happening,¡± said Abigail. She took a step closer to the elf and its eyes snapped to her. ¡°Leave now and we¡¯ll pretend we never saw you. I can¡¯t imagine it would be good for Lurian relations if the news got out an elf was gathering monsters.¡±

    ¡°I am afraid you¡¯ve already hurt my plans too much with your culling. Reparations must be made. Killing the witch¡¯s plaything will have to suffice.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s not a witch,¡± Abigail said. She drew her sword from the ground and held it in a stance by her waist. ¡°She¡¯s a warlock.¡±

    Abigail flashed blue. She covered the distance in a moment, just like she¡¯d done with the golem.

    Unlike the golem, the elf defended. A quarterstaff appearing in her hand as she blocked Abigail¡¯s attack. The elf grunted at the effort and was forced to take a step back.

    Abigail kept up the pressure. Her armour flashed blue as she shoved into the elf. The elf darted back and slammed her staff into Abigail¡¯s side. The armour came away dented.

    Abigail didn¡¯t have time to worry about it as the elf pushed forward with her own attacks. The two traded blows. It seemed even until you realised the elf easily turned away any strike that Abigail sent her way. The only exception to that was the strikes empowered by Abigail¡¯s armour. The elf had to dart back from those ones.

    The empowered attacks were too clearly telegraphed though. The blue flash happened a moment before Abigail moved, and they were too linear. It sacrificed technique for brute force.

    Someone like Ratface wouldn¡¯t be able to take advantage of that, but the elf was better than she was. It had already begun to dodge the attacks with ease, and it smiled as Abigail¡¯s armour flashed blue again. It moved in to take advantage of the space.

    Abigail smiled back and twisted her sword towards the elf¡¯s face.

    Blood dripped from the elf¡¯s wound, and they wiped at it with irritation. Ratface¡¯s eyes widened. Abigail had managed to hurt her. Looking at the deep cut across the elf¡¯s face, Abigail might have even been able to kill the elf if it hadn¡¯t darted away.

    ¡°A cheap trick,¡± the elf said. Her face thunderous.

    ¡°I thought you¡¯d like the trick given yours with the monsters. Preparing a parade, were you?¡±

    The elf laughed. This one was nasty and Ratface could hear it in her skull.

    ¡°You lack imagination. I would tell you, but a corpse needs no answer,¡± said the elf. Her hand shone green for a moment and her wound stopped bleeding.

    ¡°Instead, I will give you a name. Know that you face Amaranth the Keeper.¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    Amaranth charged at Abigail. Her staff was glowing as it whirled around her. Abigail stopped the strikes, but she was getting pushed around. She ended up on the other side of the elf as she pushed Abigail further away from the rest of them.

    The elf kept hitting Abigail until finally she found an opening. Amaranth slammed her staff into Abigail¡¯s hand, forcing her to drop the sword.

    She was about to land the finishing strike when something forced her to duck out of the way.

    A knife whizzed past where her head had been. Albert ran at her spear first as he stabbed. The elf caught it with her staff, but Albert was already backing up to Abigail who¡¯d taken the opportunity to pick up her sword. The three of them circled each other. Abigail and Albert getting themselves back into a position where their backs were to Ratface once more.

    The fight went better then. Abigail kept up the pressure. Her armour was glowing permanently blue now as each strike was empowered.

    When the elf tried to take advantage of her aggressive style, Albert would cover her. The two were forcing the elf back but they couldn¡¯t hit her and Ratface knew that if it kept up like this then eventually, they¡¯d tire out.

    She looked over to Tiffany who was desperately trying to get the plants to work with her. Next to her Isabelle was watching the fight with a deep focus. She must have put up illusions to help the other two.

    Everyone was working so hard to save her. Tiffany was literally arguing with nature itself to try and get it to defy the elf.

    Yet the plants were like Ratface. They knew they couldn¡¯t fight against an elf. It was like fighting nature itself. She should just give herself up.

    A small vine caught the elf¡¯s foot. She stumbled, and was forced to block Abigail¡¯s follow up swing instead of dodge. Albert took advantage of the opening and stabbed through with his spear. It only got her arm but that was two wounds she had taken now.

    The elf shot Tiffany a murderous glare. Amaranth had murderous eyes for all of them. Well, almost all of them. She didn¡¯t even bother to look at Ratface.

    There was an opportunity there. She just had to force herself to move.

    Ratface struggled against her muscles, trying to get herself to stand. They wanted to stay still. The elves weren¡¯t to be trifled with, even her mother knew that.

    Her mother had known that, yet she had still insisted that the elves¡¯ writing was based on goblins. She had whispered it to Ratface like a weapon. A knife that she needed for just this moment.

    The elves weren¡¯t perfect. Goblins had already given them a gift. It was a poor host who kept asking for things.

    Ratface felt something in her snap. It hurt. She still felt scared and sick but now anger burned in there too.

    She tried to move and found her legs wouldn¡¯t work with her. Fine.

    Ratface flopped to the ground and crawled towards the fight. Amaranth was starting to win as Abigail and Albert tired out.

    Ratface crawled ever closer. She couldn¡¯t think about the chance the elf would win. It would stop her in her tracks. She had to take the opportunity available to her. She inched closer.

    The elf kicked Albert tumbling back. Out of the corner of her eye, Ratface saw Tiffany rush over to him to check he was okay which meant her vines stopped helping Abigail.

    Amaranth took advantage of the moment. She attacked Abigail aggressively who desperately fended off the attacks. Her armour flickered as she struggled to maintain her power.

    Ratface kept dragging herself closer, keeping behind the elf as much as she could.

    The elf let out a cry of triumph. It parried Abigail¡¯s attack and slammed its staff into her chest plate. The armour exploded and Abigail was sent tumbling back.

    Ratface wasn¡¯t close enough, but she kept dragging herself forward. She knew what would come next.

    ¡°Hah! even with your tricks you were no match,¡± Amaranth cried. She was panting and leaning on her staff, but she smiled in victory.

    ¡°Maybe if you had been fresh, it would have been different, but at last our fight has to an end. Die well knight.¡±

    She raised her staff up to finish Abigail. The old woman¡¯s eyes were open, but she wasn¡¯t moving.

    Ratface gathered her courage. She pleaded with her legs. They needed to move now, for the lady that saved them. There¡¯d be no second chance.

    Ratface leapt onto the elf¡¯s back and stabbed her knife down. Amaranth managed to move a little bit, so the knife found her shoulder instead of her neck.

    Ratface stayed on the elf¡¯s back as she stumbled away. She went to stab again but the elf grabbed her and threw her off into Abigail where she landed with a thud.

    Amaranth screamed in frustration and Ratface looked up at her death. She¡¯d been close. She hoped her mother would approve.

    ¡°How dare you,¡± spat Amaranth, ¡°what do you think you accomplished?¡±

    ¡°Well for one thing, it got you to take a few steps back,¡± said a voice next to Ratface. The illusion shattered as Isabelle appeared. She had a wide smile as she looked at the elf.

    They all looked around and realised that wasn¡¯t the only illusion that had shattered. They no longer stood on the green but in a forest of burning red. Amaranth barely inside the area.

    ¡°You-¡± started Amaranth but was cut off as the area around her erupted in flame.

    The forest came alive as it attacked the elf. It forced her back until she was forced out of the forest back into the green. A wall of flame blocking her from the rest of them. She watched them with hate filled eyes.

    ¡°That fire won¡¯t last long. Grab Abigail and move,¡± Isabelle commanded. Ratface was following the orders before she realised. Abigail was breathing and awake but couldn¡¯t stand for some reason. Ratface dragged her away with Isabelle¡¯s help. Tiffany joined them with Albert leaning heavily on her as they stumbled forward.

    Ratface risked a glance back. The fire had stopped, and the elf watched her. It didn¡¯t have any eyes but for her and Ratface shuddered at the attention.

    She knew next time; the elf would not ignore her. The thought filled her with dread.

 Chapter Twenty-Nine: Redwood Forest

    The Redwood was an alien place. The trees on the outside had at least had the good grace to look like trees, but the further they delved into the forest, the more warped the trees became. Ratface was sure one of them had turned to watch them pass it by. It hadn¡¯t even had any eyes that she could see but that only made it worse. Some occasionally let out a burst of flame into the air. One did that close to her and she had to wipe her face as a thick layer of pollen covered her. It was warm.

    Another tree seemed to be growing out of the air. Its branches reached for the ground like it was trying to grab the earth to tether itself.

    The animals were no less weird. The ¡®birds¡¯ moved through the air like they were swimming instead of flying. The fact they were in the air was the only reason she called them birds. One looked like a strange fish with wide fins that it used to glide around. Its mouth was on its underside and little tentacles lashed out to grab critters on the ground.

    A squirrel was nearly caught by the ¡®bird¡¯, but it flickered away. It was like an illusion shattering. The squirrel¡¯s body shattered into little shards and moved out of the way of the tentacles. Once the shards had reached the safety of one of the trees, they reformed the squirrel. It was like a puzzle assembling itself until the whole squirrel appeared, blinked, then ran away.

    Tiffany seemed particularly disturbed.

    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± Ratface asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s the trees, they keep reaching out to talk to me, asking for a deal.¡± She shuddered. ¡°Their voices are so different. It¡¯s like I¡¯m not talking to a tree at all.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t make a deal with them, not until you have more practice,¡± said Isabelle. She hissed at one of the fish birds that had been getting too close. It banked away from them and into the forest and Isabelle shook her head.

    ¡°Stupid red-rays.¡±

    A cough startled them all. Abigail looked around at them in confusion while her eyes swivelled into focus.

    ¡°Ugh, feedback,¡± she said.

    ¡°You¡¯re okay?¡± Ratface asked. More concern bled through than she wanted to admit to and the way the old woman smiled told her she¡¯d noticed.

    ¡°Sort of. That elf hit hard in the end and overloaded one of my cores.¡± She pushed herself up until she was standing. She still rested a hand on Ratface and the weight pushing down on Ratface¡¯s shoulder told her the old woman was still injured as Abigail limped next to her.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!

    ¡°We could keep dragging you,¡± Ratface offered.

    Abigail grimaced.

    ¡°Maybe but this faster. I want to get to my chair.¡±

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s the chair you¡¯re excited to see,¡± said Isabelle, her voice deadpan.

    Ratface got to see Abigail blush of all things. It made her look younger.

    The forest seemed to respond to it. A clearer path opened before them and the trees started offering them flowers. The flowers were strange too but at least they seemed to be in a competition to be the most beautiful. One definitely made itself into a ring with a flower on top that Abigail put on with a chuckle.

    ¡°Typical. I¡¯ve been talking for most of the trip, but the moment Abigail wakes up suddenly it¡¯s all flowers and ease. No love for your apprentice?¡± Isabelle asked the forest. She crossed her arms in a huff, but she couldn¡¯t help the small smile on her face.

    Ratface found it a little surreal how relaxed Isabelle and Abigail were. This place looked like it would be filled with monsters and there was an elf stalking its edges. She thought Tiffany and Alberts agitated stares were more appropriate. It didn¡¯t escape her knowledge that the two had pushed closer together to get away from the steadily blooming flowers that now lined the path.

    Ratface¡¯s opinion was somewhere in the middle. None of the creatures had attacked them on their way in, and the flowers blooming pretty much confirmed that was from someone watching out for them. It seemed they were in that person¡¯s good graces, maybe the warlock Abigail had mentioned.

    At the same time, controlling a forest like this would require a lot of power. They were walking right into that person¡¯s territory. It¡¯d only take one of them making them mad for this to be a more certain death than fighting the elf.

    She shuddered as she remembered Amaranth¡¯s eyes. Her mother had made a point of keeping her hidden from the elves as much as possible. To have one not just see her but mark her was a terrifying prospect.

    It was the choice she¡¯d made though. She thought her mother would be proud of what she¡¯d done. It was hard to regret it with that thought comforting her.

    Her thoughts were interrupted by the path opening into a clearing with a mansion situated in the middle. It was sculpted out of the land around them and had clearly had a lot of care put into it. They were standing in its backyard which was a little weird but still a lovely sight. Some of the plants here were even normal and she could see Tiffany give a sigh of relief at seeing them.

    The sigh was short lived as a lady opened the door and rushed down the stairs. She ran over to Abigail who, despite the pain, picked her up and twirled her. The two laughed in joy at seeing each other and Isabelle watched it with a small smile.

    The rest of them didn¡¯t laugh and Ratface imagined the same look of terror that was on the other children¡¯s faces was mirrored on her own.

    The control the woman had over the Redwood all made sense as Ratface stared at a creature that even elves feared. Part of Ratface insisted that she should like the woman just for that, but that part was an idiot. When two predators fought the only sure thing was that the prey got eaten.

    Calling her a warlock made sense now, how could she be anything else? The woman who Abigal held and who smiled at them like a friend instead of a monster was not from this world.

    Ratface beheld the Warlock of Redwood. A demon standing directly in front of her.

    It was almost enough to make her wish for the elf.

 Chapter Thirty: The Demon in the Forest

    The demon wasn¡¯t what Ratface would have expected from the stories. She wore a simple farmers dress; it¡¯s focus more on how many pockets she could fit on it than any sense of style. It still looked good on her, but Ratface suspected that was because of her than any dress concerns. She had a tail wrapped around her waist like a belt. It ended in a point shaped like an arrowhead.

    Her skin was red, and her veins burned beneath her skin. She reminded Ratface of the trees she¡¯d seen and wondered if this demon was the template.

    Her face was uncanny. It looked like an elf¡¯s face, if the elf had been mixed with several different predators. Her teeth were sharp, and her eyes reminded Ratface of a wild cat¡¯s.

    The biggest difference was the top of her head. Ratface had thought she¡¯d been wearing a crown but realised that those were horns growing out of her head. Situated in the middle of the horns like a gem in a crown was a burning eye that stared down at her.

    She didn¡¯t radiate perfection like an elf but that same sense of danger wafted from her. Ratface didn¡¯t even bother reaching for her knife. If this woman wanted her dead, then she was dead.

    The demon¡¯s smile turned from Abigail to them and took on an amused tint.

    ¡°Your children seem concerned,¡± she said to Abigail. She held her hand out to them like a farmer closing a deal. ¡°My name is Claudette, and yours?¡±

    She kept holding her hand out expectantly and Ratface realised neither of the others were going to take it. Ratface shook her head, that wasn¡¯t how you dealt with the powerful, the first step was to offer them no slights.

    ¡°Ratface,¡± she said. She took Claudette¡¯s hand but was sure not to meet her eyes.

    ¡°Ah, you are from Lurian,¡± said Claudette.

    ¡°Yes, you are correct great host,¡± Ratface said. She made sure to keep her head down.

    ¡°You all call me that. Do you know how I can tell you¡¯re from Lurian?¡±

    ¡°My accent perhaps, great host?¡±

    ¡°You do a good job of masking it. No, it is the way you approach me.¡± She sounded irritated. Out of the corner of Ratface¡¯s eyes, she saw Abigail reach for the demon before the woman waved her off.

    ¡°If I have caused any disrespect, I apologise,¡± Ratface said. Her eyes looked down at the ground.

    ¡°Oh, you respect me, I can see that. You respect me like the rabbit respects the wolf.¡± She kneeled before Ratface and kept staring at her until Ratface was forced to make eye contact.

    ¡°I am no wild animal, no host. Treat me as a person, an equal. There shall be no consequence for small slights against me, I swear on my name.¡± Her voice was gentle. Ratface found no ire in Claudette¡¯s eyes, if anything she looked hurt at Ratface¡¯s assumption. Ratface looked from her to Abigail, who gave her the tiniest nod. The woman was safe.

    ¡°Claudette then,¡± she said. She met Claudette¡¯s eyes properly.

    The demon smiled then quickly stood up and clapped her hands. Ratface tried to hide her flinch.

    ¡°Now that¡¯s sorted, how about you two young adventurers. Surely, you¡¯re as brave as your companion?¡±

    The other two gave their names and took Claudette¡¯s hand. Claudette raised her eyebrows in amusement when she took Tiffany¡¯s. The woman seemed amused by everything they did.

    ¡°A druid, is it? The walk here must have been an enlightening experience.¡±

    ¡°Your forest is unique, Claudette,¡± said Tiffany carefully.

    ¡°A polite way to say you hated it. Demons by nature do tend to be more forceful, even their plants.¡±This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    That caught the younger girl¡¯s attention.

    ¡°I wondered, but they are demon plants, aren¡¯t they? How did you get them to grow here?¡±

    ¡°The forest floor is consecrated for them,¡± said Claudette. She was leading them all into her home and had taken Abigail¡¯s hand.

    ¡°Honestly love, you should have told them what I was, I doubt the surprise did their hearts any good,¡± Claudette said to Abigail, gently admonishing her.

    ¡°It was hard enough to get them into your forest, did you think I could convince them the demon was safe?¡±

    ¡°Hmm. I suppose emergencies make for bad decisions,¡± said Claudette, admitting defeat.

    Inside the mansion it was homey but tasteful. The furniture didn¡¯t compromise on style but one look at the padded chairs told Ratface it didn¡¯t skimp on comfort either.

    Claudette led them through the mansion into a tearoom. A goblin sat there reading. She quickly put the book down when she saw them coming in and rushed out of the room. Ratface had only got a moment to look at her, but she had been red.

    Claudette got them all sitting down and settled. A moment later the goblin came in with a tea set with little biscuits on a tray. She moved between them all and handed out a cup, leaving the biscuits in the table between them.

    She was definitely red. She even had two horns growing from her forehead and around back behind her ears. It made it look like she was wearing a circlet or a fancy headband.

    When she got to Ratface she paused before carefully handing her the cup, making sure she didn¡¯t drop it.

    ¡°Servant? Red?¡± whispered Ratface in goblin.

    The other girl shook her head.

    ¡°Apprentice. Long story,¡± she replied before coming to sit next to Ratface and picking up her book. Ratface couldn¡¯t tell what it was about because it was in common, but the cover had adventurers fighting a dragon which surprised her. Imagine a goblin reading about adventurers, maybe the dragon ate them in the end?

    ¡°Perhaps it would be worth introducing yourself?¡± Claudette asked the girl. She put her book down, clearly irritated but trying not to show it and gave the room a little nod.

    ¡°Eliana,¡± she said to the others. She looked over to Ratface and added, ¡°Suncat¡± in goblin. Ah, that explained the attitude. Clever but full of pride. A little lazy too. She was probably friendly to those close to her but didn¡¯t bother with strangers. She snorted at Ratface¡¯s knowing look. The rest of them introduced themselves to Suncat. Suncat nodded in understanding as Ratface gave her name.

    ¡°Nosy,¡± Suncat whispered to Ratface. Ratface laughed.

    Claudette watched the interaction with a smile, but her eyes returned to Abigail.

    ¡°You¡¯re still in your armour,¡± she accused.

    ¡°You¡¯ve been a whirlwind. It got broken as well so I¡¯ll need help.¡±

    Only then did Ratface realise the woman was still moving slowly. She was careful with the cup, like holding it took more effort than it was.

    ¡°Excuse us,¡± said Claudette. She pulled Abigail up with more strength than her small frame would suggest and the two left the room.

    They sat in silence for a second before Isabelle sighed.

    ¡°They¡¯ll be a while. Getting that armour off when its broken is difficult and then they¡¯ll start catching up and it¡¯ll be a miracle if the two of them remember we¡¯re here.¡±

    She looked at the group of them. They were in rough shape and exhausted. They were lucky none of them had any serious injuries. Abigail seemed to have taken all of those for them. Albert had been kicked pretty hard, but he seemed okay just very bruised. Ratface imagined he had a bruise shaped like a foot where he¡¯d been kicked.

    ¡°You all look like you could do with a nap and a bath,¡± said Isabelle, ¡°shall we show you to your rooms for the night and meet back for dinner?¡±

    She led them out before they had a chance to respond. She took them one way, but Suncat stopped Ratface from following them and held out her hand to lead her a different way. Ratface took the goblins hand with unease and followed her. She was shocked at her reaction. She¡¯d never felt unsafe around a goblin. For whatever reason, Suncat didn¡¯t give her that same sense of safety despite how kind she¡¯d been. It was particularly odd to Ratface given how carefully the other girl held her hand, like she was scared she would break it. Suncat eventually brought her to a set of doors.

    ¡°Your room,¡± she offered. She pointed to the one next to it. ¡°My room.¡± She looked away when Ratface looked at her and Ratface chuckled.

    ¡°Cat behaviour,¡± she accused the girl in goblin.

    The other girl narrowed her eyes.

    ¡°Rats always squeak too much,¡± she said.

    Ratface smiled. She could feel herself relaxing despite the unease. It was nice to speak to someone else in goblin. For them to understand her without having to explain.

    Suncat gestured to a room further down the corridor.

    ¡°Bathroom. Go wash up, smelly rat. I¡¯ll bring you clothes.¡±

    She marched into her own room and Ratface went into hers.

    It was a fancy room with a big fluffy bed. It had a closet and draws which seemed excessive to Ratface. There was a window looking out into the garden and it even had a mirror where she could look at her grimy self. The smelly rat comment may be truer than she realised.

    She put her bag down and got Halmir out from his little nest. He opened his eyes and squeaked at her which she took as a good sign. He was getting heavy though. She gave him a sniff and wrinkled her nose. Turned out there was two rats that could do with a bath. Ratface took her helmet off, she¡¯s had the visor up anyway, so it hadn¡¯t hidden anything. She picked the heavy Halmir back up and carried him with her to the bath.

    It had been a long day, but now she could finally relax.

 Chapter Thirty-One: Resting and Planning

    The bath was obnoxiously big and Ratface loved it. She was floating in the middle of it surrounded by bubbles which was absurd. There was even a little lip on the bath she could put Halmir in and he made happy little squeaks as she paddled over and brushed his hair.

    She¡¯d been in here longer than she¡¯d cared to admit, and her skin was starting to prune. She¡¯d spent so long cleaning herself that she was pretty sure she¡¯d left a copy of her in the bottom of the bath.

    Suncat came in and dropped clothes and a towel next to the bath. She looked at Ratface¡¯s pile of armour and wrinkled her nose.

    ¡°I¡¯m not touching that,¡± she said.

    She left with that and Ratface kept lying in the water. It had been a long week, a long month really. This was the first time she¡¯d had a proper moment to clean herself off and it was nice to not feel grimy. She was never going to let herself get that dirty again.

    She only got out of the water when it started to get cold. She wiped herself and Halmir dry, who¡¯d fallen asleep again.

    She chucked on the clothes Suncat had left. They were too big but at least they were comfortable. They had a lot of pockets which Ratface appreciated.

    Her pile of clothes and armour were stacked on top of each other. She didn¡¯t want to ruin her clean body with them, so she wrapped it up in the towels and chucked them in her room. She grabbed Halmir too but brought him with her downstairs.

    It took her a while to find the rest of her group but eventually she found them out in the garden. It was weird to see everyone out of armour. Tiffany had a farmers dress on and had wrapped her hair up in a bow.

    Albert was in a loose white shirt and black pants. It confirmed Ratface¡¯s belief he was a rich boy.

    Isabelle looked much the same though there were no illusions on her. Ratface realised how many illusions the other woman put on that she hadn¡¯t noticed. She looked tired and her hair was frizzy. How much magic had she used just to look good? Ratface thought about it more and realised it good way to hide her bigger illusions if she got caught out. Remove the illusion that made her hair look better and no one would look for any of the bigger ones.

    The last person she noticed made her pause. Abigail was out of her armour in a wheelchair. She was still a giant of a woman and even out of the armour she looked like she could get into a fight with a golem and win. She was holding Claudette¡¯s hand who was in a chair next to her.

    Ratface settled down next to Abigail and did her best not to keep staring at the old woman.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    ¡°I got injured fighting an elf when I was younger,¡± said Abigail.

    ¡°She won incidentally,¡± Claudette interjected.

    ¡°It got me kicked out of my job in the royal guard. I thought it was the end for me.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s when she met me,¡± Claudette said. She looked at Abigail lovingly, ¡°She was still so charming even after losing her job. I said I¡¯d do the work for free if she took me out for dinner.¡±

    Abigail pulled up the back of her shirt and revealed a strange contraption welded onto her spine. There was tiny golem cores inlaid in it.

    ¡°Technically, it took both of us to make,¡± Abigail tapped the writing over the contraption. ¡°A lot of the runes are my work but connecting it to me was Claudette¡¯s. It¡¯s not perfect; it can hurt to walk around without the armour, but it is quite literally life changing.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯d think this is what we¡¯d be famous for but instead she¡¯s famous as an adventurer and I¡¯m famous for seducing her,¡± Claudette said. Abigail blushed at that, and Isabelle chuckled in the background.

    ¡°Uhm,¡± Tifanny interrupted, ¡°Can I ask why we¡¯re here?¡±

    Claudette clapped her hands to get all their attention.

    ¡°First and foremost, to relax. That¡¯s what today will be all about. After that I would ask you to think about what you want to get out of here.¡±

    Ratface kept silent as she glanced at Halmir. She wanted to know what was behind the glamour, but she also wanted to help Halmir. She stroked his fur in concern.

    ¡°What¡¯s with the big rat?¡± asked Suncat. She plopped next to Ratface.

    ¡°He drank rat noble blood,¡± said Abigail.

    Suncat perked up at that. She looked at Claudette.

    ¡°My new project,¡± she announced to the woman. Ratface looked over to the other goblin. She was grateful to other girl for taking care of her. After her experience with the adventurer guild, it was nice to just be helped with no questions asked.

    ¡°On the condition that you get Ratface to help you,¡± Claudette said. Suncat grumbled but nodded it was fine.

    ¡°Well, with that solved, come here Ratface. Let¡¯s have a look at that glamour.¡±

    Ratface came closer and Claudette grabbed onto her. The burning eye stared through Ratface and into something inside her. She could feel the glamour tightening on her skull the more Claudette stared. The pain got worse and worse and Ratface was worried her skull was going to split apart.

    Claudette let go of her and the eye looked away. The glamour in her settled down. It even helped ease her pain now that it wasn¡¯t under scrutiny.

    ¡°Well Isabelle, I¡¯m honestly surprised you didn¡¯t suffer worse after dealing with this,¡± said Claudette.  She looked back at Ratface.

    ¡°There¡¯s not one but two glamours running around that head of yours. One of them is odd.¡±

    ¡°So, you can¡¯t deal with it?¡± Ratface asked.

    Claudette gave her an offended look.

    ¡°Please. There¡¯s yet to be an elves magic I couldn¡¯t crack. If anything, this makes me more curious. Still, it¡¯s not going to be over in an evening. So, my proposal.¡± She gestured at them all as she leaned back into her seat like it was a throne.

    ¡°Stay here for at least a few months. Tomorrow you can meet the town, and I can introduce you to people who can help you reach your potential. Once I deal with Ratface¡¯s glamour, we can see what you want then. Deal?¡±

    The kids glanced at each other, seeing no real other option they nodded.

    ¡°Fantastic. That¡¯s for tomorrow. For the rest of today relax and eat, you all look like you need to. If you need anything grab myself, or one of my apprentices.¡± With that she went to go make dinner and left them to it.

    Albert and Tiffany came and joined Ratface and Suncat. Suncat acted aloof with them but was coaxed into conversation by her refusal to leave the other goblin alone with adventurers.

    The night sky was pretty and the dinner lovely. It wasn¡¯t even stew!

    It was a relaxing night and Ratface¡¯s face hurt form smiling by the time she went to bed.

 Chapter Thirty-Two: Town Life

    The next day Isabelle took them into town. Ratface had knocked on Suncat¡¯s door to see if they wanted to come back and gotten a series of grumbling in goblin.

    The mansion was separated from the town by a short path where the demon plants were doing their best to look inviting. It was clear they didn¡¯t know what inviting looked like as more than one of them had a hand reaching for them. At least their palms bloomed with flowers when she got close.

    They crossed a line of plants and suddenly Ratface was assaulted by noise. There were so many people in the crowd, a lot of them human. She reached for her helmet before she remembered she¡¯d left it at home.

    Fear welled up in her instinctually. She hadn¡¯t had a fear of people before but being chased by a literal mob put everything into perspective.

    Isabelle walked on like nothing was wrong, and no one blinked at Ratface¡¯s presence. They spared her a glance as someone new, but she got the same amount of attention as Albert or Tiffany.

    To be fair, they weren¡¯t even close to the most interesting people here. A few people had prosthetics on. At one of the counters a person pulled out their money with a metal hand. There were others wandering around when before today she hadn¡¯t seen any.

    A lot of horns as well. At least a third of the crowd were demons, though they lacked Claudette¡¯s burning eye. There were plenty of species milling about with one another. Ratface hadn¡¯t been to many places, but this was the most mix of different groups she¡¯d ever seen.

    The real surprise was the number of goblins in the crowd. They wondered around and no one seemed to care. A few saw Ratface staring and grinned at her reaction.

    ¡°Newbie,¡± they¡¯d tease her in goblin when they got close enough.

    Some of them were red, like Suncat, and it was interesting how the normal goblins and them interacted. The red ones were always careful around the green ones. She saw one bump into a normal goblin and quickly look them over to the normal goblin¡¯s obvious irritation. It reminded her of how Suncat had held her hand.

    Isabelle bought them some snacks and handed them out to them. It was meat on a stick and it had a lot of spices mixed into it. It was hot and greasy, and she loved it.

    ¡°My master is still sleeping in so I¡¯ve been given the wonderful task of getting you all to your respective places,¡± said Isabelle. She didn¡¯t seem particularly bothered by having to show them around and Ratface got the feeling she was essentially babysitter which rankled.

    ¡°Albert and Tiffany, Claudette has suggested the two of you hone your magic, so I¡¯ll take you to some places.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have any magic,¡± Albert said.

    ¡°All humans can learn a type of magic. How would you feel if your strikes were a little bit quicker, more deadly?¡±

    Albert grinned at that.

    ¡°It¡¯d be cool to learn magic,¡± he said. A sense of wonder in his voice at the idea that he could. It was hard for Ratface not to be jealous. No matter how much effort she put in, she wouldn¡¯t be able to learn it.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

    Isabelle tapped her cheek as she stared at him. He didn¡¯t squirm under the pressure and met her eyes.

    ¡°Let¡¯s kill two birds with one stone,¡± said Isabelle.

    She grabbed the two of them and led the across the town. Ratface followed. Isabelle led them to a park in the middle of the town. Ratface blinked, the plants here were normal. It was weird to see a tree that just grew from the ground.

    Isabelle gestured to the other two.

    ¡°You should go in here, don¡¯t freak out.¡±

    They glanced at her and walked into the forest. Ratface went to follow them, but Isabelle held out a hand.

    ¡°You definitely shouldn¡¯t go in there,¡± she said.

    ¡°I suppose it¡¯s not useful,¡± Ratface said. Her tone was bitter.

    ¡°Well, more importantly I don¡¯t think you¡¯ll like who¡¯s in there.¡±

    She pulled out a list.

    ¡°Suncat has left me a grocery list of things to grab while we¡¯re out here. Fancy a shopping spree with me?¡±

    Ratface shrugged and they set off.

    The first place they went to was a tailor of all places. Isabelle handed over a bunch of measurements while Ratface had a look around. There was a nice green cloak that had a good hood as well. It looked waterproof so she ended up buying it and putting it on.

    ¡°Green on green?¡± Isabelle asked. She was judging but Ratface gave it a swish. The cloak was a nice forest green which complemented her dark green skin.

    The next place they went to was a herb store and Isabelle handed the list over again. This store was owned by a green skinned goblin, and she waved a hand in greeting.

    ¡°Name?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Ratface, yours?¡±

    ¡°Dirthand, surprising to see a rat on their own.¡±

    ¡°Suncat is sleeping.¡±

    ¡°Suncat,¡± Dirthand said. She nodded at the list, ¡°Her hand writing¡¯s bad.¡± She showed it to Ratface and she had to agree with the other goblins assessment.

    It was all in goblin and when Ratface looked at Isabelle¡¯s other list she found it in neat common. The girl was multilingual.

    Isabelle watched the two of them.

    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± she asked. Ah, they must have switched into goblin without noticing. The two goblins glanced at each other then gave the same wide grin to Isabelle.

    ¡°Secrets,¡± they said.

    Isabelle groaned.

    ¡°You all do that whenever I ask,¡± she complained.

    Ratface grinned and Dirthand chuckled.

    ¡°You from Lurian? Inner trees?¡± she asked.

    ¡°You can tell?¡±

    ¡°Fancy accent,¡± said Dirthand.

    Now that she was listening for it, Dirthand was a lot more casual with her speech to the point her words had a bit of a twang to them. Ratface in comparison sounded like she was singing when she spoke.

    ¡°My first time out of Lurian,¡± she explained.

    Dirthand snorted.

    ¡°Out of.¡± She made little quotation marks with her hands, ¡°You mean escape.¡±

    Ratface shrugged. In hindsight, the other goblin wasn¡¯t wrong.

    Dirthand finished grabbing all the herbs and plants for Isabelle and handed them over.

    ¡°There¡¯s a goblin party in two nights under the kauri. It¡¯s in the park,¡± Dirthand said.

    ¡°I got told not to go there.¡±

    ¡°Other girl disappears on goblin night. Shy I guess.¡±

    Ratface thought it was probably a little more than being shy if she hid from the goblins and Ratface had been warned away from here.

    ¡°I¡¯ll come maybe,¡± said Ratface.

    ¡°Maybe,¡± teased Dirthand.

    Isabelle and her left and started making their way back to the mansion.

    ¡°You always say secrets,¡± grumbled Isabelle.

    ¡°You could learn goblin,¡± suggested Ratface.

    Isabelle squirmed.

    ¡°It¡¯s hard, I¡¯m terrible with languages. It took me ages just to work out what Sneakygirl meant when they all kept calling me that.¡±

    ¡°because of the illusions huh?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Isabelle grumbled, ¡°everyone expects us to be crooks. I can do fun stuff with my illusions you know. It¡¯s not all hiding.¡±

    Ratface patted the other girl in sympathy. To a goblin being sneaky was a point of pride, but it was clear Isabelle didn¡¯t take it as much.

    ¡°We should get this back to Eliana, or she¡¯ll get all fussy.¡±

    It took Ratface a second to remember she was talking about Suncat.

    ¡°But goblins can¡¯t do magic?¡±

    ¡°Red ones can, but this isn¡¯t magi anyway. Most of this is alchemy and pretty much everyone could do that.¡±

    Ratface paused in shock.

    ¡°Suncat can do magic?¡±

    ¡°Did she not tell you? Oh¡­ well I won¡¯t say anymore.¡±

    She was true to her word no matter how much Ratface needled her.

    That was fine, she could go straight to Suncat to get the answer. The other goblin had made a mistake if she didn¡¯t want to be annoyed too.

    She¡¯d shown Ratface where her room was.

 Chapter Thirty-Three: Magic Blood

    Suncat wasn¡¯t in the mansion itself but instead in a building a little further from it. The walls around it were thick and it had a chimney that look designed to actively extract the air.

    Isabelle opened a tray on the door and put the bag in. It rattled as it made its way in.

    Ratface knocked and Isabelle smiled.

    ¡°She wont answer while she¡¯s at work,¡± Isabelle said.

    Ratface looked at the other woman and continued to knock. Isabelle shrugged and walked off.

    Ratface kept knocking for a solid five minutes. The door was metal, so it let out a little clang with each knock and her knuckles were starting to hurt but she didn¡¯t stop.

    She was good at weaponizing being annoying when she had to be. While she¡¯d been an only child, she¡¯d also been sent as a messenger around the village for her mother.

    When her mum wanted and answer she wanted it now, so Ratface had gotten really good at straddling the line of polite and aggravating. What you needed to do was do something polite, like knocking, then keep pushing it to the point of madness.

    Either someone would come to answer her or to yell at her, either way she got them to talk to her.

    The door was pulled open and a glowering Suncat looked at her. The woman was wearing goggles over her face and had a white apron on. Her clothes covered all her skin, and she even had a mask that she¡¯d pulled down just to emphasise her annoyance.

    ¡°What?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Halmir is okay?¡±

    ¡°Yes yes,¡± Suncat said. She went back into the building, but left the door open. Ratface took it for the invitation it was.

    The inside of the building was immaculately clean. It shined a little like someone had gone over it with a level that bordered on obsessiveness. The room itself had an undercurrent of alcohol but it smelt more sterile than what a bar would.

    The alchemy building wasn¡¯t anything like she¡¯d expected. When Ratface imagined alchemy, she imagined a big cauldron. To be fair one of those was in the room, but it was put to the side and didn¡¯t look like it was used very often. Instead, there were a lot of strange glass cups littered around the room.

    Ratface went to walk in further, but Suncat stopped her.

    ¡°Safety gear or no coming in. Wash your hands too,¡± said Suncat. She pointed to the sink that was next to the door with a set of goggles and clothes next to it. Ratface was amused to see that they¡¯d already been pulled out as if anticipating her. She glanced at Suncat who waved at her before she could say anything.

    ¡°Rats always curious, always nosy,¡± the woman explained. She made it sound like a complaint.

    Ratface wanted to object but given she was literally using the stuff she probably didn¡¯t have a leg to stand on. She couldn¡¯t help it, goblins named after rats were expected to check on their fellow goblins. It¡¯s why she¡¯d been sent off as a messenger in the first place.

    She put on the gear and joined Suncat. The woman had Halmir on a bench, but she¡¯d put a blanket under him. She was prodding Halmir in different places. The rat barely responded to any of the pokes, even prodding him in a sensitive area didn¡¯t get a grumble out of him. He didn¡¯t look to be having a lucid day.

    ¡°Weird,¡± Suncat muttered. She went over to one of the draws and opened it to reveal a neat stack of papers which she rummaged through until she pulled out a book.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

    It was bound in leather and the paper was thicker that any paper Ratface had seen. Runes lined its spine and the edges of it were singed.

    Suncat flipped through it until she came to a picture of a rat. It seemed to screech in pain in the picture which scared Ratface. The writing in it was in common so she couldn¡¯t read anything other than the word rat.

    ¡°That seems bad,¡± Ratface said. She tried not to let her worry show in her voice.

    Suncat shrugged.

    ¡°This is from an experiment from rats drinking different creatures¡¯ blood.¡± She pointed at one picture that had a rat growing a bunch of growths of it.

    ¡°That was from a rat noble.¡±

    Ratface¡¯s stomach dropped as she turned to Halmir. Suncat saw her face and clarified.

    ¡°This was from half an hour after drinking the blood. Halmir is stable.¡±

    ¡°But he sleeps too much,¡± Ratface said.

    Suncat nodded.

    ¡°Too stable, he should be changing but he only grows bigger. His body is still the same. Do you know the legend of how Rat Nobles came to be?¡±

    Ratface shook her head. Suncat snapped the book shut and put it to the side.

    ¡°Once, in legend, a rat fought a Dragon. Somehow it won and it gorged on its blood. Afterwards it burned away, and the rat grew into a humanoid with new intelligence. It brough its other rats to feast on the dragon and thus the rat people were born.¡±

    ¡°Bad storyteller,¡± Ratface observed, and the other girl hissed at her.

    ¡°The point is rat people supposedly can be made through magic instead of through biology. There¡¯s some truth to it. Rats are some of the most susceptible to different magical creatures¡¯ blood, though usually it kills them. Goblins are the same.¡±

    Suncat looked troubled at that but gestured to Halmir.

    ¡°Physically he¡¯s okay. I think he wants to change but can¡¯t. It¡¯s faint, but in the aether you can feel him tapping.¡±

    ¡°The aether?¡±

    ¡°Magic,¡± Suncat said. Ratface looked at her and she sighed.

    ¡°I can see magic,¡± she admitted.

    Ratface moved closer.

    ¡°Can do magic as well? Same thing that turned you red?¡±

    Suncat nodded and Ratface felt something in her shift. That was magic. That was what separated her from being the best goblin and the best creature. She thought back to her mother who¡¯d been able to go toe to toe with adventurers without a drop of magic in her. Imagine if she had access to it. She might have been able to even challenge an elf. She might have been able to save them from whatever had attacked the night Ratface had disappeared.

    She grabbed the other goblin who flinched.

    ¡°How?¡±

    ¡°Demon blood,¡± said Suncat. She hesitated before adding, ¡°Don¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s bad, it changes you.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°It just does,¡± Suncat replied. She switched to common as she got more agitated. Ratface kept getting in her face. She knew she was making Suncat uncomfortable but at the mention of magic it was like a hunger she¡¯d never known opened in her and she was ravenous. Still the other woman tried to brush her off, refusing to look at Ratface.

    ¡°Why?¡± Ratface pleaded.

    Suncat raised a fist to strike at Ratface and Ratface flinched. She froze. She¡¯d never flinched from a goblin before. Not from thinking they were going to hurt her. The two girls looked at each other in shock.

    ¡°That¡¯s why,¡± Suncat said. She lowered her fist and Ratface relaxed a little. The two girls stepped away from each other.

    ¡°Magic¡­ it¡¯s good. It saved me when I needed it,¡± Suncat said. She leaned against a bench and switched exclusively to common now, even her accent had changed. She hesitated before she said the next words.

    ¡°But.¡± Her voice shook and she hissed in a way that sounded like a sob. ¡°But it takes something from you. I¡¯m not really a goblin anymore.¡±

    She started to cry and Ratface reached out instinctually for her, but the other girl pushed her away.

    ¡°It was nice having a goblin who didn¡¯t know. Go.¡±

    Ratface tried a couple more times, but it was clear the other girl wasn¡¯t going to let her engage. She realised that her presence was only making things worse, and left the building as she processed the new information.

    It explained why the other girl was so careful with her. Ratface never really worried when she was around another goblin. She didn¡¯t think she could hurt one, even accidentally hurting one was difficult to manage. It¡¯s why she was so quick to be comfortable with them. Every goblin was a part of the same family. She knew she always had support so long as a goblin was around.

    Even this new information didn¡¯t change her mind. Suncat had been nothing but good to her since they met. She trusted her even if the other girl could hurt her.

    It was Suncat she worried for. Most of the races treated goblins them like pests, or monsters. Some were ¡®nice¡¯ and tolerated them as people. Barely.

    It was isolating to be a goblin, but at least they had each other. A friend every time she saw another goblins face.

    How much worse it must be for Suncat. To never have anyone she could just trust. No one she could be relax around.

    It pained her that she didn¡¯t know how to fix it. She was a rat; it was her job to protect her other goblins.

    But how did she help a goblin who didn¡¯t even think she was one?

 Chapter Thirty-Four: Ethical Deal with the Devil

    Ratface had gone exploring through the mansion after her talk with Suncat. She¡¯d started in her room, but the conversation kept running through her head and she couldn¡¯t sit still. So here she was, wandering around someone else¡¯s home.

    It was a big place, that¡¯s the main takeaway she had. She¡¯d started in the tearoom and just kept wandering further. There was a kitchen which looked like it could fit a whole kitchen staff. Next to it was a dining room that would fit all the patrons of a crowded inn in it easily.

    Big, but empty. She hadn¡¯t run into anyone while walking around and she knew there were at least two other people in here. Ratface shook her head, no wonder Suncat felt so alone. Imagine spending all your time in a place like this. Feeling alone in your own home.

    Ratface¡¯s house had been small, and she¡¯d like that. It didn¡¯t matter where in the house she was; she could hear her mother. Sometimes it was her mother arguing with older goblins, sometimes she sung to herself, sometimes she was just moving around. No matter where Ratface went in the house, she knew she wasn¡¯t alone. It was hard now, without her. The glamour must have been weakened by Claudette¡¯s examination. She could remember more about her mum, enough to feel the loss a little bit, but she still couldn¡¯t remember her face. In her memories her mother was always a room away. Always looking somewhere else.

    Ratface made her way through the hallway to a room with double doors; they were thicker than the rest she¡¯d run into. She snorted, must be one of those ballrooms she¡¯d heard about. She pushed them open to look around. It wasn¡¯t a ballroom.

    It was a library. She¡¯d heard of them but never seen one. The most books she¡¯d seen before this was the bookshelf her mum had, or maybe the ones she¡¯d seen in the inn when she¡¯d been stuck.

    This was a lot more than that. The room was the size of a ballroom, and it was filled with books. She walked around the shelves and the telltale scribbles of common stared back at her. Of course. Ratface laughed bitterly. A room filled with knowledge, and she couldn¡¯t access any of it. It was like magic, there was always something in the way. She¡¯d thought with another goblin in the building there might have been something.

    Ratface paused as she came across a smaller bookshelf. It had its own little corner and a rug and nest of cushions to sit in. The books were in goblin, but they were smaller than the ones in the rest of the library. Ratface recognised the story of Halmir on the shelf. She looked around and noticed they were all goblin children¡¯s books. Almost all. Two books were a little thicker in the shelf. One was a book on common to goblin, and the other was a book on goblin names. Huh.

    It could be that the book was the only one available but it being common to goblin and not goblin to common was telling. It¡¯d still work for her purposes.

    She picked a book at random from the library and grabbed the translation book. It took time, the book was organised for readers trying to translate goblin rather than the other way round, but eventually she was able to start reading through the books title; a Beginners Guide on Rune crafting.

    Rune crafting is the magic of humans. While other races naturally connect with the aether, most humans must shackle the arcane to their will through runecraft.

    Ratface frowned, this must be an old book. A lot of humans she¡¯d met could do magic. Tiffany of course, but most adventurers Ratface had seen had some form of magic.

    ¡°I guess they learnt,¡± she muttered to herself.

    ¡°Yes and no,¡± said Claudette.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

    Ratface jumped as the demon appeared from behind a stack of books. The woman smiled at Ratface¡¯s reaction and Ratface would bet all the gold she was carrying that she hadn¡¯t been there a moment before. She¡¯d left her gold in her room, but the point remained.

    ¡°Pure humans can still only use runecraft, or something similar, to access the aether. It¡¯s just there¡¯s not a lot of pure versions of any of the races left and even weak blood still blesses their children. Goblins are unique in that regard. No matter the parent they¡¯re never born with access to magic.¡± Claudette frowned. ¡°Pure is an outdated way of phrasing that with unfortunate connotations. Exclusively human?¡±

    ¡°You say goblins can¡¯t learn magic, but Suncat did.¡±

    Claudette raised a finger.

    ¡°Correction. I said they can¡¯t be born with magic. Can you guess how she gained it?¡±

    Ratface thought about the forest they were in, then back to her conversation with Suncat. The other goblin had mentioned something about goblins being similar to rats when it came to other creatures blood. She¡¯d looked so haunted as she talked about it.

    ¡°Drinking blood,¡± she said.

    Claudette nodded.

    ¡°Specifically, demon blood. Other bloods have been tried but its results are¡­ not ideal.¡±

    ¡°She drank you blood?¡±

    Claudette smiled.

    ¡°You make it sound so dangerous.¡±

    ¡°It did change her,¡± said Ratface.

    Claudette nodded.

    ¡°My comment wasn¡¯t a criticism. It is dangerous. I can only promise you she did it with eyes open. It was the best choice she could make at the time.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not my story to tell.¡± Claudette held out her hand. ¡°The offer of my blood is open to you as well, but I wouldn¡¯t make it lightly. Talk to the red goblins who have already made it before doing so.¡±

    ¡°Why make the offer?¡± Ratface asked.

    It felt too open, and the woman was a demon. Any story that had them offering deals universally agreed it was a bad idea. Yet Claudette hadn¡¯t forced her into it, she¡¯d even encouraged her not to take it straight away.

    ¡°Part of it is that Abigail would expect me to offer. My blood is power which she acknowledges even if she refuses it. The other part is your glamour problem.¡±

    She went and grabbed a book off the shelves and placed it in front of Ratface. She placed the book like the treasure it was, which Ratface approved of.

    ¡°I see you¡¯ve already raided the bookshelf, so when you get a chance read this book on glamours.¡± She held her hands behind her back and put on a lecturing tone. The way she moved suggested she¡¯d done this a lot.

    ¡°Glamours are different from most magic in that they are autonomous and varied. In a sense, they do whatever their owner needs them to do.¡±

    ¡°That sounds annoying,¡± said Ratface.

    Claudette bared her teeth.

    ¡°Oh, it is. Demon magic is varied too but it has a cost and it¡¯s unpredictable. This forest is the result of decades of research. Some parts aren¡¯t safe for even me to go to.¡± She hissed a little and her tail swished side to side in irritation. Ah, the frustration of elves. Ratface felt it too, when she wasn¡¯t being terrified of them.

    ¡°In general, they use them for illusions and memory spells.¡± Claudette paused at that. ¡°Actually, illusions are a bit of a misnomer. It¡¯s not really an illusion if it can hit you, is it? Still, they are weaker than full conjurations.¡±

    She looked at Ratface¡¯s increasingly confused face and stopped her tangent.

    ¡°The point is that they don¡¯t require fuel to keep going so they have to be defeated rather than outlasted. You and I are going to have to unravel the glamours from your mind.¡± She clapped her hands.

    ¡°That would be a lot easier if you were part demon! Particularly if you were made so by my blood. The raw authority I had over you would allow me to kick out the glamour in the span of an afternoon.¡±

    Ratface tried not to let the eagerness show. Magic plus being able to remember her mothers face was worth a lot of prices, even if the idea of authority made her hackles raise.. Some of the eagerness must have shown because Claudette fixed her with a stare.

    ¡°Not a decision I¡¯ll let you make until you¡¯ve talked to more demon goblins. I won¡¯t allow the change to be something you regret.¡±

    They both looked down at that, both thinking of Suncat. Ratface shook herself to fight off the feeling.

    ¡°What do we do in the meantime?¡± she asked.

    ¡°The first step we must do is get you used to the feeling of me in your mind. To that end I want you to lie down into those cushions and sleep. If you¡¯re ready.¡±

    Ratface nodded and settled down into the cushions. She watched as Claudette pricked her hand to draw blood. She came over and drew a rune onto Ratface¡¯s forehead. It burned but it wasn¡¯t an unpleasant burn. It felt like aloe vera but warmer.

    Claudette hovered over her.

    ¡°Sleep Ratface,¡± she said, ¡°sleep and dream of whatever brings you joy.¡±

    Ratface closed her eyes and thought of home.

 Chapter Thirty-Five: The Person in Your Head

    It wasn¡¯t home that she found herself in. It was one of the elven cities. Ratface didn¡¯t know which one, but the style was unmistakable.

    Elven cities were grown not built. The shops and building twisting out of the earth with a level of patience and attentiveness that only the long-lived elves could attempt. Ratface knew she was dreaming but it was hard to separate what was part of the dream with what was part of the elf city. Was that building really made of trees that twisted into the sky? or had she only dreamt it?

    An elf girl passed her by with her mother. She graced Ratface with a glance but moved on before anything could pass between them.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be a bother. We¡¯re only tolerated here to hand off our tithe,¡± said a voice that Ratface recognised.

    It was her mother. Her mother was holding her hand. Ratface held her hand tightly, squeezing it as she tried to memorize the feel of it. She looked up to see her mother again.

    There was no face, or rather there was one that she saw but any memory of it slipped away from her like smoke. Ratface was watching her mother and yet if someone had asked her to describe the woman, she wouldn¡¯t be able to. Even the voice couldn¡¯t be described. It was her mother¡¯s voice, but she couldn¡¯t identify it. She couldn¡¯t tell you the pitch or her mothers quirks in language. It all was just out of reach. She was there and yet she wasn¡¯t.

    She trembled and held back the tears that wanted to come. Her mother bent down and picked her up which made her realise how small she was. It was like she was a child. No, wait. The part of her that was still awake reminded her that it was a dream. This version of her was a child.

    She took the opportunity to hold her mother close. This would be the closest she¡¯d get to her ever again.

    Her mother chuckled and returned the strength of the hug. She smoothed Ratface¡¯s hair away.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to scare you that much. Our hosts are not so poor as to harm a child,¡± she muttered ¡°in public,¡± to herself but Ratface suspected she wasn¡¯t meant to hear.

    They twisted through the dream city. The streets becoming more and less detailed interchangeably by some arbitrary logic as they carried on.

    Ratface saw the elf girl a few more times, always in the detailed streets. The elf stared at a bookstore, or a particularly interesting tree. At one point the girl even looked at some adventurers and Ratface was surprised by how detailed they were; their garish colours clashes with the different browns and greens of the grown city.

    They made it to their destination and Ratface looked up in surprise.

    This building was made of stone. It was white and harsh and covered in runes. Ratface¡¯s mother paused.

    ¡°Wait here,¡± she told Ratface then walked into the building. The darkness swallowed her up and Ratface reached instinctually for her.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

    The dream changes and she found herself a little further in the city watching an elf do tricks for a crowd. She knew time had passed but had no idea how much. Her mother was still gone.

    The performer waved his hands, and different creatures were conjured around him. It started simple with bird from the local area, a sparrow and a tui twisted around each other.

    It became more elaborate as he progressed. The birds dove into a ¡®sea¡¯ he¡¯d created and switched into fish. Suddenly she was watching an undersea world.

    Countless lights flickered around as fish darted through the area. It focused onto a school of fish that were a riot of colours as they swum through the area. They scattered as he conjured a shark that through their group. The shark snapped its teeth just before the crowd to the excited screams of the watchers.

    The ¡®sea¡¯ only got deeper, and more and more strange creatures appeared. One fish had a lantern on its face as it lured a poor prey to its doom. The image faded before it could catch them.

    ¡°This was Halmir¡¯s city once. At least that¡¯s what they tell you goblins,¡± said the elf girl.

    She¡¯d appeared next to Ratface as the seas switched to wonderful creatures that looked like a floating mushroom with tentacles. They glowed with an otherworldly light.

    ¡°Sanctuary is their name for it. The only name you even knew it by as well. I¡¯m not lucky enough to come here again.¡± The elf girl kept staring at the elf performer and his current image.

    ¡°Who are you?¡± Ratface asked.

    The elf girl looked back at her. Her eyes were old. There was something odd about them she couldn¡¯t pin down.

    ¡°I think you know,¡± she said.

    ¡°The glamour?¡±

    ¡°One of them.¡±

    Ratface looked up at the sky and the glamour laughed.

    ¡°Your demon helper is good, but she¡¯ll have to look a little harder to see me. It will be easier for her to go after the new intruder. I¡¯ve been here far longer. I¡¯ve practically watched you grow.¡±

    ¡°Why are you in here?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d hardly be a good glamour if I said such a thing.¡±

    Her eyes kept drifting back to the performer and the two watched him again. The mushroom things danced about.

    ¡°Beautiful, aren¡¯t they? I found out they were called jellyfish a littler later after this.¡± She reached out and one of the jellyfish disappeared from the performers act and appeared in her hand.

    ¡°I always found something so magical about them,¡± the glamour whispered.

    Ratface looked at her in confusion. She knew from Claudette¡¯s discussion that glamours could control themselves, but this one seemed so¡­ alive.

    The glamour noticed her inspection and sighed. She handed Ratface the jellyfish and it floated above her hand. Ratface stared in wonder. The performer had put a lot of effort into it. This close she could see the faint twinkling inside it, like it had a night sky hiding in its body.

    ¡°I came here to offer you a warning Ratface. Don¡¯t go looking at us glamours. Live a life in ignorance and live a life of joy.¡±

    ¡°If I refuse?¡± Ratface asked. This glamour may be an elf, but it was also an elf stuck in her head. She wasn¡¯t going to take orders from it.

    The glamour shrugged.

    ¡°That¡¯s your choice. Just don¡¯t blame me when it all comes down on your head.¡±

    The scene changed to the nightmare she and Isabelle had been in. Around her was a sea of green, other goblins.

    A dark swept around them and one by one the green was chipped away at. There was a rumbling underneath it. It started quiet and got louder and louder until it was all she could hear.

    Screaming. So many goblins screaming in pain, in terror, as the darkness got closer. It was getting closer and closer. She coughed as her lungs gave out and only then did she realise she was screaming to.

    But there was nothing they could do, nothing could stop-

    A red eye in the sky appeared and the confused vision fled before it. Only then did real sleep take her, whisking her away to the sanctuary of forgotten dreams.

    It seemed like a moment when Ratface woke up but by the dimming light in the room it must¡¯ve been longer.

    She didn¡¯t forget the glamours warning.

 Chapter Thirty-Six: Who do you see when you look at me?

    Claudette was still watching her when she woke up. She¡¯d picked up a book and was reading through it with half an eye. She sent Ratface away when she woke up with instructions to rest. Ratface didn¡¯t understand why until a few minutes later a splitting headache greeted her.

    She went to lie in her room but found it too stuffy so eventually she made her way outside and lay underneath one of the trees. Its roots started to trace around her which was weird but so long as it didn¡¯t hurt her, she didn¡¯t have the energy to move. In some ways it was nice, like being tucked into bed without the oppressiveness of a blanket.

    She didn¡¯t know how to parse that she had a person sitting in her head, two, if the glamour was to be believed. It didn¡¯t feel like her brain was full of people. A thought she¡¯d never thought she¡¯d have to have.

    She¡¯d tried to read the glamour book, but her brain screamed in process. She didn¡¯t know if it was her or the glamour. She was a little nervous how much influence the things had.

    She could hear someone crushing through the grass and she opened her eyes to have a peek.

    Albert and Tiffany limped through the trees towards them. The two looked exhausted as they crumpled onto the floor next to her.

    The vines started to creep closer to the two of them and they both groaned.

    ¡°This place is weird,¡± Albert complained.

    He was an odd duck. Sure, it was weird for Tiffany and Ratface too but they at least both had things they got out of it. Tiffany got to see a whole new forest, which had to be good as a druid, and Ratface got to live. Albert had sort of just done the right thing and then got consistently punished for it.

    Ratface didn¡¯t really have an answer to that.

    ¡°It is weird, but interesting. The plants talk way different,¡± said Tiffany. It was quite the change of tune since the other day. Curiosity winning the war again caution.

    ¡°I¡¯ve never seen so many goblins,¡± said Albert.

    Ratface glanced at him, and he shrugged. There was something off about the sentence. He hadn¡¯t mentioned the prosthetics.

    ¡°There¡¯s a goblin party in a few nights if you want to meet them?¡± she asked.

    The two glanced at each other and then at her.

    ¡°That seems really like a private event, we wouldn¡¯t want to interrupt,¡± said Albert. It was weird, he had helped her and yet he acted like this.

    ¡°You don¡¯t like goblins,¡± sad Ratface.

    ¡°I like you,¡± he offered.

    Ratface groaned and stood up. She could feel her headache getting worse in this conversation. She wandered away from them towards the town.

    It was a lot quieter than it had been there during the day but that didn¡¯t mean it was quiet. Her head still throbbed, and she looked around for something.

    There was a line at one of the stalls and she saw they were selling fruit drinks. She got closer to the stall and ordered one from the vendor. She was a short woman wearing a jacket even though it was so warm. Ratface was confused until she noticed the ice clinking in the glass.

    ¡°How do you have ice?¡± she asked.

    The stall woman laughed and waved her hand. A cold breeze twirled around it.Stolen novel; please report.

    ¡°I can¡¯t do a full freeze but if I have a glass of liquid like this, I can at least add a little ice to it.¡±

    Ratface gave the glass a closer inspection, sure enough the ice cubes were made of the drink itself. It was also more ice than liquid. Ratface shrugged and paid the woman and pressed the glass against her forehead. She wandered around until she found somewhere to sit and plunked herself on some poor shop owner¡¯s entranceway. It looked like it was closed.

    A hand grabbed the cup out of Ratface¡¯s clutches. She turned around and saw Dirthand taking a sip of her drink. She passed it back to Ratface who took it with a grumble.

    ¡°Don¡¯t grumble at me, it¡¯s a fair trade,¡± said Dirthand.

    She gave Ratface a weed to chew on and Ratface obliged. The thing tasted like grass but as it seeped into her mouth, she could feel the dull ache in her head start to recede. Now that she wasn¡¯t so focused on the headache, she realised she was on Dirthand¡¯s entrance as well. Some part of her brain must¡¯ve connected the herb lady with something that¡¯d help.

    ¡°So, what brings such a grumpy young rat to my door?¡± asked Dirthand.

    ¡°People are complicated,¡± she said.

    Dirthand laughed and held her hand out for the drink. Ratface passed it to her and she took a long sip.

    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s good. So, what¡¯s got you saying that huh?¡±

    ¡°I invited my friends to the goblin party; they didn¡¯t want to come.¡±

    ¡°Humans don¡¯t like to be outnumbered by us.¡±

    ¡°But they both saved me,¡± said Ratface.

    Dirthand took another sip of her drink. Any illusion she wasn¡¯t going to drink it all now lost.

    ¡°Do you trust them?¡± she asked.

    ¡°I did.¡±

    ¡°So, you trust every human, do you?¡± said Dirthand.

    Ratface gave her a look like she was stupid and Dirthand smiled.

    ¡°But you do trust every goblin, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s different, goblins feel safe.¡±

    Except that wasn¡¯t true. Suncat hadn¡¯t seemed safe and yet she¡¯d ignored that feeling because she was a goblin. Dirthand looked at her with that patient smiled and Ratface looked away.

    ¡°I¡¯m not from Lurian, I¡¯m from Albatross. It¡¯s a coast city,¡± Dirthand began, ¡°over there, most goblins end up being fishers, or cleaners. Poor but ¡®respectable¡¯. The people look at us with disgust and pity, but they wouldn¡¯t call a mob on us.¡±

    Ratface listened. She¡¯d never seen the coast. Lurian was landlocked and she hadn¡¯t seen anything in the land they were in.

    ¡°It¡¯s not a good life there, it¡¯s why I left, but the context is different. Do you know what the most common profession for a goblin is?¡±

    ¡°Raider,¡± said Ratface.

    ¡°So when your friends think of a big group of goblins, what do you think they¡¯re imagining?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like we want to raid. No one wants us so we have to fight to live,¡± said Ratface. The few people walking past glanced at her and Ratface realised she was standing and yelling. Ratface lowered herself back to the ground and only then did Dirthand respond.

    ¡°That¡¯s your context but it isn¡¯t theirs. When your friends see a group of goblins, they see creatures that kill and steal.¡±

    ¡°But they helped me,¡± said Ratface.

    Dirthand patted her shoulder.

    ¡°Yes, they did. Surely that at least gives them a chance to explain why they feel that way?¡±

    She stood up and held out a hand for Ratface.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go get you another drink since I drank yours. I¡¯m still feeling a little parched.¡±

    They made their way back to the drink stall and Ratface mulled over the new information. As usual she was lacking context. She only knew Lurian which meant she was missing something.

    ¡°Suncat, she said she isn¡¯t a goblin,¡± she said, ¡°all the red goblins feel that way?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯d have to ask them,¡± said Dirthand. She looked around until she found one.

    ¡°Rabbittail, do you think you¡¯re a goblin?¡±

    The goblin they found looked at them in suspicion. Ratface watched his tail and sure enough it was twitchy. She smothered back a smile.

    ¡°Is that a trick question? Are you insulting me?¡± he asked.

    ¡°This one talked to Suncat,¡± said Dirthand.

    Ratface watched as the twitchy tail became agitated.

    ¡°Hmm. You mean Eliana.¡± He joined them on their travel and waited until they got to the stall. He and Ratface both looked at Dirthand expectantly and she rolled her eyes before buying them something. Only after he¡¯d secured the drink did he talk.

    ¡°Eliana is complex, she¡¯s why we¡¯re here.¡± He smiled, then frowned, ¡°but she¡¯s scary. I don¡¯t want to be around her.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± Ratface asked.

    Rabbittail shook his head. His tail was twitching a lot, and it was clear he didn¡¯t want to talk about it.

    ¡°I wont push,¡± Ratface said. She held out her hand, ¡°Ratface.¡±

    Rabbittail smiled.

    ¡°Ah a rat, you want to help her?¡±

    Ratface nodded and he smiled in that. For the first time his tail stopped moving.

    ¡°Well named then. We don¡¯t have a rat scurrying in our midst.¡±

    Ratface smiled at that. It was good to be around goblins, to have expectations put on her. She looked around the town. It was a reminder to her that goblins didn¡¯t have to be one thing. That humans didn¡¯t have to see raiders when they saw her.

    Context is what she was missing, so she¡¯d get it. She¡¯d bother all her friends, both human and goblin.

 Chapter Thirty-Seven: Goblin Party

    Ratface didn¡¯t go straight for Suncat or Albert and Tiffany. She approached the problem like any goblin issue and didn¡¯t attack it directly. Talking to Suncat would just end with the door being slammed in her face and she was still too annoyed at the other two for that conversation to be productive. Sure, she could understand their hesitation, but it was a little rich coming from the people whose village had attacked her.

    Instead, she went hunting for Abigail. She found her in the mansion¡¯s backyard, the garden she was in was tucked away in a corner. The plants here had clearly been chosen for their smell, which was sweet and wonderful, rather than their shape. A lot of them were twisted and were actively clawing at each other. They didn¡¯t attack Ratface when she got close and didn¡¯t seem to be making any headway against each other. Maybe they just looked like that.

    The floor here was moss and was soft without being wet or spongy. It was the first change from normal plants that the demon ones didn¡¯t have some weird caveat. She took off her boots and enjoyed the soft feel under her feet.

    In the middle of the garden, Abigail was going through some stretches. It was still weird seeing her out of armour and her chair sat to the side. Good traction to not have a problem going through all this clutter.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t hurt too much to do these?¡± Ratface asked.

    Abigail smiled at her as she leaned towards her toes.

    ¡°No more than any other training¡±

    ¡°You know what I mean.¡±

    ¡°I do. I¡¯m not some delicate thing Ratface. I¡¯ve fought plenty of times in that chair as well as in the armour. Come join me.¡±

    Ratface joined Abigail to stretch. They started with simple ones to warm her up and they got progressively harder as they kept going. Some were just for balance, and she found herself wobbling while Abigail stayed irritatingly still.

    ¡°I¡¯m guessing you didn¡¯t come to check on my health,¡± said Abigail.

    She did this while in a stretch that had Ratface struggling to breathe.

    ¡°Why are Albert and Tiffany so scared of goblins?¡± she asked, ¡°in Lurian, adventurers look at us like we¡¯re prey, but this area it¡¯s different.¡±

    She could feel her lungs struggling as she stopped focusing just on breathing. They switched movement to something more relaxed and she took a grateful breath. Most training felt like a pleasant burn when she did it but stretching just hurt.

    ¡°Well, they¡¯re from Murkshire area,¡± Abigail said.

    Ratface gave her a blank look. Abigail tsked.

    ¡°I know you¡¯re from Lurian, but surely you¡¯ve heard of the Murkshire rampage?¡±

    ¡°Until right now I didn¡¯t even know that was the name of their village.¡±

    ¡°Murkshire is the area they¡¯re from. Their town is called Arnold. It was renamed after the rampage.¡±

    ¡°Goblin raid?¡±

    ¡°It was worse than that. It was more like a conquest. There was heavy rain over the winter and Murkshire was blocked off from the rest of the country for around two weeks. It turned out there was a goblin village in the area at the time. They saw an opportunity.¡±

    Abigail looked far off as she talked about it. Her hand reached for where her sword would be but found it empty.

    ¡°They had monsters in their ranks. Imagine your time in the sewer but with an entire area¡¯s variety of monsters. The wildlife in the area still hasn¡¯t properly recovered.¡±

    Ratface grimaced. The sewer had been rough but without the rat nobles it would have been manageable. One of those gazelle things charging them though? Or the bugs? She couldn¡¯t see them holding out against it.

    Abigail continued with her story.

    ¡°A lot of heroes were made over those weeks, but a lot of tragedies as well. Arnold held the gate when it broke long enough for the rest to patch it up behind him. After that he didn¡¯t have anywhere to run. The village survived because of him.¡±

    Abigail stopped stretching and sat up and looked at Ratface. She fixed her with a hard stare.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!

    ¡°Not every village had an Arnold. When we finally got into Murkshire the population had been halved, at best estimate. The goblin that did all of this had defeated different villages champions and then left. The survivors are who raised your friends.¡±

    Ratface didn¡¯t know what to say to that. She didn¡¯t know how to fix it, not really. Abigail lay down and Ratface lay next to her.

    ¡°It¡¯s a wonder there wasn¡¯t more of a mob,¡± said Ratface.

    ¡°Mm, that¡¯s partly thanks to the guild leader.¡±

    Ratface creaked open an eye to look at her.

    ¡°She¡¯s the one that let them find us in the first place.¡±

    ¡°You were already being tailed. An ambush was being set for you. That light may have revealed you, but it also gave her the opportunity to take care of the ambushers.¡± Abigail shrugged. ¡°It was still risky, which is why I was so angry at her. She should¡¯ve just got you to safety, but she didn¡¯t want to interrupt her test. You may be interested to know that boy that ratted you out failed the test.¡±

    ¡°Franklin? Why?¡±

    ¡°He betrayed another adventurer after they saved him. He¡¯s not fit for our ranks until he can learn to ignore prejudice that¡¯ll get him killed. The whole world isn¡¯t out to get you, just a lot of it.¡±

    She turned to look at Ratface.

    ¡°But your friends stood by you. Isn¡¯t it worth giving them a chance to see you when they look at another goblin? Instead of them always seeing the one their parents told them about.¡±

    Ratface conceded with a nod. She did want that but what goblin did they see when they looked at her?

    She could tell them about Lurian, about most goblins¡¯ experience around adventurers and the rest of the world. That¡¯d just make them pity goblins and she didn¡¯t want that either. Goblins were special in their own way, she knew that. She had to make her friends see that as well.

    <hr>

    Not much happened after that. Ratface engaged with her friends and while it was stilted, it was still something and they did their best to ignore the goblin shaped awkwardness between them.

    Suncat didn¡¯t really talk to Ratface anymore and Ratface knew Suncat waited until she¡¯d left to leave her own room. The night of the goblin party came and Ratface knocked on Suncat¡¯s door hoping for an answer. There was none.

    Ratface left the mansion feeling broody and alone.

    She¡¯d yet to visit the park. It was a nice place filled with normal trees. It was like a mini forest, and she took comfort in the smell of wood and earth.

    Someone was watching her from the shadows, she could see their eyes in the dark. They didn¡¯t do anything to hide themselves and when Ratface waved they dashed away. She wondered if it was the person Dirthand mentioned. She did seem shy.

    Ratface didn¡¯t have a lot of time to think it over. A few more steps and she was in the park completely. There were so many goblins. A lot of little kids as well which surprised Ratface. They must feel safe here to bring non-named goblins.

    Dirthand saw her and waved her over to her group. Most of them were green goblins but there were a few red. She caught a few of their names, a lot of variations on cats and even a few goats but she didn¡¯t meet any other rats.

    ¡°I¡¯m Goathead,¡± said one recently named kid who ran up to her.

    She smiled; he¡¯d completely interrupted the conversation to introduce himself.

    ¡°It¡¯s a good name for you,¡± she offered.

    He grinned at that and rushed away. The other goblins around Ratface laughed at her reaction to the boy¡¯s interruption.

    She was being treated almost like an adult in this group which sort of made sense. She was named and she had been for a while. She was expected to act mature, particularly as a rat.

    Not that that stopped them from teasing her. Mature meant making sure the kids were safe and fed, it didn¡¯t mean not having fun.

    The green goblins were a lot more willing to poke and nudge to get attention. She noticed how even here the demon goblins were careful with them.

    ¡°Does Suncat ever come to these?¡± she asked a goblin named Birdsong.

    ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of her coming and I come every week. I mean most of us do obviously but still.¡± The boy flitted away to go talk to one of his friends who¡¯d called out for him.

    Ratface had a wide smile as she absorbed it all. It was nice to see goblins just having fun. Their party didn¡¯t have anything particularly special, they ate, and danced, and talked. The only difference between them and the rest of the species parties was that goblin parties were usually exclusively goblins.

    Well, there was one difference.

    The night was getting dark, and people began dousing fires until only a small candlelight was left in the middle. Goathead had been given the lucky job of handing out other candles to people who¡¯d not brought their own and he handed one to Ratface. At Ratface¡¯s village they¡¯d used torches, or flowers if they didn¡¯t have enough, but the idea was the same.

    Dirthand stood over the one lit candle.

    ¡°It¡¯s been another week and it¡¯s wonderful to see you all again. We have a new face to welcome into the group and I was happy you all welcomed Ratface so easily. I¡¯m not one for big speeches so I¡¯ll just say that I hope I see you all again next week.¡±

    She smiled at them all then lifted the candle and turned to the goblin next to her. She lit their candle with her own and the two smiled at each other before going around the group. One by one they lit their candles, the process speeding up as more goblin¡¯s candles were lit and they went on to light other¡¯s candles. It wasn¡¯t a solemn process. There were a lot of giggles as people bumped into each other or two people tried to light the same candle. It was still a quiet moment though. There was something special about it.

    Rabbittail came and lit Ratface¡¯s candle. The light made his face seem more relaxed than it had been, and, in this moment, he seemed less careful around her. It was nice. The two of them walked around together to help light the last few candles.

    When it was all done, they raised their candles up. It was dark here but with their combined candles there was just enough light to make everyone out. They stared at each other, nothing deep passing between each person but just acknowledging one another¡¯s existence. What they could do together.

    It wasn¡¯t much, each light barely lit an area.

    Yet with them all together, it was enough. The group found themselves standing in a pool of light. Just enough to keep the dark at bay.

 Chapter Thirty-Eight: Goblin Magic

    The edge of the glamour was more like a dream than a memory.

    Ratface waded through the fog of people in front of her. The group of goblins parted like mist. The images of people she¡¯d known her whole life so weak in her mind as to be nearly formless.

    From what she¡¯d read, the second glamour in her mind was a sophisticated one. It didn¡¯t take away all her memories, it just obscured them.  A normal glamour would have just blocked the memory off. It wouldn¡¯t have worked with such an important memory. Her mind would keep bashing into the glamour until either she or it broke. The person who¡¯d put the glamour in her was cannier than that. Instead, it just made her doubt herself. Did this goblin have a big nose, or maybe it was little? Maybe they had funny ears? Had she heard that saying from her friend, or read it in a book? The doubt obscured the memory until her brain couldn¡¯t tell what was true.

    All of it in service of obscuring one memory. The last one.

    Even that wasn¡¯t completely obscure to her. She could remember the feeling, the dread. The screaming.

    This time, she had a light with her. A gift from her night with the goblins.

    A glamour like this should be subject to her mind, given that it was woven within it. The goblin party had reminded her that even a small light could keep out the dark, so here she was carrying a candles memory through the glamour. The memory of the light, of the goblins supporting it, cut through the glamour and let her walk a little closer to the truth behind it.

    There at the middle of the glamor, Ratface found herself.  She was only a little bit younger than she was now. This was the last moment before she left.

    Her mother was there, holding her hand. She couldn¡¯t recognise any details, couldn¡¯t make any out but she knew it was her. Even the glamour wasn¡¯t strong enough to erase her completely.

    ¡°Do you know the story of the last great goblin magic?¡± Ratface¡¯s mother asked her.

    The image was violently pulled away. In its place was the glamour of the elf girl. The two looked at each other in surprise.

    ¡°What are you doing here?¡± asked Ratface.

    ¡°I could say the same thing, I thought I warned you away.¡±

    Ratface snorted.

    ¡°I¡¯m not going to take advice from the glamour someone else put in my head,¡± she said.

    The elf girl rolled her eyes.

    ¡°Aether, forbid I try to help you.¡±

    ¡°Aether¡± Ratface said with a sneer, ¡°just say god like all the other races.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯d think a goblin would be more particular,¡± grumbled the glamour.

    The two stood in the emptiness, it was slowly filling in with the street they¡¯d last stood in. Ratface could even see the performer.

    ¡°I don¡¯t suppose you know what she meant by the last goblin magic?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m in your head, most of what I know is from you.¡±

    Ratface paused. She¡¯d said that like common knowledge, but Ratface hadn¡¯t know that. If she only knew what Ratface did, could she anticipate her? She also noted that the glamour hadn¡¯t said it didn¡¯t know.

    ¡°How long have you been here?¡± Ratface asked.

    ¡°Obvious ploy,¡± the elf said.

    The image around them stopped and she was pulled out of the dream. Ratface smiled, the break was as much of an answer as if the glamour had told her herself.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

    <hr>

    Claudette watched over her again. She didn¡¯t have a book out this time which meant Ratface didn¡¯t hadn¡¯t been under as long.

    ¡°What was the last goblin magic?¡± Ratface asked.

    Claudette raised an eyebrow.

    ¡°To my knowledge there was none,¡± she said.

    They¡¯d attempted the glamour break outside this time and Abigail was close to them working on her armour¡¯s runes. She¡¯d have an easier time of doing it inside, but she¡¯d wanted to spend time with Claudette. Something about working together being better than working alone.

    ¡°I¡¯d think if it was a goblin magic, a goblin would know about it,¡± said Abigail.

    Her graver moved with surprising grace over the armour as she engraved it with new runes. It was a mind-boggling complex set of runes all connecting to the middle of the armour. Right now, Abigail was trying to put more fail-safe¡¯s in. Well, that¡¯s what Ratface assumed by the different lines across the armour. Without a sense of magic, she couldn¡¯t follow the circuits which made understanding how it worked difficult.

    Ratface blushed as she realised what she¡¯d just done. She¡¯d ask people, one of them an adventurer, for help without even thinking about it. The fact that they hadn¡¯t known meant it was a secret as well. She got up and left without a word.

    <hr>

    ¡°Goblin magic? Sounds like some Lurian legend. You still tell that one about Halmir?¡± Dirthand asked.

    They were in her shop and Ratface was sitting in a chair next to the counter. Dirthand talked to her between customers. Ratface frowned at that Halmir comment.

    ¡°You mean the true story,¡± she said.

    Dirthand chuckled.

    ¡°Look at that little pout! Well, something about goblin magic sounds like a Lurian story, all the oldest stories usually are. The only person I could think of that¡¯d have any better chance at knowing than you would be Suncat.¡±

    Ratface slouched into the chair she was in and absentmindedly rubbed at her face. She didn¡¯t pout, she frowned.

    ¡°We¡¯re not really speaking right now,¡± said Ratface.

    ¡°Yes, that girl Tiffany¡¯s been coming in. Good with plants that one.¡±

    ¡°Druid.¡±

    ¡°Cheater,¡± Dirthand grumbled.

    She said it with a smile so clearly Tiffany had earned her good graces. Hopefully dealing with the other goblin was helping her with impression of goblins in general. That was probably why Claudette or Isabelle had sent her, in hindsight.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t have any information, you should go ask her,¡± said Dirthand.

    ¡°What if she doesn¡¯t want to talk to me?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re a rat, you¡¯ll figure something out.¡±

    Ratface grumbled at that, but the vote of confidence was nice.

    <hr>

    She¡¯d gone with being annoying again.

    She was knocking on Suncat¡¯s door and had been for a while now. Her hand was sore and she had already had to switch the one she was knocking with once.

    The door opened a crack.

    ¡°What?¡± said Suncat.

    She was speaking in common and Ratface grimaced. She wasn¡¯t about to fix this any time soon.

    ¡°I¡¯ve come to check on Halmir,¡± said Ratface.

    It wasn¡¯t completely a lie, but it wasn¡¯t her whole reason for being here. The other girl sighed but let her in.

    Halmir looked fine. He was a chubby rat that was sleeping. If Ratface hadn¡¯t seen how active he usually was she would have thought he was living the good life. Suncat¡¯s frown didn¡¯t bring her any confidence either.

    ¡°How is he?¡± Ratface asked.

    ¡°Bad,¡± said Suncat.

    She crossed her arms but eventually she wavered under Ratface¡¯s stare and elaborated.

    ¡°His body will be okay, but his mind won¡¯t be. Right now, his mind is like a potted plant. He wants to grow more but his ¡®roots¡¯ keep running into the ¡®pot¡¯ and getting stopped.¡±

    ¡°The pot is his body?¡±

    Suncat shook her head.

    ¡°It¡¯s his aether shell.¡± She looked at Ratface¡¯s confused expression and sighed before continuing. ¡°Like his soul, it¡¯s the soul of a rat, right? But he wants to be more.¡±

    Ratface didn¡¯t really understand the aether shell, but she got the gist.

    ¡°He needs help to grow?¡±

    ¡°Something is stopping him.¡±

    ¡°So how do we help him?¡± asked Ratface.

    ¡°If we were elves, we could send a glamour in, it could help fight whatever was in there.¡±

    Ratface thought to the glamour sitting inside her head. It could probably help. She just had to find a way to convince it.

    ¡°If I get you a glamour, can you transfer it?¡±

    Suncat looked at her in concern. Ratface had two glamour in her head, and they needed a glamour to do this, even an idiot could figure it out and Suncat was by no means an idiot.

    ¡°It won¡¯t get rid of your glamour, eventually it¡¯ll snap back. It¡¯ll hurt a bunch too.¡±

    Ratface shrugged.

    ¡°He saved me, I don¡¯t mind being hurt.¡±

    ¡°I mind you being hurt!¡± yelled Suncat. She was shaking again. ¡°I don¡¯t want to hurt more goblins,¡± she whispered.

    Ratface didn¡¯t reach out to her, but she did lower her voice. Like she was trying to lure in an animal.

    ¡°Suncat, do you know what the last goblin magic was?¡±

    The other girl glanced at her in confusion and shook her head.

    ¡°Dirthand said you might,¡± Ratface explained, ¡°She said if anyone knew it would be someone from Lurian or you. Where are you from Suncat? Why are you so scared?¡±

    The other girl tried to yell again but Ratface interrupted her.

    ¡°I can¡¯t help Halmir without your help and you won¡¯t help me. So, tell me why. I deserve that much.¡±

    The other girl watched her for a long moment. Ratface didn¡¯t say anything, just waited. She knew the other girl would talk, because she knew what it was like to be alone. No race was meant to be alone, but goblins especially weren¡¯t. Eventually Suncat reached out because, even if she didn¡¯t know it, at her heart she was a goblin.

    ¡°Okay,¡± she said, ¡°Let me tell you about the Never City.¡±

 Chapter Thirty-Nine: To Be a Goblin

    ¡°This is going about ten years back,¡± said Suncat.

    ¡°How old are you?¡±

    ¡°Twenty-five, don¡¯t interrupt.¡±

    Suncat began her story.

    ¡°It¡¯s said that when the elves first came to be they split into two groups. One, who sided with Halmir, made the country of Lurian, where they play host to the frail goblins of the world.

    The other elves pursued magic in its highest form. You may call them wizard and live rightly in fear of them. One elf on its own is terrifying but a wizard knows the world with far more detail, and they use that power for devastation.¡±

    Suncat paused at that. She was pacing the room and Ratface didn¡¯t want to interrupt.

    ¡°It¡¯s a lie of course. Elves, like goblins, are unnaturally loyal to each other. It didn¡¯t escape my notice that the experiment rooms always have another goblin to add.¡±

    Her eyes flicked to Ratface and for a moment Ratface saw someone different standing in front of. She looked at Ratface and didn¡¯t see a person, didn¡¯t see a goblin, she saw a number. She looked so tired

    ¡°The Never City is a closed city. There are two races that live in it, goblins and elves. A better distinction is to say there are researchers, and assistants. That¡¯s the city I was born in.¡±

    She waved her hands.

    ¡°The details aren¡¯t important but suffice to say, the better an assistant you are, the better your life, and I was the best. So good that I even was given a name, ¡®Eliana the Head Researcher.¡¯¡±

    She clenched her hands.

    ¡°Being the best meant being the best at experimenting on your fellow goblins. The best at torturing them.¡±

    Ratface frowned. The idea of torturing another goblin didn¡¯t sit right with her and she knew that Suncat felt the same way. Context was missing.

    ¡°Did you know that goblins are magical creatures? They need aether, or mana, to survive. Even then most goblins are only scrounging from ambient mana. Normal goblins can¡¯t make their own so you¡¯re all a little malnourished. A little weaker than every other creature on this planet.¡±

    Ratface looked at her own body, she didn¡¯t feel like anything was wrong. Her eyes narrowed, but she got tired running faster than the rest of them. She¡¯d been the one most out of breath in their race away from the elf even though she had been training to just run. She¡¯d assumed she¡¯d had the least time on the wagon and that was why she¡¯d got tired faster. If Suncat was to be believed, it was because of lacking something she needed to live. The thought made her resentful.

    Suncat watched her and only kept speaking when she¡¯d connected the dots.

    ¡°In Never City, there is no ambient mana. It¡¯s all funnelled into the city¡¯s well. It isn¡¯t a problem for the elves, but assistants are given a ration of mana every week. What do you think the prisoners get?¡±

    Nothing, Ratface bet. Her brain struggled to imagine a city without mana. It must be cold and dead, did the sun even reach it?The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

    ¡°The experiments, the prisoners, only got mana from experiments so I put them through as many as I could. They were suffering, sure, but at least they were surviving. I thought if I could just cure them of their mana problem, then we¡¯d all be safe. That was my life. It all changed the day they brought in a demon for research.¡±

    That¡¯d be Claudette. Ratface couldn¡¯t imagine Abigail letting her out of her sight if she wasn¡¯t in the Redwood. This must be why.

    ¡°She offered me a deal. Take her blood and free us both. I may have been an assistant but everyone who isn¡¯t an elf in the Never City is a prisoner. I got a group of the researchers under me, and we all took the deal. We broke her out and burned our way out of the city. I even watched Claudette bring down one of their fancy wizards. We made only one detour, to help the experiments.¡±

    Ratface held her breath, not wanting to interrupt, this was the last piece of the puzzle.

    ¡°It was the chance I¡¯d been waiting for, not just freedom, but a cure to all their problems. I said as much and offered to set them free. Do you know what they told me?¡±

    Suncat closed her eyes, unwilling to meet Ratface¡¯s own as she confessed her sin.

    ¡°They told me to kill them, each and every one too broken by the experiments, the torture that I¡¯d put them through.¡±

    ¡°I did it of course. It was there I discovered that as a demon I didn¡¯t have the same aversion to hurting goblins as I had before.¡± She choked out a laugh.

    ¡°It¡¯s ironic then, that I hurt them more as a goblin, than as a demon.¡±

    Ratface reached out for Suncat, but the other girl stopped her.

    ¡°That¡¯s why I won¡¯t do an experiment on you, even to help Halmir. I couldn¡¯t be trusted not to hurt goblins, even when I was one. I shudder to think what I¡¯d do now that I¡¯m a demon.¡±

    Suncat tried to walk away but Ratface was blocking the door. There was so much in her story that Ratface couldn¡¯t understand, and so much of it that made her furious.

    Ratface drew her knife and Suncat looked resigned to the violence, she offered up her neck.

    Ratface turned the knife to face herself and stabbed.

    There was a cry and Suncat caught the blade. Blood dripped from her hand where she¡¯d caught it just before it could plunge into Ratface. Ratface looked her in the eyes.

    ¡°Goblin,¡± she accused.

    ¡°Weren¡¯t you listening to anything I said?¡± Suncat asked.

    She tried to move the knife, but Ratface kept it where it was so the other girl couldn¡¯t move. In that moment, Ratface understood Suncat¡¯s mind. It was like the other demon goblin¡¯s carefulness taken to extreme. The fear that they¡¯d hurt them just by existing. The lack of trust in themselves. Ratface hated it.

    ¡°You helped me without thinking. That¡¯s what makes you goblin.¡±

    ¡°Anyone would have done that.¡±

    Ratface shook her head.

    ¡°No. I have met humans who¡¯d kill me for saving their children. Met people who fought by my side until they saw my face. If you help a goblin, then you¡¯re one of us. I don¡¯t care about something as stupid as blood.¡±

    She put the knife to the side and looked for a bandage for Suncat¡¯s hand. Failing to find one, she ripped a bit of her own shirt and began wrapping it.

    The other girl had slumped into a chair. The combination of talking about her past, and the adrenalin from catching the knife, leaving her exhausted. Ratface switched to goblin as she kept talking.

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t there, maybe you could have done things differently, I don¡¯t know what I would have done.¡±

    She looked into Suncat¡¯s eyes, forcing the other girl to understand her.

    ¡°Making a mistake isn¡¯t a sin. You tried. You tried to give them a chance more than anyone else in there, under pressure I can¡¯t even imagine. If you aren¡¯t a goblin, then none of us are.¡±

    Suncat couldn¡¯t hold her eyes for long before she looked away. Ratface didn¡¯t miss the tears in her eyes, but she also noticed how Suncat sat a little straighter at her words.

    ¡°So pushy,¡± Suncat said eventually, ¡°who let you grow up to be so pushy?¡± She¡¯d switched back to speaking goblin.

    Ratface smiled. A cheeky smile she¡¯d only use for another goblin.

    ¡°All rats are pushy,¡± she said.

    It got her a tired laugh from Suncat.

    ¡°You¡¯ll help with Halmir?¡± Ratface asked.

    Suncat looked at her, then looked at Halmir. Ratface almost thought she¡¯d say no after all this, that she hadn¡¯t really gotten through.

    ¡°Okay,¡± Suncat finally said, ¡°but tomorrow. I¡¯m tired.¡±

    Ratface smiled. She knew that one speech wouldn¡¯t fix everything, that Suncat was weighed down by her past even now. She knew that.

    But that wasn¡¯t what was important. What was, was that two goblins left that building, and for the first time in a long time, Suncat wasn¡¯t alone.

 Chapter Forty: Negotiating with the voice in your head

    With Suncat taken care of, Ratface just had to work out how to convince the living person in her head to play along.

    She knew she couldn¡¯t ask Abigail or Claudette for help. The glamour had said she could see what she¡¯d seen so she¡¯d know that Ratface had ratted her out to Claudette. Given the glamour¡¯s obvious dislike of the demon, that seemed like a bad idea.

    So instead, she¡¯d gathered Albert and Tiffany and run them through the whole problem.

    They looked at her with blank faces.

    ¡°It¡¯s never just something normal with you, is it?¡± said Albert.

    Ratface shrugged. She didn¡¯t really have an argument against that.

    ¡°Have you tried just appealing to her? She has your memories, maybe she like Halmir?¡± Tiffany asked.

    She grabbed a biscuit and munched on it after talking. Ratface had taken them to the tea room for this conversation and even made tea. She was terrible at making it, she¡¯d taken one sip of her own and nearly spat it out. The biscuits were coating their tounges enough that they could stand to drink it.

    Ratface mulled over Tiffany¡¯s suggestion.

    ¡°She¡¯s literally in my brain to stop me seeing stuff,¡± she said, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t think that she¡¯d be inclined to help me anyway.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t suppose you¡¯ve managed to get any dirt on her, have you?¡± Albert asked.

    ¡°Same problem. Any dirt I get on her isn¡¯t really going to be of use. She has one purpose and if it isn¡¯t that then there¡¯s no reason she¡¯d help me.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not specifically going against that purpose though, right?¡± Tiffany asked.

    ¡°She might see it as a trap,¡± said Ratface.

    The problem was that the glamour had all the cards. Even now she was sitting in Ratface¡¯s head and keeping a look out. It was a weird thing to consider. A little unnerving. She thought she heard a chuckle in her head and tried to ignore it. No one had ever said talking to voices in your head was a good idea. In fact, there was a lot of stories suggesting the opposite.

    They sat staring at the biscuits in silence. It was pretty clear getting the glamour to help wasn¡¯t going to be easy. What did you give someone stuck in your head? What tangible things could you offer her.

    ¡°You could exchange it for her safety,¡± said Tiffany, ¡°Right now Claudette¡¯s trying to find her, right? If you can swear that you won¡¯t let her, it might get her to help.¡±

    ¡°It does mean giving up on that knowledge forever though,¡± said Albert, ¡°still based on what you¡¯ve told us about glamours, this should work. She may be autonomous, but that is her one goal right?¡±Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!

    It wasn¡¯t a bad idea. It¡¯d mean giving up on those memories though. Could she really give that up just for Halmir.

    A stupid question, of course she could. Her friend was more important than some memory she didn¡¯t know about.

    Ratface straightened, resolving herself to this course of action.

    ¡°Alright, it¡¯s time I took a nap.¡±

    ¡°No,¡± said the glamour.

    They were in the elf city again. This time they were in a caf¨¦ and judging by the sun above them it was later in the day.

    Ratface took a sip of the fake drink in front of her. It tasted fake as well. Like this is what the glamour had imagined it tasted like, but they had never truly experienced it.

    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you be all for this? It seems like it would make your life easier.¡±

    The elf snorted and looked away.

    ¡°Spoken like someone who doesn¡¯t know how glamours work. If I extracted an oath like that out of you, there¡¯d be no need for me to be so smart. I¡¯d become a static glamour just holding you to your oath.¡±

    Ratface tucked away that piece of glamour knowledge in her head. Talking to a glamour about how they worked was a lot better than trying to ask an elf.

    ¡°You want to live?¡± Ratface said in surprise.

    ¡°Everything wants to live,¡± said the glamour, ¡°even being stuck in your brain is better than the alternative.¡±

    Ratface paused at that. The idea that the glamour was alive hadn¡¯t really considered to her. They were autonomous, such an insidious way to describe something thinking. The wording itself made to ignore their life.

    It had never occurred to her that unravelling the glamour meant killing her. It was a sobering prospect. Sure, the girl was keeping things from her, but did she deserve to die for it?

    It also put their negotiation into a different light.

    Ratface looked around her. The glamour always brought her here, was that because she couldn¡¯t go elsewhere? Was she stuck here.

    She thought of the taste of the drink. It wasn¡¯t good, it was what someone imagined would be good, but it lacked any flavour. Ratface smiled, the glamour had even referred to being in here as being stuck. It looked like she had a bargaining chip after all.

    ¡°You should help me, because you want to,¡± she told the glamour.

    The glamour snorted.

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m delighted to see the logic here. Sure, explain why I should care for your pet rat.¡±

    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t, he¡¯s nothing to you. You get to interact with my memories of him and that¡¯s it. I could tell you all his best features and I don¡¯t think you¡¯d care at all. No you should help me because you¡¯re bored.¡±

    Ratface leaned forward, a grin on her face.

    ¡°It must suck being in here. Watching all the adventures happen but never really getting to be a part of them. Watching a play but never getting to see what you could do.¡±

    The glamour watched her with an amused expression, but it was a little too stiff. Ratface knew she had her interested.

    ¡°See I¡¯ve heard that most glamours like you get to see the outside world, get to touch it. I bet at your heart your designed to want that right? It must eat away at you to be stuck here.¡±

    The expression on the glamours face broke, Ratface had her interest, now she just had to convince her. She leaned back into her chair.

    ¡°Helping Halmir? That¡¯s your only shot at your own adventure. How many opportunities like this do you really think a goblin like me is going to run into?¡±

    The glamour tried to keep its face blank, but it wasn¡¯t watching its hands, and they were tightening on the table.

    ¡°I¡¯d need an assurance it wasn¡¯t a trap,¡± she said eventually. Ratface had her.

    ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll swear to make no attempts against you while you¡¯re helping me. Halmir being safe at the end is my goal, why would I try and sabotage that?¡±

    The glamour watched her a long time, but Ratface had her and they both knew it. She held out her hand.

    ¡°It appears Ratface, that we have a deal,¡± she said.

    ¡°So we do,¡± said Ratface. She grabbed the other girl¡¯s hand and did her best not to smile too wide.

    Judging by the glamours expression, she failed.

 Chapter Forty-One: Mind Training Today?

    It wasn¡¯t as simple as making the deal and going straight to help Halmir of course. Ratface found Suncat the next day and the girl had just rolled her eyes and taken her to her experiment room.

    She put Ratface on the table one the middle and strapped her down. Ratface watched as Suncat hesitated to tie the straps.

    ¡°What are they for?¡± she asked.

    ¡°A glamour isn¡¯t part of you but with one as ingrained as it is for you, the removal and snap back are going to be painful. This is to stop you moving around too much and hurting yourself in the process.¡±

    Talking about it seemed to steady the other goblin and she was able to put Ratface into the straps.

    ¡°I¡¯m not used to the patient not struggling,¡± she admitted afterwards. She looked troubled at the thought of it.

    Ratface tried wiggling in the straps to no avail.

    ¡°Better?¡± she asked.

    Suncat snorted and went to the next part.

    ¡°Today we¡¯ll be testing your limits. I have no idea how long helping Halmir will take but if it can¡¯t be solved before your glamour snaps back, it may do more harm than good. To that end, we¡¯ll be testing you under different levels of strain.¡±

    She pulled out a small crystal.

    ¡°This is a glamour holder. They used these in Never City to capture glamours and sever them from their host.¡±

    ¡°Why not just do that and then make her portable?¡±

    Ratface wasn¡¯t going to go through with that. She¡¯d made a deal with the glamour, and she needed its cooperation to save Halmir. She was curious though.

    ¡°At the best case, it sends the severed one into a long sleep. I read even elves struggle to recover so I can¡¯t imagine what¡¯d do to you.¡±

    ¡°So, no severing the glamour, got it.¡±

    Suncat snorted and placed the crystal over Ratface¡¯s head. It felt like part of her memory stepped out, she felt foggy. She couldn¡¯t focus, and the glamour snapped back into her mind. She winced in pain.

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s about what I expected for this,¡± said Suncat, ¡°are you okay to try again?¡±

    Ratface nodded.

    They spent most of the day working at it. They had no idea what helping Halmir would look like, so they had decided to go for worst case scenario.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    The crystal didn¡¯t simulate a world, it was just a cage. That meant the glamour couldn¡¯t run around in it to simulate effort either.

    To get around this restriction, Suncat had made a conversion of crystal distance to amount of effort. Right next to Ratface being just sitting, and halfway to the house being a dead sprint. They needed to hold that dead sprint for at least one hour before they¡¯d be happy with it. It was unlikely the glamour would be moving that much, but it gave them a flexible time if she did have to fight something.

    They didn¡¯t make much headway. It was a completely new experience to Ratface. Her brain felt weird, like it wasn¡¯t all there and concentrating on not taking it back took effort. It felt a little like stretching, in that it hurt a lot and Ratface felt like she was making no progress.

    The snapbacks got more and more painful the further they went out as well. Halfway across the room would leave her with a full-on headache. She didn¡¯t know what further would get them because they hadn¡¯t made it that far.

    After a particularly brutal snap, Suncat called it. She handed Ratface a small pile of herbs which she instructed her to swallow. Ratface recognised the weed Dirthand had given her, but she didn¡¯t know what the rest were. It tasted awful but its effects were almost immediate as the headache disappeared. Ratface wondered if there was a rule about the terrible taste to medicine effectiveness.

    ¡°You made good headway,¡± said Suncat.

    Ratface frowned. It didn¡¯t feel like she¡¯d done that, they were barely through the room.

    ¡°How long until we can make it? Can Halmir make it?¡±

    Suncat shrugged.

    ¡°No idea to the first, but in terms of the second, Halmir can feasibly last as long as you take. I can keep him going and it¡¯s only the aether he has an issue in. It isn¡¯t urgent, just important.¡±

    She stared hard at Ratface. Her face looking as serious as she could.

    ¡°Do not rush this,¡± she said, ¡°you can only hurt Halmir by doing so.¡±

    Ratface grumbled but did as she was told. Sometimes you had to differ to the experts.

    What followed was a gruelling couple of weeks. Ratface trained on this every day which meant she made no headway with Claudette. They¡¯d tried once, and the demon had said trying to hold her mind was like a sweaty pig and sent her on her way.

    Abigail also had her doing physical training again. It was a lot of sparring and occasionally Albert joined them. He trounced Ratface every time.

    As a result, Ratface lived in a dreamlike experience, the only difference between being awake and being asleep the absence of exhaustion.

    Her actual dream with the glamour became less dreamlike. The world became clearer the more training they put in which she found interesting. She asked the glamour about it when they met in the city.

    ¡°It is interesting,¡± the glamour agreed.

    The two of them watched as their usual server walked over to them with their fake drinks. They had definition now.

    They went for a walk until they came past a group of young elves. They had small glamours running around them as they were deep in concentration.

    ¡°You know when kids are first learning how to use their glamours they have to send their glamour to do a task out of eyeshot. It¡¯s to help them get more in tune with it supposedly,¡± said the glamour, ¡°I wonder if your crystal training is a more extreme version of that?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re awfully chatty,¡± said Ratface, ¡°you won¡¯t get into trouble for telling me something like that?¡±

    ¡°In trouble with who? There¡¯s only me. You could¡¯ve got that information from a book anyway.¡±

    She shrugged.

    ¡°Besides, all this training means I get stronger as well. There is literally no down-side to all of this for me.¡±

    The glamour was quite nice when Ratface didn¡¯t push on the memory she was hiding. It was weird enjoying an elf¡¯s company, but Ratface took solace in the fact that she was an elf living in her head so didn¡¯t really count.

    They arrived at the jellyfish illusion again. They always came here when the dream started to fade.

    ¡°It¡¯s a pity,¡± said the glamour as the dream faded, ¡°you¡¯re making good progress with this training. If you were an elf, you¡¯d be a prodigy.¡±

    Ratface shuddered at the thought of being one of them as the dream faded.

 Chapter Forty-Two: The Nature of Demons

    The library had quickly become a place of solace for Ratface. She¡¯d commandeered Suncat¡¯s little nook and rearranged the pillows to suit her. Suncat and her were having a tiny war over pillow configuration but seems they were never here at the same time, the shared space worked fine for now.

    Her common was getting better but she was still a slow reader. It was a shame because other than the glamour book Claudette had given her, she wasn¡¯t able to research anything about glamours to help with the Halmir problem.

    She was getting her range to increase steadily but the sheer fogginess she felt made her worried she might just forget to hold on and they couldn¡¯t afford that.

    There was a knock at the library door and Claudette entered. The demon had taken to joining her, but they didn¡¯t do any practical work on the glamour. Instead, a lot of it was dedicated to theory which Claudette assured her would be more useful while Suncat ran her ragged.

    She¡¯d brought her own book as usual. With a wave of her hand, she got one of the chairs to come over to her. She sat down without looking and the chair slid into place just in case. Ratface was waiting for the day she messed it up and fell on the floor but it¡¯d yet to happen. The demon used magic with such grace. It was a subtle display of her control. It was more effective at telling Ratface how powerful the other woman was than any grand magic would be.

    She seemed energetic today and Ratface, she didn¡¯t even start reading before talking to Ratface.

    ¡°I hoped we might talk about the deal I offered you,¡± she said.

    Ratface looked up from her book. She¡¯d known the conversation had been coming and she¡¯d been asking around the goblins, both demon and normal.

    ¡°I was hoping to put the decision off until we helped Halmir,¡± Ratface began.

    ¡°Because you don¡¯t want to anger your glamour?¡±

    Ratface froze, and the lady snorted as she opened her book.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t take a genius to work out that your helping Halmir is somehow related to your glamour given how exhausted your mind has been. I¡¯m happy to wait until after but I would like to find out which you¡¯re leaning towards in the meantime.¡±

    Ratface let out a breath. It was annoying their secrecy had been for nothing but more than that it was a reminder that while she was in this forest there was little that Claudette couldn¡¯t see.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to take your deal,¡± said Ratface.

    ¡°Interesting. Why?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have a good reason.¡±

    Claudette made an irritated noise.

    ¡°This isn¡¯t a test Ratface. I¡¯m curious about what made you decide it.¡±

    Ratface thought back to the goblins she¡¯d asked. What was strange was that all of them hadn¡¯t regretted the choice. It fixed a thousand little problems in them they didn¡¯t notice, one of the goblins had said they even breathed easier now. It was almost like the magic was an afterthought to all the other ways it helped them.

    It wasn¡¯t some insidious change either. The normal goblins told her they didn¡¯t change in the way they acted. Neither side tried to convince her either way. One time they had even made one goblin leave the conversation when he tried to convince her the change was good. She couldn¡¯t find any solid reason not to change. Imagine having access to magic all of a sudden.

    ¡°It¡¯s not something I can pin down,¡± said Ratface, ¡°but something gets lost, something important. Being a demon is unique, it looks powerful. Yet I¡¯d rather not give up that part even if I can¡¯t say what it is.¡±

    It was the little things. The way they were more careful, the way that they had to think a little harder to connect with other goblins. They were still goblins, there was no question about that, but it was like they were a whole family, and they were cousins instead of siblings.

    Claudette sighed.

    ¡°What a waste you weren¡¯t born with magic, that intuition would have served you well. Do you know what demon magic is centred around?¡±

    ¡°Deals?¡±

    ¡°Close. Sacrifice.¡¯

    She gestured to the window where they could see the forest.

    ¡°Most people think that just means blood or life, but the forest is a good example. It¡¯s true I have watered most of these plants with my blood, but that¡¯s only half the equation. Did you know that all of the demon goblins have some time dedicated to taking care of the forest?¡±

    She closed the book in front of her, now fully interested in her lecture.

    ¡°They¡¯re sacrificing time to the forest and as a result, they get some amount of control over it. Me being honest and forcing you to take deals with eyes open is also part of that, I sacrifice any deception and lose out on weaker deals, but the ones I get a more powerful.¡±

    She put her hands together.

    ¡°Keep this in mind when I tell you that every goblin who takes my blood is more powerful than they should be. Whatever they sacrifice is important. I¡¯ve had to tell most of them, but you sniffed it out yourself, for that I applaud you.¡±

    She stood up, restless energy moving through her.

    ¡°I think you¡¯ve made the right decision. I look at you and see a series of chances ending. I don¡¯t know what that means, a novel feeling for me. To that end, I say you go to the park right now and tell no one. Let¡¯s add a little more chaos to the mix.¡±

    She stopped talking and Ratface thought about it and went back to her book. She looked up as the demon stared at her.

    ¡°That wasn¡¯t a suggestion, was it?¡±

    ¡°It was not.¡±

    Ratface closed the book and hurried out of the room. She walked quickly, then began to run. It was definitely because she was excited to go to the park. The demons eager look hadn¡¯t freaked her out at all.

 Chapter Forty-Three: The Mentor in The Forest

    The park was odd during the day, the sun shone through the leaves in a way that made the shadows run across you. It was beautiful, it was artistic, it was weird. This forest was always weird.

    Ratface hadn¡¯t really paid that much attention to it when she¡¯d come through before. It¡¯d been dark for one, but there was also the question of what was normal. She was in a forest controlled by a demon, the normal trees looking particularly aesthetic wasn¡¯t exactly that high up on her priorities.

    Yet it should have still stuck in her head as weird. She shouldn¡¯t have brushed off seeing eyes in the night like it was nothing. So the question was what had stopped it.

    She could hear fighting in the distance, Albert¡¯s grunts were familiar after the number of fights they¡¯d gotten into. It was only that followed by the clack of wood meeting wood. Whoever he was fighting was so good as to not even make a sound.

    Ratface wasn¡¯t stupid, all of these points added up to something. She was just hoping her conclusion was wrong.

    She strode through into the same clearing they¡¯d had the goblin party in. She didn¡¯t bother hiding; if she was wrong then whoever was there was friendly, if she was right then sneaking wouldn¡¯t help anyway.

    Albert was halfway though an attack when she got there. It was obvious the training was paying off. He attacked a little faster, leapt a little higher. It was unnatural and if she squinted, she could see the wind wrap around him when he did it.

    His opponent met his attack and turned it to the side. His spear slammed into the ground next to her, and he collapsed to the ground, gasping.

    ¡°You can breathe when using the wind, it is encouraged,¡± she said.

    The woman smiled at Albert, then turned to face her.

    She was in forest greens and had a bow slung across her back. Her ears were pointed.

    Ratface¡¯s brain screamed elf, but she noticed the rounder face and the stockier body.

    ¡°Half-elf,¡± she whispered.

    ¡°I prefer Hannah,¡± said the half-elf.

    A half elf wasn¡¯t much better than an elf in Ratface¡¯s book, half-elves tended to be in enforcement roles in Lurian, anything the elves deemed too tiresome to do on their own. They took out their frustrations on who they were enforcing, usually the goblins.

    She was halfway through drawing her knife before her brain caught up with the name. She paused.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    ¡°The defier?¡± Ratface asked.

    ¡°Again, just Hannah is fine,¡± said Hannah.

    Ratface stopped drawing her knife and shoved it back into the sheath. She¡¯d heard of this woman. Her infamy was so widespread that it had reached even goblins.

    ¡°You killed elves,¡± said Ratface.

    Hannah shrugged.

    ¡°Only to run away, my story is far more boring than it sounds. How can I help you?¡±

    Ratface paced around the half-elf. She looked over to Albert who had moved on from gasping to resting.

    ¡°I don¡¯t suppose you can teach me that?¡± Ratface asked.

    Hannah looked over to Albert and helped him up.

    ¡°Albert is lucky, someone in his family got intimate with a wind-spirit. I can teach you how to harness your blood, not make new magic.¡±

    Ratface frowned, with a wind spirit? How did that even work? Still, it made sense that a half-elf could help with awakening old powers. If they grew up with elves, then they were always taught as much so they could be useful. Supposedly the blood made them more willing to follow orders as well, it was why Hannah was so famous.

    She walked over to join them, and Hannah stared critically at her.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know why Claudette would send you to me, goblin¡¯s blood is only ever goblins blood. Yours is no different.¡±

    Ratface knew why, it¡¯d be the glamour. She couldn¡¯t bring herself to say it though. Yes, Hannah had killed elves but that didn¡¯t mean she¡¯d saved goblins, Ratface knew the difference.

    ¡°You should tell her,¡± Albert said, ¡°she¡¯ll help her, and you can trust her because she can¡¯t leave.¡±

    Hannah gave him an annoyed look at that, but Ratface was grateful. It was useful to have a friend who understood her mistrust.

    ¡°I have a glamour I need to get better at using.¡± She saw Hannah¡¯s eyebrows raise, so she clarified, ¡°it¡¯s not mine.¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s considerably less interesting but it¡¯s still something. The good news is that my advice probably wont change. What¡¯s the problem?¡±

    ¡°When it leaves my head, I feel foggy. It¡¯s like I can¡¯t think straight.¡±

    ¡°Ah,¡± said Hannah. She held out her hand and a small bird formed on it.

    ¡°Do you know the first task elf children are given when they activate their glamour?¡± she asked.

    She pushed the bird into the sky, and it flew further into the forest.

    ¡°They have to send it away, right? To increase their endurance.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s only half of it,¡± said Hannah. She closed her eyes and held out her hand. ¡°The other part is about trust. Glamour¡¯s are elves¡¯ innate magic; it is a wilful magic that will buck if you try and order it too firmly. You¡¯re spending too much of your mind trying to hold onto the glamour which is why you feel so lost.¡±

    She put her hand out and an apple fell from the sky into it. She took a bite of it as the bird came to rest of her shoulder.

    ¡°You have to trust the glamour to work with you, or else it won¡¯t.¡±

    Ratface snorted.

    ¡°Trust huh?¡± She pointed at Albert. ¡°I trust him because he put his life on the line for me, he did the right thing even when it¡¯d hurt him. I¡¯ll aways trust him to do the right thing.¡±

    She pointed at her head.

    ¡°That thing in there is keeping parts of my life from me. How do I trust that?¡±

    Hannah shrugged. She seemed much shyer now that she wasn¡¯t in her element.

    ¡°I couldn¡¯t say. It was my glamour who saved me in the end, who defied the elves. I can¡¯t imagine a world where it would hurt me.¡±

    Ratface stalked off before she could hear another word. She didn¡¯t know why that made her so mad, only that it did.

    It was frustrating, she realised, that a glamour could save someone. The ones in her were just a weight against her. That was all magic ever way. How could she trust that?

    If she didn¡¯t, Halmir was in trouble. She hissed as she walked away. You didn¡¯t trust the wolf just because it was all that could save you from the bear.

    Yet she would need to, if Halmir was to wake up again.

 Chapter Forty-Four: Gardening

    Ratface hadn¡¯t wanted to do any work today, so when Tiffany had asked her to go for a walk outside of the town, she¡¯d jumped at the opportunity.

    It was partly because she was being run ragged and partly because training meant interacting with the glamour. After Hannah¡¯s reveal, that didn¡¯t seem as attractive an option as before. It wasn¡¯t like she could just decide to trust the glamour and be done with it.

    She shook her head. She¡¯d been circling the problem the entire time, she wasn¡¯t about to work it out on the walk.

    Tiffany had been leading her through the forest in a winding pattern. She seemed to be communing with the plants. Occasionally they¡¯d reach out a hand and she¡¯d roll her eyes and give them her blood.

    ¡°Should I be concerned how many deals you¡¯re making?¡± asked Ratface.

    Tiffany grimaced.

    ¡°I¡¯m still used to normal plants, it¡¯s hard to get these ones to work with me,¡± said Tiffany. She squeezed her already bleeding hands onto some plants to get them to open the way to them. ¡°In an ideal world they¡¯d work with me because I¡¯d helped out the area, but I haven¡¯t done enough.¡±

    ¡°Most plants seemed easy for you to control,¡± Ratface observed.

    ¡°That¡¯s because they wanted to grow and I could help them, a simple requirement in some ways. Demon plants seem to know I need them and they¡¯re exploitative. That¡¯s what today¡¯s all about.¡±

    Ratface eyed the bucket and garden trowels Tiffany was holding, it didn¡¯t escape her notice that there was two of them in that bucket.

    Tiffany stopped in front of her as they came to an area walled off by plants. Tiffany placed her non cut hand on them. She stood in silence for a bit and then something in the air changed. The vines opened and let them through. It was a gap only big enough for one person at a time and Ratface could feel the annoyance from the plants on letting her in.

    Inside she found herself in a wall of green. It was like a war in here and it was clear by the overwhelming green the demon plants weren¡¯t winning. Already breaks in their wall were starting to appear. A strong smell of mint filled the air and Ratface frowned.

    ¡°Mint?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s an aggressive plant, even the demon plants have an issue with it,¡± Tiffany said.

    She chucked a trowel to Ratface and rolled up her sleeves.

    ¡°This is my attempt to win the forest over, we¡¯re going to clear it all out.¡±The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    Ratface looked at the field in front of them. This was going to be a full day job. She knelt and started weeding. The shovel dug into the ground, and she pulled, yanking out as much as she could. After that she had to dig in to find all the roots that had dug deeper. It was hard work, but it reminded her of the few time she¡¯d helped out with the Kauri around her own village. They never had anything too bad to deal with unlike the mint which had dug into the area.

    Tiffany was having a much easier time of it. Part of it was due to her being a farmer but a lot of it was the fact that she had druid magic on her side. Each root she pulled out was helped by the demon plants joining her to drive the mint away. They chucked the mint they found into their bucket, there was no way all the mint would fit in that.

    It was then that one of the demon plants whipped out a vine and pulled in the mint. It proceeded to open a mouth and munch down on the mint itself. Ratface and Tiffany looked at it with horrified fascination.

    They kept at it in companionable silence, only occasionally interrupted by the munching of the trees around as they feasted.

    ¡°I hear your helping Halmir is coming up against a wall,¡± Tiffany said after one such loud crunch.

    Ratface attacked the roots in front of her with the trowel.

    ¡°A wall is right. They want me to trust the glamour in my head.¡±

    ¡°It won¡¯t trust you?¡±

    ¡°I wont trust it,¡± said Ratface. She pulled out more mint and threw it straight at one of the mouths. The tree caught it then lifted it into its mouth. It seemed annoyed at Ratface¡¯s loss of etiquette.

    They fell back into silence as Ratface attacked the mint with renewed vigour. Tiffany seemed thoughtful as she worked with the demon plants to eradicate their foe.

    ¡°You know, I don¡¯t like this forest,¡± she said after a while. It retracted from her as she said it and she smiled. ¡°I don¡¯t think it particularly likes me either.¡± The plants paused, then moved their way back to her. The olive branch extended.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯d trust it like I trust a normal plant, it¡¯s not going to grow to protect me just because I asked. If it found me wounded, it¡¯s more likely to attack unless I¡¯ve given fair trade.¡±

    ¡°Demon magic is about sacrifice,¡± said Ratface.

    ¡°Yeah, but druid magic isn¡¯t. It¡¯s about collaboration.¡±

    She kept working at the mint and the demon plant worked with her, attacking aggressively. Tiffany gave Ratface a look that said, ¡®see what I mean?¡¯.

    ¡°Collaboration means working with a bunch of plants and animals that don¡¯t want the same thing. I can¡¯t trust any of them to act like me.¡± She chucked the mint into the bucket and a vine wrapped around it to eat.

    ¡°Yet I can trust it to go after the mint. I can trust it to take my blood in fair dealings. I can trust it to act in its nature.¡±

    ¡°You think I should work with the glamour?¡±

    ¡°I think you already are. You made the deal right? You just have to trust it to act within the nature you identified.¡±

    They finished up with the mint and walked out of the forest. She watched as the demon plants that had so relentlessly attacked the mint now delicately prodded at the ground that it had been in, like they were feeling at a wind. They let Ratface and Tiffany leave unscathed, even letting them take a direct path instead of having to move through different areas. Tiffany carried the last of the mint in her bucket like a trophy.

    ¡°Maybe one day I¡¯ll totally trust this forest, but that isn¡¯t today. Today we trusted each other because we had to.¡± She glanced at Ratface. ¡°That¡¯s sort of how you and I started too, and now you¡¯re helping me garden. Who knows what the future hold if we can just extend a little bit of faith now and then.¡±

    Ratface mulled it over. She still couldn¡¯t trust the glamour completely, but she didn¡¯t need to do she? She just had to trust it to work with her. She let out a big sigh. She¡¯d need to talk to it once more. If everything went well, Halmir might be awake tomorrow.

 Chapter Forty-Five: Trust Broken

    The city was fully formed but Ratface hadn¡¯t appeared in it this time. Instead, she was on the road just outside it.

    It was still so clearly a city from here, the trees wrapped around the place in a cocoon. The wonders within hidden from view by the equally great living wall she was looking at. Even the gate people walked through was alive, opening and closing as people came into the city. If you were to lay siege, you wouldn¡¯t only fight the people, but the city itself.

    Ratface shivered. It may be her head but being put out here was a reminder, this memory belonged to the glamour.

    The glamour herself sat on a rock before the gate. She wasn¡¯t a little girl. This time she appeared before Ratface with an older form, the same age as Ratface herself. Her hair was longer, and she looked more tired, more real than the girl had. Ratface realised that this was the glamours actual form. The tiredness was interesting. To her knowledge a glamour couldn¡¯t get tired, not physically anyway. This must all be mental then.

    Ratface stepped closer and the gate shut. Not exactly a subtle comment.

    ¡°We can¡¯t save Halmir as we are right now,¡± said Ratface.

    The glamour rolled her eyes.

    ¡°A poor start to our negotiations. I don¡¯t care about Halmir, remember?¡±

    Ratface shook her head.

    ¡°This can¡¯t be negotiations. We have to trust each other. I have to have a reason to trust you.¡±

    ¡°You trusting me is only half the equation.¡±

    ¡°You live in my head! You keep my memories from me, what trust do you even need from me?¡±

    The sky darkened as the glamour stood up. The memory rumbled as her fury shook it apart.

    ¡°Do you think I want to be in here? Do you think I enjoy being stuck? I did as I was asked and what¡¯s my reward huh? To be stuck in the head of someone who hates me.¡±

    She lashed out and the memory behind them broke. It faded into nothing.

    ¡°I heard you with that druid. Trust my nature? How can you trust it when you don¡¯t even know it.¡±If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    The memory reformed around them. This time, everything was dark. Only a campfire in the middle, illuminating a sleeping Ratface and the glamour standing next to her.

    ¡°It¡¯s not my place to ask,¡± said a voice Ratface recognised. Her own mothers. ¡°You are not my glamour.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think my owner would refuse you,¡± said the glamour. Its voice was distorted, like even now it was tampering with the memory. It must be showing her something so close to what it needed to hide as to need to be hidden.

    ¡°Glamours shouldn¡¯t have an owner,¡± her mother said. The glamour walked towards the shadows. Her mother was hidden from view even here, the other glamour worming its tendrils into it. It knelt to where her mother was.

    ¡°Ask.¡±

    ¡°Make her forget, keep it all away from her. I won¡¯t take her to a city again.¡±

    The glamour looked at Ratface¡¯s sleeping form. She was much littler there.

    ¡°Okay,¡± the glamour said. It went to walk over to Ratface, but a green hand shot out of the darkness and caught it.

    ¡°You should know that if you do this, she will kill you one day.¡±

    ¡°She wouldn¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°She would. She might not even realise she is, but she will.¡±

    ¡°So little faith in her,¡± said the glamour, ¡°I¡¯ll do it anyway.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Because you asked.¡± She leant over Ratface and stroked her head, parts of her already being absorbed by Ratface.

    ¡°Maybe you¡¯ll be wrong, I¡¯ll trust her to save me,¡± said the glamour. The memory faded as the glamour merged into Ratface. Only darkness was left in its wake.

    ¡°I was wrong of course. You will kill me, once you¡¯ve gotten your use out of me.¡±

    The glamour sat down in the middle of the darkness.

    ¡°For a while, I thought we could be friends. The training was making me stronger. We talked for once. Then I got to hear how you talked about me.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t know what you were hiding. Can you really blame me?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Ratface sat next to her. They¡¯d touched on this conversation before. The glamour seemed so complex. Impossible to attack, and yet incredibly delicate.

    Ratface hadn¡¯t killed a person before. She¡¯d been prepared to sure, but the sheer inevitability here made her feel sick. Yet not killing the glamour meant never seeing what was in there. Never really knowing everything about herself.

    The memory seemed important; she didn¡¯t know what it was, but it was like a puzzle she only needed the one piece to finish. All it would cost was the glamours life.

    ¡°I won¡¯t kill you,¡± Ratface said eventually. The glamour snorted.

    ¡°You will,¡± it promised, ¡°you¡¯ll catch a thread and start pulling until I unravel. You won¡¯t be able to help yourself.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t. How could I after what I showed you? Why didn¡¯t you show me this earlier?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s too close to what I¡¯m hiding. You¡¯ll work it out now. You may have already done so.¡± She laughed to herself, and the sound of a ticking clock rung in the darkness. ¡°Only a matter of time.¡±

    Ratface grabbed her hand, she looked at the glamour. Yes, a part of her hated her, but how could she look at someone filled with that level of fear and just ignore it.

    ¡°I will save you. Trust me. Trust me, like you trusted a younger me.¡±

    The glamour looked down at her hand, then at her face. For a moment, it looked like she would be swayed. Then the light left, and she offered Ratface a brittle smile.

    ¡°I will trust in your nature.¡±

    The dream faded and Ratface woke up with her hand holding onto nothing. She didn¡¯t know what to do.

    Still, they had a trust between them, a fragile one, built on despair. It¡¯d have to be enough.

 Chapter Forty-Six: A Glamours Opportunity

    Ratface was strapped onto the table, her hand resting on top of Halmir. Strictly speaking, the physical contact wasn¡¯t required but given the ritual Suncat was casting was usually done with magical creatures they had made it as secure as possible.

    Suncat started casting as she burned incense around them. Ratface could feel Halmir twitch as he breathed it in, and she could feel the glamour sitting inside her detach itself from her mind. Ratface cradled the glamour, enough to give it something to hold onto but not so much that she was clutching it. She felt it slip from her mind into Halmir¡¯s, the only thing still connecting them a thin thread Ratface held in her mind. The urge to clutch it in case the glamour ran away was strong, but she fought it. This only worked if she could offer this small amount of trust. The glamour entered without a hitch and Ratface shuddered at the emptiness she felt.

    For her, the hardest part was over. All that was left was to have faith in the glamour and Halmir. She settled in to wait.

    <hr>

    The glamour slipped out of Ratface¡¯s mind into the real world. It hovered there, savouring the feel of the true world upon it.

    The way it interacted with the world was different to how most species did. It didn¡¯t really see so much as feel the world around it. Being inside Ratface was like being surrounded by a dull flavourless place, part of her being separated from magic. The real world was tantalisingly full of strong tastes. Aether ran through her for the first time in years and she could feel the tinge of emotion in it. The fear in the red goblin, the uncertain hope in Ratface, and lastly the exhaustion in the rat.

    She angled herself towards that feeling and fell into it. Unlike Ratface, Halmir was filled with aether. It was too much for the little rat. His mind was cocooned in power waiting to transform into something greater. Something was stopping it though and she needed to find out what.

    She found herself in a junk pile of all places.  A midden. It was walled up apart from one entrance. In that entrance stood a rat noble. It was the one in robes and it stood there radiating pride through the ether.

    ¡°Of course, it summoned help,¡± the figure sneered.

    The glamour ignored it. It wasn¡¯t really the rat noble; he¡¯d died with Halmir bit into him and while ghosts did exist, they wouldn¡¯t appear like this. No, it was an impression of the power left behind.

    She felt around the midden until she felt the pulse of terror she¡¯d been looking for. A rat tried to dart away from her and her hand snapped out and caught it. She wasn¡¯t Ratface, no simple creature could outpace her.

    Halmir squirmed in her hand. He felt of uncertainty, of exhaustion, of fear. It was interesting though; the fear wasn¡¯t at the prospect of fighting with the rat noble. The part that considered that felt only hunger. No, it was something else he feared. But what?The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    ¡°What are you doing hiding?¡± she asked, ¡°you¡¯ve caused a lot of problems for those around you.¡±

    Halmir stopped squirming and she set him down.

    ¡°You smell like Ratface,¡± he said. His eyes widened, clearly, he¡¯d been expecting squeaks to come out. He had a cute voice, high pitched like a squeak but musical in its own way. Hopefully he¡¯d keep that when he finished changing.

    ¡°She¡¯s who sent me to help you. She¡¯s worried.¡± The glamour settled down into the junk pile and gestured at the rat noble. ¡°What gives? You¡¯ve already killed this chump before.¡±

    ¡°I can hear you,¡± said the representation.

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s why I said it so loud,¡± said the glamour. She didn¡¯t spare it any more attention after that.

    ¡°Last time I fought it, I had help,¡± said Halmir.

    ¡°If that¡¯s all, I¡¯ll help you. I¡¯m way better than Ratface in a fight.¡±

    ¡°No, I can take him. It¡¯s what comes after.¡±

    Halmir dug himself into the trash around him.

    ¡°I could feel it, you know, all of him was filled with rage, even his magic was turned into rot. Twisted into something vile. What if I end up like that?¡± He wiped at his fur as he stared at the rat noble in terror.

    ¡°I know what it means to be a rat. I like being small and ready to help when needed. Always in the right place when I need to be.¡±

    ¡°Your power doesn¡¯t have to be like his, you¡¯d be your own rat noble,¡± said the glamour, ¡°you could even stay a rat, if you wanted.¡±

    ¡°That seems like a bad choice as well. Ratface and the others need more than a rat in the future, at the same time, sometimes all they¡¯ll need is a rat.¡±

    The glamour looked at Halmir. How like a rat to concern itself with what the people around it needed. No wonder he and Ratface were drawn to each other. Still, his concern of what to become had an obvious answer.

    ¡°Choose both,¡± she said.

    ¡°What?¡± he asked, looking confused. The glamour shrugged.

    ¡°Choose both. Be the rat or the rat noble whenever the situation demands it. No one said you couldn¡¯t be greedy.¡± The solution seemed laughably easy to her. Form was just a part of the mind to her. Maybe most creatures couldn¡¯t change theirs, but he was going through a mythical transformation, why not push the limits.

    ¡°Is that even allowed?¡± Halmir asked.

    The glamor shrugged again. ¡°Maybe not.¡± She leaned in with a savage smile on her face. ¡°The better question is who¡¯s going to stop you?¡±

    Halmir thought about it, and the same smile crept onto his little rat face. He crawled onto the glamours shoulder.

    ¡°Well then, time to beat this guy again,¡± he said.

    The two rushed the rat noble. It had to be said, he was powerful, his power had been amplified in the aether to reflect what Halmir would gain. The rot in his hand would devour either of them if he touched them.

    That was if he did. The glamour was an elf, and she moved around him with insulting ease. Always just out of reach, slapping away the attacks around the rot.

    Inevitably the opening appeared. Halmir leapt from her shoulder and buried his teeth into the noble¡¯s neck. The noble grabbed hold of him, trying to rot away the little rat. It had no effect, the power he¡¯d been using recognising its true master as Halmir drunk it in. The transformation began and the glamour let itself be pulled away.

    It came into the real world and walked its way back to Ratface¡¯s mind. A strange presence blocked her path.

    The other glamour was green and filled with screaming. She could feel it smile as it grabbed the thread connecting her and Ratface.

    She realised the mistake the two of them had made. The glamour had been so quiet in their mind. Only obscuring what it needed to. They¡¯d known it was intelligent, but they¡¯d thought it contained. She could see now it had just been waiting for her to leave. For when Ratface¡¯s mind was vulnerable.

    It severed the connection. The glamour and Ratface cried out. She could feel herself unravelling, only Suncat catching her in the crystal stopped her from disappearing completely. Yet now she was stuck, unable to see what was happening. She didn¡¯t even know if Ratface was alive.

 Chapter Forty-Seven: The Savage World of Plants

    Ratface woke up in bed. She felt empty, slow. She remembered helping Halmir but that was it.

    The little rat was by her side when she woke up. She gave him a pat. He seemed alert and well, if a little tired.

    ¡°You¡¯re awake,¡± she said.

    ¡°I could say the same about you,¡± he said. Ratface was delighted to find that his voice was high and musical.

    ¡°The ritual worked then; I expected you to be bigger.¡± He¡¯d returned to his original rat size which while cute, didn¡¯t suggest a big change.

    ¡°Ah, right.¡± He squeezed his eyes shut and there was a faint pop as a small rat noble suddenly stood next to her. She blinked in surprise. He was shorter than her and dressed in soft fabrics against his fur. The fur itself was sleek and well kept. So far Ratface¡¯s only experience with rat nobles had been the ones in the sewer, they had looked haggard, and hate filled, which had made them ugly to look at. Halmir in comparison looked like someone had taken the best features of a rat and added them to his form.

    ¡°It¡¯s easier to wait for you in here when I¡¯m a rat but now that you¡¯re awake I suppose that doesn¡¯t matter.¡± He paused to look at her. ¡°You are properly awake, right?¡±

    To answer him, Ratface pulled herself out of bed and walked around. She gave him a pat on the head. She felt weak but nothing too bad. There was an emptiness to her she wasn¡¯t used to though.

    ¡°I¡¯m okay, where is everyone?¡±

    Halmir leaned into the pat. He turned grim at her question.

    ¡°It¡¯s better if you see for yourself.¡±

    The town was hard at work when they finally found them at the edge of the forest. They looked exhausted. Most of the goblins had shovels, a few of the demon ones were holding flames in their hands instead. Ratface noted that the walk to get to the edge of the forest had been much shorter than she¡¯d expected.

    The cause of it was the sea of green surrounding them. It was a strange plant that was growing as far as the eye could see. The plant latched itself onto the demon plants and spread its vines over the demon plants until they were smothered in green. Ratface watched as one plant was freed from underneath the green and crumbled into rot. She grimaced. That wasn¡¯t good.

    In the centre, Tiffany and Claudette were hard at work. The demon was burning vast swaths of the green while Tiffany desperately coaxed the plants underneath back to life. The two of them were managing to make some small headway into the green.

    ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± Ratface asked.

    ¡°It seems like your little elf friend has become impatient,¡± said Claudette.

    ¡°They¡¯re using kudzu,¡± Tiffany said. She pulled at the green and chucked it into a pile that some of the goblins were throwing into a bonfire further way. ¡°It¡¯s a plant more aggressive than mint that they¡¯re using to overwhelm the forest. It just kills anything that gets too close.¡±

    ¡°Ingenious really,¡± said Claudette, ¡°my main defence is the forest, and they¡¯ve found a way around that. I¡¯d be impressed if it wasn¡¯t so damn aggravating.¡±

    It seemed bad. If they had so much of the town dedicated to just this part of the forest, then Ratface could only imagine how it was pushing in elsewhere. Still, something about it didn¡¯t make sense.

    ¡°She¡¯s still only one elf,¡± said Ratface.

    ¡°True, but I¡¯m sure the call has already gone out to my enemies and they¡¯ll be on their way.¡±

    ¡°With the way this is going, she¡¯ll break your defences too quickly.¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

    ¡°Hardly, you¡¯ve been asleep for a month and a half,¡± said Claudette. She finished a sweep of flame and turned to Ratface.

    ¡°Let¡¯s have a look at you,¡± she said. She grabbed Ratface and peered into her mind. There was a sharp pain as something pulled itself tight around her. Claudette released her.

    ¡°Not good. Tell me anything about Lurian.¡±

    Ratface frowned, she knew she was from Lurian but when she tried to search her memory, there was just¡­ nothing. Claudette saw it in her face and nodded.

    ¡°I was blind to the danger of Halmir¡¯s procedure. The two glamours in your mind were like two weeds fighting against each other. Without the other glamour to fight, the one inside you is growing unheeded. You¡¯re like these demon plants getting covered in kudzu. It¡¯s a miracle you¡¯re even awake. Keep that pendant on, I think it¡¯s the only thing keeping you alert.¡±

    Ratface looked down at the pendant on her in surprise, she hadn¡¯t even noticed it. Already she could feel the glamour taking effect, removing her knowledge there was anything in her brain. Her eyes shifted away from the¡­ thing that was around her neck.

    ¡°I¡¯d work on you but I¡¯m a little busy I¡¯m afraid,¡± said Claudette. She turned to Ratface with an indulgent smile. ¡°Go rest Ratface, you¡¯ve only just woken up from quite the ordeal.¡±

    She turned back to her burning.

    Ratface did not, in fact, go rest. Instead, she and Halmir went searching out for their own part to help away from the eyes of the demon.

    Halmir sat on her shoulder, as per usual. It was comforting, like old times. At this point, he was her oldest memory, a thing that confused her any time she thought too hard about it.

    They found a small patch out of the way and went at it with a vengeance. It had been growing in from a breach that no one had noticed yet. If they hadn¡¯t found it, it might have cut off Claudette¡¯s group that was working further forward.

    When the two of them went to cut the weed back, the weed struck back. It lashed out at them and tried to cover them. Halmir transformed and shoved Ratface back. The kudzu surrounded him and Ratface let out a yell. She¡¯d only just got him back.

    With a much louder pop than before he disappeared from where he¡¯d been and reappeared next to her. He was panting as she looked at him in surprise.

    ¡°A short blink,¡± he explained, ¡°so far I can only do it to people I¡¯m familiar with.¡±

    Intense jealousy flooded Ratface. She wanted a cool power like that. She didn¡¯t have time to think too much on that though as the plant was steadily growing towards them. It was far more aggressive than the one they¡¯d seen Claudette dealing with.

    It lashed out at Ratface. She grabbed the kudzu with her hand and pulled it tight, using its own momentum against it. In one smooth motion, she drew her knife and cut through the vines. Stepping back before they could gather up again.

    The vines curled around, readying their next strike. They reminded Ratface of how the plants would act when Tiffany was controlled them. She was lucky she¡¯d got to know the druid, or she would have been surprised by the vines attack. There was something important in that thought and a part of her mind worked away at it while the rest dealt with the attacking plants.

    She hacked away at them with her knife, wishing she had something better to deal with them. Halmir was next to her and fought with a combination of teeth and claws. She was about to suggest a knife until she saw how easily his claws sheathed through the vines.

    Their fight must have been noisy because eventually they were joined by two other people. Albert and Abigail came to their side. The spearman unleashed a blade of wind into the kudzu, cutting a line through it to separate it from the sea of kudzu outside the breach. Abigail stepped into the weeds and began pulling them out. The vines wrapped around her and her armour flashed red.

    The vines let go of her with a screech. They burned around her as she continued to pull them out.

    With the other two joining them they made quick work of it and were left panting in a pile of torn up weeds. Abigail pulled out a small flash and poured it on the weeds. Her gauntlet flashed red, and the pile started to burn.

    ¡°I¡¯d heard you¡¯d gone back to rest,¡± said the older woman. The smile on her face giving away she wasn¡¯t too angry.

    ¡°Well, a little light gardening isn¡¯t too much effort,¡± said Ratface.

    Abigail snorted.

    ¡°You¡¯re lucky we were back from a monster incursion, or you might¡¯ve been overrun.¡±

    ¡°Monsters are rushing in?¡±

    ¡°Small groups controlled by the elf. They¡¯re careful not to lose too many. Looks like they haven¡¯t fully recovered.

    Ratface frowned, that last comment the last piece of the puzzle her brain needed to work it out. If the elf was controlling the monsters, then she couldn¡¯t be controlling the plants as well. She might be talented, sure, but that was just too much for one brain.

    ¡°There¡¯s two of them,¡± Ratface said. The rest looked at her in confusion. ¡°Two elves, or two enemies at least. She can¡¯t do this much on her own.¡±

    ¡°It might be even better than that,¡± said Abigail, ¡°if she¡¯s not controlling the plants at all then it may be that she couldn¡¯t even if she wanted to. Why didn¡¯t she slow us down with them on the run otherwise.¡±

    ¡°So, if we take out the other elf-¡± Ratface began.

    ¡°We win the siege,¡± Abigail finished.

    Their eyes glittered in a combination of hope and violence. Albert came over and clapped Ratface on the shoulder.

    ¡°Awake for half a day and already scheming,¡± he said with a smile.

    Ratface let a nasty grin settle on her face. Nothing like a desperate plan to wake her up.

 Chapter Forty-Eight: Knowledge Wins Wars

    Working out there were two elves was useful but not inherently actionable. It was a question of who the better target was. They¡¯d yet to see either of the elves since the battle, only the results of their actions.

    In the end, they decided to hunt the one controlling the plants. The monsters were a problem, but the plants were the ones stripping their defences.

    ¡°Okay, but how do we find them?¡± asked Ratface.

    They were settled around a table at the edge of town, not too far from the ¡®front¡¯. Different groups of the town on break sat around them exhausted. Tiffany and Claudette kept swapping in and out as they took shifts to keep the plants pushed off.

    ¡°We could triangulate it,¡± Abigail said.

    Ratface looked at her in confusion and the older lady looked over to Suncat. Suncat shrugged in equal confusion.

    ¡°Can you get a map of the area?¡± Abigail asked. Suncat shrugged and headed out. She came back with the map and spread it over the table.

    ¡°It¡¯s where we measure out a few places to work out where they are,¡± Abigail explained, ¡°it¡¯s not a perfect system. It assumes the person controlling it isn¡¯t moving around.¡±

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be able to do that without moving,¡± said Tiffany. She collapsed into the chair next to Ratface and Ratface handed her a glass of water which she grateful accepted.

    ¡°The worst part about this is it doesn¡¯t even feel like I¡¯m in a siege, just doing gardening,¡± Tiffany wined.

    Ratface could relate. She¡¯d only just woken up and suddenly everyone was at battle stations. It was disorienting enough on its own but doubly so with the way her brain felt. Everything still felt muted. She couldn¡¯t even bring herself to get too panicked about the siege that they were under. She only felt real concern when Halmir had nearly been caught. Whatever had made her feel this way always weakened when he was around.

    He was currently on a tour with Albert, the two of them keeping an eye out for other monsters.

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand how we can work any of this out,¡± said Ratface, ¡°What are we going to measure?¡±

    ¡°I forget that you haven¡¯t spent years learning magic theory,¡± said Abigail.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about either,¡± said Tiffany.

    ¡°Neither¡± said Suncat.

    Abigail looked between the three of them. She looked at them like they didn¡¯t know something basic and Ratface had to wonder just what her schooling had been like. Ratface¡¯s had been a lot more raid focused. Abigail tapped the map.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    ¡°Most magic has a reaction time, it¡¯s just so small at most range as to be functionally instantaneous. A magic this far though should have some lag in reaction time.¡± She pointed at Ratface.

    ¡°Those vines that attacked you were the most aggressive we¡¯ve seen so far. Assuming that it wasn¡¯t a fluke, and they all react that way, we can work out vaguely where they are.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but how to we work out the distance?¡±

    ¡°The average proficient caster has a lag time of one second per 100 meters,¡± said Abigail. It was weird seeing her talking theory. In Ratface¡¯s mind she was a clever knight but still a knight. She was beginning to see that she was a rune crafter first and a knight second.

    After than they moved Ratface to different parts of the forest under attack. They started far to the right and got Ratface to start cutting. She was at it for ten seconds and was just beginning to think it was a fluke when the vines tried to attack her. Abigail caught them before she could and burned them away.

    They repeated this process in several different places with different results. The longest they got was twenty seconds and the shortest ironically ended up being the first place they had tried. With each point of data, Abigail marked more places on the map until she had a rough idea of where the enemy was.

    Abigail pointed at a spot in the map that seemed to be where their different lines met. It wasn¡¯t directly across from the middle of the town and Ratface wondered if that was intentional on the plant caster¡¯s part or if they had just chosen an arbitrary point.

    ¡°They should be here, assuming they haven¡¯t worked out what we¡¯re doing,¡± she said.

    Ratface was in quiet awe of the old woman. She had though only someone with magic could so accurately scout someone, but Abigail had done it with nothing more than a map and some lines. Sometimes the world seemed so big that Ratface wondered if she¡¯d ever completely understand it.

    ¡°So how are we attacking them?¡± Ratface asked. It was just Abigail and her by the map. At some point the rest of them had realised only those two were needed and gone off to help elsewhere. They¡¯d only occasionally reappeared to tell Abigail about some news before returning to their own fronts.

    Abigail looked at Ratface, she seemed to be weighing something.

    ¡°You won¡¯t be coming,¡± said Abigail. She held up her hand before Ratface could argue.

    ¡°It¡¯s not because of your condition although that¡¯s a good reason too. It¡¯s how the plants react to you.¡± Abigail gestured at the map which had the plants progress mapped out as well.

    ¡°I had a suspicion, so I got the others to check. Whenever the plants were attacking you, they stopped marching forward in other areas. Whatever is controlling them is after you.¡±

    Ratface frowned, a part of her felt like she was just being told a lie to keep her safe. Abigial could clearly see it on her face, so she knelt down and put her hand on Ratface¡¯s shoulder.

    ¡°I need you to stay here and be the focus,¡± she said, ¡°I don¡¯t like the idea of using you as bait but we need the focus away from the group that pushed into the green. This plan can¡¯t succeed without you grabbing the plants attention.¡±

    Ratface could feel the weight of the request through Abigail¡¯s touch. It was nice to be relied on so much. In her current state, most of her memories involved Abigail so she took a lot of comfort from the older woman¡¯s trust. She put her own hand over Abigail¡¯s.

    ¡°Okay, I can be distracting,¡± she said.

    Abigail looked relieved as she pushed herself back up.

    ¡°Thank you, but be careful, okay?¡±

    ¡°Sure, I¡¯m always careful,¡± said Ratface. Abigail gave her a look that told Ratface she didn¡¯t agree. Ratface would argue, but searching her own memories, it looked like Abigail was right.

 Chapter Forty-Nine: The Redwood Siege

    The green was nearly at the town by the time they got sorted. None of the town was taking breaks at this point, just grimly cutting as the green grew every closer. The few demon goblins that still had any energy left were torching the front just to hold it at bay.

    Only Claudette had any real fire power left, with an emphasis on fire. The eye in her crown burned and wave of fire erupted from her. All that was left in front of her was ash. Ratface could feel the heat of it just standing near the demon. She didn¡¯t seem happy.

    She¡¯d seen unhappy since the others had left. Only Her, Halmir and Ratface had remained behind as a focus for the two elves. Claudette had agreed with the plan but even then, it had been clear that she didn¡¯t like it.

    Since then, Ratface and her had barely said a word except for Claudette to remind her to keep the crystal close.

    It was a simple plan, the three of them and the town would hold out until the away group took care of the plant elf. It was an all or nothing plan but it was the best one they had.

    The kudzu had gotten more aggressive as it homed in on the town. Where before it had just grown at a steady rate, now it would randomly attack whenever people tried to cut it back. So far it had just been injuries, but it was only a matter of time until blood was spilled.

    Ratface and Halmir were close to the front, she with her knives, him with his swords. The two of them had only run in to help people so far, every time Ratface got close to the plants they lashed across at her with such aggression she couldn¡¯t stay for long. It made a great distraction to get others safe from the plants though.

    The time for delaying was about to end though, and both sides knew it. The kudzu had started pulling down the demon plants to make a path and they heard a roar in the distance.

    Dirthand came by with a strange concoction.

    ¡°Coat your blades with that,¡± she told Ratface.

    Ratface poured the strange smelling liquid onto her blade. It smelled like oil mixed with metal and lemon. A terrible smell, if distinctive.

    ¡°The plants will hate that,¡± said Dirthand. She rushed back to join the group of non-fighters making their way to the mansion. She¡¯d been helping with the injuries and Ratface imagined her day was about to get a heck of a lot worse.

    Ratface and Halmir went to join the line facing off against the plants. While a few of them had been holding the plants back the rest had dug several wide trenches behind them to hold the plants off. Ratface hopped over the first trench into the waiting arms of the rest of the group. It was tempting for Ratface to only acknowledge the goblins but there was an entire towns group of people here. Humans lined the trench, some with wicked looking prosthetics, and others with flesh and blood. There were a few other races in the mix though she didn¡¯t have time to examine them. Hannah stood at the centre with a sword in hand. Her glamour had turned into a bear next to her and the wind swirled around the two of them. In the back Claudette stared out across the horizon where a line of monsters was marching forward. It had some from the swamp, like alligators, but she¡¯d also grabbed strange creatures ratface had never seen. One set of monsters stuck out to her particularly. They looked like if you mixed a gorilla with a lizard, one of their hands ending in a massive snake. She wasn¡¯t looking forward to fighting that.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    Behind her, people were quickly grabbing out bow and arrows in preparation for when the monsters got close.

    In the middle of them was Amaranth sitting on top of one of those bladed deer.

    ¡°It¡¯s not too late to surrender,¡± she called out, ¡°only the Witch and Ratface need to be taken, the rest of you can live free.¡±

    ¡°Just once I¡¯d like them to call me by my proper title,¡± muttered Claudette.

    Amaranth continued oblivious to Claudette¡¯s objections.

    ¡°I am not without mercy, but once battle begins, I can guarantee none of your safety.¡±

    Ratface stared in surprise, the elf kept talking. She looked around and saw a lot of shuffling feet. It was hurting their morale, but it also seemed unlikely anyone would risk the kudzu on the elf¡¯s say so.

    ¡°Does anyone have a crossbow?¡± Ratface asked.

    A few shuffles later and one was handed to her with a couple of bolts. The elf kept talking while Ratface lined up her shot. Amaranth was far away but still within theoretical range. She tilted the crossbow up a bit and fired.

    The two groups went silent as her bolt flew across the battlefield. Amaranth smirked as it dipped well before it would hit her. Ratface smirked right back, she hadn¡¯t been aiming for the elf.

    The deer cried out as the bolt slammed into its knee. It fell to the ground and Amaranth had to quickly jump off before it took her down with it. Ratface smiled, not a bad shot, though she¡¯d been aiming for its chest.

    Amaranth looked across the battlefield at Ratface in fury and brought her hand down in a swift cutting motion. The monsters charged forward and Ratface got ready.

    It was a huge horde of monsters, bigger than in the sewers. Ratface didn¡¯t know how she¡¯d managed so many in the short period of time.

    When the monsters got withing 150 meters, the people behind Ratface started to fire. It was a combination of crossbows and archers, the demon goblins holding off for now. Ratface held her shots until one of the lizard gorillas got close and aimed for its chest. The bolt flew true, but bounced off the things chest. Not ideal. She switched back to her sword and knife.

    A line of the deer reached them first, they saw the trench and did a beautiful leap across, sure to land on the other side.

    The frontline, which was mostly spearman, took exception to that. As one they stepped forward and stabbed up into the deer. The deer reared back in pain, some died. The main thing they did was collapse back into the trench, making it harder for the rest of the horde to get closer.

    After their initial thrust, the spears quickly scuttled back to get back behind the second trench, using the wooden boards left for such a thing. They were slow. None of them were soldier and the face they¡¯d done as much as they had was already helpful. A ordered retreat was asking too much.

    They had a solution to that problem, however. The demon goblins stepped forward and unleashed a wave of fire at the coming horde. Most of them tried to run back to avoid the fire, primal instinct taking over, but with the push forward they were quickly trampled. In between this, Halmir, Hannah, and Ratface moved around cutting at any monsters of kudzu they missed.

    It was a quick punch to the monsters¡¯ line, and it stopped the stampede for a moment. In that moment, the demon goblins and Ratface¡¯s group jumped over into the next trench with the rest. Boards were kicked into the ditch and oil poured into it as well. It was an expensive endeavour, but you couldn¡¯t spend it if you weren¡¯t alive.

    The monsters started climbing over the filled trench towards the next line. Once again the ranged group shot into their ranks.

    Ratface grimaced. This was working for now, but they only had ten trenches before they¡¯d have to run back to the mansion and by then it was a losing battle. Her eyes were still on the lizard gorillas and Amaranth. Once they all got close it¡¯d probably be time to run no matter how many trenches were left. She wondered how Hannah would cope against a true elf.

    Amidst all of this, the green continued to spread. That too would be a problem. Ratface looked into the sea of green, towards where her friends had gone. She hoped they were safe. She just had to put her faith in their success. If they managed it, Claudette could fight back with the forest as well. If they didn¡¯t, well, it wouldn¡¯t matter how well this fight went.

 Interlude: The Away Team

    The away team was surrounded by kudzu and other green plants starting to spread. At the front Tiffany walked forward carefully, projecting out calm to them all.

    Abigail could see it all through her helmet. She usually didn¡¯t bother with it in adventuring but for the siege she had all her equipment on. The helmet showed her the traces of magic coming out from the druid. Its guess was that the girl was trying to keep them calm and unbothered they were being stood on. The helmet wasn¡¯t alive, but meticulous rune crafting had gotten it to at least recognise basic changes in the aether.

    Albert was carrying Suncat on his back. They¡¯d tried having her walk, but the kudzu seemed to recognise her as demonic and try to grow over her. They could just cut down the plants in their way, but they¡¯d lose the element of surprise and then it¡¯d all be over.

    They were about halfway to their target when the battle began for the others. Abigail watched as a flash of something rippled across the aether over the kudzu. Her helmet sent her back confusion when it tried to interpret it.

    ¡°Amusement,¡± said Tiffany.

    After that the magic running through the kudzu sprinted away. It looked like all of the focus was going towards the town. That made their travel time quicker as they stopped needing to sneak, but also meant they had to be fast to deal with the problem.

    She picked up Tiffany and ran towards their target. Suncat jumped off Albert and the two ran with her. Ironically, the kudzu¡¯s takeover made it an easier run. Instead of a forest to make their way through they instead had a wide-open area to make their way through. The kudzu was so thick that even through the vines it was like running on soft earth. It didn¡¯t matter how fast they went though it would still be too long. The town wasn¡¯t made of warriors, eventually there¡¯d be casualties. Still, she wouldn¡¯t go faster, running was fine but useless if they turned up out of breath.

    A short run later and they made it to the elf. He was still sitting down directing the plants and only stood up when he saw them. He was in full leather armour, and he moved unhurried. Confident then.

    ¡°Surrender elf, there is no version of this fight you win. You¡¯re outnumbered,¡± said Abigail. Mercy was practical here. If they could get him to stop before the fight, then they gained time.

    The elf tilted his head.  He seemed amused and Abigail realised he too was aware time was on his side.

    ¡°You set me up for my line you know,¡± he said.

    ¡°How¡¯s that?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not outnumbered.¡±

    The kudzu they were standing on opened beneath them. Abigail leapt away before it could catch her. Tiffanys plants never opened as she kept them shut. Albert managed to dodge too, but Suncat fell through the hole that closed around her.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

    Out of the other gaps, a hand made of plants pulled itself out. Four plant creatures crawled into the light and rushed at the group. They were similar to the golems, if a little less cohesive.

    Albert swept out with his spear, the wind cutting off one of the things arms as it reached for him. Vines grew out of the stump and reattached the limb. Tiffany was holding hers back with her magic. An intense battle of territory going on between them. Abigail could only hope that Suncat was okay down there.

    That was all the time she had for the rest of them before her own golem rushed her. She cut into it and sent a limb flying. She went to follow up when her helmet warned her of something to the side.

    She brought her sword up just in time to stop the elf¡¯s knife from plunging into her. He¡¯d been aiming for the thin gap in her armour.

    Her eyes widened. She hadn¡¯t thought he¡¯d be able to fight and control the plants. She shoved him back, but the golem struck at her again and she had to defend against it.

    The fight continued and she tried to push through. Individually she thought that she could beat them, but together they were holding her off. She tried to burn the thing, but it would dance away whenever she did.

    She managed a glance at the two children. Tiffany was making slow headway, the plants around her ripping at the golem and keeping it in place. The girl might win if she could keep up her concentration. She already seemed to be flagging.

    Albert was the wind, diving across and cutting at the golem viciously. He was a prodigy with that spear and knife, but this was a bad matchup for him. The golem just kept regrowing faster than he could cut.

    The elf rushed Abigail with the golem. They attacked her relentlessly, but she was able to block them. Her mind raced ahead. They hadn¡¯t tried anything like this so far, trying to keep their stamina. Why would they do it now.

    She worked it out too late, they were stopping her from moving.

    Vines opened up around her and she sunk into the floor as they tied onto her legs. The golem raised its arms up to strike her down as she struggled against the vines holding her.

    Her helmet warned her of a massive surge of aether around her. She grimaced. She wasn¡¯t sure she could take that. She could feel the ground heating up around her. Wait. Warmth?

    A pillar of flame erupted from beneath her, scouring the ground around her and burning away the vines. The elf danced behind his golem and let it take the brunt of the flame.

    Suncat panted as she stood up. Dirt and bits of fire clung to her dishevelled state. The vines had pulled her down but there had only been a crawl space down there. The poor goblin must have been fighting against them the whole time.

    With a hiss she swept flame at Alberts golem. It burned and fell to ash. She went to do the same to Tiffany¡¯s but stopped.

    Tiffany¡¯s eyes were glowing. She walked up to the golem and pulled her hand back.

    ¡°You¡¯re no druid,¡± she said, ¡°you¡¯re just a mage playing pretend!¡±

    She plunged her hand into the golem, and it unravelled before their eyes.

    Her eyes stopped glowing. She stumbled but caught herself and came and joined up with the rest of them.

    The elf watched them all. He still hadn¡¯t lost the smile of his face.

    ¡°My secret¡¯s out,¡± he said. The comment seemed to amuse him greatly. The plants around him shrivelled as he pulled his own magic back to him.

    Abigail was impressed, he¡¯d mimicked druid craft by saturating the area in his mana. That shouldn¡¯t even be possible. He must have made those plants specifically for such a thing. She noted that there was still a path of green to where the town fought. He was still pushing forward there.

    The aether he¡¯d taken swirled into his body, and he stood a little straighter. Infusing himself like that was also an odd way to use magic. It¡¯s like he¡¯d learnt a completely new school.

    ¡°Let¡¯s see how well you do in a proper fight,¡± the elf said with a grin.

    Abigail¡¯s sword burned blue. The warmup was over, here came the real fight.

 Chapter Fifty: Tempest of Flame

    Ratface dragged one of the demon goblins away from the trench, slashing at the vines and monsters rushing forward. Halmir covered her in a flurry of claws. He¡¯d change into a rat and dart onto an enemy before switching back into his humanoid form and going for the neck. He was very fond of going for the neck, she shouldn¡¯t be surprised.

    She shoved the downed goblin into someone¡¯s arms and jumped back next to Halmir. The battle wasn¡¯t going well. Intellectually she¡¯d known that their group weren¡¯t soldiers, but she¡¯d hoped there were enough fighters to cover that problem. It had almost been fine. Then the lizard gorillas had hit the line.

    ¡°Lizard ape!¡± someone had cried out when the first one hit the line. Ratface had had enough time to be surprised how close her guess was before the line exploded. The people there crushed in a moment.

    She¡¯d been thankful for the glamours affect on her then. Most people had paused in distress, but she¡¯d just reacted. She understood it was sad, but she couldn¡¯t really feel it. Claudette had burned the first ape, but more of them had smashed into the line. The demon couldn¡¯t be everywhere; besides, she had bigger problems.

    Amaranth rushed out of the monsters again and swung her staff at Claudette. The demon dashed back but had to duck as one of the apes struck at her head. The demon was better than the elf on a one on one, but this was a war and there were enough monsters for Amaranth to spend. They all knew her win condition was killing Claudette.

    Ratface¡¯s line had finally got themselves in order. It was just as well the line had stabilised, neither she nor Halmir were really made for fighting in a line. They¡¯d made up for the gap with knives and fury, but it would only take getting caught once. Fighting monsters wasn¡¯t like fighting people either. They had enough bulk to just charge a spear. It was only because of the trenches they weren¡¯t getting run down. No, holding the line wasn¡¯t what the two of them were made for.

    But hit and runs were their bread and butter. Ratface was small and had learnt from who she considered the best raider, though she couldn¡¯t remember them. Halmir could literally turn into a rat and get lost in the crowd. His biggest enemy was watching for stomping feet. They slipped through the lines of defenders and monsters with grace until they made it to the demon and the elf.

    Claudette was doing her best. She was a typhoon of flames and rage. Ratface had to hand it to her as well, she was strong. When the lizard ape tried to smash her with its fist, she caught it. Demon physiology must be really something. The only reason she didn¡¯t finish it there was the elf. She struck at Claudette and forced her away from the ape once more. If it was just the ape and the elf, Claudette probably would have already dealt with them. Smaller monster kept coming in and forcing her to move before she could cut either of the big targets down down. Ratface and Halmir just had to give her an opening.

    Ratface darted towards the ape. She wasn¡¯t stupid. The elf may be smaller, but Ratface hadn¡¯t seen Claudette even attempt to catch one of her blows.

    ¡°Still only blinking to people you know?¡± she asked Halmir as they got closer.

    ¡°It¡¯s been a day,¡± he said. So that was a yes.

    ¡°Follow my lead,¡± ordered Ratface. She ran straight at the lizard ape and screamed. It turned to face her, and she jabbed her knife into its elbow. It roared and tried to backhand her, but Ratface darted back before she could be sent flying. It tried to crash its fist into her. Unlike Claudette, she couldn¡¯t afford to let this thing hit her. She jumped to the side and started hacking into its arm. Its skin was so thick, like chopping wood. She made a nasty gash but nothing that would stop it crushing her. Its other arm, the snake one, reared back at her and she got ready to dodge.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    That¡¯s when Halmir turned back into a rat noble on its neck. He climbed around it as he clawed at its face. Its neck was too thick, so he went for the eyes instead.

    The ape lifted the arm next to Ratface and she jumped out of its reach. It plucked Halmir off its neck and tried to slam him down. Halmir blinked into her hand in rat form and the two of them moved even further back. They¡¯d never planned on killing the ape.

    Claudette grabbed onto the back of its head.

    ¡°Burn,¡± she hissed. Flame erupted out of her hand and engulfed the things head. It lasted a couple of seconds before the ape dropped to the ground. The smell of burnt meat wafted through the air and Ratface tried not to think about how much it smelt like chicken mixed with fish.

    ¡°I don¡¯t suppose you got the elf?¡± Ratface asked.

    ¡°She ran as soon as she saw you two,¡± said Claudette. She held herself up tall, but her hands were shaking. She¡¯d been on the front too much; she needed a rest.

    The three of them didn¡¯t have any more time to talk. The line had already been pushed back to the next trench and they¡¯d get overrun if they didn¡¯t move. They cut their way back as monsters attacked them. The kudzu joined in too. The vines lashing out at them in their own way.

    They were nearly there when the kudzu revealed one of the demon plants. Ratface recognised it as the one that had covered her in pollen and belched fire. It was a sickly green where the kudzu had stabbed into it. It began to glow orange, and her eyes widened. She slashed into it with her knife. The flame belched out of the gash and hit her hand instead of her face. She hissed and dropped her knife as she jerked away from the fire. It hurt. Halmir grabbed her to pull her away, but the thing burst into pollen that covered both of them. It was sticky and gross but on the bright side the sudden spore explosion had made the monsters around them dart back.

    They took the opportunity to jump over the trench as Claudette covered them before jumping over as well. They reached the next trench that the rest of the town was already running back from. Ratface grimaced, there was a lot of missing faces in there, both goblin and otherwise.

    They joined up with Hannah who was overseeing the retreat.

    ¡°We can¡¯t hold here,¡± said Hannah when they got close, ¡°we need to fall back to the manor.¡±

    Claudette nodded and closed her eyes. She chanted in a language that burned Ratface¡¯s ears. Deep blue flames fire flickered over Claudettes hand; it was hot enough that the skin beneath it was burning black.

    She opened her eyes and screamed as she swept her hands across the line in front of them. A thick wall of blue flames cut them off from the monsters. Claudette collapsed and Hannah caught her.

    ¡°Retreat!¡± called Hannah. She handed Claudette to Ratface and Halmir to carry while she cut down the small groups of monsters that had made it to their side.

    Halmir and Ratface carried Claudette between them.

    ¡°Do you think the manor can hold?¡± Halmir asked Ratface. She shrugged.

    ¡°It should for a little while,¡± said a goblin. Ratface smiled when she saw it was Rabbittail. He had a gash on his arm but was otherwise okay.

    ¡°When we first got here, we all stayed in the mansion. It has defences though they¡¯ve never been tested against this many monsters. Hopefully the others manage to take out the elf.¡±

    Ratface looked at him in surprise, though she shouldn¡¯t have. Abigail and the other¡¯s absence was notable, and no one would accuse them of running.

    The pollen on Ratface started to warm and she went to wipe it away. Her hand paused. What had she been thinking about?

    Whatever it had been was pushed out of her mind as she looked at the mansion before them. It had changed from what they¡¯d seen before. The garden was peppered with giant stones that had any magic users that still had any energy littered around them. They pressed their hands against the stones when the last of the town made it in. A blue barrier shimmered over the house and property. They rushed people inside. A second barrier covered the house except for the door where people were putting up barricades. It was an obvious weak point, hopefully the monsters would go against it instead of just bashing their heads again the barrier. It made for a nice chokepoint.

    They dropped Claudette into a couch to rest then huddled inside the house with the rest of the group. Ratface was still covered in pollen, but she didn¡¯t notice.

 Chapter Fifty-One: Intrusive Thoughts

    Ratface was wandering the mansions halls. The monsters were being held on the outer layer of barriers, so they were all taking a moments respite.

    She¡¯d assumed that the barriers needed to be constantly charged but it turned out their design was a little better than that. The mages had been providing a spark rather than fuelling it. The rest came from the ambient mana in the area. It was similar to lighting the gas on a cow patty. The bad air around it would keep it burning once the initial spark happened. It was why sewers were so dangerous for fire magic users.

    Of course, it would leave the mana in the air dead until someone managed to rejuvenate it. Not a bad trade off, the demon in the area was making the ambient mana here thicker anyway so no doubt she could fix that problem with ease. The rune crafter who¡¯d inscribed them must have an intimate knowledge of the area.

    Ratface paused, this wasn¡¯t anything that she knew, where was the information coming from?

    It¡¯d be more accurate to say she tried to pause. Her body had kept walking even when she tried to stop. She tried to work out what was happening. Why couldn¡¯t she give herself orders? The thought slipped away from her, and she chased it down.

    It had started after they¡¯d got into the mansion. Halmir had suggested they wipe the pollen off of them and she¡¯d agreed and gone to find somewhere to wash up. Yet when he¡¯d gone out, she¡¯d decided to wander instead. The pollen had been itchy on her skin, but she¡¯d stopped even feeling it. Instead, she¡¯d gone and asked about the demon. Claudette, she insisted to her mind. She¡¯d tried to check on Claudette and found out she¡¯d been put in the same room as the core defence to rest. She¡¯d remembered smiling at that, her two targets in one place.

    No, they wouldn¡¯t be targets, they should be what she was defending. She¡¯d tried asking where the core was, but no one had given her an answer so she¡¯s started wandering searching for it. She felt at the flow of mana in the air to get an idea of where it was.

    She shouldn¡¯t be able to feel mana. That was all wrong. The thought all felt like they were coming from her but with a different background. It was like she was in a dream. The rules made up to suit the world rather than her.

    She drifted back to the pollen. The answer was there. It had come from one of those demon plants, hadn¡¯t it? She¡¯d had the same when she first came to the forest. Nothing weird there, just itchy.

    No, No! The answer was there.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

    She held onto it. The plant had been¡­ wrong. Infected right? Infected by the kudzu. The pollen had hit her, and something had seeped in. A part of her recognised that as mana now, which was alarming.

    Something inside of her had reached out and grabbed it and then it had started guiding her. Each decision feeling like it was hers, but it hadn¡¯t been.

    It had been the glamour.

    Her body sighed and stopped. It stopped in the hallway. There was a mirror there and it spoke to her.

    ¡°We were doing so well,¡± it wined. It was her voice but the way it spoke was different. Haughtier.

    ¡°I have to admit I¡¯m impressed. We¡¯ve pulled this trick with goblins before, and they never realised even after we left. Thought it was some mental break or something.¡± It shrugged. ¡°Not that it makes a difference.¡±

    It started walking and Ratface tried to wrest control of her body away from it. She might not have bothered. This was a contest of mana, and the thing was made of the stuff.

    ¡°Just sit quietly my dear, a quick slash of the knife and this will all be wrapped up. The witch¡¯s forest taken care of and you delivered back to the elves. I can finally stretch my legs again. It¡¯s been unbearable being stuck in here. Having to pretend I was dumber than I was so that the other glamour didn¡¯t attack me properly. Nasty little runt.¡± She felt her body smile.

    ¡°You won¡¯t believe how happy I was when you sent her off to help Halmir. Cutting her out was so satisfying. I wonder how much it hurt her? I know how much it hurt you. A small pleasure for me while I was waiting. It¡¯s almost a shame she¡¯s gone.¡±

    Ratface paused at that. It thought the glamour- she caught herself before the thing could catch the thought. If its thoughts bled through to her then it was only natural to be the other way around. She searched around her body looking for a weakness. None that she could find so far. She was covered in the pollen, and it seemed to empower the glamour.

    She didn¡¯t have time to search for it. They were getting closer to the core; she could feel it through the glamours senses. She wasn¡¯t going to make it in time.

    ¡°Ratface, there you are,¡± said Halmir. He¡¯d come out one of the doors attached to the hallway. ¡°I¡¯ve been looking for you. You still haven¡¯t cleaned up.¡±

    ¡°I got lost,¡± the glamour lied. She felt it casually reach for her knife as she walked closer. She tried to smash it out of the way, to let Halmir know, but nothing happened.

    Halmir bared his teeth.

    ¡°Yeah, I imagine that happens when its your first time in a place.¡±

    The glamour paused.

    ¡°How¡¯d you know?¡± it asked. It felt confident even with its cover blown.

    ¡°She felt weird when I tried to teleport to. After that it was me who suggested cleaning up instead of her, I remembered how quick she was to clean herself after the plant last time.¡± He smiled. ¡°It was right now that you really let it slip. Ratface would never admit she was lost.¡±

    Ratface paused at that. She wasn¡¯t sure she liked how that painted her. The glamour chuckled.

    ¡°So, what now?¡±

    ¡°Well, now I kick you out.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± the glamour said, ¡°what makes you think you can?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s simple, your outnumbered.¡±

    Halmir teleported to Ratface and slashed at her shoulder. The glamour danced back, a wide grin on its face.

    ¡°Alright, we¡¯ve got some time. I¡¯ll play.¡±

    It rushed at Halmir. Ratface could feel the cruel smile it had on her face.

 Chapter Fifty-Two: Subterfuge

    The fight was not going well.

    Usually if Ratface and Halmir fought, she couldn¡¯t touch him. The ability to change his shape and blink around made him difficult for her to catch even if she had quicker hands.

    The glamour was having no such trouble.  It caught Halmir each time and he was left to duck out of the way before it could do too much damage. The first time it had struck him he¡¯d looked at it with surprise but at this point only grim determination was left on his face.

    It wasn¡¯t that her body had suddenly become stronger under the glamour¡¯s control. It was embarrassing, but it simply used her body better. It moved with a natural grace and economy of movements Ratface wasn¡¯t sure she¡¯d ever achieve. It could read mana as well. She was sure that¡¯s how it knew where he was going to blink to.

    It was only because the glamour was ¡®playing¡¯ that the fight was still going. It was just backhanding him or leaving small cuts with the knife. Not to say those weren¡¯t dangerous. Ratface could feel the force in the strikes and the cuts were beginning to rack up. It was smiling but Ratface could feel the rising boredom in her mind. It¡¯d wrap this up soon.

    Halmir appeared before it once more. When it tried to backhand him this time, he caught the arm with two of his. It smiled and stabbed towards him. He slipped away from the attack. His hands were bleeding, and he left a smear of his blood over her hands.

    It was killing him. Moment by moment he was being cut down and it was her hands that were doing it. She could feel where his blood was left smeared over them. Ratface paused. The pollen had been wiped away from the blood.

    Halmir stood panting just out of reach. He was a mess; she doubted he had too many runs against it left. The glamour tilted her head, tapping the knife idly on her hand as it did so.

    ¡°So, what¡¯s the plan here?¡± it asked, ¡°Bore me to death?¡±

    ¡°It should be crystal clear what my plan is. I just have to hold you still.¡±

    Ratface kept her emotions calm. Had the glamour heard the hidden instruction? She couldn¡¯t feel anything from it to suggest it had. Instead, an intense joy and smugness was radiating from it.

    ¡°Do you know why you¡¯re going to lose?¡± It asked. It circled around him as it talked. ¡°Our win conditions are just too different. You want to stop this body sure, but you don¡¯t want to hurt her, do you? I bet if I leaned into an attack your claws would suddenly go elsewhere. Me? I¡¯ll enjoy killing you.¡± It paused, switching its grip on the knife for something more deadly. ¡°You might stand a chance against a weaker opponent. Which brings me to your second problem.¡±Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± asked Halmir. He tensed as the glamour got ready to strike. Ratface readied herself in her mind as well.

    ¡°I¡¯m just better than you,¡± said the glamour.

    It rushed towards him. It was the first time it had gone on the attack, and it was stabbing down at Halmir before the blink of an eye had passed. He raised his hands and Ratface struck.

    She put all her will into this one movement. All she needed to do was grab it for a second. Her hand reached out and sailed past the crystal. The glamour wasn¡¯t stupid, it only needed to tell the hand not to grab the crystal.

    The order travelled down to Ratface¡¯s arm, which suited her fine, seems she wasn¡¯t trying to grab that. Her hand wrapped around her other wrist holding the knife, holding it in place. She¡¯d known she wouldn¡¯t win a contest of will and she¡¯d been betting that Halmir did too. Him telling her about the crystal wasn¡¯t to tell her what to grab. He¡¯d been telling her what his target was.

    His hands went straight for the crystal, trusting her to hold the arm back. The glamour tried to bring the knife down, but Ratface held her will strong. She may not be able to beat it in a contest of wills, but with the glamours instructions split she could at least hold the arm. After than it became a question of strength. It was even split because it was Ratface¡¯s body. She held the arm firm.

    Halmir grabbed the crystal, his blood smearing all over it. He shoved it into Ratface, tripping her in the process. They slammed into the ground with the crystal trapped between them.

    Halmir¡¯s blood ran from his hand to the crystal, onto Ratface. His magic blood.

    It was a gamble. He couldn¡¯t put the inscriptions Suncat had needed to make this happen the first time. What he did have was the fact that it had been Ratface and him connected by the ritual. The echo of that connection was still tying them together. He pushed onto that lingering connection.

    The three of them were pulled into the dreamlike world. They stood in Ratface¡¯s village, the huts and path along it in vivid details rather than smoke for once.

    ¡°Four of us,¡± said a frazzled voice. Next to Ratface stood the elf girl. She looked harried, weakened. Her form was literally falling apart at the seams. The edges of it struggled to hold itself together.

    On the other side of the village, the other glamour was lying on the ground. It lay before the only part of the memory that was still fuzzy. Ratface knew her mother was there, and she was furious. This deep into the memory it was all the glamour could do to stop her seeing the full memory and her emotions slammed back into her. She wanted to weep for what she had loss. To curl into a ball and lose herself to misery. The thought she hadn¡¯t been able to grieve, like a knife that had slid deeper and deeper with every day.

    But there wasn¡¯t time for that right now, so she hung onto that fury and promised herself that she¡¯d take it out on the thing before them.

    The glamour stood up and the fury and grief were replaced by shock.

    Its features were delicate, beautiful even. It had the same perfection as any elf she¡¯d seen.

    Yet it wasn¡¯t an elf that stood before her, not a human, not even a rat noble.

    It was a goblin.

 Chapter Fifty-Three: Brain Brawl

    Ratface twitched as the goblin glamour watched them with a smile. It hadn¡¯t bothered with a knife and just let its hands hang loosely at its side.

    The idea that she had wanted to hurt another goblin made her feel sick. She hadn¡¯t known but still. The idea a goblin wanted to hurt her made her feel even sicker. The silent dream was suddenly replaced by screaming. Ratface couldn¡¯t remember who they were and yet she knew that they were the screams of her tribe.

    It was clear Halmir and the elf glamour could hear it too. They looked around in confusion as Ratface began to freeze. The elf glamour grabbed her hands.

    ¡°Look at me,¡± it said, ¡°he isn¡¯t really a goblin, it¡¯s a trick. It¡¯s like if Isabelle put an illusion over someone.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not quite true, is it? Glamours can die,¡± said the goblin. He was right. Intellectually Ratface understood that he wasn¡¯t really a goblin. He was a creature of magic. Yet her body wouldn¡¯t move.

    She looked over to where he¡¯d been, and he was gone.

    ¡°Look out!¡± cried Halmir. He pushed her to the side. A kick slammed down into the ground where she¡¯d just been, and the goblin landed between them. The other two attacked; Halmir in a fury of claws, and the elf with a sword she¡¯d pulled from somewhere.

    They were outclassed. He weaved between the two with insulting ease and only then did Ratface realise how much puppeteering her body had forced him to hold back. He caught the elf¡¯s wrist and pulled her in front of Halmir, forcing him to pull back his claws. The pause was all the goblin needed. He kicked the elf into Halmir, and they went stumbling back. He glanced at Ratface and that was all the warning she got. It was all she could do to bring her hands up to block as he kicked her away.

    The kick was powerful. Her arms were shaking just from blocking it and she¡¯d been pushed back at least a meter. On the other side, Halmir and the elf were getting up. The two of them looked rough. Halmir had entered this dream already beaten up and the elf glamour was barely holding itself together. She clutched at her stomach where the goblin had hit her, and her form flickered. Ratface knew it was only a matter of time before the glamour fell apart. Her mother had been right, she was going to kill the her.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

    Yet what was she to do? Fighting a goblin, even a glamour of one, was antithetical to who she was. She knew that if she attacked the goblin she¡¯d be lost in some small way. What could she do?

    Halmir and the elf glamour were fighting desperately against the goblin as it wreaked havoc between them. Any attempt at retaliation on their part had quickly been ruled out and they were just trying to survive. Halmir was making liberal use of his teleportation and shifting to keep ahead. At one point he turned into a rat, jumped onto the goblins fist, then turned back. All to push the fist down away from the elf¡¯s face and give her an opportunity to block. Ratface had to come up with a solution before they lost.

    Her eyes strayed around the room, looking for anything that¡¯d get her out of this situation. The fuzzy part of the memory where her mother lay stared back at her. What was it that the elf glamour had told her before? A glamour couldn¡¯t exist if its purpose was already completed or failed right?

    She sprinted at the memory. Touching it hadn¡¯t worked before but right now they were here in a more real way than she¡¯d ever been. She instinctively knew that if she could just reach it, she¡¯d be able to view it.

    The goblin glamour rushed at her as she knew it would. This was its whole purpose for being here. He grimaced as he chased her and Ratface kept her mind blank, only focused on getting to the memory. She couldn¡¯t afford to get distracted.

    Halmir and the elf took the opportunity she¡¯d presented to them. They rushed the goblin glamour. Nipping at his heels and getting cheap shot in where they could.

    He blocked them and tried to retaliate but he couldn¡¯t ever finish them off without letting Ratface get away and he couldn¡¯t afford to let that happen.

    She was getting closer and closer. When she was nearly within reach, she risked a look back.

    The glamour was just behind her. It had manged to slam the other two into the ground and they lay there groaning. It was going to reach her before she could make it.

    There was a pop, and she felt the familiar weight of a small rat on her shoulder. Halmir jumped out and leapt at the goblin glamour. It caught him, but he shifted back into a rat noble and rent a claw down its face. It screamed and slammed him into the ground. He didn¡¯t get back up. Ratface cried out but she didn¡¯t stop moving. She wouldn¡¯t waste the chance he¡¯d given her.

    The goblin glamour reached for her, but it was too late. Halmir had wasted enough of its time. Her hand brushed against the memory and the world stopped. The four of them frozen as the memory slammed into vivid reality.

    The village around her reappeared. Its wide fence surrounding it with a thick Kauri in the middle. The huts she¡¯d grown up running around reappearing as she remembered it all. Ratface didn¡¯t have eyes for any of it. She¡¯d look back later but right now she needed to see her. The sheer need pushing away any other thoughts.

    She couldn¡¯t find her and for a second Ratface thought she¡¯d failed. Then she appeared next to the tree. A slightly younger Ratface sitting at her feet.

    Her mother.

 Chapter Fifty-Four: The Last Memory

    It was nostalgic walking through the village. Seeing the small huts that everyone had settled in. They¡¯d spread out as far as they could before they¡¯d exceed their land allowance. Places that kept resources were close to the middle of the village along with Kauri. It had been a while since Ratface had seen a shared food place. None of the towns they had passed through had shared everything like goblins did. The only stockpiles had belonged to merchants for holding wares.

    A small spot by the Kauri had several little goblins sitting around it. A spot was waiting for Ratface, and the memory only began when she sat down. Unlike the one the elf glamour had shown her, this one pulled her in.

    Ratface stared at the little unnamed goblins in front of her. It was her turn to take care of them and it was an easy job. She was halfway through telling them the story of Halmir the Sly, a crowd favourite.

    ¡°In the dead of night, Halmir approached Rathands. He moved with cunning, grace, and hunger,¡± she said. The five goblins in front of her watched her as she stepped between them. Her teeth clicking together as she talked about Halmir¡¯s hunger. She¡¯d have to tell them another story after this to get them to sleep.

    ¡°Rathands did not fear, for Halmir was a guest in his lands. The earth and wind tried to warn him, but he could not, would not, hear of Halmir¡¯s betrayal. How could an honoured guest, a blood brother, betray their host. It was as unthinkable as a goblin striking another goblin.¡±

    She clapped her hands together at the word striking and the children flinched. Definitely telling another story after this then.

    ¡°Yet Halmir was not a goblin, and he was sly. He struck as Rathands embraced him, whispering in his ear, ¡®You who have called me brother of blood, give me all that you have so that I might rule in your stead.¡¯ These were the last words that Rathands would ever hear. The next day, goblins woke up empty. Halmir had done Rathands one kindness in his betrayal, he killed him before he could hear the wailing of his people.¡±

    She stopped the story and let the silence fall. The world always felt quiet after she told this story, like it hadn¡¯t just been goblins who listened. The children in front of her looked haunted and Ratface paused.

    ¡°Okay, now who wants to hear about Fishgut and the Whale?¡± she asked. The children brightened and Ratface began a lighter tale until they fell asleep.

    The memory shifted forward.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to tell them Halmir¡¯s story every night,¡± her mother said. The two of them were walking around the village for her mother¡¯s nightly inspection. She was a broad woman, not the biggest goblin Ratface had ever seen but one that was packed with muscles. She¡¯d watched her mother out arm wrestle another tribe¡¯s finest warrior for command once. The man had been twice her size, and she had slammed his hand down in less time than he¡¯d had to blink. That was just dealing with goblins, Ratface had heard the terror she was to adventurers when they went raiding.

    You wouldn¡¯t think so by the way she moved around the village. She walked slowly, taking a moment to inspect everything. When a goblin came to talk to her, she would pause to listen like she had all the time in the world. Her mother wasn¡¯t a rat like her, her name was Bearclaw, but people said her village had been stupid to not name her some form of rat.

    ¡°You said it was an important story, and the ask for it,¡± said Ratface. Bearclaw chuckled and stroked her head. In terms of hands at least, the name was appropriate. When she pat Ratface¡¯s head she practically smothered it.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    ¡°So lucky I am, to have such a dutiful daughter. Yet I notice not all your other chores are followed so diligently.¡± She smiled as Ratface looked away. Could she really be blamed that she didn¡¯t want to help with the cooking? No one else wanted her to help either.

    Any further discussion of her chores was cut off as one of the village scouts approached. It was Hawkhare and he looked worried.

    ¡°Adventurers?¡± Bearclaw asked. The man shook his head.

    ¡°Goblins,¡± he said. Ratface relaxed, other goblins could be annoying, but that was about it. Bearclaw didn¡¯t as she stared into his panicked eyes.

    ¡°Where are the other scouts?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Dead,¡± said Hawkhare, ¡°the other goblins killed them.¡±

    Ratface felt something lurch inside her, and then she heard the screaming.

    The memory shifted once again.

    The screaming was all around them as the other tribe got closer and closer. The older goblins had grabbed the unnamed young goblins and Ratface and the group of them were crowded around Bearclaw.

    The screaming had overpowered all the goblins until Ratface¡¯s mother had got them in line. They¡¯d tried running until it was revealed that they were surrounded. Bearclaw had got a desperate look in her eyes and told the old goblins to form a circle and think of sending the children away.

    A hum had filled the air when they did so. It centred around Ratface¡¯s mother, and she seemed filled with joy and sorrow. She looked at the group of them and smiled.

    ¡°Do you know of the last goblin magic?¡± she asked them all. Her voice seemed to echo around them. ¡°After Halmir¡¯s betrayal, goblin magic slipped from us to the elves, and so they started capturing us.¡± The enemy goblins were waiting in a circle around them. One of them stepped forward and began to cut goblins down as he moved towards Bearclaw and the group of children.

    ¡°The last few goblin mages saw that the end was coming and so they asked themselves a question. How could they protect their people? How could the secret of their power live in them when the stories would be destroyed? An answer was found, and they gathered the last goblins for one great spell.¡±

    The goblin got closer, yet he was being slowed down. The goblins he cut down didn¡¯t retaliate but they did hold onto him. He dragged their bodies with him still, but it was slowing him.

    ¡°They knew the world would be cruel to goblins; already other races cut them down. So, they forged a spell that would mean a goblin would always have a friend so long as they might find another goblin. So that their people could never be turned against each other.¡±

    The murderous goblin moved ever closer, Ratface thought she could hear him behind her and yet she couldn¡¯t look away from her mother.

    ¡°The spell etched itself into our souls and with it, took the last dregs of goblin magic, do you know what it is?¡±

    Ratface shook her head, yet she did know it, some small part of her whispered it to her and she sounded the words.

    ¡°No harming other goblins,¡± she said. She heard the other kids whisper it at the same time. Ratface looked back at the goblin walking towards them. He looked irritated, and sad. Her tribe hung onto him to give them another moment. His features were delicate, like the elves, yet here was a goblin breaking their last spell. She looked back at her mother as Bearclaw kept talking.

    ¡°Knowing this, a goblin like him seems impossible, but he¡¯s an opportunity. A small part of the spell has been broken. A small ember of power returned to us all.¡±

    He was nearly here but he stopped, they all did as Bearclaw changed. Her skin shone with an inner light and goblin runes twisted across her arms. Something stirring inside her, waking up for the first time.

    ¡°It¡¯s just an ember, yet we¡¯re goblins. We need only a small light to push away the dark.¡±

    The light inside her burst out around them, Ratface and the children all being wrapped in its embrace.

    ¡°Rember this, the last spell never meant to be the last. It was cast so we could find our magic again. Carry this memory with you to the far corners, that our magic might live once more.¡±

    One by one they were whisked away across the night sky. Only Ratface was left, and she fought against the spell, trying to reach for her mother. She could reach her. The memory frayed as both the younger and current Ratface reached for her, but even with their combined effort, they couldn¡¯t do so.

    Her mother moved closer, until only Ratface could hear her.

    ¡°Find them, my little rat. It¡¯s selfish, but I place in you my hopes and dreams. Live a life that makes us both proud.¡± She pet Ratface¡¯s head once more, her big hands like paws as she brushed her hair away. Ratface held her hand even as she was lifted into the sky. She held on as long as she could, until her fingers slipped from her mother¡¯s hands.

    Her mother didn¡¯t stop her. Instead, she kept smiling. Her last gift to Ratface, a smiling face to remember.

 Interlude: The Siege Doesnéˆ¥æª› Stop

    Albert was tired. The people he was fighting with were used to using wonderful abilities in fights, even Tiffany was a natural with her druid magic. He¡¯d started to learn to call on the wind in a fight and it was a deadly attack, exhausting too.

    At his heart of hearts though, he was a boy with a spear. So, at first, he¡¯d been happy when the elf had switched to using their own body more than regenerating plant creatures.

    He didn¡¯t feel that way anymore.

    The elf lashed out at him again. His fists flickered at Albert in quick succession. It was all Albert could do to get his spear in the way. His arms shook with the effort of blocking, yet he didn¡¯t have the speed to dodge him.

    Abigail came to his salvation, pushing the elf back. She was like a one-woman cavalry charge, if the entire horse was made of metal. The difference was unlike a charge, she just kept going. The elf couldn¡¯t fight her for extended periods. He basically did his best to run away while she pursued him.

    Albert rushed back in, his spear snaking through the gaps in the fight. He was just trying to keep the elf tied down while Abigail landed the killing blow. He was also trying to keep him away from the mages.

    He spared a glance for Eliana and Tiffany. The two had given up on landing the killing blow and were now just focusing on area denial. Tiffany did this by slowly gaining control of the plants and Eliana did it by burning the area down. Whatever worked.

    Albert just stayed focused on his job. He wasn¡¯t a hero, he was just a kid with a spear, and a kid with a spear just needed to stab.

    The elf jerked its head in surprise as Albert¡¯s spear sliced across his cheek. He tried to jump back, and Abigail grabbed him out of the air and slammed him down. She lifted her sword high and brought it down before he could move.

    Something slammed into the elf and green hands extended from his body and caught the blade. The group stared in shock and the elf took the opportunity to jump back. A goblin stood next to him, his hands up to keep fighting. He was flickering in and out. A glamour maybe?

    The elf glanced at the glamour.

    ¡°Never before have I been to so happy to fail in my task,¡± he muttered. He looked over to the rest of them. ¡°How about we call this off?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Seems like you¡¯re on the ropes while we¡¯re all fresh and ready to go,¡± said Abigail. Albert gave her a side-eye. What fight had she been in?

    ¡°Fresh and ready huh?¡± said the elf. He shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s true, you can almost certainly kill me, but it¡¯ll take time, and time is something your friends don¡¯t have. Your little demon lover exhausted herself and now they¡¯re all holed up in their mansion, how long do you think they can hold out?¡±

    They watched him as he started to walk away, and Albert watched the glamour.

    ¡°Wait,¡± he called out.

    The elf turned to him with a raised eyebrow.

    ¡°That glamour came from Ratface right? Is she okay?¡± he asked. The goblin barred its teeth at him.

    ¡°Go and find out little boy,¡± it said.

    The elf and the glamour ran. Albert and the rest waiting until they were out of sight, then they went to help their friends.

    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    <hr>

    Rabbittail wasn¡¯t really a fighter, but he was better than Dirthand. It was with some confusion he watched the old goblin move out with her knife.

    The two of them were outside the mansion where the monsters roamed. The monsters had already broken through the outside barrier and all that was left was the house itself. Rabbittail and Dirthand had been among the people to volunteer when Isabell had called for help. They slunk through the monsters. An illusion was layered over them, so the monsters didn¡¯t attack them. He looked like a boar with two particularly sharp tusks. They were getting as deep as they thought they could. The plan was simple, cause chaos.

    He got close to Blade Horn. He pulled his spear back and slammed it into the neck. It was a clean stab, and he pulled it out before it could get stuck. He darted back as the creature looked in confusion. It looked to where it thought he was and struck at the boar there.

    It wasn¡¯t him and the boar reared back in pain and struck back at the deer. Around the charging monsters more of them turned on each other as similar scenes played out around the battle.

    Rabbittail went for a few more stabs before getting ready to run. He darted away as it turned into a mini stampede around him.

    He looked for Dirthand and found her running away. He went to heave a sigh of relief until he saw one of the Blade Horns aim at her and charge. He rushed over and pushed her out of the way. He tried to dart out of the way as well, but the blade cut deep into his stomach, and he dropped to the ground. It raised its hooves to crush him and Dirthand barreled into its neck and stabbed it repeatedly. It crumpled to the side next to him and he smiled. He felt woozy.

    ¡°Rabbittail get up, you silly goblin, don¡¯t go playing hero,¡± Dirthand hissed.

    ¡°Run, they caught me, I suffer the fate of all rabbits now,¡± he said. He¡¯d be eaten of course, hopefully he wasn¡¯t alive for that. Dirthand scoffed.

    ¡°Who¡¯s caught?¡± she asked. She grabbed him and pulled him onto her back. The pain was excruciating and his vision flickered in and out. He let out a little whimper.

    ¡°Focus on me Rabbit, we¡¯re getting out of here,¡± said Dirthand. Then she was scuttling through the chaos trying to get him back to the mansion. He didn¡¯t realise how much he¡¯d wanted to be held by the true goblin until now. He hoped he¡¯d get a chance to tell her.

    <hr>

    Isabelle watched the outside of the mansion with her eyes wide open. She hadn¡¯t blinked in about ten miniatures and had set up a spell for one of her helpers to maintain while she watched the battle.

    Her powers weren¡¯t great in one-on-one combat. She could beat anyone who hadn¡¯t fought an illusionist before, but if the fight went on too long, or if they¡¯d fought her kind before, it was only a matter of time before she was caught out. Part of why she was adventuring was to make herself better in those situations.

    This sort of battle though? She was a menace.

    Her and Claudette had always understood that the battle would end here. So, while the others had held the monster back, she¡¯d been setting up her field.

    She set simple traps, like pitfalls and spikes around the place. Dirthand had helped her a lot with that, and Isabelle was still concerned at her statement that it was just like gardening. She resolved herself to never go to the other woman¡¯s garden.

    She¡¯d sent plenty of the monsters into the traps already, but she wasn¡¯t a glorified trapper. She was an illusionist, not many people knew what that meant.

    Most people understood that it meant to make illusions, but that was only half the play, the real trick was to stop the opponent trusting anything they saw.

    She¡¯d needed a spark to get it going, and her few volunteers had provided it by stabbing the monsters. It was risky, she¡¯d felt a few of her illusions waver and she was pretty sure a good portion of them were dead. She tucked that away to grieve about later when she had brain power to spare.

    The effect was excellent. The monsters were in a frenzy, and she just added to the chaos. She couldn¡¯t attack the monsters with her illusions, but if say a Blade Horn was being pulled down by wolves next to other Blade Horns? Well, it wasn¡¯t going to stand for that betrayal.

    The more chaotic the battle got the less her illusions had to be complicated. Her personal favourite was to simply hide a monster from view until another one slammed into it and they started fighting. If it was just the monsters, she¡¯d be able to take care of this.

    Yet it wasn¡¯t just the monsters. Amaranth walked through the middle of the chaos coming ever closer to the battle. She¡¯d adapted to the problem by surrounding herself with the Lizard apes and cutting a path forward. Isabelle¡¯s eyes lingered on the woman. It hadn¡¯t escaped her notice that they¡¯d yet to see her glamour. She didn¡¯t think it was a thinking one, but she didn¡¯t know what it was yet and that could make all the difference.

    She twisted illusions across the world, manipulating the place in front of her into a kingdom of lies. Slowly yet surely, she twisted her illusions until more and more of the monsters swarmed Amaranth. It wouldn¡¯t stop her, the monsters swayed under her control when they got too close, yet it would slow her down and thin the herd.

    Hopefully it¡¯d give Claudette enough time to wake up.

 Chapter Fifty-Five: A Losing Battle

    Ratface woke up on the floor. She had one moment of clarity where she could remember everything. Then the emotions flooded in. It was like very important day in her life was suddenly happening all at once she experienced every single thing she¡¯d felt over her life. It was overwhelming, yet it wasn¡¯t nearly as bad as what came next.

    A second later and it was all ripped away from her. She was reminded all those people she¡¯d shared those moments with were gone, they were never coming back. She hadn¡¯t even cared that they were gone for a month. Every loss was like a knife to her heart and just when she thought there wasn¡¯t room for any more grief another wave of it would flood her.

    She couldn¡¯t move even if she wanted to, wasn¡¯t even aware of the world around her until it finally subsided into an ache. She felt raw still, but she could at least focus.

    The first thing she did was check on Halmir. It wasn¡¯t difficult given that he was still sprawled over her. She rolled him off her and examined him. He looked rough. He was covered in deep cuts and bruises. He¡¯d been bleeding but it looked like they¡¯d all scabbed over. Still breathing though.

    ¡°He should be fine,¡± said the glamour. It was rasping and Ratface could feel it was struggling to hold itself together.

    ¡°How are you talking?¡± She asked. She picked up Halmir and slung him over her shoulders then began to limp back to where she thought the first aid area was.

    ¡°There¡¯s a lot more room in here with the other glamour gone. I can do more,¡± said her glamour. Ratface paused at that thought. She couldn¡¯t deny that it had done its best to help her.

    ¡°Do you know how it happened?¡±

    ¡°Last thing I remember is the memory, when we woke up, he was gone.¡±

    Ratface dealt with that as she struggled with the door to get through. She recognised where they were, the first aid station should be just down the corridor.

    ¡°Hey, I can¡¯t keep calling you the glamour and it looks like we¡¯re going to be together a while. What¡¯s your name?¡±

    ¡°A name, I was never given one.¡± It was silent for a while and Ratface was beginning to think that was the end of the conversation before it talked again.

    ¡°Krysa seems like a good name, call me that.¡±

    ¡°Krysa then,¡± said Ratface. She made it to the end of the hallway and kicked open the door.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

    The first aid station had been set up in the tearoom. The place was filled with injured and Ratface watched as the people who¡¯d been assigned as carers rushed around with bandages. It was a hum of activity but there wasn¡¯t any screaming. Ratface didn¡¯t know if that was good or not. She found Dirthand working on a goblin, desperately trying to keep their blood in. She was surrounded by plants and a bubbling cauldron.

    ¡°Stir that,¡± she told Ratface. Ratface started stirring as she looked at the goblin. Her heart clenched as she realised it was Rabbittail. Dirthand looked at her and gave her a reassuring smile.

    ¡°He¡¯ll be okay, we just got to get something in him.¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t have a health potion?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re all being kept for anyone who can be sent to fight, has the water changed colour yet?¡±

    Ratface looked at the cauldron and sure enough it had turned a sickly green. She made a face and Dirthand chuckled. She sounded exhausted.

    ¡°Yeah, that sounds about right.¡± She grabbed a cup near her and scooped some of it up. ¡°Press here,¡± she ordered Ratface. Ratface pressed onto the wound as Dirthand poured the liquid down Rabbittail¡¯s throat. He struggled but managed to swallow.

    ¡°This will help him?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯ll help with the pain,¡± said Dirthand. She sighed and took back over holding the wound. ¡°If you¡¯ve got any fight left in you, you should see Isabelle. My hands are a little full here.¡± Her voice cracked when she said it and Ratface placed a hand on her shoulder. Dirthand smiled then flicked her head for Ratface to go.

    Isabelle was standing by the window looking out of the mansion. The monsters were surrounding the place but not attacking. A lot of them were dead. It looked like they¡¯d attacked themselves. Ratface glanced at the culprit.

    ¡°I don¡¯t suppose you can do that again?¡± she asked.

    Isabelle laughed and shook her head.

    ¡°Amaranth has direct control over the area. I can¡¯t put any more illusions out.¡±

    Ratface grimaced, there was still too many of them to fight. It was weird though; they were just standing there. Ratface got her answer why soon enough.

    ¡°There you are,¡± called Amaranth.

    ¡°She can see you,¡± said Krysa. She didn¡¯t sound surprised. She did sound worried.

    ¡°Come out now, and I will spare the rest of them. You have my word,¡± Amaranth continued.

    A lie. Nothing about her body language suggested mercy. It looked like she was just securing her targets before finishing the job. Ratface glanced over to Isabelle.

    ¡°I don¡¯t suppose we can hold out against this could we?¡±

    Isabelle shook her head.

    ¡°Not without any of our heavy hitters. With Claudette we might, with the away team it¡¯s even more likely.¡±

    ¡°So we need time?¡± Ratface asked. Isabelles eyes narrowed.

    ¡°I don¡¯t like the way you think.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve got a plan; I can manage it.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re a child!¡± said Isabelle. She grabbed Ratface¡¯s shoulders. ¡°I know your brave and clever but at the end of the day you¡¯re a child. You shouldn¡¯t have to do this.¡±

    Ratface looked the other woman in the eyes. This was one of those cultural difference she¡¯d heard of. At her age she¡¯d already be expected to help in raids if it all went to hell. She still appreciated the sentiment.

    ¡°Do you have another plan? We can win Isabelle. Just let me risk it.¡± She could see the hesitation in the other woman¡¯s eyes. Even in a situation like this, she still wanted to protect Ratface.

    ¡°Okay,¡± Isabelle said eventually. Ratface smiled and walked out of the room towards the mansion entrance. Now she just had to see if her plan worked.

    The good news was if she was wrong, she wouldn¡¯t have a lot of time to regret it.

 Chapter Fifty-Six: Stalling Tactics

    The area around the mansion was quiet. Ratface walked past the defenders at the front door. It was a narrow entrance; against normal monsters they might be able to hold it. With those lizard apes all this corridor would do is keep the blood contained. Hannah stood by the entrance.

    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t do this child,¡± she said.

    Ratface glanced over at her. The half-elf didn¡¯t seem as worried as Isabelle was. She was saying the words, but it was clear she didn¡¯t believe in it. She was a survivor. Ratface and her were similar in that way.

    ¡°Even odds, what are your chances against that elf?¡± Ratface asked.  Hannah¡¯s eyes lingered on the elf.

    ¡°If I fought her one on one, I could win, assuming her glamour wasn¡¯t anything worth mentioning.¡±

    So, Hannah hadn¡¯t seen the glamour either. Was it too much to hope that she didn¡¯t have one? Maybe it was the staff she¡¯d been using.

    ¡°In this situation you¡¯d lose right?¡± said Ratface.

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t put your faith in me.¡±

    ¡°Then put yours in me instead. I¡¯ve got a plan.¡± Ratface left the manor on that note. She walked about halfway to Amaranth before she stopped. The elf looked different than before. She was more the woods gone to war than forest keeper. She raised an eyebrow When Ratface stopped.

    ¡°A few more steps goblin.¡±

    ¡°Actually, I¡¯ve come to challenge you to a duel.¡±

    Amaranth threw back her head and laughed. It annoyed Ratface that it was charming instead of a cackle.

    ¡°Why would I bother?¡±

    Ratface grinned. It was the kind of grin you did before sliding the knife and that¡¯s exactly what she did.

    ¡°Because last time we fought, I won.¡±

    The elf stopped laughing at that.

    ¡°An interesting delusion you have there.¡± Ratface opened her arms.

    ¡°Am I wrong? Last time we fought only one of us got a real hit on the other and it wasn¡¯t you. If you were going to kill me it wouldn¡¯t matter, but you¡¯re keeping me alive right? What version of the story do you think I¡¯m going to tell.¡±

    The elf tsked.

    ¡°Fair enough, terms?¡±

    ¡°Just you and me. I wont use anyone in the mansion, and you wont use any of your monsters.¡±

    ¡°Deal.¡±Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

    Ratface bit back her smirk. That pretty much confirmed that Amaranth didn¡¯t know about Abigail and the others. Amaranth leaned on her staff. She looked bored.

    ¡°Ready?¡±

    ¡°Ready,¡± said Ratface.

    She nearly lost three times within the first few seconds. Amaranth had blurred across the distance between them and swung at her head. It had only been Krysa screaming at her to duck that had gotten her to move. Amaranth had twisted through after that and tried to sweep her legs. Ratface jumped and managed to get her knife in the elf¡¯s face before she could finish her third swing. Ratface danced back and Amaranth went back to leaning on her staff.

    ¡°Still clinging to that win?¡± Amaranth asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, where exactly did you hit me?¡± Ratface fired back. Amaranth didn¡¯t like that. She swept towards Ratface ina  flurry of strikes. Ratface fended them off with a combination of ducking, rolling, and blocking with her sword and knife. Krysa called out instructions for her to move the more the fight went on.

    ¡°Next time, don¡¯t taunt the elf. I thought we were buying time,¡± said Krysa.

    ¡°Sorry,¡± Ratface thought back. She parried another staff strike. Her arms were wobbling with the effort.

    It wasn¡¯t a fair fight. She couldn¡¯t really retaliate, just block. The elf kept pushing her towards the edge of their clearing where the monsters were and Ratface just knew they¡¯d bite her if she got too close.

    She was outmatched but at least she hadn¡¯t lost yet. Amaranth was playing with her.

    ¡°A bit harder when you don¡¯t sneak up isn¡¯t it?¡± said Amaranth. Ratface took Krysa¡¯s advice and didn¡¯t respond. Not that she could have anyway. She was pushing herself here more than she had against anyone else. It wouldn¡¯t be enough. She¡¯d improved, sure, but at the end of the day she was still a child. She didn¡¯t like her chances.

    If she kept fighting like this, she was going to lose. She needed to do something clever before it was too late. Ratface turned tail and ran.

    ¡°Tell me when,¡± she thought to Krysa.

    She heard a snort from behind her as the elf pursued her. She ran as fast as she could. She had to play into an elf¡¯s understanding of a goblin. Cowardly and stupid.

    ¡°Now,¡± said Krysa.

    Ratface twisted in place and lunged at Amaranth. The elf¡¯s staff was low from where she¡¯d been about to sweep Ratface, but she was aiming for where she¡¯d be in the future. Right now, Ratface was inside her guard and Amaranth had to stumble back to avoid the attack.

    Ratface poured on the pressure. She kept close to the elf and didn¡¯t stop striking. She couldn¡¯t hit her, but Amaranth couldn¡¯t attack her either. Amaranth¡¯s face twisted in annoyance, and she jumped back. Ratface threw her knife and Amaranth eyes widened as it flew at her. She wasn¡¯t going to be able to block it, Ratface realised. She¡¯d actually won.

    A snakehead arm whipped out and grabbed Amaranth out of the air. It pulled her out of the way of the knife and settled on the floor.

    ¡°Cheater,¡± said Ratface.

    ¡°Hardly,¡± said Amaranth. The lizard ape that had helped her twisted its shape so that its face was in the shape of a blade horn¡¯s instead. So that¡¯s where her glamour was.

    ¡°I suppose I have to give you credit. I did have to try in this fight. Yet what are you going to do now that you¡¯re outnumbered.¡±

    Ratface didn¡¯t bother answering. She¡¯d done her best but it looks like she hadn¡¯t managed enough time. She shifted in place and got ready to keep dodging.

    It was about then she heard a commotion on the edge of the monsters. Flame erupted from the area until there was a path to Amaranth and Ratface. Four people stood there. It was good to see them, but Ratface mainly had eyes for Abigail.

    She was in full armour. She even had her helmet. Her armour steamed faintly as she walked through the flames to stand next to Ratface. Fear kicked into Ratface just by the sheer intimidation of her. Here was a woman made for war.

    ¡°Took you long enough,¡± she managed weakly. Abigail¡¯s helmet stared back at her.

    ¡°We¡¯re going to have a talk about your habit of getting into these situations,¡± she said. Ratface smiled back. If they were alive after this, she¡¯d happily take the lecture.

    ¡°So that¡¯s why you specified the mansion,¡± said Amaranth, ¡°clever.¡±

    ¡°Does that mean you¡¯ll honour the duel?¡± asked Ratface.

    Amaranth tapped her cheek in thought.

    ¡°No,¡± she said. She sliced her hand through the air.

    Then the monsters attacked.

 Chapter Fifty-Seven: The Rune-Knight

    Ratface left Abigail to fight the elf. She¡¯d been hesitant to do so originally, the last fight between the two hadn¡¯t gone in Abigail¡¯s favour.

    It was pretty clear that wasn¡¯t the case this time. She slammed into the elf. Catching the staff with one hand and punching her in the face with the other. Amaranth slid back and touched her face. Her hand came back with blood, and she hissed.

    Abigail drew her sword under the elf¡¯s gaze.

    ¡°Well, what do you know? Guess it¡¯s a different fight when I¡¯m not exhausted.¡±

    That was all the time Ratface had to watch the fight. The glamour slammed a snake arm towards her and Ratface jumped out of the way. The arm twisted in the air to follow her, and she ducked down. It reared back to strike again but screamed as a knife slammed into the arms eye.

    Albert jogged to her side, spear forward.

    ¡°I gotta remember to get my knife,¡± he mumbled.

    ¡°You killed the other elf?¡±

    ¡°He got away, a glamour came and helped him. A goblin.¡±

    ¡°Oh, so that¡¯s where he went. I didn¡¯t know the mental ones could manifest.¡±

    ¡°Makes sense, most of us are physical before we sneak into your brain,¡± said Krysa.

    ¡°Neat,¡± said Ratface. Amaranth¡¯s glamour had stopped reeling and looked at them in anger. It switched shape to a blade horn deer. The dagger Albert had thrown was still in its shoulder. Looked like its injuries were consistent. It charged.

    Ratface and Albert dodged out of the way. The glamour switched back to its ape form between them and lashed out at them. Albert caught the attack on his spear and slammed the arm into the ground. Ratface rolled out of the way and stuck her knife into the other eye of the snake. It pulled back, taking Ratface¡¯s knife with it. The thing slammed back and forth on the ground before them in pain. Albert and Ratface backed up. Their spear and sword pointed towards the glamour.

    She heard a scream from the mansion and glanced back, had the monsters come for them?Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

    Instead, she caught the remaining defenders charging into the fray. Hannah led the charge, but goblins and others ran next to her. They slammed into the monsters. They didn¡¯t know how to charge but sometimes numbers made up for it and the monsters hadn¡¯t expected a charge. The monsters buckled and the defenders fell on them. Ratface watched as one of the ones with a prosthetic arm grabbed a monster and squeezed. There was an audible crack and it stopped moving.

    Abigail caught an attack by the elf on her sword and slid back next to Ratface and Albert.

    ¡°Kill the glamour,¡± she ordered, then she ran back in.

    ¡°What does she think we¡¯re trying to do?¡± she muttered.

    The two children rushed into fighting the glamour again. It had given up on overwhelming them with strength and was now coming for variety. It switched between shapes and attacked them. Unlike when it had gone for big strikes, there was no easy counter they could take. They started to take little wounds as the thing built up its momentum. She could see Suncat and Tiffany trying to get closer to them, but they were penned in by monsters and it was all they could do to hold their ground.

    The distraction nearly cost her. The glamour turned into a blade horn and kicked out at her as it swung its head at Albert. Ratface dropped to the floor. She rolled to the side before it could bring the hooves down on her.

    Albert wasn¡¯t so lucky. He blocked the first strike, but it scored a hit on his arm on the second and he stumbled back. The glamour took that opportunity to switch back to the lizard ape. It scooped up Ratface before she had a chance to move, and she struggled against it.

    ¡°Drop the sword,¡± Krysa shouted at her. Ratface didn¡¯t question it. She dropped the sword.

    An elf hand caught it as Krysa stepped out of Ratface. She ran up the other glamour and plunged her sword into its head. It screamed and slammed her into the ground. Krysa cried out and her body flickered out as she fell back into Ratface. Ratface held her close in her mind as she felt the other girl falling apart.

    Amaranth¡¯s glamour fell apart and tried to run back to the elf. Abigail grabbed it before it could join with her.

    ¡°I¡¯ve thought a lot about how to beat you,¡± she said. Her voice was conversational, but Ratface could feel the fury steaming off her.

    She rushed at elf in a blur of blue. She swiped in a frenzy at Amaranth, the elf grinned as she dodged.

    ¡°If you thought it was sword play, I don¡¯t think you have a chance,¡± said Amaranth. She continued to dodge as Abigail left deep rents in the ground.

    ¡°Not easily. No, I worked it out a few weeks back. Ratface managed to stab you in the first fight. I got a few tricks in as well.¡±

    ¡°Your point?¡±

    Amaranth brought her staff down and Abigail parried the attack. She swept her sword in a wide gouge in front of her and Amaranth danced back.

    ¡°You¡¯re too used to winning early, you don¡¯t look to the future. You don¡¯t plan.¡±

    ¡°Why would I need to?¡±

    Abigail laughed.

    ¡°Why indeed?¡±

    She gestured to the area she and Amaranth had fought in. The ground was torn up, but there was a pattern to the cuts. Ratface hissed. It was a rune.

    Amaranth noticed at the same time Ratface did. She rushed at Abigail, but it was too late. Abigail crushed what was left of the glamour. It shattered and its power rushed into the rune. It burned blue. So bright that Ratface couldn¡¯t watch.

    There was a flash of white. Then the elf was gone.

 Chapter Fifty-Eight: Sealing

    It was the chaos that happened after that confirmed the elf was dead. The monsters, who had once fought side by side, quickly turned on each other in a flurry of claws and teeth. Abigail had joined Ratface and Albert. The three of them had cut a path to Suncat and Tiffany and held there while the monsters continued their tirade. Ratface was only half there, trusting her defence to her friends. She was living in a moment of half reality and half the dream-like quality of glamour.

    On the inside, she was living in chaos.

    Krysa was literally falling apart in there and she had no idea what to do. It seemed like the poor glamour was constantly paying the price for Ratface¡¯s decision. Ratface didn¡¯t know how to help her. Parts of the glamour kept flashing around and Ratface would see more of the city Krysa was so fond of. She tried forcing the pieces back into place, her reasoning being that it was in her head so surely, she could do something, yet it wasn¡¯t having much effect. She was stuck between the two worlds and if she wasn¡¯t in the middle of a battle, she¡¯d wish she was asleep.

    Albert caught a monster that was coming at her on his spear and shoved away. He glanced at her in concern.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡±

    ¡°I need help,¡± she hissed.

    ¡°Just... focus on yourself,¡± said Krysa. She sounded confused, lost. A memory of the two of them as children watching each other appeared. The memory Krysa was trying to protect no doubt. Ratface ignored it and tried shoving it back into the glamour. If she didn¡¯t see the memory, then the glamour was still protected right?

    Albert grabbed Suncat and pointed at Ratface. The goblin looked deep into Ratface and hissed.

    ¡°We need to get her to Claudette,¡± she announced to the group. The four of them looked at each other in determination while Ratface focused inwards. Krysa was shivering. Ratface felt her real body stumble as she grabbed onto the glamour in her mind. Trying to hold the shape of her in place.

    ¡°Just a little longer Krysa,¡± she promised.

    On the outside, her body was taking small cuts as she stumbled forward with the others. They were at least keeping her safe from the monsters. It happened in a dream for Ratface but eventually they made it back to the mansion. The rest of the group greeted them in thanks and Ratface heard the others returning it but moving them quickly.

    They made it to a weakened Claudette who was helping out at the first aid area. She offered her blood to some normal goblins and the few that took it had their bodies heal, yet their skin quickly turned read and horns grew on their head. Ratface supposed it was better than death.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    The demon looked at Ratface and got her to sit down.

    ¡°This will hurt,¡± she promised. Albert held her in place. Claudette cut into her hand and offered it to Abigail who in dipped a finger in and began to draw across Ratface. Claudette did the same with her free hand on the other side.

    She wasn¡¯t wrong about it hurting. The blood burned against her skin but that was nothing that was going on in her mind.

    It was like her mind was being tied in ropes. She felt restricted in every way and her whole being chafed against it. It was working at least; the demon magic was holding Krysa together like a full body cast. When they finally finished, Krysa lay inside her mind sleeping. The magic was keeping her alive, but it was also stopping her from moving.

    Claudette leaned back and groaned. Abigail wiped the blood off her gauntlet and took off her helmet.

    ¡°I have to keep helping people,¡± Claudette said. Then she was off. She looked frustrated.

    ¡°She feels guilty about not being awake at the end,¡± Abigail explained.

    Ratface understood. If the demon had been awake, she wouldn¡¯t have had to face off against Amaranth.

    ¡°If it hadn¡¯t been for her magic earlier, we would have lost long before you got here,¡± said Ratface.

    ¡°She knows that logically. The two of us have saved most of the people in this town, it¡¯s hard not to feel like we failed them a little,¡± said Abigail.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± said Ratface. Abigail waved it away.

    ¡°No one in this town would regret helping a child. I¡¯ve been saving people most my life. It was bound to follow me home eventually.¡± She leaned forward and grabbed Ratface¡¯s hand. Her voice got much softer.

    ¡°We need to talk about your glamour.¡±

    ¡°Krysa, her name is Krysa,¡± Ratface insisted.

    ¡°Krysa then,¡± said Abigail. She traced the closest runes on Ratface¡¯s arm. ¡°These are sealing runes. Some demons don¡¯t have physical forms and so they possess others to live in this world. They¡¯re usually used to stop a demon controlling a possessed. In a pinch it can be used to hold their spirit together.¡± She looked Ratface in the eye. ¡°These runes don¡¯t heal.¡±

    ¡°So how do we heal her?¡±

    ¡°If she was a demon, she¡¯d heal on her own. A glamour needs to return to its host where their ambient mana will heal them.¡±

    ¡°She wasn¡¯t leaving though; she was just falling apart.¡±

    ¡°Her host must have abandoned her, you¡¯re the only one who can give her mana.¡±

    Ratface¡¯s gut clenched.

    ¡°I don¡¯t produce mana,¡± she said. Abigail stayed silent and Ratface scrabbled for a solution.

    ¡°Couldn¡¯t I drink a mana potion? Isn¡¯t there something that can be done?¡±

    ¡°A mana potion would just poison you. We sealed her so she wouldn¡¯t get any worse but we can¡¯t help her. You should be ready to say goodbye.¡±

    Ratface wiped at her face as she began to cry. It wasn¡¯t like Krysa was perfect, she was actively keeping a memory from Ratface. Yet at every opportunity to help she had. She¡¯d even kept the other glamour from expanding before Ratface had got her to help Halmir. Now she was dying because she had risked herself to save Ratface? It wasn¡¯t fair.

    ¡°Don¡¯t make a decision just yet,¡± said Abigail, ¡°you¡¯re shaken, and you won¡¯t be able to comfort her. Wait until you can say goodbye properly.¡±

    She didn¡¯t leave as Ratface cried. She even pulled the goblin into a hug. It hurt a bit being held against the hard armour, but Ratface found it suited her right in that moment. She had grown to like the glamour. She wasn¡¯t ready to say goodbye.

 Chapter Fifty-Nine: Grieving

    Ratface left the aid area once she got herself under control. There was already a lot of people helping and she was basically in the way.

    She found herself a little corner to cry in. When she¡¯d been younger, she¡¯d been embarrassed to cry. The other goblin children had told her that goblins didn¡¯t have time to cry. It¡¯d been her mother to set her straight.

    ¡°That¡¯s stupid,¡± Bearclaw said. She¡¯d sat with a younger Ratface and stroked her head. ¡°I cry whenever I lose a goblin in a raid. They¡¯re my people. How are they meant to follow me if I don¡¯t feel?¡± She¡¯d stayed with Ratface until she¡¯d stopped crying to drive home the importance of making time to do so.

    Ratface wasn¡¯t ever going to see her again.

    A new wave of grief washed over Ratface, and she curled up as it smashed into her. She felt like her whole world had disappeared today. The knowledge it had been gone for so long before then made it worse, not better. The other goblin kids might be alive, but she had no way of finding them. It was hard to feel hopeful when Krysa, her last connection she had to her mother right now, was dying. It was a complicated feeling, to want the glamour keeping a memory from her to live. She didn¡¯t fight it though.

    She wanted to be with her friends, but Tiffany and Albert were still dealing with the last of the monsters, while Suncat had been sent to help with aid. Right at this moment she¡¯d be a burden to them.

    Slow, exhausted footsteps made Ratface look up. Dirthand stood next to her. She leaned against the wall and slid down until she was on the floor as well.

    ¡°You don¡¯t look like someone who just beat an elf,¡± said Dirthand.

    Ratface wiped her face, but didn¡¯t hide that she¡¯d been crying. She wouldn¡¯t disrespect her mother like that.

    ¡°It came with a cost,¡± she said.

    ¡°It always does,¡± said Dirthand. She wasn¡¯t dismissive so long as resigned. Ratface had yet to meet a goblin that didn¡¯t understand sacrifice, maybe it was what made them so good with demon magic. They sat in silence for a bit. Ratface felt her thoughts spiralling ever further. As a rat, she knew she should be helping but it was all she could do to sit there.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what to do,¡± she said at last. Dirthand scrabbled her hands though her hair. The older goblin looked so tired. Ratface wondered if she¡¯d look that tired at that age.

    ¡°Rabbittail lived,¡± Dirthand said. Ratface raised her head as the other goblin continued. ¡°He shouldn¡¯t have, Claudette came by and gave him some blood but told me it wouldn¡¯t be enough. I stayed with him the whole time; I should have been helping but it felt wrong you know? He saved me and I just wished he¡¯d survive. Never expected him to do so.¡±

    ¡°Is he awake?¡± asked Ratface. Dirthand gave her a wry smile.

    ¡°He was, insisted I reminded him he needed tell me something then fell back asleep. Should¡¯ve been resting instead of using me as a reminder, but I guess it let me know he was okay.¡±

    Ratface looked at the wall ahead of them. It was well built, and only now did she realise it must have been built from the forest they were in. It had a faint red sheen to it. Everything in this forest leaned on each other.

    ¡°I have a glamour in my head,¡± said Ratface. She went on before Dirthand could interrupt her, ¡°it¡¯s dying, which is good because I¡¯ll get a memory back, but it also saved me. I know it¡¯s an enemy, but I don¡¯t know. Abigail said we can¡¯t help her.¡±

    Dirthand was silent for a while. She rubbed at her hands absentmindedly, the movements reminiscent of replotting a plant.

    ¡°When she said we, did she mean you? Or her and someone else?¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    Dirthand shrugged.

    ¡°I heard you got Suncat to help you with your pet rat, managed to turn him into a little rat boy. Today I saw you beat an elf.¡±

    ¡°Abigail killed her,¡± interrupted Ratface. Dirthand snorted.

    ¡°Yeah. Yet it was a child who stalled her long enough for her to get here.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s your point?¡± Ratface asked. Dirthand shrugged again.

    ¡°Rabbittail survived. Seems like lately goblins have been doing the impossible. You most of all.¡± She looked over at Ratface. ¡°I don¡¯t mean to give you false hope, could be I¡¯m just too optimistic even in my old age. I just see a girl who¡¯s lived up to her name as a rat and I think, ¡®if any girl can do something, it¡¯ll be her¡¯.¡±

    Some small part of Ratface smiled at that. It was like her mother putting her hopes into her with her final moments. She¡¯d smiled when she sent her away.

    Ratface paused. Wait, that was right, her mother had sent her away. She¡¯d done magic! Ratface had seen her do it. Hope blossomed in Ratface¡¯s chest as little pieces of a plan formed in her head. She looked over at Dirthand.

    ¡°We need to have a goblin party tonight,¡± she told the older woman. Suddenly she was restless.

    ¡°Got a plan, do we? Who am I inviting?¡±

    ¡°Everyone.¡±

    ¡°Even the half-elf girl?¡±

    ¡°I mean everyone,¡± said Ratface. She stood up and rushed to find Albert and Tiffany. They¡¯d have to get rid of the remaining monsters if this was going to work so she¡¯d have to work hard. She ran off to go help them. They had a chance to do something. Something only a goblin could do.

 Chapter Sixty: The First Spell

    The inner part of the grove had been untouched by the battle. The trees still towered tall, and it seemed peaceful. A bubble of safety after the battle.

    Everyone had come. One of the nice things about magic is that most wounds, even serious, could be taken care of quickly. There were a lot of people sitting rather than standing but in general they seemed to be having a good time. Not everyone had wanted to come, but the free food and drink had swayed them. There was also the fear of being alone where stray monsters may find them.

    The less cynical part of Ratface said that after a disaster, people wanted to be together. They did seem to be drinking and engaging a lot. The mood wasn¡¯t cheerful, there was still gaps in the town that couldn¡¯t be replaced, but people seemed to be taking strength from being around others. It reminded Ratface of a recently raided goblin tribe. They¡¯d stay close to remind each other they were still here, that they weren¡¯t alone.

    She was sitting a little apart from the group. She¡¯d been hanging out with Tiffany and Albert until she¡¯d got too nervous and had to pace around. The two seemed to be getting on with the town. They were talking to Dirthand and a tired looking Rabbittail. It was nice to see him standing, even if he had to lean on Dirthand. They all seemed more comfortable than when they¡¯d first got here. Turns out fighting together was all it took to make people closer. Halmir was currently sitting in a pile of food in his rat form and looked to be having a grand time. Nice for someone to be carefree she supposed.

    Suncat had come and joined Ratface and was watching her pace back and forth.

    ¡°You¡¯re going to be too tired to do anything, let alone cast,¡± she said. She seemed amused. Ratface gave her agonised look.

    ¡°I don¡¯t even know if this will work, I¡¯ve never done magic before, what if I gathered you all for nothing?¡±

    ¡°Nothing to lose. You think it¡¯ll work right?¡±

    Ratface nodded. It should work. Her last memory of her mother had showed her how to do magic but it¡¯s not like she suddenly knew how. She just had to try anyway.

    Claudette and Abigail were the last to join them. Claudette was sitting on Abigail¡¯s lap as she rolled them forward with her chair. Abigail was pretending to be suffering, but the pleased look on her face gave her away.

    The old woman produced a dull blue core from her pocket.

    ¡°This should be what you¡¯re looking for,¡± Abigail said. Ratface grabbed the thing and was surprised to see it was the core they¡¯d got from the golem all that time ago.

    ¡°I thought you¡¯d sold this?¡± Ratface asked. Abigail shrugged.

    ¡°I usually keep them for my own armour. Lucky it was still around.¡±

    Ratface inspected it. It was covered in runes she didn¡¯t understand but Abigail had told her earlier it should serve for what she was trying to do. In theory. No one had ever done it before.

    She eyed the thing for a second, then looked at the group. She didn¡¯t know if this would work, but it felt right. Fighting an elf didn¡¯t really feel like an accomplishment to Ratface because there¡¯d always be another elf, another person who wanted a goblin dead. This? This could change things.

    She walked up to the stand Dirthand had used last time. The town went quiet, and she felt all their eyes on her.

    ¡°Hello,¡± she said. They kept watching her. She was nervous. She was just a kid. This was stupid. She looked down at the group, reminded herself that they watched her because she¡¯d gone out to fight the elf when it mattered. They¡¯d give her this moment because she¡¯d asked for it. She took a deep breath. Time to act like a proper rat.

    ¡°The reason you all got attacked was because of me. I saw something that mattered, and the elves don¡¯t want anyone to know.¡±

    That¡¯s right, she¡¯d seen magic from a goblin, this wasn¡¯t impossible. The fact the elves had wanted her alive surely meant they thought she could do it too. That was what she was banking on anyway.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

    ¡°I saw a goblin cast magic, a goblin that looked like me.¡±

    The room seemed to get even quieter as she said that. The non goblins looked shocked, but the goblins looked at her with awe.

    ¡°She didn¡¯t do it alone. It took her whole village; they worked together just like we did today.¡±

    The memory hurt; it had been filled with the death of all her village. Yet there was a wonder there, a last gift her village had given her.

    ¡°I want to save someone who fought with us the entire time, even if you couldn¡¯t see it. She protected me even when she knew it¡¯d cost her. I¡¯ve been told it¡¯s impossible by normal means, so I¡¯m trying this.¡±

    One by one she met all their eyes. It took her a while to get through the group, it felt ridiculous, but it mattered. She¡¯d need them all.

    ¡°What I need from all of you is a bit of magic, to place your hands on this orb and put a bit of your will in it, but that¡¯s only half of it. What I really need is for you to believe. To believe in me, believe in yourselves. Above all I need you to believe that she should live, even if the world doesn¡¯t think she should.¡±

    She had them now. She didn¡¯t bother with any more words, all that was left was action.

    She went to Claudette and Abigail first. The leaders of the town, the reason so many of the people who were here lived. They placed their hands on the core. Their magic swept into it in a channel of red and blue that twined together until they mixed into a brilliant purple. Hannah was next, it felt like light and made the core glow slightly. Halmir wasn¡¯t a colour but a feeling of change, of loyalty. Tiffany was the power of a druid; it swelled in this moment of them all working together. Albert was hard work mixed with a clarity to do what was right. Suncat was compassion mixed with sacrifice. Her face was filled with wonder as she watched.

    Ratface went to the non-goblins next. They added their power, but Ratface couldn¡¯t feel it as clearly as her friends, she didn¡¯t know them well enough to feel the nuance. She could see the belief in them though.

    The last people she went to were the goblins, both demon and otherwise. The demons cut their hands and wiped their blood on the core which sucked it up. The normal goblins looked at her in confusion, they didn¡¯t know what to offer. They looked at her and Ratface shrugged. She didn¡¯t know either.

    It was Goathead that had the answer. He grabbed the orb and whispered his name.

    ¡°It means I rush in, but I¡¯ll always find a path to walk,¡± he said. He and Ratface looked at the core. She felt¡­ something settle inside it. She smiled at the little goblin, and he smiled back. After that the goblins rushed in to tell their names to the core, the demons coming back to add their own names. She let them and she felt something building, even the demons contributed. The last two she came to were Dirthand and Rabbittail. They placed their hands on the core together.

    ¡°To nurture, even if it¡¯s difficult.¡±

    ¡°To watch for danger and keep us safe.¡±

    The core felt heavy in Ratface¡¯s hand now. There was only one person left. She smiled, like most goblin names, hers was multifaceted. She chose what felt most appropriate.

    ¡°To meddle, when no one else will.¡±

    The core burned in her hands and the forest fell away as they were all suddenly in an image of the elf city. In the middle of the city sat Krysa, paused in a moment of watching the performer surrounded by the jellyfish. She looked filled with wonder as she reached out for the performer. The glamour broke out of the memory and turned to look at Ratface.

    ¡°You came back,¡± she said.

    ¡°I promised,¡± was all Ratface said. The glamour tried to walk towards her, but something stopped her. She was chained to this memory, to this moment.

    ¡°You have to stop hiding it, it¡¯s what keeping you stuck here,¡± said Ratface.

    ¡°But¡­ I¡¯ll die,¡± said Krysa. Ratface could feel the fear in the other girl. This part required the glamour to sacrifice for it to work. She knew there was nothing she could say to explain why it would work, so she tried something else.

    ¡°Trust me,¡± said Ratface.

    Krysa looked at her, the two had been at odds for all their time together, even if they¡¯d worked together there¡¯d always been this moment between them. How could Krysa trust her? Ratface wouldn¡¯t in her place.

    Krysa smiled, it was a thing filled with fear, but she did it anyway.

    ¡°I will trust in your nature,¡± she said, just like before. This time it felt different, it felt hopeful. She dropped her hands and let the memory unravel.

    It was a simple thing, almost all the details didn¡¯t change. Ratface watched the performer surrounded by jellyfish. They were so beautiful; she wished she could just take one.

    There was a pop and one of the faint jellyfish disappeared. Ratface expected it to land in Krysa¡¯s hand.

    Yet there was no elf girl here. There never had been.

    A younger Ratface stood there holding the jellyfish, her face was filled with wonder as she held it close.

    The memory unravelled and the core in front of her glowed. Memories flowed into Ratface¡¯s mind. She grasped the core in front of her and moulded the power around it into Krysa. Just like she¡¯d done the first time when she¡¯d changed the jellyfish. When she¡¯d made the glamour in the first place.

    The memory fell away, and they were back in the forest.

    The core was gone, nestled inside of Krysa.

    Krysa felt at her body, more solid than a glamour¡¯s usually was, the core inside it providing mana to keep her firmly in reality. She stared at Ratface. Ratface reached out for her and pulled her in for a hug.

    No wonder the glamour had been so hurt. Ratface hadn¡¯t trusted her first friend. The one she¡¯d wanted so much from the world that she¡¯d called her into existence.

    The first goblin mage in an age, and she¡¯d cast a spell to make a friend.

 Chapter Sixty-One: The Work Begins

    It was a few days after the party and clean up was well on its way. Ratface had mostly been on monster clearing but today she was pulling up vines.

    The kudzu had started growing naturally and it turned out the plant was aggressive even when there wasn¡¯t magic running through it. She yanked at one part and ripped it up. She¡¯d rather go back to the monsters than this.

    She leaned back in her spot and watched as Tiffany pulled the plants out with a combination of magic, and farming knowledge. Suncat was nearby with a book and when a pile got big enough she would set it on fire. No amount of persuading had managed to get her down in the dirt now that the disaster had passed. Ratface pretended not to notice that Suncat was also taking care of other groups piles so their casters could take a rest. Cats were so predictable. The other goblin girl caught her looking and turned her nose up. Ratface let out a little grin.

    It was a lot easier for her to tell when someone was casting these days. Since her spell she¡¯d gained the ability to feel magic being cast around her. She could even see it if she concentrated.

    Still couldn¡¯t touch it though, she didn¡¯t know if this new state was better or worse than when she¡¯d been unaware.

    She watched as Albert and Krysa argued about the best way to pull out vines. The elf was insisting that as an elf, her way was superior. She kept ignoring Albert whenever he tried to say she was a glamour and so not a real elf.

    It had been weird having the glamour around. For one thing her room was a lot smaller as Krysa and Halmir insisted on staying in there with her. Turns out someone who lived in your head didn¡¯t immediately want to leave you. Ratface had caught Krysa staring in wonder at things a few times. A whole world that she¡¯d get to see with her own eyes for the first time. It made Ratface smile in wonder too. She¡¯d made this happen, they all had.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    Halmir called them over. Somehow the rat boy had ingratiated himself with the cooks and managed to get out of helping with them weeding. Instead, he ¡®helped¡¯ with the cooking. Ratface suspected his help consisted of eating the snacks they fed him. At least he made for a good delivery boy to all the different groups.

    He passed out their food and the group dug into it. It was the first time they¡¯d all been silent this entire time and Ratface happily munched into the selection of different vegetables they¡¯d put in front of her. She took an intense satisfaction out of eating plants now that she¡¯d been attacked by them.

    Krysa leaned against a tree and ate hers. Despite being the only one of them just getting used to eating, she somehow managed to be the neatest of them all. Ratface wondered if that was something she¡¯d imagined when she¡¯d made her or if it was something the elf had picked up herself.  It was almost like she was Krysa¡¯s older sister, even if Krysa acted like she was the older one of the two of them.

    She looked around and realised she was surrounded by friends. No one was in danger, there was no lurking threat in the distance. She let the moment wash over her. It was nice to just have to worry about weeding.

    She knew it wouldn¡¯t last. She still needed to find the other goblin children from her tribe. She tried to ignore the part of her that whispered they could already be dead. It wasn¡¯t wrong, but better for her to keep her eyes open for them than to give up. She wondered if they remembered their tribes sacrifice or if they were out there without memories same as she¡¯d been.

    That was for another day. Today, she had to clean this place up. One thing at a time. After that she¡¯d go adventuring, see if she could find them. If she became famous enough maybe they¡¯d hear her name. She could dream.

    She looked at the group around her. Looked further out where Abigail and Claudette were working together. She had quite the team she was part of. It was difficult not to be hopeful with them around.

    They¡¯d done the impossible once, what was to stop them doing it again?

    Ratface rolled up her sleeves and got back to work.

 Epilogue: The Free and the Bound

    Claudette watched the little goblin wander around and help with the plants. Ratface grinned as she interacted with her friends. It was odd, the spell was a big change and yet the girl didn¡¯t seem any different. At least on the outside.

    She reeked of opportunity now. The demon part of her screamed that she was dangerous. That she should make a deal with her, or she should kill her.

    She felt Abigail squeeze her hand and she shook her head and leaned down to kiss her knight. She didn¡¯t need to listen to that part of her anymore. That part had never really escaped the demon plane, still scrabbling for power that would only let it be on top of the pile. She had to remember she¡¯d escaped.

    Still, it was hard not to watch Ratface. The other goblins were always watching her when she wasn¡¯t looking. They looked at her like a hero. She¡¯d never seen a goblin look at anyone that way.

    ¡°You¡¯re going to have to go with her when she leaves,¡± she told Abigail. Abigail snorted.

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t let a kid out on their own yet anyway, but I see your point.¡±

    The knight watched the girl too. Claudette could practically hear her mind whirring. She could see the excitement in Abigail¡¯s eyes. A little girl to train, to nurture. No doubt she thought she could do it right this time. As if what had happened had been her fault.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

    Claudette pulled Abigail into a hug. That was a problem for later. Right now, they could enjoy the sun.

    <hr>

    The ¡®elf¡¯, for that was how he thought of himself in this form, was still trudging back from the Redwood Forest. It had nearly been a coup. Catching a goblin with magic and killing the rogue demon. He¡¯d thought it was too good to be true.

    Turned out he was right. He¡¯d nearly died and only his glamours timely return had saved him. A little later and this version of him would be dead. It was a dangerous area for him to be anything but an elf.

    Next to him, his glamour stalked with a grumpy face. He¡¯d left the few monsters they¡¯d encountered to his glamour and the thing had been taking his fury out on them. He almost felt sorry for them. The goblin glamour hadn¡¯t lost a fight before and to lose to children had been particularly galling. The ¡®elf¡¯ admired the girl¡¯s cleverness. She¡¯d quickly worked out how to get rid of the only way to deal with his glamour. They would have never stood a chance if she hadn¡¯t found the loophole.

    His traitorous heart told him that he should find her, teach her his ways so that he could finally be free. The shackle around it gave a quick tug at the errant thought and he brushed it aside. She wasn¡¯t the first goblin to show aptitude. She wouldn¡¯t be the last.

    ¡°If she saw my face, she¡¯d kill me anyway,¡± he said to himself. He shrugged and moved away from the Redwood and the bog. Nothing good waited for him here.

    He¡¯d just have to find one of the other goblins that had gone missing first. They too might have some ability.

    ¡°What was her name again?¡± He asked his glamour.

    ¡°Ratface,¡± it spat out.

    Ah. Then not all was lost. He just had to find the other children and eventually she¡¯d come to him. It was inevitable.

    Afterall, a rat couldn¡¯t help but meddle.

    End of Book One

 Book Two, Chapter One: Ants and Adventuring

    There were times when the world begged you to ask questions about the life you were choosing to live. For Ratface, that question came up while moving through a bug infested tunnel.

    It wasn¡¯t even the first tunnel she¡¯d been in this week, that was the concerning part. She moved through the place, her eyes scanning the darkness as she waited for another creature to jump out at her.

    The tunnel itself was made of dirt that had been packed together into stability. Bugs had made it, and the architecture reflected that. A lot of the tunnels were set up with the idea that climbing up a wall was no big deal. Ratface¡¯s legs already burned from walking up steep inclines and her hands were covered in dirt from where she¡¯d had to climb. At least her current path was flat.

    A quiet squeak from her shoulder stopped her. Halmir was on her shoulder in his rat form. He¡¯d spent most of the day sitting on her rather than walking around. She felt a twinge of jealousy. She wished she could just ride on someone¡¯s shoulder.

    She shook her head. It wasn¡¯t like he was in that form for fun. His senses were better when he was in it. Didn¡¯t have opposable thumbs though so who was the real winner?

    He gestured above her with his non-thumb having hands. A tunnel was directly above her. He sniffed at her then gestured up again. He must be able to smell the queen. She focused and found faint lines twisting up there as well.

    One of the first tricks she¡¯d learnt since her sudden ability to see magic was that monsters left trails of mana wherever they walked. Most of the time it was useless, it only lasted a few minutes. It was great for her right now in the bug¡¯s lair.

    She scrambled up the tunnel. Hopefully it¡¯d straighten up the closer she got the things lair. It¡¯s not like it could sleep sideways right?

    She was about to move up a particularly tight part of the tunnel when she paused. An ant the size of a dog was waiting just above in a tunnel it had dug for itself. No doubt it was waiting for her to climb past so it could grab her. Halmir hadn¡¯t noticed it because the thing was using magic to hide its scent. Hilariously that made it stick out to her way more than any smell. She gripped onto the tunnel and reached for her knife at her belt. The ant realised its trap wasn¡¯t going to work and lunged forward. Ratface let herself drop down the tunnel a bit and the ant slammed into the wall. She dug her feet into the tunnel to stop herself going any further and stabbed up into its stomach. Unfortunately, she¡¯d slid a little far and while she did stab it, it wasn¡¯t enough to kill the creature. It rushed down at her with its pincers out.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

    Halmir scrambled up the tunnel wall past it. He switched into his humanoid form and pulled the thing back. Its pincers snapped just in front of her face.

    Ratface didn¡¯t give it a second shot. She slammed her knife straight through its face. The thing twitched once then went still. It would have fallen on her if Halmir wasn¡¯t holding it up.

    ¡°Thanks,¡± she whispered. He gave her a nod then dragged the thing into the hole it¡¯d come from so she could climb past. He switched back into his rat form and jumped back onto her shoulder.

    A bit more climbing and she was able to find a spot that was levelled out. She pulled herself up and lay on the ground with a sigh. She hated that she was getting used to fighting in tunnels.

    The tunnel had opened out into a much bigger area. It was still small, but it was less of a tunnel and more of a cavern. Actually, it was exactly the sort of place that a queen might be. Ratface shot up when her brain connected the dots. Halmir had frozen on her shoulder as he stared past her.

    She turned around and found the queen looking down at her. What was left of her anyway.

    In the middle of the room was the dead queen. She looked like she¡¯d been ripped apart by something from beneath. Ratface stepped back. She didn¡¯t know what exactly had got it but whatever it was had left in another hole. It looked a lot like the one Ratface had climbed up. In hindsight, that ant may not have been waiting to ambush her so much as hiding.

    She walked over to the queen ant. Halmir sniffed at the air and dropped off her shoulder to investigate a pile of ants on the floor.

    Ratface drew her sword and sliced the queens head off. She may not have killed it, but it was still dead. It¡¯d be a shame to let whoever¡¯s hard work it had been go to waste.  She looked over the queen¡¯s body, as she¡¯d guessed before it looked like it¡¯d been ripped apart. On closer inspection it looked like the thing that had killed her had bitten through her. She doubted it had been another adventurer then. Her face wrinkled at the idea of calling herself an adventurer. It wasn¡¯t wrong, it just felt like it was.

    Halmir let out a squeak and she looked up. The pile he was on had started rumbling and he was jumping to get off it.

    The jump was all that saved him. A head with giant pincers burst out of the pile followed by way too many legs. It was a giant centipede, and it was wholly focused on the skittering rat. It chased after Halmir who transformed into his rat humanoid form. It brought its head up and lashed out at Halmir.

    The rat boy blinked next to Ratface then transformed back into a rat. She grabbed him out of the air.

    The queen¡¯s head dangling in one hand and Halmir in the other, Ratface followed her keen goblin instincts. She jumped down the hole and ran away.

 Chapter Two: Bug Fight

    The problem with fighting bugs in tunnels, Ratface found, was that they were much better suited for it than she was. She jumped and slid down tunnels trying to make her way out, but the centipede kept crawling in her way. She had to switch direction every time or else it¡¯d catch her. At first, she¡¯d been able to keep track of all the twists and turns. Yet as the centipede continued to cut her off, she began to lose track of where she was. It all culminated when she rounded a corner and found several tunnels shooting off from it. She didn¡¯t recognise any of them. She looked at Halmir.

    ¡°Can you still smell the others?¡± she asked. Halmir nodded.

    Ratface tilted her head. The centipede had bit the queen insides. She¡¯d assumed it was just the easiest way for it to attack but what if it was more than that? It had been in a pile of ant corpses.

    ¡°It¡¯s hungry,¡± she said. She scooped up Halmir and put him on the ground. ¡°Run and find the others and bring them back here. Stay in your rat form.¡±

    Halmir scampered off and Ratface drew her weapons. She could do this. It was just a big bug. She¡¯d already been coming here to fight a big bug anyway. This one just had way more legs than she¡¯d been expecting. There was a rumble under her feet, and she danced back as the centipede shot up where she¡¯d been standing. It didn¡¯t stay in the room but burrowed into the wall next to her. It burrowed so fast that it was gone before she could do anything.

    Ratface frowned. That burrowing speed was way too fast to be natural.

    She focused on that mana in the air. A thick line of mana wafted from the centipede, and she could see its glow moving around in the wall. It was definitely using some sort of magic to burrow then. That worked out in her favour as so long as she focused, she could track its movements.

    The glow switched direction and started charging at her. Ratface stepped to the side as the centipede plunged out of the earth towards her.

    She sliced into it as it skittered past. The thing snapped its side legs at her, and she jumped back before they could do any harm.

    The two of them did this dance a couple of times before the centipede realised she had some way of seeing it. It emerged out of a tunnel cautiously. It circled around her, crawling up and around the walls. Its digging had turned this space from a tunnel section into a wider space. Ratface was grateful for the extra dodging area even if she still had to watch her step.

    The centipede was clever, but Ratface had spent the last few months getting to fight all sorts of monster bugs. She knew eventually it would lean back to strike. It was just a matter of when.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    The centipede crawled onto the roof directly above her. Dirt crumbled from the roof towards Ratface¡¯s eyes. She knew the moment she closed her eyes it¡¯d attack.

    She jumped to the side as she closed her eyes. The centipede dropped down in silence.

    Ratface opened her eyes and realised she¡¯d made a mistake. Instead of striking at her, it had let its body slam down around her.

    She managed to dive out of the way to avoid being crushed, but now the thing was surrounding her. It skittered around her with its many legs.

    The centipede¡¯s head swayed from side to side waiting to attack her as it continued to tighten the circle it had made around Ratface with the rest of its body.

    A few legs got too close, and she stopped focusing on the head to cut at them. The distraction nearly cost her as the centipede struck at her. She managed to get her sword in the way of the pincers before it caught her. It held onto the sword and pushed down on her. Ratface grunted and fell to one knee under the pressure. It was going to crush her into the ground. Ratface strained against its weight to no avail. It pushed her closer and closer to the ground and she squirmed as she tried to find any solution.

    She heard a pop next to her followed by the centipede rearing back in pain. Two people stood over Ratface. Halmir had his claws out, but it wasn¡¯t him that had struck the bug.

    An elf stood next to him, or at least a glamour that looked like one. Her elegant features looked bored as she let her sword dangle at her side.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know why you¡¯re surprised there¡¯s a bug here,¡± said Krysa. In the dark of the tunnel, she shone with magic. Ratface could always find her in a crowd because she was more magic than flesh. The core inside her was all that tethered her to the world. Looking at her still filled Ratface with wonder at the magic she¡¯d done.

    Not that she¡¯d show it.

    ¡°Big talk for the person who didn¡¯t find anything,¡± said Ratface.

    ¡°Not all of us had a rat to help us,¡± said Krysa. She held out her hand to help Ratface up. Krysa tried to pretend that she didn¡¯t care, but she gave Ratface a worried glance when she thought Ratface wasn¡¯t watching.

    Ratface pretended not to notice. She didn¡¯t want to embarrass the glamour.

    The centipede had gathered itself up while the two of them had talked. Its eyes glanced between the three of them, trying to decide who to attack. It settled on the one that had drawn blood.

    The centipede struck at Krysa. It was a mistake. The glamour danced past the attack and cut into its head, sending it reeling back. Halmir turned into a rat as Ratface grabbed him. She threw him above the centipede as it thrashed its head in the air.

    The rat turned into his rat noble form above the centipede. He had his claws out and grabbed onto its head. He latched onto it and clawed away.

    Ratface and Krysa weren¡¯t idle while he did this. They hacked into its body from either side. Its legs thrashed at them, but it couldn¡¯t focus with Halmir on its head.

    The centipede swung its head down in an attempt to dislodge Halmir. A moment before they hit the ground Halmir blinked next to Ratface. The centipede hit the ground and was dazed for a moment. Ratface darted forward and stabbed deep into its head. It let a final twitch out and died.

 Chapter Three: Quest Complete

    It was a lot of effort dragging the two heads out of the tunnel. They weren¡¯t that heavy, but they made climbing really difficult.

    The ant head wasn¡¯t too bad, but the centipede was extra difficult. Turned out its pincers had a paralysing venom on it that they had to be careful about. A fact they only found out after Krysa touched it and found her hand was difficult to move.  At least she didn¡¯t have any blood circulation to spread it. After that they were a lot more careful.

    It took them longer than it should have for them to realise that they could just use Halmir¡¯s blink to move through.

    ¡°We never tell the others,¡± said Krysa. Halmir nodded next to her.

    Ratface shrugged. How would they even know?

    They finally made it to the entrance. Ratface shielded her eyes as they adjusted to the seeing the sky again. Abigail was waiting for them.

    The knight looked worried. This was one of the few quests that she physically couldn¡¯t do.

    The giant of a woman was simply too big for the tunnels. The knight didn¡¯t just tower over Ratface but most people they met. In spite of that, Ratface didn¡¯t doubt that if Halmir had grabbed her she would have found a way in. She eyed the delicate runes etched across Abigail¡¯s armour. She¡¯d be a fool to assume that there wasn¡¯t some trick for tunnels layered in those runes.

    Abigail¡¯ s eyes latched onto them when they emerged. Her eyes went to the centipede head and then to Krysa¡¯s hand. She rummaged through her stuff and pulled out a salve which she quickly covered Krysa¡¯s hand with. The elf tried to pretend that this was expected but she couldn¡¯t quite hide the widening of the eyes. Ratface smiled. The glamour made a horrible elf really.

    ¡°I¡¯m surprised you ran into something like this. They¡¯re usually much lower,¡± said Abigail. She finished applying the salve and went over to the centipede, grabbing onto a pincer and pulling it out. Her gauntlets protected her from the poison, and she began dismantling it.

    ¡°These are useful to alchemists or poisoners. Either way they¡¯ll fetch a high price.¡±

    ¡°It nearly cost the ultimate price,¡± said Ratface. She eyed the bug with distaste. It was a good thing she hadn¡¯t let it bite her.

    ¡°It shouldn¡¯t have been so close. We¡¯ll have to go over different styles for fighting monsters again.¡±This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

    Ratface didn¡¯t say anything but inwardly she groaned. After the battle at the Redwood Forest the knight had been pushing as much information and training onto her as she could. It was interesting. If she ever joined a tribe again it¡¯d all come in useful. It was also exhausting.

    The others returned before she had a chance to get out of it. Tiffany and Albert walked out of another tunnel close to their own. Unlike Ratface¡¯s group they did look so dirty and harried. A series of roots came out of the tunnel and dropped another ant down next to them. Fighting a druid in a tunnel surrounded by roots couldn¡¯t have been fun for the poor thing. It had a small crown on it and Ratface snorted. She hadn¡¯t thought a king ant was really a thing. She shouldn¡¯t have compared them to normal creatures. Monsters were only loosely related to them.

    ¡°All done on our end,¡± said Tiffany. She was leaning heavily on Albert and Ratface reassessed her initial assumption. Using all those roots must have tired her out more than they could.

    ¡°Fantastic, lets head back to Alvinshire and hand in the quest, then we¡¯ll move onto the next town,¡± said Abigail. She chucked the bugs into the wagon and the rest of them climbed in afterwards. The wagon started to move and Ratface lay down with a sigh.

    They¡¯d been fighting in tunnels for the past few weeks. Before than it had been wading through swamps. Just once she wanted to fight a monster that lived somewhere clean.

    ¡°Why are getting rid of the bugs so important anyway? It¡¯s not like they¡¯re close to the village,¡± she asked.

    ¡°Spoken like someone from Lurian,¡± said Abigail, ¡°Most lands don¡¯t have nearly as much safe area underground. Ants may tunnel too deeply and hit into some of the depths. That centipede is from down there. Most of the things consider it lunch.¡±

    Ratface¡¯s eyes widened and Albert across from her smiled.

    ¡°She makes it sound worse than it is. The swamplands still have a relatively thick layer between them but it¡¯s better to be proactive.¡±

    ¡°Where I¡¯m from it has a very thin layer. Defending against them was the original purpose of the Knights.¡±

    Ratface perked up at that. Abigail was surprisingly tight lipped about her past. She climbed over the others to sit next to her in the driver¡¯s seat. The knight smiled at her but didn¡¯t divulge anything else. Ratface changed track.

    ¡°I don¡¯t suppose you heard anything while you were waiting?¡± she asked.

    ¡°From whom?¡±

    ¡°Claudette?¡±

    ¡°Outside of the Redwood, she can¡¯t get in contact. No word of your fellow goblins I¡¯m afraid.¡±

    Ratface didn¡¯t believe the warlock didn¡¯t have a way to contact Abigail. They were far too enamoured with each other to go so long between talks. That didn¡¯t mean she didn¡¯t believe the lack of news. She slumped into the chair. The reason they were doing all these quests was in case any of the villages had had any goblins suddenly appear. Ratface had been teleported outside of Pinewood, so it wasn¡¯t impossible. They¡¯d done an ever-bigger circle from Redwood in the hope of hearing something. Silence so far.

    ¡°We¡¯ll find them,¡± said Abigail. Ratface tried to believe her. The other goblins were much younger than her. They weren¡¯t even named yet. She could only hope they¡¯d been as lucky as her to find help. She hoped they hadn¡¯t run into adventurers.

    Ratface shook the fear out of her mind. She¡¯d find them. It was the last job her mother had given her. She wouldn¡¯t disappoint that trust.

 Chapter Four: Rumours

    Alvinshire was a notable village in it was the first village Ratface had run into that didn¡¯t have a wall around it. Well, she supposed there was the Redwood, but that place was surrounded by demon trees. Arguably better than a wall.

    The reason for it was that Alvinshire was located between two much larger towns. Those two towns were acting as its walls.

    It did make the two guards at the main entrance seem like a waste of time. They were diligently checking the few people coming into the place even though you could avoid them by just leaving the path. Ratface had been tempted to do that before Albert had pointed out that if she was caught without the guards knowing she was there, it¡¯d be a problem.

    She was stuck in the wagon with Halmir and Abigail. The rest were a little ahead of them because they¡¯d be let in easier.

    Tiffany and Albert were waved through without much fanfare. Adventurers were this villages main visitors, either because they were completing quests or using them as a pit stop. The Adventurers guild and the inn were the busiest places as a result.

    Krysa got let through with lots of fanfare. Most people had never seen an elf and they tripped over herself to accommodate her. Ratface was pretty sure the only reason she¡¯d been let in the first time is because Krysa had been next to her. She was also pretty sure the glamour had yet to pay for a single thing in this town.

    They finally made it to the front of the line. Ratface had her helmet on with the visor pushed up. She¡¯d been bad at remembering to wear it. Ironically it was easier to remember in town than in a battle.

    The guards stilled when they saw her and Halmir. A rat noble was only viewed slightly better than a goblin, which was to say he¡¯d manage to get a full sentence out before someone attacked. Ratface was still wary after her time in Arnold village.

    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s the goblin and rat you sent out on a task remember?¡± said Ratface. Their eyes locked onto her. Worried but not hostile which was interesting. The name Alvinshire suggested they¡¯d also had a champion here once, but they clearly didn¡¯t have as much trauma from goblins as Arnold village.

    Abigail nudged her. No doubt the older woman thought she was intentionally antagonising them. Well, she was. Not for fun though, well not just for fun anyway. Worried she could live with. Worried could be mitigated. It did mean she¡¯d have to stick next to Abigail or Krysa. The old adventurer gave people comfort and people assumed she was Krysa¡¯s servant.

    ¡°Adventurer Abigail with assistants,¡± said Abigail. The guards relaxed as they were reminded that there was a knight literally right next to the two children. They waved them through.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    The village¡¯s main road was busy, and its shops had been set up in such a way to facilitate that. The shops had stalls out on the main road with bigger shops behind for villagers or people searching for specific merchandise. The food stalls were doing the best. Ratface watched many and adventure scarf a kebab or burger down as they passed through.

    They eyed her with suspicion but by now she was a known problem. Albert village¡¯s guild master had sent out a message to all the local guilds acknowledging Ratface¡¯s existence. It almost made her death test worth it. Almost.

    That didn¡¯t mean she was liked. They set their wagon in the inspection area of the guild and marched into the place. The moment they did eyes were on her and Halmir. Halmir was walking next to her with careful steps. He was so graceful in a fight but outside of it the humanoid form still gave him trouble. Usually, he¡¯d just turn into a rat and ride on her shoulder but the first time he¡¯d done that people had gotten paranoid. It hadn¡¯t helped that he used his blink liberally. Ratface wasn¡¯t sure if he was lazy or training. She¡¯d give him the benefit of the doubt.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to go talk to the receptionist, you two go find a spot to wait,¡± said Abigail. Ratface shrugged and made her way to one of the empty tables. Halmir came a moment later with some food he¡¯d managed to wrangle for the two of them. He was still a growing rat noble and had to eat a lot.

    While Halmir dug in, Ratface listened to the room. Abigail was going through the official trails, but goblins knew that adventurers were shameless gossips. If she just kept her ear out, she might hear something.

    Most of it was boring stuff. Extermination quest were at an all time high and as a result a lot of poisons prices had shot up. It wasn¡¯t a problem for Ratface, she didn¡¯t like using poisons on monsters. You still had to go get them and it spoiled the meat. She hadn¡¯t formed an opinion on using it in other situations yet. It was sneaky and underhanded which suited her just fine. The poisons they were talking about were for coating your weapons though and she¡¯d much rather chuck it in someone¡¯s food, so she didn¡¯t have to fight them at all. Oh well.

    Her poison musing was interrupted when she overheard someone complaining about her. Always good for a laugh.

    ¡°You see they¡¯re letting goblins in now? They¡¯ll let just anyone in.¡± said a rough looking fellow. He was wearing a yellow jacket over his armour because of course was.

    ¡°Careful. Ol¡¯ Granny Greatsword punched the last adventurer out that said something like that,¡± said a smaller man. He was wearing a blue robe. Ratface just knew he¡¯d be a water mage. Why colour code to your magic?

    He was also wrong. Abigail hadn¡¯t punched someone for being mean to her. She¡¯d done it because they¡¯d tried to kidnap her. Ratface wasn¡¯t about to correct him. She didn¡¯t want to be insulted actually.

    ¡°She¡¯s probably the one that led all those other goblins into the area,¡± said yellow jacket. Ratface did her best not to react. There were goblins around?

    ¡°Who cares? All that means is more quests for us,¡± said robes.

    ¡°Yeah, but fighting goblins is always risky.¡±

    ¡°So don¡¯t join the raid you big baby. More money for me.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not going to miss out on it, apparently they¡¯ve got some loot on them.¡±

    She kept listening to them, but they quickly moved into what they were going to do with all the loot on her fellow goblins. They didn¡¯t give her a location though. Ratface frowned. The guild was probably keeping it secret from her. The fact the raid hadn¡¯t happened yet at least meant she had some time to find out where it was.

    She eyed behind the counter where all the relevant quest information was kept. It looked like she was going to have to do some nighttime reading.

 Chapter Five: Nighttime Activities

    It was refreshing being out at night. The crisp wind was cool against her cheeks and the village fell into softer details, like a pleasant dream. It was a lot easier on her eyes. She knew goblin liked to do raids at night, but this was the first time she considered they might actually be nocturnal. They could even be crepuscular, a thing Suncat insisted she was whenever Ratface woke her from a nap. In Lurian, they didn¡¯t really have a chance to sleep during the day, they had to be attentive in case any elves came by. How many of her habits were from trying to appease them all these years?

    She shook her head. A problem for later. Right now, she had to find her way into the guild. She looked across from her perch on the inns roof. Alvinshire may be weird but at least they followed the objectively correct choice of having their rooves within jumpable distance of each other. It made nighttime prowling much easier. The guild was a few rooves over. None of them were houses just shops. Odd for a small village like this but she supposed they didn¡¯t want their house on the main road. She gave Halmir a pat then jumped over to the next roof, landing with a crouch. She¡¯d only brought Halmir because as a rat he was immune to crime, at least that seemed to be the rat boys understanding. At least she knew he wouldn¡¯t take issue with her life choices.

    They jumped from roof to roof until they were standing on the guilds. Usually at this point she¡¯d try sneaking through a window or a chimney but both of them were locked. Good instinct on the guilds part. Luckily, she had the best lockpick known to man. She put Halmir down and let him get to work. He scrambled around until he found a small hole and squeezed through it. Ratface struggled to find the hole even after he snuck through it.

    A few minutes later and there was a click from one of the windows followed by it opening and Halmir sticking his head through. She climbed down from the roof and slipped through the window to look around.

    They¡¯d found themselves in a floor above reception. The room they were in had a few tables and comfortable chairs but little else of note. There were some paintings on the wall. It looked like a nice area.

    Ratface glanced at Halmir, her sneaking was largely theoretical. The actual technique she had down fine. All goblins got taught how to sneak at a young age and their parents were strict; one mistake in the real thing and they wouldn¡¯t just get themselves killed but everyone with them. As a result, she was as quiet as the rat next to her most of the time. That didn¡¯t mean she knew what room this was. It didn¡¯t look like anything she¡¯d seen in her village or Claudette¡¯s mansion.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    ¡°Break room,¡± said Halmir. His musical voice whispered across the room. The rat had a lot more experience with this sort of thing. He was very worldly for someone she¡¯d met in a garbage heap.

    They snuck through the room until they got to the next door. Halmir turned into a rat and squeezed under the gap between the door and the floor. A faint squeak from the other room let her know the coast was clear. Ratface carefully turned the handle and pushed the door open. It wasn¡¯t that she didn¡¯t trust Halmir, it would just be careless to not check. The next room was just a hallway and the two of them spread out into it. Ratface read the doors, she had a passing familiarity with common now, while Halmir squeezed underneath to check them out.

    In theory, Ratface could just go back to the receptionist desk, but she was wary of being on the first floor. It felt less safe. She was rewarded for her arbitrary caution when she came across a more gilded door. It was of a fancier wood and had a faint carving of a spear and sword on it. Ratface would have recognised it as the guild master¡¯s even before she read that on the door.

    She leaned her head against the door and listened. She couldn¡¯t hear anything. She went to get Halmir to check before she noticed that it was sealed against the floor. She didn¡¯t think even the rat could get through.

    She tried the door and found to her surprise it opened easily. The room itself was as fancy as the door. It had a mix of tasteful trinkets from a life of adventuring. On one shelf was a horn from some creature and on the wall was an old painting from a dungeon. It spoke of someone experienced but not gaudy. On the desk in the middle of the room was a sheaf of papers. It looked official and if Ratface was a betting girl that¡¯s what raid orders would look like.

    She frowned. The documents being out went completely against the rest of the decor. The way this room was set out suggested someone careful and thoughtful and the unlocked door and left out documents spoke of the exact opposite. On a hunch, she focused her magic sight.

    Thing lines of magic crossed across the room. It was like the place was covered in magical spider webs. Ratface didn¡¯t know what the lines did but she could guess. It was probably an alarm. It¡¯d be too extreme to be deadly. What if the wrong person sprung it?

    That was a problem then. Ratface knew that the papers would be baited to catch whoever they were after. The problem was if the trap was meant for her, that was definitely the information she needed.

 Chapter Six: Traps

    The documents were a trap. Ratface knew that for sure.

    The question was what kind of trap?

    The lines of magic were invisible to most people, that much she was pretty confident about. If they were assuming she couldn¡¯t see it, then all she needed to do was sneak through the room without touching one of them. That was assuming they didn¡¯t know what she could see.

    If this trap was made for someone who could see magic, then the webs itself were a trap. To her knowledge the only person she knew who could see magic was Abigail and that was only when she was wearing her helmet.

    At the end of the day, which it was, it didn¡¯t matter what sort of trap it is. She needed the information that was there, and she wasn¡¯t going to get it any other way. She snuck into the room. The webs spread across the floor but there was still space for her to step. She placed each step carefully. There was only enough space for her to stand on her toes and they were already straining under the pressure. She ducked under another one and kept moving through. She looked like a particularly awkward cat as she slipped through the lines.

    She stepped ever closer until she could see faint scribbles on the paper. She could make up the word raid.

    With a smile she went to step forward but stopped. She looked at the ground just in front of the desk. It was faint but there was a crack in the floor. Ratface lowered one foot onto the floor but didn¡¯t press down. It didn¡¯t feel stable. The question was whether it was an alarm or something more. She wanted to know but not so much that she wanted to get caught. The question was how to get to the desk.

    She looked at the desk and focused. None of the webs were actually on it. She jumped and landed on the desk. She smiled for all of one second before the thing sunk down and an alarm went off. In hindsight, she should¡¯ve known.

    The alarm was loud. A wailing that sounded like a golem screaming. Ratface grabbed the paper and went to run. She stopped when she noticed the lines of magic suddenly looked sharp. On a hunch she grabbed a quill on the desk and threw it at one and the thing snipped apart. Not great.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    She read through the paper. The goblins were in a place called Halvin¡¯s nest, whatever that meant. Well, that was one thing done. Now how to get out of the room. The sharp magic littered the room. She looked where the quill was. Did those lines look a little duller? Well, it was her only shot. Ratface grabbed the chair from the behind the desk. She waved it into one of the lines. A line started to dig into it but then it snapped.

    Well, it looked like she wasn¡¯t meant to be able to see them.

    She walked forward waving the chair in front of her. She managed to get it to the door before the thing fell apart. She could hear noise coming from behind a door. She wedged the remnants of the chair into it and ran back towards the break room.

    The window they¡¯d used was still open. The two of them climbed out and shut it behind them. They scrambled up onto the roof and glanced down.

    A small group of adventurers were milling around watching the roof. They¡¯d been lucky to avoid them. Underneath, Ratface could hear the people inside getting closer.

    She couldn¡¯t run. The moment she jumped from this roof the people downstairs would see her. She couldn¡¯t just stand here either. She could hear the guards in the break room. It was only a matter of time until they made their way to the roof.

    Ratface glanced at the chimney. Surely it wouldn¡¯t work right?

    She grabbed Halmir and jumped into the chimney and held herself in place. Those faint lines of magic crossed over it but so long as she held herself up she¡¯d be okay. She slid down as close to them as she could and hoped the darkness would hide her.

    The sounds of the people searching for her got closer. They must have gotten onto the roof. They walked around. She could hear one set of boots clicking against the tiles as they got closer to the chimney. They weren¡¯t even trying to be stealthy.

    A person investigated the chimney, peering down. Ratface held herself in place and hoped against hope that the darkness hid her. The fact she couldn¡¯t make their face made her hope they wouldn¡¯t even be able to see her.

    ¡°Anything?¡±, said a voice from further back. The man peered a little deeper. His leaning on the chimney let a brick loose and it fell. Ratface moved her hip out of the way and it hit the chimney lock with a clang. It had been sliced in two when it hit the lines.

    ¡°Nothing, I even threw a brick in,¡± said the man. He pulled his head back and walked off. They kept moving around for a while but eventually the noises faded. She held herself there for a little longer. Her arms wobbled with the effort.

    When enough time had passed, she climbed out of the chimney. She sent Halmir to check no one was watching the roof and when he confirmed they weren¡¯t the two of them fled from the scene of the crime.

    She climbed back through her window into her own room and let out a sigh. That¡¯d been too close.

    The room flickered to light and Ratface whirled around in panic.

    Abigail was sitting on her bed waiting for her.

    ¡°What did you think you were doing?¡± she demanded. She looked furious.

    It looked like she hadn¡¯t made it out after all.

 Chapter Seven: Consequence

    The first thing Ratface did was close the window.

    A few months ago, she might not have trapped herself in here with the knight. The little goblin always listening to the fear in her heart. She still feels it now. Yet still she closed the window.

    ¡°I couldn¡¯t tell you,¡± said Ratface.

    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t, you mean,¡± said Abigial. She doesn¡¯t usually engage in the pedantry with Ratface like this so Ratface considers it. Ah, the knight thinks she made a choice.

    ¡°You would have stopped me.¡± She chose her words carefully. Abigail¡¯s eyes narrow just for a moment as Ratface throws her own wording back at her. When she responds her voice is a little clipped. Tightly controlled anger mixed with something else.

    ¡°Yes, I would have, because the way you did it was stupid.¡± Abigail grabs Ratface¡¯s hand and pulls her down to sit next to her on the bed. Her grip is firm but not painful and Ratface guessed if she had pulled away then Abigail would let her. She sat down anyway. She could feel the slight tremble in Abigail¡¯s hand. Worry was the other thing, Ratface realised. The old woman had been worried for her.

    ¡°Were you caught? No, you wouldn¡¯t be here if you were.¡±

    Ratface couldn¡¯t argue that, so she did the wise thing for once and said nothing.

    ¡°Why did you only take Halmir?¡±

    ¡°The others wouldn¡¯t understand.¡±

    ¡°No. I mean why didn¡¯t you take Krysa?¡±

    Ratface stopped. It hadn¡¯t even occurred to her to take the glamour.

    ¡°If you had to break in, she was the best choice. She is capable and I imagine has some tricks she¡¯s yet to show any of us. Yet that¡¯s only part of it.¡±

    Abigail was standing up by now and pacing. The knight still looked angry, but her tone was lecturing, like she was taking Ratface through logistics instead of berating her.

    ¡°From a social perspective, she¡¯s also the best to get caught. Not only are elves held in high regard, but they are also expected to deal with goblins. She could have argued that she deserved the information by that right alone. Why not get her to ask when the guild was open?¡± Abigail stopped pacing and turned to face Ratface.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

    ¡°Instead, you took the only two members of our group who would be killed on sight. Do you know why you did this?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re the only two that are good at sneaking,¡± said Ratface. It sounded weak outloud and Abigail snorted.

    ¡°Albert is from a family of hunters. No. You took only you two because you considered this a goblin duty, right?¡±

    Ratface looked away. It hadn¡¯t been a conscious decision, but the knight wasn¡¯t wrong.

    ¡°I¡¯m meant to help goblins,¡± she said.

    ¡°Tell me how the raid group being on high alert will help them?¡±

    Ratface frowned. In her head she hadn¡¯t planned for being caught but she should have. The problem with all your plans ending in dying if you failed meant you didn¡¯t make a backup.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± she said at last. Abigail sighed and leant against the wall.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want you to be sorry. I want you to think before you get yourself killed. Did you get the location at least?¡±

    ¡°Halvin¡¯s Rest.¡± Abigail frowned. ¡°That¡¯s bad?¡± Ratface asked.

    ¡°Even without the raid, they¡¯d still be in danger. Halvin¡¯s rest is a place infected by the Emptiness.¡± Seeing Ratface¡¯s confused face she explained. ¡°It eats away at magic and brings the dead back wrong. Most adventurers don¡¯t like to go there. It¡¯s an excellent spot for the goblins to hide. If they can survive there.¡±

    Abigail ran her hands through her hair. The anger had fled out of her and now she just looked overworked. It occurred to Ratface that the adventurer had worked alone before being saddled up with five newbie adventurers. Two of which that were still getting used to having their own bodies.  Ratface sympathised. She¡¯d struggled taking care of younger goblins even when they weren¡¯t in life endangering situations.

    ¡°We¡¯ll have to move fast if we¡¯re going to help them,¡± said Abigail. She glanced at Ratface.

    ¡°I need you to make a decision before we do. How serious are you about helping these goblins?¡±

    ¡°Very.¡±

    ¡°Then I need you to follow my orders without question.¡±

    ¡°Fine.¡±

    ¡°The first thing is, we won¡¯t be leaving tomorrow.¡±

    Ratface went to ask why but the knight¡¯s gaze held her in place. She looked away but didn¡¯t question it.

    ¡°In the meantime, tomorrow you are going to go into the guild with Krysa and look for the most boring quest you can find inside this town.¡±

    Ratface¡¯s face twitched under the urge to ask if she was being punished but she managed to stop herself. Abigail saw it and smiled.

    ¡°I¡¯m not punishing you. A raid will take longer to move than we do. If we give them the time to leave before us, we can do so without suspicion.¡±

    Ratface¡¯s eyebrows raised. She hadn¡¯t thought of that. The knight had been doing this for a long time. She understood how these people worked in a way that Ratface didn¡¯t.

    ¡°Okay,¡± said Ratface. Abigail clapped her hands together.

    ¡°Excellent, then it¡¯s time for you to rest up. Tomorrow you and I will be waking early to run laps.¡±

    Abigail left with a grin and Ratface leaned back into bed. So, she was still being punished. At least it wasn¡¯t that bad. With a sigh she closed her eyes and tried to sleep. She hated running.

 Chapter Eight: Reputation

    Ratface took comfort in the thought that even if the guild did take her in today, it couldn¡¯t be anything worse than what Abigail was putting her through.

    In the knight¡¯s defence, her plan was working. The receptionist had looked at them with suspicion when they¡¯d early to use the guild¡¯s training grounds. That suspicion had turned to surprise when they¡¯d watched Abigail bark at Ratface to start running.

    It had turned to pity at about the tenth lap. Then concern when Abigail had her doing sword drills. At one-point Ratface had watched the guild leader come down and watch her train before having a quick word with Abigail. A while later the raid had left.

    It was surprising to Ratface. In hindsight, she was the only person in the guild with a reason to sneak in and find the information. Yet, she remained free, in the guilds very own building no less.

    Ratface¡¯s arms were wobbling when Abigail finally got her to stop. She gestured for her to follow and Ratface wobbled after her. She expected them to stop back at the inn, but Abigail walked right passed it. They kept walking until they made it to one of the two ways out of the village. It was the same guards from the other day and Ratface tensed as they got close. Her leg muscles took that opportunity to twitch and send her stumbling forward.

    ¡°Training,¡± Abigail explained to thee guards confused looks. They grinned in sympathy and let her through. The two of them kept walking on the path for a while longer before Abigail turned off it and into the forest.

    ¡°What?¡± said Ratface. She knew what they were doing. They were going to where the raid was headed to. The question was, why was no one stopping them.

    ¡°Do you know why you can¡¯t work this out? Because you are thinking like a goblin,¡± said Abigail.

    Ratface frowned. Abigail wouldn¡¯t just insult her for nothing, so what was she missing? The clue was in them training together in the guild. The people who had seen her exhausted had looked at her with sympathy, not suspicion. Why was that? The guild had just been broken into for information that was uniquely useful to her. If you assumed the thief knew what information they were there to take, then Ratface was the best choice.

    Ah. That was it. They couldn¡¯t know that the thief knew the information. That was the rub. That uncertainty and then Ratface turns up to the guild in the morning? It only would make things murkier.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    Still, she was a goblin, usually suspicion was more than enough to deal with her. So, what was different?

    Her eyes lingered on the knight in front of her. The well regarded, honourable knight.

    ¡°They can¡¯t take me because of you. You¡¯re using your name to protect me.¡±

    ¡°Clever,¡± said Abigail. She turned back to smile at Ratface. Ratface frowned. She didn¡¯t like the idea of that.

    ¡°That¡¯s your reputation. Throwing that away on something small is-¡±

    ¡°The consequences for your rash decision,¡± said Abigail.

    The two of them walked in silence after that. Abigail letting Ratface stew in the feeling. It was hard. Even with the consequences Ratface wasn¡¯t convinced it was the wrong decision. How much was a reputation worth in the face of her own people¡¯s lives? Yet a small voice in her whispered that if she¡¯d just thought a little further, she could have saved that card for a better time.

    What would her mother say? To know her daughter was so short sighted. Would Bearclaw have made the same mistake? She doubted it.

    Ratface didn¡¯t realise she¡¯d stopped walking until Abigail touched her shoulder. Ratface looked at the old woman. Her smile was gentle.

    ¡°You are young, mistakes are expected. I¡¯m telling you this not to berate you, but to teach you. Besides, my reputation is not sunk yet.¡± She pushed away the last of the bush to bring them to a clearing. The rest of their party sat there. A city gators corpse by them.

    ¡°Did you know the area has also been having an infestation of gators? We just left to complete the quest,¡± said Abigail.

    Ratface sat her exhausted body down next to Krysa who was carrying Halmir in her stead. She tried not to grin when the rat jumped to her shoulder when she got close enough.

    Abigail stood in front of them all and addressed them.

    ¡°Today we will be going against the guild. To help the goblins in Halvin¡¯s Rest. It will be dangerous. If everything goes well, the guild will never know we were there, but should we fail, your names will have at best a black mark against them. With that in mind, will you still help?¡±

    There was a chorus of agreement, except for one voice. Albert stared at Ratface, his face unreadable.

    ¡°I¡¯ll help,¡± he said eventually. Ratface tried to meet his eyes, but he looked away.

    ¡°Excellent, well let¡¯s get up and moving. Oh, and someone feed poor Ratface here before she collapses.¡±

    Tiffany came over and handed her a sandwich which she started to munch down on. The rest of her friends got ready without complaint, and she felt a surge of affection for them. She was glad to have found this little group.

    Albert was the first up and he turned away from her. Ratface¡¯s eyes lingered on him. That pause had been important, but he¡¯d still chosen to help. In some ways, she trusted him more to do the right thing than the others. He¡¯d stood up to his friends and her parents for her. Her own hero in a way.

    Yet he¡¯d hesitated, and she didn¡¯t know why. She would have to find out where that hesitation came from. She owed him her attention, given what he¡¯d done for her. It''d have to wait for a bit though. She had some goblins to save.

    She stood up as heroically as she could. Her legs only buckled a little bit.

 Chapter Nine: Silent Grave

    Ratface knew the moment they entered Halvin¡¯s rest.

    The land didn¡¯t change right away, and the smell wasn¡¯t what tipped her off. No. These things would come later.

    What tipped her off was the silence. She¡¯d been in quiet forests before, where the creatures stalked one another. The bogs had sometimes been so noisy she¡¯d wished they¡¯d shut up. Yet she¡¯d never been in a place where nothing made a noise. It wasn¡¯t like the forest was holding its breath. It was more like it didn¡¯t have any breath to make. They tried to walk quietly but even that sounded far too loud here.

    She could understand why goblins would choose a place like this. They¡¯d hear anyone approaching long before they got to them. She doubted even a rogue could sneak through here.

    The trees started to die off as they got further into the Halvin¡¯s rest. Just enough remained to still hide them from the sun but even these were pale and dead. They didn¡¯t rot, for even that was a source of life, they were just¡­ there.

    They walked a little further and came to a pathway. It was stone paved, and a puff of dust came from it when Ratface stood on the pathway. She drew her sword and knife. It wasn¡¯t like she knew what was coming from here, she just knew it wasn¡¯t good.

    Krysa seemed to be actively struggling in the place. She seemed weak, her usual grace lost as she tread forward with a grim persistence. Ratface moved closer to her and helped her which the glamour seemed to appreciate. Ratface looked around and noticed everyone seemed to be struggling a little bit. Albert walked with tight eyes, Tiffany clutched at her robes, and she could feel Halmir drooping on her shoulder. Abigail walked straight but even she seemed stiffer. Strange. Ratface couldn¡¯t feel a difference.

    They made it to the true start of Halvin¡¯s rest. Ratface had been expecting a cemetery and she was half right. A ruined wall surrounded the area. A monument that looked nothing so much like a tombstone rose above all the houses for her to see. In the town itself, tools still lay on the ground. Whatever had happened here had happened so fast that people didn¡¯t have time to grab their things. That was if the people here had even had the opportunity to leave. It was like a town centred around one grave. A grave shaped like a town.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    ¡°Stay quiet and stay alert,¡± whispered Abigail. Ratface winced as the noise carried through the place.

    There was a faint noise as Abigail¡¯s whisper reached further. Someone had shifted when she¡¯d talked.

    Abigail stalked forward with her sword out and the others followed behind. Ratface was holding Krysa up so couldn¡¯t run ahead. Instead, she saw Abigail pull up short as she turned a corner.

    ¡°Get up here,¡± she whispered to Ratface. Ratface hurried forward to join her around the corner.

    Goblins, at least a small village¡¯s worth stood before her. They had their weapons out pointed at Abigail. The wildly varying quality of weapon told Ratface exactly what sort of group of goblins they were.

    The raiders relaxed when they saw Ratface but tensed right back up when they saw who was hanging from her shoulder.

    Ratface grimaced as she looked at Krysa. She hadn¡¯t thought ahead. What would another goblin think on seeing her with an elf.

    ¡°Not an elf,¡± she said quickly in goblin. Their leader gave her an insulted look as he turned to look at Krysa, who, for all her lack of grace right now, still looked like a young elf woman. He was an older goblin which made Ratface worried for her friends. An old goblin raider was something to fear.

    ¡°A human with pointy ears then?¡± he said. His voice was so soft that it barely rustled the world around them, and yet Ratface could hear it perfectly.

    ¡°Complicated,¡± said Ratface. She didn¡¯t tell them about Krysa¡¯s strange existence. It wasn¡¯t that she didn¡¯t trust them, it was more that the thought of talking too much in this place filled her with danger. At the edge of her hearing, she could hear something moving. It made a faint clink every few seconds as it got closer. The goblin leader looked like he had more to but stopped. An arm had reached for his to touch him for a moment, then retreated into the crowd of goblins. It had been fast, but not so fast that Ratface didn¡¯t notice the skin on it lacked the tell-tale green of another goblin.

    The old goblin looked frustrated. He flicked his head at Ratface and turned away, deeper into the town. Ratface wanted to follow them, but the clinking was getting closer. It was in a street between the two groups and if she chased after them it¡¯d see them.

    She looked over at Abigail pleadingly, but the knight shook her head and gestured in a direction away from the noise. It¡¯d take them away from the goblins, but not out of the town. She was stuck with indecision as the others started to move away. It was only when the sound got too close that she hurried after the others.

 Chapter Ten: Gifts For Your Children

    Ratface did her best to keep paying attention to their surroundings as they got further and further away from the goblins. The rest of her party didn¡¯t seem too concerned, their attention more on getting away from something Abigail had pulled them from. That the knight hadn¡¯t even wanted them to see it was concerning.

    She quickened her pace until she was in line with Abigail.

    ¡°What is that?¡± she whispered. Her voice barely carried to Abigail and Abigail looked at her in surprised. Ratface shrugged. ¡°A goblin has to be quiet.¡±

    ¡°That was Halvin. That he¡¯s awake is a bad sign.¡±

    ¡°The Emptiness really brings people back?¡±

    ¡°I had no reason to lie.¡±

    ¡°So, you couldn¡¯t beat him?¡±

    Abigail went silent for a bit. She looked at her armour for a second.

    ¡°Not quietly,¡± she said eventually.

    They¡¯d gone far enough away they couldn¡¯t hear the clinking anymore and they stopped for a break.

    They¡¯d found themselves outside an old shop. Ratface checked the door and found it was open, she gestured the others inside.

    They piled in and Ratface looked around. The store was dusty, and a lot of its stock had crumbled away. She found half a doll sitting on a shelf.

    ¡°A toy shop,¡± Tiffany whispered. Ratface blinked. She couldn¡¯t imagine having enough money just to spend it on toys.

    ¡°Must¡¯ve been a rich town,¡± she said.

    ¡°It was,¡± said Albert, ¡°this used to be a great spot for hunters and rogues to sneak in and get things. Now it¡¯s not worth it.¡±

    ¡°Halvin was killed while trying to protect this place from a monster parade,¡± said Abigail. She looked around the rubbish.

    ¡°It had a high level of mana in it so it was a particularly bad attack. It¡¯s said that in Halvin¡¯s last moments, he saw his own home about to be broken into. He saw his daughters face through the window and knew that if he didn¡¯t save her nothing would. So, he prayed.¡±

    Ratface stilled. Lurian was covered in altars, and she¡¯d watched elves pray, but she¡¯d never seen any one outside of there do it. Apparently, they all had their gods, only goblins didn¡¯t.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    ¡°He prayed that anything would save his daughter. In desperation he asked anything that would listen. Only one god heard him. The Emptiness took him and, true to its word, it saved his daughter and slaughtered the monsters. A moment later the town fell.¡±

    ¡°If the whole town fell, how is there a story?¡± asked Ratface.

    ¡°His daughter told the guild. Her father¡¯s last words were to tell he the price. A whole town just for her. It was the last words he ever spoke.¡±

    Abigail glanced at Ratface.

    ¡°I know you wanted to follow the goblins before, but Halvin is dangerous. I wouldn¡¯t put any of you close to him.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve met him before?¡± asked Albert.

    ¡°I fought him as a squire. He killed my whole cohort. I only survived because I found a house in town that wasn¡¯t touched by the Emptiness. He refused to follow me.¡±

    ¡°If it still exists, that¡¯s probably where the goblins are,¡± said Ratface. She would bet anything the goblins had found it. Her people had a knack for finding safe spots in places that wanted to kill them.

    Any further speculation was stopped by a sudden noise outside. Ratface could recognise the noise from hanging around Claudette and Suncat. Someone was throwing a fireball. Abigail looked up at Ratface and Albert and gestured for them to check it out. They were two of the stealthiest in the group and Halmir seemed to be suffering so he couldn¡¯t come.

    The two of them slipped out of the room. Ratface pointed up to the roof and Albert rolled his eyes but gave her a boost up. She went to help him up, but he jumped up. His jump was a little too short and the air pushed him the last little bit.

    ¡°Harder to do that here,¡± he muttered. His voice also didn¡¯t carry as far as the others. Good, they wouldn¡¯t have to be completely silent.

    That wasn¡¯t to say they¡¯d talk needlessly. The two of them scampered over rooves as the got closer to the fight. It wasn¡¯t hard to follow as more and more spells were cast. The sudden noise was jarring after being in this place of quiet. They were close now and the two peeked over the ledge of the roof they were on to look at what was happening.

    Three adventurers were in battle with two goblins in the middle of a square with a water fountain and sculptures.

    The adventurers were winning. The goblins had crossbows and were sitting behind cover shooting at the adventurers. It made the adventurers duck and weave, but their retaliation was worse. A fireball arced across the area towards one goblin hiding behind a statue. He dove out of the way as the statue he¡¯d been behind exploded. He looked at it in shock before another goblin pulled him behind another statue. This one was of a man on a horse, so they had space to hide behind it. At least the goblins looked like they¡¯d be able to retreat. They¡¯d been flitting from cover to cover to get closer to an alleyway. Ratface¡¯s eyes trailed where the alley would come out and her gut twinged. Another party was waiting for them on the other side. The goblins wouldn¡¯t be able to see it until it was too late.

    She eyes the rooves between her and there. She could probably make it without being seen.

    ¡°Follow me,¡± she said. Albert sighed but nodded and the two of them ran and jumped between rooves until they found themselves on the same alley. She gestured down and Albert grabbed her legs as she lowered down a moment before the goblins rushed into the alley. They looked at her in shock.

    ¡°Ambush. Up quick,¡± said Ratface. She held out her hands and the two goblins ran at her. She pulled them up until they could clamber up themselves then Albert pulled her up.

    The two goblins looked at her gratefully right up until they saw Albert. Then, there crossbows came up as Ratface jumped in front of him.

    She had started to explain when she realised no noise was coming out of her mouth. The goblins looked at her in confusion, then horror as the climbed further up the roof away from the ground.

    A hush settled over the square. As creatures emerged from the shadows.

    The Emptiness had come.

 Chapter Eleven: Empty

    The Emptiness settled over the square as the adventurers backed up. When the creatures first emerged from the shadows, Ratface didn¡¯t understand what she was looking at. When she understood she wished she hadn¡¯t.

    They looked human at first, in the dark. It was only when one of the adventurers threw fire at them that she got a good look at one of them.

    The Empty, as she decided to call it, walked out of the flames. Its skin shrivelled away from the flame, but it otherwise didn¡¯t react. Its left hand had been replaced by a city gators head. Its legs were that of deer and it stumbled forward. Its head was still startlingly human, but it was the eyes that really unnerved her. They were empty. Not like the dead, it was like there was nothing there. Her eyes slid over them each time. It reminded her a bit of the memory glamour. It wasn¡¯t enough for her to ignore the obvious, this thing had once been someone who lived here.

    She looked back to the gator head and noticed that its eyes were empty too. Both heads were watching the adventurers. It was getting closer and closer to the fire wielding adventurer. They backed away but tripped over some of the rubble from one of the statues they¡¯d broken. Their friends took that opportunity to run, too filled with fear to save their friend.

    Ratface glanced at the goblins with her. They were still watching the scene in horror. Ratface closed her eyes. She knew she shouldn¡¯t.

    Ratface grabbed the crossbow from one of the frozen goblins. It was already loaded, thank goodness.

    She aimed and fired.

    The bolt flew true and landed with a thunk into the gators head. Its empty eyes cleared until they were just dead.

    Ratface looked at the adventure and gestured for them to run. They didn¡¯t have to be told twice.

    The Empty¡¯s human head looked down at its now dead hand. It turned and met Ratface¡¯s eyes. A hiss started to fill the air. If Ratface listened hard enough, it started to sound like screaming. The empty started walking closer to her. She knew she should reload the crossbow, or move, or do anything but the hissing filled her mind.

    A knife slammed into the empty¡¯s human head. The hissing stopped as it dropped to the ground.

    ¡°I¡¯m not getting that knife back, am I?¡± said Albert. Ratface jumped at the sudden rush of noise. The world seemed lighter again as well.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    Ratface jumped back in front of Albert before the one goblin that still had a crossbow could shoot him. Their crossbow immediately veered to the side before it could shoot her.

    ¡°Human lover,¡± he hissed. He was short even for a goblin and had a shiny bald head. A series of glittering earrings covered his longer ears. Ratface¡¯s eyes narrowed.

    ¡°Trying to save you, idiot,¡± she said. She gestured to Albert who was eyeing the goblin with the appropriate amount of hostility for someone who¡¯d just been aimed at. A faint wind twisted around him, ready to catch the bolt. The goblins eyes widened.

    ¡°Wind spirit,¡± his friend whispered. She was tall and thin for a goblin, almost as tall as an elf. Ratface wasn¡¯t sure if the thinness was from the height or a lack of nutrition. She¡¯d got the crossbow off the goblin pretty easily, so she was leaning toward the latter.

    Ratface gestured at herself.

    ¡°Ratface,¡± she said. The other two goblins nodded in understanding.

    ¡°Compassionate,¡± said the bald one to his friend. He said it like an insult.

    ¡°Bleeding heart,¡± the woman agreed. Ratface glared at them.

    ¡°I need to talk to your leader,¡± she said. The other two goblins looked at her warily which was rude given she¡¯d just saved her life. Any retort she¡¯d been about to say was interrupted by Albert.

    ¡°It¡¯s moving,¡± he said. His eyes hadn¡¯t left the Empty during the goblin¡¯s conversation. The four watched as it sat up from the floor. It grabbed the knife in its head and yanked it out, letting it clatter to the ground. The world began to lose sound as its eyes started to fade again. Ratface frowned, hadn¡¯t there been more of the creatures before.

    A hand grasped onto the roof and Ratface sliced at it to make it tumble back down. It hissed as it fell.

    ¡°Go find Abigail,¡± Ratface ordered Albert. The hunter was moving before she said anything. The two may not understand the empty they¡¯d shot but they¡¯d both made the same connection. If the Emptiness had taken the bodies of the village, why were they only fighting a few of them. They knew it wasn¡¯t attacking the goblins; they were in the one safe area in this town. That only left the adventurers as a target.

    So, she¡¯d sent Albert to get Abigail to help them. If anyone could kill those things it¡¯d be her.

    In the meantime, Ratface would get the goblins out before the adventurers had a chance to find them. That was if these two would take her to their leader.

    The silence filled the area around them again and the three goblins looked at each other. She could tell the bald one wanted to run but didn¡¯t want to lead her back. They both knew she was going to follow him.

    The empty decided it for them. Two sets of hands reached over the roof. The bald goblin took one look at it and started running. Ratface followed him.

    They kept to the rooftops. None of them wanted to be trapped in an alley with one of those things.

    The bald goblin kept trying to lose her, but Ratface had been trained by a relentless knight. Her legs still burned from her run, but she kept up with him easily. They kept running until they left the silent bubble, the slaps of their boots on the roof announcing their successful escape.

    The bald goblin slid to a stop and glared at her; his arms folded. The tall woman was the one to talk.

    ¡°Alright bleeding heart,¡± she said, ¡°tell me why you¡¯ve gotta see our leader.¡±

    The two glared at her in synch and Ratface gulped.

    Time to see if she was as convincing as she thought she was.

 Chapter Twelve: The Cottage

    Ratface didn¡¯t really have a plan when it came to goblins. She assumed most of them would give her the time of day because she was another goblin but that had been naive of her. Her mother had often ignored other goblins outside their village, and she¡¯d fought hard to be acknowledged by bigger villages.

    Of course, her mother had been a giant and Ratface was sho- a perfectly normal height, so it was probably going to be a little harder for her to be so imposing.

    ¡°I need to warn them about the adventurers,¡± said Ratface.

    The bald one snorted.

    ¡°We can tell them that, we¡¯ve already seen the adventurer that you let get away.¡±

    Right. Not her finest moment that.

    ¡°I couldn¡¯t let the empty have them,¡± said Ratface.

    ¡°Just like a Lurian rat, you¡¯ll bleed out if you keep that up,¡± said the woman.

    Ratface frowned.

    ¡°You¡¯re not from Lurian?¡±

    Baldy barked out a laugh.

    ¡°Those fancy ones? Nah we¡¯re from the-¡±

    ¡°Where we¡¯re from isn¡¯t important,¡± said the woman. She shot her friend a glare and he held his hands up in surrender. ¡°You still haven¡¯t given me a good reason to take you back to our leader.¡±

    Ratface realised she was going about this wrong. Why wasn¡¯t she being upfront with these goblins?

    ¡°My village was wiped out by another goblin,¡± she said, ¡°I know the last spell of goblins and it shouldn¡¯t have been possible, but he did it. I¡¯m just trying to find what¡¯s left of them. I figure your leader will know a bit more or can at least keep an eye out for them. Maybe your friend who isn¡¯t a goblin will know something too.¡±

    She watched the other two goblins go through a series of emotions as she dropped the different surprises on them. They settled on suspicion.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

    ¡°I¡¯m not trying to trick you. I¡¯m asking for your help. I¡¯m offering mine,¡± said Ratface.

    The woman ran her fingers through her hair.

    ¡°Fine. Follow us,¡± she said.

    She led Ratface deeper into the town. Ratface hadn¡¯t been in a settlement this big since the elf city, and she barely remembered that. What struck her as odd was just how many shops and houses littered the place. Most places she¡¯d been had the bare necessities, but these ones had a shop just for different hats. How did they stay in business?

    All of it was gone now. Lost in a father¡¯s sacrifice. It made the already oppressive nature of the place feel extra heavy, knowing that this had all happened to save someone.

    All of that was different at the goblins base.

    It was a small cottage with a yard surrounding it. The nature of having a bunch of goblins around it had changed it, there was tents packed around the place, but the memory of the place shone through.

    The gardens were in full bloom and looked like they¡¯d been meticulously cared for, even the goblins avoided placing their tents anywhere it would bother the garden. She passed into the property and the gentle warmth of the sun draped over her. It was picturesque.

    The whole thing made her skin crawl. It was unnatural. This was what the sacrifice had made. Part of her mind kept trying to insist she was safe her, but all she kept thinking about was the first time she¡¯d met Amaranth. The land had bent to the elf too.

    ¡°Well, if it isn¡¯t the goblin with the ¡®not elf¡¯,¡± said a familiar voice. Ratface looked up and saw the old goblin sitting of the balcony of the cottage. She raised her eyebrows in surprise. Halvin must have been a rich man before he died.

    ¡°Calling me Ratface is less wordy,¡± she said.

    That at least got a small twitch of the lips out of him. He climbed down to meet her. The rest of the goblins went quiet as they watched.

    ¡°Wolfhand,¡± he said. He held his hand out to her and Ratface shook it. A wolf explained the raiding party. Rats were for building villages and wolves were for war. He¡¯d be clever then. Vicious too, at least to his enemies. Up close, she could see his body was honed from years of war. He was lean, not a giant like her mother had been. He looked like he would flow around the battle until he pounced on you. His eyes crinkled up in amusement as he watched her take it all in.

    ¡°To what do I owe the pleasure of a rat?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s adventurers here to kill you,¡± she said. Wolfhand rolled his eyes.

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you ran all this way to tell me the sky is blue?¡±

    Right, no beating around the bush, Ratface had forgotten.

    ¡°I know the last spell of goblins. I¡¯ve seen a goblin cast a spell.¡± All true. She didn¡¯t mention that she was the goblin that had cast of course. She trusted the goblins of course but there was one person here she didn¡¯t trust. There was a faint gasp from upstairs. She wouldn¡¯t have heard it if she wasn¡¯t look out for it.

    ¡°So, what¡¯s with the hanger on? Should I be talking to them instead of you?¡± she asked.

    Wolfhand snorted.

    ¡°So meddlesome. We can talk. If you know as much as you say, you may be useful.¡±

    He opened the door to the cottage and let her in. Ratface tried not to think about how much it felt like walking into a wolf¡¯s den.

 Chapter Thirteen: Deals

    Wolfhand didn¡¯t mince words when he brought her into the cottage. He led her to the second floor where the hooded stranger waited at a table.

    ¡°Take the cloak off,¡± he ordered her. The hood hesitated, then pulled it back.

    Ratface found herself looking at an elf. She was old but not so old that time had started touching her properly. Ratface hadn¡¯t seen that many elves but she¡¯d seen enough to know that the older ones gave off a vibe. Usually they wafted with power, forcing goblins to their knees. Yet this woman didn¡¯t give off any power. She had blonde hair and a rounder face than most elves Ratface had seen. She didn¡¯t dress like an elf either, more like a villager.

    She turned to Wolfhand.

    ¡°Hypocrite,¡± she said. That he¡¯d got so shifty about her own elf seemed ridiculous. The wolf stalked around her to stand next to the elf.

    ¡°This one¡¯s different,¡± he said.

    ¡°This one can speak for herself,¡± said the elf. She shot him a wry look and he gave her a small smile back. Interesting. That was more affection than she¡¯d expect between a goblin and an elf.

    ¡°I heard you mention the last spell?¡± the elf asked Ratface. Ratface crossed her arms. They hadn¡¯t even offered her a seat.

    ¡°I don¡¯t talk to strangers,¡± she said. She expected the elf to lose their temper at her, but they surprised her by bowing her head in recognition.

    ¡°You may call me Vin. Now about the spell?¡±

    ¡°I have heard of it.¡±

    ¡°And the other goblin spell?¡±

    ¡°I was there,¡± said Ratface. Vin looked at her with interest. Her eyes glowed faintly as she did so.

    ¡°I think you were a little more than there,¡± she whispered, ¡°not many elves are as blessed as I am so they can¡¯t see what has changed, but I see a goblin remade.¡±

    Wolfhand stood in front of Vin protectively. Ratface didn¡¯t know why until she realised she was clutching at her knife. She eased her hand off of it. Even if she was to attack, she had no doubt the old goblin would win.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

    ¡°I do not mean to harm you Ratface. I am not some elf working to capture you, though there are many, I¡¯m here on my own quest. Tell me, how did the magic change you?¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s to say it changed me at all? Why should I tell you about me?¡±

    ¡°Because if you help me, I can send you to one of your villages.¡±

    Ratface sunk into the seat in front of her. A small twitch of Vin¡¯s face was the only indication she knew she¡¯d won.

    ¡°I can see magic.¡±

    The room went still at the revelation. Ratface frowned. She should have been more secretive but the temptation of finding one of her village children was too tempting. The elf clapped in surprise at that.

    ¡°But that¡¯s perfect. Do you know why we¡¯re here?¡±

    Ratface hummed at that. Her initial assumption was that they were preparing to raid the local town, but the fact that there was an elf changed things.

    ¡°You¡¯re here for something in Halvin¡¯s rest,¡± said Ratface.

    ¡°I¡¯m here to finally put him to rest,¡± said Vin.

    Ratface thought back to the Empty that she¡¯d attacked. She¡¯d hit it in the head, and it had just gotten back up. She doubted that this place¡¯s champion would be any easier to be brought down.

    ¡°How?¡±

    ¡°His prayer is still being heard. Until that ceases, he¡¯ll continue to rise.¡±

    So, there was something keeping him here, but what would it be? To hold in this broken place, it¡¯d either have to be big or at least sturdy. Kept defended.

    ¡°The grave in the centre of the town,¡± said Ratface.

    ¡°No grave but altar. It would have hurt me to disarm it, and the goblins wouldn¡¯t be able to see what they were doing. Yet you, you are the best of both of us,¡± said Vin. She held out her hand to Ratface. ¡°Help me, and I¡¯ll tell you where one of your lost children is.¡±

    It¡¯s not like she really had a choice. Ratface took her hand.

    After that, things moved quickly. The goblins moved out as one, jumping from rooftop to rooftop as they got closer to the centre. They were quick and in a moment they were surrounding the place. Noise was cut off from around them and the ground itself seemed untethered from the earth. Ratface was interested to see that the altar was also part of a graveyard. Whatever was worshiped here was something tied to the dead. The Empty surrounded the place. They didn¡¯t see the goblins on the roof, in fact they seemed asleep. Ratface bet if they were to touch the dark surround the place that¡¯d change. Halvin didn¡¯t seem to be here but there was still more empty than they could deal with.

    ¡°We can¡¯t fight through that,¡± whispered Ratface to Wolfhand. The other goblin grinned.

    ¡°Wait for the distraction.¡±

    She didn¡¯t have to wait long. A part of the sky erupted in light towards the edge of the town. The place Ratface had watched the adventurer run to.

    The Empty woke up at the light and hissed. As one they rushed towards the sound of the light. Ratface watched it all chilled.

    ¡°You brought the adventurers here as bait,¡± she said.

    ¡°I did, it was the only way,¡± said Vin.

    ¡°My friends are there.¡±

    Wolfpaw patted her on the shoulder.

    ¡°Then hurry, little rat, before you¡¯re out of time.¡±

    Ratface was moving off the roof before he even finished.

 Chapter Fourteen: A Glamourise Perspective

    Kryssa had never felt weak before.

    She¡¯d felt outmatched. That other glamour she¡¯d fought had beaten her soundly but that had been more about him being strong and experience than her being weak.

    It was different here. The Emptiness seemed to drain her in a way that the rest weren¡¯t affected by. The wind boy stood tall and the druid, while looking lost, was still standing. She was giving her staff an experimental swing. She didn¡¯t seem happy about the prospect.

    Halmir was suffering as much as her. The poor boy had fallen asleep in her pocket. She gave him an absentminded pat.

    It was probably because they were more magic than flesh between the two of them. Her arms felt heavy and shaky instead of their usual grace. It would almost be novel if she wasn¡¯t about to be in a battle.

    The wind boy had come running to them with a warning about the Emptiness. He¡¯d also let them know that Ratface had run off with some goblins. No doubt she was already meddling. Girl couldn¡¯t help herself.

    The rest of them had been hurried off by the knight to go save the gaggle of adventurers. She didn¡¯t really have time for them, but it wasn¡¯t like she could just wander off. They¡¯d found the group of the adventurers about the same time a giant light had burst over them. Abigail had taken control of the group and got them all in a line. She¡¯d taken one look at how Kryssa was standing and sent her to the back with orders with someone to give her a bow. She¡¯d never used a bow before, but Kryssa was naturally gifted, so it¡¯d be fine.

    The adventurers had lined themselves in and around a fountain. Kryssa was with the archers standing on different parts of the inside of the fountain while the mele had put themselves either in front or behind the lip of it. It wasn¡¯t a perfect place to hold up but they adventurers were surrounded before they¡¯d had a chance to move. At this point pushing to any other spot would lead them to being overwhelmed.

    Kryssa was standing on a raised part just behind the lip checking her bow when the noise around her stopped. A moment before the adventurers close to her had been talking. They still were, but nothing was still coming out.

    A faint hissing filled the air as the area outside the fountain square began to fade into darkness. She knew something was out there, but she couldn¡¯t see it even with her superior eyes. The hissing grew ever louder until there was a sea of dark between them. Then the clinking began.

    It started far away at first. The suggestion of a noise more than anything. It walked with a measured pace. It wasn¡¯t in a hurry. It knew its prey wouldn¡¯t be able to escape it.

    It got louder and louder as it got closer. The sound piercing into her mind with each step, filling her with a fear of the unknown she didn¡¯t have. This thing is beyond you, it whispered to her. This thing would take her.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

    Abigail walked in front of them all. Her eyes met the adventurers one by one. No doubt they looked terrified. Not that Kryssa would know about that.

    Abigail sighed. She drew her sword; it looked dull in all the dark. She frowned, then tensed. Her sword burned blue in the dark and began to push it back. She raised it up, then plunged it point first into the ground.

    A wave of blue power rippled across the ground. It washed over Kryssa and there was a ripping noise as the sound reappeared around her.

    ¡°That¡¯s better,¡± said Abigail. She looked tired, but still stood tall. She glanced back at the dark behind her with a considering eye, but Kryssa didn¡¯t see the same fear in her that she saw in others.

    ¡°For many of you, this will be your first time fighting against the Emptiness,¡± she explained. She spoke like a teacher and her lecturing tone began to drain the fear out of those around her.

    ¡°They are difficult foes, and they don¡¯t die straight away. The face they get up after being killed leads some to believe they¡¯re endless. I¡¯m here to tell you, the solution to that. Kill them again.¡±

    She stood at the front where the fighting would be most difficult.

    ¡°What about Halvin?¡± someone asked. Abigail glance back, she gave them a smile that was all teeth and viciousness.

    ¡°Leave the old man to the old woman.¡±

    As if the insult was too much to bear, the Emptiness charged then. They were a sea of monstrosities. Each a twisted version of humanoid to monster. Kryssa fired an arrow across the way and struck on in the head. A small smile toucher he lips. She knew she¡¯d be able to do it.

    In her pocket, Halmir stirred. He poked his head out to see the encroaching enemies. With a pop, he turned into a noble next to her. He yawned.

    ¡°No changing or blinking for me in this fight,¡± he said. Then he was slinking closer to the frontlines.

    The Emptiness hit the adventurers. They smashed into the adventurers like a wave, but the adventurers held. They shoved the monsters back. She saw Abigail literally throw some backwards.

    ¡°We¡¯re used to fighting real monsters,¡± said Abigail, ¡°come back when you have more teeth.¡±

    The adventurers around her chuckled and stood straighter. They stabbed into the closest group to them then pulled back. The ranged cohort Kryssa was a part of never stopped firing.

    The wind boy was holding one of the other spots in the circle. If Abigail was a wall, he was firmly like the spear he held. He stabbed forward and ripped into anything that got too close to him. His side kept its place not with strength but with sheer violence. There was no taunt from him, just the patient hunter waiting for its prey.

    The druid girl had set aside her staff and had grabbed someone¡¯s spare mace. She lacked finesse but still fought well. Her hands were covered with bark that both stopped the empty creatures grabbing her and looked like they were adding oomph to her swings.

    Kryssa scanned across the line looking for Halmir. She hadn¡¯t seen him in the first hit, so she hoped he was okay. She finally found him slipping through the line. Someone had fallen as one of the monsters attacked them. The creature was about to finish them when it collapsed. The rat noble had snuck behind it and cut it apart. He grabbed the fallen adventurer and pulled them back behind the line where they could recover and join where they were needed.

    Ratface¡¯s friends were holding themselves well and the adventures were doing okay yet they weren¡¯t winning. It was slow, but Kryssa could see from where she stood that they were being pushed back. That wasn¡¯t the only problem. Amidst all the sound of battle, another noise carried through. It was quiet but was gaining in volume. The clinking still sounded in the background, and it was getting every closer.

    She hoped Ratface was doing something useful during all this.

 Chapter Fifteen: Altar

    Ratface vaulted over the fence into the graveyard. It was in a raised hill with the altar sitting in the middle. The dark still swept across its floor like swaying grass. She gave the ground an experimental stomp. She was met with silence. So the place was still silent then. Her stomp clearly could be heard by something. The stragglers of the Empty looked up and began advancing towards her. Ratface hissed and drew her sword and knife. A moment later two bolts slammed into the creatures ahead of her. She hadn¡¯t heard them.

    ¡°Careful little rat. Don¡¯t rush so fast you fall in a grave,¡± said Wolfhand. He landed next to her. Ratface tilted her head.

    ¡°I shouldn¡¯t be able to hear you so close,¡± she said.

    The old goblin tapped a stone woven into his armour. Ratface recognised it as a goblin rune for talking. It translated more like yapping.

    ¡°A gift from Vin, those close to me can talk.¡±

    A gift using a goblin rune. That was interesting. To Ratface¡¯s knowledge only humans used rune engraving and they had their own language. To use a goblins rune for magic was unheard of to her. She couldn¡¯t imagine the elf was fluent, just because elven runes were based on theirs didn¡¯t mean that it was the same, but to use it instead of human or elven language had interesting connotations.

    All things that could wait until after she¡¯d dealt with whatever problem was going on. Ratface focused on the magic around her and found none. That didn¡¯t mean she found nothing.

    The sea around her all connected to something in the middle of the graveyard. Probably the Altar.

    More strings darted out from it towards where most of the Empty had gone. Unlike most magic she¡¯d seen which seemed unstable, this strange thing was like steel bars through reality. It burned reality just by being where it was. That burn must be what made magic so weak around it.

    Again, interesting but ignoring the point. The place she needed to go was in the middle. She climbed up the hill and left the dispatching of the Empty to the other goblins. A glance at the strings showed that every time they had to raise themselves, the line between them and the altar grew a little weaker. She assumed when it got weak enough it would snap.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    She scuttled up until she was at the altar. It was a strange one. It looked like a woman, but she had too many faces. Each one looking in a different direction until the covered all of them. Ratface had heard of her. This was the many-faced god of the elves.

    It was littered with those lines. There were so many that she could barely see the shrine through them. She reached out to grab it.

    The world went dark around her. She felt untethered. The feeling of the world around her falling away without sight and sound. She wasn¡¯t sure if the ground was still beneath her or if she was just standing because she thought she should.

    A hiss was the first thing that let her know she wasn¡¯t alone. It filled the air around her as she watched.

    ¡°What is this?¡± a voice asked. It echoed around her. No. Different voices, all asking the same thing. Ratface looked for whatever was making the noise and found nothing. She didn¡¯t answer the voices, and they grew irritated.

    ¡°Not mine, but you can see, yes you can. Let¡¯s see what else you can see.¡±

    The dark in front of her changed. She could see the adventurers fighting. A fireball flew towards her and smashed into her. The image switched to something else, an adventurer holding their sword in place as they were being pushed down. Their face looked terrified.

    Ratface gasped. She was seeing the perspective of the Empty. It spread out until she could see it all.

    ¡°You¡¯re the Emptiness. You¡¯re what Halvin prayed to,¡± said Ratface. She winced as she felt the attention return to her.

    ¡°You know my champion?¡± it asked.

    ¡°You should let him rest.¡±

    ¡°Insolence,¡± said the voices. The world around her filled with hissing until it was all she could hear. A pressure built around her and then slid away.

    ¡°Can¡¯t touch it,¡± the voices whispered to each other. While they talked amongst themselves, the images kept changing until it flickered onto a picture of Abigail standing in front of the adventurers. Ratface¡¯s heart quickened at the sight. The old woman was holding a spot as she pulled adventurers back into line.

    ¡°Wait,¡± said one of the voices. The rest went quiet as the remaining images flickered away until only Abigail was there.

    ¡°Can¡¯t touch it,¡± said one voice.

    ¡°But can hurt it,¡± said another.

    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t,¡± whispered one. It was so hard to hear over the others.

    ¡°But will,¡± said the rest. The hissing grew louder as they drowned out the one that advocated for Ratface.

    The one that had first noticed Ratface came up behind her and leant on her shoulder. There was no physical weight, yet Ratface felt something pushing down on her.

    ¡°Your champion, yes? I have one too. Let¡¯s see who rests.¡±

    Ratface¡¯s eyes locked onto Abigail, who looked at something approaching her. A new noise joined the hissing. A faint clinking as Halvin moved to act on his master¡¯s will.

 Interlude: Champion Duel

    Leading adventurers brought back memories for Abigail. Once, she¡¯d been a captain of soldier and other knights. Leading from the front was nostalgic.

    Fighting a champion was something she¡¯d done in the past too. She had less fond memories of such a that.

    She knew that the dead man walking towards her was a champion. She¡¯d heard the stories about him before. Halvin almost looked like how he was remembered.

    A tall elf with broad shoulders. It wasn¡¯t common you saw an elf with proper muscles, and it warred with his delicate features. Like her, he wore armour, though his wasn¡¯t covered in runes. He was wearing a necklace with a picture of him holding a little girl. It clinked against his breastplate with every step.

    Of course, that was only what was left from when he was alive. Four snakes of shadow twisted out from his back to face her. When they looked at her, she felt something watching her. She shivered at their gaze. The attention from something larger staring through at her. She knew she had to call to it for it to touch her, but it still didn¡¯t make her feel any safer. She hadn¡¯t lived so long without knowing there were some things you didn¡¯t cross.

    ¡°Halvin, I ask that you let us go,¡± she said. Halvin paused for a moment and looked at her in consideration. He almost seemed to agree before one of the snakes whispered into his ear. When he looked back at Abigail, it was clear what the answer was.

    He lunged at her sword first. Abigail caught the blow on her own sword and slid past to strike at his neck. The dead man danced to the side just in time for his armour to take it. The snakes twisted around her strike and tried to bite her. Abigail tapped her sword twice and it flashed blue. The snakes reeled back in pain as they burned.

    Abigail hissed. She¡¯d had to draw on her own cores for that, there wasn¡¯t enough ambient magic to power it. Her supply was already low in this place, so she wasn¡¯t sure how many more she had in her.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    She didn¡¯t waste the moment given to her. She switched to half grip with her sword and slammed it into Halvin¡¯s shoulder, the one he¡¯d been using the sword from. The armour dented as he let out a desperate swipe to get her to dance away, which she did.

    ¡°I¡¯ve fought enough of the Emptiness to know you can keep getting up, but I wonder how your armour will fare?¡± she asked. It wasn¡¯t for Halvin¡¯s benefit, he wasn¡¯t there. No, it was for the adventurers all around her. So long as she looked in control of the fight, they wouldn¡¯t break. The moment they broke, they¡¯d die. She had to hold them together long enough for a hole in the Emptiness¡¯ ranks.

    Halvin rolled his shoulder under the bent armour. It was restricting, but he¡¯d still be able to use the arm. He switched his sword from the side she¡¯d struck to his other hand. Abigail grimaced. Typical elf, so talented even when they were already gone.

    She kept her half grip on the sword. She could still use the blade, but it was his armour she was after.

    Halvin struck at her and Abigail kept her sword in the way. Her armour used more mana than her sword so she couldn¡¯t let him get close. Unfortunately, he wasn¡¯t just limited to the two hands. The snakes struck at her and Abigail let them bash into her armour. She could feel them burning away at here mana as they did so.

    She caught Halvin¡¯s sword arm as he came in again. She pushed it out of the way and sliced her own sword across his neck. Halvin stumbled and fell to the floor. She went to take advantage of the moment, but his snakes surrounded him and lashed out at her any time she tried to get close. With their champion down, they seemed ever more vicious. Anger wafted off of them in a way that made the air around them shake.

    Abigail reminded herself that they could only touch the world through Halmir. So long as she let him get up, they couldn¡¯t attack her.

    Around her, adventurers cheered at her success. That cheering stopped the moment Halvin stood up again. She looked for any of the tell-tale signs of deteriation that the empty showed when they¡¯d been killed and found none. Damn, it was invested in him. Abigail glanced at the battlefield as a whole. The adventurers were holding but there was too many of the empty for them to push through yet. The consequences of letting this place linger she supposed.

    She switched her sword back to a normal grip, hoping to keep some distance this time. Her cores were still at about three quarters, thought she¡¯d lost most of that in her first encounter. No big runes while fighting then, just simple sword work.

    She just had to hold until a gap opened. She had to hope that¡¯d be enough.

 Chapter Sixteen: A Simple Plan

    Ratface couldn¡¯t move. The pressure of the thing around her was too much. All she could do was watch as Abigail took on the dead man.

    It started off pretty satisfying. It was clear he was an excellent fighter, but Abigail was just better. She¡¯d done worse against Amaranth when they¡¯d fought than against Halvin. She wondered if people lost a part of themselves when they merged with the Emptiness. He seemed to have a lot of tricks but no real creativity to use them.

    That didn¡¯t mean Abigail was winning. Every clash the two had she came out a little bit slower. Ratface clenched her jaw in frustration, there wasn¡¯t anything she could do.

    It was tempting to compare herself to her namesake being caught by a cat. She knew she was being toyed with but that was where the comparison ended. A cat at least was on the same level as a rat.

    No, it was more like if the sun had taken a personal interest in her. She couldn¡¯t even begin to think about how she would fight it. Maybe she could have hidden from it somehow but that wasn¡¯t the same as winning. You didn¡¯t say you defeat the sun by hiding in the shade.

    Abigail and Halvin clashed again. She caught his sword on her gauntlet. Not a move you¡¯d usually do Ratface imagined, but if you had the sheer amount of armour Abigail had, it became more viable. The metal on the gauntlet was duller than the rest of the armour. Abigail must have sacrificed it so she could keep the rest of the armour moving. The least bad decision available to her.

    She shoved the sword out of the way and slammed her own into Halvin¡¯s neck. He collapsed and she danced back as the snakes swarmed him to fix him up. She felt rage shudder through the thing surrounding her and its control slipped. Her temptation was to move immediately but she held back. She¡¯d only get one chance; she needed a plan before she did so.

    She used the only part of her she could without giving anything away. She focused deeply with her eyes, deeper than she had before.

    Nothing but darkness. She couldn¡¯t see past whatever the Goddess was to find a weakness.

    ¡°Let me ask you a question,¡± whispered a voice to her. It was the same quiet one that had argued not to hurt her. ¡°Where do you think you are?¡± It slipped away before she could ask it what it meant as the rest of the voices focused on her.

    ¡°Who is she?¡± they asked her.

    ¡°Abigail,¡± Ratface whispered. She was glad there were no eyes to meet because she wouldn¡¯t be able to do it.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!

    They whispered Abigail¡¯s name, like they were trying to remember it. A thousand images flickered past.

    ¡°The grandma?¡± they asked.

    A single image lingered. A battlefield with a middle-aged woman crumpled on the floor. A dead elf lay at her feet. A girl watched it all with a betrayed look.

    ¡°The rune-knight,¡± they whispered in understanding. Ratface let a small smile slip onto her face.

    ¡°When he kills her, she will be a fine addition.¡±

    The smile left her face, and her hands clenched around the altar. Wait. The altar? So that¡¯s what the voice had meant. She¡¯d never actually left the graveyard.

    Ugh, why hadn¡¯t that stupid elf told her how to break this connection. Had she not actually known? Was Ratface just the test? Or was it just so obvious that anyone could do it?

    She had a plan. It wasn¡¯t an amazing one, but it was all she had. Now she just had to trust Abigail to win once more.

    She looked back up to the image. Abigail was flagging. She¡¯d beaten Halvin so many times but every victory had come at a cost. The other adventurers were all still fighting so they couldn¡¯t help her. Ratface clutched at the altar, doing her best not to move. Come on Abigail, just one more win.

    The two knights clashed once more. Halvin was finally pushing her back. His snakes kept striking at her. She went to block, and a snake pulled her arm down as he slammed his sword into her armour. The armour held but now the snakes had her caught and Halvin was wailing on her, sapping away at her mana. Ratface watched in horror as the magic sapped further and further away. Her armour losing its usual sheen. All except for the one holding her sword.

    Halvin let go of his sword and grabbed onto Abigail¡¯s face. Darkness covered him and was beginning to spread to Abigail. He leaned in ever closer as he tried to take her for his goddess.

    Ratface watched in horror. Right up until Abigail smiled.

    ¡°Got you,¡± she said. She tapped her sword twice.

    Blue light flashed across the screen and Halvin fell back burning. The Goddess screamed; whatever Abigail had done had really hurt Halvin. Ratface felt the hold on her slip as the Goddess poured more of her energy into her champion. Abigail had given her the best chance she could.

    Ratface grabbed onto the altar and heaved. It didn¡¯t move at first. Was she seriously too weak? No. She refused to screw this up after Abigail fought so hard. Ratface grit her teeth and shoved. The thing slid off and toppled onto the floor. There was an almighty crack. Like the world broke.

    Ratface blinked. She was back in the graveyard. A broken altar sitting in front of her. All of the face had crumbled away except for one. A peaceful thing.

    Ratface looked at the sky. It was lighter now. The sun peeking through. All that was left now was to meet up with the adventurers.

    ¡°You did it,¡± said Vin. Ratface turned to face her.

    She looked younger than she had at the start. More at peace.

    ¡°He was-¡±

    ¡°Your father, right?¡± said Ratface.

    ¡°How¡¯d you know?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s an elf, you¡¯re an elf. You worked with goblins which meant it wasn¡¯t something other elves could help with. I know that desperation.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not mad?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m furious,¡± said Ratface, ¡°but you¡¯re going to make it up to me. Come with me to the adventurers. You¡¯re going to clear these goblins'' names.¡±

    Vin looked at her with an amused smile.

    ¡°They did warn me you were a rat,¡± she said.

    Ratface smiled. Quite the compliment, even if she didn¡¯t mean it to be.

 Chapter Seventeen: Landlord

    They¡¯d gone as a group to the adventurers. It was odd seeing how Wolfhand¡¯s people moved. It was similar to the drills Ratface¡¯s mother had drilled but the difference was in style. Bearclaw had always preferred to have a series of staggered scouts ahead with her main force trailing behind. She¡¯d told Ratface that she was just as concerned as what hunted them as well as what they hunted.

    Wolfhand in comparison had his entire group move together. They slipped through the remains of the town with predatory grace. Ratface shuddered. This was the sort of goblins that people feared. This was what an old raider¡¯s party looked like.

    Vin walked through the middle of the town with her hands clasped behind her back. She was humming something to herself. Ratface frowned

    ¡°You seem happy,¡± said Ratface.

    ¡°For someone whose father just died you mean?¡± Vin asked. She smiled as Ratface looked away.

    ¡°My father died years ago. This will just be a very late burial.¡±

    They made it to the square the adventures had fought in. In this spot only it was still dark. The adventurers were still huddled around the fountain, and they tensed as the goblins climbed onto the rooves around them. Ratface noticed how many crossbows the group had. She really needed to get her own one.

    In the middle of the square Abigail sat on a chair she¡¯d somehow produced. Halvin rested at her feet. The elf just looked like an elf now. No horrific snakes on his shoulders, no anger wafting off him. Just a fallen elf. Vin stopped upon seeing her father, but the rest of the group kept getting into position. Abigail¡¯s eyes swept the group until she found Ratface and gave her a tired smile. A smile that left her face upon seeing Vin.

    ¡°I suppose I shouldn¡¯t be surprised to see his daughter here after all of this.¡±

    ¡°You know me?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve met, when you first tried to get people to attack this place and Lurian forbade you to do so. One wonders what has changed.¡±A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

    ¡°Time,¡± said Vin. She walked over and knelt by her father. She found his hand with her own and held it for a moment.

    Ratface took the opportunity to look around the rest of the place. It was cleaner than she¡¯d thought it¡¯d be. What was left of all the villagers was faint scraps of cloth. The many-faced goddess had taken them with her when she left. Ratface shuddered, she hoped she¡¯d never have to see that thing again. Only Halvin remained here. Ratface wondered if that was a result of his elven heritage or due to Ratface and Abigail severing his connection. At least it gave Vin something to hold.

    She let go of his hand and stood. She pulled a small roll of parchment out and unravelled it. The fact that Abigail tensed didn¡¯t suggest anything good.

    ¡°With the last of the inhabitants of Halvin¡¯s rest gone, it falls to me as the sole heir to reclaim this area. These goblins are my personal guard and shall not be subject to any raiding. Any adventurers found in the area will be considered a threat and removed.¡±

    The adventurers looked like they were going to object. That was before Wolfhand barked an order and Ratface heard the shift of all the goblins bringing their crossbows up. They backed down real fast after that.

    ¡°Halvin¡¯s rest will be considered a territory of Lurian. As such, Lurian laws around goblins will be strictly enforced. Without an approved license by the local lord, none of you may attack them without facing repercussion.¡±

    The few adventurers that still had weapons out quickly put them away. Vin smiled.

    ¡°You are all currently trespassing I¡¯m afraid. Leave.¡±

    The adventures started to amble away. Ratface frowned as her own group came to join them.

    ¡°I thought I told you to clear their names,¡± she said.

    ¡°I did better than that. I gave them a safe spot.¡±

    ¡°More like a prison,¡± said Abigail, ¡°if you don¡¯t think they¡¯ll be surprise patrols after a landgrab like this, then you¡¯re none too bright.¡± She looked up at Vin, her hand held up to cover the light that was beginning to peak through.

    ¡°When did the last citizen of this area die out?¡±

    ¡°About five years ago. We had to spend that time confirming.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re okay with your father being used as a bargaining chip?¡± Ratface asked. Vin¡¯s face soured at that. When she finally responded it was with a tight voice.

    ¡°This way got my father freed. Not all of us can be so lucky as a goblin to ignore politics.¡± Ratface didn¡¯t appreciate the dig, but Vin held up her hand, silencing her.

    ¡°One last part of our deal. I have a goblin to tell you about. Follow me to the manor while these adventurers leave.¡±

    Ratface hissed under her breath. This was actually nice for an elf, that she¡¯d keep her deal at all. She still didn¡¯t like being treated like a servant. She wondered how Wolfhand put up with it.

    She still followed the elf. It was the only lead she had about the survivors of her tribe.

 Chapter Eighteen: Information and The Future

    The manor was the first house apart from the cottage that wasn¡¯t derelict. Ratface stepped on the soft rug on the floor and looked at the paintings and other valuables around the place. Abigail had told her this place had been completely looted and she couldn¡¯t imagine adventurers respecting a place just because a lord had lived there.

    She got her answer a few moments later when she found several suits of armour lying on the floor. The local lord must have had their guards locked in the manor with them. Ratface wondered why they hadn¡¯t gone out to join the rest, some lingering thought following orders from the past maybe.

    Vin interrupted her musing by walking past to open the door into a more relaxed setting. It was a tearoom like Claudette had. The difference was this one was covered in spiderwebs and a thick layer of dust. Ratface wanted to cough just looking at it.

    Vin took one look at the room and leaned on the doorframe instead.

    ¡°So, your goblin,¡± she began, ¡°to be candid, I didn¡¯t find her. It was Wolfhand that did. I just happened to meet him there.¡±

    ¡°So why isn¡¯t he here?¡± Ratface asked. She felt a shadow at her back and realised the old goblin had joined them without a word.

    ¡°We found her after a raid. We¡¯d attacked a larger town, and the local militia and adventurers were coming down hard enough we just had to run. In desperation we went into the Butterfly Plains.¡±

    Ratface snorted at the name and the goblin gave her a look.

    ¡°Treat it with more respect little rat, that¡¯s where your little goblin is.¡± He looked troubled. ¡°She didn¡¯t want to come with us, said she was happier alone. She didn¡¯t seem to trust any of us.¡±

    That made sense. If the unnamed goblin didn¡¯t have a glamour in the way like she had, then seeing goblins would¡¯ve been traumatic. It was sobering to think one of her own no longer felt safe around other goblins.

    ¡°She asked after you. If we¡¯d run into a goblin called Ratface. When we told her we hadn¡¯t she ran further into the plains. Fast little thing.¡±If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

    Ah. Well at least that gave Ratface an idea of who it was. The second youngest of the group would be her guess. She¡¯d always been running, and the tribe had been flipping between calling her a rabbit or a deer of some kind. Her heart broke as she realised that her tribe wouldn¡¯t get to name a goblin again. She closed her eyes and let the hurt flow through her. She wouldn¡¯t dishonour their memories by trying to shove this feeling down. When the moment passed, she looked back at the old goblin.

    ¡°Why only tell me now?¡± she asked.

    ¡°That was the deal,¡± he said. Ratface shook her head.

    ¡°That was my deal with the elf. You knew where she was already. Why not tell me?¡± She stressed the word elf when she talked to him. Vin grimaced and left them to the conversation.

    The old wolf watched Ratface for a while. She stood glaring at him.

    ¡°You don¡¯t like Vin,¡± he said.

    ¡°Vin used me to anger a god, and you let her,¡± said Ratface. Wolfhand grimaced at that but didn¡¯t argue her point.

    ¡°Let me ask you something, little rat. Why do you think I agreed to take on Halvin¡¯s rest?¡±

    ¡°You obviously like the elf, she probably just asked.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t do things for free. Vin did ask me to help but you¡¯re only looking at half the picture. This is a Lurian controlled area. The only person who can give them licenses to kill us is Vin. I agreed to help her on the condition that she never give those out.¡±

    Ratface stopped glaring and Wolfhand took that as a sign to keep going.

    ¡°I¡¯m old Ratface. I don¡¯t know how many more years before I make a mistake or just get unlucky. I want my goblins to be safe when that day comes. This was the best way to make that happen.¡±

    ¡°Halvin¡¯s rest is still close to other settlements. They¡¯ll just keep adventurers on the outskirts. You¡¯ve just made a trap for your goblins.¡±

    ¡°Everywhere is a trap for goblins, I¡¯m just trying to make one I control for once,¡± said Wolfhand. It made him look old to say so. He was old as well, and successful. She wondered if all old goblins looked this way eventually. Ratface turned away.

    ¡°I¡¯ll forgive you then, seems you¡¯re doing your best.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± he said. He put a hand on Ratface¡¯s shoulder, and she turned to face him again.

    ¡°One last gift for you Ratface, and some advice.¡± He pulled out a crossbow from his back and handed it to her. She ran her hands over it. It was in good condition and had little wolves carved into the grip.

    ¡°I can¡¯t take your crossbow,¡± she said. She wanted to shut her stupid mouth up; this thing was amazing.

    ¡°Consider it my payment for helping me make my sanctuary. Now for my advice. I heard you saved that young adventurer.¡± He looked her in the eyes and there was judgment there. A ruthlessness that was never really hidden.

    ¡°Mercy is a kindness, but it won¡¯t always work out like it did today. Adventurers are no friends to us.¡± He tapped the crossbow. ¡°I heard you were a pretty good shot so you should already know this; you need to focus on your target if you want to hit it. You should ask yourself what you want from this world, and if saving an adventurer is worth it.¡±

    With that he left her. Ratface stared at the crossbow, and wondered about the future.

 Chapter Nineteen: Wagon Chats

    Ratface sat in the wagon and watched as Alvinshire faded into the distance. She hadn¡¯t gone back into the place after their battle in Halvin¡¯s rest. It was difficult for her to argue she hadn¡¯t been the one to break into the guild when she¡¯d been at the secret mission fighting. At the same time, she and her group were directly responsible for keeping everyone alive. She imagined the guild didn¡¯t like the idea of Lurian and goblins now having a spot on their doorstep, but they probably liked the idea of all of their adventures dead a lot less.

    She had seen them begin preparations for a wall though. Goblins were apparently more of a concern the Emptiness.

    A shiver ran down her spine. She hadn¡¯t been ready for the Emptiness. She certainly hadn¡¯t been ready for dealing with a goddess.

    She¡¯d been so focused on helping Abigail at the time that she hadn¡¯t really had time for the fear to really run through her. Now though, the thought of that thing surrounding her made her hands tremble. She took no comfort that it couldn¡¯t touch her. It had still done so much even separated as it was.

    ¡°I¡¯m surprised the elves pray to her,¡± she mused out loud.

    ¡°They don¡¯t,¡± said Abigail. She was sitting in the back with Ratface out of her armour. It was put into neat piles in front of her as she systematically inspected each piece and recharged it.

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s not entirely true. The elves do pray to her. It¡¯s just their prayer is to keep her asleep rather than wake her up. No elf wants their goddess¡¯s attention.¡±

    She paused on her recharging to fix a rune on her chest plate. She pulled out her grafter and began retracting lines and smoothing where it had broken. Ratface was surprised how little maintenance she had to do. Her fight against Halvin had been brutal and taxing, yet the old knight had held up remarkably well. Ratface focused her eyes and saw how the energy twisted into the armour. It looked like it was coming from all around them. The arcane was confusing to Ratface. It wasn¡¯t as easy to understand as a connection to nature like Tiffany for example. It made her think of Vin¡¯s goblin runes she used.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

    ¡°I saw something strange when I was with the goblins,¡± she said.

    ¡°You mean besides an empty goddess?¡± asked Abigail. She smiled to take the sting out of it.

    ¡°Vin used goblin runes to do magic,¡± said Ratface. Abigail went silent as she finished her chest plate¡¯s repairs.

    ¡°That shouldn¡¯t be possible,¡± she said once she finished.

    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t be possible sums up our journey so far doesn¡¯t it?¡± asked Tiffany from the front. She and Albert were guiding the wagon while Kryssa and Halmir went out and hunted. The two humans had seemed exhausted after the battle and had yet to bounce back as fast as the other two. Once mana had rushed back into Halvin¡¯s rest, Halmir and Kryssa had quickly regained their stamina. The perks of being partly mana Ratface supposed. She couldn¡¯t imagine fighting the Empty had been particularly easy for the two.

    ¡°What¡¯d it do?¡± asked Albert. He was still talking to Ratface which was good, but he still seemed distant. She still owed him a chat.

    ¡°It made us be able to hear around the Empty.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s surprising. There isn¡¯t really any magic that can combat the empty. Most of it is just outlasting,¡± said Abigail.

    ¡°What about that big wave you did at the start of the battle?¡± asked Tiffany.

    ¡°Ah, that. I saturated the area around us in mana. The Emptiness may burn away mana, but it takes time. It¡¯s a common technique when you have a squad of rune knights against the Emptiness.¡±

    They all sat in awed silence as they digested what Abigail had just said. The old woman was basically admitting to fuelling everyone¡¯s spells during that entire fight. It was easy to forget, but Abigail was an old adventurer in a world where old adventurers didn¡¯t really exist. The fact that it took elves to even come close to her just gave Ratface and idea of how terrifyingly strong the old woman was. She wondered how many battles they¡¯d survived because of her presence.

    ¡°Whatever the runes, we¡¯ll test them when we rest for the night. I have a few ideas for our path to the Butterfly Plains and I need to prep you all for that journey.¡±

    It became clear that Abigail didn¡¯t want to talk anymore as she got back to fixing her armour. She didn¡¯t look like she was vulnerable out of it, but Ratface had to admit they did seem to keep finding themselves fighting things bigger than what they were prepared for. Having someone who could go toe to toe with a golem was probably worth a bit of silence now and then.

 Chapter Twenty: Firewood

    It was dark when they finally stopped. A terrible idea really as most of them didn¡¯t have night vision. Ratface watched them all stumble around with some satisfaction. Tiffany was using her plants to stabilise herself which was clever but also felt like cheating to Ratface.

    The bad news was that when the rest realised Ratface was having no problem moving around they left most of the actual camp setup to her. At least it wasn¡¯t so difficult. Enough people had stopped here that there were clear spots to put everything, and she didn¡¯t have to clear anything out. She finished by setting up with the fire and it was only after she realised, she could¡¯ve started with that.

    Kryssa and Halmir arrived suspiciously soon after that with a boar slung between the two of them. Abigail suggested a stew that the rest of them turned down in favour of something they could sink their teeth into. They settled on frying it and Abigail and Albert got to butchering. Ratface took the time to catch up with Tiffany. The two of them talking about nothing important while they waited for the meat to be cooked.

    Albert brought them their plates and sat down next to them. They¡¯d ended up making a steak out of the boar meat and Ratface dug in with relish. It wasn¡¯t particularly spiced but sometimes hunger was all the spice you needed.

    Once they¡¯d all finished eating, Abigail got them all to crowd around as she sketched out a map in the dirt. Ratface shouldn¡¯t have been surprised to see that it was well drawn. It looked like a set of lands kept apart by rivers and one big landmass in-between them.

    ¡°The Butterfly Plains are this area in the middle. You may notice that it¡¯s surrounded by three different countries. This is not an accident,¡± she began, ¡°these countries all have names which we¡¯ll get into later but for now you only need to know one thing. Each country represents a different race¡¯s interest.¡± She pointed between the three. ¡°Humans, Elves, Demons.¡±

    Tiffany¡¯s eyes widened.

    ¡°An entire country of Demons?¡±

    ¡°There was a breach decades ago. I¡¯m surprised you don¡¯t know about the other countries,¡± said Albert.

    ¡°Not a lot of need for a farmer to know about world politics,¡± she said. She gave him a wry grin and he looked away embarrassed.

    ¡°The main thing to keep in mind is the area is going to become tamer the closer we get to these spots. We¡¯re going to see less monsters and more guards. This is especially important to you two,¡± said Abigail. She pointed at Halmir and Ratface. ¡°Out in the sticks people know real monsters to your kind but the closer we get to these cities the more wary of you they¡¯ll be. You need to be with one of us at all times.¡±

    Ratface grumbled and Halmir turned into a rat in protest. Abigail gave him a smile that was all teeth.

    ¡°How many humans do you think enjoy seeing a rat in the street?¡± she asked. He squeaked at her but didn¡¯t argue the point. ¡°Good. For now, that¡¯s it. We¡¯re still while away but we should keep it in mind.¡± With a wave of her hand, she dismissed them, and the group went back to mingling. Ratface kept sitting with Tiffany and Albert. It didn¡¯t escape her notice that Albert still seemed distant.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to get more firewood,¡± he said eventually. He stalked off into the night. Tiffany and Ratface glanced at the nearly full firewood they had.

    ¡°I guess he¡¯s feeling restless,¡± said Tiffany.

    ¡°I get the feeling he¡¯s avoiding me.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not about you, it¡¯s about him,¡± said Tiffany.

    Ratface hummed to herself. She stood up and went trailing after him. It may be about him, but it definitely involved her.

    She walked into the dark until she found Albert. She hadn¡¯t come up with what she wanted to say yet, so she just watched him.

    Albert had grown a lot in the time they¡¯d been together. He was already a lot taller than he had been and his armour was beginning to be too tight on him. They¡¯d have to get him some new stuff soon. He looked a lot like his father in some ways. Sleek and dangerous. Yet his face was still soft and thoughtful. She wondered if he got that from his mother. She knew she herself didn¡¯t look like her mother at all. She apparently took after her father.

    Albert bent down and grabbed a few more sticks. He was already holding a pile of them and kept searching for more. Wait had he actually come out here to look for firewood? One thing she did notice is he had absolutely no problem walking around in the dark.

    ¡°You totally could¡¯ve helped with the camp set up,¡± she said. Albert looked up and gave her a wolfish grin.

    ¡°You never think about the fact that my family is hunters huh?¡± he asked.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t cross my mind a lot,¡± Ratface admitted. She walked over and handed him a stick he¡¯d been reaching for.

    ¡°Is that why you¡¯ve been so distant lately? Thinking about your family?¡±

    He took the branch and added it to the pile.

    ¡°Sort of,¡± he said. He set the pile down and found a log to sit down on. Ratface came and sat next to them, and they stared into the dark. She couldn¡¯t make out colour in the dark so a lot of the time the world became blurred edges. Like a dream you could walk through.

    ¡°I never thought I¡¯d be going to the big cities,¡± he said eventually, ¡°I planned on sticking close to home. Going on adventures and just living my life. I liked my home ya know?¡±

    ¡°Then I came along,¡± said Ratface.

    ¡°I don¡¯t regret helping you. I think it was the right decision to make then, and I still do,¡± said Albert. He grabbed one of the sticks and idly swished it in front of him. ¡°I didn¡¯t regret fighting the elf either, I didn¡¯t even regret helping at Halvin¡¯s rest.¡±

    Ratface smiled at that. That he¡¯d still turned up each time held a special place in her heart.

    ¡°But doing all that? It¡¯s going against forces that heroes would hesitate to fight, and I¡¯m just a kid.¡±

    He turned to look at her and he looked lost.

    ¡°Spending time with you it always feels like the right decision, but I look back and I can¡¯t help but wonder how I got here. I worry I¡¯m going to end up against the world without ever having made the decision to do so.¡±

    He gestured at her. ¡°For you this is inevitable, and I get why Tiffany sticks around, but for me? I didn¡¯t choose this. I know that¡¯s not what you want to hear. I know how it makes me look. But I¡¯m just a kid.¡±

    Ratface looked out at the forest. She didn¡¯t know how to respond to that. A part of her wanted to say that she never got to choose to join. That she couldn¡¯t just put this down. But it wasn¡¯t quite true, was it? She could have stayed in Claudette¡¯s village. At least part of her was choosing this.

    ¡°You know I never thought I¡¯d even leave Lurian. Just another goblin that lived until some adventurer had a permit. Then I found myself in a sewer surrounded by adventurers who wanted me dead. Different location same fate.¡± She turned to look at Albert. ¡°And then you came to my defence, you even stood up to your father for me. It¡¯s not something a goblin ever expects, to be saved by an adventurer.¡± She grabbed Alberts hand. It was calloused from all the fighting, but still soft. ¡°Don¡¯t ignore me because you¡¯re scared that I¡¯ll judge you for leaving. Follow me as long as you want to, and when you¡¯re gone, I promise you¡¯ll still be a hero in my eyes.¡± She smiled at him, and he gave her a shy smile back.

    ¡°You think so highly of me,¡± he mumbled before looking away.

    ¡°You deserve to be thought highly of.¡±

    The two of them sat there in the dark together, peering into it searching for their futures. They couldn¡¯t see it yet, but right at this moment? It didn¡¯t look so scary.

 Chapter Twenty-One: Rune Roads

    The next week or so was quiet which was a nice change of pace. Ratface enjoyed spending time with her friends without some goal right in front of them. She¡¯d been so focused on one task to the other later that just walking with the wagon was a nice change of pace.

    It was also boring, but Ratface figured it couldn¡¯t all be positive. At least things were better with her and Albert. There was still a little sadness there knowing that their paths would eventually break apart, but Ratface had faith that they¡¯d join up when they needed to. That was for a future her to worry about. The current her was instead engaged at looking at roads.

    A while ago they had come into the human lands properly, the way she could tell? All the roads were paved. Not just paved either but covered in runes. She recognised them as for maintenance and cleaning.

    ¡°Welcome to the lands of The Lady, my old home,¡± said Abigail. She looked down at the roads fondly.

    ¡°It¡¯s nice of them to pave the main road,¡± said Tiffany.

    ¡°Oh, this isn¡¯t a main road, this level of quality makes it look like it might be a hunting trail?¡± said Abigail.

    The rest of the wagon stopped and looked at the knight.

    ¡°Are you saying every path is like this?¡± asked Albert.

    ¡°If it is a sanctioned path in The Lady¡¯s lands, then yes it will be.¡±

    Ratface¡¯s eyes widened. In terms of statements in power, this was a definitive one. A reminder to their neighbours that all of their land was accessible. The sheer amount of rune casters they must have.

    ¡°How do they keep it all powered?¡± Ratface asked. She focused on the road itself but just saw a thick line of mana coming off of it. Abigail looked pleased at the question.

    ¡°It¡¯s quite clever, one of the first great projects. Most of our cities were built on or around places of great mana. The main roads have additional runes to direct the mana around the country which paths likes these can tap into.¡±

    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t the mana run out?¡± asked Albert. Ratface thought she heard Kryssa scoff, but the girl looked innocent when Ratface looked at her. Abigail gave the glamour a hard look.

    ¡°Another good question. Mana can¡¯t really run out. As a natural caster you have limits but that¡¯s just what your body can take. Similarly, what I can draw and store from the world isn¡¯t limitless either. The beauty of this set up is it is a perfect circuit. There¡¯s always mana flowing through and the constant circulation means whenever it¡¯s ¡®used¡¯ it¡¯s pulled back into the current. In theory it could be stopped, but you¡¯d have to do the equivalent of drinking an ocean in one gulp.¡±This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    ¡°That¡¯s amazing,¡± said Ratface, ¡°I¡¯ve never seen anything like that before.¡±

    ¡°Yes, you have,¡± said Kryssa, her face grim. Ratface looked at her in confusion then blinked as she realised the glamour was right. It was from the memories the glamour had kept from her originally. She remembered the feeling of something in the air in the elven city. It had only stopped when she¡¯d gone into goblin lands.

    ¡°They kept us away from mana,¡± said Ratface. The glamour grimaced and pat her shoulder. Ratface sat reeling. She didn¡¯t understand why the elves would even bother keeping them cut off from something like that.

    The others looked at her in concern, but Ratface waved it off.

    ¡°Elves hurting goblins isn¡¯t a new concept for me,¡± she said. If anything that made them look at her with more concern. A goblin would¡¯ve laughed. Halmir jumped onto her shoulder in his rat form. She gave his nose a boop.

    ¡°How far is the closest town?¡± Ratface asked in a desperate attempt to move the conversation forward.

    ¡°About another week,¡± said Abigail, ¡°hopefully they¡¯ll have some warm clothes we can buy too. It gets cold in the central lands.

    <hr>

    A week later and they found themselves looking at not a town. Well, there might be one, Ratface mused, it was difficult to tell behind the checkpoint. It was a blue wall of mana. Abigail looked at it with a frown.

    ¡°This is new,¡± she said.

    They got closer and the wall flashed. Abigail paused and a voice rang out.

    ¡°State your name and business.¡±

    ¡°Abigail, I¡¯m just passing through. I have a group of new adventurers with me.¡±

    ¡°Understood, scanning now.¡±

    ¡°Wait,¡± said Abigail, but she was too late. A blue flash covered them all followed by part of the wall covering in runes and going red. Ratface edged behind the knight.

    ¡°You have a goblin and a magical creature in your party,¡± said the voice. Ratface noticed as she started to glow red.

    ¡°I¡¯m no creature,¡± Kryssa hissed from behind her. Ratface looked back to see she was glowing too.

    ¡°That¡¯s why I told you to wait,¡± said Abigail. She¡¯d stayed calm during all of this and Ratface suspected her presence was all that was keeping them from finding out what those runes did.

    ¡°The goblin is a registered adventurer, and the creature is a sentient spirit. I vouch for both of them.¡± She pulled her sword from her back and stabbed it into the wall. The runes disappeared and the two of them stopped glowing. Kryssa still looked outraged, but Ratface tugged her behind the knight.

    ¡°Authority acknowledged Rune Knight. Unfortunately, we can¡¯t let you in.¡± Now that Abigail had vouched for them, the voice seemed more relaxed. They even seemed apologetic.

    ¡°Why not?¡±

    ¡°The area is currently under quarantine. A magical creature similar to yours is in the are and this border will remain closed until it¡¯s found.¡±

    ¡°What sort of creature?¡± asked Abigail.

    ¡°A shifting spirit.¡±

    Abigail grimaced.

    ¡°Well, that complicates things,¡± she said. She turned back to the group. ¡°Well, how about we sort out this problem ourselves then shall we?¡± she asked.

    Ratface sighed, another horrible creature to deal with. She shouldn¡¯t have called the journey boring.

 Chapter Twenty-Two: Shifting

    The plan they¡¯d come up with was a terrible one. After the announcement they were hunting the thing, Abigail had left the rest of them to plan how to find it.

    ¡°When a shifting spirit is formed, it¡¯ll form with some innate knowledge of the area it¡¯s from. If I¡¯m right, this one came in with knowledge of the kingdom¡¯s rune knights. So long as I¡¯m around, it won¡¯t reveal itself.¡±

    It made a twisted sense to Ratface. The more Abigail had taught them about the spirit, the more she realised it wasn¡¯t a stupid thing. It had the cunning of a scavenger. It wouldn¡¯t attack a group of them together because it lacked the strength to do so.

    Thus, their terrible plan, they¡¯d split up.

    It made sense, which is why Ratface had agreed to it despite the risk. The first reason had been that while the thing was cunning, it wasn¡¯t clever. It didn¡¯t actually have a mind of its own. Shifting spirits were formed when magical cores were improperly disposed of in a high mana density area. In a land with such a powerful circuit, that was all but a certainty. Apparently, they had specific laws about disposal for this very reason.

    Ratface had compared them to an invasive fungus until Tiffany had objected to that.

    ¡°Fungi have a huge mind, they¡¯re constantly talking to each other,¡± she¡¯d said in a huff. The perspective of a druid, Ratface supposed.

    She smiled at the thought as she walked around. She¡¯d manager to surround herself with quite the group of odd talents.

    The ¡®woods¡¯ close to the quarantined town wasn¡¯t like the forests she was used to. It felt too curated, too easy to walk through. She hadn¡¯t found herself having to do the meandering walk most bush caused. The result of being in such a tame land.

    It did make when the spirit started to target her obvious, however. She found that more forest began to pop up in front of her. Little bushes and blocked trees forcing her to take a path that no doubt pulled her ever further from her friends. The spirit was feeding off of Ratface¡¯s subconscious expectations of what a forest should look like to create illusions around her. Using the ripple that she left in the aether around her according to Abagail. It wasn¡¯t a proven theory, but adventures all agreed that was how the spirit worked. Isabelle had studied them extensively to get better at illusions.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    The result was that Ratface found herself walking through trees native to Lurian. She smiled as she walked and watched as the spirit struggled to erase the presence of grass around them. Goblins and Elves both worked hard to keep the invasive species out of their country. One of the few things they were united in.

    She rounded a corner that had been artificially designed by the illusion of ponga, a type of fern from Lurian. In Lurian they were often used to line paths, the silver on the bottom of the fern shining in the moonlight. If she didn¡¯t know she was being pulled away by a shifting spirit, she might¡¯ve followed them unconsciously.

    The spirit was sitting in the middle of the clearing and Ratface found the first problem with their plan. They had known that it would look like something familiar to them, but it¡¯d be too uncanny for them not to notice, this one for instance was sitting with its legs crossed too tightly. They¡¯d assumed by being aware of that knowledge they¡¯d be able to spot it.

    Ratface hadn¡¯t considered the form it¡¯d take. The strange little goblin uncrossed its legs when it saw her and waved. It stood up and began walking to her.

    Ratface knew that it wasn¡¯t a goblin, logically, but she was struck with a sudden dread as she realised that she would have to kill this. It got closer and Ratface backed away in fear. Her whole body rebelled at the idea of attacking the thing. It was all she could do to keep herself backing away. Why was she worried, a part of her whispered, a goblin wouldn¡¯t hurt her.

    She focused her eyes but that didn¡¯t help. It showed her that the creature was made of mana but all that meant was that it was a goblin of magic. They didn¡¯t have these monsters in Lurian and only now did it occur to Ratface how much a problem they¡¯d be for goblins to deal with specifically. She could feel the last spell of goblins curling around her. She had her knife out but the very thought of attacking the creature made her want to hurl. She backed up until she felt the unyielding wall of a tree. The spirit had cornered her.

    This thing walked towards her at a leisurely pace. It occurred to Ratface it probably couldn¡¯t walk faster if it wanted to maintain the form. She shook in place. It was going to kill her. It was going to kill her, or she was going to stab it and lose some crucial part of herself.

    A hand shot through the spirits chest. It gurgled and looked down at the green hand holding it in place by its core. The hand squeezed until there was a mighty crack. The spirit made a popping noise and disappeared.

    Ratface looked at her saviour. Holding the core was a tall goblin.

    He had dainty features, like an elf.

 Chapter Twenty-Three: A Familiar Face

    Ratface looked at the goblin. His fine features scrunched in through as he rolled the broken core through his hands. She focused on him and sure enough he burned with mana.

    It was the glamour from before, the one that had man-handled her, Kryssa, and Halmir. She tried edging away while he focused on the core. Without the core as proof, they couldn¡¯t get rid of the quarantine, but at least she could leave with her life.

    ¡°Stop,¡± he said. He turned to her and smiled at amusement when he saw the knife she was holding.

    ¡°Are you going to use that this time?¡± he asked.

    ¡°I might,¡± said Ratface. A bluff and by the condescending smile he gave her, he knew it too.

    ¡°Let¡¯s cut through the part where I threaten you and you act like a cornered animal shall we? I¡¯m not here for you.¡±

    He took a step back so that she had an escape route. Ratface frowned. Last time they had fought, his whole objective had been to capture her, so what was the game here. She moved out of her cornered spot and glanced behind her, an easy escape now. The glamour was throwing the core up and down as he watched her.

    ¡°So, what are you here for?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Elf stuff. This whole quarantine thing is making that difficult.¡±

    ¡°So go deliver the core and be on your way,¡± said Ratface. The glamour stiffened for a moment and Ratface grinned. ¡°I¡¯m guessing officials being aware of you isn¡¯t something you want huh?¡±

    The glamour stopped throwing the core and frowned at Ratface. It warmed her heart to annoy him like this.

    ¡°Something like that.¡±

    ¡°Alright then give me the core and we¡¯ll be on our way,¡± said Ratface.

    ¡°So you can tell the guards that I¡¯m here? No, I don¡¯t think so.¡± He stepped closer. She tried to run but he grabbed her before she could. She flinched when he did, and the glamour let go like he¡¯d been burned.

    ¡°I need you to promise not to tell anyone I¡¯m here. Not even your little group.¡±

    Ratface rubbed her wrist. It wasn¡¯t that he had grabbed her wrist too hard, no, it had been the opposite. It reminded her of how Abigail had grabbed her, how her mother had. Too gentle for an enemy.

    ¡°Why shouldn¡¯t I tell them?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Because I don¡¯t have to give you this core, can you afford to wait?¡± he said. He looked a little rattled and Ratface eyed him curiously. Different than last time, less violent. Maybe glamours were prone to mood swings?Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

    ¡°Can I afford to have you following me?¡± Ratface shot back. She took a step further away from him. The glamour ran his fingers through his hair in frustration.

    ¡°Fine. How about a trade then?¡±

    ¡°What could you possibly give me?¡±

    ¡°Information. Something that will help you on your quest to save you lost children.¡±

    ¡°Deal, now tell me the information and we¡¯ll call it square.¡±

    ¡°Do you think I¡¯m stupid? No, there is a city that you¡¯ll come to in the future, Waterveil, when you go there go to their gardens and look for a statue of a fish swimming the wrong way. I¡¯ll meet you there.¡±

    Ratface tilted her head. She was annoyed that her word wasn¡¯t enough, but she supposed he trusted her as much as she trusted him. His requirement felt like a trap, but Ratface also knew he worked for a Lurian master. If anyone was going to have information on her village¡¯s group, it would probably be him.

    ¡°Fine, you have a deal,¡± said Ratface. She held out her hand for the core and he chucked it to her. She hated that it landed perfectly in her hand. Stupid talented people.

    Ratface turned away without a word and started to walk back to their camp. She paused when he called out to her.

    ¡°A word of warning,¡± he called out, ¡°be careful with using your eyes. Most may not be able to see it, but if anyone can it¡¯d be in the land of their lady.¡± He¡¯d left before she could ask him anymore, including how he knew about her eyes. Kryssa hadn¡¯t been able to notice anything, so it wasn¡¯t glamour related.

    She made her way back to their camp. It was only Abigail there and the knight looked up when she saw her. Ratface pulled out the core and chucked it over to her which she caught easily.

    ¡°You look rattled,¡± she said. Ratface came and sat next to her, leaning against the other woman¡¯s armour.

    ¡°The shifter was shaped like a goblin,¡± said Ratface. Abigail¡¯s sucked in breath told her she understood. ¡°It cornered me, but I got lucky, and something hit it from behind. If it hadn¡¯t, I¡¯d be dead.¡± She looked over at the knight, the image she¡¯d seen with the empty goddess had shown the woman surrounded by the dead. Despite that, Abigail was kind, so ready to reach out. Yet Ratface didn¡¯t doubt she¡¯d strike someone down if they crossed her. She¡¯d seen that when the adventurers had threatened her.

    ¡°How do you do it?¡± she asked, ¡°how do you cut down someone with the same face as you?¡±

    The knight looked off in thought. She drummed her hand against the armour on her leg. It made a soft tip tap like rain under a roof. It was a safe noise and Ratface leaned into it.

    ¡°I could tell you that it never gets easy, but it does. The first time you¡¯re in that situation it¡¯ll take true desperation, by the twentieth, it¡¯s just an unfortunate reality.¡± The drumming continued as the knight looked into the past. ¡°I could tell you that some people deserve to die. That might be true, but what a grim way to look at the world, that anyone is deserving of it.¡± She looked over to Ratface. ¡°When you fought that Rat noble in the sewer, you were prepared to kill him right?¡±

    ¡°It was him or me,¡± she said. She went to look away, but the knight stopped her.

    ¡°Except it wasn¡¯t just that was it? It was him or all of you. You fought as much to protect them as you did yourself.¡± She sighed, ¡°Perhaps in defence of others is a good enough reason to kill. I think that sometimes, a necessary evil to protect my own. Still, I envy you that you have not, and I hope you never have to. Don¡¯t strive for moments like that not to hurt. Keep looking for another way, if you can. It¡¯ll be harder, but perhaps you¡¯ll live a life freer of regrets, if it never becomes too easy an option.¡±

    The two of them sat at the camp waiting for the others. Abigail kept the drumming up and they sat under a rain that wasn¡¯t there.

 Chapter Twenty-Four: Magic Town

    Their party had gasped when the wall came down. The town was unlike any they¡¯d seen before. They should have reasoned that by the roads, in hindsight.

    The first thing Ratface noticed was the town didn¡¯t have a physical wall. Instead lines of runes surrounded the edge of the place. That must have been what created the blue wall. It seemed wasteful but Ratface figured it was another statement like the roads had been. Here was a nation of power.

    The town itself had buildings that looked similar to the villages she¡¯d seen, sort of. It was like she¡¯d always been seeing inferior versions. These ones were all stone for one thing and there was no spot for chimneys on them.

    ¡°People use runes for heat instead of logs,¡± Abigail explained. The streets were littered with lanterns that lit up without fire as well. Ratface¡¯s eyebrows raised, so this is what a town with access to so much mana looked like. She looked around and noticed the guards had on lighter armour than she¡¯d seen in most. It was all fabric apart from the buttons which had small engravings on them. She bet if she tried to stab one that that would stop it.

    ¡°How have they not conquered everything with all this?¡±

    ¡°Resources partly, something like this expands slowly. The other part is their neighbours.¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°The demons are no slouch, and you know the elves¡¯ influence is extensive.¡±

    ¡°But elves don¡¯t have a system like this.¡±

    ¡°They also have the highest volume of land that they own, and it will fight you the entire way, even Claudette¡¯s Forest pales in comparison. It¡¯s why you need the license to enter their lands.¡±

    Ratface hummed. She knew that elves were powerful, but it was one thing to know that and quite another to see a land with this sort of power be wary of them.

    ¡°How did we beat Amaranth?¡± she mused.

    ¡°She was young,¡± said Abigail. It made her look sad for a moment, but she shrugged and moved on. It was odd being reminded that for as kind as the knight was, a graveyard stood in her shadow.

    The rest of the group didn¡¯t hear Abigail and Ratface¡¯s conversation, they were too buys checking out the sights. Halmir had gone off with Albert and the two were haggling with a store owner over a sweet treat. The street vendors looked the same as elsewhere, minus the smoke of a stove. Carts truly were the ultimate street food container. Kryssa and Tiffany were looking through at two different shops that were close together. Tiffany was looking at the different seeds available while Kryssa was looking at different outfits and changing into them. The glamour had no intention of buying those, Ratface knew, she was just going to update her image with whatever outfit she liked.

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    Abigail walked and joined Kryssa. The shopkeeper looked delighted to have collected another customer. Ratface as the only one still wandering got some odd looks. She was sure to keep her helmet on, but it did still look like a rat on it. At some point she should really give this to Halmir.

    She¡¯d put on gloves and covered her green skin when they entered but all that did was make her look like she had something to hide. Ratface smiled.

    ¡°Well, they¡¯re not wrong,¡± she said.

    ¡°Excuse me, are you a squire?¡± asked a voice from behind her. Ratface turned around and found herself looking at a child. She was proud to say that she was taller than them. The little girl had blonde hair like most people in the town. Her eyes were too wide in Ratface¡¯s opinion. They made her look like a goblin child.

    ¡°I¡¯m an adventurer,¡± she told the kid. The girl¡¯s eyes widened.

    ¡°Wow we don¡¯t have that here; we only have the Lady¡¯s servants.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re like really gaudy knights,¡± said Ratface. The girl giggled at that. Her eyes looked a little red and crusty. Ah, she¡¯d been crying. Ratface looked around and realised the girl was alone.

    ¡°You parents aren¡¯t around? Do you need a-¡± She paused as she tried to come up with the right word, ¡°servant of the lady.¡±

    ¡°Of the Lady,¡± said the girl, somehow hearing the lack of capitalisation by Ratface. ¡°I¡¯ll keep looking.¡± She went to turn away, but Ratface touched her shoulder before she could. There were probably other people could help this girl, but the eyes made her feel responsible.

    ¡°It¡¯s an adventurer¡¯s job to help people too, let me help you in the Lady¡¯s absence.¡± She held her hand out to the girl and after a moments hesitation the girl took it.

    She dragged Ratface through the streets and it was only after it was too late that Ratface considered the girl could be luring her into a trap. She¡¯d already separated her from her friends. A thing Abigail had been very clear shouldn¡¯t happen.

    She led Ratface into an alley which only made Ratface more suspicious. The girl stopped before the paranoia could get too much for Ratface. She¡¯d stopped just before the alley ended. She held her hand up to her face then motioned for Ratface to look around. Ratface did so and found herself staring at a nice establishment with some decidedly out of place people hanging around it. The people outside the place were still well dressed but made it look dangerous. Ratface couldn¡¯t put her fingers on it exactly, it was like their outfits were sharp or something.

    ¡°My mum¡¯s in there,¡± the girl whispered. Ratface looked at the place again. She groaned internally. This is exactly the sort of problem Abigail had warned her not to get into and yet here she was.

    ¡°It looks pretty well guarded, we might need more people,¡± said Ratface. The girl shifted in place and Ratface glanced at her. ¡°What is it?¡± she asked.

    ¡°I overheard them talking, they said how lucky it was they found my mum so quickly or they would have had to leave her. They said they¡¯re moving out today. You¡¯ll help her wont you?¡± The little girl looked up at Ratface with her wide goblin-like eyes. Ratface knew she was done for.

    ¡°Go and get the knight I was walking around with,¡± she said. The girl nodded and went running which left Ratface alone with the problem.

    She looked at the place and winced. She could do this right? Just had to get out a woman from a heavily guarded building.

    She¡¯d ask what could go wrong but there were too many options to count.

 Chapter Twenty-Five: Infiltration

    Ratface was delighted to see that even in a heavily guarded place like this, they still failed to watch the roof. She¡¯d climbed up the building in the alleyway to look at the shops one and she¡¯d yet to see anyone move up there. In an ideal situation she¡¯d wait until dark. Unfortunately, this wasn¡¯t an ideal situation. She had no idea of knowing when these people would leave other than soon. With that thought in place she sprinted and leapt onto the other roof. She hit the roof hard and rolled to stop her momentum. Ratface winced, that was louder than she¡¯d wanted it to be. She kept low and listened out for anyone running up to check what that noise was. The building stayed blissfully silent. Ratface let out a sigh and looked for a way down. This roof was incredibly bland. It didn¡¯t even have an opening up here. She looked around in confusion. Rooves always had openings in them. She was about to give up when she saw a small latch someone had attempted to hide under some fake tiles. Existential crisis avoided, she rushed over and carefully removed the tiles and opened the latch. She stuck her head down and had a look.

    The hallway she was looking into was dingy and not well kept. It looked like mildew was making its way in. Hmm. It must have been an abandoned building before they¡¯d set up shop. She wouldn¡¯t have thought a town like this would let such a thing.

    Overall terrible quality aside, the main thing she notices was the hallway was empty. She made sure her rat helmet was secure and climbed down.

    Looking at the hallway right way up she could see the stairwell that went to the lower floors. She peeked into the closest door to her and found a room lit up by a grimy window. There was a bed and some clothes strew around, they looked too good to be prisoners. That was probably good, anyone this messy clearly wasn¡¯t leaving any time soon.

    She eased the door closed and walked towards the stairwell. If the humans were keeping their prisoners anywhere, they¡¯d be keeping them in the basement, humans always kept the things they wanted to hide down there. It might be a generalisation on her part but she¡¯d yet to meet one that didn¡¯t. Goblins would never put something in a basement because most of them didn¡¯t own one.

    She crept down the stairs, being sure to check her weight on each one so that it wouldn¡¯t creak and give her away. Close to the bottom she heard the soft hum of voices. They sounded like they weren¡¯t directly down there, and a quick look around confirmed it for her. The noise seemed to be coming from a main door. She walked over to the door and looked through and could see the group was in a table in the middle of a room. There were a lot of other tables around and each one had a spot for candles. Ah this must be one of those restaurants she¡¯d heard of. Looked like business hadn¡¯t been so good if they were shut down. She looked through another door which had a big kitchen to confirm her thoughts.

    Now, where would they put the basement in a place like this? She would have thought it was close to the stairs, but she was here, and nothing was here. Why were there so many rooms upstairs as well? Maybe it was an inn mixed with a restaurant?

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    Her musing didn¡¯t help her work out where to go but it was wasting time. She looked at the two doors available to her. The kitchen seemed empty which was what decided her. She wasn¡¯t so cocky that she¡¯d go fight a group she didn¡¯t even know the size of.

    She slipped into the kitchen and kept low. She was looking for stairs or another room and having no luck until she got deeper in and found a door with a latch on it. It felt cool to the touch. She had a bad feeling about this.

    She yanked the door open and found a bunch of people sitting on the floor and shivering. They were still conscious but most of them look drowsy.

    ¡°Who?¡± asked one. She looked like an older version of the little girl and Ratface let out a sigh of relief. She stepped forward and was greeted with a collective flinch. It was only now that she was further into the room she realised it wasn¡¯t just humans in here. There were all sorts of races looking at her, even an orc of all things. She raised a hand to her lips before they could talk. They all looked at her scared and drowsy. She needed them alert and to do that she had to give them a little bit of hope, so she lied.

    ¡°I¡¯m a squire of the Lady,¡± she said, ¡°my knight is on the way, but we need to get you all out of here before it¡¯s too late.¡±

    That managed to get some life back into them and they stood up and got moving after her. They made their way back through the kitchen and Ratface gestured up the stairs. There was about ten of them so she made a hurry motion before they could get too many ideas. Tiffany had taught her that once you got one sheep moving, they¡¯d all follow so she figured it was the same. The orc woman went first and sure enough the rest followed. Ratface looked at the door where the people were talking and considered blocking it before deciding it was too much noise.

    They hurried upstairs and between Ratface and the orc they started to get people climbing up. It was slow going with them all being stiff from the cold but one by one they were getting up, eventually it was just the orc and her left and the rest were helping the orc up.

    Suddenly there was running from downstairs. It was too close for Ratface to do anything. She shoved the orc up all the way and hissed at them to close the latch which they did. A moment later, a rough looking kid came up the stairs.

    ¡°Oh man, I totally forgot to pack, they¡¯re going to ki-¡±, he stopped when he saw Ratface. He was about to yell when she pulled out her crossbow and trained it on him.

    ¡°No talking or this bolt is going through your chest,¡± she warned.

    He looked at her with a sly smile.

    ¡°A knight wouldn¡¯t shoot an unarmed man,¡± he said.

    ¡°Adventurer,¡± she shot back.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have jurisdiction here,¡± he said. Ratface shrugged.

    ¡°That may be true, but should you really be arguing with the one with the crossbow?¡± Her hand rested on the trigger, and he held his up. When it was clear that he wasn¡¯t going to scream Ratface gestured for him to get into the room. She was going to wedge it shut with her knife once he was in. He moved towards the door slowly and Ratface was sure to keep a safe distance between them. She gestured him inside and he went in then closed the door after himself. Ratface let out a breath. Now she just needed to find a new way out and she was home free.

    The kid shouted from the room outside and there was an answering call a moment later followed by hurried steps. Ratface groaned to herself. She¡¯d forgotten about the window.

 Chapter Twenty-Six: Improvising

    Ratface had a moment to plan, follow the girls up the hatch or make her own way out. A part of her wanted to scream at the woman to open the latch and grab her, to take the risk and fight against the people that had captured them while they were trapped on a roof. It wouldn¡¯t help though. She¡¯d gotten a look at them and none of them looked up to fighting. All she was doing was looking for a herd to hide in.

    That decided her in the end. She wasn¡¯t a sheep or a cow, she was a rat.

    She did what many rats had done before her and scurried away from the loud noise. In terms of options available to her there weren¡¯t a lot. She made a snap decision and went for the door furthest away from the stairs. Her thought process wasn¡¯t really more than, ¡®sound of footsteps bad¡¯, but given her lack of information that was good enough. The best room would be the furthest away anyway, right?

    She ran to the door handle and pulled. It twisted thank goodness and she opened the door and ran in. She saw the people from the kitchen run up the stairs and point her out. She slammed the door and looked for something heavy to put in the way. There was a chair which she jammed under the doorhandle then looked around some more. Aha there was a desk she could chuck in front as well. She shoved the desk over. It screeched as she pushed it into place and a few papers fell along the floor. They looked important and she went to look at them before a thud at the door brought her back to where she was. The thudding grew louder as people pushed against the door but with the jammed chair and desk they were struggling. Still, it was only a matter of time before they realised, they could just break the door instead.

    A look around the room confirmed her theory that the furthest room was the fanciest. The desk sort of gave it away but the more she looked the more she realised this must have been the office when this place was still open. It was spacious but not too spacious. It did have a window, but it was a tiny thing, she wouldn¡¯t be able to fit out of it. She looked around hoping for a secret hatch again but couldn¡¯t come up with anything. This run-down place didn¡¯t even have the decency to have a way out for her. She stomped on the floor, and it actually splintered. Ratface paused. Surely not, right? She gave the floor another experimental stomp. It was weak, she just had to find the weakest spot. The first thing she did was scoop up all the papers that were there and put them away for later. They¡¯d be a little crinkled, but it¡¯d have to do. She looked around the room for something heavy to slam into the floor. It¡¯d have to be really heavy to do the job. Instead, she found a lamp with oil and a wick to light it with. She poured the oil under the desk and grabbed some of the less important looking papers, then she lit the oil.

    It lit up quickly and she dance back as it singed her fingers. A merry little fire began to burn where the desk was. Ratface smiled in satisfaction for a second until it began to spread. Right, she¡¯d known that would happen, that¡¯s why she¡¯d started at the desk, hopefully its weight would break the floor under it faster.

    There was a crack from the door and Ratface looked up. Someone had finally thought to start using something sharp. She winced as she saw it was an axe. Another terrible idea struck Ratface, and she climbed onto the desk. She got her hands ready, there wouldn¡¯t be much of an opportunity, but her plan was to steal the axe when they¡¯d made a big enough hole. She pulled out her crossbow and aimed for where their heart would be. After a moments hesitation she aimed lower at foot height. It was partly that her conversation with Abigail still weighed on her, and part that if she killed them, they might lock onto the axe. Her mother had told her about something like that where a goblin had been stabbed but had held an adventurer in place even after they died. Might as well give them incentive to let go of the axe.

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    They slammed the axe in once more and Ratface fired. Her bolt shot through the door and hit into the axe wielders foot. They yelped and jumped back, letting go of the axe. Ratface darted in and yanked the axe out and pulled it through. One of the men grabbed onto her as she did so and slammed her into the door. She wriggled to get free, but they held her strong so in the end she pulled out her knife and stabbed their arm. They didn¡¯t let go but they did flinch and that gave her enough time to get free.

    Through all this, her fire had been spreading. It was licking the sides of the desk and she could feel the heat of it on her legs. The floor underneath her was already groaning with the effort. She pulled back the axe and slammed it into the floor underneath her, eventually she managed to hit something important and with one final groan of despair the floor broke underneath her, sending her and the desk plummeting through.

    They slammed into the floor below, the force of it slammed Ratface into the desk and she bounced off and onto the floor. She lay there for a moment groaning, nothing like falling down a floor for everything to hurt. She looked around her and found some more of the kidnappers looking at her in surprise. They were still getting ready to react and Ratface looked for a way out, the doors were covered but no one was guarding the window. She had to move.

    She grit her teeth and pushed herself up. Ratface ran towards the window and dove through with a crash. Her armour protected her from the worst of it, but it still hurt, and she pushed herself back up, she wasn¡¯t out of danger yet.

    She looked up, worrying she¡¯d have to tell the woman to run. Apparently, they hadn¡¯t just wait for her there and Ratface could see they¡¯d gotten over to the other roof, now Ratface just had to keep all the attention on her.

    Not that difficult, she¡¯d made quite the commotion escaping, the kidnappers were all running towards her. The few guards that were still outside were closest and Ratface drew hew sword and sliced out at them before they could get too close. They darted back which gave her enough room to sprint away.

    She could feel people hot on her heels, but she was an expert at running so she pumped her legs even faster, if she could just make it to somewhere public, she¡¯d be okay.

    She sprinted into the alley and wove through the twists in the street trying to find a way out. The kidnappers kept cutting her off. Her heart was hammering as she felt more and more routes were cut off.

    She turned one more corner and the area was completely blocked off by men with spears. Ratface glanced behind her, the other kidnappers were too close for her to try another way.

    ¡°Halt, you¡¯re under arrest!¡± called the people in front of her. Wait, not kidnappers, guards. She dropped her sword and knife and kicked them over to the guards then put her hands up. The kidnappers rounded the corner and grabbed onto her with a nasty grin, a nasty grin that immediately slipped off their face when they saw the guards.

    The guards ran forward and took them all. They were rough and it hurt but through it all Ratface babbled about the kidnapped people and where they were. The guards sent off most of their squad to go get the woman once they¡¯d secured the group of them and Ratface let out a relieved sigh. The people were safe at least.

    Now she just had to do something about her own predicament.

 Chapter Twenty-Seven: Jail

    Being in a prison was a new feeling for Ratface. Most goblins didn¡¯t get captured when in a conflict with other races so much as they got murdered, so she was having a unique experience for goblin kind.

    That might have something to do with the fact that they didn¡¯t know she was a goblin yet. They¡¯d taken her into custody but weirdly left her helmet on while they did so. It could¡¯ve been a cultural thing or it could¡¯ve been the now rescued kidnappees singing her praises. One had even said to give her the Lady¡¯s favour, but she had no idea what that meant. She doubted they¡¯d be so quick to help her if they found out she was a goblin.

    She¡¯d never been in jail before, so she didn¡¯t know the procedure, did they keep her here if they had evidence, she wasn¡¯t guilty? Or was it just, ¡®grab everyone involved and sort it out later¡¯. Either way, she had to give them an incentive not to remove her helmet. Hopefully there¡¯d be something in the papers she¡¯d stolen.

    She pulled them out and read through. Some words were still beyond her, but she got enough through context. A lot of the people had numbers next to their name, they must have been in debt. She didn¡¯t know enough about how debts were settled but maybe they said their life was forfeit if they didn¡¯t pay it back in time? Was this whole thing actually legitimate? Even if she was, she didn¡¯t regret her choices. They¡¯d been keeping them in a cooling room. The people without the debts next to them removed a lot of that legitimacy. A lot of them were people on the street or people that didn¡¯t have someone watching out for them. It was still a foreign concept to Ratface that people would be ignored like that. The idea a goblin wasn¡¯t taken care of in a village was unthinkable to her. For all this town was so advanced they still had such an easy problem to solve.

    Well, the evidence looked pretty good, she was about to put the papers away when the last page caught her eyes. It was a request from someone for the kidnappers to keep an eye out for people who could see magic, or goblins. Apparently, they had someone in the guard keeping an eye out. Ratface¡¯s stomach lurched, and she hid the last paper. Well, that complicated matters.

    Footsteps rung down the hallways and she did her best to look calm. Two guards came over to her. One looked incredibly harried while the other had a calm smile. The calm one looked like she¡¯d just started, her outfit was crisp, and her dark hair was combed and tied back. In comparison, her partner looked like she¡¯d either just woken up or been awake too long. Her hair was tied into a bun that had lost its integrity several hours ago and she had baggy eyes. It was a surprised when she was the one to address Ratface.

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    ¡°You are the adventurer that helped out?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s me,¡± said Ratface.

    ¡°Excellent. I¡¯m Catherine, and this here is Alexa.¡± She gestured at her partner who gave Ratface a small nod. ¡°We have a problem here. While the victims claim that theyw ere kidnapped and you saved them, we don¡¯t actually have any proof. It doesn¡¯t help when we have an entire group claiming that you and your group randomly attacked them. They even say you burned down their establishment.¡±

    Ratface grimaced. She¡¯d only started a small fire, but she supposed the place was pretty run down. Lucky the people she¡¯d rescued had been smart enough to keep running when she¡¯d been caught.

    ¡°Would this count as proof?¡± she asked. She handed them all but the paper she¡¯d hidden. It wouldn¡¯t do to let them know she knew one of them was corrupted.

    Catherine took the papers and skimmed through them. Her eyes looked more and more tired.

    ¡°This will help yes,¡± she said. Alexa let out a small laugh.

    ¡°What my partner is trying to say is that this is exactly what we need. Now who might I say is helping us for our report?¡±

    ¡°Ratface.¡±

    Alexa¡¯s smile froze for a second.

    ¡°That¡¯s an interesting name,¡± she murmured. It would have been too quite for most people to hear, but goblins had good hearing.

    ¡°There is one last thing,¡± said Alexa, ¡°we do need to verify your identity. If you could just take off your helmet so we can do so.¡± Her eyes seemed a lot more focused now. Ah she¡¯d recognised the name as a goblin one.

    ¡°I can¡¯t,¡± said Ratface.

    ¡°You must,¡± said Alexa.

    ¡°Actually, she doesn¡¯t,¡± said Catherine, ¡°a few of the woman that were there were calling for her to have the Lady¡¯s favour. Is that something you¡¯re after?¡± she asked Ratface. Ratface nodded and the harried guard nodded back.

    ¡°Makes sense. We get a lot of you coming through given that we¡¯re one of the first towns you hit. An auspicious start that you¡¯re already helping people.¡±

    She unlocked the door and let Ratface out. The three walked to the main area where Catherine went searching for something. Alexa watched her with calm eyes the entire time. They both knew what Ratface was, but they both knew Alexa couldn¡¯t do anything right now. Ratface just bet that everyone in that organization would know about her by the end of the day though.

    Catherine returned with a pendant and handed it to Ratface. It had a engraving of a lady holding an infant whilst also covered in runes. Ratface paused. Now not a lady, The Lady. Catherine gestured for her to put it on and Ratface did so. Immediately she felt it latch onto her neck. She tried to pull it off and it wouldn¡¯t budge. Catherine smiled.

    ¡°You all do that when you first put it on. Good luck in your pilgrimage little squire. I hope you can find someone to sponsor you.¡±

    She sent Ratface on her way and Ratface left and went searching for her friends.

    She had a feeling she¡¯d just gotten herself into a predicament. The pendant warmed against her neck in agreement.

 Chapter Twenty-Eight: Asking for a Favour

    Ratface wandered around for a little while trying to find everyone. It was interesting how casual everyone was with magic here. She stopped at one of the food stores that was cooking sausages in water on one of those stoves without a heat sources. A quick inspection with her eyes showed her it was pulling magic from the air. The people of the Lady¡¯s lands really were blessed with their amount of mana.

    ¡°New here huh?¡± asked the store owner. She was a short woman, though still taller than Ratface, with blond hair tied in a complicated braid. Her clothes were an apron over a blue dress. It wouldn¡¯t have been mentioning except for how clean it was. Most people didn¡¯t bother to this extent because cleaning was time consuming. They must¡¯ve had a way to speed it up. She eyed Ratface with an expectant smile.

    ¡°How can you tell?¡± Ratface asked.

    ¡°You all stare at the stove-top when you get here, you¡¯re the first to notice the clothes as well. Are you going to buy anything or just stare?¡±

    Ratface pulled out a few coins. A question had been niggling at her, and it occurred to her she didn¡¯t have to sneak to get the answer.

    ¡°I¡¯d like to buy a hot dog and a question.¡±

    ¡°Cast.¡±

    ¡°You all have magic here, but I haven¡¯t seen a lot of offensive spells, what¡¯s that about?¡±

    ¡°Been getting into fights huh?¡± asked the woman, ¡°it¡¯s partly knowledge.¡± She tapped something on her wrist and her hand became covered in a thin film before she stuck it into the boiling water to grab a hotdog. ¡°Something that captures or covers like this is difficult with runes and most people only know the basics. A spell that just shoots fire or something is easy-¡± she began.

    ¡°But also fatal,¡± said Ratface. She took the hotdog.

    ¡°And fatal spell requires a license, same with weapons.¡± She looked at the weapons littering Ratface in concern, before her eyes fell on the necklace and she relaxed.

    ¡°Ah, you¡¯re after the Lady¡¯s favour? I suppose that explains the questions.¡± The woman grabbed an extra hotdog for Ratface. ¡°A questing squire needs to stay fed.¡±

    Ratface took the extra food and thanked the woman then walked away with a confused expression and two hotdogs. A little bit of a walk later and she ran into Tiffany who ran over to her.

    ¡°You left us alone for food?¡± she asked a bewildered Ratface.

    ¡°Do you want one?¡± asked Ratface. The druid gave her a look then grabbed one and dragged her toward their inn. On the way, Ratface explained what had happened.

    ¡°You should¡¯ve brought me, old wood like that is easy to grow mushrooms in.¡±

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    ¡°You were busy.¡±

    ¡°Not so busy that you needed to risk your life.¡± She nudged Ratface, the act made her wince a bit as she felt what all druids felt around goblins. A casual gesture that reminded Ratface that her friends would put up with pains for her. She¡¯d promised Abigail to work on this and yet here she was, still only looking to goblins for help. A mistake when she was the only one around.

    The inn they were staying in was described as a ¡®cheap¡¯ inn, which was to say it was the fanciest inn Ratface had been to. That was admittedly a small list, but it was still extensive enough for her to say this was quite a robust one. While the outside was stone, the inside was covered in wood panelling which kept the heat in. The temperature was kept at a comfortable level and a glance into the magic around her told her it was being kept that way by careful applications of mana. She stopped before the innkeeper could turn around and lead them to their rooms. Upon seeing her pendant, he immediately refunded her the amount for her room. These sudden acts of charity did not fill Ratface with confidence.

    Neither did Abigail¡¯s face when she saw the pendant. She looked concerned but also resigned, like she expected Ratface to be up to something. Ratface quickly explained her absence before the old knight could tell her off too much. The rest weren¡¯t back yet but better to have Abigail on her side by then.

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s going to be a problem,¡± she said. She¡¯d apparently decided to skip the lecture. ¡°The penalty for failing the Lady¡¯s failure is to be marked as failing.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m guessing that is a bad thing?¡± Ratface asked.

    ¡°The Lady¡¯s favour is all that stops them from exiling me properly. Failing her will get you banishment at best.¡±

    Ratface could already feel a pit forming in her stomach. It looked like she¡¯d managed to get herself into a predicament.

    ¡°What do I have to do to earn her favour?¡±

    Abigail gestured for Ratface to sit and poured her a tea she¡¯d been preparing.

    ¡°You¡¯ll need to do a series of trials to earn her favour. The entry trial is to perform a thing of great heroism on your own, like taking on a kidnapping group on your own for instance.¡± She gave Ratface a hard look and Ratface realised she had not in fact missed out on the lecture. ¡°It¡¯s the easiest of all of the trials.¡±

    ¡°Okay well, I can do some trials,¡± said Ratface. She looked at the knight¡¯s concerned expression. ¡°What?¡± she asked.

    ¡°The trials are to become a Rune Knight,¡± said Abigail.

    Ratface blinked.

    ¡°I can¡¯t do magic,¡± she pointed out. Abigail gave her a flat look and she realised the knight had already put this together. Ratface frowned.

    ¡°How come you didn¡¯t come help? I sent the girl to grab you anyway. We could have maybe avoided all of this.¡±

    ¡°If anything, asking for me confirmed it. You need another knight to observe you. We¡¯re both going to be in the public eye for this. Ignoring that, no girl told me about your galivanting anyway, you coming through the door is the first I knew about it.¡±

    Before Ratface could ask anymore questions the innkeeper interrupted them to let her know two people were waiting downstairs to express their gratitude. It was the little girl and the mother she¡¯d saved; their relation was even more obvious when they were together.

    ¡°How did you find me?¡± asked Ratface.

    ¡°New of someone going for the favour travels fast,¡± said the mother, ¡°when Rachel heard she insisted we come pay our respects.¡± The mother hesitated, then gave Ratface a quick hug. ¡°Thank you for saving me, I don¡¯t know what I would have done without you-¡± she paused as she realised, she didn¡¯t even know Ratface¡¯s name. He gratitude was such that when Ratface supplied it she didn¡¯t even blink.

    Ratface said something that was apparently noble enough going by the woman¡¯s beaming smile. Ratface took that moment to bend down and talk to Rachel.

    ¡°What happened? I thought I asked you to grab my knight?¡± she asked. The girl looked back at her in confusion.

    ¡°But I did grab her. She was the old lady, right?¡±

    Ah, well that wasn¡¯t good. Either there were too old knights in this town, or Ratface was being followed by a certain glamour.

 Chapter Twenty-Nine: Shopping

    They set out the next day, Abigail had gotten more details about the next trial. The official trials began in two weeks in Waterveil. An amount of time that Abigail was going to attempt to cram enough knowledge for Ratface to pass in. Ratface was sceptical given her lack of years studying but it wasn¡¯t like she had a choice.

    It didn¡¯t escape her notice that the glamour had helped her get to the trial in the city it wanted her help in. Did the trial somehow tie in with whatever was there?

    She should tell the others. This is exactly what Abigail had told her to work on. Yet the fact that it was watching stopped her. It had specifically told her not to if she wanted the information it had, and she needed it.

    She ran her hands through the cloak in front of her. Abigail had taken them into one of the deeper stores to get quality clothes. She had to admit that these clothes at least felt better.

    ¡°You¡¯re making a face,¡± said Kryssa. She was the only one with Ratface at the moment, there was a separate section for the boys and Abigail and Tiffany were trying to find clothes that would insulate Tiffany¡¯s plants.

    ¡°Just thinking how surreal all of this is. It was only a while ago that I didn¡¯t even think I¡¯d leave Lurian.¡±

    The glamour let her own hands rest on another cloak.

    ¡°A while ago I thought I was going to spend my life trapped in your mind. I never thought I¡¯d get to touch something like this.¡±

    ¡°Is that a subtle way of telling me it¡¯s my fault?¡± Ratface asked. She gave Kryssa a cheeky glamour to let her know she was joking.

    ¡°Yes, you meddlesome rat. Don¡¯t go complaining about your own efforts. We could have all lived a different life if you¡¯d just stayed in that junkyard.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me it was a midden, and it was Halmir, and I¡¯s home thank you very much.¡±

    Kryssa snorted.

    ¡°You took the only things worth keeping from there already. Don¡¯t claim you miss waking up in garbage.¡±

    Ratface made a face, and the glamour bumped her hip against Ratface¡¯s.

    ¡°Speaking of Halmir. I see the boy¡¯s got bored of looking at clothes. I¡¯ll go wait with him outside.¡±

    Her hands lingered on the coat, and she let it slide through her fingers as she walked away. The glamour liked to touch things, but she seldom interacted with them. Was she embarrassed they¡¯d all make fun of her. Ratface lingered at the coats before grabbing her purchases and hurrying over to the counter. She met up with Tiffany and Abigail who had managed to find something for the druid to wear. It had deep pockets all around it and some that were on the inside. Tiffany could store the plants that needed heat there. It was a cloak that wouldn¡¯t work for anyone but a druid. This must be what separated the shop from the one they¡¯d seen close to the road.

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    In the end Ratface had bought new boots, some thicker clothing, and two cloaks. Abigail looked at the two cloaks and raised an eyebrow but shrugged when Ratface just grinned in answer. They carried their bags out into their waiting wagon, meeting Albert on the way. He was carrying both his and Halmir¡¯s purchases. Ratface tilted her head at him.

    ¡°It was easier to just get his size and look on my own. He kept snuggling into things,¡± said Albert. They looked over at the rat boy who was playing with Kryssa. He was utterly unrepentant.

    ¡°Well rats do like their nests,¡± Ratface murmured.

    They jumped into the wagon. Halmir and Kryssa as the most awake ones took the driving while the rest sat in the back.

    ¡°It¡¯s odd. The people here use magic for everything, yet their clothes are still just thick to fight the cold,¡± said Ratface. Abigail smiled.

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s as good a lesson as any. Why do you think that is?¡± she asked the group of them.

    ¡°It¡¯s expensive,¡± said Albert. A practical boy at heart.

    ¡°It¡¯s a waste,¡± said Tiffany. Abigail pointed at her and she continued, ¡°when I first got my magic, I thought it would be cool to use it to tend the fields. I figured I could use it to do the ploughing.¡± The druid grimaced as she looked back. ¡°It didn¡¯t work at all. The plants put roots all through the new field and I ended up having to rip it all up before I could plant anything.¡±

    ¡°Exactly,¡± said Abigail, ¡°magic is useful and, at least in the Lady¡¯s lands, flexible. That¡¯s not to say that it¡¯s always the best choice. Any set of runes I could add into these clothes would ruin the fabric faster and require intensive circuitry to set up. It would also be more dangerous and someone like Ratface would struggle to use it.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t use the stoves here?¡± Ratface asked.

    ¡°You can, but only because the runes are designed so that even a child can use them. They take mana from the world around them it¡¯s your body heat they use to register you¡¯re touching them. Should you go somewhere less magic rich than the Lady¡¯s land then you wouldn¡¯t be able to. So why would anyone bother with their clothes being made out of runes like that when they could just go with the simple solution of having winter clothes.¡± She held all of their eyes, ¡°Ratface is the only one that¡¯s taking the trials, but I¡¯ll use this opportunity to train all of you in a rune knight¡¯s teaching. Here is lesson one; don¡¯t waste magic where something simpler would work instead.¡±

    ¡°And when the solution is magic?¡± asked Ratface. Abigail frowned.

    ¡°We¡¯ll work on that too. It¡¯s not like you can¡¯t cast magic; Kryssa is proof of that.¡±

    Ratface paused. That was true, but the spell to bring Kryssa out had felt special. It had felt different to the other spells she¡¯d seen around in a way she couldn¡¯t describe. The mention of the glamour reminded her of one of her purchases. She pulled out one of the cloaks she¡¯d bought and draped it over the glamour¡¯s shoulders. The glamour looked at her in confusion.

    ¡°I know you can just change your form to whatever you want, but sometimes it¡¯s nice to feel something right? Besides, now we match.¡± Ratface explained. She pulled out the other identical cloak she¡¯d bought.

    ¡°A waste,¡± said Kryssa. She looked away but Ratface still managed to see her smile.

    Which made it all worth it in Ratface¡¯s mind

 Chapter Thirty: Rune lessons

    They made camp in one of the designated spots next to the main road. The rune roads had sped up their travelling, but it would still take them some time to get to Waterviel.

    The camping spot was already cleared and Ratface was again struck by the difference in the Lady¡¯s lands. A spot was set out for where they would sleep, and Abigail had shown them how they could heat the ground underneath them. It was the same for the cooking area. One of those stoves was set up. More primitive than the ones in town but still better than a fire. There was even a spot where you could get water to come out.

    It was impressive, but it took something out of the camping. It was like something was lost to the air. Tiffany seemed the most bothered by it. She¡¯d gone deeper into the bush around them just to connect better with the land.

    ¡°Their land feels so curated,¡± she¡¯d told Ratface, ¡°It¡¯s like plants are only allowed in specific places.¡± She¡¯d stomped away afterwards, and Albert had slunk after her when she took too long. His feet had barely made a sound as he moved. As a group most of them prioritised stealth. Abigail and Tiffany were the loudest and even then, Abigail was quieter that she should have been in all the armour.

    She¡¯d grabbed Ratface when it was apparent the other two were going to be a while.

    ¡°We might as well get started teaching you while we wait,¡± she¡¯d said. They were hunched over the stove.

    ¡°Rune magic is at it¡¯s heart relatively simple,¡± she told Ratface, ¡°this stove is a good example of how they work. At its heart, all Rune magic boils down to energy and intent.¡± She pointed to the first rune. ¡°This one is almost ¡®air¡¯ but it¡¯s more accurate to say its atmosphere. It¡¯s asking for the energy from around us to power the spell. If we weren¡¯t in the Lady¡¯s lands, then this wouldn¡¯t give the spell enough energy for what it¡¯s wanting to do.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why your armour has its own cores?¡± Ratface asked.

    ¡°Yes, and so much of the runes on my armour are just dedicated to charging the armour and the cores over the day. I¡¯m constantly pulling a small amount of energy from a bunch of different sources to keep it charged.¡± She moved onto the next rune. ¡°This one here means heat. That¡¯s basically what the stove is asking to do. If it was only those two runes then the stove wouldn¡¯t be as useful which is why there are so many other runes around it.¡± She traced a line of runes surrounding the stove top. ¡°These ones here are telling it to only heat the metal. While these ones-¡± she gestured at the runes surrounding heat ¡°- are telling it the intensity of heat that you want.¡± She frowned as she read those ones. ¡°This is actually a terrible way of doing this; rather than having several different runes dictating different levels of heat, they¡¯ve just repeated the word for intensity. It¡¯d be like if I said ¡®very very very warm¡¯ when you asked me how hot I wanted something. The wording is unclear. I don¡¯t know why it¡¯s made this way.¡±

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    ¡°Cheaper maybe?¡±

    ¡°That or it was made by new student. Anyway, focus your eyes so you can see the circuit.¡± Ratface did so and Abigail turned the stove on.

    Sure enough, the rune for atmosphere pulled in mana from the air around them. It also pulled it in from the heat from the sun. Ratface said as much.

    ¡°The sun is an excellent source of energy, which is different from mana. You can use either to power basic spells, but mana is more efficient, though usually more difficult to harness. If  we weren¡¯t in the Lady¡¯s lands, then we¡¯d be using the sun as a major source of energy.¡± She pointed to one such rune on the shoulders of her armour. A quick prod told Ratface they were warmer than the rest of it.

    The energy and mana were pulled in and directed around the stove. The lines connecting them gave it a path to follow until it got to the next order of ¡®heat¡¯. Abigail turned the stove up and Ratface saw what she meant by the problem of intensity. The spell itself seemed to be confused by what it was being asked and the more they turned up the intensity, the more the heat it provided fluctuated as it tried to interpret the runes.

    ¡°I can see what you mean about the heat,¡± Ratface said to Abigail.

    ¡°That sight of yours should make rune magic infinitely easier for you. Most pupils can¡¯t see the scope of magic.¡± She smiled at her own joke. Ratface fought her own smile from showing. Goblins were a big fan of puns; you couldn¡¯t be called Ratface and not enjoy word play. Well, Suncat did her best to not enjoy it but that was just because she was a grump.

    The magic in front of her kept moving and Ratface frowned. It was like too little was coming in for what was asked for. The higher up Abigail turned the stove the more the magic around fought it.

    ¡°The magic, it¡¯s getting slower,¡± she said, ¡°it¡¯s like¡­ like it doesn¡¯t know what you want, like it barely understands the runes.¡±

    Abigail¡¯s eyes widened.

    ¡°I¡¯m surprised you can see that so easily,¡± she said, ¡°what you¡¯ve just described is true of all rune magic and part of why it¡¯s considered a worse type of magic to others. Runes are meant to be the language of the world, but our runes work as more translation. The reason for this is simple, even if it¡¯s disputed,¡± she said. She turned the stove off and looked over at Ratface. The others had joined them after a while. ¡°Humans aren¡¯t of this world, we either invaded or were kidnapped.¡±

    Silence met the comment. Everyone knew that the elves claimed everyone else were guests on this world, but it was one thing for them to say it, and quite another to see the results of that in the world.

    ¡°With that in mind, you mentioned that elf used goblin words to power a spell, right? Well, it¡¯s about time we did an experiment on that.¡±

 Chapter Thirty-One: Goblin Magic

    Ratface had thought an experiment was a turn of phrase, but she¡¯d forgotten that Abigail was both a rune knight and an enchanter. She pulled a bunch of equipment out of her bag including her helmet and several pairs of goggles for them all to wear.

    ¡°These are partly to protect your eyes, but you¡¯ll also see they have a way to see mana,¡± she said.

    Ratface could only imagine what this cost. Given how frugal the knight could be it was hard to remember that between her own adventuring and her relationship with Claudette, Abigail was rich.

    She pulled out several lamps, including a few she hadn¡¯t engraved. She gestured at the engraved one.

    ¡°These ones are all engraved with different levels of efficiency. While we can¡¯t do a perfect test, we can at least do one that is repeatable. Obviously, we¡¯ll be unable to completely make it a controlled test, essence is historically difficult to tie down even at the best of times, but we can at least get an idea of the difference.¡± She looked over at Ratface. ¡°I don¡¯t know enough goblin to make a coherent spell, so I¡¯ll need you to take me through how to make it. In that same token, I¡¯ll need to walk you through the different runes.¡± Ratface smiled to herself, it was funny how quickly the knight switched to an academic when runes came up. She could see how Claudette and Abigail filled their time. No wonder they''d been smart enough to make an entire new set of prosthetics.

    The group of them moved closer to look at the lamps as Abigail took Ratface through the different lamps wording. They put on their goggles to see better and all made surprised noises. Ratface was less impressed. The view these goggles gave on mana was actually worse than her just focusing. At least the engraving was interesting.

    Ratface would have thought more words would make the lamps less efficient, but it was actually the opposite. The first lamp¡¯s runes essentially just told the light to glow while the last one went through the process of how to make it light up, with the middle falling somewhere in-between. It was like the runes were explaining the process of how to work to the magic.

    Ratface wondered how effective the goblin writing would be in comparison. A lot of goblin was in nuance. Not an exact language like this one. Ratface did her best to separate the different engravings into different explanations but by the third lamp it was less like speaking goblin and more like translating common into goblin. She got Abigail to slant some of the words to add to the context. It wasn¡¯t like anyone had taught Ratface to do that, but she¡¯d read plenty of goblin over the years and a goblin would just know what she meant.

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    Abigail dutifully started engraving them.

    ¡°Enchantment is fairly simple,¡± she explained, ¡°it does require some connection to the ether, but the main requirement is a steady hand. You should all learn a few runes where you can. Innate magic is powerful, but it lacks the flexibility of runes.¡± She finished the first one and tapped the light on.

    The effect was immediate. The light was brighter than all of the lamps had been before. It was the way the magic worked that was the true difference though.

    If rune magic was like a translation to the ether, then the goblin was like talking to another goblin. It jumped at the lamp, immediately following the order they¡¯d given it and interpreting the nuance in the lamp. It practically rushed to complete it, and the ensuing light made Ratface¡¯s eyes sting even through the goggles.

    ¡°That shouldn¡¯t be possible, runes are the words of our Lady, does that mean goblin really is the first language?¡± said Abigail.

    She hurried to the next lamp and engraved it. This one was wordier than the first lamp and when they turned it on it didn¡¯t work as well. Ratface knew it wouldn¡¯t, or at least she¡¯d hoped. The first lamp had been engraved how a goblin would talk while this one was like a translation of instructions. It was awkward and the magic treated it awkwardly. It was like it didn¡¯t get why someone would talk that way. She was practically vibrating when Abigail brought out the next lamp. She snatched the graver out of Abigail¡¯s hand. The knight yelled at her but Ratface was already using it on the lamp. She bet she could write it in a way only another goblin would get, she wondered how the magic would work then.

    She knew something was wrong the moment she started. When Abigail had used the graver the ether had trailed after her, like it was feeling the trace that Abigail was using. Ratface used it and the magic remained inert, like it couldn¡¯t see her, couldn¡¯t feel her.

    The group went quiet as she finished the engraving. She¡¯d asked it to give them a light, but she¡¯d phrased it like morning light, a gentle glow to take them all in. She pressed the lamp.

    Nothing happened. The magic didn¡¯t even notice her. It was like it couldn¡¯t see her. It knew she was there, she could see through the currents, but it treated her more like a rock or a tree.

    ¡°Ratface,¡± Abigail began but Ratface shook her head.

    She¡¯d known it wouldn¡¯t work, magic never worked for goblins, that spell of hers had been an exception not the rule. She thought she was used to it.

    But the magic had understood goblin, had moved like a goblin when they talked to it. To watch something so goblin-like and know it could interact with everyone but her?

    It hurt. It hurt like the first time she saw an elf do a spell and she knew it would never see her.

    She got up and walked away. Someone tried to follow her, and she hissed at them.

    It wasn¡¯t fair of her. They were her friends; they didn¡¯t deserve to be pushed away. Yet right at this moment she was less aware of them being friends and more aware that everyone in her camp could do magic except her. They could all use her words to make their magic better.

    She was a goblin, and the world didn¡¯t acknowledge goblins.

 Chapter Thirty-Two: Waterveil

    They arrived at Waterveil and Ratface was treated to her first sight of a major city. Well, apart from the elf city, but she wasn¡¯t sure that counted given that she¡¯d been glamoured to forget.

    It didn¡¯t take her long to work out why it was called Waterveil. The place literally had a lake sitting over it, with tunnels of water spreading through the roads.

    ¡°Why?¡± asked Ratface.

    ¡°In the Lady¡¯s Kingdom, it isn¡¯t enough for a city to be a big place, instead it must be a place of wonder,¡± said Abigail. She walked up to the wall, which was also made a water, and ran her way through the rising current. She stopped Halmir when he tried to do the same. ¡°Best not, I have armour to keep me in place, you¡¯ll be in the wall before you know it.¡±

    ¡°Seems dangerous,¡± said Tiffany. Albert snorted.

    ¡°Well, it is a wall, you can hardly expect defences to be safe, can you?¡±

    Ratface shook her head. She couldn¡¯t have explained the difference between a farmer and an adventurer any better than that sentence could. Tiffany was obviously bothered by it and was going to argue with Albert before a guard waved them through.

    The water in front of them parted and they walked into one of many roads. Unlike most roads Ratface had been on, these ones were twisted around the area. It reminded Ratface of something.

    ¡°Like rivers,¡± said Tiffany, her eyes trailing the city in wonder, her earlier problem with the defences forgotten. She and Albert seemed more at ease around the water. Was it their bog heritage showing perhaps?

    ¡°This city was made by Sofia, her last project before she died. She spent her whole life fighting water serpents to extinction,¡± said Abigail. She let he hand trail through another tunnel of water, this one twisted through the road and back up into the sky. ¡°At the end she said she missed the way they made the water move.¡±

    ¡°Are all your cities as intense as this?¡± asked Ratface.

    ¡°Hah, no. Waterveil is a great work and a great city. The rest are impressive but it¡¯s only the Lady¡¯s own city that rivals such a place.¡± She tapped a pole they were walking past, it was covered in runes. ¡°The runes themselves to keep this all running is mind boggling. Only old Sofia could recreate them, it¡¯s all of us current knights can do to maintain it.¡±

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    Ratface looked up in concern and Kryssa nudged her.

    ¡°Use your eyes before you go being concerned,¡± she whispered.

    Ratface looked and her eyes widened. The sheer amount of mana holding it in place was mind boggling. It was more than that though, all the water she could see.

    ¡°It¡¯s conjured,¡± said Ratface. If the mana stopped the water would just disappear.

    ¡°See? It¡¯s not that impressive,¡± said Kryssa, ¡°it¡¯s no Lurian.¡±

    ¡°Where¡¯s this loyalty for home coming from, huh? I know I don¡¯t have it.¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t spend years stuck in an elven city. Just the parts you remembered were amazing enough.¡±

    Ratface mulled it over. It occurred to her that for Kryssa, that memory had been her home. The memories she¡¯d interacted with had been the closest she¡¯d had to friends. She held her hand out to the glamour.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be sure to hold some wonder left for when we see an elf city again.¡± She gestured at the rest of water around them. ¡°All of this is still impressive to me. It¡¯s not like I¡¯ll ever be able to make something like this.¡± She tried to smile but the best she could do was her lips twitichg before falling into a frown. A part of her still grieved for the magic she couldn¡¯t touch. Kryssa hesitated, then grabbed her hand.

    ¡°Just because you can¡¯t do it yet, doesn¡¯t mean never. You¡¯ve already done one impossible thing, what¡¯s another in the grand scheme?¡±

    Ratface managed a smile and gripped the glamours hand harder. Halmir watching them shifted into his rat form and blinked onto Ratface¡¯s shoulder. It still hurt. The two of them could do magic she couldn¡¯t dream of; Kryssa was literally made of it. Yet Kryssa was right, she¡¯d already done magic before, maybe in the future she would again? The hope was like a knife in her heart, but she couldn¡¯t let it go.

    A guard shot through the water and landed next to them. He was surprisingly dry. He looked at the group of them before his eyes found Ratface and rested on the pendant she was wearing. He looked her up and down, surprised by her height.

    ¡°Ah we¡¯ve been sent to get the last of the trial takers, this would be you?¡±

    ¡°I suppose it would,¡± sad Ratface.

    ¡°Excellent, if you and your group are ready follow me.¡±

    He didn¡¯t wait for them to express if they were ready, instead they were engulphed in a pillar of water and whisked away. The city shot passed them as they were pulled into the top of the water and then sent hurtling down to a courtyard.

    Ratface wobbled in place but felt a steadying hand on her shoulder. While everyone in their group except Halmir was taller than her, the metal gave away who it was. Abigail was standing behind her. Her hand on Ratface¡¯s back was trembling a bit and her face was pinched tight.

    In front of them stood a woman in light armour with a blue cape. Her hair was blonde, and she shone a bit to the eye. Her own eyes were furious as she took in Ratface and Abigail. No, not Ratface, just Abigail.

    ¡°Well, this is a surprise,¡± she spat out, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have expected a traitor to be a sponsor.¡±

 Chapter Thirty-Three: The Ladyéˆ¥æªš Champion

    Abigail didn¡¯t move from behind Ratface. She held onto the little goblin in desperation.

    ¡°Lily,¡± she said. There was longing in that voice. It died when it hit the woman in front of her.

    ¡°Not a name I use anymore. Not one you may call me by. You may call me the Lady¡¯s Champion,¡± said the Champion. Ratface tilted her head. The name gave away she was a knight but her armour was far less extensive than Abigail¡¯s. It covered the vitals but it wasn¡¯t enveloping her. It was easy to see the similarities between the two. Lily, there was no way Ratface was calling anyone the champion in her head, was tall and muscular like Abigail. Her eyes darted around like the older knight as well. There differences were quick to notice though. If Abigail had focused on being the cavalry charge, Lily was something altogether more flexible. It reminded Ratface of an elf, though the grace had been sacrificed to be that much more deadly. Her sword rested at he belt but she still held a wand. Cast with one hand and duel with the other? Different from Abigail¡¯s tapping. She must cast on the move instead of preparing spells.

    ¡°So, you made it in the end,¡± Abigail whispered. Ratface doubted anyone else heard it. Her next statement addressed the crowd.

    ¡°True that I have been labelled a traitor, it¡¯s also true that I still have the Lady¡¯s favour.¡±

    ¡°No one can take it from you, not that you deserve it,¡± said Lily. Abigail tensed and Ratface glowered through her helmet. The Champion caught her eye and frowned right back. Ah, so she could see her, unfortunate.

    ¡°It means that I may still sponsor someone. The Lady guided me to such a girl to take the path.¡±

    If by the Lady, Abigail meant Ratface¡¯s own poor decisions, then she was absolutely right. Ratface shook her head, no time for errant thoughts, she needed to appear knightly.

    ¡°I saved your people when there was no one else to help them. They asked me to take the favour. If I don¡¯t follow them, what kind of knight would I be?¡± It sounded like being a knight was similar to being a rat, they loved to meddle.

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    ¡°You¡¯re no knight yet little squire, and perhaps not even that. You call them my people aptly. Those are not human eyes that glare so hatefully at me, are they?¡± The knight leaned closer to look at Ratface. Up this close Ratface could see her eyes surrounded by a golden glow. ¡°Tell me, what are you under that helmet?¡±

    Abigail pushed passed Ratface toward Lily, forcing the other woman to back away. They stood close, the young woman¡¯s face in half a snarl while the older knight kept her face calm. If you didn¡¯t know her you wouldn¡¯t even be able to see the hurt.

    ¡°She doesn¡¯t need to be a human to fight the trials, and you have no right to ask a trial taker what they hide under their armour.¡±

    The Champion walked away. ¡°You are of course right; the rules had not changed.¡± She paused and turned around, her face smug. ¡°Oh! Except one, a human must vouch for a test taker. They can¡¯t be of that creature¡¯s party. So, who will vouch for the traitor¡¯s choice?¡±

    Those who had gathered were quiet. Ratface hadn¡¯t had a moment to take in the group around them. It was an eclectic one. There were some budding squires of course, but there was also a lot of adventurers which Ratface wouldn¡¯t have expected. She spied another orc woman standing in those waiting. She was much better built than the last orc Ratface had met. She had obviously taken after Abigail¡¯s style as she was covered in armour, though hers was accented with bone. It was one hell of a look, though Ratface preferred her own. She didn¡¯t think she really had the stamina for full plate. Deeper in the group were every type of human you could come up with and one girl who obviously was the Champion¡¯s squire. If their similar outfits didn¡¯t give them away, then their matching smug looks surely would. At least there were no elves.

    The courtyard stayed quiet. Ratface was going to lose because no one here would even give her the chance. It was typical really.

    The Champion went to announce Ratface¡¯s disqualification but was interrupted by a small cough. It was the guard who had picked them up.

    ¡°I will second her,¡± he said. The courtyard looked at him and he did his best to look professional even as his cheeks coloured. ¡°A report came though with the details of this group. The guard were most insistent it got here before they arrived.¡± He nodded at Ratface. ¡°An adventurer with the helmet in the shape of a rat came to the aid of several woman at great personal risk. Not only did she avoid killing; she avoided as much harm to other as she could. The guard praised her for giving them valuable information to work from.¡± He met Lily¡¯s eyes, his boots trembling as he did so. ¡°I would vouch for her. If nothing else she deserves the chance.¡±

    The Champion turned her eyes on the guard and her gaze softened.

    ¡°Brave,¡± she announced. She clasped him on the shoulder. ¡°With this guard¡¯s testimony, our last trial taker is confirmed. I wish them all luck in the trial.¡±

    Ratface was about to ask when it would start when she was enveloped in water.

 Chapter Thirty-Four: Rune Knights and Goblin Lessons

    Ratface shot away from the rest of her group. The current dragged her away and back into the sky. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the same happening to the other test takers. This would be the trial then. She twisted through the sky as the current carried her in circles.

    She didn¡¯t bother fighting the current. If it was strong enough to keep her moving this quickly then no amount of struggling on her part was going to save it. She might as well save her breath.

    She needed to save it too. The water wasn¡¯t letting her out and she could feel it crushing against her. At least some part of the trial was to get out of the water.

    One of the trial takers was doing fine. Lily¡¯s squire shot past Ratface deeper into the city. She managed to give Ratface an insufferable grin before she did so. Honestly Ratface was a little impressed by the pettiness of that.

    The rest of the trial takers were making about as much progress as Ratface herself.

    What was the point of this trial? It couldn¡¯t just be, ¡®how long could you hold your breath?¡¯, that was less a trial and more something kids did for fun, besides, other than Ratface all of the trial takers were casters. They¡¯d all cast some form of spell to help them breathe. She could tell by the lack of panic in their eyes as they went around in loops.

    Meanwhile, she could feel her limited air supply running out as she kept doing loops. She kept herself as still as she could as she tried not to waste any air.

    It wasn¡¯t so obvious that they all immediately got it, but it was obvious enough that the Champion¡¯s squire had. She doubted the other woman had told her what the trial was beforehand. For all she disliked Ratface she¡¯d still observed the rules in that moment.

    The orc¡¯s eyes widened and the water around her wobbled. She changed direction and shot past the rest of them. Her teeth clenched as she fought against the current until it gave way and let her past. She¡¯d been aiming for that change in current. After that a lot of the test takers clued in and started scribbling spells to change their directory. Ratface couldn¡¯t do that. Her lungs were beginning to ache from the effort of not taking a breath. So much of her dedicated to not trying to breathe that she struggled to think about the problem.

    It couldn¡¯t be as simple as being in a different current, but it was related in some way. A swimmer could find the difference in the current whilst in it but this wasn¡¯t a trial for a swimmer. Wait.

    Kryssa had called this water conjured. She¡¯d been filled with disdain at the thought too. The city used that current to cart themselves around. Still, they¡¯d had a predetermined destination. Ratface doubted they could change it once they were up here.

    The squire hadn¡¯t been struggling that much, only the orc had fought to get into the right current. So there was a trick. So far none of the other takers had worked it out.

    She was thinking about this the wrong way. This was a trial for rune knights, but another way of thinking of a trial was a test, or a lesson. It had to be related to the mana somehow. On her hunch, she focused her eyes.

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    The current lit up around her. The test takers were on a loop, it was almost a perfect one too. The magic was twirling around itself and there were only a few tiny hitches. The orc must¡¯ve missed her spot and forced her way back to one of the hitches. Impressive given how much mana she would have had to fight against. The hitches led down into the ground and into some wells. So, the test didn¡¯t end with this part, this was the first stage.

    The problem was that you were meant to use magic to change the track onto the hitches. If you timed it right, it would probably not require much at all. A problem for Ratface who couldn¡¯t cast.

    Except that was a magic user¡¯s way of thinking of things. Ratface was a goblin, and goblins knew that most of the time you could do things without magic.

    She tried swimming to the hitch first. She doubted it would, but she had to get the obvious out of the way. It didn¡¯t do much but use up her breath. She eyed the current again as she thought. There was one hitch that they all connected on. It must be the main flow point or something, she didn¡¯t really have the linguistics to explain it. Their currents all went in different directions, but she bet if she got enough of them. She just had to get them all there at the same time. A problem given they were carefully spaced. She searched until she found who she was looking for, one of the trial takers past the same hitch with her from the opposite side. It wasn¡¯t perfect but it would work. She waved at the person, the movement far more tiring than it should be, until the noticed her. She pointed at the point and motioned a grabbing motion until they nodded. Her lungs ached and her vision was giving out but if she could just manage this, she¡¯d be fine.

    The person got closer and closer and Ratface kept her eyes on them even as her vision receded. They hit the point and Ratface reached out and grabbed them. It hurt, like two people on horses crashing into each other, but she made it. There was a small bubble of air around their head and Ratface smashed her head into it and took a grateful breath. Air! Sweet, sweet air.

    ¡°Uhh,¡± the person said. Up this close Ratface could see it was a girl with her hair cut close to her head. She was blushing at Ratface as the goblin took grateful gulps of air. Ratface didn¡¯t recognise the cut of her armour. It was like a skirt around her legs, as well as a breastplate and some greaves. A lot of places Ratface could still cut. The two of them wobbled in place as their opposing currents tried to get them to move. It was hard to hold on to and Ratface pulled the girl closer which only made her blush harder.

    ¡°We need more than the two of us,¡± she told her. She looked around until she found the next person closest and waved at them until they got the idea. She got the blushing girl to hold her as she reached out for them and grabbed them.

    They kept doing this, and with each extra person Ratface could feel the magic wobbling. When she concentrated, she could see the magic shaking as well. If her guess was right, then once there was enough of them it would break, and they¡¯d get pulled into the well.

    They kept grabbing people and still the magic held. Eventually there was only one person left. If it didn¡¯t work with them, they were screwed.

    Ratface held her breath as they grabbed them. For a moment the magic held.

    It groaned and broke under the pressure of the different currents. They hurtled down towards the well and Ratface grinned until she realised that all of them were going to the same well.

    They slammed through the well it a jumble of limbs. Ratface hit into a wall and cried out at the pain, her cry was mirrored by others as they ricocheted through the it and into the depths below.

    They hit the ground in a pile and Ratface¡¯s breath was pushed out as someone landed on her.  Her body groaned at the punishment she¡¯d put it through. The other lesson goblins knew; subverting magic usually hurt.

    There were gasps as the others took in their surroundings. Ratface groaned and closed her eyes. She was sure whatever they saw was amazing, but she was just going to lie here for a moment. She¡¯d earned it.

 Chapter Thirty-Five: What Lies Beneath

    When Ratface finally did get up she got why everyone had gasped.

    She¡¯d assumed they were in a sewer, and if you squinted it still was. Instead, they were in what looked like a castle. The hallway was long and towered above them. At the top of it ran the water still, dancing lights flit through the water illuminating the area. Ratface gasped, it wasn¡¯t just conjured lights but little glowing fish swimming through the water. Bugs were drawn towards the light and every so often a fish would dive out of the water to grab one then be pulled back up into its grasp. A quick glance at the mana of it all revealed this water at least wasn¡¯t conjured. Was this also designed by Sofia or had she based her city¡¯s design on them instead?

    Supporting her theory that the water had always pulled up to there was the fact that the hallways had been carved down from them. Ratface didn¡¯t know anything about architecture but whoever had made it had put a handy plaque stating as much, after that it was murals of water serpents twisting through. It was an extensive series of murals that carried on throughout. Some were of the serpents fighting knights, but others were of them just swimming or caring for their young. It all culminated in a doorway that the rest of the trial takers were looking through. She was too short to see passed them.

    She pushed her way through the group. It was surprisingly easy to do so, everyone would quickly make a gap for her whenever she brushed passed them. The skirt wearer even gave her a strange salute as she passed.

    Inside the room itself, giant pools lined the area. What was odd was that they were coming up from the ground rather than dug into it. It made for cubes of water you could just walk into. There were more pools than there were test takers and the pools themselves had wide spaces between them. The reason was clear, sitting inside the pools were curled creatures with wide faces and rows of teeth. Their scales glimmered in the light. Water serpents. It looked like Sofia hadn¡¯t been as thorough as she¡¯d been told.

    In front of the pools stood The Lady¡¯s Champion. She was waiting with her hands clasped behind her back. She looked more at ease now that the trial was actually taking place though her eyes still lingered on Ratface.

    ¡°Well done on making your way into the wells, and in such a large group as well,¡± she said. Some of the trial takers looked nervous at that. Ratface didn¡¯t understand why. No one had said they couldn¡¯t work together.

    ¡°Yes, well done on finding your way down here,¡± Lily continued, ¡°you may have noticed that no information was given to you before the trial. That is because making it down here is a prerequisite. No knight should consider what happened above something beyond them. The actual trial begins here.¡± She gestured at the pools behind her. ¡°As any of you with eyes will have noticed, the story of water serpents being wholly extinct are exaggerated. Consider this part of the trial as well. Rune knights are protectors, but they also keep the kingdoms secrets. It would not do for the elves or demons to know we still have such creatures.¡±

    Lily kept talking about the kingdom¡¯s security while Ratface filed that little nugget of information away. She wondered why the elves couldn¡¯t know about it. To her knowledge they didn¡¯t really care about monsters all that much. Oh, it looked like Lily was about to talk about the trial. Ratface tuned back in.

    ¡°The trial here is simple; these serpents have valuable cores within them. A natural occurring phenomenon that was used to create golems cores. Your task is to retrieve one such core. Good luck.¡± She offered them a smile. It was not a nice smile.

    The group waited for her to elaborate. Realising she wasn¡¯t going to, their gaze instead extended out to the two who had beat them there.

    The two were a perfect contrast of each other. The Champion¡¯s squire was zipping through the water as she fought her serpent. She twisted on a dime and little jets of water were twisting her around. Bolts of energy slammed into her opponent keeping their own twists from being so smooth. She would dart passed and cut into them as she did so. The water in her area was gaining a red tint as it filled more with the creature¡¯s blood. Ratface wouldn¡¯t call it cruel, the serpents were big and the squire¡¯s way was safe, but she couldn¡¯t say that she liked watching it.

    The orc, in comparison, had met her serpent head on. She had simply grabbed its head and the two were locked in place as they wrestled. She picked the serpents head up and slammed it into the ground. It lay there dazed, and the orc lifted her fists and slammed down on its head. There was a mighty crack and the serpent lay still. Ratface whistled.

    ¡°Strong,¡± she said. To be able to create that kind of force under water was nothing to sniff at.

    ¡°There¡¯s a reason no one wants to wrestle with an orc,¡± said someone next to her. A glance took in the skirt wearer who gave her a slight nod. ¡°Fulgora, thank you for your help in the prerequisite.¡±

    ¡°Ratface. Ah, no worries. I needed all your help too.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure,¡± said Fulgora. She gave Ratface a smile that suggested they had a secret between them. ¡°Do you know how you¡¯re going to deal with the serpent?¡±

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    ¡°Not really. I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll come up with something. You?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s unfortunate for the serpents but I am made for fighting them. Using my bloods power may not be how a rune knight would do such a thing.¡±

    ¡°The only knight I¡¯ve met used every tool at her disposal. I think you¡¯d be silly to not use something you were born with.¡± Ratface couldn¡¯t keep the faint edge of envy out of her voice. To have magic here would be something she could only dream of.

    ¡°Thank you, it¡¯s appreciated,¡± said Fulgora. She walked away from the rest of them. The first of their group to attempt the trial. She walked to a random pool and placed her hand on the water. The serpent inside felt the vibration and started swimming towards her. Its mouth was wide and Ratface got to see row after row of teeth. She tensed as it got closer and closer to Fulgora.

    The world flashed as Fulgora cast. Ratface rubbed her eyes to get rid of the little spots. The serpent wasn¡¯t moving anymore. No, it was still moving, it kept twitching. The thing was covered in burns. Fulgora had electrocuted it. The sheer amount of power that must have taken was astounding but Fulgora didn¡¯t seem even tired.

    Ratface used her eyes properly. Power wafted off Fulgora now, though it hadn¡¯t been there before. It was a strange mana, Ratface couldn¡¯t quite place it. It felt like it had a different weight to it. Fulgora took a breath, and the mana soaked back into her. She turned back to the group. Her eyes had changed to sparking things of lightning, their blue light bathing the girl in an alien light. They faded back into normal hazel eyes a moment later. Ratface whistled. Another strong contender.

    Not one that she could emulate though. She turned her eyes back to the squire fight. It was winding to a close but with the benefit of actually using her eyes she could see the serpent was controlling the water around it with mana. It let it move smoothly through the water but gave away its movements. The squire was using smaller applications of mana to keep the creature close to the wall. Ratface didn¡¯t understand until a part of the serpent fell out of the wall. It immediately started to fall, and it took effort for the thing to move back in. Ah, so they really were creatures of water. A look at the other trial takers who had started attempts confirmed as much. They moved through the water with grace, but their mana trailed ahead of them, and they were careful at the borders.

    ¡°I thought they could control water to move outside of it,¡± she mused.

    An amused snort next to her had her turning to the orc, the first one back. ¡°Maybe if they let them grow, these ones are still adolescents.¡± She held up a core. ¡°Other creatures have cores so I can tell, this thing is still developing.¡± It did see to still be pulling mana from the area to grow. ¡°So you going to go fight or what?¡± the orc asked.

    Ratface shrugged. She¡¯d been watching for a while now and she had a plan of sorts in her mind. It was dangerous, but it was the best one she could come up with without suddenly doing magic.

    She walked away from the orc who followed her path with wide eyes. As well she should, Ratface was going after the biggest one.

    It lay curled up in its enclosure and eyed her hungrily. It looked cramped in there and Ratface hoped her plan would hold up.

    She stood at the edge of the pool until the creature uncurled and raised itself up. It had to keep its head bent to stay inside as it swayed side to side. Ratface nodded to herself. Her suspicions were right. The thing was too big for the enclosure. The fight would be over for both of them in the first move.

    Ratface stepped into the water. It felt weird, like a wall but permeable. She couldn¡¯t see for a moment as she walked through and that¡¯s when the serpent struck. It darted towards her hoping to snatch her in its jaws. Ratface didn¡¯t wait for her sight to become clear and kicked herself up and too the side. She didn¡¯t go perfectly up, nor perfectly to the side. All land creatures would jump or roll. She was hoping using the weird angle would stop the thing anticipating her. Her plan paid off as the thing tried to catch her but missed. Its head shot out of the water and Ratface grabbed on. Its head slid on the dry land as Ratface rode it out. It went to pull itself back in but Ratface¡¯s sword in-between its nostrils stopped it.

    She¡¯d been right. The enclosure was too small for it. No doubt it had made that same strike before and been able to pull out, but now its body nearly filled the pool. She¡¯d been putting it out of its misery by killing it.

    That¡¯s what she tried to tell herself, but she could feel how the thing trembled underneath her. They both watched as more of the trial takers killed their own serpents and dug inside them for the core. Ratface sighed.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± she whispered in goblin, ¡°you don¡¯t deserve this, but I need a core to advance.¡± She offered it a sad smile. ¡°A pity you can¡¯t just give me one.¡±

    The serpent¡¯s eyes widened in recognition as Ratface talked to it. Could it understand her? She shook her head; it was probably just her imagina-

    ¡°Can,¡± thought a child¡¯s voice to her. It seemed hesitant, like it hadn¡¯t talked before. Ratface paused.

    ¡°You can understand me?¡± she asked. The thing tried to do but it was still out of water.

    ¡°Can,¡± it thought again.

    Ratface sat down on its nose in shock. She¡¯d never heard of anything like this.

    ¡°You can give me the core?¡± she asked, ¡°do you even want to live here?¡±

    ¡°Can. Want live. Help?¡±

    Ratface hopped off the creature. It was slowly pulling its head back, but the weight was just too much for it. She got under its jaw and lifted it up. The two of them carefully put it back in the water. Ratface really hoped she hadn¡¯t imagined this all or her death was going to both quick and stupid.

    The serpent eyed her for a moment, then scrunched its face in concentration. It coughed and a glowing core came out of its mouth. It lowered to Ratface, and she grabbed onto it. This one was nearly formed, and a bubble of water came with it even as she pulled it out. She held it with shaking hands.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± she told the serpent. It tilted its head.

    ¡°Is fine. Was Deal.¡± It paused, then leaned down to Ratface. ¡°Voice¡­ old. I remember. Deep memory. Good luck.¡±

    The serpent pulled away and curled into the corner in exhaustion. Ratface turned back to the group who all watched her in mute surprise.

    ¡°Does that count?¡± she asked. She really hoped so or she¡¯d have to fight another serpent.

    The Champion didn¡¯t say anything, just nodded in mute surprise.

 Chapter Thirty-Six: Incompatible Outfits

    They emerged from the well in another wave of water. Ratface imagined this place had stairs somewhere but she¡¯d yet to see them. The water around her own core swirled. It kept pulling mana in from the water around them. The rest of the cores people were holding remained inert. The Champions squire had started pushing mana into hers, but it wouldn¡¯t naturally pull it. The difference was obvious to Ratface. Hers was alive while the rest were holding a shell. Of course hers would be different. She knew that Abigail¡¯s cores did pull them in. It must be a difference in runes.

    That was ignoring the fact that the serpent had understood her. Had remembered talking to someone like her. The other trial takers kept watching her in confusion and Ratface quickly went and joined her group to avoid the stares. Abigail took one look at her core and broke into a smile. The rest took their notes from there and broke out in a cheer. Ratface grinned as they clapped her on the back.

    ¡°You all just stood out here while we did that?¡±

    ¡°It was pretty boring,¡± said Kryssa. She had Halmir in her hands as she stroked his back. The boy looked incredibly content and nodded in agreement with her. Ratface suspected a little bit of bias there. It was still nice to see him relax. The glamour had a habit of doting on him, and he didn¡¯t mind. Turning into a rat noble hadn¡¯t stopped him also being the rat he¡¯d once been. Ratface still couldn¡¯t catch the sneaky boy.

    ¡°Glad to see you passed at least,¡± said Albert. He was cautious while they were in the city. No. Cautious around Lily and her squire. He hadn¡¯t lost sight of them since they reappeared. A habit from his parents. She wondered how thorough their training had been.

    Ratface turned back to the Champion. The rest of the trial takers had made it to their own groups except for Fulgora who was apparently alone. Ratface waved her over and introduced her to the group. She shook hands with all of them, although she lingered on Albert.

    ¡°You feel like the wind,¡± she said with a sly smile.

    A distressed Albert looked over to Ratface and Tiffany. The two of them looked to each other in confusion then back at the hunter. He¡¯d really gone to the worst two people for help.

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    They were all saved from their poor social skills by Lily calling out to them.

    ¡°Well done on completing the first of the trials. It¡¯s one of two in this city, with the next being where most of you will fail. After that we will be moving to the capital.¡± She smiled. It was interesting how relaxed she was which made Ratface suspicious. Her suspicions were proven correct when Lily continued.

    ¡°The next trial will be to form armour around your core. We will not help you do so, and you only have a week to sort it out. Once your armour is completed, we will be testing if it is worthy.¡±

    That was a polite way of saying they were going to hit her if Ratface had ever heard it. Her eyes narrowed in thought. A week also seemed like a very short time to sort out armour. Abigail sorting her runes had taken her longer than that and she was still constantly tinkering with it.

    To be fair, that could just be the knight¡¯s hobby.

    A glance at the others showed that they also were worried. Only Fulgora seemed at ease. Ratface tilted her head.

    ¡°My people wait outside the city. Such a thing should not prove impossible. Most trials have armour making at some point.¡±

    ¡°Your group didn¡¯t want to watch you take the trial?¡± Ratface asked. She got a cheeky smile in response.

    ¡°We¡¯re not allowed too many of us in this particular city. They call us a safety hazard.¡±

    Ratface thought back to the serpent she¡¯d so easily disposed of. Yeah, she couldn¡¯t imagine that the people here were jumping at people who controlled electricity to come into their very wet city. They were a perfect counter for the city¡¯s defences.

    A quick goodbye and they parted ways. Abigail sent Albert and the others to go look for accommodation while the two of them explored some options for armour.

    They found a few, but none that would be able to make rune armour that didn¡¯t require some magic to be used. Abigail had ideas but none of them confirmed, and none that would be easy to achieve in a week. In the end the two of them admitted defeat and decided that it was a problem best faced with clear minds tomorrow.

    Ratface collapsed into her bed. It had been a long day. Something small was already in it and she rummaged into the bed expecting to find Halmir here squeaking in protest.

    Instead, she found a doll. It had been modified to have a green face and a scowl. A goblin then. Ratface scowled when she realised it was meant to be her. It only made them match better.

    The glamour had already been here. In the activity of the day and the trials she had almost forgotten that this was the city he wanted her help in. She sighed.

    It looked like she wouldn¡¯t be getting much sleep after all.

 Chapter Thirty-Seven: Take What You Need

    It didn¡¯t take her long to find the stature the glamour had talked about. She¡¯d gone to bed early, so there were still plenty of people to ask about it. She had snuck out the window after checking her door was locked. It wasn¡¯t a good look. If Abbigail found out, she¡¯d be furious. She¡¯d have a right to that fury as well. This was exactly what she¡¯d told Ratface not to do.

    Yet the old knight¡¯s fury wasn¡¯t enough to stop her getting information about the lost children.

    A few questions later and she was standing in front of the backwards swimming fish. It wasn¡¯t just a statue but a fountain. The way the water shimmered across the fish gave the impression that it was fighting against the current. She sat down in front of it and waited for time to pass. They hadn¡¯t set a time, but she couldn¡¯t imagine the glamour coming out until it was darker. In that way he was like a goblin. They were always safer when they were harder to see.

    The sun disappeared and eventually she was left under the moon. In this light the fish was more obvious. A faint sheen of magic surrounded it and was push the water around it back.

    An old man joined her. He stared at the fish with apparent amusement.

    ¡°Not from around here, are you squire?¡± asked the old man. Ratface tilted her head at the titled.

    ¡°Just an adventurer I¡¯m afraid.¡±

    He chuckled. ¡°Well, that gives you away too. Has anyone told you the story of this fish?¡± Ratface shook her head, and the old man stroked his beard. ¡°It¡¯s said that after Sofia¡¯s town was destroyed by water serpents, she saw one little fish. It was fighting against the current sweeping her town away. It¡¯s what made her choose water magic to be her focus, despite fighting masters of it.¡± He gestured around himself. ¡°This city is her last work. A reminder that humans can defy even nature itself, if given the chance.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s certainly impressive,¡± said Ratface.

    ¡°That¡¯s the interpretation anyway. Personally, I think it¡¯s an eye sore. A reminder that for all her power, all she ended up doing was building a monument to her revenger.¡± The old man looked at the fish with resignation. Ratface sighed.

    ¡°Did you bring me here just to play pretend? Because I¡¯ll listen if it gets me the information.¡±

    The glamour turned to her with a smile. It was weird seeing him move like himself in the old man¡¯s body. Uncanny.

    ¡°What gave me away?¡±

    Ratface tapped her eyes. She¡¯d been focused the entire time, and he burned with magic.

    ¡°Thought I told you to be careful with that.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, because I would take advice from you. What did you bring me here for?¡±

    ¡°Got that core on you?¡± he asked.

    Ratface pulled it from her bag to show him. She hadn¡¯t let it leave her side since she¡¯d grabbed it. She stuffed it back in before he could get closer. The glamour started wading into the fountain and feeling around it.

    ¡°This city may be an eyesore, but it¡¯s a well designed one. The human cities each provide some part of their runic armour, but the most important part, the part that can¡¯t be replicated is made here.¡±

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    ¡°The core,¡± said Ratface.

    ¡°The very same,¡± said the glamour. He felt under the fish and waved her over. ¡°Of course there¡¯s no way to get to their source. It¡¯s blocked off from anyone entering. Unless you have a key.¡± He pulled the fish up and a complicated set of runes sat there. Ratface hesitated but pressed her core against it. The water around them swirled and once again she was falling into that cavern.

    This time they came out in a different set of pools. These ones had giant serpents swimming around surrounded by eggs. Ratface hissed. An entire set of creatures just turned into a farm. The glamour looked at her outrage and shrugged.

    ¡°It beats being extinct.¡± He walked closer to one of the pools. ¡°You know, I saw how you beat the test. Clever, but I wonder why you didn¡¯t use magic?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t,¡± said Ratface. She practically hissed it through clenched teeth.

    ¡°There¡¯s a goblin-made glamour wandering around that tells us that isn¡¯t true. You¡¯ve used magic before. Remember the jellyfish?¡±

    Ratface couldn¡¯t forget. She¡¯d pulled that magic from the elf. She just couldn¡¯t remember how she¡¯d done it. The glamour rippled and turned back into his goblin self.

    ¡°It¡¯s easy really. A goblin trick I learned from one of you.¡± He stood at the edge of a pool and one of the mothers saw him. It twisted around its eggs defensively. He didn¡¯t even spare it a glance.

    ¡°All magic used to be goblins. All you have to remember is how to take it.¡±

    He walked into the water. He didn¡¯t swim; the water just rippled around him. The mother reared up and screamed at him. He reached out in front of himself and gripped something. Ratface focused and could see he¡¯d grabbed hold of the serpent. With a snarl he pulled, and the magic ripped out of the serpent and into him. The current in the water changed as it came under his control.

    The serpent wasn¡¯t faring so well. It was still alive, but it was like something vital had been taken. Ratface was watching it waste away in real time.

    The glamour walked closer and grabbed five eggs. The mother tried to stop him, but it was so weak that he didn¡¯t even notice her attempts. He walked out of the water with his eggs and surrounded them in water.

    The two of them didn¡¯t talk as they left the cavern. Ratface could feel a pit in her stomach. She¡¯d seen the trial takers fight the serpents for their cores but that had been before she¡¯d talked to it. He¡¯d just murdered it in front of her. She hadn¡¯t known that was what he was going to do but she should¡¯ve. Her hands trembled at her side. She wanted to hurt him. She could feel her body fighting against the fact he was a goblin. The idea she could even consider hurting a goblin made her feel sick.

    They arrived back outside, and the fountain closed behind them. Ratface shook in place.

    ¡°You killed it,¡± she said.

    ¡°I just took its mana. If they check it in time it might survive.¡± He didn¡¯t sound concerned about whether they did or not.

    ¡°You could¡¯ve just asked her for the eggs.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t ask monsters. I take.¡±

    Ratface glared at him. He held her gaze for a moment before sighing and looking away.

    ¡°Sometimes kid, you gotta do horrible things to help those you care about. You think you¡¯ll get through these trials without compromising something for them? Just coz you¡¯re not desperate now doesn¡¯t mean you won¡¯t be later.¡±

    Ratface hesitated. She wanted to say she wouldn¡¯t but the conviction in his eyes made her falter. He nodded at that.

    ¡°Well, a deal is a deal. I¡¯ll give you the information you¡¯re after. I¡¯ll even help you use it if you keep helping me.¡±

    ¡°As if I¡¯d keep working with you.¡±

    He offered her a dreadful grin.

    ¡°One of your goblins is in the Lady¡¯s city.¡±

    She closed her eyes. Something like resignation flitting through her as he kept talking.

    ¡°They¡¯re stuck in a locked down part of the city. Something odd about them just like another goblin we know. Just so happens the thing I¡¯m here for is in the same place.¡± He shrugged as he stuffed his stolen eggs in a bad that he materialised.

    ¡°We want the same things. I¡¯ll even prove it by offering you some help with your current trial. Go find the witch at the edge of the city. She¡¯ll be able to make an armour you can use.¡± He started to walk off but paused and turned back.

    ¡°You think what I did is awful but make no mistake, that trick I pulled is a goblin one. If you want to survive these trials, it¡¯s one you¡¯ll have to use as well.¡± He left after that, but Ratface didn¡¯t really notice. She was still thinking about the water serpent mother he¡¯d maimed. It was awful what he¡¯d done.

    She didn¡¯t know what she hated more; the fact that a part of her had already worked out the technique, or the fact it felt familiar.

 Chapter Thirty-Eight: Morning Regrets

    It was a very tired Ratface that greeted the next day.  She picked at her breakfast of bacon and eggs with all the urgency of someone who¡¯d been fed well every day of her life. She could practically hear the part of her that had lived in a garbage pile screaming at her in disappointment. She put more effort into eating in its honour.

    Abigail was watching in concern but said nothing. Kryssa swept down the stairs and sat next to Ratface.

    ¡°Well, you look like death, I thought you went to sleep early?¡± she asked. She smiled at Ratface¡¯s dead eyed look.

    Ratface for her part was looking at the mana swirling in the glamour. Kryssa was a mix of so many different people¡¯s contribution that she was like a tapestry to look at. She could even find the part that was from the jellyfish mana she¡¯d stolen. Her stomach clenched. Was Kryssa partly made of magic like the goblin glamour had used? The thought hurt. She went to push her food away before she remembered how hungry she¡¯d been in the past. She kept shovelling the food in but she wasn¡¯t enjoying it.

    ¡°Where¡¯s the rest of our group?¡± Kryssa asked.

    ¡°That Fulgora girl came and invited them to tour the town with her,¡± said Abigail.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t go with her?¡± Kryssa asked Ratface. Ratface shook her head. Fulgora seemed like a nice girl, but she wasn¡¯t mentally prepared for dealing with someone new right now. She was barely managing with Kryssa. At least the girl hadn¡¯t been too upset when Ratface had said she wasn¡¯t feeling well. She¡¯d nodded in sympathy and Ratface had to wonder just how pathetic she looked today. She definitely wasn¡¯t feeling great.

    ¡°I suppose we¡¯ll go searching for your armour when we¡¯re done,¡± said Kryssa. She leaned back into her chair and pulled a still sleeping Halmir from her pocket. That explained where he¡¯d spent the night at least. Ratface and Kryssa coaxed the little rat awake with food. Ratface could feel some of the dark of last night leaving as she did so.

    ¡°I did hear of someone that might help,¡± she said, ¡°apparently there is a witch who may able to help.¡±

    ¡°Where did you hear that?¡± Abigail asked.

    Right, as far they were all concerned, she¡¯d gone straight to bed. She fed Halmir some of her bacon while she came up with a response. He must be having a very lazy day if he wasn¡¯t getting his own breakfast.

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    ¡°Some people were talking about her when I went up to order breakfast,¡± she said eventually.

    She could feel Abigail¡¯s gaze boring into her, and she knew she hadn¡¯t got away with the lie. The knight relaxed, deciding not to push it.

    ¡°We¡¯ll go once the three of you finish breakfast.¡±

    They finally ordered something for Halmir, and he switched into his noble form to scarf it down. At least there was no concern he¡¯d forget about being hungry.

    After that they went searching for the witch and Ratface got a chance to look at the city a bit more. The water still twisted through in the air and she watched people zip through it to their destinations. It made the walkway a lot less crowded. The only people wandering around on the ground were either foreigners like them or people out for a stroll. She watched as two people nearly crashed in the water before being pulled apart. Neither had used any spells, it looked like the water itself was doing the guiding.

    It did make getting directions difficult. Most people didn¡¯t know who she was talking about and the people that did know gave her suspicious looks. It seemed the witch wasn¡¯t well loved.

    Ratface could tell they were in the right area when the amount of people died down. It was also getting colder, and she wished she¡¯d worn a jacket out. Kryssa nudged her and gestured at the waterways.

    They weren¡¯t water, someone had frozen them all in place. They sparkled like strange sculptures crawling through the sky. It wasn¡¯t a perfect, small bits of water still dripped from the ice. It felt like they¡¯d walked into a localised rainstorm. Ratface shuddered. It was a blatant display of power that reminded her how little she could do if a mage truly wanted to crush her. Abigail at least didn¡¯t seem too concerned. The knight was a powerhouse herself even if she didn¡¯t display it as blatantly as this person did.

    They finally got to a house in the middle of the storm. Ratface had expected a cottage, or a mansion or something odd. Instead, she was treated to one of the townhouses she¡¯d seen around the area. It wasn¡¯t even one on its own, it just had a sign on it saying ¡®witch services¡¯.  Underneath it was a woman drinking tea. She seemed incredibly bored and perked up when the group of them appeared.

    ¡°Oh yes hello, how can I be of assistance?¡± her voice was bubbly and welcoming.

    ¡°We¡¯re here for the witch?¡± Ratface asked.

    ¡°Well look no further valued customer, you¡¯ve found her.¡± The woman drew herself up in pride and gestured at herself. She was dressed just like a normal shopkeeper apart from a big wide hat that sat on her head. Ratface wasn¡¯t sure if it was for her profession or to stop her getting wet.

    ¡°Welcome to the shop of the Lady¡¯s favoured witch. We do bits and bobs, and even this and that if you ask nicely.¡± She grinned at them like she¡¯d shared a private joke and Ratface was beginning to wonder if they¡¯d come to the right place.

    ¡°Now how can I help a goblin in a human city?¡± the witch asked. Her eyes shone with knowledge as she looked past Ratface¡¯s armour and straight to her face. She could feel the witch tracing it in her mind.

    Well, at least she knew she was in the right place.

 Chapter Thirty-Nine: Shopkeeper Witch

    The inside of the witch¡¯s shop was as eclectic as she was. The shop looked like two different people were fighting for control. One was a neat shopkeeper; the shelves were stacked and labelled carefully with whatever they had followed by a neat description on the back of them.

    It only managed to heighten all the mess everywhere else. There was a literal cauldron in one part of the shop that was boiling without supervision, and another corner had a bunch of different things piled together that Ratface could tell weren¡¯t meant to be together. Abigail had put herself between the pile and the rest of them which had them all on edge.

    The witch didn¡¯t seem to mind, she led them all past the mess into a cozy room filled with half finished projects. This room was completely organised, the half made equipment was held up in place and little notations had been made on it. There was a desk in the middle of the room and the witch slid into the chair behind it.

    ¡°So, what can old Amber do for you?¡± she asked. She propped herself onto her elbows and steepled her fingers. Ratface looked at the others and shrugged.

    ¡°I¡¯m taking the Lady¡¯s trials, and I need to make some armour to pass the next one. Unfortunately, I¡¯m currently unable to interact with runes.¡± Ratface would¡¯ve been more careful with that information in any other circumstance. There were some people born completely without a connection to mana, but they were few and far between. The more like conclusion the witch would make was that Ratface was a goblin. The only thing she had going for her is no goblin would be stupid enough to take the trials.

    This was all moot when some random witch could see through her.

    Amber¡¯s face twisted into a frown.

    ¡°The Lady¡¯s trials? More like the rune knight trials,¡± she said with venom. Ratface looked at Abigail in confusion and the knight elaborated.

    ¡°The trials used to be more flexible, it was less about runes and more about magic in general. That¡¯s apparently changed in the decades since I was last here.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s partly your fault,¡± said Amber. She was watching Abigail but there wasn¡¯t any anger in those eyes. ¡°After your supposed betrayal, it was decreed that the rune knights would oversee the trials. Once upon a time there would be more types of mages in there. There hasn¡¯t been someone other than a squire to pass it since me.¡± She saw Ratface and Kryssa¡¯s confused faces. ¡°The Lady is a teacher of magic, not just rune magic. It may be that¡¯s mostly what she teaches but it¡¯s a shame to only let one sort of magic flourish.¡± She clapped her hands. ¡°Enough about that. You need armour that works like runes for a goblin with no magic. I assume you have a core?¡±

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    Amber had a way of bouncing through topics in a way that could almost be called traumatic. Abigail looked like her betrayal being called an annoyance had stunned her.

    Ratface pulled out the core she¡¯d got from the serpent. This at least pulled the witch up.

    ¡°Oooh, I haven¡¯t seen an alive one before. How did you get this?¡± asked the witch. She pulled it nice and close to her face till her nose was touching.

    ¡°I asked,¡± said Ratface.

    The witch barked out a laugh.

    ¡°I bet that just made little miss ¡®champion¡¯ furious. Well on the bright side this should make making your armour that much easier. Most armour draws from its wielder or from charging, but your armour will be alive enough that it wont need anything from you. The real issue is you need something to guide it.¡± She moved away from the desk and grabbed some armour off a stand. ¡°Your classic armour, and what you¡¯ll be tested on, should be able to do at least three things; attack, defend, move.¡± She pointed at a series of runes on the armour she¡¯d pulled out. The defence was on the arms whereas the attack and movement were on the legs. ¡°A lot of knights combine the attack and movement. Your knight here famously started the trend with her one-woman knight charge. I¡¯ve heard that she can even break the sound barrier.¡± She gave Abigail a questioning look and the knight shrugged.

    ¡°That particular skill works better in a formation. These days I have to be more creative.¡±

    Ratface had seen a lesser version of that used on the people who had tried to kidnap her. It sounded devastating but Ratface could see why she wouldn¡¯t use it. When they¡¯d fought the elf she was more likely to hurt them than the elf.

    ¡°Hmm well, the point is that the knights can choose what part to use. You¡¯ll need someone to guide it in your stead. Someone like your glamour perhaps?¡±

    Ratface instinctively stepped in front of Kryssa. Amber seemed nice, her blatant dislike of the Lily had made Ratface like her, but she was still asking things of Ratface¡¯s friends.

    ¡°I won¡¯t let you imprison her in armour.¡±

    ¡°Who said anything about imprisoning? It¡¯s not like she¡¯d all be in there, just a part. Of course, we¡¯d need to get her in the right head space first.¡±

    Ratface went to interject but an arm on her shoulder stopped her. Kryssa pulled her back.

    ¡°I¡¯d like to try it,¡± she told Ratface. She turned her attention on the witch. ¡°Very well witch, you may help me with this.¡±

    ¡°Oh yeah she¡¯s an elf for sure,¡± muttered Amber. She offered them all a shopkeeper¡¯s smile. ¡°Well, that¡¯s fine, you come sit with me while your goblin girl goes and talks to the outcasts outside. She¡¯ll need their lightning if she¡¯s going to have any movement.¡± She waved Ratface away and Ratface left feeling like she¡¯d talked to a tornado instead of a person.

    It was only a few streets down that she realised she¡¯d agreed to this all without asking the price.

 Chapter Forty: Are You the Only You?

    Kryssa watched Ratface walk away with some trepidation. The goblin girl had a habit of getting herself into trouble that an elf should be dealing with rather than a goblin. She wondered if the goblin really understood she was part of the most fragile race.

    The other part was being alone with the witch. Amber was staring at her with naked curiosity now that she¡¯d agreed to her problem. The witch¡¯s eyes followed the circuit of her mana in a way that made her feel vulnerable. It was a novel feeling, and she hated it.

    ¡°Tea?¡± Amber asked.

    ¡°Please,¡± said Kryssa. Food didn¡¯t really do all that much for her, but it would at least stop her being put on display.

    Amber bustled around in her kitchen. She approached tea making in much the same way Kryssa imagined a potion was made. She even brought the tea in vials. She handed Kryssa a vial and the glamour took a polite sip.

    It was delicious. The drink moved through her and warmed her up. Settling a worry the glamour hadn¡¯t know she had.

    The witch watched it all and nodded to herself. She was much less rushed now that it was just the two of us.

    ¡°You¡¯re an odd duck for a glamour, aren¡¯t you?¡± Amber asked. Kryssa tilted her head. She wouldn¡¯t frown all the time like her goblin.

    ¡°In what way?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re stable. Most glamours are more fluid than you are, particularly if they have a young charge who hasn¡¯t mastered them yet.¡±

    Kryssa arched an eyebrow at that. She wanted to respond with rage, but she was better than that.

    ¡°I have no master,¡± she said. The witch waved her off.

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s the other thing. You¡¯re centred around this core.¡± She gestured to where Kryssa¡¯s core sat hidden in her body. Kryssa coiled like a snake at that. ¡°It makes you so much more vulnerable, and yet, so much more real. I bet a punch from you hurts like hell.¡±

    ¡°We can test it if you¡¯d like?¡±

    The witch smiled like a cat.

    ¡°An empty threat. You like my tea too much,¡± she said. Kryssa looked down and she¡¯d nearly downed most of the drink. Amber wordlessly handed her one to Kryssa as well.

    ¡°Yes, you¡¯re like an experienced glamour in some ways, and totally new in others. Most glamours for instance, would recognise mana tea,¡± said Amber. She gestured at the vials in Kryssa¡¯s hands. ¡°They would have been taken with their elf as a special treat by the elf¡¯s parent for growing up.  A great treat what with elves and glamours both being notoriously sensitive to mana. That all but confirms it. You¡¯re the goblins glamour, aren¡¯t you?¡± Kryssa went to correct her, but the witch leaned forward and stared into her before. ¡°No¡­ not truly hers. Still connected but the core really is you. Well, this is confusing. The magic making you up shouldn¡¯t even be possible.¡± She shook her head. ¡°Distracting. My point is that you¡¯re not using all of what a glamour can do. You fight more like an elf. It¡¯s a waste.¡±

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    ¡°I¡¯m more scared of an elf than a glamour,¡± said Kryssa.

    ¡°That¡¯s because glamours are wasted on elves. They don¡¯t really get them.¡± The witch rummaged around in her armour sets until she found a full mannequin. She gave it a tap and the thing turned on. It stood exactly like the witch did. The same pensive energy in both. They witch opened her mouth.

    ¡°Let me ask you a question. Which one of us is me?¡± said both the witch and the mannequin. Kryssa stared in shock at the display of magic.

    ¡°Is it me?¡± asked the witch, pacing around the room.

    ¡°Or me?¡± said the mannequin, sitting down in front of Kryssa. It even leaned back into the chair like the witch.

    ¡°A silly question. I watched you turn the mannequin on,¡± said Kryssa. She watched both of them as the witch moved about the room while the mannequin made more tea.

    ¡°Ah so if you¡¯d seen me first and I¡¯d woken the body, I¡¯d be real?¡± asked the mannequin.

    ¡°No, the real body is flesh.¡±

    ¡°But you¡¯re not flesh. Your basically just magic. Are you not alive?¡± asked the witch. She¡¯d gone behind Kryssa and was currently pick a book up about illusions.

    ¡°¡­It¡¯s different,¡± said Kryssa. ¡°Ratface gave me a life when she gave me the core.¡±

    ¡°Oh, so it¡¯s autonomy that makes you alive?¡± asked the mannequin as it brought her a tea and sipped at its own. It enjoyed the tea far more than the witch had.

    ¡°Let me ask you a question,¡± it said, sitting back in front of Kryssa.

    ¡°How are you watching both of us?¡± they asked.

    Kryssa stilled. Stilled in a way that only something that had complete control of its image could do so. Not even the faint movement of breath betrayed her.

    She hadn¡¯t even noticed she was doing it. She already knew that she saw different than the others, but it hadn¡¯t really been so outlined for her. Her vision was related to her eyes but her focus.

    ¡°So, which of us is me?¡± asked the mannequin. It leaned closer until she was forced to focus only on it, the witch fading from her vision as she did so. It tilted its head, and Kryssa could feel it smiling.

    ¡°The answer is simple of course. It¡¯s both.¡±

    The mannequin crumpled to the floor in front of her in a lifeless heap. Kryssa stared in horror before she heard a pained grunt behind her. She twisted around to see the witch munching on some herbs.

    ¡°The last decade I¡¯ve spent on that, and I can still barely last any time at all,¡± she said. She came over and pulled her mannequin back onto the seat, arranging it so it wouldn¡¯t fall again.

    ¡°The point of that little demonstration wasn¡¯t to scare you,¡± she told Kryssa once the mannequin was settled. ¡°The point was to remind you of something a goblin can¡¯t really properly understand.¡± She gestured around them. ¡°This isn¡¯t just a physical world, but a magical one too. The two work together but they have their own rules.¡± She nodded to the mannequin.

    ¡°I do that by infusing my will into the mana governing the mannequin. While the magic is linked and while I can keep that focus up. I can be both of them. If I was better at this, I wouldn¡¯t even need a shell to do this.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s impressive,¡± Kryssa admitted. The witch gave her a little laugh.

    ¡°What I¡¯m describing is what every glamour does naturally. The problem is they¡¯re paired with elves. Self-centred monsters that they are. You¡¯re so used to thinking like a physical creature instead of a magical one.¡± She grabbed Kryssa¡¯s hand and placed the core Ratface had gotten into it.

    ¡°So glamour Kryssa, what limits you to only one body?¡±

    The glamour shivered. Unbeknownst to her, her image flickered.

 Chapter Forty-one: The Price of Lightning

    Fulgora¡¯s caravan outside the city was a lot nicer than Ratface would have thought it was. The caravans themselves were wide and looked more like moving houses than any wagon Ratface had seen. The houses weren¡¯t too fancy, they looked like something from a village more than anything, and a communal table had been set out in front of them.

    Fulgora was sitting at the table with Albert and Tiffany. She¡¯d put a grilled fish out in front of them. The thing was huge and Ratface said as much as they got closer.

    ¡°As you can imagine, catching fish is fairly easy for us,¡± said Fulgora. She gestured at the fish. ¡°Please dig in. I¡¯ve already filled your two friends with food, so they¡¯ll need some help.¡±

    Ratface shrugged and joined in to Alber and Tiffany¡¯s obvious relief. She dug into it with all the enthusiasm of someone who had starved before. It was difficult to do so without Fulgora getting to see under her helmet. She had to keep turning away. Abigail didn¡¯t dig in with quite as much gusto, but she took enough to be polite. Halmir crawled out joined Ratface in her war against the fish.

    ¡°I imagine that you didn¡¯t come just to help your friends with the fish?¡± asked Fulgora.

    Ratface paused in her munching to fix the other trial taker with a stare.

    ¡°I need a favour from you. Someone mentioned your lightning might be good for movement?¡±

    Fulgora frowned, then barked something out in a language Ratface didn¡¯t recognise. A door opened from one of the caravans and heat washed out of the room. Ratface covered her face but still look through. The room looked like a combination of a blacksmith and alchemist and it had a sharp smell to it.

    A girl rushed out of it. She was in a thick gown with no metal on it and big puffy parts to it. The moment the door closed behind her the heat stopped. That was quite the door.

    The girl pulled down the hood of her robe and they were all treated to what was obviously Fulgora¡¯s younger sister. The girls hair wasn¡¯t cut so short and it had a red tint that she hadn¡¯t noticed in the older girls face. They both had that faint pride to them though.

    ¡°This is one of our lightning smiths, Faber,¡± said Fulgora. Faber gave them a deep bow and Ratface frowned. That level of deference was odd at a sister¡¯s greeting.

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    ¡°Faber, this squire has need of our lightning for their own armour. Can you help them?¡±

    The younger girl frowned.

    ¡°I won¡¯t make you any boots,¡± she declared. Ratface let her eyes flicker down to Fulgora¡¯s legs. Ah her greaves had been replaced with a different set. Theses ones covered her all the way to the knee. A quick glance at the mana around them told her they crackled with mana. The lightning girl must be leaning into her abilities for the armour. It was a call that made sense to Ratface. She¡¯d do the same if she could.

    Instead, she got to deal with a witch that took shady deals with Kryssa. She hoped the glamour didn¡¯t get pulled into anything too dangerous.

    She shook her head. She¡¯d just have to trust in Kryssa and do her part.

    ¡°I just need the lightning,¡± said Ratface.

    ¡°Oh, is that all?¡± said Faber with a roll of her eyes. Fulgora gave her a look and the younger girl sighed and reached into her bulky cloak. She pulled out a glass bottle and raised it to the sky.

    ¡°If you would Anax Fulgora,¡± she asked.

    The other girl pushed herself away from the table and stood up. She stretched a bit before looking up at the sky.

    ¡°You may want to look away for this,¡± she warned.

    The clouds twisted in the sky and darkened the area above them. Fulgora reached up towards them and then yanked down.

    A pure bolt of lightning shot down at them. It was about to hit them when it curved into the glass bottle and coiled around it. Faber stuck a plug in it. She handed it to Fulgora who watched the thrashing lightning impassively.

    ¡°I can¡¯t imagine what use there is for this,¡± she said. She eyed Ratface with consideration and the goblin braced herself. Here came the price. She wondered if it¡¯d be information or a favour?

    Fulgora handed her the bottle.

    ¡°Here you go,¡± she said with a smile.

    Ratface stared at the bottle, then the girl in confusion.

    ¡°You¡¯re just giving this to me?¡± she asked. Fulgora shrugged and sat back down at the table. She gestured for Faber to come join her and the girl quickly rushed over and sat next to her to eat. Once her younger sister was eating, she turned back to Ratface.

    ¡°I only passed the water trial from your help,¡± she said. Ratface tried to protest but the girl cut her off. She¡¯d switched how she was acting and sat a little straighter now. She seemed more regal somehow.

    ¡°If I hadn¡¯t passed, my trail would be done, and with it, any chance of my people not having to travel between cities.¡± She looked over Ratface¡¯s group in consideration. ¡°The Lady¡¯s favour is a boon my people need, but there¡¯s nothing that says that we can¡¯t all have it. So I will help those who helped me, because I have to live with my decisions once the trial is over.¡± Her speech done, she relaxed, and the noble bearing faded. She smiled slyly at them.

    ¡°Now come help me eat this fish, before my glutton of a sister eats it all.¡±

    Ratface came and joined her. She was embarrassed how surprised she was to just be helped. Her deals with the goblin glamour must have been bothering her more than she thought.

    It hurt more than she¡¯d admit that a human would help her so easily, but someone with a goblins face wouldn¡¯t.

 Chapter Forty-two: Sleepover Chats

    Ratface sat in her room with her eternal roommates. They both had their own rooms, and had used them the night before when she¡¯d feigned exhaustion, but today they had slunk back in.

    Halmir was relaxed and happy. The rat boy hadn¡¯t had to do much these past few days. Unlike Tiffany and Albert, who seemed like they needed to be moving around. He was quite happy to lounge about. Ratface was almost worried he was back in his coma if it wasn¡¯t for the fact he kept forcing their human members to take him to different snacks.

    At the moment he was lying the bed between Ratface and Kryssa. He hadn¡¯t bothered switching back into his rat form and the two of them were treated to the rare sight of the small boy curled up between them.

    Ratface wiped away a bit of fluff he¡¯d gotten stuck in his fur. It was nice to see him like this. A reminder that for all their troubles, they could still have moments of peace. Her thought lingered on the lightning that she¡¯d been gifted. The witch had been surprised when she¡¯d brought it back. Particularly when she¡¯d brought it back uninjured.

    She¡¯d kicked them all out after that, stopping long enough to give Kryssa the core with instructions to practice.

    Ratface couldn¡¯t help wondering if Fulgora would have given her the gift if she¡¯d known she was a goblin. An unkind though, but not one she fully disagreed with. The fact she¡¯d hidden when she was eating said as much.

    A huff made her look away from the rat boy. Kryssa was staring intently at the core. She¡¯d clearly just failed given the frown on her face.

    It was the first time Ratface had seen the glamour look properly tired. Sure she¡¯d seen her damaged after fighting the goblin glamour, but this was just the exhaustion of working hard. A quick glance into the mana surrounding the glamour showed her it was stretched between her and the serpent¡¯s core.

    ¡°It¡¯s rude to stare,¡± said Kryssa. Ratface shrugged and the glamour leaned back with a sigh.

    ¡°So, are you going to tell me what the witch had to say?¡±

    ¡°Oh, are we telling each other secrets now?¡± asked Kryssa. Ratface paused.

    ¡°You know,¡± she said. The glamour gave her an offended look.

    ¡°You went to be early and insisted on being alone. You didn¡¯t even do that after the fight against the elf. Seeing you looks so tired today all but confirmed it.¡±

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    So, the glamour didn¡¯t know everything then. She was staring at Ratface now and the goblin knew she had to give the girl something.

    ¡°I had some information that confirmed a goblin here,¡± she said.

    ¡°The papers,¡± Kryssa guessed. Ratface didn¡¯t correct her, though it hurt to do so. She wished it was as easy as telling the glamour but a part of her whispered that if she did, the goblin here might never get out.

    ¡°It led me to meeting with someone, but they insisted on meeting alone. I knew if anyone heard they¡¯d try to come with me. I shouldn¡¯t have kept it a secret but the risk.¡± Ratface faltered. A little of the panic of dealing with that glamour peaked through. Of the dread of the magic, he¡¯d used.

    Kryssa eyed her with her head tilted, then sighed.

    ¡°The witch told me I¡¯m not bound to the core you gave me. Called me a thing of magic. She wants me to be in the core for your armour.¡±

    Ratface¡¯s eyes narrowed in confusion.

    ¡°But that¡¯s trapping you in there,¡± she said.

    ¡°I would be in both places. I don¡¯t have to be restricted to one body.¡± Kryssa looked in frustration at the core in front of her. ¡°But I can¡¯t do it. I¡¯m too stuck like this.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s been one day,¡± said Ratface.

    ¡°But we don¡¯t have time to waste. A glamour should be able to do this.¡± Kryssa clenched the core tightly. The water surrounding it lapped against her fingers. Ratface reached out and grabbed her arm lightly to get her to relax. She shuffled around Halmir until she was next to Kryssa. The rat boy adjusted himself in his sleep to drape across them. Ratface chose her words carefully.

    ¡°You started as a jellyfish,¡± she started. The glamour gave her an annoyed look but she kept going. ¡°First you were a jellyfish I stole. Then you spent years trapped in my head, where you made an entire city just out of memories. You fought an old glamour and pushed him back,¡± she talked about it with pride. Kryssa was her own person, but she was the person that Ratface had helped make. It was difficult not to take some pride the glamour had come so far so quickly.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think this is beyond you, but I do think that trying to be in both forms is at the moment. Take a baby step, not everything has to be done in crisis.¡± Ratface gestured at Halmir. ¡°Take him for example. I bet one day he¡¯ll be able to blink wherever he wants, but for now he needs his friends or his vision as anchors. He¡¯ll work it out in time. Start small.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s small?¡± asked Kryssa. Ratface looked at the mana curling between her and the core. It was thick, like she was trying to duplicate herself.

    ¡°Well for starters, why not just try putting your mind in there? like when you were in mine or Halmir¡¯s.¡±

    The glamour looked at her in surprise, then stared at the core. Her body slumped and Ratface caught it and the core as it tried to roll away. Just gripping the core, she could feel the glamour in there. A moment later the glamour slipped out and her body jerked up. She looked annoyed.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been trying all day to do something like this, but you get me to do it in one sentence,¡± she complained.

    ¡°I guess I¡¯m a better teacher than the witch,¡± Ratface said. She tilted her head up haughtily just in an imitation of Kryssa. It earned her an amused noise. Ratface would call it a snort, but not to Kryssa¡¯s face.

    A little while later and Kryssa fell asleep too and Ratface was left trapped between the two. She leaned into their warmth and smiled to herself.

    It didn¡¯t completely get rid of her worry about the goblin glamours ability, the one she shared.

    But it was difficult to hate it too much, when it had given her such a friend.

 Chapter Forty-Three: New Toy

    They¡¯d met the witch in a courtyard out the back of her shop. It was well taken care of but looked more like it was a community garden than a practice area. Four walls hid it from the outside, though it was still warm. Ratface noticed that the ice had been very intentionally removed from this spot to let the sun in.

    Ratface hadn¡¯t known what she expected from the armour that was made from a witch. She had some idea what a rune knights armour should look like of course, she literally had Abigail.

    Her armour was not like that. It looked like chainmail with faint charms sewn into it. She wouldn¡¯t have thought it would be quiet, and it wasn¡¯t when she first put it on. It felt heavy and clanked against her. She looked at the witch unimpressed and the witch rolled her eyes and grabbed the core off of Kryssa to slot into the armour. The core broke itself apart and flowed into the shards. Ratface looked in alarm and Amber chuckled.

    ¡°Don¡¯t think of the core as a physical object but a magical one. A live core isn¡¯t restricted by a physical form. So long as you can give it something to flow through it¡¯ll be able to stay in this ether form.¡±

    Now that it had the core in it, the armour adjusted itself to fit her better. The shards moulded onto her existing armour. Ratface imagined it would fit any other clothing or armour she put it over. It also had the nice effect of covering her neck seamlessly so she wouldn¡¯t have to worry about someone slipping into the gap on her helmet. It refused to join with the helmet itself though and Ratface resolved not to let herself get hit in the face. Not something she¡¯d planned on doing in general, but extra now. She moved around it and found that it made her quieter as well.

    Those of them with no theoretical magical knowledge looked at it with interest but Ratface could tell how useful it actually was by Abigail¡¯s appraising look. Amber walked around it with obvious pride.

    ¡°Currently, the armour has water and lightning magic attuned to it. For a normal mage that would be impressive enough. Lucky for you then, you have a witch.¡± She held her hand out and a faint rune hovered in the air. She pushed it towards the armour, and it sucked it up greedily. Ratface felt something in the armour change, it was more ordered. She felt like she could direct it if she was capable of touching mana.

    ¡°I just attuned it to runic spell work,¡± the witch explained, ¡°the armour can grow as it gains more attunement. There¡¯s a catch of course.¡±

    Ratface had been watching the mana, so she had an idea, but it was Abigail that confirmed it.

    ¡°It has to be freely given,¡± she said.

    ¡°From someone powerful as well,¡± said Amber.

    That explained why the witch had got her to ask Fulgora. Ratface couldn¡¯t think of anyone more powerful than someone that could change the sky.

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    ¡°The other problem is of course that you need someone to operate it. Thankfully you have your glamour to help with that. Shall we give it a try?¡±

    Ratface shrugged. Kryssa didn¡¯t say anything, just went limp. A moment later and Ratface could feel the glamour in the armour with her. It was like having her in her head again. Kryssa wasn¡¯t saying anything though and Ratface frowned.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡± she asked.

    <I hate how comfortable this is,> thought Kryssa. Her words whispered into Ratface¡¯s head, and the goblin nodded. It wasn¡¯t quite the same as being stuck in her head again, but it was close enough as to remind them both. Ratface was surprised to find she didn¡¯t mind it as much either.

    <It¡¯s different if we trust each other,> though Ratface. She flashed the glamour a grin, <besides you can always leave if you get sick of me.>

    ¡°Ready girls?¡± asked Amber, jolting them both out of their distraction. Ratface nodded and she felt Kryssa nod once in her head before remembering no one could see her. Ratface tried not to laugh.

    ¡°Fantastic, let¡¯s start with something easy. The water is going to be the way you stop impact. I want you to make a water bubble around you. It should be easier with the rune attunment.¡±

    Ratface felt Kryssa concentrate and then she was wrapped up in a water bubble. She swallowed some water when it hit her head. She hadn¡¯t thought the glamour would cover all of her. The witch came and swung at fist at them experimentally. It slowed from the drag and she nodded. Kryssa let go of the bubble and Ratface hit the ground spluttering.

    <A little warning next time?> Ratface asked.

    <Maybe you were too busy laughing to notice,> thought Kryssa. Ratface could literally feel the smug grin the girl was giving her. Ratface grumbled but she didn¡¯t push.

    ¡°Next up is lightning. You¡¯re not going to be able to pull off tricks like the outcasts, but you still will get a little hit. Give it a go.¡±

    Ratface held her hand out in front of her and a short spark came out. It wasn¡¯t as flashy as what Fulgora had done but she wouldn¡¯t want to be on the receiving end of it.

    The witch clapped to see it done.

    ¡°Fantastic, last check is movement. For this you¡¯re going to put a faint trickle of water in the direction you want to go, then let the lighting run through. The way the armour is made it should pull you through to it.¡±

    Ratface lifted a foot experimentally as the armour grew out to cover her lower body. She didn¡¯t sacrifice covering elsewhere which was nice.

    Kryssa sent out an experimental trickle of water, followed by a spark of lightning. Ratface had just enough time to register the glamours panic before she was sent hurtling into the wall. A bubble of water wrapped around her and cushioned her. At least she knew the defence worked now.

    ¡°I thought that would happen,¡± muttered Amber. She shrugged, ¡°well even with that, I still consider it a successful test.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just a question of the two of you practicing now,¡± interjected Abigail. Amber walked away from them and sat down with a book in hand. The knight stood in front of them, her hands clasped behind her back. Teacher mode then.

    ¡°Your armour is different from mine, but the theory of learning how to use it is the same. You need it to become so natural that the two of you use it without thinking. That also means you have to be on the same page when using it.¡± The knight smiled. ¡°So today we¡¯re going to spend the day putting you through your paces. We¡¯ll use the drills I learnt when I was first learning how to use mine.

    She shivered in fear and felt a similar shiver from Kryssa. Ratface had to admit, Abigail¡¯s teaching methods were effective.

    It had only been a moment and already the two of them were unified in their dread of whatever Abigail had planned.

 Chapter Forty-Four: Waiting Room

    Ratface barely made it to the trail intact. At least that¡¯s how she felt. Her and Kryssa were let into the next trail test but no one else.

    Well technically, Kryssa was probably not meant to be here either, but it was difficult for them to notice.

    <Don¡¯t grin like that, you always look so suspicious,> said Kryssa.

    <They can¡¯t see it through the helmet,> said Ratface. She didn¡¯t stop grinning.

    They were currently in a waiting room with most of the rest of the trial takers. The room was bare apart for seats for all of them and two doors. The one they¡¯d come in, and the one on the other side of the room. Most of the trial takers, she supposed she should call them squires, were wearing varying levels of the same armour. It was similar to Abigail but as if it was made by memory instead of by instructions. Ratface winced internally. It looked expensive in every way that didn¡¯t matter. A quick glance at the mana around them showed them all to be inefficient.

    One stood out as better than the rest. It was sleek and made for a duellist. The mana coming from it was efficient and controlled.

    The champions squire sat alone with only three seats around her. She made eye contact with Ratface and smiled in a way that somehow made her seem less friendly. Ratface grimaced but walked over to sit next to her. The girl opened her mouth to say something, but Ratface slunk into the seat next to her.

    ¡°So, the traitors get managed to find something. Your armour looks like it was made by a witch with all those charms,¡± she said. She was sneering. Ratface was actually a little fascinated by her. She hadn¡¯t run into this level of arrogance since the elves.

    ¡°Funny you should say that. A witch did make it. The Lady¡¯s favourite,¡± said Ratface.

    That made the girls sneer die on her face. She tried to rally it, but surprise had fought its way onto her face which just made her look like she¡¯d sucked on a lemon. It wasn¡¯t a good look. She managed to rally though and tilted her head up.

    ¡°Unsurprising. Only that witch would help a traitor.¡±

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    Ratface sighed. The girl was annoying, but so had Alberts friends in the sewers, and they had fought valiantly. Shame about them turning on her. She¡¯d never forget Franklin just turning on her like that. She could barely remember his name but the action still stung. Ratface looked at the squire and saw another Franklin. Yet maybe she was another Albert, she could take the risk.

    ¡°We don¡¯t have to be enemies you know,¡± said Ratface, ¡°sure our trainers are against each other, but what does that matter to you and I?¡±

    ¡°Your ¡®trainer¡¯ is a traitor,¡± spat the girl. Ratface shrugged again.

    ¡°So? I haven¡¯t betrayed anyone. I don¡¯t even know what she betrayed. Why should we carry on a grudge that has nothing to do with us?¡±

    Honestly it wasn¡¯t Ratface¡¯s best work, but her heart wasn¡¯t really in it. The squire not being against her was useful, but it wasn¡¯t like she liked the smug brat. The squire turned away from her and Ratface leaned back into her chair. They sat that way for a while before the squire turned and grumbled to her.

    ¡°Ask your knight about the fields if you want to know her sin,¡± she said. Ratface was about to ask her what that meant when the last two people walked in.

    The orc woman had only added to her armour with more bone. Ratface could recognise the water serpent¡¯s bones had been folded in. It had the effect of looking like all her armour was bone, though bits of metal peaked through if you looked hard enough. It was carved by a master and faint runes had been sketched into the bone and the armour to fuse them together. A glance at the armours magic showed that the bone felt connected to the orc somehow. Had she carved it maybe? It would explain why it moved so well with her. Worth remembering there was more to the girl than brute force.

    Fulgora in comparison didn¡¯t look nearly so impressive. Her armour still had that faint skirt to it and flesh still peaked through. Yet when she moved there was a faint hum of energy. Ratface¡¯s hair started to rise. Her eyes widened. The metal was only half the defence. It was more direction for the other defence waiting behind it. A shield of lightning that would dart to whatever attacked.

    Right. Faber had been described as a lightning smith. She¡¯d thought the extra bit was for flavour but clearly the distinction was important. The two came and sat with them. Ratface somehow got stuck between the orc and the squire. It was cramped.

    Fulgora gave her an apologetic smile and stretched out on her own seat. The woman had intentionally let this happen! Ratface would be upset if she didn¡¯t respect the hustle.

    She squirmed in place but stopped as the other door opened. The room went still as they all tried to look through and saw only darkness.

    A claw shot out of the room and grabbed onto one of the cheap looking squires. He was pulled in with a yell and the door slammed shut after him.

    They sat in silence for a moment. All of them listening into the other room. Nothing. Then, a sharp scream for a moment before it cut out.

    A moment later the door opened, and the claw shot out and grabbed the next person.

 Chapter Forty-Five: The Second Trial

    Ratface was quick to act. She¡¯d missed the first timing of the kid getting grabbed, but this one she immediately started counting when he got through the door.

    Three minutes. A sharp scream, then silence.

    The door opened again, and a hand grabbed someone else. Ratface counted. Sure enough, after three minutes he screamed.

    ¡°Whatever grabs them only attacks on three minutes,¡± she said to the girls around her.

    The next time the door opened, multiple hands reached out. One for each of the remaining trial takers. Kryssa and Ratface zipped away from their hand and further into the room.

    Kryssa asked.

    <It¡¯s still a trial, not an extermination,> thought Ratface.

    It had to be said, of Ratface¡¯s group, she wasn¡¯t the best fighter. The truth was that magic was the great equaliser and she wasn¡¯t nearly good enough with a sword to cross that distance.

    What she was good at was surviving, and one thing struck her has true. Something she hadn¡¯t realised the first time she¡¯d examined the room.

    There had been people in the room she didn¡¯t recognise. Had, because they¡¯d been the first ones taken.

    If this was a test, then she had to remember what the conditions were. She and Kryssa zipped across the room as they darted away from the claw. She and Kryssa had gotten down most of how to use this particular move. They just hadn¡¯t worked out how to stop yet. To get around this, Kryssa was basically jerking Ratface in a bunch of different directions. It kept her out of the claw but it was taking a toll on her body. Eventually she¡¯d have to get caught just to take a break.

    So, before that she had to work out the trial. She already had all the clues. What was the actual trial? Testing if the armour was worthy. They¡¯d assumed that meant the three tests of defence, attack, and mobility.

    Ratface looked over to the three woman who¡¯d be most worthy in the room. Each of them had their claw well in hand.

    Fulgora had called a storm down on hers. It was twitching in front of her as the girl poured lightning into it. She couldn¡¯t keep that up forever, but she could long enough to work out what to do next. Already Fulgora was watching someone.

    She¡¯d chosen the Champions squire to watch. That girl had slipped around the grab and was now riding the claw back into the room. Fulgora saw this and shrugged, then jumped onto her own claw.

    The orc girl had just grabbed her one. Her natural strength was helping but the armour around her was empowered. Ratface could feel the familiar strength of the water serpents around her. Another claw spun out and grabbed the orc from behind. The orc allowed herself to be pulled in.

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    Right armour worthy, but worthy of rune knights. The kind of people who manhandled golems. Whatever they fought would be tough.

    <Okay, let it catch me,> thought Ratface. Kryssa didn¡¯t respond and instead just stopped the movement. Ratface tumbled through the air until her claw reached out to snatch her. Kryssa got a water shield around her just in time. The claw pulled her through the door.

    The moment she was through she switched to offence. A short zap came from her and made her claw twitch open. She rolled out of the thing and looked around.

    Okay so the claws had deposited them all here. Four claws lay broken while the others had snuck back into hiding. Ratface sat up as her own one slunk away.

    ¡°Everyone get up and work out how long you¡¯ve been here,¡± she yelled, ¡°in exactly three minutes something is going to attack.¡±

    But what was going to attack? What was a foe equal to rune knights? She was pretty sure she¡¯d worked out the trial. They had to defeat something in their new armour. It had to be worthy of a knight which meant she in turn had to be worthy. She had three minutes to work out what it would be.

    There¡¯d been another clue. Most of them would fail this test.

    Ratface got to see exactly what they had to fight. She¡¯d been one of the last in after all.

    Dragon heads twisted out of the darkness towards them. They caught the first of the trial takers and slammed them into the floor. They looked dead. Ratface hoped they weren¡¯t.

    The second wave gave her a better look. Not real dragons, just golem heads. She could even see the joints where they¡¯d changed from the claw into the head. This group did slightly better, jumping out of the initial snap. They were immediately wreathed in fire and dragged away. It was just the other girls, then her, now. Ratface got her crossbow ready and looked into the magic around them. A layer of illusion laid over the fallen bodies and she let out a sigh of relief. Not dead at least. Still failed.

    She watched the three remaining trial takers. They all had different dragon heads attacking them because they¡¯d broken their claws.

    The dragon heads came at them with a snap first. They all dodged except the orc who caught hers again. It was tempting to call her simple, but Ratface watched how carefully she grabbed, pulling the joints of the thing in such a way that it couldn¡¯t gain footing. It opened its mouth to burn her, and she slammed it shut. The heat washed into the mouth. The orc knew she was fighting a golem and the metal melted under its own attack. The head lay in front of her.

    Fulgora dodged behind the head. A superior version of Ratface¡¯s zip. She slammed her hands into it and the world went white with lightning before it fell to the floor.

    The squire took the longest and was also the most useful to Ratface. She struck at joints on the thing, constantly dodging fire and snaps. Ratface watched the magic and noticed how carefully the squire avoided where the fire came from. That¡¯d be the core then.

    Ratface watched the flow of mana on the three heads stop. One last thread of mana still thrummed and Ratface turned to face her own.

    Unlike all of these girls, she wasn¡¯t worthy of her armour. She wasn¡¯t magic. She didn¡¯t have some great ability that would let her crush the head like they all had. So, she lined her crossbow up and cheated.

    The claw was rearranging itself into a head still. It had to put the core somewhere it could use its fire. Ratface waited for the moment that the claw was halfway though switching to a dragon head. Its core shone brilliantly to her eyes. It was a beautiful thing. It was also vulnerable.

    She shot a single bolt into the dark and straight into the core. It cracked and Ratface watched the mana around it fail. She smiled.

    She didn¡¯t have a great skill like the others, so she¡¯d used one of the first tricks she¡¯d been taught from other goblins when learning how to fight.

    Hit them before they were ready.

 Chapter Forty-Six: Duality

    It was an irritated Lily that greeted them on the other side. She spared Ratface a frown before striding past her to check on the trial takers who had failed.

    None of them had taken too serious a hit. Well, not when you had access to magic anyway. Lily quickly distributed health potions to the fallen trial takers while keeping an eye on them. Concussions seemed to be the most common injury Ratface could see judging by the slightly confused faces. Oh, there was also the face she¡¯d watched them be slammed into the floor.

    Once they were all sitting up Lily offered them a smile.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid this is where your trial ends,¡± she told them ¡°Do not be ashamed that you only made it this far, my own group had even less of us pass and I failed my first attempt.¡±

    She stood up and walked away from them, the smile falling away into that same frown as she did so.

    ¡°All of you will be banished until you have come to understand your failure. I am to understand the bog lands have been having a surge of monster recently. Perhaps you can start there.¡±

    Silence met her declaration, followed by them all standing out and walking out. Lily only spared them one look back and that frown deepened. Ah, not irritation, worry.

    Ratface felt conflicted at that. It was easy to think of Lily as a villain given her antagonistic relationship with Abigail, but here she was caring for the people who had failed.

    Lily looked over at Ratface and her face hardened. Oh yeah, that was a scowl all right. It was a wonder she¡¯d mixed the two up.

    ¡°Still here are you traitor squire?¡± she asked. She looked at Ratface¡¯s crossbow with derision. ¡°Skirting the rules once again I see.¡±

    Ratface shrugged.

    ¡°I saw what it did to the others. I can go without being slammed into the floor.

    Lily¡¯s lips thinned. She turned her gaze onto the rest of them.

    ¡°The rest of you have made an impressive showing. As rune knights you will be forced to fight against great creatures. It is good to see you too will be just as great.¡± She glanced back at Ratface again. Ratface suspected the champion would love to see her come up against those creatures.

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    <You have a habit of making powerful people hate you,> Kryssa observed.

    <I¡¯m pretty confident this one wasn¡¯t my fault,> said Ratface.

    The champion was still watching her and Ratface was careful not to let any of her conversation show in her stance. At least the helmet covered her face.

    ¡°We will be making our way to the Lady¡¯s city soon. You may gather your retainers and prepare to journey with us. You will not be allowed to leave the group once we leave tomorrow so spend your evening well.¡±

    Ratface frowned inside her helmet. She didn¡¯t really want to be stuck with Lily and her squire for a trip. Abigail probably didn¡¯t want to do so either.

    There was the other problem that the goblin glamour almost certainly would try to make contact. He was stealthy, but he was also arrogant. It was surprising given he¡¯d lost to three children. She couldn¡¯t fault his self-esteem. The rest of him was pretty miserable.

    The lady left them after that, her squire trailing behind her. Fulgora was the next to leave, she stopped by Ratface quickly.

    ¡°I must go, if I¡¯m quick we may be able to recruit some of those banished squires.¡± She rushed off leaving Ratface and the orc together. They walked in silence back through the doors and into the city.

    ¡°So¡­ you want to be a rune knight?¡± Ratface asked. The orc snorted.

    ¡°Do you think it¡¯s a safe question little one?¡±

    ¡°I hope so. I make a point not to upset people who can wrestle monsters.¡±

    <Liar,> said Kryssa. She felt the glamour stretch in her head. <It¡¯s cramped in here, I¡¯m going back to my body.> She slipped away before Ratface could stop her. The orc watched her in consideration.

    ¡°Something about your armour has changed. You can turn it off?¡±

    Ratface offered her a faint smile.

    ¡°Something like that,¡± she said.

    ¡°Wise not to tell me,¡± said the orc, ¡°we may have to fight in the next trial.¡±

    ¡°Yeah but we have to travel together before that so let¡¯s focus on that. Can I at least get a name?¡±

    ¡°Mathilde,¡± said the orc. Her voice took on a more musical aspect to it when she said her own name. It was like she¡¯d completely switched. Maybe the orc was so less quiet and more not fluent.

    ¡°Ratface,¡± said Ratface. She held out her hand and ignored the amused smile the orc gained as she took it.

    ¡°Until tomorrow Ratface,¡± said Mathilde. Her voice took on what Ratface now recognised as a more careful tone as she walked away.

    Ratface made it back to her inn where her group greeted her with a cheer, Kryssa having given away the good news. She told them that she had to travel with the Champion and watched their collective grimace before they resolved to enjoy this evening.

    Ratface tried to join them but now that she had a moment to think, the squire¡¯s talk about the field kept drifting to the top of her mind.

    She watched Abigail. The knight seemed as subdued as Ratface did.

    Ratface bit into her dinner and nodded to herself. She couldn¡¯t leave this question if they were going to travel with Lily. It¡¯d have to be tonight, after everyone else went to bed.

    She¡¯d find out what Abigail¡¯s sin was. What happened at those fields.

 Chapter forty-seven: Abigailéˆ¥æªš Sin

    Ratface had to remove herself from her two hangers on before going to Abigail. Halmir and Kryssa apparently deciding that she got exactly one night to herself. At least they were both big fans of sleeping. It wasn¡¯t the first time Ratface had slipped out to pace. She always had a certain level of restlessness at night. It made helping the goblin glamour easy at least. Not an upside she was stoked about.

    She slipped out of her room and into the hallway only to find Abigail waiting for her. She didn¡¯t have her armour on for once and was sat in her chair. A small reminder that under all that armour, she was still human. She gestured for Ratface to follow.

    Looked like it was shaping up to be another long night.

    Abigail took her out of the inn and into the town itself. She didn¡¯t say anything, it was clear she was looking for something. Ratface followed in silence. A part of her wanted the answer now but a part of her shied away from the knowledge. This had been the deed that labelled Abigail a traitor to an entire country.

    Ratface could only think of so many things that fit the punishment.

    They finally stopped at a graveyard. It was well kept but it was a literal field of gravestones. In the middle was a monument with yet more names. The thing was covered with them.

    ¡°It¡¯s a lot of names,¡± Ratface said, ¡°too many to count.¡±

    ¡°The number stops mattering after a certain point,¡± said Abigail. She brushed her hands against the stone. ¡°Doesn¡¯t mean you stop trying.¡±

    ¡°So, what am I looking at?¡±

    ¡°Among the humans and elves, this war was the single most devastating draw. Even our bloodiest defeats didn¡¯t stand up to it.¡±

    Ratface looked for something to lean on but there wasn¡¯t anything, so she sat down in front of Abigail. The older woman snorted and came and joined her on the ground.

    ¡°You remember I told you how the elves pray?¡±

    ¡°To keep their god asleep right?¡±

    Abigail nodded and looked up at the sky.

    ¡°They have a few priests though, who don¡¯t pray to keep her asleep. They tell her about the world. Well once there was a priest who went to war. He dedicated every kill, every name to his Goddess.¡±

    ¡°Did he have a name?¡± asked Ratface. Despite living with the elves she didn¡¯t really know what they were like. How the world saw them. Abigail shook her head.

    ¡°His was the first he gave away.¡± She let her hands trail through the ground, like she was trying to pull it back.

    ¡°He was dominating the field, and it was clear that if he didn¡¯t die, the war was lost. I challenged him to single combat. A last attack to snatch victory from defeat. It would¡¯ve been better if I¡¯d let us lose.¡±

    ¡°You won then?¡± Ratface asked. Abigail gave her the kind of derisive look only the old could pull off.

    ¡°I beat him of course, took a risk that my armour would hold him off long enough for me to land a killing blow. I was right, though it cost me.¡± She rubbed at her back at the old injury, as if just talking about it made it flare.

    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

    ¡°With his last words he spited me, and his Goddess listened.¡±

    Ratface shivered. She¡¯d already seen what happened when an elf called to their Goddess. She could only imagine what a priest would be like. Abigail nodded.

    ¡°You¡¯re right to fear it. In that moment all the names he took were freed. They fell upon both armies, turning them into angry wraiths trapped in people. All of whom hated me. His own name he placed on my wound, that it would never heal.¡±

    Ratface hissed. She knew how that battle went. It could only be the fields the goddess had seen herself.

    ¡°Two armies struck at me. I would have been overwhelmed immediately if it wasn¡¯t for the fact they lashed at each other when they got too close. Even that wouldn¡¯t have been enough it wasn¡¯t for one other force. One the elves had brought with them.¡±

    Abigial gave her a knowing look and Ratface thought back to how the goddess hadn¡¯t been able to touch her.

    ¡°Goblins,¡± she said.

    ¡°They made up two thirds of the elves¡¯ army. The goddess¡¯ curse wouldn¡¯t touch them. Sometimes I wonder if that was why so many of them had been fielded with the priest.¡±

    She¡¯d managed to pull up the dirt around her and was determinedly making a small trench. It was forming into a small hill and with a trace of magic some faint illusions appeared on it. It wasn¡¯t nearly as good as something Isabelle would have made, but it was enough to give Ratface an idea. They¡¯d clamoured together on a hill to fend them all of.

    ¡°We managed to hold them there, though it was costly. The wraiths seemed to hate the goblins as much as they hated me, and nothing protected them from the bodies. The elves were particularly terrifying, every time they smash into us, we thought we might be overrun. It was only because they kept being pulled off by the other mad that we held at all. Remember Ratface, an elven army is usually much smaller than any they encounter, but they will still be the more dangerous force.¡±

    Ratface took the lesson as she watched the small illusion, the wave of darkness clashing against the hill.

    She could hear the screams, the terror. She could only imagine what the goblins had gone through, forced to fight against elves while the world tore apart around them. Two elves had nearly brought Claudette¡¯s town to its knees. How terrifying would an army of them be? Even fifty sounded terrifying.

    ¡°In the end we held them off. Between our own defence and the wraith¡¯s rage, they all died eventually. Lily found me with reinforcements surrounded by our dead comrades.¡± Abigail let out a morbid chuckle.

    ¡°She tried to blame it all on the goblins at first. It was only when I stood next to them that the truth came out, and I was labelled a traitor.¡±

    It was a bleak story the knight told, though Ratface couldn¡¯t truly blame the knight. A country had managed to blame her though. What did she say to that?

    Abigail chucked, a real chuckle this time.

    ¡°You¡¯re trying to fix my problem. I¡¯m not like Suncat, Ratface. The sacrifice I made to live doesn¡¯t eat away at me.¡± She shrugged. ¡°I regret it of course. I wished that I had found another way, chosen a different direction at so many points that ended in two dead armies and me without a home.¡± She leaned a little bit further back. ¡°Yet, standing with those goblins? The thing that got me labelled a traitor? I don¡¯t regret that at least.¡±

    It would have been easy for her not to. Goblins were the monster at the end of the story. The knight could have kept her entire life if she¡¯d just lied.

    Ratface pulled the knight into an awkward side hug. A part of her thanked those goblins that had helped her. Without them, Abigail wouldn¡¯t have been there to save her from the golem.

    ¡°I think the humans are stupid to blame you,¡± said Ratface. The knight returned Ratface¡¯s hug and pat her head.

    ¡°What happened was a tragedy, yet at the end of the day I was the commander on the field. It is not a lie to say I got my people killed.¡± She paused, even her hand stopped moving as she was deep in though. ¡°If I could have that moment back, I would do better. I don¡¯t believe my men begrudge me my life.¡±

    She let Ratface go and pulled herself back into her chair.

    ¡°I partly told you this to make Lily¡¯s reaction make more sense. More importantly, it¡¯s because I see a leader in you. So, I will warn you now.¡± She held Ratface¡¯s eyes. It wasn¡¯t Abigail that looked at Ratface but the Rune Knight.

    ¡°One day, you will make the wrong decision, and people will bleed for it. Remember that if you don¡¯t learn from that, then you¡¯ve failed them twice.¡±

    Ratface immediately thought of the goblin glamour that she¡¯d helped. A sick feeling in her gut.

    Working with him was her first failure. If Abigail knew she¡¯d warn her off him.

    Yet he also knew where her goblin was, and that held her back. She felt like the younger Abigail, her priest being helping the glamour.

    Only time would tell if it would end up as her sin.