Chapter 2246

"Correct. They don't have any melanin in theirskin. They get sunburnt very easily. Maeve didn't think of everything when she made them, but it's just an annoyance to them, nothing more. Being nocturnal, they can't see very well in bright sunlight, so we are normally relatively safe during the day, because they prefer to hide from the sun during the day. It's not a hard rule, though. Remember that."

Daniel nodded. Grace was constantly reminding them of what they had learned at the Academy. She said it was important to reinforce those lessons and that it would mean the difference between life and death. Daniel didn't mind. Any advice or reminder of the way it was in the Wilds was fine with him.

"How old is this track?" she asked him.

Daniel studied it. The sides of the track had crumbled inward. Based on the amount of loose soil within the track, he could safely judge it to be at least three hours old and said so.

"Not bad. But more like four. See the big toe

imprint? It tells you more due to how it is formed. The heel imprint is more solid. Pressed down with all their weight it holds its shape longer. But the big toe scuffs more as it pulls the creature along. It decays faster. Then you factor winds, rain, humidity."

Daniel nodded. He could see it now. Four hours put the track being left on the ground around dawn. He could feel his excitement building. Also, a little fear.

From the moment they had crossed over into the Wilds he and the girls had been on edge expecting the worst any moment. As minutes turned into hours and into days, he started to relax more and more. Brian smacked him on the head yesterday and told him to stay alert. He had been embarrassed but thanked the dwarf. He had started to become complacent.

It was part of the challenge. Staying alert every waking moment was extremely difficult. Jason and Brian kept watch over him and the girls, Jennifer, and Bitty. They were soon exhausted trying to stay at peak alertness.

Finding the tracks sorted that out right away.

Daniel felt more alert than ever. He looked down the path with an eager expression.

Grace also looked down the path."The caves are only a mile away. We should hurry and get a good look around. They like traps, so be careful. Their traps all involve their own shit on sharp sticks. Nasty little fuckers. Watch where you step."

They headed down the narrow path single file. Grace took the lead, followed by Daniel and then his girls. Then Brian. Jennifer was next with Bitty, and Jason protected their rear, which Brian said was oddly appropriate.

Grace had dismantled a few crude spring traps placed across the path and then stopped when the ca ve entrance partially came into view. A small clearing lay before the ca ve entrance with evidence of a small cooking fire and a lean-to shelter to keep guards out of the direct sunlight. The shelter was empty. The ca ve looked deserted.

Daniel said so and Jason chuckled softly."It's rare when goblins put out a guard. And usually only when paired with an ogre or orc leader

who force them. Goblins are lazy little bastards. Filthy, lazy, and stupid little bastards."

Grace nodded."They're in there. About ten to twelve judging by the tracks. The plan remains the same. I'll lead the way." Grace drew in the dirt with a stick."Just past the entrance is the cave itself. It is large with no rooms off it. The goblins will all be at the far side with two guards just inside the entrance. I'll take care of the guards. Then we rush inside the cave, Jason and Jennifer leading. Brian comes next, then Daniel and the witches. Bitty, you stay out here and watch the path in case something else shows up. Clear?"

When everyone nodded, Grace slipped away and disappeared into the trees and bushes. Surprisingly, Daniel could follow her with the slight bond he had with her, and he sensed her annoyance when she sensed him back. He looked at his girls and felt their attention on Grace, too.

She seemed to merge with the shadows and her feet barely touched the ground. She was feline and stealthy, and Daniel felt a stirring of sexual appetite. Jasmine smirked at him and started his

pocket pussy, causing Daniel to lurch in surprise.

He grinned at her just as Grace slipped inside the ca ve entrance. He could sense her attention on her surroundings, then disappointment at not finding any traps, and then he felt her attention turn lethal. Her focus became razor sharp on two sleeping forms just inside the cave entrance where it expanded into the cavernous room beyond. Grace's mind became alien to him, and he pulled back just as she attacked the sleeping goblins.

For a moment he felt her disappointment at his withdrawal. Somehow, he knew when it was over and watched her again. She was cleaning her dagger on a bedroll, the blood unnaturally thick and bright green. She focused on him and nodded across the bond, and he motioned to the others the attack was on.

Jason and Jennifer sprinted for the cave entrance and ducked inside. Daniel was impressed with how little noise they made despite being in armour.

Daniel and the girls followed and with his heart

pounding he ducked inside the ca ve entrance.

This is it, he realised, the moment I became a true adventurer.

It seemed less glamorous than he had imagined, but part of him was thrilled with this important step. He was doing the impossible. He had a class and was teamed up with the strongest adventurers who had aver walked the land. His thoughts kept going to his girls. They were putting themselves into danger. If he lost any of them, he would lose himself.

This is crazy!he thought then. Why are we running into danger? Who does that?

Up ahead he heard Jennifer shout something to Syn, and having been warned, clamped his eyes shut just as bright light blossomed up ahead. He was then past the entrance and saw Jennifer, standing tall in a striking pose with her legs spread wide. One arm pointed her sword toward the mass of sleeping goblins, and the other one was raised high holding an orb of bright white light. She tossed the light straight up and it stuck to the rough ceiling of the cave, some twenty feet above her, and flared to a

brighter intensity, casting deep shadows.

Grace emerged from one of those shadows and struck a rising goblin from the pile of blankets at the back of the cave. Daniel watched her dagger plunge upwards just below the base of its skull. The goblin convulsed and stilled. Bile rose in Daniel's throat as reality struck him. A living creature had just been killed. Its life snuffed out with little regard. And he had witnessed it and been part of it. Everything that had been the goblin was gone. Its life, memories, friends, lovers... Daniel felt he was going to be sick.

Jason had arrived at the pile of goblins, with his sword held in two hands. It had been explained to Daniel and the others that goblins slept in piles, like animals, seeking safety and warmth from their own kind. Jason struck without aim, it seemed. He plunged his sword point deep into the mass of bodies over and over. Shrieks of pain exploded and so did the pile. Goblins spilled out, scrambling for weapons, and trying to stand up to defend themselves.

Grace, Jennifer, and Jason descended on the goblins, and it was a slaughter. Daniel and the girls could only watch in horror. There was

nothing dignified about it. No sense of justice. No honour. Jason, Grace, and Jennifer simply killed indiscriminately. Green, viscous blood flew from their weapons and splattered across the ca ve walls and ceiling, painting it like macabre art.

The goblins were dark green and mottled with lighter greens and yellow streaks. They were as small as children, but with long gangly arms and legs, and large distended bellies. They were dressed in nothing but rags and odd pieces of mismatched rotting fu r and leather armours. Their eyes were overly large, black, and glasslike. Their small noses, nothing more than two slits, were centred above impossibly wide mouths filled with rows of sharp, pointed, and rotting teeth.

They ca ve stank of them due to the fact they were covered in their own excrement. The air smelled so foul that Daniel's eyes watered. He and Jasmine gagged.

It was over in moments. Jason prodded through the corpses with a foot and occasionally stabbed down into a still form. He was thorough.

Jasmine threw up then. Followed by Amy and then Amber. Daniel fought it, but the nausea across the bond was too much and he spewed violently. He felt Brian take his arm and guide him and the girls outside into the fresh air to join Bitty. He handed them a water skin and went back inside without saying a word.

Daniel and his witches huddled together, shaking. They spat to the side and swished water in their mouth to clear the acrid taste of vomit.

"That was horrible!" wailed Jasmine."Thosepoor creatures!"

Amy and Amber were nodding.

Daniel looked stricken."How come I didn't feel like this when I killed those two guys in Whitehaven?"

Grace glared at Daniel. "You vaporised them, that's why. I don't think you ever truly felt you had killed them. It was too clean. Clinical. This,"and she swept her arm over the carnage surrounding them."This is all too real."

"They were like children!" added Jasmine.

Bitty snorted, and they looked over at her.

"Children? They eat children," stated Bitty."They are monsters, make no mistake. Do notapply your humanity to them. They would happily cut your throats and eat your flesh while you still breathe. Goblins are vile. They are bred for one purpose: to kill humans. They have no other purpose in life. They live, eat, and breathe, to kill humans. Don't forget it. They do not deserve your pity."

They watched as Brian reappeared dragging two dead goblins by their feet. He tossed them in a pile and went back inside the cave.

Jasmine shook her head, staring in horror at the two dead goblins."We get that. But they were just butchered!They didn't stand a chance."

Grace appeared then and tossed a burlap sack, soaked in red blood, on the ground next to them."If you want, have a look inside there. It's a feed bag. I warn you, it's worse than what you just saw us do in the cave."