Chapter 2247

Daniel crouched and opened the sack and peered in. He closed it and then turned to the side and was violently ill. He kept puking until only the dry heaves remained. Tears streamed down his face.

"What's in there?" asked Jasmine, her voicequavering.

Daniel just shook his head and spat on the ground.

Grace placed the sack with the goblin bodies. "We'll burn this with the bodies. It's the least wecan do to honour the innocent lives the goblins take. There's never enough remains for a proper burial. Fire will have to do."

* * *

Later that evening, Grace spoke gently to the others from just inside the ca ve mouth. At Grace's request, Daniel and his circle had used his fire to incinerate the goblins corpses. Then they had used the same fire to cleanse the cave. Grace had insisted they have a large fire that

evening and Daniel and his girls were thankful. They felt so cold for some reason.

She insisted on hot food and tea saying they needed a reminder of civility and even humanity. To remember their own compassion. She knew they would face this and come through changed, but stronger. Adventurers always did. She knew killing any living creature damaged your soul. She had long grown numb but still remembered the first death she had caused. They all left a mark. She knew Daniel and the witches would need to understand that. And they would.

And they did. They absolutely understood. But seeing and believing are two different things. Jasmine was the most disturbed of the three girls. Amy suffered, but Amber seemed oddly okay with everything. Even if she had thrown up as well.

"It's not that I don't care. I do,"Amber said."ButGrace is right. They are evil little fucks. Did you see what they were eating? That's not right. That was evil. We stopped them from killing more people. That's what we need to focus on."

"You're right of course, Amber. But I just needsome time to adjust, okay?" complained Jasmine, holding tight to Daniel.

Grace poked the fire with a stick."These feelings are normal. Killing anything shouldn't be easy for anyone."

Amy frowned at Grace."You made it look easy."

Jason and Brian glared at Amy but looked away when Grace patted the air at them.

"Yes,I do. But I am Night fae. I understanddeath far better than you. I also understand evil better than you do. I have seen what goblins, and the other creatures of the Wilds, can do. They have no morals or ethics, Amy. They are completely devoid of those qualities. Maeve made sure of that when she created them. They are bred to kill. They love to kill. And to rend flesh with their teeth. I understand how you are feeling. Taking any life should never be easy. But Amy, if there's anything in this world that needs killing, it's the creatures of the Wilds.

"Maeve creates them to sow chaos and strikefear into humans. And they succeed.

Humanity's greatest weakness is perhaps your empathy. Maeve exploits that. She lives to make the lives of humans miserable. It's her entertainment. Your pain and suffering are calming to her."

Heads lowered deep in thought at her words and so no one noticed when Grace looked out into the darkened forest and straight into the eyes of Maeve, who watched them, hidden from normal eyes, and her mouth twisted into a cruel smile. Maeve wore the head of a large antlered elk as a headdress. Blood from the animal's head streaked down her face and ran across her black lips and her yellowed teeth, filed into sharp points.

Maeve watched them every night. She always did when adventurers slipped into her domain. No one crossed into the Wilds without her notice. The Wilds were hers. They were her. Maeve nodded her head to Grace and slipped into the shadows.

Grace sighed and stirred the fire.

TWO WEEKS LATER, and many dead goblins later, Daniel and the girls were finally adjusting. They were now using their magic to help The Circle. They erected shields and Daniel and Jasmine fired off fireballs and bolts of magic. Amber was now throwing blasts of frigid air that would strike the goblins and slow them down considerably. Amy was feeding them her magic and keeping The Circle focused.

Grace had hinted that they would need to go deeper into the Wilds and find stronger monsters. Daniel understood her intentions. They now understood they were an incredibly strong team when they worked together. What the veterans had been doing so far was allowing him and the witches time to adjust to the act of killing and how to do it quickly. Daniel was finding it much easier. Seeing what the goblins carried with them and seeing their insane hatred toward them made it easier.

Yesterday, Jason got bit in the upper right thigh by a goblin who had been faking its death. But the goblin didn't just bite. They also sawed their lower jaw back and forth like a cockroach, as Grace explained. Seeing that happen to Jason was more horrific than killing the stupid little

bastards. Jason had screamed but had also driven his new dagger into the goblin's skull with precision.

Amy beat Brian to healing him, earning her a grin from the dwarf. Unfortunately, she had been extremely happy that Jason had been injured, earning a glare from Jason. Since it was her first major healing, she pulled heavily from the witch circle causing Jasmine and Amber to wobble around a little trying to find their legs under them. Jason, on the other hand, had cried out in pure ecstasy as Amy's healing descended on him. Later he said he had cum in his pants. He wasn't embarrassed. He was proud. Then he wanted to know why Brian didn't give him the same pleasure healing him.

Amy later admitted she poured a little sexual energy from Daniel into the mix. Daniel said it was maybe a little like masturbating.

Since that healing, Jason seemed to be taking more risks and told Brian to let Amy heal him if he needed it. Jason never strayed far from Amy.

With Amy finding her focus and purpose, she was now buffing everyone with stamina,

strength, and agility. Albeit Grace had suggested it. Amy was determined that no one else would get hurt. This allowed Brian to join the fighting, and he thanked Syn for the chance to meet out proper justice. As a cleric, he was a remarkably stoic and kind dwarf. As a fighter, he was terrifying to watch. His spiked mac e crushed the goblins, blasting pa st blocks and raised limbs, to crush heads and chests. His cheery praises to Syn as he crushed his enemies was a little unsettling.

Jennifer was also a wonder to watch fight. Everything she did was minimalistic. Every action she took was the least movement she required. A block with her shield, or a strike with her sword, seemed casual. She looked almost bored. But she was deadly. Grace said female fighters always learn to dance to their dexterity, lacking the strength of men. Deflection, minimalistic use of strength to conserve it, dodging and quickness. That was how women fight, she said.

Grace was the perfect example. Grace seemed to be everywhere at once. She filled gaps and exploited holes. Watching her was like watching an elaborate dance. A macabre dance, but

beautiful all the same.

Jason just used brute strength but targeted and highly effective. He severed limbs at joints with precision. Found hearts or throats with a swift thrust. To Daniel he looked almost bored.

The veterans all did. The goblins posed no threat to them.

Bitty was the strange one and no one seemed to question her actions. While travelling from one area to the next, she remained focused on their immediate surroundings. She had pointed out mushroom's circles on more than one occasion and Grace had learned to heed her warnings. Daniel was certain he saw greater respect in Grace's eyes when she regarding the little gnome.

Bitty also seemed to make the most wonderful meals, despite using only a small fire and worn pots and pans. Each evening she replenished her potions. When Daniel had commented on their quality and said his parents would be envious, she had blushed harder than anyone remembered her doing before.

Grace seemed to find monsters in the Wilds with ease. They all knew she knew the Wilds intimately, but she admitted they changed patterns routinely. When pressed by Daniel she finally explained her skill in greater de tail as they lay in their combined bedroll in the tent.

"I am Night fae, Daniel. Well, half Night fae."

Amy, suckling on her left breast while Daniel held Grace's knees to his chest as he slowly fucked the Night fae with long, smooth strokes, lifted her mouth to speak."And the other half is human?"

Grace paused then nodded and placed a hand on Jasmine's head to keep her mouth on her right nipple. It also stopped Jasmine from jerking around so much as Amber drove her strap-on into her a little harder than was necessary. Amber was also driving a thumb deep into Jasmine's ass.

Bitty was somewhere behind Daniel, doing something only gnomes were eager to do. Daniel was moaning loudly and so Grace had a good idea what was happening.

"Mother won't tell me who my father was.Whoever he was, he is long dead by now. It is enough that I am shunned by most Night fae and all the Light fae, so I stopped pursuing any interest in discovering who my father was. Nothing good lies there."

"How can you be sure he's dead?" asked Amy.

"Humans don't live longer than eighty years orso, Amy. My father would have to be close to two hundred to still be alive."

"Oh, right. But aren't you curious, Grace? I don'tsee any human in you. He must have been very pale like you. And tall. You must be curious?"