We got into a routine for a while. Every morning, we’d cook up anything we could find for breakfast. Then, it was walking for 12 hours with the occasional break. Cook up rations and anything we’d managed to hunt. Then go to bed. As the days passed, people became more and more talkative. I’d talk with the Goblins whenever I had anything to say and eventually they warmed up to me a bit. Thet surprisingly didn’t take long to start talking with them as well. The first time she did, she caught a trio complaining to each other about her. She surprised them by speaking in their tongue. It didn’t take long for them to start liking her as well afterwards. Meanwhile, Vyth and Eidechse remained stubbornly suspicious of them. Which kept the Goblins on edge as well. A day didn’t go by without either one of them or one of the Goblins mentioning something off they noticed about the other.
Days passed. The terrain went from smooth emerald hills to dark oak forests. The trees were a vibrant green and everywhere you went a variety of birds sang a chirpy melody. Yet, for all its cheerfulness, it seemed to put Eidechse more on edge. Thet was also keeping a watchful eye even though she seemed a bit more relaxed about it. Not wanting to make a tense situation even worse, I waited for when Eidechse would predictably approach me with another complaint. In the meantime, I wanted to scout the area for anything dangerous on our path.
Unfurling my wings, I flew up with a quick warning as to what I was doing. Flying just above the treetops, I went about a mile away and began going in a circle. I didn’t get very far, however, before I noticed something move. I flew towards it and perched on a branch as quietly as I could. Once the leaves no longer blocked most of my vision, I saw familiar faces that made my heart sink and my blood boil. The adventurers that had slain my family stood there fighting the unholy combination of a vicious owl and a grizzly bear. It was easily four times as big as their tin can knight, yet he blocked and even parried its savage barrage with his oversized sword. Claws the size of a console and teeth as long as combat knives swung around the place in a frenzy and yet they seemed more of an annoyance than an active threat to him.
I felt panic get a firm grip on me. Rage made me want to fly towards them and burn them to the ground, while fear made me want to run and never look back. I was frozen in place, unable to look away from the battle going on just metres away from me. The knight’s friends weren’t helping him. Most were just standing around watching, while two were looking at the surrounding area. They seemed to be tracking something. As much as I wanted to leave, I had to find out what. Whatever they’re hunting must be a terrifying foe for us to face.
Quietly and carefully, I hopped from branch to branch, using the sound of the bear-thing to mask my own. It was distracting. I nearly fell when I was watching the fight more so than I was watching my path. For some reason, the knight didn’t seem to be putting much effort into fighting back. He’d swing his sword at it occasionally, but nothing like when he slaughtered my people. His friends didn’t seem too concerned either. They were watching with mild interest, like they’ve seen this a million times before. Once I reached the two trackers, their conversation took my attention immediately.
“...about 5 hours ago, I’d say”, said the longbow wielder.
“Alright. It can’t have gone far then. If we’re lucky, we’ll catch up to it by nightfall”, the priest said.
“You wanna hurry it up, Sthran?”
“Sure. Just let me get this on the cart”, the knight said as he sidestepped the bear trying to put its full weight on him and stabbed it clean through the back with his sword.
Sthran grabbed the corpse like he was lifting a heavy sack on his shoulder and carried it further into the woods. The others waited for him to return, before they all headed in the direction that the longbowman pointed out. I stood frozen as they left and only realised I had to breathe once they were well out of sight. By some miracle, I remained hidden. The direction they were going wasn’t going to intersect with ours either, but it would be a close call. We should remain safe as long as we remain quiet and on course. Yet, I didn’t fully feel well with it. I knew I couldn’t do anything. I didn’t stand a chance of even touching them. But I still wanted them dead. Preferably by my own hands. Feeling both dejected and relieved, I flew back to my group, who’d been steadily marching on as if I never left.
“Anything we should watch out for?”, Vyth asked.
“...Not really”, I answered, “I’ll tell you about it when we rest”.
“Sure”.
We marched on till dusk. Some of the Goblins left camp for a little while, which agitated Eidechse and Vyth, but I calmed them down enough to avoid more trouble. As we roasted our rations in silence, I decided to break the news.
“I saw those mercenaries from the village”, I started. The silence continued, but it now felt like a thick blanket suffocating me.
“What mercenaries?”, Eidechse asked.
“The ones that killed our people”.
Vyth didn’t speak a word. He was slack jawed, barely processing what I just said.
“I see. Are they a threat?”.
At this, Thet elbows him in the gut.
“What?! I know it’s terrible what’s happened to them, but we need to know if we have a fight-”, Eidechse explains.
“Where are they?!”, Vyth cuts in with a shout, “Where the fuck are those murderers?!”.
“Calm down, Vyth. We shouldn’t pick a fight we can’t win”, I try to calmly say.
“Tell me where they are! I don’t care what you think about-”.
“Vyth!”
The silence returned. All eyes were on us. The Goblins had shocked and distressed expressions that turned distrusting. I was getting sick of it. Multiple days of travelling didn’t even loosen the tension a bit! Instead, situations like this one only make it worse. They began whispering among each other. Likely planning ways out or pointing out suspicious things they noticed. How much longer before it all breaks? Before we devolve to infighting? The stress was getting to me. I just wanted this over with.
I stood up and turned my attention to the Goblins. The camp fell silent again. All eyes were on me. Those of the Goblin’s looked afraid and distrusting, even towards me. Those of my friends looked worried. They could see how this could go wrong. Expected as much. The eyes of my brother, however, still looked filled with hate and fury. I paid him no attention. For it would only intensify my own.
“Do you not see yourselves?”, I bellowed, “Afraid and suspicious of each other like these days have meant nothing. You’re jumping at shadows. Question every unexpected twitch of a muscle. You’re acting like children! Too stuck in your own head to see the truth that’s right in front of you! If we want to survive this trip, we have to work together. To trust each other! There is a group of murderers in these woods. I have seen them. They’ve killed our entire tribe and will do the same to you, if they get the chance! We’re lucky we can avoid them, but if we keep going the way we are, we will bring their attention to us and doom ourselves”
“Avoid them?!”, Vyth exploded.
“Shut it!”, I snapped back, “If you think we can take them on, then anger has blinded you! I have seen just one of them kill a monster that would decimate us. If we want to live, we have to avoid them and work together to do so. Stop your gossiping like old hags and get it together!”
I sat back down, focusing my attention on the campfire. The camp fell back to a suffocating silence, but I stopped caring. Let them remain silent. Let my words sink in, so they might actually get their act together. Or let us perish.
