Over the years I learned not to fear anything. One had to be careful with unknown enemies or new terrain, but fear just paralyzed one’s thoughts when needed the most. But now I learned to fear once more. The wrath of a women. Not even one, but two at the same time. It made me shiver thinking about it and I swore to myself to never anger them again.

After an hour I finally got them to let me go, my ears burning for a whole other reason than the fire above them. Still I could feel them staring at me, not really finished with dragging me through the mud. The worst part of it though was that I could understand their thoughts. I wanted them to trust me, but I didn’t put mine into them.

“Haaa.” For the umpteenth time I sighed since we set off. The swamp was already far behind us, making way for the forestry area that surrounded the goblin settlements, located in more sparely vegetated meadows.

We passed a settlement which was abandoned, left leaving nothing behind, only the outer walls reminded one that something must have been here. Still it was nothing unnormal as we already came across a few of such remains in the early days of our hunt.

Cries rang out through the darkness, beasts hunting for prey. But even those didn’t attack us anymore, having long since acknowledged us as the apex hunter. And we weren’t interested in them any longer, as they didn’t give us any experience anymore, only to test out a new skill maybe.

Eventually we passed another settlement, then a third, which were both abandoned like the first one.

“I know they fled from us, or looked for another hunting ground when this one was empty, but shouldn’t they have kept a few camps in this area?” Alice asked, unsatisfied with the lack of action within the latest hours.

“That goblin rider should have had a pretty position in their hierarchy. They have likely abandoned the whole area.” Sarah easily deduced the movement of the goblins.

“Then is there even anything left inside this dungeon?”

“I don’t know about any strong beasts left, except the ones living in the bog.” I pondered, thinking about my past encounters.

“Pass.” Both exclaimed at the same time

“Thought so.” I chuckled at their reaction. Still, that thing wasn’t anything you wanted to come near. “Then there are only the goblins left. And given that they have left their outer settlements…”

“We will attack the heart of their colony?” As always Sarah was quick on the uptake. “I wonder how it will look like.”

“Won’t it just be another enwalled camp, only a few times bigger? Maybe it’s coupled with a cave system?”

That would suit if it was only a kingdom. But this is one of a few goblin empires we’re talking about. “Just wait and see.” I smirked as I imagined their reaction.

Eventually, after passing by a few more settlements, we started running into patrols. But instead of attacking the just ran away, scared for their lives. But there was something that disturbed me. Somehow it felt like I could understand their screams.

The system let the players understand the speech of the evils, but not the words of their lower creatures. But before I got to think about it, they already vanished into the darkness once more.

We decided to rest once more as we now stepped into the enemy territory once more. I laid down on the grass, waiting for sleep to catch up to me, unsuccessful. As I listened to the wind rustling through the greenery I thought about where to go after this dungeon.

I wanted to go towards Asia, meet up with my brother once more. I couldn’t help but stifle a laughter as I thought about his interactions with Alice. One as stiff as steel, struggling even with the simplest jokes, the other like a child bend on making trouble. Maybe she could help him break out of his stone shell. Or he would break her will first, making him the only person she needed to speak without snide remarks.

While I was lost in my world Sarah stepped near me, sitting down beside me. “What are you thinking about?”

“What made you sure I didn’t sleep yet?”

“For one your open eyes when I stepped near you. Other than that, your breathing. It slows down when somebody falls asleep.”

“Just how high is your perception by now…” The two astonished me more and more with their growth. “I thought about the future, about my brother.”

“I’d like to see the man who’s earned enough of your respect to become a sworn brother.”

“You would get along with him. While he may not show many emotions, his heart is warmer than anyone else.” I paused for a moment, smiling as I thought about a story about him. “He’s the one who taught me the importance to look at your enemies, search for their weakness. Before I met him, I just forced my way through with brute strength.”

“I can see that.” She snickered as she let herself fall backwards, resting her head atop my legs.

She takes more and more after Alice. “I was a fiery guy in my youth.” My bad joke was answered with a weak punch.

“Continue please.”

“We fought against an enormous dragon, one of the big western kind. He stood in front, slashing and stabbing his spear towards it. The beast answered with its claws, the colliding of the two forces cracking the ground all over.”

“And you?” She tried to stifle a yawn, only to let it out anyway.

“I stood on the edge of a cliff, looking over the fight from above. I tried to pierce its scales with my flames but to no avail. These things are nearly immune to fire attack. As such I switched over to my cold flame, a spell I specially designed against them. Slowly I froze it, its scales going brittle. When it took a deep breath to let out a flame breath my brother shot forward, unlike any speed he showed before in the fight.”

Silently I heard soft breathes coming from below. I lifted my upper body, only to see Sarah having fallen asleep. So much to her taking the first shift. As I couldn’t move, I just laid back on the floor. At least I don’t have to tell her how it ended with the dragon exploding into bits of flesh after I ignited its oil-bladder when he cut into it. One of the biggest messes I ever left behind after a fight.

I didn’t see her reaction when she woke up, as I left the next shift to Alice, but based on the jokes she cut at her expenses I could guess she didn’t stay calm when she noticed where she slept.

After a few more hours of walking through the undergrowth combined with periodic contacts with groups of scouts we saw the heart of the empire.

“How can that belong to goblins?” Alice stared at it in shock. Sarah just looked at it silently in a loss of words.

Before us laid a castle. Thick stone walls lit by torches. Towers grasping for the sky. All around it tents were erected, housing the goblins that came from the surrounding settlements. Loud screeches rang out, the goblins already aware of our advancement, waiting for us to come near. But it all lost against the single building in midst them.

The castle wall stretched even higher than the tower, windows glowing up in the dark. Gargoyles stood on projections coming out of the wall, once there to repel evil, now seemingly coming alive along it as the whole place reeked of blood and despair. But the castle showed the passage of time as parts of the upper floor collapsed, crumbling down to fill the land beneath it with rubble.

“Welcome to Valaia.”

Before us a horde of goblins stepped out of the gate to confront us. Their shouts drowning out everything else.