The Little girl hummed a soft tune as she looked down at the open book in front of her. The slowly dimming light of the Sun barely illuminating the pages, as they shook gently with the swaying of the carriage moving down the road. The girl was so engrossed in the story before her, that she jumped slightly when the middle-aged woman riding in the back quietly spoke her name,

[Merry, close the book, dear. It’s not good for your eyes to be reading in this light.] <Mother>

The young girl turned around and gave her Mother a pleading look that only a 7-year-old girl could give,

[Please Mother, just a little longer. I’ve nearly gotten to my favorite part!] <Merry>

As Merry looked at her mother with an upturned lip, a large balled hand landed on the top of her head with a light thud, making her wince slightly,

[Now Girl, Listen to your Mother. Close the book and start getting ready. We’ll be making camp soon] <Father>.

With light tears in her eyes, Merry cast her eyes down and reluctantly closed her book, handing it back towards her Mother. The balled hand loosened then gently rested on top of the girls head, softly stroking her chestnut, shoulder length hair. The man sitting next to her driving the carriage, her Father, looked down at Merry with soft eyes and smiled as she smiled back, leaning up against him. He did not know what he had done to deserve such a beautiful wife and sweet little girl, but he could not help but think that this was what true happiness was.

Watching the sweet family moment from atop a nearby horse, a young man in bright plate armor could not help but smile. Seeing him looking over at them, Merry quickly hid her face behind her Fathers back, making him jump slightly in surprise. With an embarrassed look, her Father looked over at the young man and spoke,

[I’m sorry about that, Sir Hero. She’s still shy around strangers. If she ever wants to take over the trade, she’ll have to learn eventually though.] <Father>

[No no, it is perfectly fine. I know how young girls can be; I have a sister that will be the same age this year.]<Hero>

The young man spoke, a smile on his face but a slight tingle of sadness and homesickness in his voice.

Hero.

That is what her Father had called him. She had read the stories before, of the gallant knights chosen by the Hero’s Sigil to cleanse lands thick in Miasma. But truthfully, in Merry’s eyes, all she could see was a boy even younger than her Father, not the shining Warriors of Legend. Sneaking a quick glance out from her Father’s back, she looked the Hero in the eye and stuck her tongue out, before quickly ducking back into hiding. The Hero simply smiled awkwardly and gave a light chuckle.

Turning his eyes forward to the road, the Hero’s face took on a more serious look and spoke to the Father without looking back.

[Is it safe to make camp here? Should we not press on to Whitewood?] <Hero>

[No. We’ll never make it before Dark. And besides, there is a small cave a little farther along the road we can use. As long as we are vigilant, there should be little danger.] <Father>

The Hero squinted his eyes at the Father’s words. He wanted to press the issue, but He himself was not very experienced in such thing, having only just started his travels. In fact, if it was not for the good luck of meeting this Trader family on the road, he would have been hopelessly lost by now. In the end, he decided to defer to the Father’s experience and stay silent. However, the Hero could not shake a feeling of unease in his heart, like the calm before the Storm.

~~~ Roughly an Hour later ~~~

As time went on, the daylight began to fade into dusk. As they road on, the Father suddenly gave a small exclamation of joy; little ways away stood a stone bridge crossing a small stream. Approaching the bridge, the Father slowed the carriage to a stop then pointed up the stream, speaking to the Hero,

[This is the place. The cave is about a 2-3 minute walk upstream. The path is too narrow for the carriage, so we will have to carry the more valuable goods and hide the carriage on the roadside. Merry, help your Mother gather the camping gear.] <Father>

Giving a slight nod, Merry climbed over the back of the diver’s bench and began to help her mother. As the Father began to unbridle the Horses, the Hero walked over to the nearby path. In the distance, he could see a small back cliff, though the cave spoken of by the Father was hidden by the Forest. Suddenly, there was a slight rustle in the nearby trees, and the Hero looked up, His eyes bulging. With the ring of steel, his sword left its sheath, barely managing to block the heavy blow as the thing in the treetops leaped at him.

____________________________________________________________________________

Merry and her Mother chatted quietly in the back of the carriage as they prepared the camping supplies. They spoke of their journey so far, and what they planned to do once they reached the Trade City, Whitewood. As they talked, her Mother smiled gently as she stopped Merry from sneaking several heavy books into their bag. She never understood where the girl’s love for books had come from; she herself was just a plain farmer’s daughter who’d caught the eye of a traveling merchant, and could not wrap her mind around the idea when her cute daughter spoke about the “world inside of the Books”. But it made Merry happy, and that made the Mother happy.

As they continued, Merry stopped and stared as she noticed a slight ruffling of the carriage canvas, tilting her head in puzzlement, as the night was windless. Suddenly, she heard the cracking of breaking wood, then the distinct sound of a blade leaving its sheath, before the ring of clashing metal. Eyes going wide in panic, Merry ran to her Mother as her Father called out admits the freighted neighing of the Horses,

[Merry, Martha! Quickly, hide!]<Father>

over the next few moment, the sound of fighting pursued, with deep grunts and the constant ringing of metal on metal. After a few moments, the Hero called out in a panic,

[WATCH OUT! THERE’S MORE!] <Hero>

Suddenly, there was the sound of whistling wind and sick sounding impact, then a gurgling grunt as though someone could not force air out of their lungs. In the next moment, Merry’s Father stumbled backward into view, a large arrow protruding from his chest. Her Father silently looked down at the arrow, dumbfounded, before turning his eyes to Merry and her Mother. The light in his eyes was filled with fear and confusion, but above all else, a desperate pleading scream for them to run, to hide. Then with a gentle smile, blood leaking from his mouth. He fell.

[NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!] <Mother>

Merry’s mother let loose a wailing shriek as she watched her Husband fall on to the coach seat. Though in her grief, she still had the presence of mind to cling to Merry as the latter tried to claw her way out of her Mother’s grasp in a desperate bid to reach her Father.

[Father! Father! Let go, let GO! We have to help!] <Merry>

as the young girl continued to struggle, tears flowing down her face, the sounds of battle continued outside. Finally managing to wiggle herself free of her Mother’s grasp, the young girl rushed on all fours to the front of the carriage, reaching for her fallen Father, her Mother hot on her trail. As she neared the exit, there was a heavy impact on top of the carriage, causing both to stop in fear.

Without warning, the carriage gave a shutter, and a long sinewy arm, green skin lightly coated with white hair, reached into the opening from the top of the carriage. A large 4 fingered hand, fingered tipped with rotting brown nails swiped randomly around before grabbing firmly into the young girl's shoulder length hair, and began to pull her out. Screaming and kicking, Merry struggled to lose the hands grip, but could not overpower the large hand. Moving like lightning, her Mother crossed the carriage and wrapped an arm around the young girl’s waist, using the other to try and pry the hand away.

As she did so, grunting sounds of frustration came from the top of the carriage. For a moment, the pulling force stopped, and Merry felt hope well up, only to hear the distinct ringing of a blade leaving its sheath. In a panic, Merry looked down at her Mother, to see a gentle and warm smile contrasted by a steady flow of tears, before hearing the sound of ripping fabric and seeing a large, rusty sword pierce down from the top and through her Mother’s chest.

With a thud, her Mother fell to the floor of the carriage, using the last of her strength to desperately cling to her daughter’s waist. Slowly, the power in her Mother’s grip gave out, and with a Scream, Merry was pulled from the Carriage. As she did so, she came face to face with the creature that held her in the air by her hair.

It had long sinewy limbs and mottled dark green skin, perfect for climbing and moving in the tree tops. Sparse white hair covered its body that gave it a flickering appearance, like light filtering through the leaves. Its eyes were large and dark, capturing the tiniest bit of movement and light. While it was relatively short when compared to an adult, it was still nearly twice Merry’s size, and its large gaping mouth, designed only for meat, nearly split its small head in two, as it grinned from large pointed ear to ear.

{{Forest Goblin!}}

That was the name that popped up in her mind as she saw the bizarre creature before her. While not as strong as their Mountain cousins, or as fast as those in the Plains, Forest Goblins were smart and agile. They were vicious, predatory monsters who saw other races as nothing more than food.

Compared to the other goblin races, the thing that separated Forest Goblins was their high intelligence, able to prepare complex traps and strategies, as well as forge their own weapons and tools. In some parts of the world, their intelligence was so widely recognized that they were called “Tree Elves”, though if you were to called them that in the presence of a True Elf, you would pay a heavy price.

Looking around the area, Merry could see the result of the battle; several dozen Forest Goblin bodies lay scattered around the ground, some long dead, other with not long left. A short distance away, Merry could see the Hero fighting a small group of 6-7 remaining goblins. However, he was heavily injured, covered in blood and outnumbered.

Gre Gre Gre Gre!!

The Forest Goblin holding her up by the hair, laughed as it looked towards the struggling Hero. Jumping down from the carriage, the Goblin held Merry up to eye level and grinned that wide mouth grin again, before extending a long black tongue and gently licking away the tears on her face, a look of ecstasy forming in its half-closed eyes. Feeling a rage unlike anything she’d ever felt before welling up in her heart, Merry screamed in anger, no longer fearing what may happen. She began to thrash and flail about; desperately trying to do any amount of damage to the creature with her frail strength.

Laughing as though watching the funniest thing it could conceive, the Goblin did not even try and stop her. Finally running out of steam, Merry let her arms hang down as she breathed heavily. Looking the Goblin in the eyes with a deep, seething hatred, bile welled up in her throat, and with a coarse sound, she spat it into the laughing Goblin’s face.

Instantly, the Goblin fell quite, its eyes growing cold and its face expressionless as it sheathed its sword and used the hand to wipe away the spittle. It stared at it in its hand for a moment, as if in contemplation, and then gently placed the girl on the ground. Confused, Merry could only stand there, when in the next moment the goblin balled its bony fist tightly and slammed it into the left side of the small girls face.

Merry only heard a small pop, as the left side of her vision went dark, and she was sent flying several feet away. Moaning in pain as she struggled to move, Merry watched in fear as the Goblin slowly walked towards her. It was no longer smiling as it slowly drew its rusty blade, still wet with her Mother’s blood. Laying back down in resignation, unable to tell if her face was wet with tears or blood, Merry watched in silence, her heart strangely calm.

Suddenly, there was the sound of a snapping branch, and the Goblins eyes shot up, looking past her. Merry could only feel a slight breeze as a dark shadow shot past, slamming heavily into the Forest Goblin and sending it flying several feet. The Goblin stood up, it looked at the shadow and screamed in rage.

The last thing Merry remembered before her passing out was the shadow looking down at her, a strange light in its eyes, like a tiny candle flickering in a field of darkness.