Aoife

Before I could even process what was happening, an explosion of pain erupted on my neck as a twelve gauge slug slammed into me. I staggered backwards, gasping for breath as Evelyn transformed into a scarlet blur beneath me, ripping the shotgun out of the goblin’s hands as they struggled to handle the recoil. Winded as I was, I almost failed to react when a crossbow bolt came whizzing towards my face.

Almost.

A familiar twinge of pain blossomed in my skull as I clamped down on the flow of time around me, plucking the bolt out of the air an instant later. In the remaining moments of my slowed time, I darted forward, disarming the crossbow goblin and the knife goblin in a single motion. The moment time resumed its flow, I released my presence at full force, allowing cold terror to grip the hearts of everyone around me, and assuming draconic form in full.

As the goblins reeled at the force of my will, I flared my wings wide and roared.

“Cyrus is a gods damned monster, and I’d like nothing more than to freeze the bastard solid!” Pale mist began to circle slowly around me, frost spreading across the ground. “I would’ve hoped that people he’s persecuted would know better than to judge someone based on species!”

Whether it was my words, my presence, or the display of raw power, my efforts had their intended effect. The three that had emerged first had collapsed on shaking legs, and the first of their reinforcements came to a stumbling stop the moment they broke the tree line. With all eyes on me, I eased up on the presence, ever so slightly, maintaining just enough pressure that I could be sure they wouldn’t try to hurt us again. Several of the newcomers had guns of their own, and I didn’t want to mess with time any more than necessary. My head was throbbing already.

“We just want to talk, so if you’re open to that, I’m gonna have to ask you all to lower your weapons.”

And they did. Without a moment's hesitation, every single one of them dropped their weapons to the side, some even releasing them entirely.

I hated having this kind of power.

Every last one of them was looking at me like I could bite their heads off at a moment's notice, and some deep seated, monstrous instinct told me that if I chose to, none of them would even have the will to fight back. The weight of my dread was just that great.

With the situation (hopefully) deescalated, I returned to my human form, though I retained my layer of scales, just to be safe. Slowly, laboriously, I managed to reel back my presence, packing the fear deep within me. I’d never let it slip the leash so severely before, and even if I had a good reason, it still scared me. I took a few deep breaths as I gathered myself, pushing back on the emotional turmoil within me, watching as the gathered goblins did the same. 

A cool hand came to rest on my shoulder, and I turned to see Evelyn gazing down at me. She was shaking a little, but doing her best to hide it, and there was a gentle smile on her lips as she mouthed.

“You ok?”

A few more deep breaths and I had my answer.

“Yeah… I hated doing that though.”

She let out a breathy laugh, still trying to speak quietly.

“I could tell. Just let me handle things for now, ok?”

And handle things she did. She was so inexperienced in all things trans, still just trying her best to figure out who she wanted to be, still looking to Willow and I every day to promise her that what she wanted was ok, that she was allowed to be herself. It was easy to forget that she was older than me, and by a significant margin as well. Her motherly side had come out every so often before, the way she’d cared for Erica when she was struggling with the possibility her father was alive had been tremendously impactful, far more than Erica would typically let show.

Now that she was living honestly though, now that she was doing what she wanted, that caring, protective, lovely person was coming ever closer to the fore. Without a thought for how she’d nearly been shot before, she placed herself directly between me and the largest group of goblins, raising her voice to be heard.

“My name is Evelyn, and I’m a vampire. The dragon behind me is Aoife. We have a village a few miles away, and we came here to ask if you wanted to join.” She spoke with confidence, as though she hadn’t been frozen in fear just moments earlier.

“Cyrus had a village too, and they killed us.” One voice piped up from the crowd, the same higher pitched one as before. “What makes you different?”

I could practically feel Evelyn rolling her eyes in front of me.

“Cyrus’ village is human exclusive, full of racist, murderous pricks who have done direct harm to people Aoife and I care about. Our village, meanwhile, is diverse by design. We wanted to make a place where all are welcome, and that includes goblins. We already have me, Aoife, rat people, sentient plants, humans, centaurs, elves, and more.” She stepped towards them, fully removing herself from the area I could protect her in. “We want to make a home for anyone who needs one, and we want to take that golden bastard down. The more folks we have with us, the easier that gets, so are you interested or not?”

The goblins, now having mostly recovered their confidence as well, turned to confer among themselves. When they finally seemed to come to a consensus, the higher pitched spokesgoblin stepped forward out of the crowd.

“May we see this village of yours first? We can’t give you an answer unless we do.”

Evelyn nodded, and I could hear the smile in her voice as she closed the distance in between them, extending her hand towards them.

“Of course! And if you ever decide that village life isn’t for you, you’re always free to leave.” As the goblin clasped her hand in theirs, the others began stowing their weapons in earnest. “I hope we can impress you.”