“How close are the rest of your gang,” Dys growled as she stripped the goblin woman of her equipment. “How many are there?”

“Uh—” was the inarticulate reply.

“Don’t fuck around,” Dys glowered down at the tiny, translucent green bandit. “Where are they?”

“I—I, uh, ah—”

Considering Jadis hadn’t been attacked yet, she assumed that the goblin wasn’t a part of an ambush. All three of her bodies had been without weapons or armor while she had been bathing. It would have been the perfect time to strike. Since it was just the goblin so far, Jadis figured that this was a chance encounter. She knew she sure as hell wouldn’t use one of her mages as bait, or if she had she wouldn’t have waited until after Jadis had grabbed the goblin to do something.

Jadis was alone at the moment. It had taken so long to get her selves and her armor clean that she had sent her companions back to the camp while she finished up. Out of anyone, she was the least in danger of being overwhelmed if she were to be attacked. A convincing enough argument that the others had agreed to return to the camp and warm up by the fire. Almost all the others, at least. Kerr was nearby, somewhere, having insisted that someone stay close to keep watch. Where the sniper was, though, Jadis couldn’t be sure. And she wasn’t about to start shouting for her, not when there could be more bandits within earshot.

Jay quickly got her clothes on while Syd watched the trees, waiting for more attackers to show up. Dys focused on their prisoner, removing all weapons or magical items from the goblin. It didn’t look like she had much, but Jadis wasn’t going to risk being paralyzed again. She stripped all the gear off of the woman, tossing them in a pile.

It was mildly interesting to see the items shift from being see-through back to normal as soon as they were separated from the goblin. It seemed that her spell effect only extended to what was on her person.

“Fine, if you don’t want speak up now, we’ll talk more back at camp,” Dys half-whispered as she finished removing the prisoner’s equipment. The goblin was left with nothing on but a shirt, pants, and a pair of boots. “Also, don’t start screaming for help or any bullshit like that. I don’t want to hurt you but if it’s between your life or ours, I think you know which I’ll be picking.”

As Jay shifted over to watch the goblin so that Dys could get her clothes on, the bandit abruptly threw up her hands in a gesture of surrender. Considering how on edge Jadis was, she almost slammed her fist down on the little woman at the sudden movement out of concern that she was trying to cast a spell. Instead, the woman seemed to find her voice as she squeaked out a single word.

“Sanctuary!”

Jay paused, looking down at the shivering goblin with one raised eyebrow. Syd continued to keep watch while Dys got her clothes on. She wasn’t going to lose focus just because the bandit was being weird. Sanctuary? What the fuck was that supposed to—

Ah. Jadis remembered. Back when she had first encountered civilization on Oros, Captain Renz had offered her refuge, or sanctuary, from the demons under the official auspices of the Second Prince. She’d had to declare that she wanted it, but once she had, the mercenary company Bernd’s Blades had been duty bound to deliver her to safety back at Far Felsen.

Was this little shit really trying to claim some kind of protection from her?

Well. Jadis was the head of an official mercenary company. She supposed that meant she was technically required to follow the Empire’s rules the same other mercenary companies. But did that mean she had to provide sanctuary to this bandit who she was certain had helped others try to kill her on at least two occasions? Jadis’ guts said no. But she still wanted to clarify the point with Aila.

In any case, Jadis didn’t think it realistically made a difference in what she was going to do now. She had planned on taking the goblin back to the camp with her no matter what. The goblin had to know that was her intent, too. So, did that mean her request for sanctuary implied something else?

Did the goblin want to go back to her camp?

“Really?” Jay quietly asked, all her thoughts flashing through her mind in a couple of seconds. “You’re asking us for sanctuary?”

“Yes!” the goblin nodded vigorously. “S—sanctuary! Please, I’m bloody well all alone and I don’t want to die! I won’t put up a fight! Please, just don’t crush me like a wee bug!”

There was something about the earnest way the goblin pleaded with her to not be crushed that almost made Jadis laugh. It was such a real yet silly concern. Plus, the woman had an incredibly thick Scottish accent. She sounded like she was going to break out the bagpipes at any moment. Combined together, the words and the accent tickled Jadis in an inexplicable way and she found herself struggling to keep a straight face.

“Okay, fine,” Jay nodded, somehow maintaining her serious expression. “You want sanctuary, you’ve got it. Keep quiet and don’t cause problems and I promise I won’t squash you.”

By then both Dys and Syd had finished getting their clothes on and gathering up their armor. Jay lifted the goblin up and tucked her under her arm like a sack. A tiny sack. Damn, but the woman was small. Jadis guessed she was three feet tall at the max and weighed next to nothing. It was actually kind of difficult to carry her under her arm since she was so tiny. Jay had to switch to holding her tucked against her chest.

Within the first few moments of making her way back towards the camp, Kerr appeared out of the brush before her. A teasing smile was on her lips until she saw the goblin held against Jay’s chest. Then Kerr was all business, her ears on the swivel as she readied her bow.

“How many?” Kerr whispered in a steely tone.

“Just this one,” Jay answered as she and her other selves kept moving forward.

“I’ll make sure,” Kerr said before disappearing back into the brush.

“Don’t be long,” Syd called out quietly, relying on Kerr’s excellent hearing.

In a few minutes Jadis was back at the camp where everyone was waiting for her. Some of the soldiers had already gone to bed, as had Eir and Bridget. As soon as Jay came into the light and everyone saw the goblin woman she had clutched to her chest, the camp erupted in a whirlwind of activity. In less than two minutes everyone was up and at the ready for an attack. Jadis joined in the preparations as Dys and Syd donned their armor. Jay, however, moved to sit by the Behemoth, joined by Aila and Willa.

Setting the translucent goblin down, Jay let go of the woman for the first time since she’d taken hold of her. The goblin just stood there, unmoving, a shadow in the firelight. She made no attempt to flee, either because she saw no potential for escape or she truly did want the sanctuary she had asked for.

Aila and Willa stood to the left and right of Jay, flanking the bandit. Willa glared down at the small woman, arms crossed in a foreboding stance while Aila observed the goblin almost clinically, her eyes as cold as ice.

“Drop the spell,” Willa demanded, breaking the silence between the four, her tone brokering no argument.

“I—I need my wand to do that,” the woman said quietly, her hands balled up into fists in front of her stomach. “I can’t do magic otherwise.”

Jay had all of the goblin’s belongings bundled up in her cloak. Slowly she spread the cloak open between her feet, displaying the three wands that she had taken from the bandit. Looking between the three, Jadis wasn’t sure which one was the correct wand. One was made of dark wood and had a lot of leather straps with small stone beads hanging from it. Another looked like it was made from bone and had a strange blue tint to it. The third looked like reeds that had been bundled together, several large snail shells peaking out from between the bound pieces.

“Which one is it?” Jay asked, motioning at the three magic items.

“The blue one,” the goblin answered immediately.

As Jay picked up the wand and held it before her, Willa stepped forward and put her hand on the goblin’s shoulder, squeezing it tightly.

“I don’t think so,” she said, giving Jay a look.

“She’s a witch,” Aila spoke up. “Witches can’t use magic without their self-enchanted items. If you want her to drop the spell, she’ll need the appropriate wand.”

“I’m well aware,” Willa said seriously. “But I am not about to trust that she hasn’t picked out a wand that will cast a harmful spell.”

“You wouldn’t do that, would you?” Jay asked the goblin directly, her eyes never leaving the woman’s face. “You asked for sanctuary, and I’ve given it to you. That means you’ve surrendered willingly, right? No tricks.”

“No tricks,” the goblin said a heartbeat later. “None. I don’t have any directly harmful spells, anyway.”

Willa kept her hand on the goblin’s shoulder, but after a moment she gave Jay a small nod. With the go-ahead given, she passed the wand to the goblin. With a quick little flick, the goblin pointed the wand at herself and the effect was dispelled. Without a hint of complaint or resistance, she passed the wand back into Jay’s waiting hand.

For the first time Jadis got to see the woman up close and in full, unobstructed view. It was also the first time she’d ever seen a goblin. She’d heard of them, both on Oros and back on Earth of course, but she’d never met one since coming to the magic-filled world. Based on what she knew of the malign creatures from stories back on Earth, she expected the woman to be a small, green, ugly creature with a pointy nose, sharp teeth, and maybe a face full of warts. Certainly, that description would have fit well with her idea of witches, too. Hideous was certainly the expected adjective.

The goblin was, instead, cute. Attractive, even. Her skin was a bright lime green, and aside from a few spots of dirt, without blemish. Her face was round and her nose petite. Her eyebrows were a bit thick, in a charming sort of way, while her dark blue hair was bounced in an untidy mane behind her. Her features were mostly human, though there were some rather glaring differences. The goblin’s ears were large and pointed, sticking out to the sides of her head. Her teeth were sharp, all of them ending in fierce points, while her eyes looked a little too large for her head. They were big and wide and were a sort of dark emerald green.

The oddest part about the goblin’s looks wasn’t all the differences, though. It was how similar she was to everyone else in terms of bodily proportions. She was tiny, maybe three feet tall, but she wasn’t squat. Her head, body, and limbs were all proportional to each other. If Jadis didn’t have anything to compare her to for scale, she wouldn’t have had any idea the goblin was so small. She would have simply assumed her to be a modestly curvy woman of maybe below average height.

Jadis had gotten used to being a giant among shorter people, but the goblin was reawakening that feeling of being a true colossus all over again.

“What’s your name?” Jay asked after she’d taken a moment to look over the goblin who’d nearly gotten her killed twice.

“Sorcha,” the woman said, hesitating a moment before continuing. “Daughter of Tyree. And I really am asking for sanctuary. Full surrender, I want nothing more to do with any fighting. I don’t mean anyone any harm.”

“And you expect us to just believe that?” Willa said, her brow raised.

Sorcha winced, her small face quite expressive.

“No, I don’t suppose you would,” she answered in her thick brogue. “But I swear on my mother’s nose that I mean it, I just want sanctuary. Ask me anything you want, I’ll answer! No need for, ah, any broken bones or hot pokers or anything. I’ll talk freely! Just keep your torturer’s tools to your belts, alright?”

Jay let out an amused huff of air at Sorcha’s words. The woman reeked of desperation, yet she still had an oddly defiant sense of humor. If she hadn’t been complicit in trying to murder her, Jadis thought she probably would have liked the little green woman. As it was, she had only a very limited amount of consideration for Sorcha.

“Alright then,” Jay started as she leaned back, hands spread wide. “Let’s start with the most important thing first and go from there. Where are the rest of your bandit friends?”

Sorcha shifted from one foot to the other, her eyes darting between Jay, Aila, and Willa.

“Well, about that…”