I waited for some minutes in hope that they would talk some more but they kept silent. They just stood there waiting and sweeping the forest with their eyes. I hoped that perhaps one or two would leave and therefore giving me a chance to sneak up on one and subdue a goblin to question him later about the happenings but my luck didn't trigger.

Carefully I distanced myself from the group and searched for an opportunity to capture one of the green pests. It had rained days ago, so the ground was not very wet anymore making my job much harder.

All my senses were hard pressed to detect any danger when I suddenly noticed tracks on the ground before me, and they were definitely not from a goblin or a lizardman. Whoever observed the goblins was a humanoid a little bit heavier than myself and about my height.

The tracks led south through the undergrowth and the person didn't work hard to disguise his or her tracks. Such a sloppy job, almost as if done on purpose. I did my best to destroy any traces of me and the unknown idiot or maybe traitor.

After half an hour working I discovered a lonely goblin doing his business against an old oak only 30 meters away from me. He stood with his back to me and his posture told me that he didn't fear any threats coming his way, his weapon, a primitive spear with a stone top, leaning against the tree.

I smirked and crawled carefully through the dense bushes using any cover I could find. His tracks showed that he had walked the path right before me to this tree and maybe he would walk it back too.

Sneaking myself into a bush using all the experience gathered of my hundred years as a scout no noise disturbed the goblin's call of nature. I stood motionless and breathing as shallow as possible, waiting for my prey to walk by. The foul smell of his piss and dirty body wafted in my direction, making me feel like throwing up. I concentrated and blended everything unnecessary out, a technique I learned decades ago from my uncle, a renowned mage in my tribe and his new one as well. Even if I wasn't as gifted with magic as others, he tought me meditation and concentration, teaching me the necessary gifts to enhance my life span enough that I would at least last for another hundred years. I really hoped that he was still alive.

The goblin had finished his business and grabbed his spear, walking in my direction. He didn't wear any shoes and also no armor, only a shoddy loincloth with a crude leather belt, his pelt enough to protect him from the weather. Not that it would help him much against me. I've hunted his kind since I was a little girl, killing my first goblin when I was 12 years old.

My hate for these pests knew no boundary as they had killed my little brother when I was 9 and after that I trained with the scouts and everyone who could teach me any weapon skills. I was good with the bow, the blowgun, poisons and the sword, but my passion was with my daggers. Close and personal was my goal, hunting my prey and playing with it, making it fear for its life and flee from me.

Some would call me cruel but I did my job to protect my people and kill any threats before they became too big to be dealt with easily. I didn't hunt game, that's the task of the hunters, no my prey is, was and will always be the thinking kind, mostly on two legs but not always.

I had lost my companions on the way, paying for my determination with my love life but I wouldn't want it any other way. I was the huntress and I was the protector of my tribe. The goblin walking without knowing of his mortal enemy near him was my prey.

It aroused me more than my occasional encounters with some boys searching for a quick release of their desires. I might be a bit deranged but I will enjoy kicking this goblin's butt and drawing information out of his ugly head.

He was now only 2 meters away from me and still didn't show any signs of alarm. I knew that his keen nose would detect me once he passed my position, so I attacked as long as I had the advantage of surprise on my side, my daggers a blur as I went for his shoulder, trying to disable him right from the start.

The goblin was completely surprised and unable to react in time to deflect my blades as they cut into his flesh, ripping through sinews and making him drop his spear to the ground. Before he could cry out I was hammering my elbow into his throat,silencing him this way.

Falling backwards he tried to roll away from me but I followed his every motion. They all moved the same way and I had studied them for decades. A mere pawn would never surprise me.

He tried to get back on his feet, but I kicked him hard, hitting his knee and getting a satisfying noise of breaking bones in return. Pain and fear lit his eyes, and that was the moment I had to be careful because when they are cornered they always try to attack with their fangs and jump for your throat, trying to take you with them to the grave.

Not this time, little bastard! I ducked under his jump and grabbed one leg, using his weight and power against him. Throwing him around I smashed his head against a solid looking branch and knocked him out effectively.

The forest was silent again and I stayed still, concentrating on every noise around me, hoping that none of his friends, if goblins even had friends, heard the fight.

I was fortunate because I didn't hear anyone coming my way, but I knew that I would have to be fast now. First I administered first aid to the goblin as I didn't want him to suffocate. Then I bound his limbs and gagged him, making sure that he wouldn't be able to call for help as soon as he awakened.

My next course of action was the hard part because now I would have to search for a place where I could interrogate him and take him there without leaving any tracks the other goblins would be able to follow.

Years of hunting my prey had taught me the necessary steps and half an hour later I was in a small cave behind a waterfall, that I had discovered years ago. I made sure to search for any signs that the cave had been discovered but there were only tracks of small animals,so I felt quite secure.

I bound my prisoner to a big stone pillar and gathered some water to wake him up, watching with glee as his eyes looked for an escape. Then he discovered me standing in the shadows and he whimpered, “You're the dark elf!”

It's nice to be recognized for my work, isn't it?