The next day, Ai was returning from another lecture on forest plants when she saw Ermine. Ai’s first thought was that he looked like shit.

She was ashamed to admit that between everything else that had been going on, she had actually forgotten about him. She hadn’t thought about how what she did might have impacted him either.

He was carrying a bag of meat, he had probably just been out hunting. His shoulders were hunched and he held on to the strap of the bag like it was a lifeline.

Ai hesitated. Should she talk to him? Maybe she would just make things worse. She was the one who had done this to him. She didn’t regret doing it but…

Get over yourself and talk to him.

“Ermine!” He started, looking over his shoulder at her.

As Ai approached she noticed the rings under his eyes and the way his smile didn’t reach his eyes.

“Hey.” His voice was rough when he spoke. “I didn’t expect to run into you.”

“Yeah, well. You know Kele, teaching me and all that stuff. Um, so how are you?” Open mouth, insert foot. Clearly he’s doing terribly.

“I’m…I’m ok I guess.” There was an awkward silence where he refused to meet her gaze. “I’m not. Something got into the cave. I think it was a Forest Hunter. There’s not- the rats are dead.”

Ai fought the urge to shift from foot to foot and nod. She wasn’t suppose to know.

“All of them?” She tried to look concerned without feeling like a complete fake.

He nodded, eyes down.

“Wow – that’s not what I - I mean, I can’t believe it. You…I’m sorry.” He shrugged, his mouth twisting into half a bitter grin.

“What can you do right? It was a stupid idea to keep them alive in the first place.”

“I’m sorry.” Ai repeated dumbly.

“It’s not your fault. Stuff like this happens.” He stopped hunching quite so much and finally looked her in the eye. “I’m glad I got to share them with you. Before. There was-” He cleared his throat. “There was something special about them, you know?”

Ai flashed him a quick smile. “Yeah, they were really beautiful. Out here we spend so much time killing stuff…it was nice to see the beginning of something. Like, the beginning of life.” Ai wasn’t sure she had ever been more awkward in her life.

“Yeah. I know this is kind of out of the blue, and I don’t expect anything or anything but…” Ais eyes widened as a redness rose to Ermines cheeks. She had a feeling she knew exactly what he was going to say. “I think that you’re really pretty. Not like with your face shape or anything. You’re pretty that way too but, I mean, when you smile it kind of lights up your whole face. And when we were with the rats you, you looked so amazed. It’s like your innocent or something. Everyone else here is use to killing stuff. And they wouldn’t give the rats a second look before killing them but you, you don’t judge, you know? I just really like that about you.”

If they were under different circumstances, Ai was sure her face would be just as red as his was. As it was with every word he spoke Ai felt more and more like a fraud. She wasn’t innocent. She was lying to him. He must’ve seen something on her face because he took a step away from her.

“Sorry. I know I must seem weird to you. Just-sorry.” He turned on his heel and walked away, head down in shame.

Inwardly, Ai cringed. She had come over to try and make things better and instead she had just made things worse. She could chase after him. Tell him it wasn’t his fault, and that she hadn’t meant to brush him off. The truth was, maybe it was better this way. He wouldn’t linger on her, thinking he had a chance. Maybe he would even start to notice Tal. They seemed like they would make a good match.

She wouldn’t make a good match for anyone. Ai toyed with the point of her furry ear. She didn’t even know what she was.

***

Ai stopped by to see the goblin again. It didn’t greet her when she walked in, just asked what she wanted to ask about this time.

“The monster, or beast. Whatever attacked you and took your leg.” The goblin sneered at the memory, gray lips pulling back over small pointy teeth.

“Two wings, two legs and a mouth full of teeth.” Ai noticed it had crossed its arms over its chest. That’s a defensive behaviour. Self-comforting too.

“You must know more than that.” Ai sounded far more exasperated than she had intended to.

“Oh, of course. I must, but I was preoccupied with not dying at the time. Instead, I should have stood there so I could get a good look at the beast that ate my leg. My apologies for having disappointed you.” It half snarled.

Ai could almost feel the whiplash from the abrupt attitude change. Yesterday it had been all comforting words and treasure troves of information, now it was bitter and sarcastic.

That said, perhaps it had reason. Ai didn’t know what it was like to have something eat part of her while she was still alive. Her limited imagination pretty much summed it up as ‘horrific’.

“I didn’t mean to sound like I doubted you. I’m…just tired. Are you sure there’s nothing else you remember? Anything could help.” Ai wasn’t sure about that, perhaps that was the only description the village elder needed to know what had moved into the forest. Two wings and teeth pretty much conjured the image of a dragon in her head. Except it had two legs. A wyvern? Did they even exist?

“I know what it was.” The goblin stated darkly, looking dead ahead of itself the whole time. Ai almost didn’t want to ask. Ridiculously, small shivers ran up her back.

“What was it?” Her voice sounded conspiratorial. It couldn’t be that bad, she reasoned. It was just with the dusky room and the candle light it set the mood for some sort of evil, powerful creature.

It swallowed.

“A Queen Biene.”

Ai frowned.

“A queen bean?”

“A Queen Bee-na.”

“Uh, right. What’s that?” The goblin looked at her like she had just announced to the world that the sky wasn’t blue.

“A Biene is a creature from the Promised Plains. They’re hunters. One female with a pack of males that do her bidding. They’re not sentient, but they are an intelligent and deadly foe. When a female develops wings she leaves the pack she was raised in and starts one of her own; she becomes a Queen Biene. Usually they go for wide open spaces. Not forests. They’re too big to chase prey effectively between the trees.”

“How big are we talking?”

“Twice as tall as this hut, or there abouts. The females are bigger than the males.”

Twice as big as the hut made it about three times the height of Ai. Part of her wanted to say it wasn’t that big, the other part said that the Aitast she had run into didn’t even come up to her shoulder and it had seemed plenty big.

“Are the villagers going to kill it?” Ai wondered out loud.

“Are you kidding? The villagers wouldn’t kill it if it started fucking them up the ass.” Ai blinked. And blinked again. That was a bit vulgar.

“Why not? Doesn’t it pose a threat to them?”

“Oh, yes. It would if it didn’t have a nice supply of humans carting along that road. All the food it could ever need. But the villagers are cowards. And nomads. By the time the human supply dries up, they’ll be long gone.”

“They’re nomads? But then why have they built a wall, if they’re just going to leave anyhow?”

“They have several villages they switch between. All of them are prepped for the rainy season.”

“I-hold on, why do they need a wall for the rainy season?”

“Migrating animals.” The goblin shrugged. “Best to stay out of their way.”

That seemed odd, but Ai didn’t bother to question it. The animals were deadly. Plus, there were more important things at hand. Like Queen Beans.

“But if the Queen Bea-uh-Biene isn’t stopped, won’t it just keep killing people?”

The goblin shrugged. “Why should they care? It’s not their people.”

“What?”

“You can’t tell me you haven’t noticed. You’re an outsider too.”

Ai thought about how people would steer clear of her when she walked the streets. Or insult her.

“I thought…I thought they didn’t like me because of, well-” Ai gestured to the two furry ears that sat atop her head.

“Oh no, they don’t like any outsiders. They all share each other’s souls. Anyone outside of that bond isn’t seen as trustworthy, especially if they don’t share the beliefs of the People.”

“Oh.” Oh indeed, Ai wasn’t really sure what to say beyond that. “So that’s it? They’re just going to leave the Biene to keep killing?”

“Queen Biene, and yes. You’d best steer clear of it as well. I might be travelling with you, but I’m not going on a suicide mission.”

“Oh.” Ai wasn’t sure what she expected. A bit of concern for fellow humans, or sentients? Apparently, that was too much to ask for.

“You’d best get going. The old bitch is sitting in the main room waiting for your vital information.”

“They’re not all bad, you know. They took me in. I don’t think they’ll just watch people die.” Ai told him as she turned to leave.

The goblin snorted.