Ai knew the instant she woke up that something was wrong.

Her joints were cold and stiff from sleeping outside, and dim light filtered through the red leaves casting a pink glow on the morning forest. The goblin wasn’t in sight. But, the thing that concerned her was the smell. It was the same smell that had come from the pile of corpses in the village.

Fear. Rot. Death.

Slowly she pushed herself up, cautious to be quiet. Nothing stirred. It was like the animals had all left, fled. Ai had a horrible feeling that she knew exactly what had happened. What being a huge monster with wings.

Scanning the area, nothing appeared out of place. Aside from the smell and eerie quiet everything was peaceful. The leaves rustled gently and her campfire was a smouldering pile of soot.

A twig snapped and Ai crouched facing the source, tail erect behind her.

The goblin. It was crouched too, eyeing her carefully from behind the trunk of a tree.

“Don’t go.” Its whisper was loud in the quiet between them.

“Go where?” Ai replied, her own voice hushed.

“To look. Don’t go. We can go back to the village. They’ll sort this out.”

“I…what if someone needs help?” Ai looked upwind, between the trees to wherever the smell originated.

“They’ll all be dead by now. Nobody survives.” The goblins jaw tightened. “Please can we just leave?”

“You survived.” The goblin flinched.

“We’ll just go to look, we don’t need to get involved. Just check out the situation then we can return to the village.” Ai became more convinced with each word. Before she wasn’t sure but the more the goblin tried to talk her out of going, the more she wanted to.

“No. I won’t go. Ai, please.”

Ai gritted her jaw, and thought of the shit he had spouted about the other goblins death, murder, changing her. She wouldn’t just watch somebody else die in this forest, it was equivalent to murder. Murder by neglect.

Ai didn’t speak, just shook her head, and turned away.

As she crept forwards something snagged on her skirt and held her back. It was the goblin. Its huge eyes were even bigger, ears folded back and the exact expression of a pleading puppy. But it wasn’t a puppy. It was an adult goblin, and it would take care of itself.

She yanked herself free of his grasp.

“You don’t understand. If you had seen it, you wouldn’t go. Can’t you just trust me?” It begged.

“It’s not about trust.” Ai said without turning around. She was getting closer, the smell far stronger now.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” And then the goblin was gone. Really gone.

Something stung in Ais chest. She knew it was illogical, they weren’t even close, but she felt betrayed. Better now though, when they weren’t friends, than later when it would hurt more. When she went travelling she would need to have someone she knew would watch her back. Protect her. Not flee in the face of danger. Now she would know not to count on him.

Her alter-ego, who wanted to believe the best of everyone disagreed. It was a huge monster, and the goblin had been mutilated by it. It was probably traumatised. No sane person would ask someone to simply face the source of their trauma like that.

Either way, it was food for later thought.

The ground sloped gently, and when Ai reached the top it plateaued out. There was a road. A real road complete with cobbled stone though not much else. Civilisation.

A little ways down it was a cart.

When Ai had pictured carts she had imagined the wood and cloth, rickety affair that the villagers had. It wasn’t. Where their carts were bleached in the sun, this one was made of a darker, richer wood. The wheels didn’t look like they were about to fall off and the upper part was made of wood instead of cloth. The roof had been painted black.

It was a beautiful cart, or it had been. Now it lay on its side, the rear half a crushed pile of splintered wood and metal, like a gaping maw with nothing but dark inside. Ai could see the metal had once formed metal bars as they were stuck out like fence posts from the un-crushed section.

This was not a normal cart. Sophisticated on the outside and a cage on the inside, somebody hadn’t wanted people to know what – or who their cargo was.

Which prompted a different question. Whoever had been driving this cart, did they really deserve to be saved?

Staying on the opposite side of the road Ai darted closer, from tree to tree. The smell was almost overwhelming now, and stuck in the back of her throat making her feel slightly queasy.

The first body looked like a puppet that had its strings cut. A fat man with oil slicked hair and sightless blue eyes. He was looking right at her. Focusing on him closer she saw that his skin was mottled purple and blue, and that his chest caved in unnaturally. The gory details of the wound were hidden behind the yellow silk of his robe, still shiny even in death.

Her hairs stood on end, and Ai had to force herself closer. There was something about the smell – something wrong. She wasn’t an expert on death, but this man should have maggots judging by the smell. Maggots and rotting flesh. He was dead, but he didn’t look like he had been dead long enough to warrant such a smell.

Ever cautious, Ai clambered up the tree she was hidden behind. She was glad she did.

The monster crouched on two legs, and looked like a skinned man. She could see how each of its individual muscles moved as it ripped off another chunk of flesh from the corpse in front of it. It had its back to Ai, and she was glad. Pus oozed out from each crack and crevice as it moved. Ai wasn’t sure that she could kill such a thing; she would be too busy throwing up.

Ai couldn’t tell if the corpse it was eating had been a woman or a man. It was a lump of blackening flesh, torn cloth and gleaming bone.

She swallowed and tried to think objectively. Not about the way the flesh made a wet sucking sound each time another part was ripped off. Or how she was pretty sure she could hear the plop sound each time a glob of pus fell off the monsters body onto the ground.

Objective.

Ai eyed the monster, then the cart. Unless it was a lot stronger than it looked, she doubted that it was the one that had killed the men. She could see ones torso where he had been ripped clean in half, intestines trailing out over the ground and clutched in his bloody hands. He had still been alive.

Ai dug her claws into the bark. The monster down there didn’t look capable of ripping a man in half, let alone crushing a carriage – complete with metal bars.

No, it was probably a scavenger. Eating what had been left. Ai couldn’t see the man’s legs anywhere. Maybe the attacker had eaten them.

It reminded her of the limb the goblins had carried through the forest when she first arrived. Her thoughts ground to a halt. It couldn’t be related could it? Ai had assumed that the goblins had killed the man but what if they had been scavenges too. That was how they had been caught up with the other men that were killed, from what she gathered. But if that was the case, then the creature had been here…at least thirty days. How long exactly Ai wasn’t sure.

If they had been killed by the Queen Bean anyway. Which seemed more and more likely.

The monster stopped eating, body stilling. Ai went still too, pressing her body against the trunk of the tree.

Please don’t see me.

It huffed, then spat a glob of wobbly meat onto the ground, turning to face in Ais direction. That was when Ai realised she couldn’t smell it anymore. The wind had changed direction. The wind had changed direction.

It could smell her.

It tilted its head up, mouth slightly agape to let in the air. It was hideous.

Bulging, lidless eyes and an empty hole for a nose. Its mouth was far too wide and looked like someone had sliced its cheeks open. Its teeth were all pointy, and pieces of rotten meat were caught in the gaps. One piece dangled, a glob of red on the end.

The eyes rolled in its head as it inhaled, looking drunk as they moved around, seeming unable to stay attached to one spot. Its iris was so pale, it looked like it only had pinprick pupils in expanses of white. As she watched a lump of pus oozed over its eye, and a long pointed tongue licked it off.

Her stomach lurched.

Must. Not. Vomit.

There was a gagging sound, and it took Ai a moment to realise it wasn’t her. Below and slightly behind her, someone was bent over, holding a hand over their mouth.

There was supposed to be someone following her, Ai remembered suddenly. Someone to watch her and make sure she didn’t get in serious trouble.

The monster must have heard the gagging too, because it let out a whoop in a voice lower than any she had ever heard. It send shudders up her spine.

The person drew their sword and that was all the warning Ai got before the monster scurried underneath her to slam into him. It fastened its mouth around the persons shoulder, shaking it and growling like a mad dog.

I ought to help.

Ai broke out of inaction, leaping off her branch. The idea had seemed better in her head, because there she hadn’t staggered when she hit the ground. Drawing her daggers as she ran, she launched herself at the monster.

It didn’t even see her coming. One moment it was biting into its prey, warm coppery blood filling it with madness, the next twin spikes of pain went through its chest.

It choked and gasped, unable to draw breath as its lungs filled with blood. It released the prey, clawing at its chest. There was a wet sucking sound as Ai yanked out her daggers. The monster fell to the ground, dead.

“Ai.” Someone gasped.

Ai turned to the man, no, boy on the ground. His familiar eyes were huge in his pale face as he stared up at her, one hand clutching his injured shoulder.

Ermine.

“What are you doing here?” Ai asked dumbly.

“I- watching…” He swayed slightly, even more blood draining from his face if that were possible.

Ai pushed away unnecessary thoughts.

“We need to get back to the village. You need to walk.” Ai gripped his elbow, pulling him up.

He swayed worse now, before biting his bottom lip. Blood trickled down his chin and he nodded.

Then he was falling on top of her.

They landed with a jarring thud.

At first, Ai thought that he had fainted. Then a red, skinless face appeared over his shoulder.

Dimly, over the rushing in her ears, she noticed Ermine was saying something. More, she noticed how the monsters face split in half. Teeth, gore, then they were buried in Ermines neck. The creatures mouth was so big she could see the top half of his face on one side, and its jaw fastened around the other.

Ermine made a sound she couldn’t describe, right before blood pulsed out, hot and red.

It was on her face, she noticed. She wiped it out of her eyes.

His hands came up, clawing blindly at the monsters face. The monster was pulling him off of her, backwards.

He didn’t have his sword. Where had his sword gone? He needed his sword.

There was a lot of blood. It was everywhere. Oh her face, in her hair. Her clothes. That would be a pain to wash. Blood didn’t come out easily.

Ermine clawed found one of the creatures eyes. Sensing a weak spot, he shoved them into the socket. The creature gave a muffled cry, releasing him.

He fell back on Ai and the air left her body in a whoosh. She needed to breath.

Gasping like a fish out of water Ai wiggled out from underneath him, blood coating her hands as she pushed him away.

The monster helped, its mouth now fastened around Ermines ankle, his foot inside its mouth.

Air rushed back into Ais lungs, coppery and coated with the smell of death.

Daggers. She needed her daggers. They were on the ground. She picked them up. She stood up. She looked at the Ermine.

He wasn’t moving. He’s lost too much blood.

The monster gave a growl, shaking its head to test if he was dead. He was.

It looked right at her.

Ai barely had enough time to get her daggers up before it leapt at her. She lashed out blindly, and must have hit something, because it had fallen to the ground. Soil stuck to its pus soaked body as it raised itself up, circling her warily now.

Ai realised she should have stabbed it while it was down.

It snapped its teeth at her. Ai bore her own teeth back. An unnatural sound built in her throat, leaving as a snarl. Ai felt like she was watching her own movements through a sheet of glass.

Her body was crouched low, tail lashing back and forth. The monster lunged forwards, aiming for her ankles. She danced back. They continued that dance until she was standing on cobblestone instead of soil.

It made its move, more daring this time. Ai stepped back as it came towards her but it kept coming. Just as its mouth fastened around her leg, she brought her daggers down into its back. It twisted to one side and her daggers were ripped out of her hands, caught in its ribs.

She dug her claws into its wet, pus caked neck. She would rip its throat open if she had to.

It rolled away from her, giving a last low bark over its shoulder before dashing off. Ai watched it go, never relaxing until it was long out of sight.

It had given up.

Her leg buckled underneath her, and she fell back against the ruins of the cart. Splinters dug into her back and she hissed.

She clutched her burning calf, pulling it towards her as if that would help. Her head turned sideways as she hugged her leg, looking into the mouth of the mangled wreck.

From the shadows two gleaming eyes looked back at her.