Sio rolled out of bed groggy, like he’d taken a nap instead of a long night’s rest, and peered into the musty closet where he stored the person who had saved his life. This became a habit of his. As strange as it felt, Sio lifted Rainen’s head and felt around his neck. He breathed a sigh of relief. There was no blood or wound.

He stepped back and in one circular motion with his arms, jumped. He grabbed the handle of the small door leading to the attic and pulled it down with him, a set of stairs folding out from the other side. He looked to see if anything had moved since the night before when he last checked before he went to bed. His friends were laid on their backs, all bunched together. They didn’t seem to get hungry or cold, they had no needs at all that he knew of but, just in case, he wrapped them all with one large blanket and left some water near them.

Sio watched them for a moment looking for signs of life and like before, no one showed any. Their hearts beat and their chests rose but he wanted more from them. He wanted someone to shift in their sleep, to open their eyes, to talk to him so that he wouldn’t be so alone, so he wouldn’t have thoughts that made him hate himself.

He glanced at Rainen one more time before closing the attic door and the closet. As much as he wanted to keep Rainen with the rest, the thought of waking up to see all that blood on the others, of all that blood flowing from his neck, kept him from hiding him in the attic. If something like that were to happen again, he’d have to try his best to stop it. Besides, Rainen also acted as a decoy if someone were to look for him and his friends.

Sio tightened the straps on his pack in preparation for the day to come. Despite not finding much in the way of supplies and having little to carry, he felt slight aches in his back. Maybe it was because he hadn’t eaten a proper meal in a while or maybe it was because Gustav kept forcing him to crouch behind trees as they spied on goblin hunting parties. Either way, complaining would do him no good. It wasn’t as if anyone was around to listen.

As he went downstairs, the familiar sight welled up a pang in his heart. How long had it been since he’d last seen home? And why, of all times, did he have to feel it now when he needed to stay focused? Each step down served to make the burden heavier until he stopped, three steps from the bottom. The quiet morning came to a standstill. Sio watched as small arcs of lighting magic bounced between his fingers.

He was different now. He wasn’t the magician on the team whose spells could barely start a fire anymore. If he wasn’t able to take care of some goblins, how could he survive the rest of the journey? Who was to say he wouldn’t be abandoned? He had to get rid of the goblins and protect everyone until they woke up or he found some kind of cure.

“You came on time today,” Gustav remarked. He rested a mace on his shoulder, an item the two of them picked up after ambushing a small party of goblins two days ago. “We’ve only killed five so far but they seem to be reluctant to send out more parties. The ones we didn't mess with have more monsters in them now."

Sio shut the door tight behind him. "How do you know that?"

Gustav pointed in the direction of the woods, "Had to dodge a group of em to get here."

He let out a mental sigh. If the cocky bastard lived in one of the village houses then he wouldn't have to worry about monsters so early in the morning. However, the thought that he'd be so close to Sio and his friends wasn't something he'd be joyful about. Sure Gustav was strong, stronger than him in close quarters, but Sio felt he couldn't trust him completely. They were only together because they had no one else.

Gustav took the lead, like he always did, and brought them to a group of goblins. There were eight in total, working together to haul back a dead wolf. A couple were unarmed, their spears most likely were broken in the fighting. Sio started inching away from the tree but Gustav stopped him with a hand. The look on his face seemed to say that they weren't looking for a fight today.

As the goblins started bringing the beast back, Gustav gave a little nod in their direction. "We're following," he said, tying the mace to his belt and running his thumbs under the straps of his backpack.

"What the-?"

Two hobgoblins stood guard at the front of the cave armed with spears and wooden shields. Most of their bodies were clad in leather armor from their shin guards to their helmets. The ground under them was cleared of snow, though a bit muddy. The goblins, save for maybe the leader of the hunting party, unhappily lowered their heads as they walked past the snorting guards.

“Here I was hoping to slowly widdle down their numbers day by day and starve them out but it looks likes they’ve smartened up. Fewer hunting parties but larger numbers in the ones they already have as well as stationing some hobgoblins to defend the front. Heh. Talk about luck. Just when we were about to reach the city too… “ Gustav slumped against the tree.

Sio shook his head. Whether he meant the Green City or another one, they weren’t that much safer. By the time he and the others left, the city was in rough shape. Another wave like the first one and he wasn’t sure it’d still be standing. He didn’t care to mention it to Gustav. Sometimes it was better to let them dream.

“Come with me,” Gustav pushed off the tree and started off in the opposite direction. “I’ve got something to show you.”

They retraced their steps back almost as far as the village and then followed the earlier trail Gustav took to reach him that morning. He wanted to skip through the hassle and head straight there but Gustav wouldn’t allow it, though he didn’t seem to mind putting Sio and his friends in danger. Sio had to take solace in the hopes that the goblins were either too stupid or too busy to go in the direction of the village. Even if the monsters discovered their tracks, they made numerous dead in forks for them to follow. He prayed none had the patience to go follow each one.

By the time they reached their destination, Sio was out of breath to the point where he hardly cared that Gustav lived in a rather nice cabin. It looked as if nothing had disturbed it since summer. The inside was warmer than Sio was used to. He couldn’t risk lighting a fire but maybe Gustav had no worries about that. He wasn’t the one stuck with a couple of sleeping friends. His were all dead. He only had to worry about himself.

Sio waited in the living room enjoying the warmth and the feeling in his fingers while Gustav rummaged around upstairs. Minutes later, he came down with a crate and dropped it on the couch. He gave a smug grin before removing the top.

“These are…”

“Explosives,” Gustav said. He picked one up and threw it in the air like a toy. He cared too little for safety. “I was wondering about the cave the goblins stayed in and after taking a look around the village, I figured something out. It’s an old mine. Not the only mine, of course, so I explored further and found these. If we can manage to get inside, we can plant these and crush all the goblins and whatever other monsters there are in there.”

Sio scowled. He probably wanted Sio to plant the explosives. That’s why he’d kept him around so long.

“Why? What’s the point of even killing them?” asked Sio. There was no monetary incentive, no fame to gain, no nothing. So why the hell would he want to blow up the mine?

“Huh, you are pretty stupid.”

Sio bit back a response. They were too close. If a fight started, he’d lose. Even if he used magic, the explosives might go off.

“I want to kill those goblins because they killed my party. It’s as simple as that. What?” Gustav leaned in closer, “You thought I didn’t see the bodies buried under the snow, stripped naked of everything they had? Or maybe you don’t care as much about the people in yours to understand where I’m coming from. I saw them die. And now, it’s those monsters’ turn to watch theirs die.”

He tossed the explosive into Sio’s lap. He flinched and threw it across the room. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Relax, kid. It’s not going to go off without something to start it,” he set the lid of the crate down and reached inside. “We either need to light it ourselves, which would probably be suicide, or start them with magic. Seeing as neither of us can use it, we’ll use this scroll.”

From the bottom of the box, Gustav pulled out a dusty piece of paper, hastily rolled and a single touch away from falling apart. “With this, we’ll be able to bid farewell to whatever’s inside that mine. First thing’s first. We have to deal with those hobgoblins guarding the entrance. Here, drink this kid. If you’re going to be huffing and puffing just from that short little walk, you won’t make it to where we’re going next.”

As much as Sio disliked how the man treated him, he was useful more often than not. He took the drink and gulped it down, leaving almost no time to breathe. The water caught in his throat and he coughed violently. The water was snatched out of his hand.

“Not all at once you idiot. Drink it slowly. It took me a while to fill this one up and I don’t want you wasting it. If you’re hungry, you can eat whatever you’ve got inside that little pack of yours. Otherwise, keep up and I’ll reward you once we get to the top.”

The top? Sio wanted to ask but didn’t. He could sense the mood and he’d pissed Gustav off. Whether he would answer the question or not didn’t matter much, all that mattered was that he cooled off in the silence.

Sio stood as Gustav marched upstairs with the crate. He picked up the explosive he’d thrown earlier and almost called out to Gustav. Instead, he set it at the bottom of his sack, managing to close everything up before he came back down.

“Keep up,” he said as he opened the door. “It’s going to be a steep climb.”

Great. Just what he wanted to on an empty stomach. Maybe on their climb, he’d fall and die and Sio can go and pick up whatever he had on him and in his house. Or, maybe they’ll be caught and he’ll be left for dead. The former sounded much better than the latter but far more unlikely to happen.

Gustav suddenly stops and grabs Sio by the chest, pulling him behind a tree. ‘Look over there,’ he said with his eyes.

A party of eight goblins dug through the snow while one watched leaning on its stick, its head adorned in colorful cloth. A goblin shaman. They’d encountered only one before and it wasn’t something he wanted to tangle with again. Sio pursed his lips and peeked out further.

Sio’s attitude changed as soon as he realized what they were doing. “What the hell?” he whispered under his breath. They were digging up the dead bodies he found a couple weeks ago, back when everyone was still awake.

What were they planning to do with them?

Sio looked to the man he was with and almost stumbled back. His usual calm and annoyingly arrogant demeanor turned into one of rage and hate. Gustav’s eyes were open wide, taking in each and every little detail of what the goblins were doing, all the while he gripped both his shortsword and mace with white-knuckled strength.

Not good. Something was going to happen. Either the goblins walked away with the bodies and did whatever demonic ritual they were planning or Gustav was going to dive head first into all those monsters. Gods. Of all the people to be stuck with, he wished for anything but an idiot. Sure the man was strong, but he couldn’t do anything but insult his only ally and couldn’t even focus on survival instead of revenge.

The goblins pulled out two bodies and covered the rest with snow. One goblin carried the upper half while another carried the legs. As the bodies came into view, Gustav’s rage subsided and he sheathed his sword.

Could it be that the villagers were buried under the snow too? Just how many are under there?

He didn’t want to find out. He was just glad that the villagers were first on the list for whatever the goblins were planning.

“Haah… Let’s keep moving after they leave.”

Sio watched one of the goblins stare at the footprints leading to the village. The goblins jumped as the shaman called it over. “Right,” Sio said.

He wondered about the mountain-like quality of this particular piece of land. When they first arrived, he and nearly everyone else worried that Rainen would make them take the steeper route. Luckily, he chose the flatter route.

Well, it was lucky at the time. Had Sio known they would have encountered that girl and that man, he wouldn’t have complained one bit. Maybe he would have been the first to start up the route. Anyone who came across that duo was as good as dead. Even being captured by Saelac and his men might have been better.

“Look,” said Gustav, “The village is right there.”

Sio took a moment to rest, pulling out whatever provisions he had in his sack.

“Oh, that’s right. I promised you something, didn’t I?” Gustav threw a small pouch his way along with the canteen of water from earlier.

Sio wolfed down the food in the pouch but slowly drank the rest of the water in the canteen. He handed it back to Gustav before they started again. He felt good, better than he had been in the last few days.

“Look,” he said, pointing down. “We’re right on top of them."

“Like what?” Sio remarked. “We’re way too high up. If we fell from this height, we’d be dead.”

Gustav was stupid. There was nothing they could do from up there. If they jumped and landed in the snow, they might be okay but that wasn’t going to help them get rid of the two hobgoblins. And here he almost had hope that he had a good plan.

“Don’t look at me with those kinds of eyes. I know what you’re thinking. But today’s been a long day. We’ll work on figuring out the rest of the details later. Their numbers are still too large.”

Sio nodded. Every day he buys lets the others come closer to waking up.

Sio followed the footsteps back. He glanced at the view, almost breathless. If he could be up here with the others, with… Something caught in his throat.

“What’s wrong?” Gustav asked.

Sio kept looking at the little smudge against the snow. It was moving. “That-That down there…”

“A goblin huh? Good that you’re not there right now.”

His heart dropped and he broke into a sprint.