I was rudely awoken in the morning when Vyth accidentally stepped on my tail. He quickly apologised before looking back out the window. He was focused on something. Like a hunter tracking its prey.

“What is it?”, I asked as I slowly got up.

“Thought I heard something”.

“Of course you heard something. People are probably already moving abo-”.

“Quiet!”, Vyth yelled in a loud whisper.

He put his ear up to the window and listened closely to whatever he had caught. I slowly got to the window and peeked outside. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. The villagers were moving about, going about their business or catching up with their neighbours. They did seem a bit more watchful. Turasijr sure knows how to spread information quickly.

Vyth retreated back from the window. His movements were as quiet as an assassin. An instinct drilled into him back in the nest. Whatever he heard wasn’t going to be good. He grabbed his belt and attached his sword to it, before exiting our room. I followed close behind. I had no idea what he could’ve possibly heard, nor where we were going. Couldn’t ask either, as I’d only be met with more shushing.

We slowly made our way to the stairs, climbed up the railing to avoid any creaking steps, and slid down. It wasn’t until we were at the base of the stairs that I finally heard something. Only a slight shuffle coming from outside, but it said enough. Someone was outside the backdoor and they wanted in.

We could hear metal grinding against metal. They were trying to pick the lock. Vyth held his sword in front of him and got ready for a fight, but that didn’t seem wise to me. Panicking, I quickly grabbed two logs of firewood out of the storage underneath the stove and hid us in there.

“What are you doing?”, Vyth whispered loudly.

“We don’t know who is out there. Let’s just observe for now”, I answered.

The lock eventually got picked and the door was slowly opened to reveal two green, ugly faces. They were your typical Goblins you’d find in RPGs. Both only wore a fur loincloth with belts strapped around it to hold daggers and arrows and had a crude bow made for their size hung over their shoulders. They snuck in and closed the door behind them. Their eyes darted around, looking for something. Quietly, they made their way forward while murmuring and snickering to each other. It took me a while to realise they were actually speaking. Their language was a weird one. Still, I quietly said the necessary incantation and cast my spell.

“-upstairs. They wouldn't put it here, dumbass”, the Goblin closer to us said.

“Well, how would you know? Are you colluding with them now, are you?”, the other one said.

“Of course not, you dick. Just shut your mouth and follow me. I’m the one with the brains in this operation”.

The two of them slowly made their way up the stairs. The steps creaked softly underneath them, but they didn’t seem to mind all that much. Next to me, Vyth chuckled.

“They’ve just dug their own grave”, he said amused.

We snuck out of our hiding place once they were out of eye sight and went up the stairs, keeping track of them by sound to avoid detection. They may have moved quietly, but their equipment still made sound. They stood still by the door to Eidechse’s uncle’s room. Vyth peeked out from the corner of the top base of the stairs and saw them peering into a slight slit they opened.

“Do you think they’ll wake up if we enter?”, the second Goblin asked.

“What does it matter? We’ll just kill them if they do”.

Vyth tapped me on the shoulder and gestured for me to stay put. Meanwhile, he pulled out his sword and slinked towards them. Once he was close enough, he went for the kill. The second Goblin noticed him at the last second, but it was too late. The first one’s head was severed from his neck before he even knew Vyth was there.

Afraid, the second one ran into our room, probably hoping to jump out the window. But, unbeknownst to me, Thet had snuck in and blocked his way with a blade to his throat.

“Don’t kill him!”, Vyth yelled, “I want answers out of him”.

“Sure. A little interrogation won’t hurt”, she answered with a wicked grin on her face.