-Vandlind-

The spear slid easily between the wounded goblin’s shoulder blades as I thrust it down. The monster thrashed, trying to resist its inevitable death. It let out one final shriek before suddenly becoming limp. I withdrew the spear with a huff and wiped the blade as clean as I could on the grass.

I, along with a few others, were doing arguably the worst part of a battle: we were killing any of the wounded that had managed not to bleed out. Cleaning up, in other words. It was either this or strip and cremate the dead. I chose the former; I didn’t have the stomach to do the other. I knew it wasn’t, but I couldn’t help but think I was responsible for the deaths of Blake's men. If only I had killed more goblins with my spells, if I thought to use a lighting spell first so my companions could’ve focused completely on the goblins, maybe this wouldn’t have happened.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts and focused on finding the next poor monster I had to put out of its misery. It didn’t take long. A goblin with both its legs blown off, undoubtedly from one of my fire spells, desperately crawled away from the battlefield.

The monster gave a shriek of fear as I approached and increased its pace. It flipped over to its back and started backpedaling on all fours, slamming its stumps on the ground frightenedly hard. It was in too much shock to feel the pain.

I didn’t know why I paused, maybe it was the look in the goblin's eye, a look that only animals facing certain death could give: fear – almost pleading – then resignation. It stared at me hatefully, and I thought in its eyes, I probably deserved it. It didn’t matter that they attacked first; the goblin probably thought it was just doing what it needed to survive.

I took cleanup duty to desensitize myself; it wasn’t working as fast as I thought it would.

Freya wordlessly brushed past me and stuck her own spear through the goblin’s neck. The monster gurgled and clawed at the wood of the spear, trying to pull it out. Then it too became limp before sliding off the end of the weapon.

Freya looked at me; her face was the picture of serenity, “First time doing a job like this?”

I didn’t have the strength in me to lie, “Yeah.” My voice sounded hollow.

Freya nodded, “I thought so. Did you never have to do this during your time as a mercenary?’ She looked at me as if she could see right through the lies I had built thus far. It appeared my inexperience showed more than I thought it would.

“No, I didn’t.”

She opened her mouth to say something, but I held up a finger.

“What? Look, I know it’s none of my business to ask about your past because I’m not your-”

“Listen,” I hissed. “Do you hear that?”

Freya squinted her eyes at me but obliged. After a few seconds, she replied, annoyed, “I have no idea what the hell you’re going on about. If you don’t want to talk, just say that. Don’t go making up stories.”

“Just follow me,” I sighed and walked in the direction that I heard the disturbance. Though I wasn't confident, it sounded like muffled struggling and metal clanking. It was farther out than even the now-broken ward I had placed.

I strained to hear tired male voices as I got closer.

“Damnit, Gido, hold her still. She’s struggling too much.”

“I’m trying, I’m trying.”

Freya seemed to notice something by now, “I’m a -- how did you?” Her shock was evident.

“Quiet,” I snarled. We had gotten even closer, and I didn't like what I heard.

I subconsciously increased my pace as I closed in on the two voices. The grass was higher in this direction, mid-way up my chest, and I batted it to the side. The voices were less than twenty feet away by now, and I started sprinting.

I parted the last stalks of grass and came into a clearing -- if one could call it that. The tall grass had been mashed down to give adequate space to the men in front of me. They were unmistakably guards from our caravan; the red uniforms gave them away.

One of the men, someone I could only describe as soft, desperately tried to pin down the squirming victim below him.

The other, a burly man with no pants on, hissed complaints, “You’re fucking useless, Gido. You can’t even hold a wounded goblin still. The rest of the caravan will notice we’re gone by the time you do your job.”

“Too late,” I growled.

The men froze, but the goblin continued to kick and squirm, “Go! Let go!” Though her enunciation was off, the words were unmistakably Common.

It can speak!? I was genuinely shocked. Yes, goblins were more intelligent than most monsters. But they were still dumb, comparable to animals; they were like the equivalent of a chimpanzee to a human. No monster should've been capable of language, even goblins.

My mother’s teachings taught me the biology of most monsters; unfortunately, it failed to prepare me for this. Freya gasped as she heard it too, and I thought maybe this was a surprise to more than just me. I was only going to stop the guards before. Now, I felt a boiling rage come over me. They probably brought this goblin here because it could speak.

I erected an imprisonment ward directly around the clearing with a thought as I dropped my spear; my hands would be better suited for what I was about to do. The area of the spell wasn’t great, but my body was practically screaming at me for using it as a medium for such a large area. I was too enraged to notice for long. I manipulated the mana around me to inspect the focuses of the men I was about to break.

Weak.

I blinked towards the guards with an expenditure of mana and grabbed Pants-less by the shoulder, flinging him back. He flipped through the air and smacked against my ward, landing on the ground with a moan.

I moved to Pudgy next, clamping him on the neck with one hand and lifting him off his feet. The man gasped for breath as I tightened my vise. I vaguely realized I was about to snap his neck before loosening my grip.

The goblin they had tried to rape desperately crawled away, and I couldn't help but be horrified; she looked as if she was only a teen. I knew that this goblin was undoubtedly an adult because goblin children were even smaller, but I couldn’t help but draw the comparison. I clamped down on Fatty's throat harder this time.

Freya, who had been staring in shock this whole time, snapped out of her stupor as she tried to calm me, “H-hey, you can’t kill him.” She rushed up to me and put a hand on my shoulder, “Don’t. It’s more trouble than it’s worth.”

“I think it would be worth it,” I whispered under my breath, tightening my grip even more. The man’s face turned purple as he gargled for air. Oh, how easy it would be to snap this shit-stain like a twig.

She moved her hand to my arm and began to lightly push it down, “I know. Trust me, I know. But the person this guy works for is not someone you want on your list of enemies.”

My face contorted, “Fine.” I dropped Fatty on the ground, and he wretched for air. A dark stain had started forming on his pants as he pissed himself.

I turned to the Pants-less, who stared at me in shock, “Take this sack of shit and leave.”

Pants-less continued to stare, his former overbearing personality gone.

“Now!” I snapped.

The man flinched from my voice and limped over. He slung Fatty’s arm around his shoulder then leaned to pick up the vital piece of clothing he lacked.

“Did I say you could take your pants?!” I sneered. “Leave before I cut off your dick.”

He stiffened; though, he said nothing. Instead, he limped back in direction of the caravan. I let the section of the ward they were walking towards drop momentarily, so they could pass through. When they left, I turned around, searching for the talking goblin. She fiercely clawed at the barrier that separated her from freedom, not that it would do much for her. The goblin’s right foot and leg were mangled, and severe burns covered most of her body. She would die or get eaten before making it somewhere safe.

Freya looked at the female goblin, her knuckles white on the shaft of her spear, “We should kill it. Goblins that are smart enough to understand Common are dangerous.” She took a step forward.

The goblin froze and turned back, realizing that clawing at the ward would do her no good. And then she did something I would’ve never expected: she started crying.

“Please,” she whimpered, tears rolling down her face, “They kill me! They kill me! I don’t! I don’t!”

“Wait,” I grabbed Freya’s shoulder. Something about her tears broke something inside me.

“Don’t.” She knocked my hand off and turned around, " I know I probably seem like a cold-hearted bitch right now, but this is for the best.” She started walking towards the goblin again.

I grabbed her again, “How is this for the best? I can heal her and let her go. We can just say she ran off.”

Freya whirled around, getting inches from my face, “Do you know what they do to sapient monsters?! They’d stop the expedition to hunt it down and make it a slave!” She took a deep breath, trying to calm down, “This is for the best.”

“You’ve said that twice now, but your eyes tell me you don’t mean it.” I met her gaze; she was on the verge of tears.

A single drop fell from her left eye and her throat tightened, “FUCK! Fine! Heal her. But those soldiers will definitely tell that old bastard they found a sapient. We need to make sure she’s gone before then.”

I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding, “Thank you.”

I rushed over to the goblin, and she flinched back in fear; her hands were poised to fight back. I froze and gave my most pleasant smile, trying to appear harmless. The goblin hesitated, and I took the opportunity to place my hands on her mangled leg.

She shrieked in pain, jerking and bucking to get me off. She hit and scratched me with her claws next, and urine puddled between her legs as fear took hold. I held firm, ignoring her escape attempt, and started to utter the healing spell I needed. The wording was long and complex, detailing the setting of the bones, the repairing of the muscle, and the knitting of the skin. I chuckled to myself after remembering the conversation with Will I had not long ago.

I gently released my hold on the goblin’s leg when I finished, and she looked at me with something akin to wonder. She wriggled the toes of her foot as if surprised that she could. I smiled at her, and she smiled back. The expression appeared awkward on her face angular face, and I realized goblins probably didn’t smile all that often.

I healed the burns on her body quickly after. This time, she didn't fight back. Her eyes filled with upon the completion of my spell. Though I tried not to, I found my gaze wandering to her body when I healed her. This goblin was much different than the ones I'd seen during the battle. Admittedly, her body was still thin when compared to a human of the same size, but it was drastically different from the skeleton-framed members of her own race. Her face and skin were also clean and smooth, unlike the sickly tone of the other goblins. Was intelligence alone really enough to warrant such stark differences?

I scolded myself after realizing I was wasting too much time.

I pulled a long green cloak out of my pouch and wrapped her naked body in it. The goblin gazed up at me with confusion.

I dropped the ward with a thought and motioned away from the caravan, “Go.”

The goblin cocked its head, “You… let… go?” She spoke the words carefully, as if she didn’t want to say the wrong thing.

“Yes,” I said. “Go.” I pointed away from the caravan again.

The goblin slowly stood up and hesitantly looked the way I pointed, clutching the robe with a hand. She turned back around and placed a hesitant hand on my pant leg.

“Come on, you need to hurry up.” Freya nervously chewed on her lip.

“What’s wrong?” I peered down at the goblin; her dark hair framed her yellow eyes as she looked up at me.

“I die…alone. I die alone!” The pleading in her voice made the message evident, even if the wording was improper.

Shit.

“You can’t stay here. Go. Go.” I gently nudged her away.

The goblin stubbornly refused to move, “Stay… I stay.”

I heard the crunching of boots in the grass. Freya stiffened, and I knew she heard it too.

“Go, now. Bad people are coming to hurt you,” I said, more insistent this time.

The footfalls were getting closer.

“I stay! I stay!” The goblin shook my pant leg fiercely in defiance.

Freya was freaking out, “You gotta’ get her to leave now!”

“I’m trying!”

It was too late.

Blake practically stormed into the clearing with half a dozen men in tow, “Where’s the sapient!? It belongs to me now!”

The goblin let out a yelp and hid behind my leg. She shook uncontrollably, and I covered her protectively with an arm.

She’s shivering… in fear? The previous burn marks on her body suddenly clicked. It was immature because I had done the same to who knew how many others in her tribe, but I found myself growing furious.

“Under whose authority?” Freya stepped between Blake and me.

“By right of founder’s claim,” Blake said matter-of-factly. “My men found it first; therefore, it is my property. Seeing as you are also under contract, any valuables found during the course of this expedition are also mine to claim.”

“I don’t recall signing any contract,” I countered, shifting my body to hide the goblin more.

“You don’t?” Blake feigned surprise. “I thought you were a member of Mr. Greyforge’s team? If you aren’t, then Mr. Greyforge lied and broke his contract. Considering the guild takes contracts very seriously, I would imagine there would be a significantly harsh penalty. You wouldn’t want that, would you?”

Fuck.

“And you, Miss Withershade,” Blake continued, “Are in direct violation, as well. If you don’t want your guild license revoked, I would recommend following orders.”

Freya stiffened. “He’s right,” she sighed, turning around to face me, “Give him the goblin.”

“Freya-” I started.

“Just do it!” she shouted. “Please, don’t make this suck more than it already does.”

I hesitated.

“If you surrender the sapient now, I promise it will be as if this never happened,” Blake offered.

I looked down at the goblin – the girl – who was still shivering in fear behind me, “Under one condition.”

Blake sighed, “And what would that be? I’m already being incredibly generous with your insubordination.”

“I’ll be the one to guard her.”

“Mmmmmh. No, I can’t allow that,” Blake refused.

“Then-”

“However, I give you my word that it will not be mistreated for the remainder of this trip. I’ve already disciplined the two you’re worried about if that helps assuage your ethics.”

I grit my teeth, “Fine.”

Blake clapped his hands, “Very well, give it here.”

I looked at the goblin again; she pressed herself tightly against my leg, “I don’t think that’s going to work. She’s very… attached to me at the moment. I don’t think she’ll willingly go with you.”

“Not a problem.” Blake motioned to his men. “Make sure you don’t hurt it.”

The six guards shifted forward at his command.

“Wait!” I barked. “I have a better solution.”

I knelt in front of the goblin and placed a hand on the side of her head; she looked at me with confused eyes, not understanding what was happening to her.

“Spať,” I whispered. The girl collapsed forward into me as she was forced to sleep. I cradled her in my arms as I walked past Freya.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, only loud enough for me to hear. “We’ll figure something out.”

I approached Blake, looking down at him with disdain, “This is a promise, Blake. If I find out you hurt her, I’ll flay you then burn you alive.” I placed the small package in Blake’s arms and walked past, not bothering to wait for a response.

I was getting real sick of this world.