Lucina looked down at her hands. They were covered in blood. And it was dripping into the already blood-soaked snow. Each chilling breeze sent shivers across her body. Her dress was drenched in blood. Lucina slowly raised her head and looked around her as if in a daze. There was hardly a single white snowflake left in the entire mountain valley. It was hard to believe that just an hour ago there were two armies here. All that was left was… minced meat.

Apart from Lucina, only one more living being was left standing in the ghastly area. Further ahead, in front of Lucina, stood a young woman. Lucina only saw the back – long ruffled dress, with many layers, completely covering her body. The dress was crimson-red even before the battle had begun. Her long, luscious blonde hair, made in high pigtails, was blowing in the freezing gale. She turned her head toward Lucina, revealing her heavenly blue eyes.

“Celi-” Lucina opened her eyes and saw a familiar wooden ceiling of her room, still out of focus. She turned her head and saw her grandmother, Rosemary, next to her. An elderly woman, with gray hair, wrinkled skin, with a kind, but worried smile. Lucina couldn’t even tell anymore how old her grandmother was. To Lucina, Rosemary hasn't aged a day for as long as she remembered her.

“The sun is so high up?” Lucina asked after looking past her grandmother at the window opposite of her bed. "How long has it been? I asked you to wake me up! Did Peter and the others left already?"

“They left a long time ago. You've been slipping in and out of consciousness for five days,” the old woman answered.

"F-five?" Lucina gasped. "Wait, so, did they took care of the goblins, then? Have they returned? Or sent some word?"

“Not yet, but not even a week has passed,” the old woman answered as she gently cleaned Lucina’s face from sweat with a wet towel.

“I should’ve gone with them,” Lucina said and hit her fists against the white blankets in frustration.

“No, you shouldn't have! You still have to rest! This is the first time I’ve seen you lucid in five days. Had you gone with them you would have not only slowed them down but probably even died!”

“To come down with a fever during a goblin invasion, what a sick joke!" Lucina complained and clenched her fists in frustration. "But, I feel better now, I should go! I can still-” Lucina tried to get up but the old woman effortlessly pushed down the sluggish girl.

“You’re still weak! You're not thinking straight! Rest! John and Peter are with them. There isn’t a single goblin village for over a hundred kilometers with a monster of a high enough level to cause them trouble. They can handle it.”

A bell rang in the distance. Again. And again.

“The church?” Grandmother whispered.

“Three times. An attack! The goblins!” Lucina exclaimed. She seemed revitalized and jumped to her feet, but before taking even a single step the girl wobbled and leaned on her bed for support.

“Stop this nonsense! You can’t move so recklessly!” Rosemary scolded her granddaughter and helped her stay on her feed. "If the goblins are indeed here, we have to leave!”

Lucina fought out of her grandmother's grasp and stormed to a desk at the window, pulled out the left drawer and took out a silver necklace with a silver coin instead of a pendant.

“Do you see this?” Lucina showed the silver coin into her grandmother’s face. The coin had an emblem – a dragon head pierced through with a sword. “I am a Silver ranked member of The Adventurer’s Guild! "Silver"! Not some "Wooden" brat of a rich lord! I will not run away with the elderly and the children from a band of goblins!”

Sweat poured down Lucina's forehead, she could not focus her vision.

“You expect me to watch my fifteen-year-old granddaughter run off on a suicide mission?" Rosemary protested. "I’ve already lost enough! We both have…”

“…” An uncomfortable silence interrupted only by the screams of other townsfolk outside.

“Please," Lucina muttered, "I can’t run. Not again. I might- I might at least be able to delay the goblins long enough for the others to escape.”

Rosemary hugged her granddaughter with tears in her eyes.

“I will be fine," Lucina reassured her grandmother. "Have you forgotten what it takes to reach the Silver rank in The Adventurer's Guild? Even in this sorry condition, I have enough tricks up my sleeve to delay some goblins.”

“Not in that nightgown you won’t!” Grandma let go of Lucina and wiped the tears from her eyes. “We don’t have much time. If I can’t change your mind, at the very least I’ll make sure you’re prepared!

"Take that thing off! It stinks anyway.” Grandma ordered her granddaughter, went across the room to an old wooden cabinet. She opened the cabinet door and took out a small glass bottle. It was nearly empty, only a mouthful of brown liquid remained.

“Drink it all,” Rosemary handed the bottle to the buck naked teen. “It will keep you on your feet for an hour or two. But after that, you will wish you had listened to me. Vomiting will be the best of it. Make sure you are far away from the goblins when that time comes!”

Again the church bell rang three times.

“They’re close!” Rosemary said.