“Up mark 4! Left mark 5!”

Kai’s shouts rang out across a line of goblins perched over a branch of the tree, each with boulders set into slings that were hefted onto their shoulders. At his command the goblins lifted up their slings and using the weight of their bodies began to swing the slings into a looping spiral of gathering energy. Kai raised a clenched fist while pointing towards the horizon. He waited and the power continued to build. The boulders quickly turned into a blur of raging whirlwinds as the goblins accelerated their death spirals. Five seconds passed and the apex was reached. Kai let his fist swing down as he shouted:

“Fire!”

The boulders rocketed out of their slings and quickly became grey dots in the distance. 20 boulders plummeted to the ground in a coordinated salvo as they tore a path through the air towards the Facestealer corpse below. Only two hit, but the results were devastating. The carapace armor was breached and great gouts of blood shot out the Facestealer alongside a fountain of splattered flesh and guts.

“Hm. Could be better, could be worse. But you get the picture, right?”

Kai looked down at the goblin twins Xitam and Xilam. In their hands were makeshift wooden megaphones already dyed with red paint.

“Your guy’s job is arguably going to be the most important. Every marksman needs a good spotter to tell them where to shoot. Now, I’ve already measured everything out for you guys...”

Kai pointed to an alternating set of long notches carved into the length of the branch they were standing on. Each notch was numbered with a tally which increased as they went further down the branch. There were also notches carved into the trunk of the tree to their side as well.

“The marks on the trunk of the tree tells the slingers how high to shoot and the marks on the branch tell them what direction to shoot. It’s your job to judge the distance and decide where everyone is going to coordinate their volley. However, there is one other thing you should keep in mind.”

Kai looked back at the line of slingers and shouted, “Salvo! Salvo!”

The slingers began to load up their slings, spin and fire boulders as fast as they could without aiming. The sound of dull thumps traveled back up the tree like the pattering of a hailstorm.

“Alright, stop!” Kai turned back to the twins. “You should do that if there’s a swarm of Facestealers charging the tree. But if you see anything stop moving out there? Use the markers to shout out orders and fill them with a bunch of holes. Got it?”

The twins nodded in unison “Got it!”

“Good, now get to it. Also…” Kai leaned over the branch and shouted, “Start moving the targets!”

Below sections of the Facestealer’s carapace began to be dragged across the ground by rope towards the tree.

“Can’t have you guys getting used to stationary targets. Just practice and you’ll get the hang of it. I’m off to check the other teams so manage things while I’m gone, alright?”

With that Kai patted the twin on the shoulders as he walked away. Behind him the twins were already shouting out orders into their megaphones with trained ease.

Further down the branch were goblins managing fires around cauldrons. The cauldrons were elevated over stone slabs and covered with dirt to prevent the possibility of any fire leaking inside. A long spout was hammered onto the bottom of the cauldrons and from the spouts a black liquid could be seen dribbling into wooden buckets. When the fires ran out the goblins would remove the dirt off the cauldrons, extract the charcoal inside and add in new wood to repeat the process.

However, the production process did not end there. The charcoal was then grinded up and added to heated tree sap to make pitch. Some pitch was used to cover the bottom half of nets and rope while the rest was stored into large containers. The leftover charcoal was wrapped around bundles of dead branches, leaves, grass and other pieces of flammable material. When the goblins were done with all the prep work the buckets of tar, pitch, nets, rope and bundles of burnables were carried off to be stored inside the tree.

As Kai was watching the production process unfold a goblin walked up to him with a bucket of tar in hand.

“Hello, outlander Warrior,” the goblin said. “As you can see the production of the black ooze is going well. Too well, in fact. We’re running out of containers to hold it all. What should we do with the ooze we can’t hold?”

Kai thought for a moment before asking, “You know that hole we carved into this branch?” Kai thumped a foot against the ground for emphasis.

“Yes. What about it?”

“Just pour the tar into it. We made a bunch of air holes so you should be able to dump it right in there.”

The goblin shifted the bucket in his hands, his face an expression of trepidation and unease. Kai didn’t even need to use Empathic Link to tell what he was thinking.

“Don’t worry. I’m not expecting anyone else to be lighting a fuse while I stand on the sidelines. The only person who’ll be holding a torch over the tar will be me. No one else, you understand? So just pour the tar in there.”

The goblin nodded and carried his bucket to a small opening in the branch where he dumped the tar into it. Kai watched him and was about to walk off when a thought occurred to him.

“Oh! Make sure you don’t fill it to the top though. Should only be a shallow layer at best. Don’t want to implode the main tree now, do we?”

The goblin’s face became plastered with nervousness once again, but instead of acknowledging it Kai flashed him a smile and wandered back towards the base of the tree. He was about to head inside the tree when he heard a familiar voice shout out above all other sounds.

“XIKANG FIGHT TOO! XIKANG WARRIOR!”

Kai whirled around to see Xikang trying to wrestle a sling away from one of the slingers. Behind him was Xilana, her medical bag in one hand, trying to wrestle Xikang away from the sling.

“What the hell is that guy doing out of bed? There’s no way he could have healed by now. Unless…”

Kai walked up to the trio of tugging goblins and said, “Hey, Xikang. I’ve got something better for you than a sling. How does a hammer sound?”

Xikang’s eyes lit up as he shouted, “YES! HAMMER GOOD! XIKANG WANT HAMMER!”

“That’s great. But you have to do a few things in exchange for me, okay? First, don’t shout… or at least don’t shout as loud as you are now. People need to be able to hear their orders and it's hard to do that when you’re shouting.”

“OKAY! XIKANG WILL SHOUT LESS LOUD!”

“Good. Now the second thing is that after we get you your hammer you need to go find the Elder and listen to whatever he says. Can you do that?”

“YES! XIKANG LIKE ELDER! ELDER WARRIOR!”

“Very good. Now, follow behind me and Xilana and we’ll get you your hammer.”

With the rambunctious Xikang pacified, Kai turned to Xilana.

“Hope the Elder won’t resent me too much for throwing Xikang onto him. I’m guessing his healed arm is your doing?”

Xilana nodded and looked back at Xikang’s arm. The arm had healed perfectly and Xikang’s skin was smooth without a blemish or any scars. It was hard to believe that just a few days ago his arm looked more like a mangled chew toy.

“I-I don’t know how I did it. It just happened.”

Xilana made a grasping motion with her hands like she was pulling at something invisible.

“I could hear a voice call out to me, like mother’s but from a far away distance. It felt like there was something tugging at me, a line or a thread that had latched onto my back. I took it, not in my hands, but with… my heart? My chest? The core here.”

Xilana pointed to a spot on her sternum as though it were evident that something else was there besides skin and bone.

“I pulled and something opened. There was a smell like sweet berry jam and a sensation like blankets placed around the body on a cold night. In my mind I could feel myself surrounded by many other people who helped me ease the thread open more like…”

Xilana paused, searching for the right words with a rapt expression on her face.

“...Like they were helping me ease a newborn out into the world. Then I felt a cool wind blow across my arms. A good wind, the kind that comes with relief when someone is hot or burning with fever. I was tending to Xikang at the time and the wind blew over him as well and… Then he was healed. His wounds started mending right in front of my eyes.”

Kai and Xilana looked back at Xikang. He was running around accosting other goblins who also seemed surprised to see him fully healed.

“Hm, mother, huh. I’m guessing your mother is the tribe’s Healer which means Xitana is your sister, right?” Kai asked.

“Half-sister,” Xilana corrected. “Mother taught me how to heal as well but I was never as good as Xitana. I would always drop things and mess things up whenever I tried to help. Everyone always assumed Xitana would become the next Healer but...”

“But now you are. Have you told anyone else about this?”

“No, just you.”

“Good. Hey, Xikang! I healed your arm and you’re going to make me wait for you?! Is this how a Warrior repays his debts?!”

Xikang turned around and ran back to Kai as he said, “BUT OUTLANDER WARRIOR NO HEA-”

“Shh! I know, just pretend I did, okay?” Kai turned back to face Xilana. “At least until I talk to Xitana. I have a sneaking suspicion she’s not going to take this news well. I’ll help you out, so just wait until then, alright?”

Xilana nodded. At first Kai thought Xilana was anxious since her back was bent over slightly and her arms were clutched together at her chest. Yet, looking at her closely Kai noticed that her breathing was ragged and she seemed to have trouble keeping her balance despite standing still.

“It seems you’re not used to your new powers yet. Don’t use it anymore until we figure out its limitations. Also, Xikang, help her walk.”

With Xikang supporting Xilana by an arm, the trio walked into the tree where Xilana was escorted back to the sleeping section. After that Kai and Xikang headed further up to the armory where the sound of clanging metal and the scraping of wood enveloped the entire room. Goblins rushed back and forth with tree sized logs over their shoulders that were brought over to tables where they would be sawed and carved into various shapes and sizes. Poisoned spikes, triggers, snares and other components for traps were strewn across the floor on one side of the room. On the other side were goblins hammering wooden handles into stones carved down into a spiked edge. The completed sledge hammers were lined up in rows across the walls of the room.

“Alright, pick out a hammer for yourself and go find the Elder. Don’t forget what I said about the shouting, either,” Kai said.

But Xikang had been let loose and was already charging out of the room with a hammer in hand while shouting something about becoming a Warrior. Kai shook his head and went in search of the Builder Xigan.

He found Xigan putting the finishing touches on a weapon they had been building over the course of a few days. The front was in the shape of a square box and inside were lengths of rope twisted around two columns of wood that spread outwards on either side. Reinforced string was tied between the two columns and the square box was connected to a length of wood that made it look like an oversized crossbow. But, of course, the weapon was not a crossbow but a ballista. Not a full sized one, though. The miniature ballista in front of Kai was more akin to what the Romans would have called a scorpio.

“Hey, Xigan. How’s the work coming along?”

The goblin grunted before handing over the ballista to another goblin so it could be placed onto a supporting stand.

“Well enough. That one was the seventh, so I think we should be able to have ten by the time the Facestealers come.”

Kai put a hand to his chin. “While they can only shoot smaller sized rocks, the ballistas should be able to give us quite a bit more accuracy than the slingers. Besides, anything thrown from a couple hundred meters off the ground is going to pack a punch.”

“What about the big one?” Xigan asked.

“What about it?”

“Will it work?”

Kai shrugged. “Work? Sure. Will it work well? That I don’t know. We’ll just have to see when the day comes.”

Xigan sighed and looked over at a corner of the armory where a large object sat covered by cloth. It wasn’t hard to imagine that what laid underneath the cloth held immense power, but it was another thing entirely to assume that it would work as intended. There just wasn’t enough time to test it.

“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Xigan said.

“I always know what I’m doing, except on Mondays… It’s not Monday is it?”

“Bah. If you have time to joke you have time to work. Is there anything else you needed?”

“No, just checking up on everyone. I’ll leave you to it then.”

Xigan grunted a response as he went back to work. Kai on the other hand left the armory as he went over a mental checklist. Traps, weapons, thermal weapons, poisoned weapons, defenses, distractions, entanglements, training, coordination, logistics and terrain manipulation. All check marks in a list Kai always liked to see filled out. While the addition of a magical “Healer” was a boon as well, there was one last thing Kai needed to settle before he was done. With that in mind Kai headed up to the medical ward of the tree.

There he looked around but saw only a few wounded goblins still laying in their beds. Kai walked up to one of them.

“Hey, there. Where’s Xitana?” Kai asked.

“She probably went outside to one of the smaller branches. You have to take the pulley to get there so no one besides Xitana and the children go out there,” the goblin replied.

“Let me guess. She only goes to the branch when she’s angry or sad which is why you know she’s probably out there.”

“You are wise, outlander.”

“Great, so much for subtlety. Thank you for letting me know.”

“No, thank you for helping us outlander.”

Kai let the wounded goblin rest and headed for the pulley. There he went onto the lift and pulled himself upwards past five floors until he noticed a small opening to the outside. He jumped out and found himself standing on a small balcony that overlooked the rest of the tree. Below goblins ran around like busy ants crawling around on the branches of a tree. Xitana was leaning over the edge of the balcony while looking out towards the horizon.

“Come to laugh at me, outlander?” Xitana asked without turning her back.

“Why would I do that?” Kai asked.

“Because it is fitting, no? They will tell stories about how the evil sister of Xilana kept her from her potential. But in the end she becomes a Healer while her evil sister does not.”

“What are you talking about?” Kai asked in an exaggerated voice. “It was I who healed Xikang…”

“You didn’t heal Xikang. If you had such powers you would have used it when I was going to cut off his arm.”

Kai was about to respond with a joke but thought better of it. Sometimes the hard way was easier, after all.

“...That’s right,” Kai said. “People called me a doctor once, but I don’t think I’ve healed a single person in my entire life.”

That got Xitana to turn around. “You were a doctor?”

Kai shook his head. “I was a killer. Still am, I suppose. At some point I had to learn how to patch myself up so I also theoretically knew how to patch up other people.” Kai went to stand next to Xitana on the balcony as he looked out over a horizon of his own. “But as I found out the hard way, helping people is a lot different than hurting people.”

Xitana remained silent. For a while both of them watched black smoke trail from the fires below up into the canopies above.

“I did it a lot too,” Kai said at last.

“Did what?”

“Amputations. It was my solution to everything. At first I tried to use it as a last option but… There were too many people, too little resources, too much yelling, too many screams, too many lives being lost left and right. People looked to me to be their saviour but I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. It was too much pressure. So I caved, replaced everything with prosthetics and called it a day.”

“...Why are you telling me this?”

“Because it’s the same with you, no? You feel responsible for your tribe, for keeping them safe and healthy. But the weight of your responsibility is heavy. Too heavy for a single person to carry the lives of hundreds of people without feeling like you’re coming to a breaking point.”

Kai snapped a small twig off the tree and broke it in half for emphasis. He let the pieces fall out of his hands and disappear towards the ground.

“It’s even worse when they all look to you to be some kind of miracle worker when all you have is a saw and some painkillers. Without options, you make choices based on facts. But those facts wear you down every time you make a compromise between responsibility and your ideals.”

Xitana closed her eyes and put a hand on her head. She sighed and it was a few minutes before she spoke again.

“I just don’t want to see anyone hurt anymore,” Xitana said. “You men always do this. You want to play Warrior and you go out, get yourselves hurt and come back to me with your arms dangling at your side expecting me to do something about it!”

Xitana left the edge of the balcony and started pacing back and forth. It didn’t seem like she realized that her fists were clenched.

“When mother left it was all up to me to care for the tribe. But what can I do without being a Healer? I apply some spirit water, bandage them up and hope for the best. But it’s not enough! It’s never enough! Do you think I don’t hurt when I see my own family come to me dying and the only thing I can tell them is to pray to the Ancestors? Do you think I enjoy hearing men scream and yell knowing that all I can do is stand there while I wait for them to die?! Well?! Do you?!”

Xitana was yelling at the top of her lungs, releasing all the pressure that had built up inside her. Kai maintained eye contact with her, his face impassive, neither judging nor placating. Eventually, after a moment of heavy breathing, Xitana calmed down. Kai walked up to her before speaking.

“You don’t have to bear that responsibility,” Kai said.

“Right. Because it’s Xilana’s responsibility now, isn’t it?”

“No. It’s not Xilana’s responsibility, either. Whether it’s you, her, or the next ten people down the line, none of you need to feel like you have the burden of an entire village on your shoulders. Do you know why?”

“Why not? This is the burden that all Healers face. Who are you to say we have no burden?”

“Because you are not a god, not an angel, not a saviour and not a miracle worker. You are a single person just trying to do their best. You don’t have to bear your burden alone. Because if you do, you will break. If you need help, then everyone, regardless of whether they are a Healer or not, can help.”

Xitana shook her head. “Why don’t you just go to Xilana? She’s the village Healer now.”

“There are some things that you are going to be able to do that Xilana can’t,” Kai said. “You know how to handle a group and manage a room full of injured people. Xilana most certainly doesn’t have that kind of skill. If she’s suddenly in charge of giving out orders and making decisions she’d probably faint. On the other hand, the healing part that’s eating you up? Xilana can handle that.”

“You say that, but how many of our people are going to die because you convinced them that they could fight against monsters that tower over them like children over an anthill?”

“If you help me? None. But I can’t guarantee that if you don’t. After all, I’m just one person. So are you. But together we can make things work. Now, after the battle, can I rely on your help?”

Xitana paused, but met Kai’s eyes when she responded. “You did not need to come here to convince me to help my own people, outlander. If I am Healer or not, I will still treat those that come to me for help.”

Kai smiled. “Great. I didn’t doubt that for a second. Just, uh, making sure is all. You know, I always have a bad habit of forgetting my role during a raid so I just figured...”

An awkward silence sat in the air as a chill wind blew between Kai and Xitana. Not the best transition, Kai thought.

“Well, I’m just gonna go now. Gotta manage our defenses for the lobster threat and all.”

Kai began to walk back towards the lift but just as he was about to get on it Xitana called out, “Outlander!”

Kai looked back and saw Xitana bowing. The spikes on her back were carved with spiraling symbols and painted red.

“Thank you, outlander. I… thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Xitana. See you around.”

As Kai descended the lift he checked off the last box on his mental checklist. Medic. Every battlefield needed a good medic. With that done, the goblins were finally prepared for the Facestealer attack.

It was just a question of whether or not things would go according to plan.