The next day William was the one to bring David breakfast. The old man seemed to have a bounce in his step, he smiled as he served up a plate of potatoes and eggs for David. As he placed the plate in front of him he said,

“You know you’re being served by the man who defeated a hero.” Before laughing to himself, his warm booming chuckle filled the room.

“A beginner hero! I’m brand new, ok?” David protested but couldn’t help but grin himself. William just seemed so happy about it. The teasing in his voice felt warm and familiar. Like the jokes between good friends or family.

“Ah, speaking of your lack of experience: I’ve been talking to my lord and he thinks, well we think, it might be a good idea for you to see a bit more of our world. To meet people, to see how we live here.”

David’s fork stopped moving. This could be the first step he wanted. If he was going to help people here then he had to know where this world was at, he had to know what people needed. Beyond that, the idea of exploring a new world was exciting. He felt like he was stepping into some great unknown, discovering something no one else from his planet would ever see.

“I’d like that, I think. Am I ready? Would it be safe?”

“Oh don’t worry, I’ll make sure you have someone… reliable with you.”

As David approached the front gate he saw a slim figure waving at him from beneath the gaping stone archway. Ah, Maria. God, I wonder why they keep throwing her at me. He frowned. She laughed, girlish and light - more of a giggle really,

“You’re so serious. This will be fun, don’t worry!”

As they moved through the gate David’s frown was blown away. His vision opened up to a boundless sky, deep blue above a sea of massive trees. The sky seemed larger than the one on earth, or maybe it was just the shock of not being in a city with its high-rises obstructing his view.

The trees were thick towering things. They reminded him of old pine trees in a lot of ways but looking closer their bark was a strange copper colour. Almost a hint of green playing in a metallic gold, it was like no plant he’d ever seen. The thin dirt trail leading into these woods seemed ominous to him. It lay like the last hint of society, of humanity, devoured by a vast untouched forest. He shivered and realized he’d stopped moving.

Maria was silently staring at him. He coughed, and started to walk again, feeling his new magic within him like a security blanket. I’ll be safe, William wouldn’t send me here if it wasn’t safe.

The woods were full of life and sound. David could hear chirping and rustling in the bushes, the sound of twigs snapping, the sounds of movement. He’d always lived in the city and rarely interacted with animals other than his friends' pets. It shocked him how nervous he was, but then again the only time he saw anything like this was the odd rat or raccoon back home.

He felt almost exposed, as if the woods itself was judging him for being so tense, or maybe it was Maria’s gaze whenever she turned back to check on him. He heard a branch, a larger one, crack nearby. To my right. He pulled at his magic and felt the borrowed strength settle into him. He crouched down slightly, bending his knees so that he’d be ready to pounce on anything.

He heard another cracking sound slightly behind him and turned, swinging his blade fluidly in one sudden motion. The metal weapon he’d been given seemed to cut the air itself as it moved with the force of his magic. It slammed into the approaching thing, bisecting it’s green, metallic form. He heard a massive chopping sound, like an ax splitting wood and realized suddenly that was exactly what he’d done.

It was a branch, just a branch. The two sides of the wood he’d cleaved apart were thrown by the force of his swing and slammed into other trees around them. An echoing crash rang out as they fell to the forest floor.

“I think you killed it, champ.” Maria’s voice was dry, sarcastic and somehow still playful.

She had an implausibly innocent smile as she met his gaze. David was about to explain himself, but stopped short when he heard another sound, another crunching noise, in front of their small party this time. Maria’s smile dropped from her face,

“Gods. Ok, hope you’ve got something left in the tank.” She said, as another greenish copper thing fell from above. Not a branch this time but something that blended in perfectly with the canopy. A stout twisted thing with a fat belly and long arms. Maria jumped backwards, barely dodging the thick arm that lunged out at her.

“It’s a goblin, gross things. I think it’s alone.”

She scanned the area quickly, without looking too far away from it. The stout monster hissed, air seemed to escape it like steam from a boiling kettle, the sharp sound accompanied by thin grey smoke seeping out of its mouth. It lunged at Maria, it’s mouth chomping down where she’d stood a second before, catching only cloth.

“Oh yeah, don’t get bit.” Maria said as smoke rose from the shredded melted chunk of her cloak the goblin had ripped off.

The smouldering cloth hung garishly from the goblins hot, sharp mouth as it hissed again.

David shook. This thing was horrifying, heat and some other pressure he couldn’t place rolled off it in waves. It wasn’t even really paying attention to him and it still felt like it had pinned him in place. The goblin swung at Maria, but she was prepared now, she sidestepped the swipe and caught it’s clawed limb at the wrist with one hand before bringing her other elbow down on the goblins arm. The limb cracked with a sound just like the branch David had heard earlier except deeper. The goblin’s arm hung at its side, twisted and wrong in a way that wrenched David’s heart.

Seeing violence in person was different from movies. His stomach rolled. How much worse would this be if it was Maria who got hurt. I have to help, to shake myself out of this! The green monster whimpered and tried to step back but tripped and fell. It curled up on the ground, cowering in front of Maria, as if to beg. She stopped, shouting out to David,

“See that wasn’t so bad, was it?” Easy for you to say, you weren’t terrified.

“What do you do with it now?” David asked.

“Hmm.” Maria stared at the whimpering green creature, idle for a moment. She took a knife out from her waist and played with it briefly before sheathing it again.

“Naw, it just doesn’t feel right you know?” She turned to David and smiled.

He let out a relieved breath. God I thought she would just kill that thing. He smiled back at her, a nervous grin as he felt the tension start to flow out of him. He was about to suggest they get a move on when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. Steam.

Oh shit! It still wants to fight. He desperately rushed toward the goblin, as it’s toothy gaping maw lunged toward Maria’s back. David was faster though, surging forward metres with a leaping stride as he swung his sword again. His weapon moved through the green monster quickly, almost like it had through the wood. Not as easily, it snagged for a moment in a few places as the sounds of bone and metal screeched out in the clearing.

The two pieces of the goblin lay in front of David, heat from it’s stomach and mouth wafting out, the smell of boiling blood thick and heavy in his nose. The carcass, the thing that just moments ago had moved, had tried to kill them, lay steaming. It reeked of the copper smell of blood. He could almost taste it. Thank god, I made it. Thank god. Thought David, right before he started to puke.

“We’ll camp here.” Maria said, her voice seemed distant even though she was right in front of him. Time seemed to slip by as David moved to help. They set up two simple tents, peg by peg, they laid out ground tarps, they built a small stack of wood to cook over, and through it all his hands moved robotically as Maria directed him.

He knew he wasn’t helping that much but he couldn’t. He didn’t even feel like he was there, nothing seemed real. Maria started to cook over a fire. She put an iron pan on top of the burning wooden level space they’d made and filled it with part of a bird and a few spices. David couldn’t really pay attention, he was so tired. They sat in silence for a minute as the smell of chicken fat and herbs grew between them.

“Thanks.” David heard Maria say, her voice more quiet than usual. Sombre almost.

“Same to you, I didn’t know what to do at all.” She smiled at that, a small tight one, with her eyes cast down into the flame.

“The truth is, I don’t really know what I’m doing either. I’ve had lot’s of training, sure, but I’m new at this. I’m like a flower that’s been grown indoors you know?” She kicked the dirt between her and the fire, the toe of her boot digging a small hole.

“For an indoor plant you sure broke that thing's arm pretty fast. I was frozen, afraid.”

“Yeah, you may have been at first, but you still saved my life.” Maria smiled at him, and for the first time, it felt genuine. I may have misjudged her a bit. They fell into a comfortable silence. The fire flickering between them the last light as the sun slowly faded from the canopy above.

Maria sat up and silently slipped out of her bedroll. She lit the small lamp that she’d placed in her tent, covering it with her bedding as she did to mute the light it threw off. She took out a small roll of parchment and began to write: “it went well.”

The words glowed for a second before disappearing, each letter slowly fading in reverse as if being unwritten. There, now father can relax. It had gone well too - according to plan. There was a moment when she was sure David wouldn’t be able to move. She almost thought about executing the goblin then and there just to be safe.

It would have been a huge waste of time and effort. For one it had taken William quite some time to catch one alive and unwounded. Secondly it would have absolutely destroyed her image with David. This trip would be pointless and they’d need to change tactics. She sighed, it had been scary turning her back to that beast. Scarier still to trust David to do something about it, but in the end he had. They’d make a hero out of him yet, whatever it takes.