I was going to turn around. I should have turned around.

  There was fucking blood on the sand. Fresh blood. But at that moment, I heard a distant shout, a little ways up the beach. A cry of fear.

  There were stealthier rift monsters, but none of the needs I’d seen had ever required facing any of them. I didn’t think this particular rift break had anything more than trolls and goblins. My Pepper spray could at least protect me from them. My ankle still wasn’t back to one hundred percent, but Normuran’s healing magic had worked wonders. I’d be able to run if I needed to.

  Small red rivulets trailed down the sand in tiny spider web streams. The blood trail was small, but the water and sand made each patch look worse than it probably was. The blood was joined by the footprints of someone running with a long stride.

  Someone had run this way, and they were bleeding when they did. Combined with the shout… they needed help now. It would take me ten minutes to get all the way back to town and ten more to get back here, if even that.

  "This is stupid, this is stupid, oh my god this is stupid," I said to myself.

  I made my choice and followed the macabre trail, feeling a bit disgusted as the quantities of blood became slightly more numerous. My Observe skill became less and less needed as the otherwise unnoticeable splotches became full splatters the further I ran.

  After about five minutes of weaving within the hard rock and soft sand, I finally found something that made my blood run cold.

  A dead troll, peppered with two crossbow bolts. It was lying on its stomach with both of the bolts sticking straight out of its back. It had toppled forward after it died, and apparently had been left there, but the trail of boots did not even seem to slow. If anything, the stride of the footprints became even longer.

  Someone had shot the thing from behind. The owner of these footprints had been chasing this troll. Weird... but I could figure out the details later.

  The crossbow bolts made me almost certain this was where the twins had gone.

  Only a few turns through the tall rocks later, I heard a desperate scream, hoarse and tired. Not either of the girls, though.

  I slowed my pace as the cries became louder, not wanting to stumble into an ambush.

  “That’s right, you damn fuck! Peek that ugly little mug out! I’ve got another one just for you!” came the first audible shout, before I heard the twang of a string snapping. I was still a few minutes away, but I had a pretty good idea of where the man, whoever he was, must be.

  Near the edge of the beach, where the full cliffside started, was an alcove that could be mistaken for a cave. When the lake’s water was high, the alcove was filled and inaccessible without swimming. The lake’s water was quite low right now, though. Whoever this was, he was in that alcove.

  I didn’t recognize the voice right off the bat, and my attempt to do so was cut short as I peeked around the corner closest to the entrance. Standing there, waiting at the wide entrance to the alcove were three goblins. They didn’t notice me, as they were too focused on the man shouting obscenities at them.

  “Come on! Come on, cowards! Come die like your brothers! Dammit, if there’s anyone out there, some help would be great right about now!”

  At the entrance to the alcove, there was another dead troll and no less than five goblin corpses. All of them had crossbow bolts in them, either sticking out of their backs or, in one unfortunate case, literally pinning them to the rock wall opposite the entrance.

  I finally recognized the voice, just as a crossbow bolt joined quite a few of its brothers in the rock wall. It was Burnom.

  Burnom the Lout, as half the town called him behind his back.

  The man had been a long-time fuckup in town, far more likely to get drunk and thrown out of the bar than to do anything productive. He hadn’t really been seen much since the news of the rift break spread through town, but everyone had just assumed he’d squirrelled away somewhere to avoid shifts on patrol. I felt a flush of guilt as I realized I hadn’t even thought of him much at all, though it had been odd that he hadn’t been to the bar in days.

  Someone should’ve noticed. I should’ve noticed. I prided myself on knowing just about everyone in town. Even him.

  Now I knew what he’d been up to… but why had he stolen Elsee’s crossbow? Or… was I misreading this badly?

  Shit, that didn’t matter now! I might be bigger than the goblins, but they all had knives, and I didn’t know how to fight!

  I wasn’t sure what I should do, but suddenly my eyes landed on a spear. It was held loosely in the grip of a dead goblin.

  I could dump all of my points into One Handed Weapons, or maybe Combat, and charge in… but even if I did, my One Handed weapon skill would only be about seventy-five. Not nearly enough to guarantee the outcome of a fight against three opponents, let alone without the accompanying skills like Combat, and probably some sort of stance skill that would need to be raised with it to make it effective.

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  Never mind the fact that even with all of those skills, my strength might still not be enough to overcome the goblins. No monster was alike, and there was a world of difference between a level five gobling and a lever fifty one.

  No. The spear wasn’t the best choice.

  I ignored the weapon and crept around the back of the rock that Burnom kept firing at, looking for a handhold. There was an obvious better option. I just needed to make sure I hit all three at once.

  It took an irritatingly long time, but finally I found a spot that I could climb up from. I worried that the goblins might’ve heard me, but Burnom’s hoarse screams were muffling everything. The sheer number of dead goblins had them afraid, but they weren’t willing to let him go, it seemed.

  I slipped and almost fell off the wet rock, as a few pieces of loose rubble clattered to the sand below, but I barely managed to catch myself. Finally, I pulled myself to the top and stared down at the goblins below. I also finally caught my first glimpse of Burnom and the inside of the alcove.

  Burnom… wasn’t doing well. He was leaning against a small fire pit, staring at the entrance and shouting. A trail of blood followed him there, and I was pretty sure I could see a small dagger sticking out of his calf. He held a crossbow with my upside-down comma heart symbol carved lovingly into the wood. He also wore the vest that I’d made for Eysee. It fit him perfectly, but it certainly looked like it had seen better days.

  None of that mattered, next to what I saw behind him.

  Both Eysee and Elsee were there. Only Elsee was awake, crouching over her sister with what little energy she had left. Her clothes were torn and shredded, and her legs were bloody. She had a bow drawn and trained on the entrance. She… might’ve been dragged across the sand at some point based on the scratches. She looked absolutely terrified. The bow was quivering in her hands, and I didn’t think she could even aim it, much less shoot it.

  Burnom’s string of curses trailed off as he spotted me, looming above the goblins in the morning sunlight. His eyes widened, but fortunately, the goblins were sheltering behind the sides of the entrance and couldn’t see whatever it was that had stopped his shouting.

  Elsee gasped, clutching her hand over her mouth as she saw me, too.

  One goblin was on the left, while two more were on the right. Silently, and slowly, I readied my pepper spray pouch. Aiming the end of the bladder down into the little corridor, I didn’t hesitate and sprayed the two closest goblins from above.

  This pepper spray was more of a pepper liquid than any sort of aerosol, but it did its work just as well, as the noxious liquid drenched the two goblins, shocking them as they began to gag and wheeze.

  I wasn’t immune as my own eyes began to water just from proximity to the disgusting stuff, but I kept my head and immediately turned to drench the last goblin.

  He had turned up to look at me, gibbering in his awful language, and so received a blast of pepper spray straight to the face. Unlike the other two, he dropped to the ground screaming.

  I shouted as I withdrew my dagger and slid down the steep rock, falling with all the grace of a wet rag as I tripped and caught myself against the wall just to the right of the alcove.

  Rage enveloped me, burning hot at the impotence I’d felt against the war troll, and then again when I realized how useless I’d have been with Reid and Oxana. I was infuriated at the loss of Chasen and Frevered, both men I’d known since childhood, and guilty that I had been running away when they were dying.

  The moment I regained my balance, I was already swinging, and against targets that could barely see and didn’t even know if they were under attack? My strike hit true.

  The knife blade sank deep into the goblin’s chest. It let loose a loud, piercing cry. Its partner knew something was wrong when it heard the howl, and I panicked when it swung its short sword wildly, almost hitting me. Instead, it accidentally hit the rock wall, showering the sand with a few sparks. It was still at least partially blinded.

  I tugged, and to my surprise, my knife didn’t come free of the goblin’s tough skin. I put my foot up to its chest and ripped the dagger out, screaming as a spray of its blood splattered my eyes.

  The goblin swung wildly again, closer now that I’d made a noise. I fell to the ground, unbalanced, but it didn’t help as the blade lanced across my left shoulder and arm.

  I screamed and flinched away, barely holding onto my dagger. Why had I done this!? This was so fucking stupid! I should’ve gotten Reid or Dad or–!

  I didn’t have time to think as I wiped my eyes. I managed to get the blood out, only to replace it with slick sand from my hand. They burned, but their pain was minuscule next to the agony in my arm. I forced them open, just in time to see the goblin looming over me, looking much taller than its four feet might suggest.

  Again, I didn’t hesitate and jabbed the dagger up, catching the creature straight in the throat. He dropped his blade, eyes wide as blood poured down my hand, covering me.

  I let go of the knife, sudden disgust overpowering common sense as I scrambled to get away from the bleeding body. I tripped over the corpse of one of the goblins Burnom must’ve slain and stumbled backward to my butt.

  The last goblin seemed to have finally recovered, and he looked furious. He growled something high-pitched and squeaky as he raised his jagged blade, and made to rush toward me, his eyes red and snot streaming from his nose.

  I screamed, but before he could make it two steps, a crossbow bolt struck him straight in the arm, hard enough to wrench his tiny body to the side.

  He wasn’t dead, but the cock of the crossbow sent a sudden shudder through me, as another shaft sank into the downed goblin, drawing a pained scream from the dying creature. A third bolt silenced him.

  For a moment, the only sounds were my own heartbeat and the dying wheezes of the two goblins who still weren’t dead.

  “Heavens… oh gods, are you alright out there, Mera?” Burnom cried.

  I couldn’t catch my breath. My heart was beating a thousand times a second.

  “I… th-think so…” I shouted around the corner. “I… g-got the other two.”

  “Thank the gods,” he breathed. “I… oh, just thank the fucking gods you wonderful storybitch.”

  He breathed. Elsee hadn’t said anything. I flopped back into the sand, regretting every life choice I’d ever made. That had been stupid. Incredibly stupid. I should’ve put the points into something. I should’ve gotten Reid. Should’ve… should’ve… Silently, I swore to myself that I’d never let myself be this unprepared again.

  You participated in the death of a Goblin Ravager!

  You killed a Goblin Grunt!

  You killed a Goblin Ravager!

  Level up!

  You have reached Level 16!

  You have developed the new skill Ambush!

  Your Ambush skill has improved by 4 points!

  Your Combat skill has improved by 6 points!

  Your Endurance skill has improved!

  Your Improvised Weapons skill has improved by 3 points!

  You developed the new skill Knifefighting!

  Your Knifefighting skill has improved by two points!

  Your One-Handed Weapons skill has improved!

  For Leveling Up, you gain 3 free points!

  ‘Right… combat does that. Yaay…’ I thought weakly.