Ratface did her best to keep paying attention to their surroundings as they got further and further away from the goblins. The rest of her party didn’t seem too concerned, their attention more on getting away from something Abigail had pulled them from. That the knight hadn’t even wanted them to see it was concerning.

  She quickened her pace until she was in line with Abigail.

  “What is that?” she whispered. Her voice barely carried to Abigail and Abigail looked at her in surprised. Ratface shrugged. “A goblin has to be quiet.”

  “That was Halvin. That he’s awake is a bad sign.”

  “The Emptiness really brings people back?”

  “I had no reason to lie.”

  “So, you couldn’t beat him?”

  Abigail went silent for a bit. She looked at her armour for a second.

  “Not quietly,” she said eventually.

  They’d gone far enough away they couldn’t hear the clinking anymore and they stopped for a break.

  They’d found themselves outside an old shop. Ratface checked the door and found it was open, she gestured the others inside.

  They piled in and Ratface looked around. The store was dusty, and a lot of its stock had crumbled away. She found half a doll sitting on a shelf.

  “A toy shop,” Tiffany whispered. Ratface blinked. She couldn’t imagine having enough money just to spend it on toys.

  “Must’ve been a rich town,” she said.

  “It was,” said Albert, “this used to be a great spot for hunters and rogues to sneak in and get things. Now it’s not worth it.”

  “Halvin was killed while trying to protect this place from a monster parade,” said Abigail. She looked around the rubbish.

  “It had a high level of mana in it so it was a particularly bad attack. It’s said that in Halvin’s last moments, he saw his own home about to be broken into. He saw his daughters face through the window and knew that if he didn’t save her nothing would. So, he prayed.”

  Ratface stilled. Lurian was covered in altars, and she’d watched elves pray, but she’d never seen any one outside of there do it. Apparently, they all had their gods, only goblins didn’t.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  “He prayed that anything would save his daughter. In desperation he asked anything that would listen. Only one god heard him. The Emptiness took him and, true to its word, it saved his daughter and slaughtered the monsters. A moment later the town fell.”

  “If the whole town fell, how is there a story?” asked Ratface.

  “His daughter told the guild. Her father’s last words were to tell he the price. A whole town just for her. It was the last words he ever spoke.”

  Abigail glanced at Ratface.

  “I know you wanted to follow the goblins before, but Halvin is dangerous. I wouldn’t put any of you close to him.”

  “You’ve met him before?” asked Albert.

  “I fought him as a squire. He killed my whole cohort. I only survived because I found a house in town that wasn’t touched by the Emptiness. He refused to follow me.”

  “If it still exists, that’s probably where the goblins are,” said Ratface. She would bet anything the goblins had found it. Her people had a knack for finding safe spots in places that wanted to kill them.

  Any further speculation was stopped by a sudden noise outside. Ratface could recognise the noise from hanging around Claudette and Suncat. Someone was throwing a fireball. Abigail looked up at Ratface and Albert and gestured for them to check it out. They were two of the stealthiest in the group and Halmir seemed to be suffering so he couldn’t come.

  The two of them slipped out of the room. Ratface pointed up to the roof and Albert rolled his eyes but gave her a boost up. She went to help him up, but he jumped up. His jump was a little too short and the air pushed him the last little bit.

  “Harder to do that here,” he muttered. His voice also didn’t carry as far as the others. Good, they wouldn’t have to be completely silent.

  That wasn’t to say they’d talk needlessly. The two of them scampered over rooves as the got closer to the fight. It wasn’t hard to follow as more and more spells were cast. The sudden noise was jarring after being in this place of quiet. They were close now and the two peeked over the ledge of the roof they were on to look at what was happening.

  Three adventurers were in battle with two goblins in the middle of a square with a water fountain and sculptures.

  The adventurers were winning. The goblins had crossbows and were sitting behind cover shooting at the adventurers. It made the adventurers duck and weave, but their retaliation was worse. A fireball arced across the area towards one goblin hiding behind a statue. He dove out of the way as the statue he’d been behind exploded. He looked at it in shock before another goblin pulled him behind another statue. This one was of a man on a horse, so they had space to hide behind it. At least the goblins looked like they’d be able to retreat. They’d been flitting from cover to cover to get closer to an alleyway. Ratface’s eyes trailed where the alley would come out and her gut twinged. Another party was waiting for them on the other side. The goblins wouldn’t be able to see it until it was too late.

  She eyes the rooves between her and there. She could probably make it without being seen.

  “Follow me,” she said. Albert sighed but nodded and the two of them ran and jumped between rooves until they found themselves on the same alley. She gestured down and Albert grabbed her legs as she lowered down a moment before the goblins rushed into the alley. They looked at her in shock.

  “Ambush. Up quick,” said Ratface. She held out her hands and the two goblins ran at her. She pulled them up until they could clamber up themselves then Albert pulled her up.

  The two goblins looked at her gratefully right up until they saw Albert. Then, there crossbows came up as Ratface jumped in front of him.

  She had started to explain when she realised no noise was coming out of her mouth. The goblins looked at her in confusion, then horror as the climbed further up the roof away from the ground.

  A hush settled over the square. As creatures emerged from the shadows.

  The Emptiness had come.