The Emptiness settled over the square as the adventurers backed up. When the creatures first emerged from the shadows, Ratface didn’t understand what she was looking at. When she understood she wished she hadn’t.

  They looked human at first, in the dark. It was only when one of the adventurers threw fire at them that she got a good look at one of them.

  The Empty, as she decided to call it, walked out of the flames. Its skin shrivelled away from the flame, but it otherwise didn’t react. Its left hand had been replaced by a city gators head. Its legs were that of deer and it stumbled forward. Its head was still startlingly human, but it was the eyes that really unnerved her. They were empty. Not like the dead, it was like there was nothing there. Her eyes slid over them each time. It reminded her a bit of the memory glamour. It wasn’t enough for her to ignore the obvious, this thing had once been someone who lived here.

  She looked back to the gator head and noticed that its eyes were empty too. Both heads were watching the adventurers. It was getting closer and closer to the fire wielding adventurer. They backed away but tripped over some of the rubble from one of the statues they’d broken. Their friends took that opportunity to run, too filled with fear to save their friend.

  Ratface glanced at the goblins with her. They were still watching the scene in horror. Ratface closed her eyes. She knew she shouldn’t.

  Ratface grabbed the crossbow from one of the frozen goblins. It was already loaded, thank goodness.

  She aimed and fired.

  The bolt flew true and landed with a thunk into the gators head. Its empty eyes cleared until they were just dead.

  Ratface looked at the adventure and gestured for them to run. They didn’t have to be told twice.

  The Empty’s human head looked down at its now dead hand. It turned and met Ratface’s eyes. A hiss started to fill the air. If Ratface listened hard enough, it started to sound like screaming. The empty started walking closer to her. She knew she should reload the crossbow, or move, or do anything but the hissing filled her mind.

  A knife slammed into the empty’s human head. The hissing stopped as it dropped to the ground.

  “I’m not getting that knife back, am I?” said Albert. Ratface jumped at the sudden rush of noise. The world seemed lighter again as well.

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  Ratface jumped back in front of Albert before the one goblin that still had a crossbow could shoot him. Their crossbow immediately veered to the side before it could shoot her.

  “Human lover,” he hissed. He was short even for a goblin and had a shiny bald head. A series of glittering earrings covered his longer ears. Ratface’s eyes narrowed.

  “Trying to save you, idiot,” she said. She gestured to Albert who was eyeing the goblin with the appropriate amount of hostility for someone who’d just been aimed at. A faint wind twisted around him, ready to catch the bolt. The goblins eyes widened.

  “Wind spirit,” his friend whispered. She was tall and thin for a goblin, almost as tall as an elf. Ratface wasn’t sure if the thinness was from the height or a lack of nutrition. She’d got the crossbow off the goblin pretty easily, so she was leaning toward the latter.

  Ratface gestured at herself.

  “Ratface,” she said. The other two goblins nodded in understanding.

  “Compassionate,” said the bald one to his friend. He said it like an insult.

  “Bleeding heart,” the woman agreed. Ratface glared at them.

  “I need to talk to your leader,” she said. The other two goblins looked at her warily which was rude given she’d just saved her life. Any retort she’d been about to say was interrupted by Albert.

  “It’s moving,” he said. His eyes hadn’t left the Empty during the goblin’s conversation. The four watched as it sat up from the floor. It grabbed the knife in its head and yanked it out, letting it clatter to the ground. The world began to lose sound as its eyes started to fade again. Ratface frowned, hadn’t there been more of the creatures before.

  A hand grasped onto the roof and Ratface sliced at it to make it tumble back down. It hissed as it fell.

  “Go find Abigail,” Ratface ordered Albert. The hunter was moving before she said anything. The two may not understand the empty they’d shot but they’d both made the same connection. If the Emptiness had taken the bodies of the village, why were they only fighting a few of them. They knew it wasn’t attacking the goblins; they were in the one safe area in this town. That only left the adventurers as a target.

  So, she’d sent Albert to get Abigail to help them. If anyone could kill those things it’d be her.

  In the meantime, Ratface would get the goblins out before the adventurers had a chance to find them. That was if these two would take her to their leader.

  The silence filled the area around them again and the three goblins looked at each other. She could tell the bald one wanted to run but didn’t want to lead her back. They both knew she was going to follow him.

  The empty decided it for them. Two sets of hands reached over the roof. The bald goblin took one look at it and started running. Ratface followed him.

  They kept to the rooftops. None of them wanted to be trapped in an alley with one of those things.

  The bald goblin kept trying to lose her, but Ratface had been trained by a relentless knight. Her legs still burned from her run, but she kept up with him easily. They kept running until they left the silent bubble, the slaps of their boots on the roof announcing their successful escape.

  The bald goblin slid to a stop and glared at her; his arms folded. The tall woman was the one to talk.

  “Alright bleeding heart,” she said, “tell me why you’ve gotta see our leader.”

  The two glared at her in synch and Ratface gulped.

  Time to see if she was as convincing as she thought she was.