When we arrived at the orphanage it was clear that our target had not been abducted on her way to or from the orphanage, but at the orphanage. It was in a truly awful state… blood all over the walls… the corpses of the masters scattered about… walls that had been smashed in. The stench of blood, viscera and goblin piss filled the air. The crest above the front door had fallen to the ground and broken in half.

  Fortunately, it looks like it hasn’t rained here in a few days. The rain yesterday must have been localised to the Kataravonia area. This will make tracking a lot easier.

  Kiyui: “This is horrible.”

  Agaroth: “They should have known better than tae build an orphanage so far away from the city. Far too vulnerable this far out.”

  Phoenix: “Many orphanages are built this far away from cities. Townsfolk don’t like seeing orphans. They find it depressing. So, they are hidden away in buildings far from sight.”

  Kiyui picked up the crest off the ground and put the two sides together. It was two white wings wrapped around the letters VR.

  Kiyui: “What’s this crest stand for?”

  Finally… my book on bloodlines and family trees comes in handy.

  Dwynfel: “Oh… that’s the crest of the house V’Rel. The royal family of the Equine Kingdom to the north.”

  Kiyui: “I like the wings. They’re pretty.”

  Agaroth: “Why’s the equine royal family funding an orphanage all the way down here.”

  Dwynfel: “One of them moved down here years ago… there was a big wedding… don’t you remember?”

  Phoenix: “Can we focus please? I can’t see any child corpses.”

  Kiyui: “Praise be to Gaia. They must have got away.”

  Kiyui raised his necklace and kissed it.

  Dwynfel: “Unlikely… if they had got away, there would be tracks… even if they covered them up, we probably would have heard about it by now. This is a boys’ orphanage, right?”

  Phoenix: “Correct.”

  Dwynfel: “They’ve probably been taken for meat. Children are easier to carry than adults… they’d be able to carry the corpses without being slowed down too much.

  Kiyui: “Why does the sex of the kids matter?”

  Dwynfel: “Girls would have been kept alive for breeding. Or as general slaves until they were old enough for breeding. As it stands, there won’t be any child survivors.”

  Kiyui vomited over the fence.

  Kiyui: “That’s disgusting.”

  Agaroth: “That’s goblins for ya. No offence, limey.”

  Dwynfel: “None taken… I’m the one who keeps telling you people how awful they are. All of the staff here were male too. The only survivor we need look for is the duke’s daughter… what was her name?”

  Phoenix: “Katheryn.”

  Agaroth put something in his mouth.

  Dwynfel: “What are you doing?”

  Agaroth: “One of the corpses was holdin’ a packet a these wee sweet things.”

  Kiyui: “And you’re eating them?”

  Agaroth: “Course I am. They’re sweets, the fuck else am a gonna do wi’ them? Tha’ nice, got a good tang tae ‘em… I think it’s rhubarb a some shite. Want one?”

  Dwynfel: “Gods no… what is wrong with you?”

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  Kiyui walked over to the water butt and began cleaning the vomit from his face. I noticed drag marks on the ground to the east.

  Dwynfel: “They headed east. Must have been an unplanned attack… no cart marks… they took only what they could carry… which explains why they left the adult male bodies. The bodies of the children could easily be carried. The drag marks are from lady Katheryn.”

  After about two hundred yards the drag marks became much straighter and less conspicuous before eventually disappearing entirely.

  Dwynfel: “Either she gave up fighting or they knocked her unconscious here.”

  Kiyui continued to look nauseous. He’s been adventuring for six months now… he really needs to get his stomach acclimatised to this kind of thing. He can’t keep throwing up when we encounter stuff like this.

  I walked over to him with every intention of telling him he needed to get used to it. I put my hand on his shoulder. He looked at me with those big eyes… he looked like a deer staring at a torchlight.

  I tried to give him a comforting smile. Then I remembered that I had my cowl on… I’ve spent the last week with him without it on… I got used to him being able to see my face.

  Dwynfel: “You alright.”

  Kiyui: “I’ll be fine. I just forget how terrible the world can be sometimes. Things like this bring it back to me.”

  Phoenix: “Unfortunately, the world is full of terrible things. Horrible people, terrifying creatures, mythical monsters, and evil spirits. Best we do is survive as best we can and spread what good we are able.”

  Agaroth: “What she said. Now, east you say?”

  Phoenix pulled out our map of the area from her backpack. She looked at the areas to the east of where we were.

  Phoenix: “There are three cave networks in that direction. Which do you think is most likely?”

  She handed me the map. I left Kiyui to gather himself and I checked the three areas she had mentioned.

  Dwynfel: “Well… we are definitely dealing with Grim so that rules this one out… it’s far too small to keep hostages in. It could be either of the other two though. A Grim nest will definitely have guards posted at the entrance. When we get a bit closer, I will likely be able to pick up their scent. Goblin nests have a rather pungent odour.”

  Agaroth: “Then let’s fuckin’ do it!”

  Agaroth strode off ahead in the direction of the nearest cave. Phoenix rolled her eyes and followed. Kiyui gathered himself and started walking after them. He turned and looked at me.

  Dwynfel: “Is your arm ok? You sure you’re up to this?”

  Kiyui: “My arm is fine. It’ll be fully healed in a couple of days. You know I heal fast. And honestly, I’ll be fine.”

  He walked back to me and linked arms with me and we started walking together.

  Kiyui: “You don’t need to worry about me, you know. You’re the one doing all the work in this plan.”

  He’s right of course. This plan of theirs… it all depends on me… if I mess this up, then we all die. I should never have agreed to this. They only came up with this plan to try to help me regain favour with the village. All of this is to help me, but it could easily get them all killed.

  Dwynfel: “Kiyui… I don’t think we should be doing this. If I just leave… if I go… in time you can all get your lives back.”

  Kiyui gripped my arm tightly and continued walking. He walked so forcefully I had no choice but to keep walking with him.

  Kiyui: “Don’t you dare back out of this. This is the only way our group gets to stay together. The only way you get to keep seeing your mum. I will not let you leave everyone. I won’t let you be alone!”

  The others turned to check on us. He smiled and waved at them in that ridiculously enthusiastic way that he does.

  Kiyui: “You’ve been through enough. Nobody deserves to be alone.”