Three hours earlier…

  Erik watched Olga crouch beside a cluster of small white flowers. Her hands moved carefully, selecting only the fully bloomed ones, leaving the younger buds to mature.

  The two guards Gunnar had sent stood twenty feet away, checking the tree line. Their attention focused outward, watching for threats.

  This was his chance…

  Erik moved to where Olga worked. Pretended to examine the same flowers. His hand brushed against a stem, broke it accidentally. The flower head separated and fell into his palm.

  He picked it up. Looked at Olga.

  She'd noticed him. Was watching with those careful eyes that had barely left him since yesterday. Since he'd charged in to save her without thinking.

  "Despite being a flower," he said, holding it out, "the most beautiful thing here remains you."

  Her face colored. Not the full blush of someone used to compliments, but the uncertain pink of someone who didn't know how to respond.

  "That's..." She looked at the flower. At his face. "That's very forward."

  "I saved your life. I thought that might earn me the right to be forward."

  "You got lucky. Skuggi said so."

  "I still saved you."

  She took the flower. Turned it in her fingers. "You did. Thank you. Again."

  They looked at each other. Erik tried to think of something else to say, something that would extend this moment. Her eyes were brown, he noticed. Darker than the dirt around them.

  "Erik!" Astrid's voice cut through whatever was forming between them. "We're not here for courtship. Focus on your task."

  Erik stepped back. His face heated now, embarrassment replacing whatever confidence he'd been building.

  Olga smiled slightly. Just at the corners of her mouth. Tucked the flower into her belt pouch and went back to gathering herbs.

  They worked in silence after that. The sun dropped toward the horizon. Shadows lengthened. The forest took on that particular quality of late afternoon light, gold and amber filtering through leaves.

  Erik tried to focus on watching for threats like Skuggi had told him. Tried to be aware, tactical, and smart.

  But his eyes kept drifting to Olga. To the way she moved, efficient and practiced. To how her hair caught the light when she turned her head.

  Then something changed.

  A smell. Faint but wrong. The same smell from yesterday—that mix of rot and sulfur that meant goblins.

  Erik's hand went to his spear. He looked toward where the guards were positioned.

  They weren't standing anymore.

  He moved closer. Quiet, careful. The way Skuggi had moved through the forest.

  The first guard was on the ground. Throat opened. Blood was still flowing, which meant it was fresh… very fresh…

  The second guard lay three feet away. Similar wound. Eyes open, staring at nothing.

  Erik's breathing went shallow. He turned slowly, scanning the trees.

  Movement… Fifty feet away… Goblins, lots of them, moving through the forest in a loose column. Heading west.

  Toward the settlement.

  Their eyes were wrong. Flat... Dead...

  Erik backed away from the bodies. Turned. Ran back to where Astrid and Olga were still gathering.

  "We need to go," he said. Kept his voice low despite wanting to shout. "Now."

  Astrid looked up. "What's wrong?"

  "The guards are dead. There are goblins, dozens of them heading toward the settlement."

  Olga stood immediately. "Where?"

  Erik pointed. "Coming from the northeast. We need to warn…"

  Then he saw them. More goblins. Emerging from the trees on the path back to the settlement. Cutting off their route.

  They were surrounded. Or would be in seconds.

  "The village," Erik said. "Gunnar's old village. We go there and hide. Let the goblins pass. Then Skuggi can find us."

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  "That village is destroyed," Astrid said.

  "Which means the goblins won't look there. They're heading to the new settlement. That's where everyone is. That's what they want."

  It made sense. The logic was sound. The goblins were focused on the settlement, on the living people there.

  They wouldn't waste time checking a burned-out ruin.

  Astrid looked at Olga. Some silent communication passed between them.

  "Alright," Astrid said. "Lead the way. Fast and quiet."

  They ran. Erik led them northeast, angling away from both goblin groups. Used what Skuggi had taught him: one, stay low to check on everything around you; two, make sure you avoid open ground; and three, move through the densest vegetation where tracks would be less obvious.

  Behind them, the sounds of the goblin horde continued. Steady footfalls. No attempt at stealth. They knew where they were going. Didn't care who heard them coming.

  Now in the present, Skuggi found the guards' bodies first.

  Fresh kills. Maybe three hours old based on how much the blood had congealed. Throat wounds, quick, efficient. The goblins had known what they were doing.

  He crouched beside the first body. Examined the ground around it. Found tracks, boot prints, three different sizes. Erik, Astrid, and Olga. They'd come this direction, stopped, then headed northeast at a run.

  Away from the settlement. Toward Gunnar's destroyed village.

  Smart. If they'd tried to return, they'd have run straight into the goblin horde. This way, they had a chance at hiding until help came.

  Skuggi stood. Followed their trail. Moved fast but carefully, listening for the undead goblins that were somewhere in the forest.

  He heard them before seeing them. That particular shuffling gait of creatures that didn't need to breathe normally didn't tire; it just kept moving with mechanical persistence.

  Skuggi dropped behind a fallen log. Waited.

  Three goblins passed within fifteen feet. Their eyes were hollow. One was missing its lower jaw, the bone visible, tongue hanging loose. It shouldn't be able to survive that injury. But it walked normally, unconcerned.

  They continued past. Skuggi waited until the sounds of their movement faded, then resumed tracking.

  Erik's group had been smart about their path. Stuck to harder ground where possible. Crossed a stream to break their scent trail. Doubled back once to check if they were being followed.

  But they were still human. Still left traces. Broken twigs. Disturbed leaves. The occasional boot print in soft mud.

  Skuggi followed these breadcrumbs through the forest. Avoided two more groups of undead goblins by hearing them first, circling wide, and using thrown stones to draw their attention away from his actual path.

  The sun had fully disappeared by the time he reached Gunnar's village.

  It was worse than he'd imagined from the descriptions. The hall had collapsed completely, just charred timbers and ash. Other buildings were skeletal remains, with walls still standing but roofs gone, everything inside burned or looted.

  Bodies lay scattered. Weeks old, picked clean by scavengers. The smell of old death hung over everything.

  Skuggi moved through the ruins. Let his senses map the space. Listened for breathing, heartbeats, and the particular sounds of living humans trying to stay quiet.

  Found them in what had been a root cellar. The entrance was hidden under a collapsed section of wall. Smart… You'd have to know it was there to find it.

  Erik sat at the entrance, spear across his lap. His shirt was torn, blood soaking through on his left side. Not fresh blood…it had started to dry. The wound was maybe an hour old.

  He saw Skuggi and his whole body sagged with relief.

  "You found us."

  "I told them I would." Skuggi crouched beside him. Examined the wound. A slash across his ribs, shallow but long. "What happened?"

  "A goblin scout found us. I fought it off but" He grimaced. "It was faster than I expected."

  "Where are Astrid and Olga?"

  Erik pointed down into the cellar. "They patched me up. Astrid's good at her work. Said I'd live if infection doesn't set in."

  Skuggi descended into the cellar. Found the two women huddled in the far corner. Astrid had a small kit of natural medical supplies, such as herbs and ointments, spread on a cloth. Olga sat pressed against her mother's side.

  "We're leaving," Skuggi said. "Now, before more scouts find us."

  "Can Erik walk?" Astrid asked.

  "He'll have to."

  They gathered the medical supplies. Erik stood with visible effort, one hand pressed to his side. Blood seeped through the bandage but not heavily. Astrid had done good work stopping the worst of it.

  Skuggi led them out of the cellar. Started toward the village edge, toward the path that would take them back…

  A figure blocked the entrance.

  “???????? ??? ???????... ?????? ???? ?? ???????? ?? ?????? ?? ??? ?? ?????????...”

  “Monsters are mirrors... showing only the darkness we refuse to see in ourselves...”

  How was it??