Three hours of constant running through an overgrown forest, eventually with only a pair of moons and the stars for light sources—even that sparse under the thick canopy—Benedict could hardly find his breath. Did Amelie have an enhancement to help that? He would have to ask when he wasn’t using a tree as the only way to keep from collapsing. Not that he was the only one. Shiyo also leaned on a nearby tree while Amelie collapsed to the ground. Rin was the only one still standing.

  “Think… we… lost… them…?” Amelie asked between ragged breaths.

  “I see nothing,” Rin said. He was out of breath, too, and was hiding it well. “We need to keep moving. It should be just a moment to get our bearings…”

  “We need rest, Rin,” Benedict said after he caught enough breath. “The girls especially.”

  Amelie leafed through her spellbook. “I can set up a perimeter for us. Just a minute.”

  “Benedict, with me,” Rin ordered.

  The big warrior took Benedict a couple hundred paces away from the girls, then glared at him with firm, fatherly manner. “Those goblins are for sure coming. The girls won’t be safe until we’re back in town.”

  “I understand, but killing them with exhaustion won’t protect them, either,” Benedict said.

  Rin continued to stare Benedict down. “If this ends badly, what are you going to do?”

  “Protect them, of course. Shiyo likely needs it less than Amelie, admittedly. That girl is impressive.”

  Rin held his chin, glancing from the ground to Benedict multiple times. “If Amelie has this protection spell, we’ll have her cast it, then wait until we can catch our breaths.”

  “Agreed.”

  “Let’s see what our thaumaturge cooked up.”

  Shiyo lay against a tree and held the spellbook open while Amelie drew runes in the air before her. The sigil was only half completed when Rin and Benedict arrived. They stood guard for the minute it took Amelie to finish.

  “That should do it.” She placed the spell into her staff.

  “How does it work?” Rin asked.

  “It’s a warning spell. I place it on the ground, and when something I don’t want passes within a hundred paces, we’ll hear a distinct sound. The only problem is that I need to surround us with them. They’ll last for a few hours, at least.”

  “All right. I’ll walk with you.” Rin pulled out a compass. “Benedict, stay here with Shiyo.”

  Benedict saluted. “Yes, sir.”

  Amelie and Rin disappeared into the darkness.

  “You don’t really need to watch over me,” Shiyo said.

  “I think I do. You’re exhausted.”

  “Yet I could still put up a better showing than you did fresh against a goblin.”

  “It surprised me.”

  “And?”

  Benedict sat against his tree. “Besides, I’ve been at this barely a month. What would you expect?”

  Shiyo stared at Benedict like one would a chastised puppy. “Heavens, how many jobs have you actually done?”

  “This is my seventh, for your information.”

  “And how many have involved monsters?”

  “Four.” Benedict stared at the sky. “Before this job, we went slime killing. Got us some good aur and lead us to Amelie, who asked for help.” He eyed the coffer they had liberated. “Why’s that so important?”

  Shiyo turned her head away. “No special reason.”

  “You threatened to kill me if I took anything from it. I know you’re lying.”

  “It formerly belonged to my best friend. That’s all.”

  “’Used to?’ Why give it up? That sword, in particular, is incredible.”

  The glare Shiyo directed at him—and the glassy sheen covering her dark eyes—told him to stop prying. In the distance, he spotted flashes of light as Amelie cast her spell. Otherwise, nothing came around them, not even a stray animal. Shiyo remained silent, arms crossed and leaning back. Benedict opened his mouth to say something, then shut it when he noticed her eyes were closed. He drew a blanket from his coffer and spread it across her torso, then walked back to his tree.

  The flashes continued around him, traveling in a wide circle until they were close to the direction Rin and Amelie had set off. They must have almost finished. He waited a few minutes for their arrival before sitting back down.

  “How was it here?” Rin asked.

  “Like a graveyard,” Benedict replied. “Exhaustion overcame Shiyo.”

  “I can see that.”

  Amelie picked her own tree and leaned against it with a blanket in hand. “It’s about to take me, too.”

  Rin finally lay down himself, though with his axe across his body. “We should buy some tents for the next time we’re stuck out in the forest.”

  “That’s an idea,” Benedict said.

  “You were right about needing rest. Get some sleep. If the goblins don’t find us by the time Amelie’s traps fade, they won’t.”

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  “Wake me up if one goes off.”

  “Absolutely.”

  Benedict didn’t realize how tired he was until he shut his eyes.

  A scream resounded through the night. Benedict’s eyes shot open. Rin leaped to his feet. Shiyo threw her blanket off while drawing her sword. Benedict drew his and stood. The fog of sleep only mostly released its grip, even as the screams intensified.

  “That’s your trap’s signal?” Rin shouted.

  “It woke us up, didn’t it?” Amelie shouted back as she readied herself.

  Echoes made it impossible to tell where the sounds came from. Benedict searched for any movement. Fortunately, his eyes remained acclimated to the darkness.

  “Anyone see them?” Shiyo asked.

  A stone cracked against a tree. Benedict watched another sail out of the shadows. It slammed into Rin’s axe blade. A silhouette moved in the distance.

  “There!” Rin shouted.

  Shiyo threw one of her projectiles. “Shield your eyes!”

  Even with his eyes closed and covered by his hands, Benedict saw a flash of red. He revealed the world to find a bright light floating in the sky, revealing a dozen goblins, including their massive leader. All recoiled from the intense light.

  “Benedict, on my right, Shiyo, my left,” Rin said.

  Amelie didn’t need orders. While the warriors flanked the goblins, she aimed her staff. Flashes of blue lit up the area around her as projectiles flew. Each one delayed a moment but kept a constant barrage. Though she hit nothing but trees and ground, the goblins still ducked away. That was enough.

  Rin reached behind his head with his free hand and threw it forward. A conjured hatchet spun through the air, slamming blade-first into a goblin shoulder. He followed up by splitting the monster’s body apart like paper with a descending real axe. Benedict threw himself around Rin and struck the next in line.

  His blade met another that was almost identical. He could swear the little beast smirked at him as it threw his sword to the side and came again. Benedict’s parry and riposte met thin air just as a foot into his stomach. Again, Rin’s axe came down, but it buried itself in a tree root as the goblin darted away. Before Benedict could follow, a club came scything toward his head from another direction. He pushed off the ground and slammed into the offending goblin. A quick slice across its neck finished it.

  “Benedict, look out!” Rin shouted.

  The fast goblin came back, keeping low as it dodged away from Rin’s axe. Benedict charged his sword with the power Amelie had sold him. His blade glowed red as he cut. The goblin dashed back far enough to avoid everything except the very tip. That was enough. The wound glowed for a moment and it shrieked with pain. Benedict moved in for a thrust, but again the monster ran away. It met Rin’s blade head-on. Momentum from the great swing carried it several yards through the air.

  In the moment he had to breathe, Benedict spotted Shiyo in a circle of four of the monsters. One lay at her feet, and blood stained her arm. Flamelike shadows covered her sword.

  “What is that?” Benedict asked.

  Rin stared at the display. “I don’t know.”

  The ground shook. Someone grabbed Benedict’s tunic and threw him to the side. He tumbled over roots and stones, eventually stopping at the base of a tree. Where he’d been standing a moment before, a massive sword stuck in the ground. The giant goblin pulled it out like it had stuck it in a steak.

  “You’re welcome,” Rin said.

  A steady stream of magical projectiles slammed into the big goblin. It stumbled back under the barrage. To Benedict’s right, a branch snapped. A goblin flew off a root, club raised high and coming down. Benedict caught the attack with his free hand and swung. The goblin grabbed the sword and used its position to plant both of its feet into Benedict’s chest. He held on and twisted, throwing the goblin to the side, slicing his sword as it went. The goblin screamed as fingers separated from its free hand. Before it could strike again, the atmosphere flashed around it. It fell with skin blackened from a lightning bolt.

  Amelie winked at him. “You’re welcome.”

  “Lord, to save someone myself,” Benedict grumbled.

  The big goblin swung its massive blade at Rin. The warrior batted it out of the way, and Shiyo came underneath, aiming a slash at a leg. It moved away just far enough for the attack to miss. Amelie cast her lightning spell. Another flash, and the big goblin stumbled. It raised its sword again.

  “Cover!” Rin shouted.

  Shiyo bolted around a tree. The big sword followed her and stuck there. Benedict came behind and struck with the curse glowing on his blade. This time, he buried his sword deep into his target. It howled and swung its arm uselessly toward Benedict. Rin buried his axe into the thick neck, followed by Shiyo as her shadow-wreathed sword sliced deep into the stomach. They separated far enough for Amelie to strike it with a glowing burst of mana. Finally, the monster toppled over, dropping its weapon.

  “Finally,” Benedict said.

  “Shiyo! Are you all right?” Amelie asked.

  “Well enough,” Shiyo replied.

  That was hard to believe, given she bled from multiple wounds, including one on her head. Amelie started healing her.

  “It’s a curse,” Shiyo clarified. “I made a thaumaturge unhappy a long time ago, and he cursed me to have every power cost me in blood. No one can dispel it.”

  “Name him!” Amelie demanded. “Such curses are illegal!”

  “Worry not. He’s already dead.”

  Benedict looked around at the corpses littering the ground for the one that gave him such trouble. He found it still gripping its sword. A small gem hung from its neck via a golden chain. He removed and examined it. The gem was a beautiful deep blue, but otherwise unremarkable.

  “I’d wager that’s a charm of some kind,” Rin said.

  “It moved faster than all the others, so I’d wager you’re right,” Benedict replied.

  Amelie screamed. Shiyo slammed into a tree. The big goblin was half-standing, glaring at Amelie. She froze and continued screaming as an enormous hand came for her neck. Benedict felt tremendous power flowing through him.

  “I give you this power to defeat the Scourge,” a woman had said to him, “but most will fear it. Never use it where others can see, or you’ll put yourself in grave danger.”

  Amelie was in grave danger, so Benedict didn’t care. His sword glowed like a star as he reared back, then thrust it forward. The glow flashed across the blade, crossing the distance between him and the target in an instant. The big goblin grabbed at its shoulder. Light cracked through its skin, and it disintegrated into nothingness.

  Benedict dropped his sword and let out a breath. “Amelie, are you safe?”

  She didn’t answer. Her eyes widened as she stared at him, hands covering her mouth.

  “Benedict… when?” Rin asked.

  “What?” Benedict looked up.

  Rin held his axe above. “I’m sorry, my friend.”

  The axe fell. Something pulled Benedict back, and the axe stopped on a glowing shield. Shiyo stood between them. She looked at Benedict, showing glowing, bright eyes.

  “Idiot,” she growled.

  Rin attacked her. Shiyo moved faster than Benedict could track as she fought him off. Metal rang and sparks flashed. Somehow, Rin kept up, but just barely. Amelie continued staring and saying nothing.

  “I’m sorry,” Benedict said.

  A small hand grabbed Benedict’s. Shiyo stood next to him, eyes still glowing. The world distorted and flashed.

  Benedict stumbled and fell to his hands and knees. Nothing was around him except the nightly insects, his companion, and a plain. Above, the stars and twin moons gleamed. He tried to rise. His stomach roared, and its contents rose, spilling onto the ground below him.

  “You are fortunate I was there,” Shiyo complained.

  “I know,” Benedict said.

  “You were told not to show off, yet you did, and now—”

  “You did a good job showing off, too.”

  “To save you, idiot!”

  Before Benedict could respond, he vomited again.

  Shiyo dropped a potion next to him. “Not used to the transport spell yet?”

  “Apparently not.” Whatever the potion was, it immediately settled his stomach.

  Shiyo drew multiple items from her coffer and started making camp. “We both need rest. Tomorrow, I’m going to learn your story, Benedict Jewel.”

  Benedict looked around the area. “Won’t Rin pursue us?”

  “He can try, but we’re a day’s walk from them, at least.” She placed a torch into the ground and lit it, casting a gentle glow over the area. “Not as good as a campfire, but it’ll do. Lay next to it.”

  “Is it safe here?” Benedict asked as he moved closer to the light and heat.

  Shiyo drew one of her gems and held it at arm’s length. When she said a word Benedict didn’t recognize and dropped it to the ground, it changed into a dog-like creature that seemed to be made of mist. At Shiyo’s command, it ran off. She then lay next to Benedict and told him to sleep.