The goblins busted into the hut and she frantically blinked back inside. She was too late, watching helplessly as a goblin slammed its club into a girl’s head, while the other two goblins faced her.

What? What just happened? She stared in disbelief at the goblins, at the pool of blood accumulated under the girl’s head. When the goblin started to approach the other girls, she snapped. Activating and maintaining her [Perception], she blinked behind the goblins, who were distracted by her afterimage, and she grabbed one of the goblins, throwing him back outside. The goblin shrieked loudly in surprise, and the other two turned around, swinging their clubs in sync. She ducked low against the ground, sweeping her leg under one of the goblins and knocking it to its feet. She appeared behind the last standing goblin, which was occupied swinging its club down on her fading image. She swiftly kicked it in the back, sending it outside with the other one.

She slashed down on the goblins on the ground next to her, but it blocked with its club and her sword sinking into the club. She screamed in frustration, then pulled out her last sword and stabbed into the head of the goblin, ending its life. She braced her foot against the goblin and pulled out her sword. She did the same with the sword stuck in the club, ripping it out of the wood. She faced the last two goblins. They charged her with their clubs out in a desperate attempt to catch her off-guard. She ran to the left, placing one of the goblins between her and the other. She parried the incoming swing, then hit the goblin's wrist with the hilt of her left sword, disarming the goblin. She moved to the side again, to keep the goblin in between her and his friend. She kicked it in the chest and knocked the goblin into the other and entangled them together. Lunging forward, she skewered both goblins through the mess of limbs, and stepped back, breathing heavily as they shrieked in pain and quickly bled out.

Lilly ran over to the girl and pulled her up to her chest. Checking the girl’s pulse, she found that it was extremely faint. She pressed her hands against the girl’s head in an attempt to stop the blood flow, but no matter what she did, the blood kept soaking through her fingers.

Fuck, please stop dying, please. This can’t be fucking happening. She started shaking as she watched the girl’s skin pale, the blood loss already past the point of return. She felt for the girl’s pulse again, but could no longer feel anything.

[Goblin - Defeated!]

[Goblin - Defeated!]

[Lilly (22 > 23) - Level Up!]

Shut the fuck up. She put down the girl, the corpse, and trudged over to the nearest wall. Putting her back against it, she slid down the wall and hugged her knees. After a few minutes, one of the girls started to stir and wake up.

***

My body hurt all over as I woke up. It took a second for me to remember where I was, but then the memories of the past night came back to me. I got up quickly and looked around at my surroundings. Directly in front of me, was the bodies of two goblins impaled by a sword.

“What…?” I whispered. I looked around and saw a cloaked figure sitting across from her, hugging their knees.

“Umm, excuse me…” I started to say before my eyes fell on Sienna’s body and the pool of blood that she was lying in. My words got stuck in my throat. I slowly crawled over to her body. Shaking her body, tears streamed down my face.

“Sienna…? This has to be a joke, right? You can’t be” dead. I choked on the word, unable to say it out loud. I couldn’t believe my eyes. My best friend was dead.

“Sorry. I couldn’t save her.” A feminine voice came from the cloaked figure, but she didn’t look at me.

I looked at her blankly. It was difficult to comprehend what was going on. Just days ago, they had been talking about their dreams for the future. This couldn't be real.

The woman stood up wordlessly and took the goblins outside, leaving me to be alone with Sienna. I stared at her corpse, vision blurring as I mourned her death.

***

Lilly piled all the bodies near one of the campfires, then proceeded to cut off each goblins’ ear as proof and stuffed them into a bag. She waited for the bodies to dissolve and leave behind the loot, then collected all of it into her storage. Goblins didn’t drop anything besides money, so the ears were a necessary collection as proof of work.

She went back to the door of the hut but stopped when she could hear the girl’s loud sobs echoing through the room. She clenched her fist and tried to hold back her own tears.

***

Lilly picked up Sienna’s body and walked the girls back to the village, showed the village chief the ears and collected his report. She apologized to the girl’s family, numbly accepting the mother’s mournful grief as the father consoled her. She left shortly after, heading towards the city.

It was getting dark by the time she passed through the city gates, flashing her card to the guard. She went directly to the inn and asked for her key, getting a few looks for the state of her clothes and hair. The innkeeper looked concerned but didn’t ask any questions, handing over her keys wordlessly. Lilly headed up to her room, stripped off her bloody clothing and passed out in the bed.

***

She woke up in the morning to a knock on the door. Her whole body felt sticky and gross, and she sat up on the bed. A young girl’s voice came in through the door.

“Umm miss? It’s Becca, umm, mom told me to bring you some hot water. It’s on the house, she said,” she said.

Lilly got up and put on a shirt, then opened the door. The girl was standing there staring up at her with the bucket in her hands. Lilly took the bucket and nodded her thanks.

“Feel better miss!” The girl said quickly before running out of sight.

She closed the door and went to the task of slowly wiping off all the blood. She watched as the water turned into a murky red, reminding her of yesterday. She let out a shaky breath before she finished washing. Putting everything away, she put on a new set of clothes and sat back on the bed, staring at the wall.

She stared at her hands, feeling repulsed. Eventually, she got up, and headed downstairs, handing off her keys to the innkeeper and paying for another night. Lilly denied breakfast, stating that she would eat when she got back.

She walked slowly to the guild, numb to the commotions around her. She let her body do the walking as she stared blankly in front of her. Before she realized it, she was walking into the Society and headed towards the receptionists’ desks. Behind one of the desks was a familiar face.

“Hello, Lilly. Your jobs go well?” Shannon asked.

Lilly nodded silently, then handed her the goblin extermination job slip and the chief’s report.

Shannon took the papers, looking concerned at Lilly’s lack of verbal response. She read through the report, eyes moving down the paper. Nodding solemnly, she looked back up to Lilly with sympathy in her eyes.

“I see. Please give me a moment while I confirm your job completion.” Shannon left from behind the desk, leaving Lilly to stand there silently. A few minutes later, Shannon returned and placed a pouch of coins on the desk. “Your reward adds up to 8 silvers.”

Lilly took the pouch wordlessly and left the guild building.