Savvy, Thrush, Trixy POV

“Hahahaha, that was amazing! She was all woosh and Atrocity was all waaahhh! Hahaha it was so funny Thrush, you should have been there with me.”

Thrush grunted in acknowledgement. “I’m sure it was Trixy, but your job was to observe the enemy.”

“I did, I didn’t try to get involved.” Trixy replied with a smug grin.

Thrush facepalmed and sighed, “Then why is there blood on your daggers, if you didn’t do anything, explain that.”

Trixy’s face went dark green as she tried to think of a convincing lie only to give up and admit what she had done.

“It was just a few savages on the way, nothing to be upset about.”

Thrush rolled her eyes and grabbed Trixy by the shoulders, shaking her. “Just a few! Trixy, I found over a dozen stabbed headless corpses in the outer swamp. You had yourself a little killing spree.”

At this Trixy broke down in maniacal laughter.

“What is wrong with you now?”

“Hahaha, you said, you said a dozen bodies.”

Thrush’s eyes went big at her sister's revelation. How many did Trixy kill in the few short hours she had been gone? How many bodies were hidden in their swamp? Questions that could be answered later as the reality of the situation came into focus. Those savage goblins were a line of defense for the swamp, a weak and ineffective defense but a defense nonetheless, and now there was no clue how many remained.

“Trixy, do you remember the reason we left those things in the swamp to begin with?”

“No!” Straight and to the point as expected of her.

“They were meat shields, Trixy! Their only purpose is to die so we can win! You messed this up, so you get to tell Savvy what happened!”

Trixy's near constant smile vanished with Thrush’s words. Few things in her short life could take her joy away but delivering bad news to those she cared about was at the top of the list followed closely behind by the smell of salt for some reason. Setting off it would not take the two of them long to reach the mangrove tree they called their home. Savvy sat at a table tinkering with some strange cylinder. The huge spider she adopted lurked in the shadows on the ceiling, its eight eyes glistening in the low light.

Savvy looked up from her work to see her sisters return. “Perfect timing girls, I have something for both of you.” She reached down, picking up two carefully wrapped packages and threw them to her sisters. “Those are going to help us when the invaders come our way.”

Thrush and Trixy caught the small packages their sister threw to them easily enough. Thrush noticed that hers had some weight to it despite the small size and heard the unmistakable ping of glass bouncing off itself from Trixy’s package, not to mention the sloshing of liquid that came from both. Thrush eyed hers curiously while Savvy looked on with wide eyes waiting for her to open the gift. As she was about to ask a question the sound of tearing cut her off as Trixy ripped into hers, exposing several fist sized vials of purple and green liquid.

Trixy’s eyes lit up. “Oooh what are these, Savvy?”

“Poisons I collected from the spiders. Just splash the contents on your daggers before a fight, I’m sure you will love what they do!”

Hearing her sister's words Thrush opened her package to find a dozen arrows that one or more of the same color vials tied to them with silk, as well as two bolts made completely out of glass.

“Savvy, I don’t get my present, wouldn’t my arrows be better if I dipped them in the poison rather than the poison being tied directly to them.”

“Yes and no. If you haven’t noticed your vials are colored yellow, and they're not poison but a really strong acid. Turns out we have a huge variety of spiders in the swamp that produce different venom. I had to test them on the pigs, but these colors are the best for you two. At least the best so far.”

Thrush gave her new arrows another looks and nodded at the thought of how much death they would bring. Trixy grinned and was practically vibrating in place, the ideas of going through her head better left unsaid.

“So, I take it you two like the gifts.”

Thrush nodded in Savvy’s direction while Trixy screamed “I love them!”

Savvy smiled, “Good I made them for you, so it makes me happy to know you like them so much, but now the question on my mind is why are you back so early? Not that I don’t love your company.”

Thrush hit Trixy on the back of the head and pushed her forward. Trixy, who had up until this point forgotten her slight murder spree froze up. All eyes on her now and nowhere she could really run to, she had to face her sister. So, with a deep breath she did.

“I may have accidentally kind of on purpose because of boredom killed the dumb savage goblins that were out in the swamp maybe.”

Savvy stood quietly for a minute. A minute that shook Trixy to the core. What was her sister thinking? Was she mad, upset, disappointed in her actions? Savvy walked over to her spider and stroked its mandibles before turning to her sister and speaking.

“I already knew you did that. I sent the spiders to spy on the forest and they reported back what you did. Even though I figured you would have killed one or two because I know you. I didn’t think you would go on a killing spree, but it doesn't matter. I already have plans around not having them there to slow them down. So, no big loss, did you at least have fun while you were doing it?”

Trixy’s grin returned. She was happy again. She should have known Savvy would understand. “I HAD THE BEST TIME EVER! But one question Thrush said they didn’t have heads, and I don’t remember decapitating any.”

Thrush perked up. “Then what happened to the heads then?”

The massive spider on the ceiling started making jerky movements and its drool and venom mixed as its chelicerae gnashed.

“My mistress of so many schemes and plans had me deploy some of the little ones once they confirmed the stabby ones actions. They took the heads and strung them from the trees and attached them to some of the bare branches. They also webbed up some of the boars and a few of the leftover corpses they brought back for feedings, yes.”