A few hours after Satou and the surviving goblins had escaped through the crack.
Satou's legs burned with exhaustion but he forced himself to keep moving. Behind him the surviving goblins trudged forward like the walking dead — heads down, shoulders slumped, faces hollow with grief and fatigue.
They had been running for hours.
After squeezing through the widened crack they had burst out into open forest and simply ran. No direction. No plan. Just pure animal terror driving them forward — away from the cave, away from the humans, away from the blood and the screams and the bodies left behind in the dark.
But now, as the sun dipped below the horizon and darkness crept through the trees like a living thing, Satou knew they couldn't keep running.
'Shelter. Food. Water. Rest. In that order.'
He raised his hand and signaled a halt. The goblins collapsed where they stood — some sitting, some simply dropping to their knees. A few of the wounded groaned in pain as the movement stopped and everything they'd been pushing through caught up with them.
Satou counted again. Twenty-five total. Eighteen relatively healthy. Seven badly wounded.
And four small goblins who immediately latched onto him the moment he stopped moving.
Jessica grabbed his left arm with both hands, her voice hoarse from crying. "Big brother — are we safe? Can we stop running?"
Kelvin took his right arm, yellow eyes wide. "I'm tired. My legs hurt."
Goblin 1 pressed in close against his side, unusually quiet, none of his normal energy present. Goblin 2 grabbed the back of his shirt and held on without saying anything.
Satou crouched down so he could look at all four of them at once. His voice dropped into something gentler than anything he'd managed all day.
"We're stopping for now. But we need to find shelter before it gets completely dark. Can you four be strong for me a little longer?"
Jessica nodded, wiping her nose with the back of her hand. "I can be strong."
Kelvin's lower lip trembled but he nodded. "Me too."
Goblin 1 crossed his arms and gave a jerky nod that was clearly trying to look braver than he felt. Goblin 2 just tightened her grip on Satou's shirt.
"Good." Satou stood and raised his voice to carry across the exhausted group. "Listen up. We can't stay exposed like this. Out here in the open we are prey — every predator in this forest will see us as an easy meal. We need shelter, and we need it now."
Gob limped forward, his face streaked with dried blood from the gash on his forehead. "Any ideas, whelp? Or are we just standing here until something eats us?"
Satou's Demon Wolf Enhanced Senses were already working.
His nose pulled apart the overlapping scents of the forest — water nearby, the musk of various animals, and beneath it all the damp cold smell of stone. His ears caught what his nose confirmed — flowing water, rustling leaves, and under those sounds the faint hollow echo of something that deadened sound in a specific way.
'A cave. Maybe.'
He turned slowly, scanning the darkening tree line. His night vision engaged, turning the shadows into murky shades of green. There — fifty meters to the east, partially hidden behind thick vines and undergrowth — a dark opening in a rocky outcropping.
"There," Satou said, pointing. "That opening in the rock. It might work."
Gob squinted in that direction. "Might already be occupied. Animals use caves."
"Then we clear it out," Satou said. "Everyone rest here. I'll check it first."
"Alone?" Gob raised an eyebrow. "That's stupid even for you."
"I'm faster and quieter than anyone here right now," Satou said. "And I can see in the dark better than any of you. If something dangerous is in there I come back and we deal with it together. If it's empty I signal you." He held Gob's gaze. "It's the fastest way."
Gob looked too tired to argue. He grunted and dropped heavily onto a nearby root. "Fine. But if you die in there I'm not coming to get your corpse."
"Noted." Satou turned to go.
Four hands grabbed him at once.
Jessica and Kelvin each had one arm. Goblin 1 had a fistful of his sleeve. Goblin 2 had the back of his shirt again.
Jessica looked up at him with glistening eyes. "You're coming back, right? You promised you wouldn't die."
Satou's chest tightened. He crouched down and looked at all four of them properly.
"I'm coming back," he said. "I promise. But I need all four of you to stay here with Gob and the others. Can you do that?"
Jessica's grip tightened. "But what if something happens to you?"
"Nothing is going to happen to me," Satou said, trying to sound more certain than he felt. "I fought ten goblins alone in the dark tunnels. I killed an armored leader twice my size. I can handle whatever's in that cave."
Kelvin's voice was small. "But you got hurt fighting the humans. You're still bleeding."
Satou glanced at his side where the soldier's blade had opened him up. Blood had soaked through his crude clothing — but he could feel Regeneration working steadily underneath, the wound pulling slowly closed.
"I'm healing already," Satou said. "See? I'll be fine."
He gently uncurled their fingers one by one — four pairs of hands, reluctant but obedient — and stood.
"Stay here. Stay together. I'll be back before it's fully dark."
Jessica sniffled but nodded. Kelvin pressed his lips together and didn't argue. Goblin 1 let go of his sleeve and crossed his arms again, doing his best impression of someone who wasn't worried. Goblin 2 released his shirt last, slowly, and said nothing.
Satou turned and walked toward the cave opening.
Behind him, just barely in range of his enhanced hearing, Jessica's whispered voice reached him.
"He's going to come back... right?"
Gob's gruff answer followed. "Kid's tougher than he looks. He'll be fine."
Satou walked a little faster.
He hoped Gob was right.