It was noon.
Ashara looked down at the map and then up at the trees ahead.
[Does that look right?]
"Valoryn? Is something the matter?" Daniela asked.
[... On second thought, why exactly am I the one holding the map again?]
"Hey, Daniela, take a look. Are we, uh, headed the right way?"
Daniela took the map from her hands and did the same as Ashara, looking down at the map and then up at the trees ahead, and then back down at the map.
"... I believe so."
[Good enough for me.]
Some distance behind them, Mira and Jesse walked side by side. Mira said something that made Jesse roll his eyes, and then Mira hip-checked him lightly. They'd been making snarky remarks at each other for hours.
Surely, they had to run out of material at some point, right?
"Once we're at the goblin nest, let me put the plan together. I'd argue I have more experience than anyone here. Or, am I wrong?" Daniela looked back at them all with a raised brow.
Jesse shook his head. Mira huffed but didn't deny that.
"Nah, you're right," Ashara confirmed.
The treeline swallowed them up after another ten minutes of walking.
The Greenveil was quieter than Ashara remembered when she'd come here with the others to beat the shit out of some goblins. Daniela took the lead. Jesse fell to the back, one hand resting on his bow. Mira walked beside Ashara in the middle, her ears rotating every few seconds, probably picking up sounds Ashara couldn't hear.
Ashara bumped Mira's arm with her elbow and dropped her voice low.
"Hey. What's your deal with her?"
"Hm?"
"You've barely said two words to Daniela since we left. You've talked to Jesse more than her, and you two can't stand each other."
Mira's ears flattened.
"I talk to Jesse because Jesse's fun to annoy. Daniela's not fun to anything."
"Mira."
"She's from Ironhold, Ashara," Mira said quietly, her tail stiffening up behind her.
"I know that, but—"
"No, you don't know that." Mira glanced ahead to make sure Daniela was out of earshot. She was, by a good fifteen feet, eyes forward, spear on her back, map in her hands. "Maybe you've heard a thing or two about Ironhold, but you haven't lived there. Big scary military city, strict rules, whatever. That's what you've heard, right? Trust me, you don't know what it's like to grow up there with fur and a tail."
Ashara didn't say anything. And yet, Mira kept going.
"Kez and I were property. That's not a metaphor, like, we literally had owners." Mira's golden eyes were fixed on Daniela's back. "We were objects. The people of Ironhold treated us like shit for no reason from the day we were born to the day we said 'fuck this place' and left. People like her. So, yeah. I'll work with her. I'll follow her little plans. But don't ask me to be her friend, because every time I hear that posh fucking accent, I want to... GRRR!"
She literally growled. Then, she sighed and looked back at Ashara.
"Understand?"
Ashara put her hands up defensively, smiling sympathetically.
"All clear."
"... Good." Mira's tail started moving again. She bumped Ashara's hip with hers, light, like resetting. "Besides, she calls everyone by their last name. Who does that? Fuckin' weirdo."
Ashara snickered.
---
"We're getting closer, from the looks of it," Daniela called out.
Jesse walked past her.
"Let me scout the area up ahead. Get a feel for what we're dealing with."
"Good idea," Daniela nodded, and Jesse disappeared behind the bushes.
The three of them paused and sat down. Ashara reached for her rations and went to take a bite out of a sandwich she'd packed when Daniela caught her wrist.
"No food before a fight. You'll just throw up as the anxiety sets in. You can drink water, though."
"Oh, okay."
Ashara put the sandwich back and took a swig from her waterskin instead. Daniela was right. Her stomach was already doing flips and she hadn't even seen the nest yet.
Mira was picking at the grass beside her, her ears swiveling toward the bushes every few seconds, tracking Jesse's movement. Daniela sat with her back straight against a tree, eyes closed, hands resting on her knees, looking like she was meditating.
Five minutes passed. Then ten.
Then the bushes rustled and Jesse slipped back through, low to the ground, moving quiet for someone who'd been stomping through the forest all morning.
"Found it," he said, crouching down next to them. "Cave entrance, maybe, uh, two hundred yards north. Partially hidden by an overhang."
"Guards?" Daniela asked, opening her eyes.
"Two. Both goblins, both armed. One's got a spear, the other's got a club. They're sitting outside the entrance, not really paying attention."
"Just two?"
"Just two."
Daniela frowned.
"That's not good."
Ashara looked at her.
"How is two guards not good? I was expecting, like, six."
"Two guards on the outside means most of them are inside." Daniela stood up and brushed the dirt off her uniform. "If this nest has eight to twelve hostiles like the contract says, and only two are guarding the entrance, that's anywhere from six to ten in the cave itself. In close quarters, where our mobility will be limited."
"Shit," Mira said.
"Oh," Ashara added.
"Plus, the missing party is probably gonna be inside. I don't expect them to be alive but if they are, it's gonna be harder to rescue them."
Daniela looked at each of them in turn, trying to come up with something.
"Here's what we do. Ashford, you take the two guards. Quietly. Can you put arrows in both before they raise an alarm?"
Jesse chewed on that for a second.
"If I take the spear one first, yeah. The club one's closer to the entrance, so even if he screams, I can drop him before he gets inside. Should take like, two seconds, tops."
"Good. Once the guards are down, we move to the entrance. I go in first with my lance. Valoryn, you're behind me. Whitepaw, you're behind her. Ashford, you stay at the cave mouth and cover our backs. Make sure nothing comes in from behind us. If you get overwhelmed, though, come in and look for us."
"Got it."
"Why am I in front of Mira?" Ashara asked.
"Because you fight at close range and I need someone who can take a hit next to me. Whitepaw is fast but she's better flanking than fighting straight-on."
Mira shrugged.
"She's not wrong."
"Once we're inside, we move slow. Goblins like tight spaces and blind corners. They'll try to swarm. If that happens, I hold the front, Valoryn covers my left, Whitepaw picks off stragglers. We do not split up. We do not rush. Clear?"
"Clear," Jesse said.
"Clear," Mira said.
Ashara flexed her fingers. Her knuckles were still sore from yesterday.
"Clear."
Daniela pulled her lance from the case on her back. It was long, dark metal, well-maintained. She held it at her side, tip pointed at the ground, and looked toward the trees.
"Let's move."