“Run. Go. To the trees,” Caleb shouted out. “I’ll buy you time.”

  Laila didn’t need to be told twice. She scooped the boy up into her arms, a hand on the back of his head, and darted towards the burnt-out homes.

  The five kobolds ahead of Caleb were wary, keeping their distance, waiting for reinforcements. Beyond them, the rest of the village had stirred. Doors flung open, slamming against the wood. Kobolds emerged from the houses, metal clanging as they gathered weapons. Bows. Spears. Swords. He did a quick count—ten or so from the homes advancing towards him, the pair at the spit, the five ahead waiting for the others to arrive.

  He could take down a few, but it would only be a matter of time before he was overwhelmed.

  His heart pounded as he risked a brief glance behind him towards Laila, sweat trickling down the sides of his face. She was beyond the burned out homes. He judged the distance she had covered. Almost there. He took another step back, sheathing his dagger, holding his hands out, palms facing the creatures.

  “Maybe we can talk about this?”

  The kobolds closest to him returned angry snarls. Behind them, the armed kobolds had almost arrived, several with arrows nocked to bows and trained on him. Another two had spears ready to throw.

  A kobold loosed an arrow. Another threw a spear.

  Caleb turned and ran.

  [Lifesaver]

  He felt that warmth in his chest spreading instantly to all parts of his body and limbs. Aether snuggled around him like a winter coat. He leapt over the scorched walls, boots pounding across the ash, kicking broken furniture out of the way as he scrambled towards the farmland. Metal pinged against his back as he ran, spears and arrows dropping behind him. He dared not look back but he could hear the snarls behind and the drubbing of feet as the kobolds followed. Once he’d cleared the backside of the burnt-out homes, there were only open fields ahead of him.

  [Sprint]

  Aether poured into his calves and he shot forwards, thirty-five metres covered in three seconds. Laila was only a few metres ahead, struggling with the kid in her arms. She ran with an awkward gait, the child bouncing against her with every step, throwing her off-balance. Caleb caught up to her easily, staying behind her. An arrow screamed through the air, thudding into the soil on his left.

  Another thudded into the back of his right shoulder.

  He shouted out, pain spreading around the area as the other two wounds he had taken earlier flared up. He stumbled, losing his footing, his face planting into the ground.

  Laila began to glance back.

  “Don’t stop!” he screamed out. He pushed himself up, got back to his feet and drove forwards, his shoulder burning. Soon, he drew alongside Laila.

  “Give me the child,” he shouted to her.

  She hesitated as Caleb ran forwards awkwardly with his body twisted to face her and his arms held out.

  “Give him to me and run for the trees.”

  She loosened her grip on the kid, pushing him across. Caleb grabbed the child’s arms and pulled him over, putting the kid’s head on his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around him. Laila sped ahead immediately, freed from the extra weight, though Caleb slowed a little, allowing her to put more distance between them.

  “Just carry on running. Trust me.”

  He saw her nod as she kept her eyes focused ahead and ran. He kept up a reasonable speed. He still didn’t dare look back but he knew kobolds weren’t fast. Once Laila was far enough ahead, he [Sprinted] and caught right back with her and began the cycle again. A mixture of Laila being faster without the added weight of her kid and Caleb running slower than he could allowed for the gap to open up again, when Caleb [Sprinted].

  As they approached the treeline, Caleb allowed himself to slow down further, turning to look back at the pursuing kobolds. They were too far away to do anything. Most had stopped and even began turning back, though a couple half-heartedly ran on. One threw a spear into the turf in anger. The archers had lowered their bows.

  “They aren’t following,” Caleb announced. Laila slowed, risking a glance. She breathed a sigh of relief as they passed the treeline but they continued on for around twenty metres before they stopped. Laila immediately reached out for her son and Caleb handed him over. He bent down, hands on knees, taking deep breaths. His shoulder ached from the new wound, and he could feel blood trickling beneath his tunic. The older wounds throbbed like they’d reopened.

  He allowed himself only a moment to catch his breath. He grabbed a leaf from the forest floor and wiped his bloodied right hand and his dagger as he turned back to the village. In the distance, the three-foot tall creatures were walking back. Not even one lingered. Caleb knew he shouldn’t linger either.

  He turned to Laila, her son in her arms, her hand on the side of the boy’s face as she whispered to him and wiped away tears.

  “Are you alright?” Caleb asked. “You’re not injured?”

  Laila brushed back her son’s hair. “I’m not. Thank you.” Her eyes widened, seeing the arrow in his shoulder.

  “We should go,” he said. “If you want, you can come with me to Fishervale,”

  “I need to get home,” she replied.

  “Where’s home?”

  “About six miles west.”

  Stolen novel; please report.

  “Why would you need to go back? You just survived being killed and ea—” He stopped himself. He didn’t want to remind the child of the ordeal. “The kobolds will eventually find you. I’m surprised they haven’t already.”

  “I don’t have a choice. My mother’s alone.”

  He understood the sentiment. He glanced at the village then to the north. The sun was getting ever closer to the horizon. If he took this detour, it would be getting dark before he eventually set off towards Fishervale. He had no doubt that would make the journey infinitely more difficult, but he couldn’t let her go alone. Not with her kid.

  “I’ll come with you.”

  “You don’t have to,” Laila replied. “I’ll be fine.”

  “Well,” Caleb said. “I didn’t just go through all that to let you and your boy walk right back into danger. The least I can do is make sure you get there safely.”

  She seemed hesitant. Wary even.

  He smiled to put her at ease. “Lead the way.”

  Her lips pressed together, but she started walking south. Caleb followed, falling in beside her, as she passed by the trees, their boots squishing across the undergrowth.

  “Why were you at the village?” he asked as they walked.

  Laila glanced to the right at the village. Her son had perched his chin on her shoulder, his green eyes on Caleb. He had a small smile on his paunchy face.

  “My mother’s frail. She can’t walk far or for long. The village was meant to send someone for her a few days ago. They didn’t. I thought maybe they’d forgotten so I came to the village yesterday. It was too late when I realised there was no village.”

  “What do you mean, they were sending someone for her?”

  “We were meant to leave three days ago. I needed help to move my mum.”

  “You were evacuating?”

  Laila nodded. “An Awakened guild claimed the island. We got word a week ago.” She glanced towards him. “I’m surprised you don’t know.”

  A squirrel chittered somewhere off to the left as he pushed a thin branch away from his face. If Kingsley got the same message she did, it couldn’t have been more than a week since he’d left.

  “There’s a lot I don’t know,” he replied. “Why are you scared of the Awakened?”

  “They’ve massacred thousands, so I’ve heard.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t really know how much is actually true, but since the Rupture, we’ve heard the Awakened have been fighting each other. Some guilds have taken over whole nations, even killing their Champions.”

  “The Champions? Like Prince Alkaleth?”

  “If he was a Champion, I guess so? I only know of Queen Rowenna. Harenal was part of her Kingdom.”

  He raised an eyebrow at her. She frowned as she led him back towards the treeline. They emerged almost a mile south of the village and cut across the open farmland. Too far to be spotted by the kobolds or chased.

  “That’s what the island’s called. We stayed here, hoping whatever was happening in the outside wouldn’t touch us. And for a long time it didn’t. We’re just a small island. Not much of value here. But then we got word that we needed to evacuate.”

  He nodded as he followed her in silence, trying to make sense of her words. The Champions were the heroes of this world. Leaders of nations and armies fighting against the Null Gods and the Raksha—a race of demons—the main antagonists in the game. It was the Champions that called to arms and the players answered.

  Now, those players were apparently killing those Champions.

  “What’s your story then?” Laila asked as they approached woods. Once past the treeline, she headed towards the northwest.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’re asking questions you should know the answers to. And you don’t seem to be a high-level Awakened. Otherwise you’d have easily taken care of the kobolds back there. Who are you?”

  He didn’t answer. She didn’t press it.

  Around them, the forest was alive with the trilling of birds and chirping of rodents. Here and there, he could hear them scurrying beneath the leaves on the ground. At some point, they passed a herd of deer, the animals’ heads shooting up at the sound of their boots rustling past. The deer watched them carefully, tensely, ready to run if Caleb and Laila moved in their direction.

  “It’s not much further,” Laila said after they’d been walking near an hour. The sun hung low to the horizon, the blue sky beginning to darken. “How’s your shoulder?”

  He glanced towards it, the arrow still sticking out. He’d completely forgotten about it, only vaguely aware of the dull throb. He reached over, ready to pull it out when Laila spoke up.

  “No, don’t. I’ll clean it for you when we get to the house.”

  He dropped his hand to his side. “I’d appreciate that. I took a couple more wounds earlier in the same place. Tried to use healing potions but they didn’t work.”

  “What do you mean, they didn’t work?”

  “I drank the potion, but it didn’t work.”

  Laila stopped in her tracks, her mouth curling, amusement in her eyes. “You drank the potion?”

  “Yeah?”

  She chuckled, before walking again, a hand pressed to her stomach. Even the boy had a gap-toothed smile on his face. Laila took deep breaths. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t laugh! You don’t drink healing potions. You use them on the area affected.” She looked at Caleb. “An Awakened would know that.”

  Use them on the affected area. Of course.

  “Like I said. There’s a lot I don’t know.”

  “Why?”

  “It’s a long story. What about Aether potions?”

  “Those ones you drink,” Laila said with a wink. “Here we are.”

  They stepped into a small clearing, a small log cabin ahead of them. Laila stopped a few metres short of the building.

  “I’ll help clean up your wounds. If they’re not deep, a minor health potion will work, if you have another one?”

  He nodded at her.

  “But I need your help with something.”

  “What’s that?”

  Laila kept her voice low. “Like I said…my mother can’t walk well. There’s no way she can make the journey on her own. I wondered if you might help carry her to Fishervale?”

  “How far is Fishervale?”

  “About half a day’s walk.”

  Half a day. With an immobile woman. It would be a problem if they ran into any trouble. The kid already made this more difficult.

  “Is there an alternative?”

  “The alternative is making her comfortable. But since you’re with me, I thought I’d ask.”

  “Comfortable?”

  Laila glanced at him. “My mother’s old. She doesn’t have much time but I won’t leave her alone for whatever’s coming. If I can’t take her with me, the least I can do is make her comfortable. Let her sleep.”

  She didn’t falter once as she spoke. Almost as if it was something she’d been considering for a while. She looked at her son, whispering to him. He could understand why she would consider it. An impossible choice between saving her mother…or saving her son…or dooming them all.

  Caleb didn’t really need to think about it. Yeah, it would slow him down a little, but he couldn’t leave them and he certainly wasn’t going to allow Laila to kill her own mother.

  A notification pinged.

  [Quest: Save the family]

  Escort Laila, her mother and her son to Fishervale!

  Rewards:

  4g 1s 46b

  XP: 2,600

  [Accept: Yes | No]

  He didn’t need the quest to help them, but the rewards were welcome. He accepted it.

  “I’ll help you.”

  She smiled at him and glanced towards the sky. “We should stay here tonight. We can set out in the morning and we’ll be at Fishervale a little after noon.”

  Caleb glanced at the darkening sky, then towards the east where the village was. “You think it’s safe here?”

  “It’ll be safer than trying to travel by night.”

  “I’m worried about the kobolds. They’ll be looking for us.”

  “Maybe, but even if I wanted to, we’re exhausted. We’ve been in that cage since yesterday. Aron needs to sleep properly. I need to sleep properly. And carrying my mother won’t be easy for you. Especially at night.” Laila glanced to her left, towards the village. “They look like they’ve been there for a while and they haven’t ventured this far west yet.”

  Caleb didn’t argue. He didn’t think either option was good, but staying overnight was the better of the two. He didn’t know what else might be out there, but he understood she and her son needed the rest. Just needed the time to absorb what had happened, in truth. A couple of hours ago, they were on the verge of being killed. It would be better for them to rest and be refreshed than trying to move during the night. He looked at the kid—Aron. There was still some fear in his eyes.

  “Okay,” he agreed. “We’ll leave at dawn.”