To the victor...

You eventually find the barn, mostly thanks to the half-burnt vegetation on the roof. Landing on said roof, you look down to where the goblinoid's battle had taken place, with Eve seemingly lecturing a handful of conscious orcs with her bow in hand atop a still-sleeping ogre. While you're still not used to goblinoid emotions, the orcs seem downtrodden and angry at either being bossed around by a goblin or having somehow lost a fight with a goblin. Admittedly, it was a three-way fight, but still.

You're about to drop down when Eve turns her head to look up at you. She shouts something, but you're pretty sure you recognize the goblin word for 'chief' from among the foreign words. "Chief, what're you doing way up there?"

While for some reason it irritates you that she's talking to you in such a casual manner, you shake off the feeling and jump down, flapping your wings at the last moment to be able to land safely. "Observing your lecture. Where'd the hobgoblins go? And where's Borak?"

"Well...for Shadow, you beat him up pretty bad. As for Borak and Torch...he was a bit upset that we didn't let him **** the elf, so he's...taking out his frustration on Torch." She fiddles with her hands. "Something about the spoils of victory."

You cock an eyebrow. Is it that she's embarrassed or that she doesn't want to tell me? You begin hearing grunting from within the barn, likely Borak enjoying his 'spoils'. Once more, you feel an irritation, this time at the thought of the goblin having his way with your property. You pause. She's not my property. What the heck was that? You shake your head. "Don't be down on yourself, Eve. There's only so much you can do on your own." You pat her head as you head inside.

Not much has changed, but the scene vaguely reminds you of the previous day, of the crowd of injured in the church. Goblins, bigger goblins, and orcs are all ****, some leaned against the stall doors, and some laid across the barren ground. You even spot the hobgoblin that gave you so much trouble earlier. You stride over to the stall you hear grunting coming from. You don't even need to open the door to see the hobgoblin woman strapped into a machine identical to the one you found Kristhyra in. She hasn't been healed up in the slightest, but Borak's pounding into her like there's no tomorrow. You recognize, somewhat at least, the sensation that comes over him as he stiffens. With a quick tug, you pull him out of the woman and thrust him into the corner of the stall just as his minute amount of jizz shoots forward, spilling onto his victim's rear. He glares at you from his corner as you unhook 'Torch', as you're assuming her name to be, from the mechanism.

"I know you probably can't understand me, but I'm sorry for what Borak did to you." You lift up the barely conscious woman, sitting her down against the wall.

She's dazed, but still finds it in her to look you somewhat in the eye. "Sha...dow..."

"The other hobgoblin? He's fine, okay, alive." You repeat random synonyms off the top of your head, hoping she'll be able to understand as you begin healing her wounds. I really got her with that blast, didn't I? She doesn't even respond, falling completely limp in your arms. "Alright, you're already pretty stable, let's focus on some of the more injured people..."

Kristhyra squints her eyes against the glow in front of her. Why is it so bright in here? She shifts in place, expecting her wrists and neck to be held in place by stocks, but pleasantly surprised when the only resistance is the pressure of laying on her back. What? She sits up suddenly, looking around.

"Careful, child." A soothing voice comes from her side. The glow she'd seen before fades from his hands. "You've been through quite an ordeal." His hand moves to rest on her shoulder.

"G-Gilford?" A look confirms that she's woken up in the church back in Riverbend. But we left Riverbend...how long ago was it... "How..."

"I'm sure you have many questions. An...adventurer found you and brought you back here."

"...and...I am one, am I..." Her mind returns to battle, watching her allies be cut down and clobbered by the ogre and its minions.

Gilford holds his breath for a moment. While her humish wasn't the best, the message got across well enough. "Unfortunately."

Kristhyra slouches, shuddering. "W-why...why I cannot save them..." She looks to the priest in front of her. "Gilford, why I not save them?"

"Hush, chi-"

"N-no! I...one job... I swore protect them and I-...I..." Her hands frantically move about, eventually settling on holding her head as tears pour forth.

"You survived. Sometimes, that's all you can do." Gilford takes the elf's shoulders and pulls her into a hug. "We can't save everyone, Kristhyra. Trust me...I've tried."

"What do you mean I died?!" By now, Camilla was pacing around her hut furiously, her sandwich sitting forgotten on the bed beside her girlfriend.

"I mean what I said. You know better than I do that that scar on your chest is too big to be fixed with basic healing." Kara sits mostly still, trying to keep herself in check so that at least one of the two of them will have a level head. "From my guess, it punctured your heart. That's not something you can just heal."

The captain grunts. Something had seemed a bit fishy, but to think that she had literally died... It was just too much. "And you... Why do you even know this?"

"I asked Dusk about it that evening, while you were sleeping."

"And neither of you decided to tell me?! This is my life we're talking about here!" Camilla waves her arms about as she continues pacing.

Kara pauses, looking down. "I...I'm sorry. I thought you knew..."

The captain takes a deep breath. "I'm sorry, I need some air." She walks out the back door, intending to vent her frustrations with one of her hand-made training dummies.

I'm surprised this one's still alive... You heal one of the big goblins the best you can, but his arm was cleaved off, so he's not going to be as good in a fight as needed. As long as he's alive, it should count for evolution, right? You finish up with his major wounds before moving on to the next. "Ah. Shadow, right?" The hobgoblin is sat at an awkward angle, but still seemingly ****. God's Eye confirms his name, which makes you momentarily confused on how you missed it before. "You put up quite a fight." He doesn't have any visible wounds, but you aren't able to get a good look under his ill-fitting leather armor.

As you begin casting the spell once more, he suddenly lurches forward, the arm behind his back reaching forth with a dagger, going for your throat. You push yourself back, feeling the blade nick your neck before you land halfway across the main aisle of the barn. You conjure forth a light blade, but the rogue almost immediately has his arm fall limp, barely able to move. You chuckle at the situation. A last ditch effort, huh? You dismiss your blade before stepping back toward him, disarming the weakened hobgoblin rather easily. "The fight is over. You don't have to worry. Torch is fine, too. Mostly." You see his eyes widen at the mention of the other hobgoblin, and he tries to sit up, but you lightly push against his shoulder. "Stay still. You're pretty banged up." You begin healing him, and see his tense face relax a bit.

"What he like? Man save me."

Gilford didn't know how to answer the question. If he was being honest, he barely knew himself. "He's...unique."

"Like Hero?" Kristhyra's curiosity began outweighing her trauma and regret after some time, especially regarding the man who saved her.

"...small hero. Not like Sakurai. He did save our town from hornets, though." Even if I don't understand why...

"Can I...see him? Thank him?"

"Not right now, no. He ran off to do something." I doubt it would make sense to her if I said he flew back to the goblins.

"Run...or fly?" The elf reached up to her tangled hair, remembering the wind flowing through it.

"Uh..." Gilford coughs and recomposes himself. "Yes, he can fly."

She fiddles with the blanket wrapped around her back. "Please take him me."

Hey guys! Not really an announcement this time, but I thought I'd point out something that might confuse some readers. Humish is the human language of the realm, much like how elvish and dwarvish are the respective languages of elves and dwarves. In the future, you may see people referring to the goblin language or others by using the 'ish' suffix. This won't be for every language, but I thought I'd warn you anyway.