She does, though now they have to contend with her.

The goblin chieftain looked at the bolt in his arm then at what remained of his clan. The woman was precise in her attacks. She had killed almost every single male in the group, except one, while leaving the females untouched. It didn’t take him long to see what she was up to. Already he could see the male holding down Erik eyeing the bolt in his arm, to see just how injured he was.

The chieftain leered back at the woman, let out a low growl, then motioned for his clan to follow him. The women did as they were told while the last remain male roughly tossed Erik to the ground. Once the goblins were a safe distance away, the woman sheaved her sword and hosted her bow before making her way over to Christine. Erik was quick to follow suit, scrambling to his feet, and untying her bonds.

Christine was in rough shape. She had bruises all over her back, her dress was little more than scraps of fabric, and her body felt like it was on fire. As the woman approached her, she clasped Christine’s chin in her gloved hands and pulled her gaze towards her.

“They fed her dragon fire,” said the woman with a long sigh.

“What should we do?” asked Erik with a worried look in his eyes.

The woman glared at the boy, which made him recoil. “First off, what are you doing in my camp.”

“Nothing!” he said quickly.

The woman narrowed her eyes before looking over towards her pack. It was still open from when Erik pounced on it, and the contents were scattered across the ground. She then turned back to the boy who had a very guilty look in his eye. “Nothing?” she asked dryly.

“The goblins must have-” the woman silenced him by giving him a quick slap across the face. It wasn’t enough to damage him, but it was enough to sting.

She then looked at him sternly and pointed a finger at his nose. “That was for the lie. Your punishment for stealing from me will be to clean up the mess you made. Now hurry up, I need to get your sister to an inn.”

Erik pouted before nodding and rushing off to put the things back into her pack. “Neatly!” she shouted at him before helping the trembling girl onto her lap. “How do you feel?” she asked her calmly.

“S-so…h-hot…” was all Christine was able to get out.

“Your body is telling you that it’s time to mate,” said the woman, “It will pass, but you will be in for a rough night. There is a way I can ease the heat, but I would prefer to do that outside goblin territory and away from innocent eyes,” she said, motioning towards Erik.

Christine licked her lips in an attempt to wet them, then let out a trembling gasp. “O-oh, god!”

“Your lips are still covered in nectar,” the woman told Christine, “Try not to lick them.” The woman then placed to fingers between her lips and whistled. “Where is that fucking house? Boy, grab that fur and unroll it.”

Erik looked next to the pack and found a fur pelt roiled up next to it. He quickly grabbed it and unrolled it onto the ground while the woman gently set his sister down onto the pelt. “I know you feel hot,” said the woman as she wrapped the fur around her nude body, “But it’s still freezing out. I would rather you not dye of hypothermia.”

A short time later, they heard the sound of horse’s hooves clacking against the frost-covered ground. Upon seeing a black and white mare galloping out of the mist, the woman picked Christine up in her arms. She then draped the shivering young woman over the back of her horse and carefully secured her with a few steps.

“Bring my pack, kid,” the woman said, pointing to her pack. Erik frowned at her, as he didn’t like being ordered around, but he wasn’t about to argue. His sister took quite the beating, and this red-haired woman was probably his only hope of saving her. Once he handed the woman her back, she strapped it to the side of the horse. Once her bag was secure, she motioned for Erik to come closer. “I need you to make sure that your sister doesn’t fall off,” she told him, “Try to keep her calm. She’s in a lot of pain right now.” Technically she wasn’t, but that was the most she wanted to divulge to the boy.

Erik gave her a quick nod before being helped onto the horse’s back. Once he was mounted, he carefully placed his hand on Christine’s back. “She feels so warm,” he commented.

“I know,” the woman replied, “There is a town nearby, we can take her there.”

When Erik realized which town she was referring to, he was quick to stop her, “Wait! We can’t go there!”

The woman stopped and arched her brow at the boy. “Why?”