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  “Never... Ever... Attack them from inside the safe zone. Even a little rock thrown by a child is enough harm to trigger a violation of the accords. Any such violation and our entire safe zone for this village is removed. I am shocked no one told you. I cannot stress it enough, attacking the Horde from inside our village will kill us all. Thank the gods I reached you in time.” She informed me. When she finished Velia arrived in a huff clearly not used to running as much as Lyna was.

  “So attacking the Horde from inside the safe zone is bad. What if I cross the zone? That is okay right?”

  Both ladies nodded as three more of the widows arrived.

  “Works for me,” I said with excitement. I reached forward confidently and picked Lyna up in my right arm, Velia in my left arm. I pulled them both into my chest and kissed each on the cheek. “Wish me luck ladies and stay on the safe side please.”

  I placed the two women down who bore rosy faces. When I felt the power surging into my legs I pivoted and lunged into a sprint. I raced toward the boundary line and the single pissed off goblin. The damn thing was still yelling at me in its language. I surveyed the surroundings beyond the barrier and saw five more goblins cheering on their comrade. I could handle six no problem. They were barely the size of Lily at under four and a half feet tall.

  Little, angry, ugly green monsters. Ugh... they were hideous with their beak nose, boiled face, and moldy ears. I was only a foot away from the boundary when I pulled out my short sword from my belt. The shield was still firmly on my left arm and moved smoothly with my running body. The little monster held his pike toward me with shaking knees. This was no mighty warrior, it was a terrified small freak. Gone was the bolstering angry rhetoric and cheering followers, now the other goblins shouted panicked words at him. I rationalized these little goblins tended to pose the most threat in large numbers, but this group was split from their leader. This one was clearly overextended as he was alone, too far to reach the others. I felt the sensation of the boundary slither through my being as I closed the last of the distance.

  This little guy had courage, at least he didn't run and give me a free shot at his back. He thrust his pike forward at me with very little power behind it. I used my shield to deflect his thrust aside. I went to stab him in his unguarded face when I remembered that area held value. I changed the angle of attack and sliced deeply into his neck. The head shot into the air as it was severed from the body. I wasn't expecting that. I didn't pause or wait to ensure he was dead. I pumped my legs to get my speed back up to a sprinting run.

  The remaining five were only a hundred feet away and I closed in fast. These goblins were mortified at seeing their leader die. They decided to try to outrun me. That was a problem for them. I was seven feet tall with long legs, while they were barely over four feet tall. I caught up to them no problem. I hacked the first one deep into his shoulder toward his body's center. The skin and bone parted with ease. I kept going and reached the next little monster quickly. He never looked back, he kept pumping his little green legs as fast as he could. I did a cross body swing into his back severing his spine with a sickening snap. He screamed out in pain and collapsed to the ground. Three to go.

  Two split to the left down a trail and I pushed myself hard to reach them quickly. I caught the first one with an overhead swing splitting his skull down the middle. The next one I went for the neck but ended up hitting low. I carved off his left arm as the blade sliced deep into his chest. I threw the sword point first into the dirt and threw my shield down. I grabbed the javelin container and set it upright at my feet. The last goblin who went right was getting away. Now over fifty feet from me, I would only have a clean shot for so long.

  I grabbed the first javelin, took aim, adjusted for his little legs carrying him further and launched. I missed... badly. It went a full hundred yards over him, I now knew I had a lot more strength on Vin. The second projectile was aimed much better, I accounted for my strength properly and hit the bastard in the side. The javelin had so much force behind it, it shot the goblin into a nearby tree where it pinned him. I slung my shield, then quiver and raced to the tree that he squirmed on. A quick thrust of my short sword into his neck ended his struggle.

  I let my panting breath calm down and checked my surroundings for additional goblins or new enemies the noise might have attracted. The woods were quiet, nothing but my decreasingly loud breathing. I looked at the sky and knew it was roughly feast time which meant darkness within the next hour. Time to find the overthrown javelin and get these bodies to the safe side. I went to work with speed and determination.

  I found the weapon fairly quickly then stacked the three furthest bodies on my shoulder and sprinted towards the village. A few of the ladies awaited me inside the safe zone. One of them had stepped into the wild lands and pulled the closest body of the first killed goblin into the village boundary. I said nothing as I promptly threw the bodies inside and turned to retrieve the last two goblins.

  The goblin with the severed spine crawled using only its arms. A desperate attempt at survival. It muttered some of its foul language at me.

  “Time for you to die,” I told the goblin as he turned his face up at me from the dirt.

  My sword was back in its ring by this point and I didn't feel like pulling it out. Instead, I rose my boot and gave its neck a mighty stomp. A loud snap reverberated through the woods. That stopped its movement for good. I picked the warm body up and then found his friend not far away. With both corpses loaded on my shoulder, I raced back toward the ladies and the feast. Somewhere off in the distance, I heard a mighty roar. I ignored it as I felt the sensation of safety once again.

  “That was fun! But I am incredibly gross, so much blood.” I told the small group that awaited me. My skin crawled with the desire to clean myself but I ignored it knowing I would have to carry these bodies again.

  “They were dumb goblins, the working slaves of the Horde. Those will be your one and only easy victims. Yet... You are correct. Watching them die was fun.” Velia said with a grin. “Now come on, let us get these bodies to the feast and see what we can use. With this haul, we can signal a griffin tomorrow morning to visit so you can sell the parts. Umm... Sir Gryff, we could desperately use a dozen rolls of assorted cloth and three rolls of leather for boots. Plus some thread and needles. Oh and some medical supplies or a healer mage. Actually, I have a long list but that is our most urgent needs.”

  Each of us carried a body deeper into the farm fields. There were no lazy slackers here. Everyone helped and it brought a large smile to my face. I reached over and grabbed the goblin Velia was hauling. She gave me a stare of 'How dare you try to pick up the slack for me'. I ignored it and stacked the second bloody body over the first on my left shoulder. I reached with my right hand and freed my coin purse. I tossed it to a surprised Velia who stared at me.

  “Open it,” I commanded. Based on the price of the rations I had a feeling when I arrived in this world I did so with a small fortune. When she opened to the purse she squealed.

  “This is insane!? I never thought a traveler would have so much gold!” Velia said with a loud voice.

  “Not so loud...” I scolded her.

  Lyna popped up to Velia's side quickly. “Let me see,” Velia showed Lyna the contents. “By the gods, are you a noble?”

  Before I could answer Velia hushed Lyna and spoke. “You came here with this or the goblins had it?”

  “I arrived with it. Is that enough for the cloth and leather?”

  “You bonehead...” She slugged my arm and handed me the purse back. Velia then stepped in front of me. With sadness in her brown eyes, she palmed my chest and straightened her arm stopping me. “No more racing into fights with enough gold to buy Cern. Okay? That amount would forever change all of our lives. I have fought so hard to keep the depression from overwhelming more of us. Also, know this, these goblin parts will fetch a lot of value, it is exceedingly rare to find them without an overlord. When
you do find a small group of goblins ripe for the killing, it is almost a guaranteed ambush. My guess is these workers went to check the fish lines and smelt our cooking fish. Then yelled at us, audacious humans, vowing revenge. They made a mistake of not reporting the loss to the orcs or ogre boss first and acted impulsively. You, Mr. Gryff, got lucky. You can change so much here for the good. We don't need another dead hero to remember, trust us. Vin has enough of the well thought of dead. Please... think before you bull rush next time please.”

  She moved to my shoulder and tried to reach for the goblin I had taken away earlier.

  “Lower your shoulder you damn giant.” She commanded. The group including me chuckled.

  “No promise on charging the enemy but I will say this. Tomorrow when the rider arrives for trade I will order everything you can make a list for. The only thing I can think of needing at the moment is a mount and a bigger weapon. So tonight or in the morning, gather the women and children and get me a list. Even include frivolous things like toys, hand mirrors, and whatnot. Oh... and I don't know what tools we are missing. To build our house will we need a large saw for the timber, a planer for planks, sander to smooth, and?” I paused realizing the list would be exceptionally long. “You know what these lists will take some time to make, let us do them in the morning. Also don't think I missed how you called me Sir when asking for things, then Mr. when you scolded me.”

  This got another laugh from all the ladies.

  “Our house,” Lyna and Velia said in unison with lady like giggles.

  “He had me at baths,” a woman on my left said. She had jet black hair with a pretty face. Like the others, she was filthy, but you could see the beauty beneath.

  “Micka right? You helped clean the fish, thank you for that and for helping carry that goblin body.” I said to her. I was trying hard to get to know these people and remember names. I had always been extremely good at recalling names. I was not perfect and hoped it helped me here.

  “Correct Mr. Gryff, you sure are a charmer. Easy to tell you come from somewhere where men treat women with respect. That rarely happens here, my poor Eddie, rest his soul, well... Even he was a right bastard and he was one of the kinder ones. I say this with all due respect to you Gryff. You are so handsome you glow, your body is sculpted by the gods, and your demeanor quickly swells a woman's heart with desire. Add me to your harem when you form one, I promise to be good to you and those you keep close to you.” She said with an intensity I wasn't ready for. The mood had been so silly and joyful. This was deep and meaningful.

  “I will keep that in mind Micka, but for now let us enjoy this well prepared feast,” I said as we arrived at the clearing to the event. We dumped the bodies in a pile away from the festivities. A hundred plus villagers cheered us as we entered the circle.

  I made my way over to Elan who was nothing but smiles at my arrival. “Thank the gods they warned you in time about attacking from inside boundary. These fish are a delight. So much food, it has been too long since we have had any reason to rejoice. Thank you Mr. Gryff, thank you...”

  “I do have a favor to ask and then I promise its back to fun and food. Tomorrow morning can you signal Cern that we have goods and coin to trade?”

  “Of course all I do is place a flag on top of the bell tower and a rider will arrive within an hour. It is only a fifteen minute flight for them. Now tell me all about how you riled up these goblins and managed to kill them all. That is a story we would all like to hear.”

  The night was filled with laughter, good food, and good company. The entire village snuck off in ones and twos to bathe at some point. I went alone and got the blood off me as quickly as I could. The overwhelming wafts of nasty people had vanished and it sure was nice. It warmed my heart to see so many people genuinely happy. The men of the village crowded me during the feast as we talked about battle, trade, and general guy stuff. During my Olympic training, I was a determined young man with no free time. Friends and genuine comradely were rare, we were, after all, competing against each other. Elan, Stov, and the other men were overjoyed at clean wives, a well fed family, and hope of things improving. The closeness of the community got to me in a good way. The big cities like Cern would never have this. I was glad to have started in this desperate village over a ruthless city. Here I could belong. Here I could begin making a difference.

  The children were the first to say goodnight. Retiring to the shacks to rest their tired heads. The villagers returned to their homes with sincere goodbyes. The ladies set up their normal sleeping spot under a massive tree for the night. I prayed for no rain as the meager amount of blankets were spread over the bare earth. Twenty women and I formed a sleeping ball to keep each other warm. I was squished on all sides and had to swat many a hand away from my penis. It got so bad I rolled onto my stomach. Tired from the day I promptly fell asleep with a goofy grin on my face.

  CHAPTER 3

  I woke within the clump of women to the morning dew and a slight chill. I would need to figure out the seasonal rotations here in Fernlan and where we were in the cycle. A few grumbled as I escaped the warm ball of bodies.

  Velia opened her eyes and watched me as I strolled lazily to retrieve the wood axe. I proceeded to the boundary edge where the latrine ditches and pits were. I popped a squat and did my thing. The lack of privacy gave me pause, but the smell in this area was so bad I got my business done quickly.

  I went right into a rhythm of cutting down trees as the sun crested the horizon. A nice v-cut on one side of the tree to control the fall. I then smashed the sharp edge into the other side of the trunk. I was surprised by how much strength I had. Add that to my list of questions. I had heard magic mentioned a few times, and there were creatures beyond reality here. Maybe I had magic or magically-increased strength. Could I super heal, fly, or turn invisible? Actually, how did healing work here...?

  I mindlessly chopped down trees while I pondered these questions about my new life. A large shadow zoomed quickly over me. I looked up to see a griffin flying toward the town center.

  The beast was massive. Easily the size of a small shuttle or large air car. It had wings that were wider than a small building. The feathers that decorated its wings and front of its body were white with blue tips giving off a surreal beauty. It’s large sharp beak, long curved talons, and tight skin on its back half of the body was a golden hue. The elongated tail swayed with its flight and was tipped with a furred ball, colored in a deep purple. It was majestic and somewhat terrifying. Yet, judging by the outlined ribs and hips on display, it was clearly underfed. As rapidly as it entered my view it dropped from sight among the village buildings.

  Excited to see the creature up close, I sprinted back to the shelter area of the western fields. I placed the axe among my meager possessions and found Velia.

  “Griffin is here. You got those lists for me?” I asked her nicely. She looked gorgeous in the morning sunlight. Her hair was still wet from a bath, her face flawless, and not a bit of dirt on her. She cleaned up very nicely and I felt myself desire her. I got caught gazing at her tight ass as she retrieved the lists from a shack.

  “We saw. Yes, here is the needs list.” She handed me a piece of bark with a list of items carved into it. Huh... I expected paper but this worked. It was different and seemed time consuming, but I understood the list. “And this one is our wants if you would be so kind... Sir Gryff.” She handed me the second one with big, pleading eyes. She was clearly toying with me and I loved it.

  “Anything I should know before I deal with the Cern person? I would like to avoid doing something stupid.”

  “Do not get too close to the Griffin. For whatever reason, they hate men and will savage them if you get too close. They are right assholes when they want to be.”

  “Got it, steer clear of the oversized, man-hating bird. Order the items on both lists. Anything else?” I asked her.

  “Oh...” Velia dashed off to the pile of dead goblins and came ba
ck holding a sack. “Here are the best parts for selling to Cern. We pilfered the bodies while you were hacking trees. Should fetch some good coin.”

  When she handed me the sack I almost vomited.

  “Is this sack goblin skin?” I asked as I dry heaved.

  “Yeah, it came off the back of the biggest one. How did you think we made our water bladders and patched our roofs?” She gave me a “don't be a pussy” look and then slugged my arm. “Wimp. Man up.”

  This got a roaring laughter out of her. Some of the eavesdropping ladies chuckled at me too.

  I kicked the dirt in frustration. I muttered then regained my composure.

  “Savage. But it makes sense. Waste not, want not. Oh... Velia, I’ve been meaning to ask. How does healing work here? If I get a deep cut... is it stitches and months to heal, or weeks? Is there any healing magic? I see medical supplies on this list and want to understand.” I asked as I reviewed the supply list.

  “The sick are treated with an antibody potion. It will fight off infections. A deep cut would need multiple potions just as a broken bone would. If set or stitched properly both will heal in weeks not months. So that is why the list includes lots of potions, bandages, and proper thread with needles.

  “There is healing magic, but our little village never sees it anymore. The healing mages used to caravan here before the war and offer services but since the Horde and wild lands, none visit. Either they see no profit here or they refuse to fly under a griffin. Elan ended up with his limp because we had no healer to set his leg right. We are very fortunate that almost everyone in the village is healthy.”

  I pondered this and decided I would require a healer. I figured I would eventually get hurt if I keep roaming the wild lands.

  “Velia, Lyna, Donnie, and Lily follow me. You are going to help me not screw up this trade.” I waved goodbye to the rest of our western field group. “Until later, fair ladies, adorable children, and young men,” I said loudly for all to hear.