Caleb kept his eyes on the woman. She was staring blankly at the floor, dirty blonde hair hanging in a tangled mess, streaks lining her dirt-marred face where tears had been shed. The toddler lay curled up against the cold. He glanced at the back of the child’s head as the woman ran her hand through his black hair. The hair was short enough that Caleb could tell it was most likely a boy. Two or three years old at most.

  The same age Jasper had been when Caleb lost him.

  He pressed his lips together. A part of his mind was still processing this world as if it were the game, but he knew that woman and her child were just as real as he was.

  They seemed to be the only villagers here. He wondered where the rest were as he scanned the surrounding area. Beyond her, there was a group of three kobolds sitting on the floor, sifting through baskets of soil and ash, retrieving anything of value. Beyond them, there was a small village square between the town hall and the thatched-roofed homes where a pair of kobolds sat by a fire, roasting meat on a spit. Over by the thatched-roofed homes on the other side of the village, there were several more kobolds walking between the wooden buildings, one or two stopping for some conversation.

  His eyes drifted back to the fire. To the meat roasting on the spit. It took a moment for him to understand what he was seeing. A whole leg. Except it was too small to be a cow’s. Too big to be mutton.

  He looked around at the charred timber remains and the ashy floor before turning his attention back to the woman and child. He was no fire expert but these homes seemed to have been gutted a while ago. Certainly it didn’t look like it had happened in the last day or two, yet the woman and child seemed relatively healthy. Neither looked thin like they would do if they had been starved for several days. Then again, it wouldn’t be that different to cattle back home. Nobody wanted starved cattle. Perhaps she was being fed enough to make a decent meal.

  He glanced again at the leg on the spit. Then back to the woman and her child.

  He couldn’t let the same fate befall them.

  His mind made up, he crouched down behind the scorched wall and started devising a plan. The town hall was wide enough for him to hide behind it and contact the woman without the kobolds noticing. Hopefully they wouldn’t be patrolling but they looked comfortable here. Settled even. He doubted they would be expecting trouble.

  Getting the woman and the child out of the rickety wooden cage wouldn’t be a problem. He didn’t think it would have been a problem for her, but he could understand why she wouldn’t risk it. Kobolds weren’t exactly fast but they’d be faster than a woman running away with a toddler.

  His main problem was getting rid of the kobolds, like the quest required him to. There were too many of them to face head-on like the six earlier. Even with those, he was fortunate that he could separate them. He didn’t know how many kobolds were in the village, but if they all came at him together, he didn’t think even [Lifesaver] would be enough.

  He glanced around the burnt out homes surrounding him. That was it.

  He opened his inventory and scrolled to the very end of the slots that were occupied, until he found what he was looking for.

  [Tinderbox]

  Every player started with a [Tinderbox], crucial to starting campfires for cooking, or creating torches. The [Tinderbox] was small, about the size of his hand. Inside, it contained flint and steel, some tinder and a few slender vials of oil.

  He returned it to his inventory, dismissed the screen and pulled his tunic tight against the cold. Crouching low, he scrambled across to the next burnt-out home, positioning himself opposite the middle of the town hall. He scanned again, checking for any kobolds on the other side of the town hall or for any faces in the windows. With the coast clear, he darted across the few metres of open ground, resting his back against the stone wall, his head beneath the window line. He shuffled over to the corner of the building, but remained out of eyesight of the woman.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  “Can you hear me?” he whispered, hoping she wouldn’t give him away.

  There was no immediate reply. The only sound he could hear was the faint chitter of the nearby group of kobolds.

  “Can you hear me?” he repeated.

  “Who are you?” a soft, nervous whisper came back.

  He stayed low and popped his head just around the corner. The cage was a foot in front of his face, the woman and her child hiding him from the group of kobolds behind. She looked around the same age as himself, faint wrinkles lining the sides of her green eyes and her forehead. Her cheeks were dirtied except for the streaks where her tears had run. She wore a full-length cotton gown. The boy at her feet had a woollen tunic above linen shorts, his lower legs exposed to the elements, though the woman was doing her best to keep them covered.

  “My name’s Caleb,” he said, keeping an eye out beyond the woman. The group of kobolds sifting the trash were focused on their work and their conversation.

  A wariness passed across her eyes. She looked at her child then back to him. “You aren’t a villager. I don’t recognise you.”

  “No, I’m not. I’m just someone passing by.”

  “An Awakened?”

  He met her eyes. “Yes, I suppose so.”

  “What are you doing here?” she whispered.

  “I was on my way to Fishervale, but I came across the village and then I saw you. Thought you might need the help.”

  “Why would you help me?”

  He raised an eyebrow, taken aback by the question.

  “I can’t exactly leave you like that.”

  “The Awakened would,” she replied. “Or they’d kill me themselves.”

  “Well, I wouldn’t,” Caleb said, a little concerned with her words. What had happened here that players would be intentionally killing people?

  The woman met his eyes in silence, as if weighing his honesty.

  “Now, can you get out of that cage?”

  She continued watching him in silence, before eventually nodding. “It’s not held down. I can push it off.” She glanced over her shoulder. “They always have one of them watching me.”

  “I get it. I’m going to create a diversion. When I do, and it’s safe for you to do so, get your kid and run. What’s your name?”

  “Laila,” she replied.

  “Hide until I’m done. In those homes back there”—he pointed at the burnt-out homes behind him—“or wherever you feel safe. Wait until I call for you.”

  “How will I know you’ve created the diversion?”

  “Oh, I’m sure you’ll know,” he smiled. He looked beyond her but the kobolds hadn’t looked in their direction once. “I’m going to start a fire on the other side. Move when it’s safe.”

  “Okay,” she said with a small nod. He nodded back and scuttled behind the cover of the town hall, his shoulder pressed against the wall as he moved towards the other side. He peered around the edge, his heartbeat beginning to rise. To his left, there was more open ground and farmland. The wooden houses ahead were close enough that one [Sprint] should cover the distance.

  But he needed torches first. Last thing he wanted was to be stuck on the other side and no way to start a fire. And he wasn’t about to sit by the homes with his flint and steel just waiting for a kobold to walk on by. With that in mind, he crouched low, and then darted across the open ground back to the burnt remains of the homes.

  Keeping himself out of view, he stayed low to the ground, ash smudging across his dark leather garments as he searched for something suitable. There were plenty of burnt timber beams, but most were too big for what he needed or too brittle to be useful. What he really wanted was to find an intact chair or table leg. Something like that.

  As he rummaged through the ash, his eyes caught a glimpse of wood jutting from the debris. As he moved towards it, a piercing scream cut through the silence. But it wasn’t the kobolds or Laila.

  It sounded like the child.

  He scurried across the debris towards the wall and looked over. Three kobolds surrounded the cage—a different group to the ones still sifting through their baskets. Laila had been released but two of the kobolds pinned her arms back while she desperately clung to her child’s legs.

  The third kobold tugged at the screaming boy, trying to wrench him free from Laila’s grasp.

  Caleb unsheathed his dagger.

  So much for my plan.

  Caleb darted across the ground towards the kobold tugging at the child’s arms as Laila held onto his feet. The kobold barely had time to register Caleb’s presence when he grabbed its rough-skinned snout with his free hand and jammed the dagger just above the kobold’s ear. It let go of the child immediately, hands reaching for its head, eyes blinking in shock.

  The child dropped to the ground, sobbing, his eyes on his mother.

  The other two kobolds reacted, letting out ear-piercing whines as they let go of Laila’s arms. Laila dropped to her knees, grabbed hold of her son and ran her hands over his head and shoulders as she pulled him close to her.

  Caleb held on to the one in his hands. He drove his blade several times into the same spot above the kobold’s ear, blood spurting onto his hand and trickling down the creature’s neck. It placed a hand to its ear, whimpered and slumped to the ground.

  +82 XP

  The other two had moved back several metres to the group with the baskets. The five of them were unarmed, yellow eyes narrowed at Caleb as they bared teeth, growling and whining loudly.

  More would be coming soon.