Night had completely fallen by the time we arrived at the caravan.

We were greeted by a somewhat plump fellow dressed in upscale attire as we pulled into the camp. My mother and I sat on the front seat of the carriage, while Valk had opted to walk.

The man raised an eyebrow as we pulled in. "Quiet an impressive carriage you got there." Apparently the ornate nature of our vehicle caught his eye.

"Thank you." was all my mother said. If the man had wanted to wring some information out of her he did not succeed.

He looked my mother and I up and down with an appraising eye. He then turned to Valk, "You say you folks are researching business opportunities?"

"Yes," Valk said. "Timber interests."

Valk and my mother had gone over the story while we traveled towards the camp. Valk had told the merchants that we were from Aldergreen, a logging community to the south. We were traveling north to research opening up a new lumber camp in the north. My mother was "the money", while Valk was our bodyguard.

It really wasn't too far from the truth.

"Timber eh," the merchant seemed to think, once again looking at the carriage. "I'll have to look into that myself."

The man bowed and gestured to the open field. Wagons, horses, tents, and cooking fires lay scattered about in a rough ring. Men stood at evenly paced intervals, staring into the night. Guards.

"Just find yourself an open spot." The man grinned. He looked to Valk, motioning to his injuries. "Like I mentioned, if you want to get those looked at, there's a healer. Just find yourself the green tent."

"Thank you." Valk said.

My mother flicked the reins and Regal and Majesty clopped forward. We quickly found a spot nestled between two vardos.

Valk began to unhook the horses when my mother stopped him. "Go and get yourself looked at by the healer. The last thing we need is for you to get an infection. I can take care of this."

"Are you sure milady?"

My mother looked around. "We're surrounded by a ring of paid guards. We should be fine, for a little while at least."

"I will be back as soon as possible."

"Just make sure that they look at you... thoroughly." My mother said.

Valk nodded and started walking towards a green tent in the distance.

My mother helped me down from the front of the carriage. She then opened the door and indicated for me to step inside.

"I'm going to unhook the horses and get them tied up. Stay in here OK?"

"OK." I said.

She closed the door. The inside of the carriage was dark. I could hear my mother working to unhitch the animals. After a few moments, the carriage shook slightly as the two horses were decouple and lead away.

I sat down on one of the benches and hugged my knees. I closed my eyes.

The sounds of the camp echoed through the night. I could hear men laughing loudly, women talking, fires cracking, and children laughing.

Wait? Children laughing? There were other kids here?

Growing up in the castle had be nice, but it was a bit lonely. Aside from my parents and my tutors, I hadn't really had much interaction with other kids. My father did have a distance cousin visit last year. He and his wife had a child, but it was only an infant at the time. Not much fun for a three-year-old to interact with.

I got down from the bench and opened the door to the carriage. I peeked outside, attempting to determine where the sound of the laughing children was coming from.

"Samantha!"

My mother had returned. "I told you to stay put! What are you doing!?"

"I... I heard other kids." I said meekly.

In the firelight, I saw my mother's heart melt.

"Oh honey," she said as she bent down to eye level with me. "We've had a really long day, maybe you could meet them later OK?"

She ushered me back aboard the carriage and entered behind me.

"We've just met these people," my mother said in a voice close to a whisper. "They seem nice, but sometimes you need to take a little time just to be sure that they REALLY are nice. Do you understand?"

I thought about it. I knew that bad people like that man in the green robes existed. I had never really MET a bad person before though.

"I guess so."

"We may be travelling with them for a few days, so maybe you can play with the other kids when we make camp tomorrow night OK?"

"OK."

"Alright, let's get you ready for bed."

I started yawing at the word bed. Despite sitting for most of the day, I was extremely tired.

My mother went to the back of the carriage and retrieved some blankets that she spread out on the floor. She then took some of the pillows that lined the carriage benches and place those down as well.

"Now," she said holding up the edge of a blanket for me to crawl inside. "Get some sleep OK?"

"Where are you going to sleep?"

"I'll be right under the carriage." she said.

"Oh," I said.

My mother seemed to sense what I was going to ask next. "I'm too big to sleep in here!" she gave me a smile. "I'd be all scrunched up, like a ball!"

That made sense to me. There was only really enough room for me to stretch out on the floor. My mother would have been way too big.

"Ok." I said.

My mother opened the carriage door and stepped outside.

"Mommy?"

"Yes honey?"

"Will daddy be back with us soon?"

"I hope so honey."

My mother closed the door and I was once again enveloped in darkness. I felt the carriage shift and she sat on the step below the door.

Then there was something that I had never heard before in my life.

I heard my mother cry.

***

The sun had just peaked over the horizon when I awoke to the empty camp.

The small fire that we had built the previous night lay smoldering, little wisps of smoke rose into the air.

"Eplash?" I asked the empty space.

No response.

I pulled myself out of the lean-to and started looking around the camp, searching for signs of the missing Giantkin.

Her bow was gone, as well as her quiver. Did she go hunting? Why didn't she wake me?

A flock of birds suddenly burst forth from the bush. Eplash came into view, moving as fast as her long legs could carry her.

"Run!" The Giantkin shouted when she saw me.

That was all I needed to hear. I turned and began running, leaving whatever gear that I had stored in my lean-to behind.

I could hear crashing behind me, then whooping and hollering. High pitched and guttural, I had heard these shouts once before in my life. Goblins.

I heard something thunk into the ground behind me. Something whizzed by and landed to my right. A crude spear lay quivering, half sunk into the ground.

Suddenly Eplash was at my side. She spun and quick fired an arrow from her bow. A shocked yelp echoed from behind me.

Thunk. This time to my left. Another spear and another near miss.

More crashing and hollering. The goblins had reached the camp and were tearing it apart.

"Keep going!" Eplash shouted as she let loose another arrow. Another yelp sounded. This one was more distant.

We kept going, my lungs and my legs both started to burn from the effort.

Eplash kept pace with me, occasionally letting an arrow loose. I wanted to look behind, but I could hear my mother's voice, telling me to keep focused on the forest floor ahead.

"You trip, you die." I heard her voice echo.

Finally the hoops and hollers faded into the distance. Eventually, Eplash stopped and signaled for me to do the same.

"What...was...…that?" I asked. I bent over, holding my hands on my knees, trying to catch my breath.

"Goblins." Eplash said. "Many goblins."

"I...…know...that....." I continued trying to suck in air. "Why.....were....they.....chasing...you?"

The Giantkin scratched the back of her head, looking a little embarrassed.

"They stumbled across our tracks last night. My fault. I had never encountered goblins in the area before. I thought we had lost our pursuers so I made no effort to disguise our trail. I led them away as much as I could, but they are persistent."

I looked at the Giantkin, amazed. My breath was starting to return. "Wait, you were running all night?"

"Just one... maybe two hours. I circled back to the camp when I figured you had awakened. I knew that our gear would distract them enough for us to get away."

I stood with my mouth agape. Eplash had run for two hours just to give me some extra time to sleep! Then it hit me. The gear! I didn't have much save for a small bundle of clothes and some food. Eplash however, carried enough supplies to keep things comfortable on extended hunting trips.

"I'm sorry," I said. "You've lost everything because of me."

The large woman laughed. "Gear is gear. You can always get more. Besides, the bow is all I need."

We started walking. Eplash was once again in high caution mode, listening to the wind and taking us in this direction and that.

As we traveled, I thought about all that I had left behind in my life. We left our castle to Jall when I was four, we left Elkshire when the cultists had tracked us down, and now the very little that I had in way of possessions was left behind for goblins in the forest.

Eplash was right. Gear was gear. Things were things. It was the people that you left behind that you couldn't replace.

And then there was the book. The only vague memory I had of my father.

It was the book that I took with me when we fled the castle. It was the book that I had taken with me when we fled from Elkshire. And now that book was in the hands of the goblins.

I wanted to say something. Could I ask Eplash to turn around? Perhaps the goblins have left the camp by now and the book would be sitting there, tossed aside because it wasn't shiny.

No, I had to leave it behind. I was no child that broke down if a favorite toy or stuffed animal went missing. Besides, if I really wanted a copy, I was sure that I could probably find Volume 2 of a well known series.

"Something is bothering you." Eplash said, pulling me out of my trance.

"It's nothing," I said. "I left something at the camp, but it's not a big deal."

"Ahh," the big woman said.

We continued on, eventually making our way to a road again.

"This is the road to the town." Eplash said pointing in a direction where I could see chimney smoke slowly rising.

The town! I had forgotten about it, and about staying in a warm bed at an inn.

"It's OK," I said. "I don't need a night in town now."

"No," Eplash shook her head. "We need supplies now. We will have to go and restock."

I nodded and followed the Giantkin towards the town. As we drew closer, traffic on the road grew heavier. Men and women on horseback passed us, giving Eplash the once over.

We crossed a stone bridge and we were suddenly surrounded by people. Market stalls lined both sides of the street. Shoppers went to and fro, looking at the goods and haggling with the merchants.

"This way," Eplash thumbed. We continued on, stopping at a building that's shingle showed that it was a general goods store.

Eplash opened the door to the store, signaling me to go inside.

As my eyes adjusted to the dim light inside the building, I heard a raspy voice "Hello."

Inside the store was one of the most curious sights that I had ever seen.