Just Another Day

The other fairies swarmed around the odd couple and thanked them for saving their sister. Grubber looked to be in a state of absolute bliss.

Shanku quietly backed away and let him have his attention in peace. He truly was different from other goblins she had heard about.

"Grubber likes fairies. Always has. It's why the other goblins don't like him," came a guttural voice behind her. She turned to find a faun perched on a fallen tree.

"Sad," she murmured.

"Yes," the faun nodded. "Other than decimating the beetle population, he's harmless."

"And you?"

"I am a guardian of the Nyre," the faun shrugged. The Nyre had many guardians, as it was a large forest that spanned from one end of L'aernth to the other. For the most part, they were mediators. They settled minor disputes among the inhabitants and alerted them of large-scale dangers, such as forest fires. In tales of legend, they had possessed great powers and defended the forest during the War of Mages.

"A man has been coming to the forest lately," he continued. "Beware of him, cub."

"Will do," Shanku said.

Having fulfilled his duty, the faun sprang to his feet and disappeared into the bushes.

Beware? Shanku thought mischievously. Let him beware! She dropped down to the ground and stalked among the trees. Her time among men had made her dangerously fearless of them. A mistake many of the Nyre didn't usually live to repeat.

Little lizards and rodents darted from her path as she passed by. None wished to become the target of a hunting kurach, no matter how young.

The sounds of a skirmish drew her attention. She crept to the edge of an overhang and peered into a small clearing. The ledge she was on was a part of a series of rocks that formed a sort of corner in the forest. At the opening stood four angry goblins holding spears and knives. Backed against the wall of the clearing was a single man holding his dagger defiantly before him.

That's not fair, Shanku noted nonchalantly and quietly slipped away from the edge.