Night Battle, Danger.

"You know why your mama is the way she is, boy?" Being asked that as soon as we had left the farm was a little bit of a shock. I didn't actually know, I had assumptions but assumptions were unfounded guesses and useless. I shrugged "no."

He clicked his tongue and moved the reigns for the old grey colored Frackle that pulled us to a single hand so he could flex the other, warming it up from the chill. "Yer mama is overprotective and affectionate 'cause you ain't our first kid. You had an elder brother that died a few months after birth. It had been a hard winter."

Well, that made sense and confirmed one of my assumptions at least. "I see" was my simple response to the revelation. It earned me a giant hand smacking me upside the back of my head. "It ain't an 'I see' moment, boy!" was his angry retort.

A sigh later and he deflated. "This is why I say yer different all the time. What ten-year-old reacts so casually to that knowledge? Maybe if you had been world-weary and grown up around nothing but violence I could understand. We both know you didn't though. The Creatures are dangerous but yer mama made that a loving home." Where was this heart-to-heart coming from?

"As you said, I'm different." He snorted at that but made no further effort to continue our conversation for a few minutes. He picked up a bit later, changing the subject a bit but still picking at it.

"You are different. I'd say you weren't ours if I didn't see you being born and know I was the one that put you into my darlin'." I frowned at him with that one. I'd rather not hear my father in this life talk about his sexual encounters with mother. I didn't really care to hear about it from anyone, to begin with.

"You are ours though, boy. You should make more of an effort to be good to yer mama. I don't care as much because I know how freakish you are for a kid. Yer mama is blind to it though. Keep yer word to her, if you gave it, and visit her often. If you don't I'll beat yer ass blue, regardless of yer age at the time."

That had me snort out a chuckle. I had to admit the guy was pretty big and would likely be able to pull it off for a time yet. He also went ahead and called me out about my word which just ensured I'd keep it in mind. One nice thing about father was he was a blunt man. He rarely beat around the bush and often pointedly reminded me of shit. Like I would or could forget to begin with.

"I'll keep my word, father." He sighed, he hated that I called them both such distant terms but only got on me with mother. I had to give it to the man though, at least he was actually still around. My old life was a bit lacking on fatherly figures. DIdn't need them in the end, so it made this relationship strange to me. It got me to thinking about how it might be if I allowed myself to actually care for them. I cut the thought off though. Caring for someone in this world would likely end in nothing but pain. People died often enough of Earth, often in some of the most horrendous of ways, I had no doubt it would be the same or worse on this one.

We spent the trip in silence after our little talk. It suited me fine, I preferred silence while traveling. Saga had even placed her massive head between father and me. Her ears were perked up and on the swivel, alert and listening to the sounds around us. A few insects chirping, a random hoot and deeper in the dark some of the loudest and most disturbing screeching sounds I had ever heard. Saga had her ears focused in a single direction with her head angled that way.

"That's the Goblins. They always sound like that during a mating frenzy. Violent and disturbing creatures." That made sense at least. I turned toward father to ask a few more questions when Saga jolted forward and to the side, placed me behind her head and let out a single low growl at the woods to our left. She was placing herself between me and danger as I had trained her to do.

My father stopped the carriage and pulled out a sword I didn't even know he had, I really was slipping, while staring into the darkness outside of our lanterns light with an intensity I'd only ever seen him have while working with some of the more dangerous Creatures on the farm.

Another growl came from Saga while she tried to curl around me and place her entire body between me and whatever danger she perceived in the gloom of the wood. The fact she was a massive pup made it impossible for her to do what she wanted but she still tried.

"Get your Lupine under control and stay in the wagon, boy." My father got off the wagon and moved around to my side, the side where the danger was. I frowned again when I saw a flash of red. The light reflecting off of eyes. A moment later and the Creatures came into view. They were squat creatures about my size with gangly limbs and lean muscles. Green and brown in color with bulbous eyes that seemed to fill at least a third of their long and narrow faces with pointed ears. The fact they were bald only added to the grotesque imagery. These were Goblins, six of them, and they were cackling like mad.

My father hefted his sword one handed and seemed to know what he was doing. I doubted it would matter much against six of these tiny little fuckers with their shitty weapons. I took in a deep breath and smiled. Seems I was getting my wish for a fight after all. "Saga, prep." I learned a long time ago that short commands were easier to train your dog with. Normally one worded. Prep meant to stop guarding me and pay attention to whatever we were facing more than me. She stopped trying to hide me in her fur and jumped down from the wagon silently.

You'd think seeing the massive Lupine joining father would make these Goblins hesitate, they were a somewhat cowardly species after all. Little chance they could win against both of them with only six. They didn't though, their cackling only grew louder. It was almost as if they had been driven insane. Was this a side effect of whatever the hell had happened when the Orc tribe that Lily had belonged to was wiped out by the Goblins?

I focused on the Goblins as they marched forth slowly, raising one arm up and waving their weapons, still laughing. Saga had done well, she wasn't growling anymore. That had taken a long time to manage, removing the instinct to warn others that she would attack. She moved over to flank my father, waiting. The old man was just as silent though I think he was worried. A very proper feeling, he was alone with the Lupine and a ten-year-old that was his son. He didn't want me to get hurt, or worse and he knew if he or Saga fell then I'd be killed. Normally.

I jumped down from the wagon as well and just kept smiling. I could fight these things, I could kill them without much regret as well. I wasn't bound by my oath of Protect and Serve in this world. Even if I was, these things likely wouldn't fall under the oath itself. My father spoke relatively quietly as if afraid loud noise would set off the insane Creatures. "Boy, get back on that wagon and hurry on toward town."

Noble, what a father should do in situations like this. "Why would I do that? Saga, attack." I spoke regularly, without lowering my voice. Saga had been waiting as well because the second I finished giving her an order she barked once and took off like a bullet. She flew into their little formation and continued past them after snapping her teeth into the midsection of one of the Goblins. It let loose a single death wail before she bit down harder, bringing the full force of her bite into play and snapped the Goblin in two. It was a rather brutal and gory scene. Blood spurted out from the sides, black in color while the gangly little Creatures arms and head were still moving and screaming, the last signal from its brain before it realized it was dead. The legs had continued wiggling as well. A silent moment followed while Saga changed course and ran around in a wide circle, keeping moving, when all hell broke loose and the Goblins began screeching and cackling before charging my father and me.

"Damnit, boy! Get back!" he screamed and moved forward. The Goblins really weren't all that far from us, maybe twenty feet? Regardless they clashed with my father pretty quickly. The old man swung his sword in a horizontal slash that was obviously more a play at opening up distance again, trying to keep them at bay. It worked, insane or not the Creatures had some sense of self-preservation. Almost as soon as that slash pushed them back a step, Saga came in like a bolt and snatched another wailing Goblin up in her jaws, bowling two more over with her size. The one Goblin met a rather grizzly end while Father managed to stab another.

Two of the Goblins had changed course after that and headed toward me. My father pulled his sword free from his target and turned to stop them, only to have his legs knocked out from under him by the second Goblin that had fallen. Good, he was distracted and I could play. The two Goblins came rushing over toward me and I moved to meet them.

I didn't have an actual weapon and while my body didn't have the muscle memory or the decades of training my old one had, my mind remembered. They weren't very coordinated either, which made this easier. The first Goblin that moved to meet me slashed wildly and I stepped into the half-assed swing forcing his forearm to slap into my bicep. I moved a step in while grabbing that arm and threw him over my shoulder. The instant the weight of the Goblin wasn't on my body I dropped to the ground and rolled to the left on instinct, coming back on my feet and driving forward into the side of the second Goblin that looked more confused that his strike hadn't worked than anything. I grabbed the hand holding his rusty knife, pulling it toward me and headbutting him in his pointed, wart-covered nose. The pain had stunned him with the bonus of blinding him with involuntary tears. It let me rip that knife free from his grip and jam it up and under into his jaw, the blade being long enough to pass through the soft flesh there and slam home into the brain.

The light dimmed in his bulbous eyes and then I turned to face the first that should have been on its feet and coming for me, only to see Saga savaging the creature on the ground. She was ripping out its intestines with savage snarls while it screamed in agony, fear, and rage. Her maw was coated in the blood, as was most of her fur as she pulled out the Creatures stomach next, the smell of bile and waste instantly filling the air once the contents of the stomach and bowels were punctured by her fangs. I turned toward where my father had fallen and saw him on top of the Goblin, breathing heavily.

I let Saga have her fun and moved toward him. I had to make sure he wasn't injured badly. "Where are you hurt?" I asked, talking like the Officer I had been before. Confidence and command taking hold. I heard my father chuckle in between his heavy breaths before rolling off the dead Goblin and lying on his back. "You really are different," he wheezed out, clearly out of breath. I rolled my eyes and moved toward him, examining his clothes for any obvious signs.

There was a tear in his legs around the thigh, not far off from the femoral artery. That was concerning, I got down on my knees in the grass and looked closer. The lighting was pretty shitty so I couldn't be sure but I needed to staunch any blood flow now. I took my shirt off and ripped it down the middle before lifting his leg and ignoring the grunt of pain while wrapping it around his thigh, just above the wound itself, as tightly as I could. If it really had nicked the artery he was dead regardless so this wouldn't do anything worse. If he wasn't then it might just buy us enough time. The real question was how the fuck was I getting him into that wagon?

"Enough, boy. I'm fine, yer mama won't like that you destroyed one of yer shirts." Delirium seemed to be setting in, he was focusing on things outside of the issue. Exhaustion and blood loss would cause that. "Saga, lift." She rushed over from her meal, mouth still slick with the nasty of the Goblins innards and lifted my father as gently as she could before hopping into the back of the wagon with him. It just showed the sheer power of her body, being able to jump in while holding him without hitting something with either of their bodies. He let out another grunt and I hopped into the front of the wagon, taking the reins in hand and hauled ass toward town. We were only a bit away now. Another reason those Goblins were concerning. This was far too close to town for a hunting party of Goblins, or so I assumed. A problem for later, for now, I needed to hurry up and save the old man.

After reaching the town, making sure to keep the old man awake by talking, I dealt with the gate guards and told them the situation. What resulted was an hour or so of rushing around, shouted orders and a doctor coming to check my weakening father. He took a look at the leg, looking at my makeshift tourniquet with interest before cleaning the wound, it was just shy of the artery by an inch, and taking out a stopped vial filled with red liquid before letting two drops hit his leg. I watched in fascinated wonder as the liquid hit his wound and seemed to get absorbed into it. The flesh knit together in a disturbingly quick fashion and his complexion even improved. What in the fuck was that?

The old doc chuckled at my curiosity and told me it was a 'Healing Potion.' Amazing, I could think of countless times something like that would have saved some old friends or made my own injuries heal quicker. He gathered his gear shortly after explaining the potion to me, likely happy to see a child wanting knowledge or to just show off. He took notice of Saga as a guard led her in, she hadn't been allowed in the town at all until it was verified she wasn't a danger to the local inhabitants. I wasn't worried about the procedure because most of the guards actually did know my father and through him me. It was a formality more than anything.

The doc took in Saga in all her glory. Mottled white and brown fur with a single streak of black along her muzzle and still covered in blood. I wasn't looking forward to that bath, she always got way too frisky after a bath and started humping shit. "She's a beautiful specimen. Is she for sale?"

I looked at him, blinking slowly as his question registered. "No," was the simple answer. 'Fuck no,' was what I really wanted to say but I figured that since he saved my father's' leg he earned a more respectful wording. I saw his eyes flash a moment before saying "Pity, goodnight."

I narrowed my eyes as he left the room. I wasn't all that fond of how he had said that or looked at Saga. Something to deal with later I suppose. I let out a low whistle and Saga trotted toward where I sat. It never ceased to amaze me just how massive she was. Sitting down in this chair I was easily four feet right now and she still dwarfed me when she stood. She got down on her belly and put her massive head in my lap while letting out a soft whine and licking my hand free of some dried blood. I chuckled at that and scratched her ears. "Good girl."