Kai's Memories

"Where're you going?"

There had been many mysterious travellers before on this road. They drew her. She wanted their knowledge, their stories.

The difference was, most of them liked to talk about themselves. She could ask a million questions and they'd never get tired of it. This one, he always turned it back on her.

"What about you?" he asked. "Where's a little goblin off to all on her own?"

She pouted, standing tall on her toes, though it barely lifted her above his waist. "I am a big goblin!" Dropping down she caught up to walk beside him again. "But I guess I'm going to Ebonfyre. That's where this road goes. After that..."

She trailed off. She hadn't thought about after. Would there be another road like there always had been? What would she do if there wasn't?

His red scarf flutters behind him, catching the wind. It's well-stitched but worn, clearly a keepsake from long ago. She can't see his face, but he lifts his hand to bring the cloth to it. "It's a dangerous city. Even for a big goblin. For anyone."

She looks down. She'd felt danger before, in the shadows of monsters she hid from or the knives clutched in shaking hands, daring her to resist. But she'd never been truly afraid for her life.

Still, she felt the weight of his warning. What if she was in danger? She'd never liked to stay in cities for long. He could very well be right.

He stops suddenly, turning back to her and crouching down in the middle of the road. She shirks back a moment, afraid; no one's ever reached out to touch her like this and the road and plains on either side of them are empty. But there's no ill will in his verdant eyes, and she lets him touch her arm.

"Do you want to learn how to fight?" he asks seriously.

She's taken aback. The thought of harming another creature has never occurred to her. She hides, she runs, but she's never taken a life.

He reaches back, drawing a dagger from one of its many sheaths. She's been eying them; in his leather armour and with those daggers, he must be some kind of fighter or ranger, as unassuming as he looks. Again she balks as the blade touches the sunlight, but he places it in her hand.

"I'll teach you," he says. "Everyone should be able to protect themselves."

At first she isn't sure what to say. She wants to say she doesn't need it, that she's gotten by just fine. She wants an adventure, not bloodshed, not killing. Just the thrill of exploring new places, the never-ending road.

But then she remembers. The fear. The snarling teeth of monsters below the tree she hides in, the dagger pressed to her throat. An empty threat from a child smaller than her, but what if it hadn't been?

Reaching out, she takes the dagger. It feels light in her hand, natural, like she was made for this. Protection, safety. That was all she wanted. She wouldn't use them unless she had to.

His expression remains as serious as it had been, but it lifts as if in relief. Handing her the other dagger, he moves her into position. "Here. Hold it like this."

Days later, as Ebonfyre looms before them, he turns down the other path. She watches his scarf blow brilliant red against the sky until he's gone, and then she turns towards the gleaming walls of the city.

She never learned his name. But he's imparted her with something more important. Something she won't forget.