The 5 friends walked out of Murry street and turned left in the direction of the war memorial. they had stored their weapons in their inventories in a bid to not scare any of the people they passed, a knife was one thing, but a knife covered in blood, that was asking for trouble.

  "So I don't know if this is the right time to say this, but... I fucking told you so," Said Liam with a grin plastered all over his face. "What was it you guys said. Oh yeah. 'Yeah, alright mate, fucking dragons'. Well looks like I was right doesn't it."

  "Fuck off Frodo, before I get you and the goblin mixed up; you're about the same height after all" laughed Paul while swinging an imaginary bat.

  "It's not just the height, you're about the same in the looks department as well Liam." Grinned Lee.

  "Yeah, alright mate. Just cos you can get through doors on the first attempt now, you think you can talk shit." He hit back.

  Lee laughed before continuing.

  "Nah, but seriously, that thing was ugly as fuck. Still gives me the creeps the way it looked at us. Honestly, I don't know if this is just me but I don't feel as bad and its not been long. Is that weird?" Asked Lee.

  "Nah man I know what you mean. You'd think killing something like that would have a lasting effect but after Shai spoke to us, I calmed right down. I know that's not normal regardless of how much sense she made." Agreed Parmo.

  "Yeah, we shouldn't have gotten over it so soon. I've been thinking about this a bit since I noticed it but it could be the UI. we know it changed us physically and it gave us magic. both things have prepared us in a way for danger. It doesn't feel any less likely it would give us some kind of boost in handling stuff that would have put us on our arse emotionally." Said Ste.

  "Yeah that's a fair point." Replied Paul.

  "Speaking of Shai" Said Parmo before waiting a few seconds, a gleam in his eye. "Where's your watch Lee?"

  "Oh, for fuck sake, don't even start with this shit." Groaned Lee, while shaking his head.

  "Nah man, We are so doing this." Laughed Ste.

  "So, cat girls are real huh. Tell me Lee, what are your thoughts on our new feline friend?" Joked Paul.

  "I'm never going to hear the end of this am I?" Replied Lee as he covered his eyes with the palm of his left hand.

  "I've gotta say though boys. I think Lee might have been onto something all these years. Shai's hot man." Conceded Parmo.

  "Yeah that's fair, You still won't convince me having a cat girl body pillow is anything but fucking weird." said Paul, deadpan.

  "For fuck sake, I've told you, I don't and never have, had a body pillow, those things are for neckbeards. Fuck that." Lee complained.

  The group banter continued as they walked and Lee smiled despite himself. A few minutes later the boys arrived in front of the civic centre and looked around for Mike. He wasn't in his usual spot in the area in front of the doors, where people liked to gather before heading inside. They did manage to spot Janet though, so they headed over.

  Janet was standing outside the civic centre talking to a couple of people. She wrapped up the conversation quickly when she saw them approaching, a slight frown crossing her face as she noticed their expressions.

  "Alright lads, you look like you've had a day," she said.

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  "You're not wrong. Is Mike inside?" Lee asked.

  "Yeah, he's in the main reception area going over some stuff. You need him?" Janet gestured toward the doors.

  "Yeah, something's come up. Thanks Janet," Liam said.

  They headed inside. The civic centre was quiet, most people outside working on various tasks around town. Mike was sitting at one of the desks in the reception area, papers spread out in front of him. He was talking to a man maybe a little older than the five of them. He looked up as they approached and waved them over.

  "Alright lads, how did the training go?" he asked, then paused as he got a better look at them. "Actually, before you answer that, boys, this is John, a mate of mine. He's helping me out with some stuff around town. John, these are the five I was telling you about."

  John stood from where he'd been leaning against the desk. He was tall, black hair pulled back into a small bun with the sides shaved short. Grey threaded through his beard. He had a warm smile that framed a face starting to show the first real creases of age around his eyes. An old scar cut through his beard along the left of his jaw and he had blue eyes that tracked them as they entered. He nodded at each of them.

  "Good to meet you all," he said.

  Mike's casual demeanour shifted. He straightened up, his expression becoming all business.

  "So, how did training go?" he asked, but his tone suggested he already knew the answer wasn't going to be simple.

  Lee and the others exchanged a look.

  "Is there somewhere private?" Liam asked.

  Mike frowned slightly. He stood, gathering the papers from the desk.

  "Yeah, come on. Follow me," he said, leading them toward the back offices.

  The office was small and cluttered. Random items were pushed against the walls with no thought of organisation. There were boxes of supplies, old chairs stacked on top of each other, things that had nowhere else to go. A desk sat at one end with scattered papers. In the corner, the microphone and generator from last night's meeting leaned against the wall.

  While clean, the old carpet had seen better days and the paint on the walls could do with a new coat. This room had clearly been used more for storage than anything else until Mike had claimed it as his own.

  Mike closed the door behind them.

  "Alright, what's happened?" Mike asked, his voice steady but concerned.

  "We got attacked," Paul said. "During training. We didn't get very far before something came at us from the woods."

  Mike's expression hardened. "Attacked? By what? Wolves or something?"

  The boys exchanged looks. There was a pause that stretched just long enough to be uncomfortable.

  "No," Lee finally said. "A goblin."

  John, who'd followed them into the office, let out a short laugh. Mike's eyes narrowed slightly.

  "You're joking," he said.

  "Nah, we're not," Liam said. "Honestly. We have proof, but it's kind of shocking to look at. You sure you want to see it?"

  Mike nodded slowly. "Yeah. Show me."

  "You got an old sheet or something like that? Don't want to make a mess," asked Lee.

  Mike found one in the corner of the office and spread it out. Lee took a step back, held out his hand, and the goblin's corpse materialized on the sheet with a wet thud.

  The silence that followed was absolute.

  Mike stepped closer, his eyes moving over it. Its strange grey-green skin, the mouth still open, its teeth bared, still frozen in what was its last vicious expression as death took it. The crude knife still clutched in one clawed hand. John leaned in beside him, his earlier amusement completely gone.

  "Holy shit," John breathed.

  "That's a real goblin," Mike said quietly.

  "Yeah," Lee confirmed.

  Mike reached down carefully, checking to make sure it was actually dead. He straightened up, exhaling slowly.

  "And this thing just attacked you?" he asked.

  "Came flying out of the woods north of the town," Paul said. "Had that rusty knife. No one got caught by it, but it was close. We used Liam's shield to keep its attention while we hit it with bats and knives."

  "You fought that thing with bats and knives?" John said, disbelief clear in his voice.

  "We were panicking," Ste said. "Plus, we kind of had to. If we ran it would have followed us to the town. Luckily it wasn't very smart. Thinking back, we probably had an easier time because of that. If it had been smarter..." He didn't finish the sentence.

  Mike looked at them, and his expression softened.

  "I'm glad you're all okay," he said. "That sounds fucking horrible. Thanks for stopping it, that took balls. I know a lot of people who talk a big game but would have run from this thing, especially with that blade in its hands." He turned away from the corpse, rubbing his face. "We're going to have to do something about better weapons and proper walls. We need people on watch. The cameras are good but we have no idea if there are more of these things out there, or anything else. Some of them might be smarter and that's a huge problem."

  "Yeah," Lee said. "About that. We have a lot more to tell you."

  Mike's face dropped again.

  "Go on," he said quietly.