***Kairo's POV***
When we stepped out of the cave, the light from the sun was almost blinding.
After my eyes adjusted, the first thing I saw was the worried expressions on Matt and Bernadette's faces. Next was the goblin sitting against a tree, which Alcon is already glaring at and walking towards.
Bernadette moves to stand in his way.
"Get out of the way bitch!"
She simply shook her head, a determined look in her eye.
As Alcon went to shove his way past her, I stepped in to stop him, putting my hand on his chest.
"Let's hear what they have to say first."
Begrudgingly, he agrees and sheathes his sword. I look to Matt, who turns to the goblin and taps it with his staff.
"Tell him what you told us."
Glancing between Matt and I, the goblin slowly starts talking.
"We were sent to set a foothold in the kingdom for the coming-"
Before the goblin could finish speaking, I turn and motion for Alcon to get on with it.
Bernadette goes to stop him again, but I grab her arm and explain to both her and Matt, who is looking at me with wide eyes.
"We already know this. At the back of the cave, we fought a Goblin Chief. He admitted to being the weakest one, sent on this mission as a last chance to prove himself. Before Alcon finished him off, we questioned him and got some answers. The goblins are growing an attack force and are trying to gain a foothold before the war breaks out. So there's no need to keep him alive."
"But we promised to not kill him!"
Matt interjected and Bernadette nods in agreement with him.
"Listen, I know promises are important, but do you know what we found at the back of the cave? Human remains. And not just any humans, women and children. They killed and ate fucking children! Committed unspeakable acts on the women before ending their lives! Do you really think he deserves to live?!"
When I say this they go deathly pale and look at the goblin differently. He can see the disgust in their eyes and knows that their opinion has changed, so he goes to make a run for it.
He doesn't make it more than ten feet before Alcon tackles him and pins him down with a knee.
With a snarl, he stabs the goblin in the chest with his sword. He doesn't stand up until the goblin stops moving. As he cleans his blade, I address the entire group.
"We need to go back into the cave. For multiple reasons, but foremost we need to get those children's bodies out of there so their parents can properly mourn. There's also a lot of supplies and equipment that we can remove and give to the villagers to sell. They need the money after everything that has happened."
Everyone nods and starts the long process of cleaning out the cave. First, we remove all the goblin corpses and put them in a pile outside using wheelbarrows we found. Next, we carefully take all of the human remains out of the cave, making sure to keep them as separate as possible.
Finally, we take all the barrels of weapons and wine out of the cave. There's not much else, so after we take any remaining supplies out of the cave we leave.
Before walking back to the town, Natalia puts up a stone wall in front of the entrance so nothing can inhabit the cave easily. We also burn all of the goblins corpses after taking anything they have of value.
When we got back to the town, all the people who had lost someone cried in agony while their neighbors comforted them.
After thanking us for bringing back the remains, the village chief invites us to the funeral they were going to have. Feeling bad for the families, everyone agrees to attend. Except for Alcon, but he quickly changed his mind after the threatening gazes we all sent his way.
We also try to give the village all the equipment and wine, but they tell us to keep it, saying that we stopped the goblins and helped the village so we deserve a reward.
However, I manage to convince the village elder to accept half the money we're going to make from selling the equipment. He only agrees once I tell him to give it to those who lost the most, whether it be family, animals, or property.
After shaking hands to complete the deal, the entire village starts preparing for the funeral.
***
The sun is slowly sinking below the horizon, illuminating the entire village standing in front of ten freshly dug graves. Six are smaller than the other four, only about two-thirds as tall. Nearly everyone stands in silence as the bodies are lowered into the ground.
Families are mourning in their own way, whether it be crying, screaming, or standing in silence. The younger siblings and small children of those lost seem unsure of what is going on, but remain quiet. A mother collapses in front of the smallest grave and slams her fist into the ground, screaming and crying until she became hoarse, then doing it some more.
It feels like there is a knot in my throat, making it hard to swallow. My eyes burn and I struggle to not cry as I see so many families that needlessly lost a loved one. At the same time, my rage is smoldering under my skin, only suppressed by my self control.
As the funeral comes to a close, I make a silent promise to myself and all the families here.
'I'm going to kill that fucking Goblin King!'