The following chapter contains mentions and suggestions of acts of violence and abuse. Read with discretion.
Tradition dictates that one should be very attentive during the fifteenth birthday because the awakening of the grimoire occurs at the exact hour of birth. In Alice's case, since the labor lasted longer than expected and began just as the sun was setting, it was difficult to know if it was very late at night or very early in the morning when the young girl finally came into the world. They didn't know the exact hour of birth, only that it was before dawn, so mother and daughter planned to stay up all night.
For the young and obedient Alice, the whole matter of staying up all night felt like a huge act of disobedience, her first act of rebellion on the path to her adult maturity, or so it would be if she weren't staying up with her mother. Even so, it sounded like a good excuse to spend time together, and there weren't many women her age with whom Alice felt comfortable enough.
They spent hours talking about everything and nothing at the same time, a series of recurring topics and others that were just comments of the moment, illusions, and fantasies of a dream so distant and close at the same time. For Ana, it was more or less the same, as she didn't believe she would witness the awakening of Alice's Nexus or the birth of her grimoire. As much as that idea excited her, she was just passing the hours with her daughter, preparing to console her when the sun came up, but her illusions faded.
Mother and daughter shared a cup of chamomile tea while talking. It seemed like a good time to address topics that usually made Alice uncomfortable, as she would be too distracted by the excitement of the moment to filter her words, so Ana guided the conversation out of curiosity.
She started by wanting to know what her dear daughter thought about other young people. Maybe she had misread her daughter's heart, possibly the young girl was already beginning to have romantic feelings, although not in the expected way. Although she didn't know whether to be disappointed or relieved by the answer, it was as obvious as Alice made it seem. Nothing Alice said or did indicate even the possibility that she was in love or interested in anything other than the harvest or knowledge.
Honestly, her mother wasn't too thrilled about the idea of seeing the young girl get married. However, she still worried a bit about how dense her daughter seemed, and the idea that one day she would have to fend for herself scared her quite a bit. Although they enjoyed each other's company, the day would come when nights like these would not be possible. Ana shook her head, getting rid of those bad omens. With how beautiful her daughter was, it was impossible to think she wouldn't find a husband eventually, so Ana decided to stop worrying.
As the hours passed, mother and daughter changed the subject more than once, searching through memories buried by time, and reviewing recipes and traditions that had marked their journey together. They even reached topics where Alice's curiosity took over. It's hard to know what topic started the bombardment, but the questions about all kinds of things that the young girl found fascinating overwhelmed Ana, who could only answer some. The mother was aware of her limited knowledge, clearly no longer enough to satisfy the young girl's curiosity and her desire to understand and help the world around her.
However, Ana wasn't too worried about it. She knew her daughter would soon be able to buy more books to satisfy that curious mind of hers, and she would do it with the sweat of her own brow, so for once, maybe Alice wouldn't feel guilty about that expense.
At some point, the mother-daughter pair noticed that it was already past midnight. Alice's nervousness began to show. Was her birthday at dawn? Or was it simply that the goddess hadn't chosen it as believed, and the Nexus within her was nonexistent?
Seconds passed, which seemed like hours until something happened, although it was not even remotely close to what they expected. At some point between midnight and dawn, Ana noticed a strange phenomenon. Through one of the house's windows, one right behind Alice, she noticed a peculiar beam of light for the late hours of the night. The pleasant conversation stopped with a somber silence as Ana slowly and stealthily approached the window.
The orange lights coming from beyond the glass were not something that should be there. The flames were dazzling and threatening but distant, seeming to come from the opposite end of the village, the one closest to the forest. The shadows of the night took shape from the heat of the flames, but among them, there was nothing Ana could clearly distinguish. Paying attention to the far end, beyond the safety of her home, and leaving the conversation aside, she realized that not only had the dark fabric of the night been broken, but also the peace, the silence... At first, Ana thought it was her imagination hearing something, but after a few moments, she realized that wasn't the case; yes, she could hear something, they were faint and distant, but they were... screams.
Although uncommon in her life, a muffled scream of desperation was unmistakable. Ana felt terror sink into her being, along with the doubt of what was happening. Then, her fears received an answer in the form of a relatively small creature. It was just over a meter and a half tall, with sickly-toned skin, as if it had never been touched by sunlight. Its head, with grotesque features, resembled a bat, with extremely small eyes and nose. You might almost think it wasn't threatening, but hiding from them is almost impossible, as they don't see with those rotting white eyes; they hear you or feel you, they know where you are.
Perhaps due to its small size, the creature looked exaggeratedly muscular, but its body was simply oddly disproportionate as if trying to shed any humanoid traits. It had a pair of enormous hands that, like its head and torso, didn't match the size of its body. Besides its physique, the creature apparently showed traces of intelligence. How else to explain that it carried a lit torch, which even in its crocked hand looked colossal? To Ana's terror, she saw this abomination turn into an alley she knew pointed directly toward her house.
Immediately, all the color drained from her face. Few creatures were known to Ana, and this was one of them, unfortunately not from the pages of a fairy tale book. She knew what that thing was, and she knew it wasn't alone.
Alice just watched as her mother silently got up and peeked through the small space between the curtain and the wall. Not knowing what her mother had seen, she could only watch as her expression turned cold and silent. Alice approached and asked, "Mother, what's wrong?"
The words of her daughter snapped Ana out of the panic forming inside her. She felt part of her soul return to her body, bringing with it desperation. Immediately, she moved to cover Alice's mouth. Seeing those blue eyes looking back at her with nervous doubt reminded her that she couldn't succumb to fear, as she had to worry about more than just her safety.
It was then that the screams became clearer and the lights brighter. As if reality decided to shake Ana, waiting for a reaction, it was no longer one or two creatures seen from the window, but they seemed to multiply by the second. It was then that Ana confirmed what they were. She could see them setting fire to the neighbors' houses, beating those who tried to flee the fire with wooden clubs. This behavior was characteristic of one particular creature: goblins.
What are these creatures doing so far from the mountains? Who incited them? What has Palo Verde done to offend them?
She knew the kind of customs these creatures had toward villages. Words couldn't describe the terror she was feeling at that moment. But for her and her daughter, Ana needed to be strong, or something much worse than death awaited them.
Ana didn't have time to dwell on the matter and console her daughter about her interrupted birthday eve and the awakening of her Nexus. That could wait until they were far and safe. She had to find a way to get her daughter out of there before those creatures reached the doors of their house.
The flames were accompanied by screams of struggle, agony, and a darker, vaguer feeling that Ana recognized and filled her with terror for her daughter.
The once peaceful village of Palo Verde was now stained by the sadistic creatures that came from the forest, bringing tragedy and depravity. With torches in one hand and wooden clubs in the other, without any apparent warning or incitement, the goblins stole the characteristic peace of the small village, leaving behind a trail of blood and despair.
As if death weren't punishment enough, anyone paying attention would notice that the grotesque creatures weren't killing indiscriminately. The selection seemed to be men of all ages and elderly women, leaving the rest alive, unfortunately.
Ana knew that death would have been preferable in comparison.
The creatures, commonly known as goblins, were popular for their appearances in horror stories. Those stories were created to warn young women not to go out at night and not to stray too far from their villages or escorts. The small but vicious creatures weren't very intelligent or high up in the world's hierarchy. However, they were very strong creatures governed simply by the basic needs of life: survival.
It is well known that goblins are an entirely male species and that to reproduce, they require other humanoid species. The problem was that they used their limited intelligence and violence to force themselves on the females of other species and didn't take no for an answer. To the point where, if you were about to be captured by them, it was preferable to end your own life rather than end up in their clutches and be forced to be an incubator for their species.
Prisoners of war have better outcomes. The only period of rest is gestation, and it only happens when they are sure fertilization has occurred. Before this, it is constant and agonizing moments of being violated repeatedly by multiple individuals, as they aren't considerate enough to take turns, and their only concern is the perpetuation of their species. It wasn't uncommon for victims not to survive the process; that's why there are no females of their species.
Ana caught sight of four of them surrounding a young woman out of the corner of her eye. As much as she wanted to help, she was insufficient, even if Alice weren't there. She barely managed to look away when she heard the loud sobs accompanied by groans from hoarse voices drowning out the young woman's screams.
Despite the hatred these unpleasant beasts had earned, they hadn't been eradicated. Their enormous capacity to reproduce with any other humanoid and their much shorter development period compared to others make them an incessant plague. Besides, they were too difficult to track.
Due to their vicious but somewhat cowardly nature, goblin attacks shouldn't be common. The village of Palo Verde seemed defenseless against the massacre and the whirlwind of violations unfolding. Without guards or any fighting force, with a decent population of females for reproduction and plenty of food to loot, the village of Palo Verde was the perfect prey for the goblins.
But goblins are common in deep, dense forests or extensive underground cave networks. It made no sense for them to be in Palo Verde; it made no sense that this was the destiny of the village's young women.
The screams of agony surrounded Ana's thoughts. She was terrified, more than she had ever been in her life, her mind collapsing under the pressure, but it was the feeling of Alice's small hand clutching hers that kept her sane, pushing away the despair, if only for a second.
Ana had never seen a goblin before in her life, nor had any current inhabitant of Palo Verde, though they had heard of them and knew what they did. Regardless of what happened to her, she couldn't let those things capture her daughter. What lay beyond the window were circles of hell on earth, the claws of lust and greed slowly approaching, strengthening Ana's resolve to do anything she could to keep Alice safe.