Tarni tried to relax on the couch, but the damned glowing orb hovered behind him like a smug halo, humming gently in the air and lighting up everything around him. He tossed one arm over his eyes, but it didn't help. The light was warm, persistent, and more annoying than a mozzie at two in the morning.

With a growl, he sat up. "Bugger this."

The old springs creaked under him as he stood and stomped over to the window. "Zane, you arse! I told you I'm supposed to be on watch next, and I look like a bloody Christmas decoration!"

From below, Zane laughed.

Tarni gave him the bird, then turned and marched for the Ladder. "Sod off."

Zane laughed harder, and Tarni jumped the last half of the ladder, then he stepped out into the cool air.

The orb bobbed just behind his shoulder like a loyal pet. It lit the grass ahead of him, throwing long shadows through the trees as he stalked past the gravel ring and toward the edge of their perimeter. The moon was rising, casting pale light across the clearing, but the magical glow behind him made every stick, leaf, and rock in front of him stand out like high beams on a foggy road.

He spotted Lily near the gully, just past the excavator.

She moved carefully.

Too carefully.

She had her bow out, arrow nocked but not drawn. Her body was angled low, half-crouched behind the machine.

Then she froze.

A beat. Two.

Her shoulders tensed—then she kept moving.

Tarni narrowed his eyes.

What the hell's she doing?

He angled toward her, not calling out, just following at a slow, measured pace. The glowing orb made him stand out like a flare in the night, but it also lit the way ahead of him.

And that's when it happened.

Lily had almost reached the far side of the machine when she sucked in a sharp breath—and suddenly leapt backward with a cry.

"SHIT—!"

Movement exploded in the underbrush.

Tarni caught a flash—no, several flashes—of green limbs and jagged metal. Goblins. Small and fast and low to the ground. The trap had been set. They'd waited like ticks in the weeds.

And the glow behind Tarni, had just blown the whole thing wide open.

"GOBLINS!" Lily shouted.

Zane was already running. "I'm coming!"

Inside the house, chairs scraped.

"Kai! Bell!" Zane yelled over his shoulder.

"We've got the rear!" Kai shouted back from the porch. "You three take front!"

The clearing lit up with motion. Tarni yanked the machete from his belt and sprinted toward Lily. She was already moving, losing an arrow that thudded into the shoulder of the closest goblin—a scrawny runt with twisted bolts jutting from its face.

It dropped with a gurgling scream.

Two others lunged, one toward Tarni, the other toward Zane as he arrived from the side. The goblins had lost their element of surprise, and they knew it. Their ambush had failed. But they still moved to injure, to maim—enough to drag one human back screaming.

Not tonight.

Tarni met his with a grunt, swinging hard. The goblin ducked, slashing with a piece of jagged pipe. Sparks flew as it glanced off Tarni's Machete. He kicked the creature square in the chest, sending it tumbling.

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Zane brought down his machete with brutal efficiency, slashing into another runt's arm before it could stab. It yelped and scurried back into the undergrowth.

More were fleeing now—melting into the shadows, darting for the gully.

Lily had already drawn another arrow, but she hesitated—then loosed. The shaft caught a second goblin low in the back. It dropped face-first and didn't move.

Tarni bolted forward again, but the rest of the little monsters had already vanished into the trees.

Gone.

Silence settled in, broken only by the huff of breath.

"Everyone okay?" Zane called, turning back.

Lily nodded, lowering her bow. "Yeah. That… that was close."

Tarni swore under his breath and pointed to the orb still bobbing behind him. "If this bloody thing hadn't lit them up, they'd have had you."

She looked at him, startled.

"I saw you freeze. You didn't see them 'til the last second."

She swallowed. "I… I didn't."

Zane stepped up beside them, his expression turning serious. "That wasn't a random attack. They were trying to snatch someone."

"Set the bait. Wait for a lone idiot," Tarni muttered. "Damn near worked, too."

Lily's hands were shaking slightly as she put her arrow back into her quiver. "It would've, if I'd gone another step."

Zane exhaled, eyes scanning the trees.

"Come on," Zane said, catching his breath. "Let's check for drops."

The three of them moved through the trampled brush, stepping over crushed ferns and boot-marked dirt. There was a dark smudge where the Goblin that Lily had dropped with an arrow through the back. The other goblin had fled or bled out somewhere deeper in the woods.

Zane knelt beside the smudge and used the tip of his machete to search the ground. "They were Ugly little bastard."

"Smelly buggers," Tarni muttered.

A soft ding sounded near Lily.

After they had finished checking, there was a half-eaten frog leg, and some grimy string, there was nothing of use. No potions. No coins. No gear.

"Nothing," Lily said, rising. "Not even scrap worth keeping."

"Disappointing," Tarni said. "Could've at least dropped something shiny."

"Come on," Zane said. "Let's get back. We've got things to talk about."

They climbed the ladder back up to the house and were met by the warm light of a single candle in the kitchen window. Bell and Kai stood near the door, both of them on edge, weapons in hand.

Bell stepped forward first, eyes scanning her daughter. "Are you alright?"

Lily nodded. "I'm fine. We all are."

Kai exhaled in relief and moved to check the perimeter with Tarni.

Bell pulled her daughter gently inside and sat her at the kitchen table. The glow from the candle danced between them.

"What happened?" she asked softly.

Lily hesitated, then told her everything. The noise. The decision to go alone. The voice in her head telling her to prove herself. The ambush. The goblins. And the last-minute reveal thanks to the glowing orb.

Bell didn't scold her. She just listened. And when Lily finished, eyes downcast, Bell leaned in and placed a hand over hers.

"You don't need to prove anything to anyone, love," she said. "You're already more capable than half the people I've ever met."

"But I was the last to get the System. And I've barely leveled. I thought if I showed I could handle something on my own—"

"Being reckless doesn't make you strong," Bell said gently. "But learning from it does."

They sat in silence for a moment.

"Ok, where are you going to spend your 3 XP?" Bell asked

"I was thinking two into wisdom and one into dexterity, you know, so I might not make such stupid mistakes in the future. Also, I did remember to use my skill on one of them, it was a Runtling Goblin level 2 runtling."

With a small nod of acknowledgment, Bell gave her hand a squeeze. "Come on. We should tell the others. Everyone needs to know how close it was."

Back outside, Zane stood by the fence line, staring at the trees.

The orb still floated behind Tarni's shoulder, casting long shadows across the bush.

Zane scratched his chin, conflicted.

Tarni noticed. "What?"

Zane gave a small grunt. "I was a dick."

Tarni smirked. "Yeah. You were."

"I hated getting this stupid skill," Zane admitted. "Thought it was useless. Flashy, annoying. I mean, Create Light? Who the hell gets that when goblins are trying to stab you?"

"Someone who just saved his daughter," Tarni said simply.

Zane glanced sideways at him.

"I was trying to be funny," he said. "But the truth is, if that light hadn't been on you, Lily wouldn't have seen them in time."

Tarni shrugged. "Then maybe don't aim it at my head next time."

Zane chuckled, then raised a hand. The glowing orb hovered upward, obeying the motion.

"I'll move it to the fence posts for now," he said. "Might as well make use of it while it lasts."

He floated the orb to the edge of their perimeter—anchoring it to fence posts, branches, and even one of the oil drum traps. It flickered gently, casting a warm halo as it was moved around the house. Not enough to blind, but enough to see by.

As Zane anchored it near the excavator, he looked out across the clearing where the goblins had waited.

And for a moment, he imagined what could've happened.

That was too close.

He took a deep breath and turned back to the house, where the warm glow of home and family still waited in the night.

Lily Rider.

Level: 3 Strength: 11 Dexterity: 12 Constitution: 9 Intelligence: 10 Wisdom: 10 Charisma: 9

You Took Your Time

(5th to kill a dungeon defender +1 XP to all stats per level until Level 5.)

Skills

Basic Rapid Appraisal.

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