The battlefield still smoldered, the air thick with smoke and with the stench of charred flesh. Rem wiped her palms against her clothing, then turned her gaze towards Amaia.
"Let's survey the battlefield," she said flatly. "I want to determine how many of the demi-humans were killed."
Amaia gave a short nod and set out to work without comment. Her armored gauntlets lifted fallen goblins into piles. A flash of fire magic from her hands consumed them, reducing their twisted bodies to ash. "Better to burn them," she said. "Otherwise, other monsters will scavenge the flesh and grow stronger. It is one of the oldest ways beasts evolve they consume another's body and inherit their strength."
Rem left her to it, Ciara shifting uneasily on her shoulder, tails brushing against her neck. She moved towards the center of the camp, her boots crunching through brittle bones on the ground from older sacrifices.
At a giant firepit lay in the village center, with dozens of stakes sticking out of the ground. The blackened husks of demi-humans clung to them—cat-girls with ears shriveled, dog demi-humans with fur burned away, and others Rem could not even identify. The sight was grotesque, but it told her something.
If the goblins were willing to burn females, they must have a surplus of captives. So where are the others?
She pressed two fingers to her temple and cast a detection spell. Energy rippled outwards in all directions, probing for any lingering signs of life. Nothing respond to her spell. Amaia did not count, as a magical construct, and Ciara was perched safely against her neck.
Rem frowned. "Is this not their main encampment? Could this just be a forward base?"
This thought chilled Rem. Forward bases mean planning, and planning means organization. If monsters are gathering like this, Darkgloom is in danger.
Rem didn't want to turn back. But she couldn't ignore this either. Her lips tightened. I can't let Cindy Lou die… or the foxes in that stall. Rem told herself she is not saving a city of strangers, just so she can ensure a few cat-girls and foxes can live.
Rem's eyes caught onto another altar further inside the fire pit. Bodies lay across it, their chest cavities torn open, ritual knives still lodged in their hearts. Blood pooled black beneath them. With totems standing nearby, carved from bone and twisted wood, humming faintly with power.
Rem bent closer. Thin lines of magic spiraled from the corpses into the totems, which pulsed faintly as though alive. The vitality of these sacrifices is being siphoned away, funneled somewhere else.
Rem's eyes narrowed. So-called gods powered by blood magic. Rem knew blood mages who used their own blood as fuel, and that is tolerable. But using unwilling sacrifices? This was something else entirely.
Her hand rose, and fire bloomed at her fingertips. A sweep of her arm sent blue-orange flames cascading over the altars. The bodies hissed and blackened, the wood catching fire instantly. The totems screamed. A sound like agony ripped through the air, high-pitched and desperate, as if the totems themselves resisted destruction.
Rem's mouth curved upwards faintly. She poured more power into the fire, as white-hot heat engulfed the totems. The shrieking intensified until crack! the totems split apart and collapsed, devoured by blue flames. The sound cut off all at once, leaving only the hiss of burning ash.
Rem turned back to Amaia, who already finished her work. Every goblin corpse and stake was reduced to charred cinders. Smoke drifted across the camp like funeral incense.
"Amaia," Rem said, "I've decided. We're turning back. We'll hold off on the Underworld for now. We need to warn Cindy Lou and the city guard of a possible monster attack. The fact that this has been allowed to go unchecked is deeply concerning to me. And no, I'm not going back just because there are foxes in the city, or because I made friends with a cat-girl. I'm not that easily persuaded by cute things."
Amaia was grateful her helmet still covered her face; she rolled her eyes unseen. Her lady's excuses are as transparent as air. Of course it's about Cindy Lou and those foxes.
"My lady," Amaia said smoothly, "if you want to return, then let's head back. We can reach Darkgloom before nightfall. Once we inform Cindy Lou, they will need to mobilize what adventurers that remain in the ciry. The guild looked deserted when we visited, but they must have some strength hidden away. Either way, we should move quickly."
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