The goblin's head left its shoulders in a single swing of Viktor's axe, landing with a squelch in the disgusting brown muck of a nearby mud pool.

The body wobbled for a few seconds, then toppled over backwards and splashed into the water, gushing crimson from its stump. The blood mixed into the sloshy, half frozen stream, spilling a revolting ooze into the flow and onto the surrounding snowy streambanks.

Viktor sighed, pulling a black boot out of the suction of the mud and holding a dark-gloved hand against the old bark of a nearby tree to stabilise his weight as he did the same with his other foot.

It was a schlep coming down here into the Black Forest to hunt for greenskins but the coin was good, and it wasn't a bad way to pass the time, if you were in a mood to kill something. That said, the fact that the area managed to be at once frozen over with winter chill and still muddy as all hell was actually slightly impressive.

Winter may have coated every dark tree in at least a moderate amount of snow and the ground might have been white with the stuff, but the flow of the streams kept them from freezing over completely. Something about the soil from the area created a distinctly gloopy mud when it became wet enough. It was like wading through some baker's dough mixed with treacle, at once watery enough to get everywhere and yet viscous enough to suck a man to his death like quicksand if he wasn't careful with his footing.

Viktor reached into one of the pockets in his studded leather vest, careful not to catch himself on one of the many spikes he'd sewn into the black fabric.

He pulled a knife out and slowly trundled his way over to the goblin's corpse, turning it over in the muck and ripping into its crude jerkin.

As always, Viktor found it distinctly creepy to be looting the body of something so small, feeling like he was desecrating the corpse of a child. But no, it was simply rare for a goblin to reach more than four feet tall. At least in this part of the wilderness.

Besides, a hungry man couldn't put sentimentality on his plate.

The goblins one could find in the mountains of Adelstrad Province tended towards being larger and more aggressive, but the forest goblins had more of an appreciation for shiny things. Hence, they made their home in the wetter areas of the Black Forest, hoping to find human caravans to waylay.

Viktor's hand fished around the small creature's pockets, but he frustratingly found nothing of any great value on it. The executioner resisted the urge to growl in irritation.

'No good fish today?' End asked from the dirty tree she was perched in, little more than a shadow attached to a pair of pale, dextrous hands. The tone of her voice was somewhere between mocking and genuine, though the way she idly flipped through the pages of the small black book she had brought with her told him it probably landed more towards the latter.
'I came here with black trousers and a grey tunic, End. Now both are brown, and I smell like shit. What do you think?'

'I told you that there were easier ways to make money, didn't I?' she scoffed.

'You did.'

'I'm amazed you even found a part of the forest that wasn't too frozen over to hunt in. I was expecting that we'd have to dig the little shits out of their dug ins with our bare hands.'

'We would have, if we were closer to the caravan roads that crisscross the forest. The ground is sturdier there and safer to travel. Faster too. Hence why they built the roads where they did.
 

'Right now, we're relatively close to one of the distributaries of the Riling River, which is why we're in a wet frozen shithole forest instead of just a frozen shithole forest. We aren't quite in the real fucking swampy bits where you'll find the giant mushrooms and the drowned undead, but it's getting there. East and south parts of the forest are where you find that nonsense, apparently.

'I heard a rumour that the tribes that live in this part of the region stay a bit more active this time of year, seeing as they can't really dig burrows and wait the winter out like some of the others can.'

Viktor gestured around at the muddy, snowed ground around them.

'Hence why we're looking around here and not going along the roads with spades. I grant that it's wet and fucking cold, but the coin's better this way. Who knows, maybe we get lucky and find a set of tree houses? They nest in those, apparently.'

A pale hand pointed to the small pouch of goblin ears he'd asked her to carry for him, resting at her side on the dark branch. 'These won't fetch more than, what, fifteen coppers per set? I'd hardly call the money good.'

'We aren't all light enough on our feet to make it in the Thieves' Guild, woman. Besides, it's not as if my current situation as it stands leaves me with much room for sudden changes of career, now does it?'

He pointed a somewhat irate finger at the loose, full-face black hood that was the ceremonial mark of his profession. Through the eyeholes, his brown eyes directed a dry look at her.
 

'Grumpy sod,' End shot back. 'You know, I don't need to be here in this glorified latrine.'

'You sort of do.'

'Oh? How's that?'

'Because you'd worry about me if I went hunting alone. If I died to a giant frog in the haunted forest, who else would you bitch to about stupid work problems? Our relationship is a symbiotic one of equal bitching and an equal share of goblin ears.'

Viktor sloshed through the stream and clambered onto the riverbank, dodging under the small stone End threw at his head. Eventually, after much time spent digging through the muck, his hand brushed against the goblin's head.

He pulled it up, finding himself staring at the wide, red eyes of an impressively ugly creature with a hairless head and two slits instead of a nose. Viktor narrowed his eyes at the shade of its skin, being a lighter green than he was used to finding in this part of the province. Almost snot green, actually.

'Oi. Is it just me or is the colouring on this one a little off? Do you think it's diseased or something?'

'I doubt it. Goblins don't take well to disease. They tend to rot. You'd know if this one was afflicted with something. Might be a plains goblin.'

'What, from the western parts of the province?'

'They migrate sometimes. The forest tribes like to settle down in relatively permanent areas and the mountain goblins love caves, but you sometimes get some clans crossing over from Westrom. I think I remember someone saying Westromite gobbos look a little like this one. Any ritual scarring?'

'No, but he's got an iron ring in his nose. I don't suppose the Guild of Monsters is offering more for the foreign kind?'

'Ugh, no. Like I said earlier, they aren't offering any bounties for goblins. Too many of them and not worth the cull. Merchants find it easier just to hire an extra guard or two to exterminate them when they're encountered on the road. The Church are the only people who care enough to offer coin for the damned things. And as I said, it's chump change.'

'Maybe for a woman who's gotten too used to the finer thefts in life.' Viktor produced a shank he had stolen off someone at some point and began sawing the goblin's ears off.

He almost felt the dry look End gave him as he battled with the sinew.

'How's work?' he asked boredly, raising his voice to be heard as he hunched down into the muck, finally pulling the first ear free.

'I don't have any new titbits for you just yet. Maybe in a few days. You'll find it in the usual spot.'

'Not what I meant. I'm just asking how you are doing.' The second ear came free faster, seeing as he worked the blade more aggressively.

'Mickey is running me a bit ragged lately,' End admitted. 'Break-ins, messages that need delivering, marks that need to get scratched into spots.'

'In my experience, Mick likes to overwork the people she trusts, rather than risk someone she doesn't fucking something up. Might be something there. She might not even notice that she's working you like a mule. She's too upbeat to intentionally be a dick to her men.'

'Don't remind me. That woman smiles too much. It's unnatural.'

'Maybe I smile a lot under this hood. You don't know.'

'Not a single person in Adelstrad believes you ever smile, Viktor. The closest I've ever found is that evil laugh you do when something goes your way or you think a horrifying situation is funny.'

To illustrate the point, End emitted a dark, mocking warble that admittedly was a pretty decent approximation of Viktor's own villainous chuckle.

He stood up and then immediately packed himself into a damned tree branch. End snickered at him as he recovered and approached, tossing the ears up with one hand and wiping more mud off his vest with the other.

'The sun's going to set soon and my shift is coming up. Buy you a drink sometime tomorrow when you're awake enough to function? You did sort of do all the actual hunting work. Again.'

End gently jumped down the tree, landing with such a minimal amount of sound that he wouldn't have noticed her move if he hadn't been looking at her already.

There was little illumination in the Black Forest, even when there should have been. The trees had a habit of swallowing all the light up and the winter sun didn't offer as much light as it could have, leaving her little more than a dark blotch against some more dark blotches.
End still didn't approach the light of the torch he had awkwardly balanced against a different tree, again only letting him see her hands.

He didn't take offence. Viktor had learned some time ago that End was more comfortable in the shadows.

'I would, but I've got work nonsense as well. Lauter says he wants me for something tomorrow. Said nothing about what, just that I need to wake up early for it.'

'I'm surprised. The last watch captain didn't exactly like your face very much. The new one seems to think you're a lot more useful than Drought did.'

Viktor let a breath out, idly wiping the muck off his axe using a nearby dead tree. An owl sounded from somewhere above them and he found himself grumbling. The Black Forest was more creepy than it was dangerous most of the time, but the exception to the rule could get you killed if you weren't paying attention and ready to either fight or fuck off at a moment's notice.

There were far worse things than goblins hiding among the trees and the mud.

'Lauter's unorthodox,' the executioner answered. 'Especially when you measure him against Adelstradian standards.'

'Hmm. Whenever Drought made you get up early for something stupid, you always had a storm to swear up about it.'

Viktor shrugged. 'I'll take the new man's bullshit over what I had to deal with when Drought was calling the shots any day of the week. You've seen some of the other guild heads in the Lowers. I'm sure you feel the same way about Mick, much as she truly earns the occasional bitch behind her back.' 

End nodded, waving the bag of ears meaningfully.

'I'll make sure to send you your cut in the next drop.'

* * *

'Are we ready to proceed?'

The woman's voice came in an impossibly hoarse rasp, bearing an accent that grated the edge of his patience. Doubly aggravating, seeing as he had considered it pleasant the first time it had found his ears. They had spoken in person before and he had vastly preferred communicating with her without the use of magic.

Though, perhaps there was something to be said for not needing to be physically near One very much. He found her already fragile patience much more susceptible to fraying when she was actually close enough to choke whoever she was speaking to.

Two bit down on a crude retort. Telling her not to nag would only net him a nasty glare and three hours spent listening to her as she explained again what the stakes were. Failing to display complete and utter attention during that lecture would earn him, at best, a cantrip that would cause him searing pain or, at worst, a demand that he meet with her in person so that she could beat him bloody.

One was not a patient woman and, as much as it pained him to admit it, he was nowhere near a point where he could openly challenge her.

Still, it was largely of no consequence. He could at the very least thank his lucky stars that their business would likely conclude soon.

'Almost,' he answered back. 'Things are going according to schedule. Be assured that there haven't been any major delays or any other...breaches.'

She scowled at him through the magical mirror, appearing as little more than a floating mass of smoky tendrils with two blue hexagonal gems for eyes. Just looking at the magic that was used to conjure her hurt his own eyes, but he refrained from looking away.

One would not appreciate the display of weakness.

'Ah, assurances,' she mocked. 'You assured me that you were confident in Four. Now you use that exact same wording when you tell me that things are going properly. Need I remind you that the boy made a habit of snooping for knowledge of our operations beyond what he needed to know?'

Two gritted his teeth, thankful for the hood that hid his face. Thunder struck outside and the storm momentarily seemed to worsen, harsh hail pattering against the windows of his office.
'Four was an unfortunate situation.'

'Need I remind you that he also got cold feet and attempted to cut and run? That cleaning him up and ensuring that he was unable to do anything foolish was a complication I didn't appreciate having to manoeuvre my way around?'

Two sucked in a breath in. 'I understand your apprehension. I vouched for Four and he turned out to be less than trustworthy. This does not mean that he was not useful. No one was more qualified to handle procurement than—'

She raised a single threatening hand from inside the mirror and he knew better than to keep talking.
One sighed, the spell making it sound like angry wind coming over coals.

'You are lucky that I think I might have a soft spot for you, Two. Understand that the last days of something like this are the most fragile. Considering this reality, I dearly hope that Three's patience is not coming unthreaded. That girl's name should have been Reckless.'

Rich coming from her. Two felt the tiniest pinprick of courage press itself into his stomach. He might not have been stupid enough to casually tempt a woman who could kill him without even needing to be in the same room as him, but if anyone else had snarked at him about the woman he loved like that, they might have already found themselves with a curseling embedded in their intestines.

'Three is as passionate as ever and dislikes the waiting. This much has not changed. Neither has her intelligence nor her understanding of the situation.'

'Bring her in here and say that again. She might let you get lucky tonight,' One snarked, waving a dismissive hand.

Two found himself proud of his own patience, that yellow lightning didn't begin to crackle from his fingertips at that.

'Will there be anything else?' he asked instead, flinching a little as the thunder seethed outside. One noticed.

'Scared of the rain?' she mocked.

'Scared of the things that hide in the rain.'

'Not yet. They will soon. No need to prematurely grey your hair before then, Two.' One's gemstone eyes narrowed with cruel mirth.

Soft spot his hide.

'We have less than a month before the city falls,' One continued on, taking the matter back to business. 'After this has occurred and I have taken my seat on the Mournful Throne, you and Three will be rewarded accordingly, as promised.'

He found himself again concerned with the knowledge that One almost certainly intended to betray them as soon as it was feasible to do so. He reminded himself for the thousandth time that even One would have a distinctly unpleasant experience fighting both him and Three at the same time and that other contingencies had been put into place besides.

Powerful a witch as One was, she had nothing near the material resources Two was able to command. At least not without arousing the most significant and damning kind of suspicion.
'What will become of Five?'

'Ah. Have you become attached to the creature?' One's smoky face split into a wide grin, revealing a mouth of yet more gemstones broken into vicious shards.

Two sighed again, not rising to the bait.

'It is useful to me. That is my only concern.'

'If you are able to keep it under control, do with it as you will.' One shrugged. 'It is of no consequence to me.'

That was fortunate. Five was unstable and delighted in carnage even more than One did, but it was extremely good to have on your side, if you could placate it with wine and bloodshed.
Two again resisted the urge to flinch, feeling himself become painfully aware of how much time he had recently spent using wine and bloodshed as tools of diplomacy. How much more so ever since certain significant events involving Three had occurred...

'Do you plan to stay in Adelstrad?' One asked suddenly, pulling him from his thoughts.

'The province or the city?'

'Either or.'

He frowned, giving her a look. 'You know the answer to that question already, One. There is nothing here for me.'

'And Three?'

'Feels the same way.'

She regarded Two for a long moment, tilting her head at him.

'Curious. I have known one or two budding witches in my time, Two. It is a rare one that doesn't feel much urge to rule over the survivors of their first tragedy. Some even hold the memory close to their hearts. Some of them believe that, much like lovemaking, you never forget your first. The desire to prolong it can be...intoxicating.'

Two didn't verbalise that all the witches One knew were, much like the woman herself, utterly insane. The chances were high that she would simply find the comment amusing, but even high chances weren't good odds when it came to needlessly baiting the lunatic he was speaking to.

'This has never been about petty retribution, One.' Two decided to deflect the question, not liking the sudden change in topic.

He expected her to offer him another nasty grin for that, truly he did. Instead, One was uncharacteristically short of either mocking laughter or dire insinuations.

'I will take my leave now,' One declared without confirming if he had anything he needed to ask of her.

'One month, Two. One month and you will be free of this place.'

The magical mirror shattered into a thousand pieces, spilling shards all over the floor as thunder sounded a third time outside. They stayed motionless for just a few moments, then vibrated on the floor.

They zipped rapidly back into place, clinking softly against one another as the artifact reformed good as new before him. More importantly, there was not a single sign that the mirror had just hosted magic used to plot the city's downfall.

Two smiled despite himself, deciding to trod over to one of the windows and unlatch it. He pushed his hood off and pressed his face out into the cold, completely uncaring of the hail that battered his head. Two ran a calming hand down his nose, rubbing his eyes. He only now realised how hot it had been with the anxiety and agitation that meetings with One always brought.

And yet, it would all be worth it soon. They were near the culmination point. Adelstrad would burn and he would be long gone from this wretched place.