Shadows Over Arcadia Chapter 23: 23. Little Green Men

Read chapter 23 of Shadows Over Arcadia by Zacheas on NovelPedia.

23. Little Green Men I am Maribel Holloway, age 15, an adventurer on a quest to find a group of missing persons under the orders of Lord Griswald, alongside my friend, Shadow. https://shadowsoverarcadia.com/api/storage/objects/uploads/3436dbb7-6e63-4972-b7d2-a17b68e373de Shadow and I move carefully around the wreckage of the overturned wagon, each of us taking a wide, deliberate path in opposite directions. We watch the ground closely, avoiding disturbing the existing tracks as we search for clues. When we arrived, Shadow assured me that his remarkable senses detected no threats in the vicinity. I confirmed it with my own Predator Sense skill, though I had long since noticed something strange, Shadow never registers as a threat. The first time I realized this was during our battle with the mithril fur bears several arcs ago. Now, I understand why. He’s not a living being, but a golem. My skill likely has limitations when it comes to non-living dangers, meaning something could still be lurking unseen. “There are two different sets of tracks,” Shadow calls from the other side of the wagon. “Larger, human-sized boot prints… but also a bunch of smaller, barefoot tracks.” I kneel down, examining a set of small, bare footprints smeared through a pool of blood. My gaze follows the trail as it converges with others, all leading away from the wagon and into the open fields to the north. “Whatever they are, there were a lot of them,” I observe, estimating the numbers. “At least ten. They headed north across this field.” “They look like goblin tracks,” Shadow muses with a sigh. I glance over the wreckage to see him standing with his hands on his hips, shaking his head. “I don’t believe ten goblins could overpower two veteran Arcadian knights,” I say skeptically. “They didn’t,” Shadow replies, pointing to a set of long streaks in the dirt on his side of the wagon. Blood trails. “Our missing people were dragged in the opposite direction, along with these larger boot prints.” He turns, gesturing farther up the road toward Ashford. “And those drag marks lead to a fresh set of wagon tracks… heading straight for Ashford.” “Well, I don’t think humans are working with goblins,” I say, standing up and pulling my fur cloak tighter around me. The winter chill bites at my skin, my breath visible in the crisp air. “Goblins don’t work well with anyone.” “Chances are the two sets of tracks are unrelated,” Shadow says, rubbing the back of his head as if wrestling with the decision ahead. “But they still present a serious problem. Whoever took our people headed toward Ashford. And based on the goblin tracks overlapping the boot prints, the goblins stripped the wagon after they were already taken.” “So what’s the problem? That means we need to go to Ashford to investigate, right?” I huff, white vapor escaping my lips. Shadow hesitates. “We don’t know for sure that all of our missing persons were taken there,” he says carefully. “And goblins… well, they’re known for taking female prisoners.” His voice carries an edge of disgust, and I feel a sickening realization creep up my spine. A knot tightens in my stomach. I know exactly what he means. “Any time goblins are sighted, they need to be eliminated,” Shadow continues, his tone darkening. “If we let them go, they’ll raid nearby villages. They’ll take prisoners.” His heavy steps bring him closer to me. “And if there’s even the slightest chance they have prisoners… if they might have Diana…” He doesn’t finish the sentence. He doesn’t have to. A wave of nausea washes over me. The thought is unbearable and it forces open a door I’ve worked so hard to keep shut. An old, buried memory claws its way back to the surface—a memory I refuse to relive. My heart races. I start to shiver, and not from the cold. The images flood my mind, vivid and unrelenting, no matter how hard I try to push them back. No… stop. “Maribel, you okay?” Shadow’s voice cuts through the haze, grounding me. His heavy but gentle hand rests on my