Lilith flew among the clouds.
Her body trembled. The high-altitude air was a blade that cut her skin. Her face was pale, her lips tinged a faint blue from the cold.
Below, the world rushed by.
Small towns. Roads like threads of earth. Forests turning into green patches.
Until the landscape changed.
She reached the Abyssal Kingdom. There were no trees here. Only an immense valley of gray rock, cut by deep faults that looked like scars on the earth. She followed the course of a crack until she found a river.
And by the water, a tribe.
They were orcs. Enormous beings, with dark green skin and long tusks protruding from their lower jaws. They wore crude furs, sewn with sinews. They sat around bonfires that gave off thick, black smoke.
Many pointed to the sky as she passed.
Lilith didn't stop. She looked for the center of the settlement.
She descended.
Her feet touched the stone delicately. The impact made her stagger for a second. The sentinels ran toward her, surrounding her with stone axes and heavy wooden spears.
Lilith rubbed one of her wings. She sighed.
"Finally," she said. "The journey was too long."
She dropped her leather suitcase to the ground. The thud was sharp.
"What are you doing here, little thing?" asked an orc, bringing the edge of his axe close to Lilith's neck.
"Nothing bad for you," she replied. "I just wanted to speak with your leader."
"No."
"Yes!" someone shouted from behind the wall of warriors.
The crowd parted.
He appeared. He was much larger than the others. More hideous. He had a horned skin tied to his back. He walked until he stood in front of Lilith. He bent his torso, bringing his face close to hers.
"What is a demon doing in my tribe?"
Lilith narrowed her eyes. The orc's stench was a mix of rotting meat and stale sweat. She felt a drop of the leader's saliva hit her cheek.
"I will never forgive you for what your ancestors did to mine," the leader growled.
The orc closed his immense fist. Threw a direct punch.
Lilith reacted immediately. She levitated, rising a meter above the ground. The fist cut through the air where her head had been.
"Wait!" she shouted at him.
"We're not going to talk!"
The leader picked up a stone from the ground. Threw it with devastating force. The projectile hit the edge of one of Lilith's wings.
She shook violently in the air. The pain was a sharp jab that ran down her back. She moved away immediately, gliding through the air currents to gain distance.
Her expression was pained. She looked at her wing while flying. A dark bruise spread across the membrane.
"Damn you," she muttered. "You'll see."
She flapped again. Ignored the war cries rising from the valley.
She kept flying south.
---
The rocky landscape transformed into a dense swamp. Yellowish willows with branches touching the stagnant water. The air was heavy, laden with humidity and the smell of mold.
Lilith perched on the branch of a willow. Her feet sank slightly into the soft wood.
*How will I find a goblin in all this?*
She descended to the ground. Decided that levitating near the water was cleaner. She hid her wings under the fabric of her dress. She glided between the roots and reeds.
Everything looked the same. Mud and shadow.
Until she saw a nest. A mound of branches and mud jutting out of the water. Above it, a circular hole served as an entrance.
"Is this it?"
Lilith extended the palm of her hand. Fired a small fireball at the structure.
The nest blew apart.
But something leaped toward her.
Lilith turned around. It was a scrawny little man with black skin and a rat's head. He shrieked hysterically. Upon seeing her, he began to jump frantically, trying to reach her feet with small claws.
Lilith watched him for a second.
"Disgusting."
She turned around and continued on her way. The rat-man kept shrieking behind her.
She continued searching through the undergrowth.
She saw something better. A small hut, built with reeds and dry mud. Outside, sitting on a stone, was him.
A goblin.
He had pale green skin and long, pointed ears. He was focused, sharpening a wooden stake with a blunt stone.
Lilith smiled. She slipped stealthily behind the hut.
The goblin stopped. He felt the footsteps. He dropped the stake and picked up a splintered wooden spear. He walked slowly toward the sound.
Lilith was there, hiding behind her leather suitcase.
"Halt!" she said. "I'm just a traveler who got lost."
The goblin growled. His yellow eyes shone with malice.
"Do you understand me?" she asked.
The creature screamed. Threw his spear. The wood bounced off Lilith's suitcase with a dull thud.
The creature lunged at her, throwing punches and bites. It barely reached her thigh. Lilith stood still, watching the scene with boredom.
She grabbed him by the neck with one hand. Lifted him into the air. The goblin kicked violently.
Lilith threw him into the swamp water.
"You're useless to me," she said. "You're too old."
She looked at the house. The entrance was covered with a curtain of dry grass.
She entered, crouching.
The interior smelled rancid. There were bone remains on the dirt floor. But her attention focused on a straw nest in the corner. She removed a dirty cloth covering it.
Beneath, two babies. Blind. With wrinkled, pinkish skin.
Lilith smiled.
She opened her suitcase. Took out the clothes she had brought from the capital. She arranged them at the bottom, shaping them like the original nest. She took the two babies and placed them inside carefully.
She closed the suitcase.
When she turned around, the old goblin was there again. He had a sharpened stone in his hand. He jumped at her with a howl.
Lilith extended her hand.
A black ball of energy formed on her fingers. The impact disintegrated the being in an instant. A cloud of ashen dust fell onto the mud.
She came out of the hut, stretching. The swamp sun was weak.
"I'd already have my goblins, but..." She sighed. She looked exhausted. "It's too far."
She brought a hand to her stomach.
"I'm hungry."
She looked around with a grimace of deep disgust. The swamp offered nothing worthy of her palate.
"Only the orcs might have something decent," she murmured, looking north. "I hope they share their food willingly."