(POV: Daniel Kofman)
Daniel knew there would be an argument as soon as the messenger said "captives."
He felt it move through the group like a held breath, with shoulders tensing, eyes rising, and people getting ready to make a choice they didn't want to make. He hated how that made him feel. He hated that it always seemed to find him.
The messenger said again, "Goblins," his voice rough. "To the west of the village." A group of people. Too many for us to handle by ourselves.
Daniel didn't say anything right away.
He first watched the Holy Knights. He saw how Dame Althene's posture changed and how her hand rose slightly as she thought about routes and risks. Learned. Ready. Able. They could do this.
His people couldn't.
Daniel finally said, "We need to think about this carefully." He spoke in a calm, steady voice, which he had learned to do out of necessity. "We don't know the land." We don't know how many there are. And we don't know how much it will cost us to use our skills.
Calder turned against him right away.
Calder said sharply, "People are being held." "Men and women." "People."
Daniel said, "I know." "And I also know what happens when we rush in without knowing."
Calder laughed. "So we leave them?"
Daniel swallowed, and the words were heavier than Calder thought. "We let the Holy Knights do what they were trained to do."
That got him a dozen looks, some of which were relieved, some of which were unsure, and some of which were already judging him.
Daniel kept going. "We are not soldiers." We don't know how to fight. Our skills are not stable. We just lost Elin because none of us knew that running out of mana would kill her. Even though he didn't want to, his voice got tighter. "I won't put more lives at risk because we feel like we have to be heroes in a world that isn't ours."
Calder moved closer. Too close.
"So people you don't know don't matter?" Calder asked. "Because they weren't left in a field with us?"
"I didn't say that."
"It's what it sounds like."
Daniel stood his ground. He said, "What it is, is leadership." Keeping the people who trusted me to keep them safe, safe.
That hit something.
Calder's jaw tightened, and his eyes shone with more than just anger. Daniel had seen it before: ambition wrapped in doing the right thing. Calder talked about duty, about being human, and about doing the right thing, but Daniel knew better.
He should have known better.
Calder had once been his target.
He should never have changed targets, but he knew he didn't have a choice at the time. Knowing the Knights' true motives was a necessity.
He remembered bits and pieces he didn't want to hear, like anger, impatience, and the need to matter. The idea that someone stronger, braver, and less afraid should be in charge. Someone like Calder.
Daniel pushed the memory out of his mind.
Not right now.
Calder said, louder now so the group could hear, "You're scared." "Scared to do something." "Scared to put yourself at risk."
Daniel really looked at him. He said quietly, "No." "I'm scared of burying more of us."
There was silence after that.
Finally, Dame Althene spoke. "We will help the prisoners," she said. "But we won't force untrained civilians to fight."
Daniel let out a breath, and the tension he hadn't known he was holding eased.
Calder didn't.
"Is that it?" Calder asked for. "We stand by while others suffer?"
Daniel turned all the way around to face him. "We live," he said. "So that we can still help when we can."
Calder didn't say anything for a moment.
Then he smiled, which was thin, sharp, and completely wrong.
"Let's see who people follow," he said.
Daniel felt a chill run up his back.
He wasn't afraid of goblins, monsters, or this world for the first time since the field.
He was scared of what desperation was making them do.