Outside, the day was starting to warm up. It was a nice late summer day with a hot sun promising a hot day. The goblin town was finishing up their communal meal while the adults organized themselves into small groups. The goblin men, who didn''t come up to my breastbone, wore a simple fur loincloth or tunic. The women wore either a tunic or a skirt and a sports-bra-type top. They all greeted Jinwoo and me politely, but you could see questions in their eyes as to our usefulness. Doubt was written on their faces and hunger on their bodies.
Jinwoo pointed out the watchtower. “Obviously to keep watch. The permanently wounded who can’t hunt or gather usually man it.”
The tower itself was made of logs held together with a variety of smaller trunks lashed together. In the center were two platforms, the first about ten feet off the ground, the second at the top of the logs another ten feet above the first platform. A small thatched roof kept the sun off the goblin sitting with his only leg over the side. As Jinwoo pointed it out, the goblin waved back.
“The hut you slept in is Gor’s. It’s part home, part meeting place for the town. He and I have the only single-person homes here. Everyone else lives in large family homes. To the south of Gor’s house is his little herb garden he uses for medicine. I can only increase a small area, so we planted the berry bushes around the garden. The longhouse by the gate is the sick house. They treat the sick and wounded there. Uru is recovering inside. The other houses are goblin families. Each is usually run by a matriarch," he paused before adding, "the men tend not to live long. There are so few left that the women, like Uru, have joined the hunting parties.”
“To the north of the tower is the shrine. There are totems for spirits there and a little alter to make little sacrifices. Gor spends most of his time there now, talking and listening to the spirits. They aren’t much help, but that is because they are very weak spirits. He just doesn’t have the strength to summon anything greater. The goblins consider it a holy place, though, and the totems do keep the monsters from spawning close to the town.”
Jinwoo droned on, pointing out the waste pit, communal kitchen, and an empty storage hut. The roads were only dirt paths meandering between the huts. Goblins sat outside their stick huts talking, working on skins, or doing other menial tasks. There was a general feeling of apathy and loss that cut across all aspects of the little village. So many questions swam through my head. How was I here? Why was I here? What was this place? So many questions, but the sight of people this desperate overrode all of them. For better or for worse, I would help.
We started back towards the entrance where three goblins waited for us. They were talking with the little goblin who had been hurt by the horned rabbit. She seemed to be in good spirits, but blood seeped through her bandaged leg. She sat facing the entrance, her club still by her side, occasionally looking out the gate. I could tell that she was missing the hunt. I nodded to her as we passed by. “You’ll be back soon enough,” I said, but I knew she needed food to heal properly. For a moment the image of the one-legged lookout flashed in my mind.
“Let’s go hunting. How are we going to go about this?” I asked as we walked out the gate and into the meadow.
“The goblins will spread out into the brush. They are sneaky and small, so they can hide well. You and I will be the targets—being large and noisy. The creatures here almost always attack first, think second, so we distract it while the goblins surround it and hopefully beat it to death,” Jinwoo explained.
“Usually we have about 3–4 teams each day. Sometimes we are lucky, sometimes someone gets injured or doesn’t make it home. We are heading east today. There is a little valley that travelers sometimes use to try to slip between the nodes. Something usually pops up there.”
We walked out of the meadow and into the forest. The goblins gave a little nod and disappeared into the undergrowth. They were small, so they hunted by ambush. The big noisy humans were the distraction they needed. Jinwoo and I continued to walk through the forest. It was beautiful and not unlike the ones back home. There were new trees but also familiar ones like and white pine. I was looking at a black cherry when we heard a rustle in the bushes heading toward us. Jinwoo fanned out to my right, and out of reflex I swung my staff in time to connect with a large-toothed turnip charging out of the underbrush.
The thick end of my staff caught the carnivorous turnip thing in the side and spun it around, landing in a heap next to a bush. It jumped back up and flipped around towards me when a club came crashing down on its head with a resounding thud. The little turnip rolled on its side, quite thoroughly dead. The other two goblins came out of the bushes and did a little dance. I picked it up by the tuft of leaves on its head. It weighed about 30 lbs. I wasn’t sure how much was edible, but the goblins seemed happy.
"What the hell is this?" I held up the dead vegetable with teeth, trying to make sense of what we had just killed.
Stolen story; please report.
"Edible," Jinwoo shrugged. "Nice swing."
"Thanks, I think. That was more instinct and luck than skill," I admitted, setting the killer turnip down. Jinwoo and I found a long stick and tethered the turnip to it. “Are we heading back?” I asked.
“No, it’s early yet. Let’s see if we can find one more,” Jinwoo said with infectious enthusiasm.
“Alright, lead on,” I replied. Jinwoo and I hoisted the stick onto our shoulders and moved down into a little valley as the goblins disappeared again.
So is this guy good to eat?
I don’t know, but the little goblins seem rather happy. Looks like a turnip to me.
I laughed, “Me too. Not a big fan of turnips either.” My stomach let out a big growl in disagreement.
Jinwoo laughed.
“We normally don’t come this close to the trade path. I’m hoping that as humans, if we encounter someone, we can avoid trouble,” said Jinwoo.
“I don’t know about trouble, but I see something interesting!” I said. “Over there, that looks like an apple tree!”
Jinwoo and I approached the tree, and sure enough it was covered in red apples. It seemed odd to me that the apples were ripe in summer, but I guess we were lucky. Unfortunately for us, the tree came with a defender. As I reached out for the first apple, a large dog-sized lizard hissed and charged from behind the tree.
The lizard was green and rather chunky, but the most striking feature was two large whip-like tentacles on its back. I was caught in the shoulder by one as I tried to block it with my staff. Although the staff took part of the hit I could feel the whip-like snap against my skin. It hurt like hell and I let out a little yelp. I could already feel blood seep from the cut. I drew back to pull the lizard out from the tree, swinging my stick menacingly at it. I kept its attention while trying to stay out of reach. Jinwoo circled around in an effort to spear it with his improvised spear.
The creature whipped its tentacles at me, but instead of retreating, I charged into the whips trying to get inside of it''s reach. It tried to maneuver back to give itself room and backed toward Jinwoo. Jinwoo leapt at it with his full weight, spearing it. The hit stabbed deep but didn’t kill it. It tried to turn to Jinwoo, but as soon as its head swung, I stabbed it hard as well. Pinned between the two of us, its whips flailed but didn’t have enough room to get in a full swing.
The goblins whooped and joined in the fray, beating the skull of the lizard until it finally died. Everyone sank to their knees for a moment and then began to laugh. Two of the goblins came to see my wound. A cut slashed diagonally across my arm, but thankfully not very deep. The skin around it was already turning an angry purple. I knew I would regret that hit as soon as my adrenaline wore off.
We happily ate our fill of the apples. The goblins were in good spirits from the two kills and the extra food. The three introduced themselves as we ate. Gum was the oldest and largest; he had been on the mission to collect me. He believed old Gor (as they called him out of earshot) about the heroes. Not everyone had. Two kills and apples only reaffirmed his belief. Thurm and Kun were brothers and, for the life of me, they looked and acted like identical twins. They hadn’t been too sure about the idea of heroes, but apparently my injury had changed their opinion as well. They explained that they had seen a goblin cut in half—or nearly in half—by one of the tentacles. That was why they had hesitated before jumping in (they admitted guiltily).
Jinwoo and I took off our shirts—somehow we still had our otherworld clothes—and filled them with apples. Thurm and Kun hefted these improvised sacks as Jinwoo and I lifted the stick now bearing two creatures. I added a few apples to my pocket before we set off back home. The walk back was mostly uneventful. No new attacks, creatures, or other difficulties. Lucky again, I thought to myself. We arrived back at town later in the afternoon and quickly drew a crowd. The goblins stood on one of the large sitting rocks and began tossing apples to the crowd, admonishing the greedy to make sure everyone got one. The head cook, an older female goblin who seemed to have a perpetual scowl, almost broke a grin upon seeing the turnip and the lizard. She quickly set her underlings to dragging the carcasses back to the kitchen. Jinwoo had attracted a small crowd and was happily retelling the fight with some modest embellishment. I took the opportunity to slip away.
I wandered to the sick house to find Uru sitting on the same log. She tried to stand as I approached but gave out a squeak and sat back down. I sat next to her and pulled out the apples from my pockets and gave them to her.
“No, I can’t take those,” she said.
“You need them, and there are plenty to go around. To heal, you need food—and the faster you heal, the faster you can join us in the hunt again,” I said, pushing them back into her lap.
She stared down at the food. I could tell she was considering something, but I couldn’t understand what. In a village of starving people, the answer should be obvious. Deciding, she quietly said, “Thank you.”
Uru seemed a little embarrassed. I wasn’t quite sure if I had done something wrong, but I decided not to push the issue any further and returned back to Gor’s house. Kun (I think) escorted Gor back to his house and returned my shirt. He was still all smiles as he left. I could hear some laughter and talk from outside. Gor examined my arm and produced a little pot of foul-smelling ointment.
“This will help it heal. It’s the best I can do,” he said, gently dabbing some along the cut.
“The other hunts came in as well. You seem to be the only one that got hurt, and every hunt brought back a kill. It is the most food we have had in a while.”
“I thought of something. Tell Jinwoo to collect the seeds from the apples. Maybe he could grow a tree or two,” I said. “It might take years, but it wouldn’t hurt.”
Gor nodded and went to the door, calling out to a passing goblin. After a quick exchange, he returned. “I’m glad you survived your first hunt. There might be reason to hope after all. Tomorrow you will rest,” he said, looking at my arm.
I moved it—it was sore but usable. “No, I can take it easy with the foraging. Besides, I thought I saw a few plants as I was walking that Jinwoo could use.”
“Okay then, but I will instruct your group to build you a house. You can watch over them while they collect the materials. I’d like my house back,” he said with a grin.
I wandered out into the evening air as the goblins stoked their fires. I was given an apple and my usual bowl. This time, there was an actual stew in it instead of just broth. It tasted vaguely of turnip and wild game. I ate the meat and turnip chunks with a sharp stick and then drained the last of the thin stew into my mouth. It still wasn’t much, but better than the night before. At the end of the dinner, the old chef goblin came out with the lizard hide and gave it to me. I guess it would do for the beginning of my bed... or something. The skin itself was thick and rough like sandpaper. The inside had already been scraped clean.
I brought it back to Gor’s little house and placed it in a corner and sat for a while thinking about the day’s events before slowly drifting off to sleep, half on and half off the hide.