Seconds passed... Dakota thought he could see the creatures standing beside the stream. His heart rate picked up as the creature moved exactly opposite of him on the other bank. Surely it could see him. He nearly burst from the water to kill the goblin but stilled as it wandered away. Had it seen him? He didn’t think it had looked alarmed.

His lungs burned as he anxiously waited beneath the water. What if it was calling its tribe? And he was just sitting here, like a fish caught in a trap. Chest heaving, Dakota held on for another few seconds before slowly letting his mouth break the surface to suck in a breath. He would wait it out. He didn’t think they had seen him.

Seconds turned into minutes which turned into an hour. Dakota finally raised his head completely from the water, listening intently. No sign of the goblins.

Shivering, he rose. The water, initially cool and refreshing, had chilled him to the bone after a while. Dakota stood in the stream, undecided. Push on? Or head back to the farm. Those goblins could come back…but Dakota wanted to know. Know a little more about where he was. Gripping his dripping hoe, he strode upstream. He wasn’t done for the day yet.

The trees grew thinner the closer Dakota got to the hill. An hour after almost running into the goblins, he stepped out of the water onto rocky earth. A small path lead up one side of the hill which, as Dakota drew closer, was taking on more the qualities of a small mountain.

He dodged another pile of animal droppings while climbing a steep section. The higher he rose the more of the island he could see. The little clearing where his farm sat was just visible through the trees.

Passing by a bush, he plucked some white fuzz off of a branch. It was wool.

“That would line up with the poo. This is a sheep track.”

Dakota had initially been worried he was on a goblin trail.

The smell of iron snapped him to attention. He was becoming very familiar with that smell.

Crouching, Dakota slipped along the path. He paused by another bush. This one also had wool stuck to its branches, too bad it was covered in blood. He followed the bloody trail which eventually led him to a low gnoll.

A gasp escaped as he peeked over the knoll. He had found the inhabitants of the trail.

Sheep corpses lay strewn across the valley. Their white coats stained crimson. Dakota observed for a few more minutes before crawling over the ridge. He had wondered how the goblins were feeding themselves, and here was the answer. Flies buzzed around some of the carcasses while others looked, fresher. So this was only where they killed the animals. Best to make tracks then, he had no desire to linger.

Stolen story; please report.

He was about to ascend the next ridge when a quiet “baah” sounded through the valley.

Dakota retraced his steps, coming to a stop in the middle of the slaughter. Something moved under one of the sheep. He gingerly gripped the red wool, pulling the animal away. A small lamb lay in the dirt, coated with blood and grime. By the looks of the sheep's corpse, it had been killed recently… and had been pregnant.

He placed the end of his hoe against the lamb’s neck. Best to end its suffering. The lamb let out another pitiful cry, nuzzling into the blood-soaked wool of its mother, the hoe hanging over it like a guillotine.

Dakota gazed at the creature. It would die anyways, he didn’t have any way of feeding it. The most he could do was hurry the process along…

Was that really the most he could do?

Dropping his hoe, Dakota lifted the creature, cradling it in his arms. He didn’t mind the blood, his shirt was already ruined. It mewled softly, nestling its head. He didn’t have any way of caring for the creature but he could at least comfort it until its end.

Lamb in arm, he trudged up the path.

Wiping his forehead with a bloody hand, thankfully not his own this time, Dakota gazed across the forest. This island was big. It was hard to determine exact distances but he thought it was at least ten kilometres in diameter.

He was two-thirds of the way to the top. The lamb slept in his arms, undisturbed by the jostling ride. He kept looking… was there something in the distance? It almost looked like a house. He needed a better vantage.

Twenty minutes later, Dakota was sure it was a house. Actually, it looked like an assortment of structures…almost like a homestead.

Questions pelted him. Were people there? Did the goblins know about it? He was tempted to go find out but the homestead was on the opposite side of the island. It would take him a full day to reach, and that was without…Dakota cradled the lamb…his new charge.

He would explore it later. It was doubtful any humans were there. The place looked as dead as his homestead had.

Dakota pulled himself over the last rocky ledge. The island spread out in a full three-hundred and sixty-degree view. He would have been more enraptured by the sight if it weren’t for the small lake set into the mountain a little ways from him. He was on the true peak but only fifty down from him, the mountain levelled off, creating a tabletop where the lake sat. It wasn’t huge, probably only a hundred feet across in both directions.

He slid to the edge, set the lamb down, and took an immense gulp of crisp, clear liquid. The water was cold but not bone achingly so.

Undressing, Dakota checked to make sure the lamb was okay and then plunged into the water, letting the sweat and grime wash away. While the shores were shallow, the lake quickly deepened, going far over his head. He swam to the other side, gazing out across the island. It was almost like his own personal infinity pool villa. All he needed were people to enjoy it with.

As he let that depressing thought drift in his consciousness, he noticed the lake spilling out. Swimming over he peered down the mountain. The lake fed into a waterfall which splashed into a stream nearly a hundred feet below. The same stream he had followed to the mountain.

Now that he looked for it, Dakota found two other spots where the lake drained into streams at the base of the mountain. He had wondered where the water from the stream came from, it was nice settling at least one question in his mind…