Gorx watched as the elderly woman emerged from the forest. As usual, she was dressed in her plain, flour-stained clothes. Her misty eyes landed on Gorx, and a smile formed on her wrinkled face.

"Oh, isn't that little Gorx?"

Although Gorx fled in the opposite direction of the goblins, he realized that he was quite close to Grandma's home. He opened his mouth, but before he could speak, the goblins burst into the clearing. Their heated cries faded as they noticed the old human.

"Did you come to introduce me to your friends?" Grandma said, unfazed by the goblins.

"These are not my friends!" Gorx blurted out, his heart pounding as he watched the goblins, who in turn were inspecting the old human with wary and prying eyes.

"That's not a good attitude, honey. Every child of the village should get along." She said warmly.

For a moment, Gorx didn't know what to say as he was in no condition to care for Grandma's advice. His eyes were jumping between Grandma and the goblins, and goblins were no longer frozen but were whispering among themselves.

Gorx realized he had to make a decision before the goblins did.

He took his mushroom-filled bag and threw at their feet.

"You want the mushrooms, don't you? These are all I have."

The goblins' eyes gleamed as they noticed the mushrooms, then they took a quick peek at old human, but it didn't take long for their eyes to shift back to the bag.

The goblin in front, whom Gorx recognized as Clact, walked forward and pointed.

"Dis ours now." Clact said.

Gorx stepped back as the goblins rushed forward, collecting the scattered mushrooms. Meanwhile, Ninxa was looking at the small pouch hanging around Gorx's waist.

"Gorx had sparklies." Ninxa said, not taking her eyes from the pouch.

The other goblins exchanged glances before turning to Gorx, who was frowning as he wondered how Ninxa knew about the pouch's contents.

"Ye have?" Clact barked.

"Yer sparkles, give 'em to us." Pert demanded from the side.

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"Give!" Ninxa added.

Gorx felt a wave of anger rising, but he didn't want to start a fight. So he took out the shiny blue rock from his pocket and threw it at their feet.

Ninxa snatched the rock with glee. A moment later, Clact lunged after her, attempting to take the stone out of Ninxa's grasp, but met with a resistance he didn't expect. When the goblins started to fight among themselves, Gorx turned to Grandma, who was still silently watching.

"Grandma, you should go."

"Don't worry about me boy." She said with a slightly colder voice.

Having grown accustomed to Grandma's serious side, Gorx didn't bother talking. Whenever she slipped into this state, she would be a lot less likely to be persuaded.

The goblins, having seemingly resolved their issues, were looking at him again. However, unlike before, their faces wore mischievous smiles.

"Ye run fast, we bash fast!" Clact shouted, jumping towards Gorx.

Gorx's mind screamed to run away, but he didn't want to leave Grandma behind, what if they go after her?

As he prepared to defend himself, a cold voice echoed around them.

"Hold it right there."

The goblins looked at the old woman.

"What do you think you are doing? First theft, now brutality?"

The goblins gazed at each other, halting for a moment. Then, they moved again.

"I SAID STOP!" Grandma yelled, much louder and scarier than Gorx could imagine she could.

This time the goblins actually stopped and looked at her with a hint of fear in their eyes.

"Get lost, or I'll make soup out of you!" She started walking towards them.

Goblins were creatures that found it hard to overcome their fear. Once they stepped back in surprise, one step turned into two, and two became four. By the time Grandma was halfway, they were already running.

"And leave what you stole!"

The fastest goblin didn't leave the mushrooms, but the littlest goblin, the one who was running slower, threw the blue stone to the ground and ran after his friends.

Gorx and Grandma watched them leave, and the forest regained its peace and quiet.

"A pity. At least you are unharmed, little Gorx." Grandma said, her voice holding a hint of amusement.

"Yes... Thanks for scaring them off, Grandma." Gorx, still dazed from her earlier shout, took his gem from the ground.

"Come on boy, it would be unwise to return now."

Gorx nodded as he followed after her.

Now that he was calmer, he thought everything was a bit weird. The goblins never walked in this part of the forest, and they wouldn't run after him for more than few steps as they were usually lazy. That was how Gorx lived a relatively peaceful, but solitary life. However, this time the goblins were quite adamant of getting him.

Whatever the reason, Grandma was right. He wouldn't go to his dwelling place, as it was also near the tribe.

They moved, and it didn't take long to reach to Grandma's house.

It was a small hut engulfed by the forest. Seemingly untouched for years, trees and vines were pressed against its walls, trying to reclaim it for the wilderness.

As they entered, Grandma insisted on having a language lesson, a request Gorx readily accepted since he had nothing else to do. Even if he didn't, he would have been unable to refuse her.

The time passed, and Gorx found it troublesome to fell asleep. That was when he heard the footsteps.

He jumped and ran towards the nearby window which was covered with leaves. Slowly, he peaked through the leaves, and saw two figures. One big, one small. However, the big one was much bigger than a goblin, but Gorx knew what that was.

It was a human.