Eric took an angry bite out of a dried lizard, swallowing down the dry meat and pausing to listen to the forest between bites. He had long since given up on chasing that near-invisible specter. Whatever it had been, it was gone now. He saw the sun rise over the treetops surrounding him pouring between the leaves and casting broken shadows upon the forest floor. If it came back, would he be able to see it easier in the daylight? It had been nearly invisible in the night.

He paused his eating. Had the specter even been real? Eric firmed his jaw. It had been real, and he had the blood trail to prove it. Perhaps it would bleed out somewhere. Either way… if it ever came back, he would make sure it didn't get away. Eric remembered seeing how the air had looked ever so slightly distorted around the thing. Had it cried in pain when he shot it? Eric couldn't remember.

He finished off his lizard, and stood from the ground, dusting off the back of his pants. The blood from last night had dried into his clothing and on his skin. He must have been quite the sight. He looked to the head tied on his belt, which had stopped bleeding hours ago. If any more green mutants were in this area he'd need to send a message.

He brought his axe to bear, and hacked down a nearby sapling. Taking a stick that matched his own height, he used his new knife to carve one end into a point. Doing that, he found a space relatively clear of plant life, and used the knife to excavate a small hole in the ground. He then placed the unsharpened end into the hole, and packed it tight with dirt using his hands. He stood, knuckling his back and yawning. Damn… he hadn't slept since his cabin burnt down. He'd need to build a temporary shelter until he found out where he was. He'd tough it out until night fell, Eric did not want to adapt to a night shift schedule.

Taking the bearded head, he stabbed the sharp end through the throat hole. He hammered the top of the skull to slide it further down until the stake pierced the brain. He took a step back, and admired his handy work. This was good, but it was too simple, Goblins would have probably seen heads on stakes before right? Might as well let his artistry flourish.

He then used some adhesive sap and rags to tie the goblin's severed limbs to it's long beard, pulling the white hairs taught with their weight. An arm, a leg, an arm, and a leg. It looked like a wind chime of limbs. Eric nodded to himself, this was some prime artistry. He wasn't sure if this was goblin territory or not, but if any did run across this it would scare the shit out of them.

Now… it was time to scout around. As he wandered through this new forest, he pondered the nature of the twin moons. Had he been seeing double? If he was, then why were they different sizes? And why wouldn't everything else he saw last night be doubled? There was also the matter of the stars. After the specter had escaped, he tried to find the north star, only to see that all of the constellations were gone. There were stars, of course, a beautiful blanket of white pinpricks on black that had dazzled his eyes. The problem was that there were no familiar shapes in that night sky.

Had he been hallucinating? It was the only thing he could think of. The other thought of where the artifact took him was simply too daunting to consider. Ignoring that thought, he continued his trek. More and more as he went, he was struck by the cleanness of the air. The fresh scent of the trees, birdsong, and the gentle autumn wind through the foilage calmed him. He did not drop his guard though, for he knew that at any moment he would be attacked. That was just the way of the world for Eric Leblanc now.

He saw a rabbit break through some bushes in a rush, and Eric subdued the urge to chase after it. He still had plenty of food and that animal was running from something… Eric quickly stepped behind a nearby tree and peaked his head out to see what was chasing the bunny. A bald near-naked goblin broke through the bushes, a slingshot drawn back as it looked for what Eric assumed was it's prey. He took a deep breath, calming himself. Eric would not rush it yet, he needed to see if it had company. The goblin moved in the direction that the rabbit had fled, jogging to keep up but keeping the sling pulled back. After a moment, Eric emerged, a toothy grin on his face as he followed the small tracks the goblin and bunny had made.

He followed silently through trees and bushes, not actually seeing the track's owners but knowing that they weren't far. After a few minutes, Eric heard a thunk and a small gurgling cry of joy. It must have gotten it's prey. Eric could relate, he had just gotten his as well. He stood from behind a bush, and spotted the goblin snapping the bunnies neck, stopping all movement from the fuzzy animal. Its back was turned to Eric completely.

Eric stalked up, quiet as a mouse behind the mutant, the toothy smile still plastered on his face. The goblin giggled as it wrung the dead animal's neck a few times, and Eric paused. He had been about to bring the axe down on its skull but that would ruin the head. Taking inspiration from the goblins pleasured neck wringing, he silently placed the axe on the ground.

His large calloused hands wrapped around the goblin's throat from behind, and he began strangling the thing, shaking it like how his dog used to do after catching a rat. The goblin's nails dug into his hands, drawing Eric's blood but he ignored the pain. Shaking even harder until finally…

snap.

It's movements ceased, and its arms fell to it's sides, limp and dead. Eric took a deep breath, and dropped the corpse to the ground. The goblin landed in a heap, and Eric hacked off the head with a couple of chops. Letting the head bleed out on the ground, Eric began building a small fire with nearby twigs and leaves. Using his lighter, he brought the flame to life using the autumn leaves as tinder. He picked up the headless body of the goblin, and set it on the flame. Green flesh bubbled and blackened, a sickly sweet aroma flowing through the air. Eric blew a snot rocket and moved in a straight line through the woods, giving each tree he passed a hack to mar the bark. He walked for half an hour until eventually, he found a stream.

It was gently rolling along, several orange and red leaves floating along the top of the water. Eric stood before the stream, and looked down at his bloodied form. He was a mess, and those goblin's nails weren't clean to say the least. Eric needed a bath. He shrugged off his bag, the sack sitting straight up on the ground due to it's substantial bulk. He brought out a fresh outfit from the backpack; a white t-shirt, black leather jacket, green boxers, and brown cargo pants. He had four other sets packed tight at the bottom of his backpack, ready to be worn after he bloodied this current set.

He folded the new clothes and placed them next to the sack and stripped down to nothing, tossing his bloodied flannel and blue jeans to the dirt. He approached the stream, looking down through the crystal clear water to it's bottom. Eric estimated that the stream would come up to at least his waist. Nodding to himself, he faceplanted into the water, floating face down for a moment as he got used to the cold.

When he needed air, he righted himself, and began scrubbing the dried blood off of himself. It always felt nice to get the blood off after a hard couple of days of slaughter. He looked in both directions of the stream, trying to see if anything was stopping to drink from the water. Satisfied that nothing was intruding on his privacy, he finished cleaning, and climbed back onto land. He grabbed some rags from his bag and began drying himself, tossing them aside when they got too wet. Cold autumn air bit at his skin and his teeth chattered. Once he was completely dry, he donned his fresh clothing.

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He felt so much better now. Eric looked to the nail marks in his hand, gauging their depth. They hadn't dug too far in thankfully, but he would have to keep an eye on them in case they got infected. He still had plenty of aloe left but he tried to conserve when he could. As he washed his bloodied clothes, he again pondered the two moons.

If he was so sure that the specter was real, then the moons should have been as well right? Just where had the artifact taken him? Was he on a different world? Now he was really thinking crazy… but earth certainly did not have two moons. Could that ancient civilization have visited other worlds? Was this their homeworld? If so, then they were certainly aliens.

That's it.

He was on an alien planet. Those little green men were not goblins, they were little green men. It all made sense to him now. Though… wasn't he the alien here? He was from earth after all, and he invaded here. Not on purpose of course, but here he was. Well, as the first human to invade another planet, he'd have to start showing the other sapient species who the superior humanoid was. Were the goblins the only species with higher intellect on this planet?

No, because there had been those clearly human women in that cave. There was also the fact that one of those women spoke to him, in clear English. Did they get abducted? Obviously they had, but not in the classic manner. He seriously doubted that goblins were capable of space travel. If they were, then why were they still living in caves?

Well, he'd have to kill them all. This was his land now, and he needed to show them that. Next time he went into one of their caves, he would save the women if he could. Where would they go once he saved them though? This was an alien planet, they wouldn't know where to go. Eric finished his washing, and began wringing the cloth dry.

Eric supposed that he could show them how to eat berries or something and send them on their way. He was too unstable to risk having them stay close to him for any extended period of time. Today they would have been safe, but his madness seemed to fluctuate. He was better some days, far worse on others. Today was a good day he thought.

Another thought occurred to him then; if this was an alien planet, then why was there so much familiar flora and fauna? An alien world should be alien. Yet these trees, leaves, water, and that bunny from earlier were earthly in nature. He bit his cheek in thought. Did the ancient civilization bring over plants and animals from earth to this one? Maybe a weird terraforming operation? What if earth was the second planet, and this one was humanity's original home?

Some homecoming, him teleported in a cave with green freaks. Speaking of those things, why capture human women? Clearly, they had been using them for breeding… a sickening thought, but why use females of a different species? Did they not have any female goblins? If so, then how was it possible that goblins existed in the first place? Maybe the ancient civilization genetically engineered them or something? If they were, then for what purpose?

He was fumbling around in the dark for answers that he'd never receive. Eric knew this, but he could not help being curious. He was assuming that he already had an intrinsic knowledge of the goblins, yet he'd only encountered those ones in the caves and the corpse he was burning for bones. He'd kill a few more and pillage more caves first before drawing definite conclusions on their origins. As for the women…

If this planet was humanity's original home, then that meant that they would surely have somewhere they could go. How advanced was humanity on this world? Did they have cars? Guns? Was Eric's branch of humanity cosmic hillbillies compared to these ones? Those women didn't look any different from the ones back on earth… wait a second...

Why would they speak English if they were natives of this world? English was a language that developed on earth, it's impossible that alien humans would develop a language exactly like that of one on earth. That woman had spoken clear unaccented English, she could have been from Canada or America for all he knew. Maybe this wasn't really a different world after all. No… no it had to be. Meaning that the captive women were from earth, and-

He ground his teeth together in frustration. He was wasting too much time on thinking about this. Eric could feel himself losing his mind further by overthinking all of this. He would just survive for now, if the answers came to him then that would be well and good. He supposed that the next time he saw another person he could just simply ask them for information. A strange thought. Would Eric be able to speak to them as he spoke to others before the crash? He did not know.

He packed his belongings pack into his sack and made his way back to his fire, using the marks he had made in the trees to find his way. The goblin was completely black now, and pieces of bone were beginning to show. Not quite ready but getting there. Should he build his base here? A stream was nearby, it was relatively clear of trees. Yes… he could build a palisade there, a few traps over there and-

He smiled, pulling his chainsaw out of his bag. Eric would have to conserve on the fuel considering that this was an alien world (maybe), but he really wanted to get those logs fast. Hours passed of Eric gathering materials, logs, rocks, and sticks from the surrounding forest. Quickly the clearing had widened significantly as Eric used the felled trees to build his new cabin. He left the stumps for now, as he liked to see a clear marker of his progress.

With his chainsaw, he cleared down twenty trees, and by the end of the day he had constructed half of his new cabin. That rabbit had made a good lunch, and Eric was sure he could find a use for its fur at some point. The spare logs were tossed haphazardly in a pile on flat land nearby. The rest of those would finish the cabin, then he'd use the rest to start work on his walls. Before he had even started he built his temporary shelter in front of the fire, the dry autumn leaves piled together to insulate him from the cold earth.

The sun was beginning to set when he crawled underneath the roof of the small shelter, the sticks shifting when he bumped them. Eric probably would have been fine without building a roof out of the leaves and sticks around here, but it was best to be prepared for rain even if one could not see any dark clouds. He made sure to put some fresh sticks and some bills of cash into the flame to keep it alive.

The goblin's body had been reduced to bones hours ago, the tiny skeleton only having a few scraps of flesh remaining. Eric let the body finish frying, he preferred to use clean bones. His head sank into the soft leaves with a crunch and as soon as he shut his eyes he was asleep. The combined exhaustion of not sleeping for two days and the labor he had just gone through was too much to stay awake any longer.

Thankfully the sleep was dreamless.