I waited for the goblin toads to leave before leaving myself, for a while I stood there - looking into the woods, trying to figure anything about these strange creatures. I had no idea how they lived, or even how far their habitat stretched. It's tough to have something like that on your mind, and whenever I felt unease, whenever I was silent - the noise would come back, whispering eerily. To be honest, at first I blamed the migraines, for which I blamed the strange sleep schedule.. but the migraines left- leaving me with the whispers from within. I figured that it was caused by stress or something, or maybe I was losing my mind.. slowly, but surely.

"Sh.skt..shhhhaa" - It kept scratching on the insides of my mind as I kept silently watching the unmoving woods. A slight wind picked up, breezing through the leaves of the dark green bushes. There was no more toadlings, so there was no more reason to keep watch. I picked up my belongings and moved in the opposite direction.

As I went through the forest, marching on the soft moss with my bare feet, there was no one trailing behind me, not that I noticed anyway. Not even a slightest rustle from the direction They came. I hoped they would not follow, but I remembered the looks in the eyes of the toads... anger, vicious anger...and fear... it fueled a lot of conflicts before, and I guessed that it would do the same.. again.

Fear.. memories of every encounter flooded me, as I slowly walked. The thought of the human I've seen came rushing into my mind.. he surely felt fear as he died. How could I forget? No.. that would be a lie, I've actually forgotten.. I was so fixated on the idea of surviving, of getting food... living here.. that I completely drowned the thoughts and memories of that first day.

A human, he couldn't just appear out of nowhere could he? I did..

"Yes.. he definitely came from somewhere.. a city, village.. anything.." - I was nervous..the thoughts were more of a way to say to myself that there is hope, my sudden fear and feeling of loneliness urged me to run.. Toadlings knew where I was living, the whole village of them knew I existed..I wanted to run... escape.. Leaving everything behind, running as fast as I could..

I didn't.. I didn't want to.. Even if there was a village somewhere, even if there was a way out of this forest, I wasn't going to run there hastily, unprepared and chased out. No..

I was walking for a few hours at least, and my nervousness, anxiety and slight fear subsided.. as if a foam from a boiling broth, leaving something else, showing the bubbling feeling that dwells deeper.. I wasn't angry, I was calm, but it burned my insides like hot tar, sticking to me..

"There's no way some critters are going to scare me away.. This is my territory.. These woods are mine..." - I worked bloody hard to make this place, it was just starting to get better. That's what I told myself, in reality - I still had no idea why the rage was building up, but despite my understanding - it kept burning..

The trees revealed a small opening, a stream - a pond, and a lush patch of bushes that I knew as my own palm. I bowed slightly to enter my hut, my eyes reflected the slight glow of the fire-pit, I had work to do.

....

The night came, slowly pulling a veil of darkness all over the forest. At night, everything changed - slight sounds became less frequent, until they stopped completely. Everything was quiet.

I wasn't an exception, as I was curled up - trying to keep my body warm, I didn't make even a smallest sound. My spear was close to my body, it followed me even to bed, as I clutched it. Slight breeze made me tremble slightly from the cold. It was windy that night, more so than yesterday, the weather was getting worse.

"Sha..shakkata" - During the night the whispering was persistent, as there was no sounds to make my mind drift off- they occupied all of my world. It was me, darkness and whispers. I wasn't asleep, but I was sleeping - resting with my eyes closed, thinking of nothing.

It was two days ago that I've met face to face with the tiny toadlings that made everything a whole lot difficult. I had to let them go, I could not do otherwise..

Well.. it was in the past..

Skch! - it wasn't the whispering, I opened my left eye widely in slight shock.. I stared at the leaves of my poncho, pierced by a small spear, I could hardly breathe.. the slight crack echoed as it went in deeper.

They actually came - the toad-goblins finally came..

"GwarK!" - A burly figure appeared from the darkness, light from the fire was dying out - reflecting on the creature. Its face was happy- it slaughtered the one responsible for the death of a youngling. It croaked in delight - sounding like an opening beer-can, and others responded, the forest got a whole lot more noisy. I could hear them even through the deafening sound of my own heart racing.

".. too.. gullible.." - A spear left my grip softly, heading towards the ground as it slipped off of my shaking fingers. The toad just stood there staring..

Staring into the darkness wide-eyed, as an almost silent thud echoed in it's ears. The face covered with warts was frozen, with a long wooden pole going through the back of the toads skull. Blood and gore poured out of its opened mouth and slowly made its way down the shaft of the spear, the body twitched a bit. I could already smell the blood.. blood and other less appealing fluids and solids dripping on the ground. The blood foamed from the nostrils of the creature as it still reflexively tried to breathe, its body at least.

The thin wooden spear, piercing the poncho, fell over, revealing Eduardo the mannequin. He valiantly took my place in the hut.. I never slept inside of my house after that day, leaving the hut to rest, tonight wasn't different. This was one of the many precautions I've made to calm my mind, which was racing the same as my heart.

My fingers nimbly picked up another spear, loading it into the atatl, and silently - launched it right at my next target. The spear silently pierced the night, hitting a clay pot secured in the top section of my hut. Another preparation.. A slight crashing noise echoed through the forest, followed by sizzling of the fire. A pot filled with water extinguished the remaining coals.. the only source of light nearby went out.. returning the darkness... I opened my right eye..

"They should have listened to the warning.." - The burning sensation returned, or rather I noticed it again, as the feeling never left me.. I've already made my mind clear on the topic, I had whole two days to think about my actions. I wasn't going to back down..

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

When the toads entered my forest, following the path their children took, they've sealed their own fates. They came into my territory with ill intent.. I was not going to let anyone get out of this part of the forest easily.

"They've had an opportunity to turn around.." - I've started climbing down from my hiding spot, a tree trunk of the giant pine covered by a smaller tree. Silently - my bare feet felt the soft damp moss.. carefully my legs soared me through the forest.

The fact that the toads didn't attack during the darkest hours of the night meant only that they weren’t nocturnal. So their eyesight - it was the same as mine.

"If we see the same.. I have an advantage here.." - Evading my own traps and trees before me, I rushed ever so faster.. I knew my way around my territory, it was my ground. I circled around the group, heading to the place they entered through.

"..." - My mind gotten blank, whispers followed me in the dark, pushing me slightly forward.

....

"Croakk!"

"CRACrakcrawk"

The whole bunch of sounds started echoing through the seemingly empty forest, the toads didn't meet with one of their own. The one that killed the villain, it was odd.. he should have returned by now, a grand hunter as him.

They smartly made their way around the traps the young ones told them about, avoiding any danger on the way into the den of the beast. Something, however, was off.

"Crararck" - Hasty voice full of alert rang out, after a slight pause the group swiftly bolted towards the place where they entered through, the signal to group up.

They weren't silent, or gracious - their burly bodies half-jumped, half-ran clumsily...

A crashing sound thundered, followed by a wailing noise. The group abruptly stopped, someone got too far from the path and fell into one of the deadly traps. As it ran, the ground sank under the pressure, falling deeper spikes ran right through the skin, bone and flesh.. what's more - other spikes, lined downwards didn't let the foot to be pulled without wedging the spiked deep into the leg..

After a brief croak, part of the toads went to help one of their own... but as they made their way into the darkness, the wailing of the hurt toad stopped abruptly.. A shriek, then a sound of a whole bunch of toads rushing towards the rest of the group. The toads, seeing their comrades run, one without his spear - felt a chill run down their spines.. The toad goblins came as a group of fifteen.. now, however, only thirteen remained. The plan was failing..

Croaking had both anger and fear mixed in it, pushing each other they've made their way along the safe path.. So close, just a few more minutes and they would be gone from the dangerous den.. that was..until a spiked stick shot out of the bush and pierced the stomachs of two of the toads in front. They didn't even croak or shriek, the impact had left them breathless - literally. The sound was more like hitting a wet rag against the floor, the fate of these unfortunate was settled...

Most of the group stopped, while a few of them rushed forward, fear made them run without thinking.. and it didn't let them cease their movement. Sound of bodies falling, crushing sticks and twigs, as well as more sudden rustling echoed in the night.. there was a lot of blood chilling shrieks. Pain - it filled the air as a thick fog..

The path that seemed safe, was no longer so. Twelve was left, including the one screaming in agony, trying to get its foot out of the hole in the ground.. to no success.. their number was going down rapidly. Most figured that those who got separated would die soon.

...

I held to my side while looking at the group of toads from behind a tree. My ears were ringing, and I had to clench my left fist to stop the shaking. Even though I was following the plan, it was still nerve-wracking.. This was no ordinary hunt, and truth be told - it didn't go that well for me.

The toads weren't moving, and I only killed a few of them.. There were still so many! Far too many..

"Shit.." - I applied pressure to my side with a palm that held a paper-leaf. Sooner or later the plant would do its thing and start sprouting and closing the wound.. - "I wasn't fast enough to get close to that frog... fuck..."

The first one - toad that had its foot stuck in the pitfall trap.. I heard it scream in agony, and rushed in for the finishing blow... I killed the wailing creature with a stab of my spear, but as I was getting it out of the unmoving body - others came rushing. With a dead toad pierced on the spear, I was in a tricky situation, so I flung the bleeding projectile towards it's former comrades. I felt blood splat on my own body, as well as covering my feet.. Blood was really sticky when there was this much of it..

The toads ran away in fear, but not before one of them threw a spear at me.. It only grazed my right side, as I was able to dodge.. unfortunately the tip was crudely made from a shard of bone, which wedged itself under my skin and into the flesh as a splinter - a huge splinter. I could get it out, but it bled excessively... what's worse - there was still some bone in under my skin apparently. However taking care of that had to wait..

"Why aren't you lot moving?" - The toads were waiting for something, quietly croaking between themselves. As if the deaths of their people didn't matter... Then I figured it out.. they were waiting for the daylight - at least that was the only explanation I could come up with, waiting until it got a bit brighter. If they thought that they could look for my traps and avoid me at the same time, these critters were gravely mistaken. I wasn't going to let them come up with a plan..

"If you insist on not moving.." - I threw a spear towards the group, movement was close to being automatic. Throwing the spear made a bit of noise as I grunted, but the projectile hit its target - piercing the soft-looking protruded belly of a frog, going right through it's insides. Croaking mixed with the sound of throwing up blood, the air was already smelling of blood so much - it made me want to gag.

"Seems like I've hit it somewhere along the liver.." - I didn't wait to see, the creature would not survive a spear going through its intestines, like a stick through a marshmallow.

I hoped for them to scatter, but the toads immediately followed me. It didn't even take them a second to figure out where the spear came from, dammit - I was a bit too hasty. Now I was being chased, which meant that I couldn't lead them directly to the traps. They noticed when I avoided something in the dim lighting and followed almost exactly step by step.

"How can they be that fast.. being that fat.." - My breathing was rather heavy, but the toads didn't lose track of me, not falling behind almost at all. Their clumsy looking way of moving was faster than it seemed at first glance.

"There is no way I'm able to get far enough.. " - My heart was beating hard and fast, I was really pumping adrenaline through my veins right now. I didn't feel the pain as much, but I could not run forever..and I didn't. I dove behind a bush, waiting for the frogs to come closer.

As I heard them clear the last bunch of steps, I hit them with the spear, as if it was a baseball bat - putting the weight of my whole body into the strike. The wood cracked and broke - sending splinters in every direction, but the frogs stopped as they saw the ones in front get hit by something again. Their reactions were sharp.. I used the moment of confusion to stab the closest one to me with the sharp piece of the broken spear handle before diving behind a tree again. Blood gushed out of the pierced throat - slowly leaving the body of the creature.

The toads, however, got faster, as if they were running slower on purpose before, and surrounded me in no time.. As I stood with my back to the tree, the ugly creatures started getting closer, closing the semi-circle that they've made, not risking going around me - as it meant moving in closer. Sooner or later - they would attack, and then I won't be able to do anything..

"Ten to one..." - I was panting.. My side hurt with each breath I took, the tiny pieces of bone piercing my flesh. Even the feeling of the paper-leaf spiraling inside of my wound, coiling through my flesh was less painful. At least I didn't bleed much - I had no numb-berries on me, so no instant pain relief. Sweat was slowly trickling down my face.. turning black as it mixed with the black paint covering my whole body.

Everyone was hesitant to make the first move, looking for any sign of weakness in the posture of each other, even a slightest movement would cause the fight to erupt. My spear moved and the toads rushed - closing the distance rapidly.