When Klik visited Elder Zelena, he wore a mask. When he first approached her, she’d asked why, curious as to why he would hide his face.
“There’s a lotta reasons,” he’d said. “But mainly cuz’ it’s ugly. Half of it’s burnt.” And he’d be half-right—it wasn’t burnt, but to her, it’d definitely be ugly. He was a goblin, and she was a human. Goblins were hideous, or so he’d been told.
He listened as she played her lute, watched as she plucked the strings, fretted the notes, fingers sliding across the neck. This tune, apparently, was called Heden’s Rest. It was slow, melodic, calming. She played almost absentmindedly, stared off into the distance as they sat along the shore of the beach, feet touching the water. He likened her to the song—it looked as if she was at rest, her face still, peaceful, with wrinkles that carved carefully throughout. Strands of grey hairs neatly dangled down across her eyes, whose glassy surface seemed transfixed on the surface of the water.
“What do you think of the water, Klik?” she asked while playing the lute. She wasn’t looking at him.
The water… Before coming to the human town, he’d never seen the sea before. Goblin tribes, or at least his goblin tribe, never really inhabited the shores. Usually humans got to them before they did, and then they’d build big towns and buildings along them. He’d heard stories of the sea, this deep, sprawling abyss which humans would travel over. Heard stories of adventure, of tragedy, of horror. Of sea monsters ascending from the waters and clawing down adventurers into its inky depths. He was scared of water.
As his feet touched the water though, felt its warmth, its stillness, he felt… nothing.
“I feel disappointed. I was expecting more.”
She laughed. She laughed a lot around him, or maybe at him. He enjoyed it, though. “What did you expect from the water? It’s water.”
“Well, I’ve heard grand tales. Real epic ones.”
“Oh?”
“Stories about… sailors and adventurers going on these big quests between continents, setting sail, discovering new places, defeating these giant sea monsters.” He gestured with his two hands, widening the distance between them, trying to convey their epic proportions. “And… well, that’s all I remember.”
“Oooh, giant sea monsters.” She smiled and huddled closer to him, whispering. “Let me tell you… they’re real.”
“Really?” he said. Sea monsters… real… He shuddered.
“Way back in my adventuring days, when I was on a quest at sea, the same type of quest you described, I saw them,” she said. She stared at the water again, her hands pausing on the strings.
He liked hearing about Zelena’s adventuring stories, about her past of journeying and battle. Apparently she used to be an Archmage, someone who reached the pinnacle of magic itself. She used to be a great hero. She hated those titles though, the same way she hated her past. She never used magic around him, and when he asked, she’d go silent and say ‘maybe another time’. It was rare that she ever reminisced about her adventuring times with a smile. Maybe she was in a good mood.
“My party and I were on a quest. There was a noble house being hunted down by the whole kingdom, and we had to take and protect them… to a whole nother’ continent. You see, this was a feud between one house and the rest of the nation—they were the most wanted enemy of the entire kingdom. Their dark secret was revealed to the country, and to survive, they had to migrate their entire main family to some place far, far away.”
A house being hunted down by the whole nation? What secret did they hold? Was running away the only answer?
“It was fine at first, we hoisted them onto a ship, and away we went. We had a whole stash of rations that would last us for a long time, and our party could handle anything the kingdom would throw at us. We were sailing smoothly until—”
“What… what secret did they hold? If the entire nation was out to get them, why would you protect them?”
“Who cares what the nation thought. My party protected and accepted quests from anyone we thought that we should’ve. The secret? Agh, it wasn’t even that bad. Certainly not something that elicited a nation-wide hunt. They deserved protection. Just because everyone thinks something to be right, doesn’t mean it is.”
They deserved protection… Would she have done the same for him, too? Protected him? Did someone like him deserve protection?
“But that’s besides the point. We were sailing smoothly until we were attacked by a legendary kraken. A giant octopus, a sea-monster which used its tentacles to grapple and wrestle with ships, pull them down to the abyss.”
“A Kraken! How big was it?”
“It was the size of…” She looked at him, used her hands to measure him from top to bottom. “Fifty thousand Kliks!”
“Fifty… fifty thousand…” He was in awe, and a bit scared. He scooted back a bit, feet leaving the water. “What happened? Did you defeat it?”
She smiled. “Of course we did. When the Kraken appeared, we immediately bombarded it with spells: fireballs, arcane arrows, lightning, you name it. It stood no chance against a group of mages. One by one, each of its tentacles would fall back into the water, damaged, until nothing was left. And just like that, it sunk bank into its abyssal lair, never to be seen again.”
They managed to defeat a legendary kraken that easily? Fireballs, arrows, lightning…
“You battled a kraken and won? Teach me those spells, Zelena! I wanna learn how to shoot fireballs,” he said. He started mimicking the action, pushed his hand out into the air, making a shhh sound to emulate the sizzling of fire. A fireball would be awesome.
“No,” she said. “And I couldn’t, even if I wanted to.”
“Why?” He asked. Why didn’t she want to teach him? Why couldn’t she? If he could cast grand spells like her, he could… he too could protect himself from everyone.
“Why would I give you a tool to kill? Magic is nothing but a weapon. Something I’ve thrown away long, long ago.” She stood up, patted down her dress. “My final answer: No.”
He stood up as well, following her. He'd made her mad.
“Okay, sorry Zelena. I understand.” But he didn’t. Magic wasn’t just a weapon. Obviously, it could be used as a weapon but it was… power. The power to do anything he wanted, to protect himself, to fly away, to vanquish giant sea monsters. But she looked grim and adamant, so he didn’t press further.
He adjusted his wooden mask, felt its fibrous surface against his skin. Would magic give him the power to become human?
—— – -
In Shis Uri (literally translated, ‘noise of the Goblins’), the word for love and battle were the same: ‘Osho’. To ‘osho’ someone was to love them, but also to fight them. When his family asked him if he loved them, if he osho-ed them, he’d says yes. And he would be half-right, as their relationship was one of turmoil, a relationship of battle—it felt like they were in constant opposition. To the Shis Hekit, to his tribe of goblins, to love someone was to battle them, and to battle someone was to show them your truest self. But his strength was not one born out of his being, but out of necessity—in battle, he was the farthest from his ‘truest self’. Did that mean that his love was a lie?
In the depths of the Velhana jungle, Klik sparred with his father, their strikes ringing out. Their cudgels met each other, struck, rebounded in preparation for the next attack. Klik was tired, sweaty, and worn out. Hekit Endhi, his father, was harder on him today, faster, stronger. This was his way of saying ‘I missed you’.
“Where did you run off to, Klik? Off to the human village?” He asked. Another strike, this time on his shoulder. Pain blazed, left him with a grimace.
“No, I was—”
Another hit, on the side of his body. “Do not lie. I saw you, wearing that little mask, the cloak covering your whole body.”
It hurt, he tried striking back, but his father blocked it easily, swept the strike away with a swipe and a scoff. “Sorry. I was visiting Elder Zelena.”
“You are playing with Tishana. To mingle with your enemy is to skirt on the brink of the Abyss’s Depths. You are befriending those who see you as lesser. Your relationship is built on a mountain of lies.”
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A mountain of lies? His father would never understand what it felt like to live without truth. He didn’t want to be a goblin, never asked to be one, and to act like that was who he was? That would be a lie. If the Abyss was where he belonged, he’d happily fall down, embracing its icy touch.
Endhi crouched down, sweep kicked him off his feet, left him lying on the ground, bruised and battered. Klik coughed. “I know it's a lie but… she understands me. Treats me with care. Shares stories with me. Even if it’ll all end… At least I’ve had a taste of what it feels like to be human.”
His father looked at him from above, cudgel in his hand. “Human? You’ll never know what it feels like to be human when you walk around wearing a mask, hiding yourself from the world. What you know is how to live as a lie.”
And he was right. All he did was lie. He went around masquerading as a human child, wearing that mask of his, the cloak, speaking in the human tongue. But within his tribe, he also felt isolated, alone. No goblin in the Shis Hekit tribe truly understood him. Where then, did he belong, when he lived both lives as a liar?
Klik started tearing up, covering his face. “I know, but—”
His father lifted him up from the ground, hugged him. “I just want you to be safe, Osho. You don’t know how much it worries me when you run off into the town, how long I wait for you at the edge of the jungle, pacing around. The humans hate our kind, we all know that, you know that. Ascendant’s help, that’s why you wear that mask around. I just… don’t want to be waiting for you, only for you to never come back.”
He wiped the tears from Klik’s face. “I’d fight the world for you, Klik.”
“I know,” he said. They were smiling now.
His father raised him to his feet, patted his clothes of their dirt. “Let’s go eat the Fourth Meal. Isha and Onko miss you.”
They miss me. He knew what that meant. He picked up his cudgel, spinning it around. His two siblings, Isha and Onko… loved him very much. And that meant ambushes, drawn-out battles, and fighting, lots of fighting. Zelena once told him this tale of two snakes that fought each other endlessly, that fed off of each other’s energies to fight an infinite battle. He likened his sister and brother to these mythical beasts, creatures that could fight without end, draining him of his energy. Left him fightless. Yes, they loved him very much.
He followed Endhi, walking past the array of huts, goblins going about their day. Their tribe was big compared to the other neighbouring tribes. Shis Hekit had the best hunters in the whole of Velhana. And with plentiful food, flocks of goblins naturally migrated and integrated themselves into the tribe, bringing in people with various skills and trades to uplift it.
As they walked, some people waved at them, some brandished their cudgels and struck them against Endhi’s as a greeting. Some kids did the same with Klik.
There were stone pillars erected from the ground in an area they walked past, with colourful dots painted over their stone surface, carefully placed in intricate patterns. Eight pillars, with another one lying on the ground nearby.
“Hekit Shiki’s already almost done with his new piece?” Klik asked. It looked beautiful. He didn’t know what any of it was supposed to represent though. Very colourful.
“He’s a fast worker. Always been a creative kid ever since he was little. I think he’s been struck with inspiration lately. He calls this one ‘Heden’s Collective’. Whatever that means.”
Interesting. The last time he saw Shiki was about a month ago. He was frantically running around the tribe for materials, almost in a craze. When Klik asked him what he was looking for, he very bluntly said, “You wouldn’t know!” and then shoved past him. The tribe had long acclimated to his antics, accepting his quirks. Now they usually just watched him pass by and think there he goes again.
They arrived at their hut, and immediately, Isha and Onko jumped at him, cudgels in hand. Their father grabbed the sticks, stopped them mid-strike.
“Not today. Let your brother rest.”
“He went off into human territory again! Wearing that stupid mask of his. We deserve a battle!” said Isha. She freed her cudgel, waved it around like a petulant child, scrunching her face.
“Greetings to you too, Isha.”
“Welcome back, Klik,” Onko said. Their cudgels met, struck each other lightly.
“Enough. I’m tired of your bickering, Isha. The food will get cold. We’re eating,” Endhi said. He sighed and pinched her cheek, pulling her toward the feasting room.
Isha looked back at him while struggling against their father’s grip, glaring. Klik stuck his tongue out while waving his cudgel around, taunting her. He followed them.
The hut smelled of roasted boar, the aroma permeating the air, wafting towards his nose. His stomach growled.
The boar was placed on a mat of leaves, laid there on the ground. They sat down and immediately started tearing into it, ripping its flesh from the bone, feasted on its skin, its meat.
“I bet that granny doesn’t feed you anything like this, Klik,” said Isha, mouth still full with food, particles flying.
“Come on, Isha…” Onko said.
“No, but their dishes are more complex, refined. And they eat cleanly, with utensils. Not like animals.” He put more meat into his mouth, shoving it in with his hand.
She pointed at him. “You’re eating with your hands right now, you doofus!”
“Doofus? Obviously if there were knives and forks around—”
“Stop talking. Eat,” Endhi said. And everyone went silent, chowing down.
Klik became conscious of how he ate, started eating more slowly. How would a human eat with their hands?
“Hekit Endhi!” Someone shouted outside of their hut. He was in the middle of eating. He sighed, wiped his hands and slowly stood up. Klik tried listening in on their conversation.
A pause. “What is it, Hekit Garin?”
“Hekit Olna has called for a council meeting.”
—— – -
Endhi was dying—figuratively speaking, of course. He used to think that death was a glorious thing, something to be celebrated, vaunted. That death was your life flashing by you, a spark of something from the Beyond, reaching down and plucking you into its golden heights. No, death was much, much more boring. Here, surrounded by twenty other goblins, Endhi went through the slow, agonising process of dying. Death was listening to old goblins droning on about the same thing over, and over, and over again.
He hated council meetings. There was something about the diplomacy of it all, the practiced smiles, the drawn-out monologues and silences. He was the head-hunter of the tribe, what good did they think he’d do in discussions about what type of wood they should use for the next Festival of Mourning? Or who should be elected as the new head-craftsman, or—
“Moving onto why I truly called you all here today. Tribe Shis Aka and Shis Kel have been eradicated,” said Elder Olna.
What?
The room was silent for a moment, frozen, then in shambles. People were shouting over each other, standing up, looking at each other with confused, panicked looks. Shis Aka and Kel were distant tribes in Velhana, far from the jungle. They were strong tribes, formidable and relatively wealthy. To be eradicated just like that, in such short notice…
“Eradicated? All of them? What happened?” He asked. Many goblins mirrored his question.
“A group of adventurers has been going around, exterminating goblin tribes one by one,” said Olna. She was rubbing her eyebrows, trying to placate herself. “Someone’s been hunting goblin tribes, exclusively massacring them for reasons unknown.”
“A hunt… For what reason…” Endhi was stunned. There should be no reason for adventurers to be exclusively hunting goblins—peaceful goblins. Adventurers only killed goblins actively harming human populations, errant goblins not affiliated with any major tribes. To go out of their way to hunt big tribes of goblins was unheard of.
“I knew some people from Shis Aka…”
“They’ve gone too far.”
“For what reason?”
“A massacre? This is unacceptable!”
The council members were in disarray, must’ve been all thinking the same thing: Which tribe’s next?
Hekit Asan stood up, hands on the table. He was the head warrior of the tribe, the one in charge of battle with other goblin tribes, and on rare occasions, humans. He looked at them all with a resolute look, grey eyes grim with determination. “Someone targeting every goblin tribe of Velhana means that we are all equally in danger. If we don’t take action, we will all die.”
“What are you planning, Hekit Asan?” Garin asked. The old goblin looked sceptical, hands clasped together.
“The goblin tribes of Velhana have had their disagreements and disputes in the past, but we are ultimately brothers and sisters all created under Ascendant Vish Helka, all children of the same father. If the humans wish to destroy us, we will bring the battle to them. United under the same banner.”
“They would never agree to join forces. Do you think multiple tribes under one banner could ever be friendly towards one another, even live in peace? The other tribes will kill us before the humans do,” said Garin, shaking his head.
He was right. Goblin tribes did form alliances, but only for trading and migration of workers. Organising a widespread alliance and joining all the goblin tribes of Velhana was an impossible task. It was unheard of.
“I’m in agreement with Hekit Garin. An alliance with the whole of Velhana would be… unprecedented,” Endhi said.
“I agree, they would never join forces with us… unless they all had a common enemy hunting them down. An unprecedented threat requires an unprecedented solution. If they’re picking off tribes one by one, our end will be inevitable,” Asan said. “This is the only way we survive.”
The only way we survive…
Despite their good relations with a number of neighbouring tribes, historically, goblin tribes have always been at war. To set aside their differences and disregard their shared history of bloodshed? Endhi was skeptical, but maybe… maybe it was their only choice.
“An alliance with the whole of Velhana…”
“You’re asking for something impossible, Asan.”
“First we’d have to go to the Shis Talis…”
“Silence!” Olna spoke over the whole room. She tapped her finger on the table, ruminating, sighing. “Asan is right. There is no other option. If the adventurers want to set a price on our demise, we will pay them back in blood. We will set off to the Shis Talis tribe in two days to form an alliance. This meeting is over.”
Endhi left the meeting room, head spinning, mind simmering. A quest to hunt all the Velhanan goblin tribes, and an alliance to counteract it. This could be the end of the goblins as they knew it.