Chapter Seventeen: A Night in the Crimson Wilderness

The pitiful creature was startled, then immediately curled up in a ball, cowering as she gazed at the red rock. Shaya quickened his pace, and soon they had passed the rock; the pitiful creature finally caught a clear glimpse of the goblins.

From their appearance, these beings hardly lived up to the fearsome reputation they held across the Wildfire Plains. In fact, at first glance, they looked almost comical. Their bodies were covered in green skin, much like frogs after a summer rain. Pointed, protruding donkey ears and a broad, sturdy nose stuck out of their faces like a carrot. They had neither hair nor beard, their heads disproportionately large compared to their thin, spindly bodies. Judging by their height—barely one hundred thirty centimeters—the ratio of their heads to their bodies was distinctly unbalanced. These little creatures hid timidly behind the rocks, their mouths filled with sharp, stubby, decayed teeth, watching Shaya and the pitiful creature with strange, alien eyes.

What struck the pitiful creature as most novel was the length of their arms, which hung down past their knees. At first sight, it was difficult to feel any fear toward these beings—they looked small and frail, and above all, filthy and impoverished.

Indeed, these goblins were poorer than beggars. Of the few hiding behind the rocks, only one wore anything remotely resembling clothing—a tattered burlap sack, its origins unknown, with three holes cut for head and arms. Another wielded a weapon: the leg bone of some large animal, with a sharp stone tied to the end for added lethality. This one even wore a mishmash of items nailed together to form a suit of “armor.”

Heavens, what kind of armor was this! The materials comprised two scraps of copper, a pile of tree bark, a few rotten pieces of wood, and something resembling a net of rope.

After watching for a while, the pitiful creature asked, somewhat dubiously, “Are these really goblins?”

“Yes,” Shaya nodded.

“But they don’t look nearly as frightening as the legends say,” the pitiful creature remarked, puzzled.

Shaya smiled. “There are strong and weak among goblins, too. The ones you see are wandering outcasts without a tribe. The real danger comes from the goblin tribes. Don’t be deceived by how feeble and timid these single goblins appear; if you ever encounter hundreds of them, all starving for days… then you’ll know their true ferocity.”

Indeed, after Shaya’s explanation, the pitiful creature realized that these creatures’ eyes were much like those of wild stray dogs—timid, wary, but hiding a trace of savagery and hostility.

Shaya paid no heed to the filthy creatures trailing after him, striding forward along the road. Only when the goblins drew too close did he stop, pick up a stone, and throw it at them accompanied by loud threats—upon which the goblins scattered in panic.

As dusk fell, the pitiful creature noticed that the goblin wanderers following behind had vanished.

In the wilderness, they came upon a massive skeleton, likely belonging to some large beast—perhaps a wild ox, a camel-horse, or something else. The pitiful creature couldn’t tell. The skeleton lay across the ground, its ribs arranged in symmetrical pairs. What was astonishing was that not a trace of skin or flesh remained—it was clear this was no natural decay, but that someone had entirely stripped it clean, leaving not a scrap.

Approaching, the pitiful creature saw the dense marks of teeth gnawing across the bones.

“It’s the goblins. Only goblins could scrape the meat so clean,” Shaya remarked, casually picking up a bone and weighing it in his hand. “Judging by its hardness and remaining moisture, it died no more than ten days ago.”

“Why do you seem to know so much about these creatures?” the pitiful creature asked, suspiciously.

Shaya did not answer. Instead, he took out the pelt of the bloodthirsty wolf and draped it across the skeleton, making a makeshift tent.

“We’ll sleep here tonight,” Shaya decided.

Dinner was roasted wolf meat—there was still some left from the bloodthirsty wolf. Though the meat was sour and tough, and difficult to chew, the pitiful creature endured it bravely.

He was too distracted to complain about the taste. Throughout the night, sitting by the fire gnawing at wolf meat, he distinctly felt countless eyes watching him from the surrounding wilderness—eyes full of hunger, greed, ferocity, and timidity.

He could even clearly hear the sound of saliva being swallowed, a chorus of “glug, glug” coming from the darkness, mixed with the crunching of teeth—sounds that sent chills down his spine.

“They… they’re spying on us,” the pitiful creature wanted to warn the country bumpkin, who seemed woefully lacking in alertness.

“I know,” Shaya replied, lying on the bones with his head cradled, eyes closed as he basked in the warmth of the fire. “One on the left, two on the right, one ahead and behind, and a few more further off…”

He rolled over to face the pitiful creature. “Don’t worry, they won’t bother us for now. Goblins are cowardly creatures; their courage only comes in numbers. Their rule is simple: to take down two human warriors, they need at least twenty goblin fighters for overwhelming victory. Goblin minds aren’t very clever; their criteria are straightforward. Anyone with a weapon is a warrior; anyone without is a civilian. Luckily for us, you’re wearing leather armor and I carry an axe, so they see us as human warriors. They’ll wait until they’ve gathered at least twenty fighters before attacking.”

“That can’t be,” the pitiful creature doubted. “If it takes so long to attack just two warriors, why do I hear about goblins assaulting merchant caravans?”

“That’s just rumor,” Shaya scoffed. “On the Wildfire Plains, rumors are always popular. Goblins aren’t as terrifying as you think… though they’re troublesome, they’re not as fearsome as the tales say. Most of those stories are made up by humans. In fact, many of the legends about the dangers of the Wildfire Plains are spread deliberately by large trading companies. That way, everyone fears the risks and avoids this trade route, leaving it to them alone. Hmph…”

“But… I heard goblins capture people, eat them, grind their bones to powder, weave their skin into blankets, and render the fat into oil…” the pitiful creature’s teeth chattered.

“That may be true. To goblins, humans are a foreign species. But don’t we treat cattle and sheep the same way? What’s so strange about it?” Shaya yawned. “The truth is, goblins rarely attack armed human groups. Many humans have died at their hands on the Wildfire Plains, but most were reckless, greedy, and desperate merchants who tried to cross without hiring guards. When such small caravans meet goblins, they’re doomed.”

“But you said it takes so long to gather enough goblins to attack just two people…”

“I said ‘warriors,’ you fool,” Shaya shook his head. “Goblins are bold when attacking civilians. But right now, they see us as warriors! We’re armed, so they mistake us for adventurers or mercenaries. The goblins of the Wildfire Plains have suffered enough at the hands of skilled human adventurers, so they’ve learned caution. If we weren’t carrying weapons, they’d have swarmed us already!”

“But…”

“Relax. We’re still on the edge of goblin territory; there are no large goblin tribes nearby. It’ll take a long time for them to gather twenty warriors against us. Those wandering goblins won’t dare provoke us. Sleep easy… I know more about this than you do, and I won’t risk my life carelessly.” Shaya rolled over.

“…,” the pitiful creature lay there for a while, still frightened by the eerie sounds carried on the cold winds of the wilderness. After some time, she could not endure it and whispered, “Can I… can I move a bit closer to you? It’s… um, it's still rather cold here.”

Shaya said nothing. The pitiful creature waited, then finally moved over and lay down beside him. The country bumpkin still carried that earthy smell, but his warmth made her feel secure.

Of course, more importantly, his bizarre sense of aesthetics meant she didn’t have to worry about him taking liberties with her.