"What's wrong?" I whispered.
The air felt heavy and cold. I raised the Glock 17, its black barrel blending with the forest's darkness. The metal felt cold in my sweaty hands.
Garren, walking in front of me, didn't answer. He just raised one hand, palm open. He crouched down slowly, his massive frame disappearing behind wet fern bushes.
I nodded silently, pulling a hesitant Dina down to crouch with me.
How could he see anything? I thought.
This forest was pitch black. The dim light from the two moons above could barely penetrate the thick foliage. I could only see faint silhouettes of tree trunks and hear my own breathing.
Garren signaled with his fingers. We crawled forward, our knees pressing into the cold, damp earth. The rustling of wet leaves beneath us sounded like screams in this silence.
We reached the edge of a small slope. Garren pushed aside a giant fern frond. And down there, in a small valley, I saw it.
A settlement.
Not just one or two huts. Dozens. Dozens of crudely built wooden shacks, roofs made of straw and patchwork animal hides. Torches burning on wooden posts cast flickering orange light, dancing over the rickety wooden fence surrounding the place, creating long shadows that moved like ghosts.
"A settlement? In a place like this?"
"That's not just a settlement," Tom whispered from Garren's back.
"That's a goblin lair. Look."
He pointed with his chin. I squinted. He was right. Small, dull-green figures were patrolling in front of the gate.
"What should we do, Garren?" Dina whispered, her voice trembling. She huddled next to me, the smell of earth and a hint of fear coming off her.
"We have to go back," Tom urged.
"Back to the main path right now."
I looked at them. Dina's face was pale under the distant torchlight. Tom looked even worse. Garren... his face was hard as stone, eyes fixed on the settlement.
"What's wrong? Why are you guys so anxious? It's just goblins," I said.
"One or five goblins aren't a problem, Liam," Garren finally spoke, his voice low like a growl.
"But a lair this size... their numbers could be in the hundreds. We haven't recovered from the wolf attack yesterday."
I fell silent. He was right. Among the four of us, only I was truly fit. Tom was severely injured. Garren's shield was destroyed. And Dina... I could see her hand holding the staff shaking slightly. She tried to hide it, but I saw it.
"Garren, let's go," Dina pulled the edge of Garren's armor.
Garren's grip on his sword hilt tightened.
"No," he said, shaking his head slowly. "We can't leave."
"What do you mean?!" Dina hissed, her tone rising.
"Are you crazy, Garren? You want to get us all killed here? Look at that settlement!"
"It's precisely because of that settlement that we can't leave!" Garren retorted, now turning to face us. His eyes flashed sharply in the darkness.
"It's useless to go back. A lair this big wasn't built in a week or two. This took months. Meaning... their territory has expanded. The roads around here must be full of their patrols and traps. If we retreat, we'll just get caught between their patrols and end up cornered. Better we attack now, while we have the element of surprise."
He paused, breathing heavily. "And if we succeed... the Guild will pay us handsomely for clearing a goblin lair this size on the outskirts of the Black Forest. We could be rich."
"Goblins building a settlement like this, is that strange?" I asked.
"Not strange," Garren answered. "But the scale. And the location. Goblins usually nest in caves or hidden places. They don't build villages in the open like this, complete with wooden houses. That means... there's something leading them. Something smarter. Stronger."
"You mean... a Goblin King?" Tom's voice sounded horrified.
"Maybe," Garren replied.
"Garren, if there's a Goblin King, we won't win!" Dina protested.
"That's a C-Rank monster!"
"We don't have to fight it," Garren said firmly.
"Here's the plan. If there's a King, we just need to create chaos, break through, and run. If not... we clear this place."
Tom chuckled, a dry laugh full of despair. "I don't know where that confidence comes from, Garren."
Garren didn't answer. His eyes shifted to me. His gaze was intense, piercing.
"What is it?" I asked, feeling a bit awkward under his heavy stare.
"Liam," he said. "That weapon of yours. Can it kill goblins?"
"It can."
I remembered the three goblins I killed yesterday. They died easily.
"Good." A thin, savage smile carved onto Garren's lips.
"In that case, my confidence comes from you."
"Eh? Wait a minute!" I panicked. "Why all of a sudden?"
"That thing," he said, pointing his chin at the pistol in my hand.
"I don't know what it is. Some kind of mechanical crossbow? But it's silent, and its power is incredible. We will attack from the darkness. You will be our spearhead, Liam. You will open the path."
I fell silent. The weight of his words felt heavy. I hadn't truly mastered this weapon yet. I had just been lucky so far.
Suddenly, a sound broke our tension.
"Ahhh....."
The sound was faint, carried by the wind from the direction of the settlement. Weak. But definitely human.
Dina gasped. "There are people in there."
Garren turned back, his eyes fixed once again on the torchlight in the distance. His calculating face was now filled with cold anger.
"I heard it too," he said.
"Look," I whispered, pointing with my chin.
"Over there."
A line of flickering torches moved between the huts. Their movement was slow and irregular. They were herding something in their midst.
"Humans," Garren growled softly.
From here, the distance was still too far. The darkness and overcast clouds covering the moon made everything look like blurry silhouettes. But I could see them. Forms taller, slenderer, walking with heads bowed among the short and stout goblins.
"Why are they capturing humans?" I asked.
"Goblins usually don't take male prisoners," Tom chimed in from Garren's back, his voice heavy with fatigue and pain.
"Men... are usually just for eating."
A cold silence enveloped us for a moment.
"Then... the women?" I asked hesitantly. An unpleasant answer was already forming in my mind, drawn from dozens of fantasy stories I had read.
But I wanted to confirm it.
The three of them turned to me. Their gazes were strange. A mix of pity and a little... confusion, as if I had just asked why water is wet.
"What is it?"
"No," Dina answered quickly, too quickly. She averted her eyes. "The goblin race... they don't have females. To reproduce, they... need other races."
My stomach churned. So it was true.
"You mean they capture humans to... use as breeding slaves?"
"Correct," Garren answered briefly. His tone was sharp as a sword edge.
I looked back at the line of torches. The scene now looked far more horrific.
"We have to save them," I said.
I could feel their eyes on me.
I didn't care.
A very quiet click sounded as I disengaged the safety lever. I took a deep breath, feeling the humid night air fill my lungs. I pulled my jacket hood lower, hiding my face in shadow.
Garren and Dina exchanged glances for a moment. Then, I saw a brief nod from Garren. Dina tightened her grip on her wooden staff. From behind, I only heard a resigned sigh from Tom.
I pushed myself up to stand.
WHOOSH!
The world suddenly flipped. Something hit me from the side with shocking force, shoving me down onto the wet ground. My face slammed into rotting leaves, the smell of earth filling my nose.
"Dammit, Garren!" I swore, trying to get up, ready to curse at the big man for pushing me.
But then I saw it.
TWANG!
Right where my head had been moments ago, an arrow was now embedded. Its rough shaft vibrated, the fletching wet with dew. The tip made of sharp iron shards was stuck deep into the tree trunk behind us.
"An arrow?" I whispered, horrified.
I instantly turned toward where the arrow came from. Up.
There, perched on a broken tree branch, a goblin figure was drawing its small bow again. Its yellow eyes glowed in the darkness, staring straight at us.
"Shit, we've been spotted," Dina hissed.
Garren was already up, sword drawn, its dull blade reflecting the distant torchlight.
"He's seen us!" Garren said quickly, his voice tense.
"Don't let him escape!"
Before he finished his sentence, the goblin archer jumped down from his branch and sprinted through the bushes, moving away, back toward his lair.
Without thinking, I dashed after him. Garren ran beside me, his heavy footsteps shaking the ground. Dina followed behind, staff gripped tight. We left Tom alone back there, a gamble we had to take.
The forest around us became a blur. I had only one goal: the small green figure scurrying ahead.
He could not make it back to the lair.
Breath burned in my lungs. Twigs scratched my face and exposed arms, leaving stinging cuts. But I didn't care. Beside me, Garren ran like a raging rhino, his massive body crashing through the underbrush without slowing down.
The goblin was agile. He hopped over protruding tree roots, slipped under low branches. He knew this forest. We didn't.
"He's too fast!" Dina shouted from behind, gasping for air.
The goblin glanced back for a second. I could see a triumphant grin on his ugly face. He was almost at the edge of the forest where we had been hiding. A few more meters, and he would be in the open area visible from the lair's watchtower.
I won't let you!
There was no time to stop and aim properly. I raised the pistol while still running, gripping it with both hands, trying to stabilize the shaking from my frantic steps. I didn't aim for the head.
I aimed for a bigger, slower target: his legs.
I focused my mind. For a moment, everything felt silent. The sound of my ragged breathing, Garren's thundering steps, Dina's shouts—it all faded. All that remained was me, the gun in my hand, and the moving target. The blurry tree branches around him, and a pair of skinny green legs that kept moving.
My eyes glinted cold.
I pulled the trigger.
PFFT!
I saw it. His agile movement suddenly broke. His right leg buckled strangely, and he fell forward, face slamming into the muddy ground. He screamed, a high-pitched shriek of pain, trying to crawl forward with his hands.
But it was too late.
I didn't stop running. I leaped over a tree root and landed right beside him. He looked up, yellow eyes widening in horror as he saw the muzzle of my black pistol pointing straight at his face.
I didn't hesitate.
PFFT!
PFFT!
PFFT!
I fired. Again and again. I could feel the small recoil in my wrist. I saw black holes appear in his fragile skull. His body convulsed for a moment, dirty fingers clawing the earth, then went still.
Silence descended again, leaving only the sound of my heavy breathing.
Huff... huff... huff...
I stared at the corpse at my feet. Brain matter and red blood mixed with the mud. Thin smoke curled from the barrel of my still-warm pistol.
"Finally dead," I muttered, voice hoarse.
"Good job, Liam."
A large, heavy hand patted my shoulder. Garren. He stood beside me, also breathing hard, but there was a glint of approval in his eyes.
"If not for you, he would have escaped."
Dina finally caught up, bending over with hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath. She glanced at the goblin corpse, then spat to the side.
"Pfft, disgusting," she hissed.
"We have to hide this body," Garren said, his tone serious again.
"Other patrols could find it."
We nodded. Garren dragged the corpse into the thickest bushes, pulling branches over to cover it.
Dina and I walked quickly back to where Tom was. He was still there, hiding behind the fallen tree, face tense.
"Are you guys okay?" he asked when we appeared.
"We're fine," I answered, still trying to calm my heartbeat.
"Sorry for leaving you alone, Tom," Dina said, voice full of regret.
"Doesn't matter," Tom cut in. "We have to move immediately. Before sunrise." His gaze was sharp.
Garren returned, wiping his dirty hands on his pants.
"It's done." He crouched down and carefully helped Tom back onto his back.
"Let's go," he said, and we began moving back toward the goblin lair, this time with much slower, more cautious steps.