Chapter 14: Endless sleep

The forest had a dangerous air that day, the goblin felt the imminent danger in his bones. Inside his cave he could hear the sounds of night fighting, grunts and growls that made him think of furry humans. 'He' initially thought it was just his head hearing things that weren't there again. However, he understood that there was a struggle outside when he left with the onset of morning.

There was blood smeared across the dirt floor near his hiding place. The crumpled and dirty bushes indicated that something heavy had fallen from the trees. The trail of disturbed earth and red water denounced that a body had been dragged.

'He' could investigate, but his safest option was to ignore what could possibly be a great danger. Unfortunately, his desire to know always outweighed his desire to stay safe.

Cautiously he followed those tracks, walking on all fours, as low as possible. Creeping through the tall grass, trying to be quiet, doing his best so no creature could see him.

Traces of destruction were becoming clearer and the goblin could almost see what happened there. It was strange that he could create visions of what was going on in a place in his head using just a few signals.

As if each footprint and mound of earth, each broken branch and fallen leaf carried a story just like the cave walls of the furry humans. And thinking about them made him realize that once again, these animals were involved in his life.

Fur accompanied some parts of the path they followed, lots of foliage on the ground indicating that they had walked through that region. So close to him and he came to understand why when it came to an end.

There was a body on the ground, lying in the dirt in an awkward position, a goblin with no sign of being alive. His neck was broken, his arms were bent backwards in a way not possible when alive, his jaw was gaping and many of his teeth were missing. Blood flowed from his head, from his mouth, from his arms and back. Its open eyes stared at the sky and dried patches around it showed that salt water had come out of them.

'He' knew that it was done by those who walk on the boughs, everything he observed led to that conclusion. Why would they do this? The furry humans had never fought goblins before, so why would they do this now?

Was it his fault?

There was no doubt that they sought to kill goblins, as that body was not the only one that 'he' found. In lakes, on top of trees, crushed under rocks, or split between roots. The furry humans were after his people, perhaps specifically looking to kill him.

The lack of noise bothered him more than hearing the sounds of his predators approaching. His unintelligent head feared that they would leap out of the bushes at him and make him just one of their fallen fellows.

His legs got weaker with that thought, after all what happened to those who close their eyes never to open again?

It wasn't the first time in his life that he had seen that and he knew well that it wouldn't be the last, however he had never asked himself such a question before. What would it be like when your time came?

Is it like when he slept? A sleep without pleasure, yet without pain. Surrounded by the so comfortable darkness that protected him from the worst evils that that forest had placed in his path.

Dying didn't seem so bad, but he was too scared for that. What if it wasn't just the calm lack of everything? Perhaps his mind would be taken elsewhere when his body no longer served. Would it be better than when awake, with plenty of food and security? Or would it be worse, even more suffering and weakness?

Would he need to do anything special before the endless sleep? For the end of life to be better than life itself, should actions be taken with this mission in mind? What would you have to do?

But it is only clear if there was something for those who turn a blind eye. The goblin wasn't sure and doubted that anything in that forest could answer his big question.

'He' crouched down and calmly closed his equal's eyes. Carefully, he picked up the corpse and held it against his chest, wrapping his arms around it. He was going to take it to a lake and dump it there. It wasn't something his people used to do, it wasn't something anyone in this hellhole would do, and he'd never done it himself before.

Still, he wished for reasons he didn't understand, to allow his Breedmate's eternal slumber to be a little more comfortable.

Seeing the body sink into the water, 'he' got his answer and that was "it doesn't matter". Whether or not there was something for those who turned a blind eye didn't matter to him.

The goblin would not die.

There was a world outside the forest that he had never seen, lands he had never trod, races he had not known, and knowledge he had never had the chance to acquire. He wanted more, much more than closing his eyes and not opening them again.

Motivated, he returned to his cave. Now aware that the furry humans were hunting him, he couldn't take any longer to go after his set goals. The monster placed the large object with sharp sticks inside on its back, making sure the short vine on the item would not drop it.

"He" took the strange human weapon that launched the projectiles and put his arm between it so that he could carry better. Outside her hiding place, she took a deep breath, preparing herself for what she would do next.

The monster stared at a large tree in the distance and ran towards it. A foot at the base of the wood propelled him upward, then a hand dug its claws into the trunk to steady him. He repeated the actions again and then again until he reached the top of the tree.

His arrival at the top of the branches was one of the first proofs that his constant attempts were getting somewhere. It made him happy, he felt ready and now he would face his weak condition by proving himself strong.

He was going after the vine that speak 'sssssss'.