Kai walked until the forest thickened around him. Branches tangled overhead, muting the light. He pressed forward, boots crunching against roots and damp soil, eyes scanning until he caught sight of a cave. A ring of goblins lingered near its mouth, their shapes low and restless.
He kept moving, Flicker shifting in his hand, lengthening into a katana. The weight steadied him as much as the sharp edge.
Two goblins gathering brush noticed him. Their yellow eyes widened, fear spilling over their faces, before they scrambled back toward the cave. That fear struck him. It was raw, unpolished, the same terror he remembered from Fable—creatures scattering from something stronger, unable to fight it.
The goblins retreated, leaving silence behind. Kai stopped and sat outside the cave.
After a pause, one emerged.
Kai finally got a proper look.
The skin was green, yes, but the face was humanlike—awkward, unfinished, but human all the same. Its eyes gleamed a strange yellow, its jaw crooked, its tone uneven.
"HELoo, I am Misk!" the goblin said, voice pitched wrong. Then, in broken English:
"You… no dangerous? We fear. Humans hate. You… different?"
Kai's chest tightened. Something in him sank.
He hadn't yet seen the kippers, hadn't seen the small lives of this realm, but already the protective urge gripped him. He thought of the Old Realm cities he might someday vanish into, the places he'd always dreamed of running toward. But here, with these faces, staying felt natural.
He raised his hand, pointed to himself. "I want to teach goblins."
Misk's eyes went wide. "We accept!!!" it cheered, voice bouncing off the cave walls. More figures appeared at the sound.
Two young siblings, hands locked tight. An elder hobbling forward with a cane. Several younger goblins clustered behind, curious and wary.
By nightfall, they sat together around a fire. Goblin voices tumbled in harsh syllables, a language foreign to Kai's ear. But then, without command, Dualmind spoke inside him.
[Translating. Gremlish recognized. Upload complete.]
The words shifted, meaning suddenly sliding into his mind like a second skin. He spoke, and they understood.
"Wow, he speak Gremlish!" a small goblin girl gasped. Her eyes sparkled. "Mister, you amazing! Humans hate us, but you different!"
Kai leaned toward the fire. "First thing—you must stop killing their goats."
"Humans… own goats?" an older goblin asked.
"Yes," Kai said. "They care for them. They use them for byproducts."
"Byproducts?" another echoed.
"Milk. Eggs. Honey."
Confusion burst around the circle.
"Milk? Like for babies? From another animal? Crazy!"
"And eggs? From chickens? Madness!"
They paused, eyes narrowing. "I agree! And honey? What is honey?"
"Bees make it," Kai explained, steady and patient. "Sweet. Golden. Chickens lay eggs that don't become alive. You can cook them—eat the yolk and more."
The goblins stared at him like he was the one speaking nonsense.
Kai exhaled. "Alright. I'll show you in time."
He closed his eyes, focusing hard. A speck of energy flickered to life in his palm. Velnix stirred instantly, sharp hunger rising to devour it. She tolerated Flicker, but another guardian was too much.
Kai pushed her back with his will. He extended the glowing mote to the elder.
"This is a spirit guardian. Train it, and it will train you. It carries some knowledge from my thoughts, but it must learn, just as you will."
The elder bowed, hands trembling as he accepted it. "Thank you, oh wise one."
Fire crackled. Laughter, disbelief, and wonder rolled around him. Kai sat among them, not as an intruder, but as something else.
His gaze drifted past the firelight, into the dark forest beyond. Whoever came for these goblins would meet him first.
For the first time in a long time, Kai felt the shape of belonging. A strange thought crept through his mind—maybe here, in this wild place, he had something worth protecting.
-
Kai spent days among the goblins, letting their strange rhythms become his own. He rose with them at dawn, when the forest was heavy with dew, and worked long into the dusk. His hands and will bent to the principles of equivalent exchange, carving homes into the walls of their cave. Each strike was measured, each line etched in resonance, stone shifting and smoothing until doorways appeared where there had been rough rock.
The goblins gathered close whenever he worked. Their wide yellow eyes reflected the glow of the carvings, awe written plain across their faces. Praise spilled out of them in halting Gremlish—little cheers, clumsy songs, and proud declarations that their home was changing. Kai couldn't help but smirk when the elder tapped his cane against a new doorway and declared it "stronger than mountain."
But he didn't stay buried in the cave. He walked to Valic Ville often, a small but bustling settlement that sat like a stone among the trees. Word spread quickly there. People noticed him, and when asked, Kai didn't hide the truth.
"I live with goblins," he'd say, matter-of-fact, "and I'm teaching them."
The reactions were mixed—raised brows, muttered suspicions, but not the rage he expected. The townsfolk were cautious, sure, but not outright hostile. Farmers, especially, kept their distance, hands tightening on their goods, eyes narrowed like they half-expected goblins to be hiding in his shadow. But there was no violence, no pitchfork mobs.
One merchant, after hearing Kai's story, had even muttered, "If you can get 'em to stop killing goats, maybe you're worth something."
The acceptance was thin, fragile as glass, but it was there. And Kai knew that was enough for now.
Back in the cave, the goblins welcomed him with firelight and laughter. They showed him clumsy crafts and rough-hewn tools, their own kind of pride. And every time he looked around the cavern, now dotted with homes he had carved, he felt the pull again—that fierce urge to protect them, no matter who thought it foolish.
It wasn't the life he'd planned. But it was becoming one he couldn't walk away from.