"Are you human?" I asked, my voice low but unrelenting.
The goblin berserker's eyes narrowed into slits, his breath coming out in short, guttural bursts. For a moment, he only stared at me, unblinking, his expression carved from stone. Then, with a voice that rumbled like distant thunder, he finally responded.
"Do I look human to you?"
The words should have been mocking, but the way he spoke them only made my chest tighten. My heart thudded harder in my ribs, faster, heavier.
Because he hadn't hesitated. He hadn't asked me what a human was. The word hadn't been foreign to him, hadn't carried the confusion I would have expected from a creature born in this world.
And that could only mean one thing.
No way.
I drew in a slow breath, pressing Gravefang more firmly against his throat as I leaned closer. "Let me rephrase that," I said, my voice sharp with urgency. "Were you once, at some point in time… human?"
