Chapter 11: The Hunters in the Dark
He didn't move for a long time after deciding not to use the fire.
The small flame hovering above his palm disappeared slowly as he lowered his hand.
Good.
Because the more he thought about it, the more stupid the idea became.
Burning a village inside a forest?
That wasn't strategy.
That was suicide.
The fire could spread in every direction. The wind could shift. The flames could trap him before the goblins ever died.
And honestly—
Dying in a forest fire after surviving monsters would've been embarrassingly pathetic.
"…Yeah, no thanks."
He leaned back quietly against the tree trunk, forcing himself to think properly instead of panicking.
Below him, the goblin village continued moving beneath the gray evening fog drifting through the clearing. Orange firelight flickered across the muddy ground while harsh screeching voices echoed between the huts.
None of them noticed him.
Yet.
His heartbeat had calmed slightly now, but the tension in his chest remained.
There were too many goblins to fight directly.
That much was obvious.
Even if he managed to kill one or two, the others would swarm him immediately.
His eyes slowly moved across the settlement again.
Weapons.
Fires.
Lookouts.
Cages.
The image of the human bones flashed through his mind again.
His jaw tightened unconsciously.
"…There has to be another way."
A cold wind moved through the trees around him, carrying distant sounds deeper from the forest behind the village.
At first he ignored it.
Then he heard it again.
A low growl.
Different from the goblins.
Deeper.
Heavy.
His body immediately stiffened.
The goblins heard it too.
Several of them suddenly stopped moving near the edge of the village, glancing nervously toward the dark forest beyond the clearing.
One grabbed a spear tightly.
Another quickly added more wood to a nearby fire.
The atmosphere inside the village changed instantly.
Fear.
Not panic.
Recognition.
Like they already knew what made that sound.
He frowned slightly.
"…Something hunts them too?"
The idea settled quickly inside his mind.
Then another sound echoed through the forest.
Branches snapping.
Slow.
Heavy.
Closer now.
Even from this far away, he could feel the tension spreading through the goblin camp below. Smaller goblins hurried inside the huts while larger ones gathered near the edges of the clearing holding weapons.
Nobody laughed anymore.
Nobody screeched.
The village had gone nearly silent.
And suddenly—
An idea appeared in his head.
A terrible one.
His eyes slowly drifted toward the goblin meat hanging near one of the fire pits.
Then toward the darker part of the forest behind him.
"…No way."
He immediately rejected the thought.
Then paused.
Because the more he thought about it—
The more it made sense.
If something dangerous hunted at night…
And if the goblins feared it…
Then maybe he didn't need to destroy the village himself.
Maybe he just needed to point the monster in the right direction.
His stomach tightened slightly.
"This is either smart or completely insane."
Probably both.
Slowly, carefully, he began moving backward through the trees, keeping low to avoid making noise.
The growling echoed again somewhere deeper in the darkness ahead.
Closer this time.
The forest suddenly felt heavier around him.
The fog thicker.
Every shadow between the trees looked alive.
He stopped near a patch of disturbed ground and crouched slowly.
Tracks.
Large ones.
Much larger than the River Stalker from before.
The claw marks alone looked longer than his hand.
"…That's not terrifying at all."
His voice came out dry.
Fresh blood stained the ground nearby.
Animal blood.
Something had hunted here recently.
His pulse quickened again.
Every instinct told him to leave immediately.
Instead—
He slowly pulled a strip of goblin meat from the pouch he'd stolen earlier near the edge of the settlement.
The smell alone was awful.
Rotten.
Greasy.
He almost regretted touching it.
Almost.
Then, carefully, he tied the meat loosely to a broken branch and dragged it across the forest floor while moving back toward the village.
A trail.
Not obvious enough for goblins to notice immediately.
But enough for something hunting by scent.
The deeper darkness between the trees behind him suddenly shifted.
A low growl rolled through the forest again.
Closer.
His heartbeat slammed painfully against his chest.
"…Okay."
He swallowed hard.
"Okay, this was a bad idea."
Branches cracked somewhere behind him.
Heavy footsteps followed.
Not running.
Walking.
Slowly.
Like whatever it was already knew exactly where the trail led.
Cold sweat formed against the back of his neck.
He forced himself not to look behind him again.
If he saw the creature properly—
He might panic.
And panic meant death.
The goblin village appeared ahead through the trees once more, firelight flickering faintly through the fog.
He quickly tied the remaining strip of meat near the edge of the clearing beside one of the outer huts before immediately climbing behind a cluster of rocks covered in moss.
Then silence.
Complete silence.
Even the goblins seemed uneasy now.
Several stood near the center of the village gripping their weapons tightly while staring toward the forest.
Waiting.
The wind moved softly through the trees overhead.
Then—
Something massive stepped out from the darkness.
The goblins screamed instantly.
He couldn't fully see the creature from where he hid.
Only pieces of it through the trees and firelight.
Dark fur.
Long limbs.
Eyes reflecting pale silver in the night.
Far too large.
The monster moved unnaturally quietly for something that size, its claws sinking into the mud as it entered the clearing.
The entire goblin village erupted into chaos.
And hidden behind the rocks—
He stayed completely still, listening.