It was late when Ai got back, and her muscles ached but she headed straight for the elders hut. She knew the goblin was in there, even if she hadn’t been privy to the going ons of the day. Thankfully, it appeared that the mound of dead people had been moved.

Approaching the hut she wished there was a door to knock on rather than a curtain. The few people still out in the growing dusk gave her curious glances as she lurked outside of the village elders door. Straightening her back she knocked on the wall instead, ignoring the way the hair on the back of her neck prickled. Or the way she could hear every word the people on the street were saying with her keener ears.

Almost immediately the curtain was yanked back, revealing the village elder. Her hood was off and Ai could see a slight flush to her cheeks. She wasn’t actually as old as her hands looked, Ai would only have placed her in her fifties. Her eyes were a pale milky white. She was blind.

“Finally! You get the blasted thing to talk – it’s getting on my last nerve!” The village elder yanked Ai in, pulling her through another curtain.

Ais tail was ramrod straight as she looked around the quaint room, with two beds (actual beds, not piles of fur on the floor) and its one occupant.

“I’ll leave you to it then.” The woman gave Ai a shove forwards.

“Wait-” Ai called out but she was already gone.

This was not how Ai imagined this evening going. She had thought she would have to ask to be let in. Give a reason for seeing the goblin that didn’t consist of her killing anyone or thing.

Ais shoulders slowly hunched as she looked towards the bed.

The goblin stared back at her, its eyes huge in its strange face. Ai opened her mouth, but she didn’t know what to say. She tried to start saying something, but all that came out was air.

The goblin cocked its head to the side in an odd, bird-like motion.

“Where you come from? You not one of Spirit People.” Its voice was high and clear; childlike, just like the goblins that she had seen before.

“No.” She managed, her voice coming out choked.

The goblins eyes narrowed at her as it leant towards her. She took one step back before she could think about it.

The goblin let a small grin crawl over its face. Each tooth was small and sharp, perfect for eating meat.

“You scared.”

Ais claws pricked her palm as she began to clench her fists before forcing herself to relax.

“I’m not scared of you.” She said but she didn’t move any closer.

“You scaaaared.” Its voice turned mocking now as it clapped its hands together. “Scared of one leg goblin!”

Ai inhaled sharply.

“I said-”

“Goblin eat you. Tasty flesh.” It licked its lips slowly, making sure she was watching.

One of Ais hands fell to her dagger, and the goblins eyes followed the movement.

“Coward. You kill from behind. Scared to see monster up close.” It threw its arms out into the air. “Even small hurt one!”

“I’m not scared.” Ai growled, perhaps more to herself than to the goblin.

The goblin sighed dramatically then fell back onto the bed.

“Scared one leave now. Run away.” It turned its back to her.

Apparently it wasn’t sacred in the slightest that she would hurt it, let alone pose a threat to its life.

Ais hand tightened around the gilt of the dagger, then she released it. Slowly she walked closer to the goblin, until she sat on the other bed barely a foot from it. She could see the rough grey of its skin, crisscrossed with pale scars. She wondered where it got them.

That was why she was here, she reminded herself, to find out about its people. What she had taken away.

“How did you end up getting attacked?” She asked, thankful her voice was coming out smoothly.

The goblin rolled its head back to face her. It just looked for a moment before it replied.

“Why you care?”

“I…I want to know about you. The other goblins. I…” Ai trailed off, unsure how to continue. She was surprised she was being this honest, given what she had seen of her audience thus far.

“And why should I trust you?” The goblin sounded different this time. Before his sentences were short, staccato. Now they rolled off his tongue, Ai would even go so far to say he sounded posh.

“I don’t know. Because you want to?” Inwardly Ai winced, she didn’t think she had ever sounded quite as stupid as she had in the last five minutes of her life.

“Trust isn’t given it’s earned.” The goblin tapped one too long finger against its chin. “You give me a name. In the old way. One that’ll suit me.”

Ai had no idea what that meant, unless it was the bloody thumb thing that Kele had done.

“What exactly do I have to do?”

“Make a circle of elements. Bless me with your blood. Name me. Vow to take me as one of your own.”

“Make you one of my own?”

“Blood of your blood. Soul of your soul. To be bound until we leave this dimension. The same way a couple is married, or brothers of different flesh are made.”

Ai frowned. “So it’s like marriage?”

The goblin shook its head. “It’s a bond. The bond doesn’t have a nature. We can hate one another or love one another. Never see one another again. But I will forever carry a part of your soul as you will carry a part of mine. It will offer protection in the spirit world. Help us to retain our will against magics that will influence our minds. It isn’t marriage, it’s more.”

“Why do you want me to do this?”

“I have no name, no people. I am one of the goblins here, but I am not. Until I have a name, I cannot become male or female. I can be enslaved easily. Manipulated. To have a name will make me stronger, and to have a name in the old way will make my mind stronger, as it will yours.” Which sounded far, far too good to be true to Ai.

“What are the draw backs?”

“…as I am part of you, I will be able to feel what you feel. Use our bond to more easily let others into your mind if I wanted to. You would be able to do the same. When I die you too will be touched by death. You will live on but there will be darkness on your soul, Oscuro will know you.”

Ai thought she was getting goosebumps.

“And Oscuro is the spirit of darkness.” Ai stated and the goblin nodded.

“Why should I do this? It seems to help you more than me. You probably have a shorter lifespan than me too.”

“My life span is as long as until I get killed. I don’t plan to die. Do you?” It seemed to be annoyed at her assumption, though Ai wasn’t sure why. She shook her head anyway.

“But still…”

“How important are my answers to you? I can vow I won’t use the bond against you, by the spirits, lest my soul be erased forever. It can help us both. I would travel with you, if you would let me.” The goblin hesitated, running its tongue over its teeth.

“I want to leave the forest. I want to leave the goblins. See the world without…” It shrugged with the most human expression Ai had seen on its face so far. “And I would like somebody to do it with. Somebody I felt I could trust. Who wouldn’t skin and bleed me to make potions. Or scalp me for a reward at the nearest adventurers’ guild.”

Ai watched it, and actually felt herself being tempted by its offer. It seemed so human, more so than she had expected. Her answers…she wanted them, but not enough to shackle her soul to somebody elses without thinking about the consequences.

“Why are you speaking so well now? Before you sounded like you didn’t know very much.”

Congratulations! You have earned +1 to Perception!

Ai almost jumped at the popup. The cocoon of quiet in this space had made her forget that she got them. She blinked and saw the goblin looking at her wide eyed.

“It helps if humans think I’m stupid. They underestimate me.”

But it had let her see past the façade.

“I’ll think about it.”