As the short, green skinned creatures stood before me, I could not help but feel drained. Soon the gate closed, leaving no trace behind. It was as if creating the gate and allowing the creatures march into this world consumed my energy. I required to rest. Perhaps not by sleeping, but by allowing the feeling inside me sleep. The fatigue I felt was inside me, on my spirit but not in my muscles. Nonetheless, I felt as if the capacity of that invisible container inside my heart containing that amorphous feeling has enlarged.

With these green skinned creatures, I did not what I needed to do. I did not even know what they were. Perhaps they would answer me.

“What are you?”

“We are goblins.”

Goblins. The name sounded familiar for some reason as if it rang a bell in my lost memory. I tried to think… Tough luck – I really do not remember anything.

“Why did you call me master?”

“You summon us. We follow.”

It seems they are unable to make coherent sentences. Almost every single sentence that came out of this short dude’s mouth had a broken grammar so far. Maybe their intelligence is not high.

“Gourrgrhhhh…!”

That was my stomach. I guess I was just too perplexed with waking up naked with no memory and instinctively summoning some unfamiliar green creatures that I forgot to find something to eat.

“Master hungry. We bring food. Master eat.”

“That would be good.”

That would be good indeed. You know what else would be good?

“Do not call me master. Call me by my name.”

I need to be assertive and command them. If they address me as their master, they would listen to my commands right?

“Master’s name is what?”

What is my name? Great. I said something without thinking and now I have to name myself.

“Murder. Call me Murder.”

….

Soon after our brief conversation, some of the goblins took off. I believe some went into the forest while the others were in the valley. The ones in the valley I could see from where I stood were collecting berries and other edible-looking plants. Because all of them left after saying they will find food for me, to feed me that is, I believe the ones who went into the forest also were searching for food.

I went around tapping on the shoulders of the ones collecting berries. I told some of the goblins, 8 in total, to help me find a cave that we could settle in which could help house all 27 of us. Since I did not want to enter the forest alone, these goblins were really a blessing in disguise. I went into the forest with 8 of the goblins after informing the other 3 who were still collecting berries, so that they could tell the ones who entered the forest to presumably search for food when they come back. I did not want the forest-searching group to be surprised when they come back to the valley and not be able to find me there, though I still was not sure if the 3 who remained understood exactly what I told them.

“We are going to look for a place to stay. Please tell the rest that we are entering the forest to look for a cave or something once they come back. We will come back and take all of you if we are able to find a place. Do you understand.”

“Murder we join. Find place. Understand.”

“No – what I mean is, I will go with these 8. You 3 wait here. When the others come, you tell them we will come back.”

“We tell them. You come back?”

“Yes, we are going to look for a cave.”

“We look for a cave. Others come back to cave?”

“No…”

Anyway – I want to think they eventually understood what I was trying to say. Even if they understand it exactly, I am not really sure if they could communicate it with the others.

Soon after entering the forest with 8 goblins, I started feeling a chilly breeze on my skin. I made a loincloth using a wide leaf from a nearby tree, although it only covered my genitalia. Not that these goblins cared about my nudity, but that I did.

The breeze started giving me goosebumps as we kept going deeper into the forest. The mountains were far ahead, maybe at least a day’s walk away from the valley. But there were small hills within the forest. My purpose was to search around these hills to try and locate a cave to settle in for the night with the group.

Arriving at the range one of the hills I was able to spot after climbing a tree, I ordered the group of goblins I brought with me to make 2 parties of 3 and a party of 2 to search around the hill for caves as I waited at a certain spot.

An hour passed by and the 2 of the parties arrived. They were unfortunately not able to find anything. The last party, however, has not returned yet. I was worried for this scenario, of course. We were in a forest and goblins seemed to be weak. If there were a wild animal, two of them would most probably not be able to do anything.

However, soon they came back with good news. They were able to find a cave. The cave was empty with no sign of a wild beast living inside. According to the goblins’ report, the cave was big enough to house all 27 of us.

I decided to leave 4 goblins behind and took the rest with me back to the valley. Hopefully, I would gather the entire group and take them to our new home.

When we turned back however, I was shocked. Of the 14 goblins that went into the forest, only 8 returned, including the one with the sharp jawline who did the first talking. Moreover, 3 of those who came back were injured. Luckily, their injuries did not look so grave.

Rather than sad, I was appalled. It was very easy to die, apparently. Much more so than I had ever thought. I did not know these goblins, but their death taught me a lesson. My group was weaker now against the threats. If 6 of the goblins could die this easily, it would be much better to not let anyone die if possible. Goblins were not dispensable. Living in a valley surrounded by a forest was dangerous enough. Now that we would live inside a cave, all members of the group made a difference.

The group brought back a dead deer, which was big enough to feed an entire family for a day. Considering that we were now a group of 20, this deer should satisfy our hunger for two days.

“We brought food. Murder proud.”

“I am proud. Thanks to your efforts, we will feast!”

“Feast!”

Goblins roared in pride before carrying the carcass into the cave with us. We were now 20, 3 injured. After a long night of trying to communicate with the goblins, I started having that weird feeling again, as if the amorphous power was getting closer to overflow its container.