A Difficult Decision

As the sun almost completely hid away behind the tall mountains in the far distance, loud sounds of growling, screaming, and fighting could be heard.

"Red Arrow, how much further is your nest?" asked the monstrous beast with its malefic voice.

"Not far, Lord Beast. My nest is just up ahead. We will arrive there in no time," said the now calmer goblin. After spending almost a whole day with this magical beast, he understood that the terrifying creature didn't plan on killing him. Instead, the beast was just very curious. As long as he complied, he felt that he and his nest would be safe. At least that was what he constantly tried to convince himself.

The monstrous beast looked at the now more relaxed goblin who was slowly walking in front of it, leading the way. Suddenly, a slight trace of confusion appeared on its terrifying visage. After a few seconds, it spoke to the goblin.

"Well then, there might be some troubles in your nest!"

"Problems in the nest?! What do you mean, Lord Beast? Is my nest in danger?" The goblin's voice trembled in fear. "You said you would just ask the chief questions!"

What! Does he think I am the problem? Don't tell me he believes I will go back on my word!

The beast snorted, making the goblin tremble. The goblin immediately understood that it might have offended the beast. Kneeling, he pleaded, "Forgive me, Lord Beast. I didn't mean to question you. Please spare Red Arrow's life!"

I have to calm down. He is just a scared goblin after all. Plus, I need him to guide me to his chief. I can't get too mad, the beast thought as it responded to the worried goblin.

"You are forgiven. The problem I am talking about doesn't have anything to do with me. Instead, it seems your nest might not exist for much longer!"

As I watched the goblin's shocked and terrified face, I concentrated again on the sounds coming from the distance. Ever since I woke up, I had noticed my heightened senses. I could even hear hearts beating from far away. The screaming sounds and strong growls from up ahead were clearly sounds of fighting. I wasn't sure who was fighting whom. If what the goblin said is true, then it seems his nest might be under attack by some group of large creatures, judging by the sounds of their growling.

"Lord Beast, do you mean my nest is under attack? Could it be the ogres?" The goblin archer might be a coward, but he wasn't an idiot. He understood the meaning behind the monstrous beast's words. He added up the encounter from that morning on the way towards Death Mountain. He had seen a group of twenty-something ogres moving somewhere. At that time, he had dashed madly away, not wanting to spend a single second near them. Now that he thought about it carefully, the direction the ogres were moving this morning was the direction his nest was located! Upon understanding this, his eyes shrank.

"Hmm, yes, it might be what you have said, Red Arrow." I looked down at the depressed kneeling goblin with an annoyed expression, but suddenly, I sensed something strange in his soul.

With a sudden vibration of his soul, a flash of hope appeared in his eyes. His bowing head hit the ground once again, this time with much more force. With a scared, almost hesitant voice, he cried out loud, "Oh, Mighty Lord Beast! Please help me defend my nest! If the nest is destroyed by the ogres, the Lord Beast's questions will go unanswered since the chief would be dead. Please, Lord Beast, help Red Arrow!"

The atmosphere suddenly took a turn for the worst. An oppressive weight filled the area, making it hard for the goblin to breathe. Almost fainting from fear, he stubbornly held his head down in a pleading posture. He clearly knew he might be killed by the beast. But he hoped his understanding of the monstrous beast was right; it would help him as long as it would gain knowledge by doing so. The only reason the coward Red Arrow went to such lengths was for the chief's daughter and for himself. Without the nest, he would surely die soon in the ancient forest.

This is troublesome. The question is not whether I should help or not. It is rather whether I can. I am not sure how strong these ogres are or how many of them there are. I hate fighting, but if the goblin chief dies, where am I going to get answers to my many questions? I still have too little knowledge about this world to effectively survive in it and get my claws on precious books.

I could abandon the goblin nest and instead hope to find other intelligent creatures to gain knowledge about this world. But that is a gamble. I don't know how many there are or if there are any others nearby. I might end up with just mindless creatures like I saw along the way and no answers. I should ask the goblin first.

"Tell me, Red Arrow, are there any other intelligent creatures like you and your chief nearby?"

"No, Lord Beast! My nest and I are special!"

"What do you mean special?" I asked with a puzzled tone.

"We are the only goblins in the whole forest that have intelligence, Lord Beast! All other creatures, except powerful magical beasts and humans, are savage creatures that aren't able to speak!"

"What? How is that possible?" questioned the monstrous beast, with more power through the soul connection, clearly telling the goblin not to lie or else he might be doomed.

Red Arrow didn't dare to lie to the Lord Beast. "This is the truth! Only the goblins of my nest are able to speak. No one knows why. The only thing that is special is that the chief holds a ritual every time new goblins are born. That is all I know, Lord Beast! I promise!!"

Hmm, again that chief. Why do I feel like he holds quite a few secrets? It seems I have no other option than to risk it. Questioning the humans or powerful magical beasts is not something I can do. I'll see if I am not strong enough to deal with these ogres. If not, I'll just run away. To read books, I first need to be alive after all.

"Enough! I have decided to help you, Red Arrow. You better hope your chief has the answers to my questions, or else…" I didn't finish my fake threat, just hoping that the goblin would tell his chief about my words. If I am able to save his nest, he will answer my questions truthfully.

"Yes, yes! Thank you, Lord Beast! The chief will surely have the answers to your questions. I promise!" said the goblin, honestly hoping that the chief had those answers. If not, he didn't even want to imagine!

"Let's go. Lead the way!"

"Yes, Lord Beast!"

With that, the kneeling goblin got up and immediately hurried down the path, trying to make his way as fast as possible to his nest.