It stared at the haggard face of the old lady, with her funny squished nose. The goblin didn’t understand how anybody thought that it was ugly when in comparison to this. All the spirit folk seemed to have a skewed idea of beauty. The goblin would know, it studied the spirit folk for part of its life. They were, after all, far more peaceful than the creatures own people.

Some of their ideals, however, it did not agree with. It had come to the conclusion it would lead a far unhappier life if it joined with the spirit people, given they even accepted a goblin in their midst. They were fussy about that sort of thing.

Stupid really. The goblin was a very good thief. And it could sneak up on its prey very well, only having a few bites before it bought it back to be cooked. That was another thing.

Unlike its brothers, sisters and other goblins who had yet to mature it preferred its meat raw. It was juicer and the blood gave it good flavour. When the food was cooked it was dry, tasteless and tough. It didn’t understand this obsession everyone else seemed to have with cooking the stuff.

The haggard old lady seemed to sense the goblin wasn’t listening and stamped one foot on the floor. With a low thud and rumble, the walls shivered dislodging a few pieces of mud and dust.

The goblin didn’t like shamans. They were strong, dangerous and full of themselves. He knew better than to voice these opinions most of the time, however, this was the shaman of the people. This shaman didn’t like to kill, and the goblin knew that spirit magic was messed up at the moment. The shaman of its own tribe hadn’t exactly been quiet about it. The goblin knew that even if she couldn’t turn its mind against it, she could torture it. That didn’t matter though, it hadn’t lived so far without learning how to take pain.

“No talk. Dumb goblin. Ugly goblin. Stupid goblin.” The goblin made sure to look down and fiddle with the furs as it said this, its long pointed ears drooping either side of its face.

“I already said that I speak goblin. Bloody hell. Tell me what happened.”

“Goblin no talk. Stupid.”

“Friggin’ fuckity fookin’…you aren’t stupid. You won’t fool me with that pathetic act of yours!” The goblin made sure to cringe at this, shying away from her.

The elder massaged the bridge of her nose. She had been in this room at least ten minutes, after saving this goblins ungrateful ass and it couldn’t even be bothered to tell her the information she wanted to know. It had even had the nerve to ignore her!

“Pathetic!” Wailed the goblin.

She let out a long, controlled sigh.

“What if I were to give you a name?” The goblin stopped cowering, its shoulders going stiff.

“Goblin no want name from nasty lady! You name goblin Pathetic or Stupid!” The goblin stuck out its tongue at the woman.

She lunged at it, not entirely sure what she would do once she got her hands on it.

Even missing one of its legs the goblin managed to dodge out of reach, scampering round the room on three limbs, closely followed by its newest enemy.

The people in the village shared glances over the shouting and bashing of pots they heard coming from the village elders hut. Nobody dared interfere, but it didn’t stop them speculating.

***

Ai spent most of the day trudging around the forest. Kele didn’t talk often, and when he did it was to point out some obscure track or a useful plant. Since that morning, Ais survival skill had already gone up 50%. She guessed that made her far less likely to die.

Despite moving with their weapons, they weren’t hunting. It turned out that Kele spent most of his time collecting herbs, which wasn’t exactly what she expected from the intimidating somewhat bear-like man. Those herbs were like a bundle of irresistible pheromones for some creatures. Ai wondered why Tal hadn’t taught her more. If they had used some of Keles tricks, their hunts would’ve probably been far more successful.

When she asked Kele he said it was because the balance of the forest needed to be kept equal. If it was too easy for them to hunt, there wouldn’t be very many animals left. Those that were would be the best of the best, and already learnt all of the hunters tricks. They wouldn’t fall into traps, and the people would starve.

It did make sense, more or less, but Ai thought it was probably a lot more complicated than that.

More than anything, her thoughts were dominated by the goblin. As Kele crouched over to point out a small trio of yellow mushrooms, all she could do was wonder if it had survived the night. Perhaps even begun to communicate. Ai might not be able to speak goblin, but she was sure the village elder could, using whatever trick she had used to be able to speak Ais native language. One that nobody else seemed to recognise.

“…taste it.” Kele finished.

Ai blinked, then fidgeted.

“Pardon?”

Ever patient, Kele didn’t even blink before repeating himself. “It’s used as a poison for by assassins. It’s harmless in its raw form, only poisoning people after it’s been exposed to high temperatures. It’s usually used in stews and other heavy meals that hide its heavy flavour. You probably won’t ever need to know, but better safe than sorry.” The big man shrugged holding out the delicate yellow mushroom to her.

Ai took it carefully between her thumb and forefinger, as if even holding it might poison her. She moved it towards her mouth, then hesitated.

“How does this kill people?”

“The victim starts to turn yellow after about six hours, then bleed internally. It’s called Fools Sunshine, after a similar looking mushroom without this ring-” He pointed to a thin almost invisible ring of brown just below the cap. “-which people in cities use as a drug to make them deliriously happy.”

Ai hesitated. She liked Kele, he had never done anything to hurt her. He wouldn’t…no that was ridiculous. He was the one who had taken her in.

But everyone had their own motive. What if it fitted his to see her dead. But then, why would he tell her it was poisonous? Perhaps he wasn’t trying to poison her, but to see how far her trust extended. But that just didn’t seem to suit him. He was patient. Thoughtful. He had even said to her that there was no such thing as a stupid question…he seemed kind.

Perhaps recent incidents had influenced her opinions.

Before she could have second thoughts Ai stuffed the mushroom into her mouth and bit down.

It wasn’t tasty, and turned to a kind of mush in her mouth. It did taste heavy, perhaps slightly smoky with a sour aftertaste. It left her mouth feeling dry.

“Remember that taste. It might save your life one day.” He said in his characteristic quiet calm, before continuing to walk through the forest.

Ai followed close on her heels, trying to ignore the shiver crawling up her spine. It was probably nothing, Kele had pointed out several poisons along with other plants and fungi along their path.

It was nothing.

Probably.