Haku woke to screaming.
His eyes snapped open and Omniscient Perception flooded his awareness with chaos. Armed humans at the village entrance, goblins running in panic, the clash of metal against metal. His body moved before his mind fully caught up, rolling off the straw bedding and rushing to the door.
The sun was barely up, casting long shadows across the village. Through the gaps in the buildings he could see them, a group of around fifteen humans in mixed armor wielding swords and spears. They'd already pushed past the initial goblin defenders and were advancing deeper into the village.
"Multiple hostile signatures detected. Threat assessment: moderate. Goblins are being overwhelmed."
Haku ran toward the fighting. A goblin child darted past him crying, and he could see several goblins already on the ground bleeding. The humans were pushing forward in a tight formation, organized and efficient.
One of them spotted Haku and shouted something, raising his sword. But Haku was faster. He closed the distance and grabbed the man's sword arm, twisting it hard. The weapon clattered to the ground and Haku shoved the man back into his companions.
"Stop!" Haku yelled. "What the hell are you doing?"
The humans stumbled back, regrouping. Their leader, a tall man with a scar across his nose and well-worn chainmail, stepped forward. His eyes narrowed when he saw Haku's mask.
"Another masked freak? Figures." The leader spat to the side. "Get out of the way. We're here for the goblins, not you."
"These goblins haven't done anything. They're peaceful."
"Peaceful?" One of the other humans, a younger man with anger burning in his eyes, pushed forward. "They took my sister! Three days ago, four women from our village went missing on the trade road. We tracked them here!"
Haku felt his stomach drop. "What?"
"Don't play dumb!" The young man's voice cracked. "We found their belongings just outside this village. These monsters took them, probably did gods know what to them by now!"
The other humans were nodding, their expressions hard and furious. These weren't bandits or soldiers looking for a fight. These were desperate people trying to save their families.
Haku's mind raced. He looked back at the goblins gathering behind him. Grik was there now, sword drawn, blood running down his arm from a cut. The old chief's face was confused and angry.
"What they saying?" Grik demanded.
"They're saying your people kidnapped four human women."
Grik's expression changed immediately to shock. "What? No! We not do this! We small village, we not attack humans!"
"Then where are they?" the scarred leader shouted. "We found tracks leading here! Found their things!"
Haku held up his hands. "Everyone stop. Just stop for a second." He turned to Grik. "Do you know anything about this? Any of your people taking humans?"
"No! I tell you, we peaceful! We not—" Grik stopped mid-sentence. His eyes went wide and he turned, barking orders in goblin language.
Several goblins scattered, running to different parts of the village. Haku could sense them with his perception moving frantically, searching buildings. His gut twisted with growing dread.
One of the goblins returned, speaking rapidly to Grik in their language. The chief's face went pale. He turned and ran toward the far side of the village with Haku following close behind.
They reached a storage hut near the edge of the settlement. The door was barred from the outside. Grik tore the bar away and kicked the door open.
Inside were four women, dirty and terrified, huddled together against the back wall. They were alive but looked like they hadn't eaten properly in days. Their clothes were torn and they flinched when the light hit them.
Haku felt rage boil up inside him. "What the fuck?"
Grik stood frozen in the doorway, his sword hanging loose in his hand. He looked like someone had punched him in the gut.
"I not know," the chief said quietly. "I not know this happen."
The human leader and his men had followed them over. When they saw the women, several of them rushed forward, calling out names. Two of the women started crying, reaching out to the men.
"Sarah! Gods, Sarah, are you alright?" The young man from earlier fell to his knees in front of one of the women, pulling her into his arms. She was sobbing too hard to speak.
The scarred leader's expression was cold fury. He turned to Grik with his sword raised. "You let this happen under your roof. Your people did this."
"Wait," Haku said, stepping between them. His own anger was still burning but he needed answers first. "Chief, who did this? Which of your people?"
Grik's jaw clenched. He shouted something in goblin language, his voice carrying across the whole village. More goblins came running, and the chief started questioning them rapidly. Haku could see the panic and confusion in their faces.
Finally, three younger goblins were dragged forward by the others. They looked barely older than teenagers in human terms, and their expressions were shifting between defiant and terrified.
Grik spoke to them in goblin language, his voice low and dangerous. The three responded, and even without understanding the words, Haku could tell they were making excuses. One of them gestured toward the forest, toward the road. Another one said something that made several of the other goblins gasp and step back.
"What are they saying?" Haku demanded.
Grik's hand tightened on his sword. "They say they see women on road. Alone. Think they easy to catch." His voice was shaking with rage. "They say they young, they have needs, they not think it wrong because humans just prey anyway."
"Not think it wrong?" Haku's voice came out cold. "They kidnapped and imprisoned four people."
"I know!" Grik slammed his fist against the wall of the hut. "I know! I not teach this! I tell village we not hurt humans, we not take what not ours! These three, they..." He trailed off, looking at the young goblins with something between fury and devastation.
The scarred leader pushed past Haku. "I don't care about your village politics. Those three die. Now."
"Wait," one of the rescued women said weakly. She was being supported by one of the men, barely able to stand. "They... they didn't hurt us. Not like that. They kept us locked up and barely fed us, but they didn't..."
"They were working up to it," another woman said bitterly. "We could tell. They kept arguing about it in their language. Some wanted to, others were scared of getting caught."
Haku felt sick. The three young goblins had kidnapped these women out of lust and stupidity, planning gods knew what, and only their own cowardice had stopped them from making it worse.
Grik stepped forward and said something sharp in goblin language. The three young goblins' eyes went wide with fear. One started to protest but Grik backhanded him hard enough to knock him down.
"They break law. They break trust. They bring shame to village." Grik looked at the human leader. "In goblin law, crime like this, punishment is death. I give you justice. Their lives for their crime."
The young goblins started pleading, grabbing at Grik's legs. He kicked them away.
"No mercy. You want to act like beasts? You face beast justice."
Haku watched the three goblins cowering on the ground. They were young and stupid and had done something unforgivable. Part of him wanted to let Grik execute them right there. But another part...
"Will killing them bring anything back?" Haku said quietly. "Will it undo what happened?"
The scarred leader glared at him. "Justice isn't about undoing. It's about making sure it doesn't happen again."
"Then exile them," Haku said. "Strip them of everything and throw them into the forest alone. No supplies, no weapons, no protection. Let them survive on their own if they can."
Grik considered that. "In forest alone, they die anyway. Monsters, starvation, other tribes. But it take longer. More suffering."
"Good."
The human leader looked between Haku and Grik, then at his people. The women were being tended to now, given water and wrapped in cloaks. One of the men spoke up.
"Let the monsters handle their own. We got our people back alive. That's what matters."
The scarred leader didn't look satisfied, but he nodded slowly. "Fine. But if we ever see those three again, anywhere near human territory, we kill them on sight. And this village?" He pointed at Grik. "You're on notice. One more incident like this and we burn this place to the ground."
Grik bowed his head. "Understood."
The three young goblins were dragged away by the other villagers. Haku could hear them crying and begging, but none of the other goblins showed them any sympathy. They'd betrayed the whole village with their actions.
The humans started preparing to leave, gathering the women and making sure they could travel. The young man who'd found his sister kept thanking the gods under his breath, holding her close.
Before they left, the scarred leader approached Haku one more time.
"Why'd you protect them?" he asked. "The goblins. You're human, aren't you? Under that mask."
"I am."
"Then why side with monsters?"
Haku looked back at the village. At Grik standing alone with his head bowed in shame. At the other goblins cleaning up the wounded and trying to process what had happened.
"Because not all monsters are the same," Haku said. "Same as not all humans are the same. The ones who did this deserved punishment. The rest didn't know and didn't deserve to die for someone else's crime."
The leader studied him for a long moment, then grunted. "Maybe. Or maybe you're just naive." He turned and called to his people. "Let's move out!"
The humans left, supporting the rescued women between them. Haku watched them disappear into the forest, then turned back to face the village.
Grik was still standing where he'd been, staring at nothing. The other goblins were quiet, moving around like ghosts. The children who'd been playing yesterday were nowhere to be seen.
Haku walked over to the chief. "You didn't know."
"Does not matter," Grik said quietly. "They were my responsibility. My village. My failure."
"They made their own choice."
"And I not see it. Not stop it." Grik finally looked at Haku. "You help us. Save us from human attack. But you also help humans. Why?"
"Because the humans were right," Haku said. "What those three did was wrong. If you'd known about it, you would've stopped it yourself."
Grik nodded slowly. "Yes. I would." He sighed deeply. "You should go. Take your supplies and go. Village is not safe place now. Humans will be watching. You not want to be caught here if they come back."
"What will you do?"
"Make sure it never happen again. Put guards on young ones. Teach them better. Try to earn back trust, if possible." Grik looked tired, older than he had yesterday. "Maybe not possible. Maybe we just survive and hope humans forget."
Haku thought about arguing, about staying longer. But Grik was right. This village was going to be under scrutiny now, and having a mysterious masked human hanging around would only make things worse.
"Alright," Haku said. "I'll leave after I gather my things."
"Thank you," Grik said. "For helping. Both sides. Not many would do that."
Haku just nodded and walked back to the small hut where he'd slept. His supplies were still there, untouched despite the chaos. He packed them up, checked his map, and took one last look at the village.
It looked different now. Smaller. Sadder.
He'd only been here a day, but it felt like longer. And now he was leaving with the knowledge that even in a fantasy world, people, human or otherwise, could still do terrible things.
"Emotional distress detected. Recommend focusing on forward progression."
Yeah, Haku thought. Forward progression. That's all I can do.
He walked out of the village without looking back, following the path east toward the human town of Rask.
Behind his mask, his expression was hard.