The village was alive with a rhythm it had never known before. Morning sunlight spilled over wooden huts and smoke curled lazily from cooking fires. Goblin children ran between the legs of towering wolves, squealing as they were chased gently across the packed dirt paths. Mothers knelt to grind herbs, while warriors practiced their footwork in the open square, their wooden spears snapping against one another with sharp clacks.
At the center of it all stood Luminus, his gleaming form resting upon a smooth boulder near the central fire pit. He had grown used to the weight of many gazes. Goblins looked to him for guidance, wolves bowed their heads in instinctive respect, and even the breeze seemed to pause when his soft, commanding voice carried over the square.
He could feel it, though—an undercurrent beneath the laughter. A taut string stretched through the village, humming with unease. The Fangwolves had been tamed, their leader Zerath now a proud guardian, but peace was fragile in the forest. Too fragile.
Uneasy Discoveries
"Master," came a growl, low and urgent.
Zerath padded forward, his fur bristling faintly. His wolves flanked him, their eyes sharp, their muzzles twitching with the scent of something foul.
"What is it?" Luminus asked.
The wolf lowered his head. "Scouts. Strange scents. Iron and smoke. Not beast, not goblin. Men."
The word rolled through the air like a curse.
Around them, goblins stopped their work. Spears paused mid-strike. Mothers hushed their children.
Kairn, the grizzled goblin warrior, stepped forward, his jaw tight. "I warned this would happen. Humans cannot ignore power when they smell it. They will come to claim or to kill."
Mira, the gentle healer, clasped her hands nervously. "Perhaps they are only passing through—"
"No," Zerath rumbled. "These scents were deliberate. They moved close to our borders, then withdrew. Testing. Watching."
The forest seemed to grow darker at his words.
Luminus's mind churned. He remembered the fear in the goblins' eyes when they had first begged him for protection. He remembered the wolves, broken but proud, choosing to kneel rather than be slaughtered. He would not let that trust be betrayed.
"Double the patrols," he ordered. "No one walks the woods alone. If they come, I want to know long before they see our homes."
The goblins saluted. The wolves lifted their heads, a deep growl rolling like thunder.
Yet despite his calm voice, Luminus felt a weight settle in his chest. The world was closing in.
The Adventurers' Camp
Elsewhere, beyond the treeline, a campfire crackled in the shadows.
A band of adventurers lounged around the flames, their armor gleaming in the firelight. Blades lay across their laps, bows leaned against stumps, and their voices carried with laughter and the scrape of steel.
At the edge of the group sat Elira, the young priestess of the Church. Her silver hair shimmered faintly under the moon, her fingers twined nervously around a rosary. She listened as the others bragged and mocked, but her mind wandered.
The goblins they spoke of—the "monster village"—something about it unsettled her.
"We'll bag ourselves a fortune," sneered the leader, a broad-shouldered man with a scar over his jaw. "The guild will pay triple if we clear out the nest before it grows too bold. Monsters building houses? Training with weapons? Bah! That's just dangerous thinking."
"They say there's a strange one among them," another adventurer added. "Not a wolf, not a goblin. Something… different."
"Then we kill it too," the leader spat into the fire.
Elira's lips tightened. She thought of the wolves that had spared her, their intelligent eyes gleaming in the dark. She thought of the way goblins were described as "savages" in the Church's scrolls, yet the reports of this village spoke of order, of growth, of… community.
She prayed silently, but unease gnawed at her heart.
.....
The night air was cool, the forest alive with the chirping of insects. Zerath's pack loped through the undergrowth, paws silent on the earth. They followed the scent trail, their hackles rising as they neared the camp.
Then—movement.
An adventurer scout, bowstring drawn, eyes wide at the sight of glowing wolf eyes.
The wolves froze. Luminus's orders rang in Zerath's mind: Do not strike first. Do not become the monsters they fear.
But the human did not hesitate.
The twang of a bowstring split the silence. An arrow hissed through the night and buried itself in a wolf's chest.
A yelp tore through the forest. The wolf staggered, collapsed, blood soaking into the dirt.
The pack roared in fury, lunging forward with fangs bared—but Zerath barked, a desperate, furious command. They stopped short, growling, circling.
The humans laughed, firing again, their voices ringing with cruel delight. "They're just beasts after all!"
Only the cover of trees saved the wolves from slaughter. Snarling, tails lashing, they retreated into the night, dragging their fallen comrade.
The wolf's body was laid at the center of the village, his lifeless eyes reflecting the firelight. Goblins gathered in silence, their faces grim. Mothers pulled children close. Warriors gripped their spears until their knuckles whitened.
Kairn spat into the dirt. "This is what restraint earns us. They kill, we weep. Enough, Chief. Give the word, and we'll paint the trees with their blood."
Mira knelt by the wolf's side, tears streaking her cheeks as she whispered prayers. "He was only doing his duty…"
Zerath lowered his head beside the body, his eyes burning with shame. "He trusted me to lead him. And I failed."
The air was heavy with grief and rage.
Luminus moved forward slowly, his form glowing faintly in the fire's glow. He looked at the wolf, then at his people. Their anger was justified. Their fear was justified.
But he could not let rage dictate their fate.
"We will not be prey," he said, voice low but carrying. "But neither will we be butchers. They want us to lash out, to become the beasts they believe us to be. We will not give them that."
Kairn bristled, but Luminus's eyes silenced him.
"From this night on, no one walks without guard. The wolves will patrol in pairs. The goblins will fortify the borders. And if the humans come again…" His voice hardened. "…we will be ready."
The goblins murmured in grim agreement. The wolves howled, a low, mournful sound that carried into the night.
...
Back at the camp, Elira could not sleep. She had watched the wolves retreat, their discipline unlike anything she'd seen in beasts. She had seen the grief in their eyes when one of their own fell.
Her companions mocked her silence, but she could not ignore the truth: these were not mindless monsters.
And yet… the Church would never accept such a truth. To them, monsters with order were more dangerous than monsters with chaos.
She clenched her fists around her rosary. What am I to believe?
...
That night, Luminus sat by the river, the forest quiet save for the water's gentle rush. He looked at the reflection of the stars dancing on his surface.
"I promised them safety," he whispered. "I will not fail."
His glow pulsed faintly, brighter than before. The waters shimmered, as though answering his vow. His very being thrummed with a power still unnamed, still unrealized. Evolution stirred within him.
In the shadows, unseen eyes watched. The forest itself seemed to hold its breath.
War was coming.