Dawn- An age of Darkness

There were Abnormals everywhere. 

If I didn't know better, these things were bad news. 

But they weren't alarmed of me, rather they were alarmed of the girl next to me. Gryole. 

This was a large room and kind of like a conference room of sorts. And the goblins were in their round table, almost like they were having a civilized meeting or something. 

"I welcome you, O, holy lady of yonder." The king of the goblins, along with the rest of the Abnormals and the goblins behind us, all bowed. Most of the king Abnormals looked rather young. The king however was old, a long white beard and perhaps what could be described as a hobgoblin with an Abnormal sized head. 

Holy, what with the what now?

"Why are they bowing?" The girl in robes whispered. 

"I'll explain later."

Because I might or might not have been wondering the same thing. 

"Please-" Gryole raised her hands. "No need for bows."

The goblins were overjoyed. Some were even crying. 

'What the hell is wrong with these things?'

The king, however, looked at me next. "And what brings you here?" And he spoke fluently in English. Or whatever the main language of humans was in this world. 

All this time, I never really questioned it. 

"I'm looking for some answers. I was asked to deliver her here, and I did. Now if you'll answer some questions, that'll be appreciated." My tone was somewhere in between a command and a request. I wasn't sure which way to sway yet. 

The goblin almost looked a bit disturbed. "Then I'd assume you can understand this too?" It spoke a different language. 

I nodded. 

The girl in robes seemed out of place but she didn't complain. With the situation we were in, she had no right to. 

The king of the goblins dismissed the Abnormals and the other goblins. "Leave us be."

The goblins all walked out like it was the most natural thing to do. 

"You sure you want to be alone?"

"The girl with you caused us quite the trouble but as long as you don't go around spoiling our secrets, it's fine." The king paused looking at the girl in robes. He was still speaking in goblin tongue. "And surely, you can't expect me to even attempt to try anything funny to the very same man who destroyed our colony in Saram and even defeated a god? Why would I purposefully incite his rage?"

"News travels fast in goblin town too, I suppose."

Well, it was nice knowing that these people actually knew about stuff. 

But I never defeated a god… the grand monsters didn't count.

"Now, the questions?" He took a seat and signaled for me to have a seat. 

"What are goblins?" I also took a seat.

This was a round table of sorts. Gryole also took a seat but the girl in robe stayed put.

The table was long and the king was basically over the other side. 

"Normally, people never get the opportunity-" The goblin paused. "And even if they do, they ask stuff like, why are we killing and eating them, but-" A burst of laughter. "Never has anyone asked that in my eighty years of service."

Service? It almost spoke like a civil servant. 

"Good for you, now start."

"I'm not so sure. But-" He looked over at Gryole. "Shouldn't you be aware, your holiness?"

Holiness?

Seriously, Gryole wasn't kidding she said she was special. 

Gryole tried to say something but paused for a minute. If she'd known about all this, why didn't she tell me?

  'Wait, she did try to tell me…' Back then when she called me a monster, she did try to tell me. But I wouldn't have listened. 

"We're the inhabitants of the previous realm the world tree had devoured." Gryole's eyes glowed in a pale blue light. "After consuming our world, the world tree consumed us whole and from that tree's wastes, we the goblins and the monsters were born." It was almost like someone else was speaking through her mouth. That blue glow felt ominous if nothing else. I'd never seen something like that. 

So, the roots were the gods, the fruits were the grand monsters and the feces were the monsters?

Wow.

Well, technically, Trerortra ate the fruit and became a monster himself, and then killed the gods. But I guess it was definitely possible that the other gods also ate the fruit and fought back. And that's how everyone became immortal monsters? It was feasible at the very least. 

But Gryole did confirm one thing. Ashirnae was right- at least so far. 

"And you know that because?"

"I don't know." Her eyes stopped glowing. "These are the memories of my ancestors, engraved deep in my soul."

"Do you know what the world tree is or where it came from?"

"I don't know."

"Then how about, any ways to return your people back?"

She looked at her feet. "I don't know."

I sighed and looked at the goblin king. "What about you?"

"I'm merely a king. If her holiness don't know, how would I?"

And yet, somehow it felt like he was hiding things. But- anyway, I got one of my answers. "Next, why do goblins tend to attack people? Now, I understand people attack goblins too, but- why do goblins not hunt animals or raise them?"

The king and Gryole looked at each other and after a bit of nodding between them, the king sighed. 

"We are monsters. Our ancestors tried to cope with people and they even succeeded to a degree. But- due to outside interferences it didn't work out. Now, some legends speak of how a god caused a bit of mischief and fucked everything up, while others depict the savage war as just another human thing." He smiled. "But whatever it was, it was in the past. Right now, we do what we do to survive. And as you might already be aware, we can't just go hunting or raise cattle without being constantly eradicated by men. So, we hunt our hunters instead. Good food, good safety."

Fair point. "But- what about women? Why go doing that?"

"Our women can't reproduce enough. The mortality rate of goblins is the highest among all the races. Our women often die trying to give birth. And with the dwindling numbers and constant threats- we have no choice. The women we steal- we steal for survival, not pleasure."

Though the goblin said that, I didn't quite buy it.. Who knew, just how convincing of a lie it could conjure up.