"Checking host's health.. Done."

  "Checking host's physical condition.. Done."

  "Checking host's overall mental health.. Done."

  The sounds dissolved before he could hold onto them. Then the light came.

  Those were the sounds Alvin heard before his eyes snapped open.

  Once they opened.. he saw three goblins and firefly light.

  It made the hut feel underwater. Slow and dim and quiet.

  He didn't recognize the shapes yet. Just green and small and close.

  They were faint at first..

  then he panicked and tried to stand up.

  His arms moved before his eyes finished adjusting. The body already running the calculation.

  Once he saw the crowd of goblins..

  Goblins holding bowls of mushroom..

  some of them dancing.. some sitting and talking.

  He wasn't fully there yet. The cheering reached him like something from another room.

  Once they saw Alvin wake up.. they cheered even louder.

  My body.. it's not wounded..

  He stared at his body.. then at his clothes..

  Ash on the hem. Dirt on the knees. Last night was real. He'd needed to check.

  Then something snapped in his mind.

  The giant.. the giant!!

  Urgent and unfinished. The kind of thought that pulls the whole body behind it.

  Alvin shot up and started looking frantically..

  until he stumbled straight into the elder's tiny body.

  The elder barely moved. Alvin bounced off him like he'd hit a wall made of patience.

  "Bwahaha! Look who's there.. our hero!"

  "Girk.. you're finally awake!"

  "You had the help of the nature Girk!" the elder nudged Alvin again.

  He nodded without hearing. The giant was somewhere in this camp and he needed to find him.

  Alvin hadn't realized until that moment how much he'd been using the elder's smile as a compass. Without it he had no idea which way was safe.

  The elder's face right now gave him nothing. Just watching. Just waiting.

  "The giant.. is he alright??!" Alvin said.

  His voice cracked on the last word. He didn't try to hide it.

  The elder sighed.. a heavy one.

  Alvin heard the answer in it before the words came.

  "I'm afraid Gombo will not be alright.. Girk.."

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  Both Alvin and the elder walked slowly.. out of the hut where the others were still celebrating.

  The music , if goblins had music , faded as they walked. Then disappeared. Then was just a warmth behind them.

  How can they celebrate while one of them is terribly wounded? Alvin thought.

  Then he closed his eyes with a frown.. remembering the graveyard.

  That's how.

  He closed his eyes. Then opened them. Then followed the elder without another word.

  The elder who had filled every silence since Alvin arrived now walked without a word. That meant more than anything he could have said.

  The silence between them stretched as they reached a small hut at the edge of the camp.

  Once Alvin entered.. he saw two goblins sitting close to Gombo.

  They didn't look up when Alvin entered. Their eyes on Gombo. Steady. Like they'd been there for hours.

  Alvin dropped to his knees.. then held the giant's finger. Barely.

  Gombo's finger alone was almost the size of Alvin's whole hand. He held it with both of his.

  His body.. is getting cold..

  The elder closed his eyes for a moment.. the two small goblins kept silent like they didn't exist in the small hut.

  Like they were waiting for his death.

  Until Alvin broke the silence.

  He looked around the whole hut twice. The second time hoping he'd missed something. He hadn't.

  "Elder.. where can I find the nearest human village." Alvin's words were slow.

  Too slow.

  The words settled into the hut before anyone moved. Heavy and specific and impossible to take back.

  The two small goblins gasped.. coiling backwards, almost hitting the fragile wall.

  Until the giant's body twitched.

  "Girk you idiot! You want to get killed?!"

  Then he coughed.

  Alvin's grip on the finger tightened slightly. He didn't let go.

  The elder opened his eyes.. saw Gombo.. then turned to Alvin, his eyes narrowing.

  "Do you know what you are about to do.. Girk?"

  There is a real world.. there are creatures.. there are humans.. Alvin thought

  For a second he forgot which side of that word he was on.

  Alvin's body trembled while the elder stared at him.

  So even the hero of the tribe never dared to leave this place....

  Girk's whole legend lived inside this tree line. Outside it Alvin was just a small green thing nobody had heard of.

  His hands tightened on his knees.

  The decision already made somewhere before the words.

  "I am sure.. Elder.. I want to get medicine for him.."

  "Medicine?" the elder asked.. then repeated the word again quietly.

  His face didn't change. But something behind his eyes moved. Trying to locate the concept.

  Ah.. my bad. Again..

  If this world has different species.. I hope I find a healer as soon as possible.. or Gombo will..

  The firefly light flickered once. Then steadied.

  Then the elder's hand gripped Alvin's tightly.

  Alvin's mouth closed. The word that would have finished it stayed where it was.

  "This is the last goblin territory in this world.. Girk.."

  The elder sighed.. then stared at the ground.

  Alvin had never seen him look small before. He looked small now.

  "Clever goblin.. survives.."

  "Strong goblin.. stays.."

  "Together we live.."

  Eh.. Alvin thought.

  "Just come back alive.. Girk.." the elder patted Alvin's shoulder twice.

  A gesture he does when he admires someone.

  The two goblins behind them cried.. their sound barely audible.

  Alvin stood.. then looked at the moon through the window.

  "I won't be late.."

  He wasn't sure he believed it. He said it for them, not for himself.

  The elder hugged Alvin.

  The elder was small enough that Alvin could feel his whole shape against him.

  Both arms at his sides.... Not pulling away.... Not holding on. Just there.

  Alvin felt a tear trickle slowly down his shoulder.

  From the ground.. the giant raised a thumbs up. Then it dropped back down quickly.

  When Alvin stepped out of the hut.. the crickets were louder than anything else.

  He'd heard crickets on his first night here. They sounded the same. Everything else had changed.

  Where's the elder? He said he'd be right back..

  "Girk!" the elder came stepping toward Alvin.. carrying something almost too heavy for him.

  Alvin rushed over.

  "You alright? Elder.."

  "Take this.. it will help you on your journey.."

  The elder placed a cloak in Alvin's arms.. and a small bag of mushrooms.

  Alvin looked at them for a long moment. A cloak and mushrooms. For a world with creatures and humans and things that hadn't been named yet.

  Not a weapon. Not a map. A cloak and something to eat. The elder had packed for someone he expected to come back.

  He put the cloak on.

  Alvin stepped forward..

  He wanted to turn back to the elder and say something. His shoulder twitched as he stopped.

  Then he rushed forward.

  "GIRK!!!!!!!!!!" the elder's voice tore through the night.

  But Alvin didn't turn.

  If he turned he would see the elder's face. If he saw the elder's face he would stop. He knew that.

  Then He disappeared in seconds.

  The elder sniffed.. then turned back to his hut.

  Somewhere behind him the celebration was still going. He walked back into it alone.

  Once Alvin walked into the woods.. he whispered, staring at his hand.

  "IfritFire.."

  A moment passed.

  He held his breath without meaning to. Waiting to find out if it was still there.

  The woods were dark and quiet and completely indifferent. Then the palm warmed.

  A small fire formed in his palm.. lighting the way.

  The light reached maybe ten steps in every direction. Enough to walk. Not enough to feel safe.

  He walked anyway..

  eating the mushrooms for the first time.