Chapter 36: The Weight of Belonging

I hadn’t seen the little glutton since before my duel with Bruz, and judging by the grease smeared across his paws and the oversized piece of meat dangling from his hand, I didn’t need to guess where he’d disappeared to.

Drako blinked at me lazily before stuffing another enormous bite into his mouth as though nothing about it was unusual.

The piece of meat was easily twice the size of his head, yet somehow it disappeared between those tiny jaws without the slightest bit of struggle.

I stared at him in disbelief before letting out a sharp gasp.

"How can your mouth even contain that?!"

I was starting to think this little menace could actually out-eat me if I ever gave him the opportunity.

"You’re lucky I like you," I muttered as I reached over and flicked his tiny nose.

Drako answered with a high-pitched chirp before happily nuzzling against my neck, acting as though he hadn’t just inhaled enough food to feed a small family.

It was only then that I noticed someone staring.

Talia stood a short distance away with her arms folded across her chest, watching the entire exchange.

Her expression hovered somewhere between stunned disbelief and quiet amusement, as though she couldn’t decide whether what she’d just witnessed was ridiculous or strangely endearing.

"You really managed to tame him quickly," she said, tilting her head as she studied the lemur perched comfortably on my shoulder. "Lemurs aren’t exactly easy to control."

I shrugged as though it wasn’t worth making a fuss over.

"Guess he knows I’m special."

She let out a quiet snort.

"I thought you didn’t believe you were the chosen one?"

"I don’t," I replied without missing a beat. "But that doesn’t change the fact that I am, indeed, one of a kind."

A smug grin spread across my face, and Talia could only shake her head in response.

"Arrogant..." she muttered, though before she could finish the thought, the corner of her lips lifted into the faintest smirk.

It was so brief that I almost thought I’d imagined it, the kind of expression that slipped out when someone forgot themselves for just a second.

Then, almost as if she’d caught herself, the smirk disappeared.

Her features hardened once more, wiping away the easy moment as though it had never happened.

Then she continued walking, and after a brief pause, I fell into step beside her.

"You’ve adapted quickly," she admitted, her voice calm and steady. "The others have taken to you. Even Zephra."

"Right." I stretched my arms over my head before letting out a quiet sigh. "Too bad I’ll be gone by morning."

Her footsteps slowed ever so slightly, and for the briefest moment, she said nothing.

The silence lingered between us before she finally broke it, her voice so quiet I almost thought I’d imagined it.

"Stay."

I froze mid-step.

It wasn’t the word itself that caught me off guard. It was the way she said it, so soft, so hesitant, carrying a vulnerability I had never heard from her before.

It sounded less like a suggestion...

And more like a plea. A desperate one.

"Goblins should be together," she pressed, taking another step toward me until only a short distance separated us. "And you belong here more than you realize."

I let out a slow breath through my nose, already knowing where this was headed. "Because I’m the Chosen One."

"No." She met my gaze without the slightest hint of hesitation, her eyes steady and unwavering. "Because you are a goblin."

I almost laughed.

"Let’s not fool ourselves, Talia." I tilted my head, unable to keep the skepticism out of my voice. "If I stay, I’ll spend every waking day being pressured to accept this so-called destiny of mine, expected to follow your rules, your customs, your way of life, until I become someone I’m not."

"You can learn," she replied without missing a beat.

A snort escaped me. "Learn to be a pushover?"

"You..."

Talia started to speak, but the words caught in her throat before she could finish.

Her jaw tightened, and her fingers twitched faintly at her sides as though she were fighting the urge to say more.

She looked like she wanted to argue, to push back against what I’d said, but for some reason, she held herself back.

I let out a weary sigh and rolled my shoulders, trying to ease the tension that had settled over us. "Our views don’t align. I won’t pretend otherwise."

She frowned, her eyes narrowing slightly as she searched my face.

"Because of what, exactly?" Her voice grew quieter, but the edge in it never disappeared. "What is it that drives you?"

I held her gaze for a long moment before answering.

Then, without hesitation, I answered.

"Hunger. Strength. Survival."

Yes. That was it.

Even now, the hunger burned inside me, a constant craving that went far beyond food. It was a hunger for battle, for power, for the strength to stand above everything that threatened my life.

I wanted to level up, to grow stronger, and I refused to spend the rest of my life at the mercy of this world’s monsters, always looking over my shoulder, always fearing the next predator lurking in the shadows.

I refuse to be prey.

And if that meant walking a path stained by violence, then so be it.

Talia’s jaw tightened, and her fists slowly curled at her sides. "And you think you can’t achieve that without going against humans?"

I let out a slow breath through my nose before taking a step closer, not in a threatening way, but with quiet conviction.

"We both know that’s impossible," I said. "Our mere existence unsettles them. Humans will never truly be at ease until every last goblin is wiped from the face of this world, so no, I don’t believe I can achieve what I want without going against them. I don’t think magic can return without opposing them, and I don’t think our people can even continue to exist without doing the same."

I held her gaze without the slightest hint of hesitation.

I knew exactly what humans were capable of.

Because I had once been one.

I had seen it firsthand, seen how...