Adrift in a sea of infinite darkness, Thok found himself alone. The void shifted under him, and he felt as though he spun, but the darkness gave no hint of up nor down. The shade began to shimmer, and a great wind rushed forth.

  A burst of light, and with it the flames. In a moment, he was consumed by the wave of blistering heat and reduced to nothing. Yet he remained, staring helplessly into the void—the feeling of his flesh peeling under the heat searing itself into his mind. Before the feeling faded, another burst of flame overtook him.

  Thok's body twitched. His newly regrown arm shot backward, cracking and twisting at awkward angles. Both eyes rolled harder and harder until a trickle of blood dripped from his chin. His legs jerked and moved wildly under the weight of his limp torso, struggling to center themselves. The goblin's skin crawled across his body, bulging and reforming, knitting itself back together to cover the opening wounds.

  His short arms creaked and groaned as they elongated inch by inch. Thok's legs followed, but only briefly before they snaked into an unnatural angle, sending him tumbling into the cool grass.

  Thok gasped, desperate to pull air into his lungs. He found it easier and easier with each passing breath. He opened his eyes and found the world blurring past him. His head pounded and spun with each movement, echoing in his ears.

  "Thok," a weak voice choked out. His senses snapped into focus. Farsee smiled when Thok rushed to his side. "New," his smile remained wide, but his light flickered. Thok watched the small blue flame get dimmer and dimmer.

  He placed his hand on Farsee's chest, and to his surprise, the flame jumped to meet his palm. Startled, he jerked away, and with his removal, the color faded from Farsee's eyes. He felt the death come over him with a shiver down his spine. He watched in shock as the blue flame flickered in his palm. Thok's tongue moved on its own.

  The flame doubled in size and was forced into Farsee's chest; the fire raced through his veins, radiating with blue light. His lifeless body shimmied and jerked under Thok's hand.

  "Rise," Thok commanded Farsee. Breath forced itself into him once more, which he promptly used to scream. Birds took flight from their hidden roosts above. Thok grinned, watching the scout pat his newly formed leg in disbelief. The smile faded, and tears began to flow from both eyes heavily for the first time in years.

  Thok's enjoyment of their moment together only lasted long enough for Farsee to use both of his eyes to see what remained of his only son. The tears stopped, and the forest was as quiet as it had ever been. Farsee stood over his son, trying his best to force himself to take the next step.

  Death is everywhere and to be expected, but that doesn't make it any easier when that time comes. Farsee could not see his son standing just off to the side, but Thok could. He begged to heal him. "Shaman, please, Thok. Please. I'll do anything." The young goblin smiled sadly at his father and shook his head at Thok before turning and fading into the blue fog.

  Farsee took many hours to accept his loss and to bury him under stones. The beasts of the forest would not have this goblin, and Farsee saw to it with as many traps as he knew how to make. Even a mouse would be lucky to pass that way safely ever again.

  The trip to the cave was long and quiet, the sound of the rising morning bringing little comfort. The cold shadow of their cavernous home swallowed the sun's heat all too soon. Tusk met them near the entrance, six hobs, all prepared to fight, their faces hardened at the sight of the unknown.

  "Shaman?!" Tusk cried so loudly that the walls rattled. He rushed past his guard and seized Thok by the arm, hoisting him into the air and smelling all around him. "Outcast?!!" Tusk spat the word with quite a bit of drool and surprise.

  He stepped back and looked Farsee over three times. "You come with me!" Before a word could be spoken, they were surrounded by the hobs and shoved quickly into the halls and up to the shaman's quarters. He waved away the hobs who lingered in leering at Thok's new form. They turned their noses away and watched from outside the flaps. They hovered until a thrown skullcap broke through the flaps and smashed one in the face.

  Tusk moved around his room frantically searching from one pile of random litter to another, muttering to himself. "Ahh, I found it!" he exclaimed, pulling a tome made of what seemed to be tanned goblin skin. "Shaman controls everything," he spoke softly as he laid it gently down onto the table. He blew hard, spitting and shooting dust from the cover in the same breath. His bulging black eyes focused on Thok. "Everything"

  "You change, stronger, smarter," he looked to Farsee. "Better than gob. Before Bigbite, before filthy humans, Shamans led. Shamans speak to ancestors, keep balance." Tusk drifted off into a distant memory. "Tusk is the only survivor of six; each tribe works to keep the mountains safe. Human hunts gob, gob hunts human, good life. Then fires eat whole mountain, everyone but Tusk. Tusk wisest, strongest, BEST shaman."

  Thok watched with not a drop of fear in him as the increasingly agitated shaman paced the room, glaring daggers at Farsee and Thok alike. His story was exactly what he had heard growing up around the outskirts of the camp flames. Tusk was the leader they all needed and were lucky to have.

  "Bigbite. Usurper! He take everything starve the clan! I teach you. You help kill, together." Tusk gently pressed the soft green book into Thok's hands without a reply. The smile he wore told Thok he had no choice in this. "You," he pointed to Farsee. "follow."

  The two vanished into a back area behind a curtain made from a deer pelt. Hushed conversations and a loud smack followed. Farsee ran back to Thok's side and stood fast, waiting for orders from his new master.

  "You take slave, shaman need good slave." Tusk ushered the two out of his room and into the hall. With a loud whistle, the hobs returned to his side and shoved them down the hall and away from the retreating Tusk, who grinned all the way back into his room with his book in hand.

  The curtains all shifted as they walked by, and whispers grew louder behind them, but never too loud. The words shaman, kill, and handsome were thrown around. Thok just walked forward, watching the mana float in the air, swirling around his hand as he waved it in the shadows. Farsee looked up and watched his new master wave like a madman, his face still sore from Tusk's slap, so he kept his thoughts about it to himself.

  Upon reaching his chambers, Thok found he was not alone. Playing off that he noticed the shadows moving in the corner, he walked to his pile of hay and leathers and sat down, waiting for the intruder to make themselves known. He watched as the mana around the form moved across the room and squatted low. Thok smelled the air, pretending to yawn. The scent made him hesitate; he knew this smell.

  Before he could say anything, the intruder slipped out into the hall and pattered away. Farsee walked in moments later with a pitcher of water and some fresh meat from the game they hunted. The water was cold, and the raw meat hit the spot. When Thok looked up, he realized he had eaten the whole of his meal and left none for Farsee, who had just watched quietly. The look of loss was clear on his face.

  Thok thought of saying something, but placed his hand on Farsee's shoulder and allowed the moment to pass in silence instead. The flame in Farsee flickered brightly and grew slightly before he stood and excused himself from the room. He looked back at Thok one more time before stepping out and away.

  The sound of Farsee's fading footsteps echoed softly. Stonespiders scattered out from under the bed when Thok sat down to rest. Their pebble-like carapace wiggled in the dark as they escaped. His mind was overcome with the new world he had been thrust into, so much so that he barely noticed the building red glow that began in the stomach.

  The red hue grew brighter until the whole room glowed with a blood-red color that pulsed with Thok's heart. The red shrank away into a pinhole and began to burn as it traveled up his chest and into his throat. He doubled over in pain and tried to vomit; he was sure he had been poisoned. He tried again and again, but nothing. Panic set in as the pain burned itself into his skull; the vomit came forth in the form of a billowing black cloud. The smoke poured from his nose, his mouth, and his eyes; the shadow itself filled the room like mist.

  The pain stopped alongside the fading smoke, and his gaze met two large red eyes amid the smoke. They locked but for a moment before the form fled with the wind into the hall and away from the fading goblin.