Episode 2: Ambush of the Shadow Goblins

Episode 2: Attack of the Shadow Goblin Kirik, Kiririk – Chirik! The sound of dozens of long, sharp nails scraping on wet fallen leaves and frozen dirt echoed everywhere. At 1,200 meters above sea level, the pool beneath a deep valley in a birch forest was locked in complete darkness. As the red blood seeping from the deep wound on my right knee soaked the cold dirt floor, the smell of blood and the smell of a child's skin spread throughout the valley through the cold night air.

“Go away…don’t come…!” Eight-year-old Yuna held her bleeding knees with both hands, pressed her back against the dirt wall, and gasped. My teeth were chattering from fear, and my heart was pounding like crazy, as if it was going to burst out of my ribs. Just before the goblins showed up, Yuna was trying to hold on somehow. Immediately after tumbling down the cliff, Yuna gathered wet and dry leaves and covered them over her small chest to block the cold wind rushing through the broken branches.

‘You can’t cry…’ … 'My grandmother said that if you cry, your tears will freeze and you won't be able to open your eyes.' Yuna searched her pocket with trembling hands, took out a red dried jujube that her grandmother had given her, and put it in her mouth. As the sweet and chewy juice of the jujube wetted the tip of my tongue, it seemed to give me a faint warmth.

'They say it's dark under the lamp, and my Yuna is better at finding herbs than my grandmother.' ‘Oh, grandma too! This isn't a bellflower, it's a deodeok sprout. What I picked was a real mountain bellflower!' ‘Hohoho, that’s right, that’s right. I think our clever Yuna is going to become a doctor.' The wrinkled face of the grandmother who was smiling at me like that flashed before my eyes. Yuna hummed the lullaby that her grandmother used to sing every night in a low voice.

“Lush, baby, the moon has settled down in the birch forest and brought you silver stars….” However, the singing voice could not go beyond two verses and was swallowed up in the back of the throat. Rustle- rustle! A sticky and bizarre energy rose like fog from between the huge rocks surrounding the valley on all sides and the rotten stumps of old trees. One by one, unidentifiable lights began to turn on in the darkness. It wasn't fireflies or starlight. Blood-red and cloudy eye light. Amidst the flowing shapes that looked like a mass of pitch-black shadows, ten, twenty, thirty blood-colored eyes were forming a circle, surrounding Yuna in layers.

“Kihihi... did you smell it? It’s a very light and sweet smell of blood.” “It’s a human child… and a very small and fragile girl…!” "I'm lost, I'm lost! I've crawled into Lunawood's forbidden area on my own, hahaha!" Sticky and bizarre voices mixed with the wind and gnawed into Yuna's ears. They were the ‘Shadow Imps’ that my grandmother had warned me about in an old story. The minions of darkness are said to be born in the dark forest floor where light has been lost and grow by feeding on the lost souls, fear, and pain of humans.

Their bodies were dripping thick like black tar, and shadow horns in the shape of twisted deer antlers were sprouting from their heads. Jet-black nails sharper than metal grew from each plump joint of the fingertips, and blue sparks flew out every time they scratched the fallen leaves.

“Who are you guys? Why are you doing this to me? Go away!” Yuna shouted with a face wet with tears. One of the largest and most ugly of the group, a one-eyed goblin, came striding through the thorny bushes. The guy's lips were torn all the way down to his ears, and the inside was full of yellow teeth that looked like gears.

“Who are you? Kihihi! We are the masters of this darkness, kid.” “I don’t know about you! My grandmother will come looking for me soon! My grandmother is strong and even has a herb bat!” “Grandma? Hahaha! Do you think that old man can get down to the bottom of this steep cliff?”

“Humans are blind people who go blind when the sun sets!” “By the time the village hunters come with their torches, your little bones will have already melted white in our stomachs!” “Lie! Don’t lie! My dad is a world-class man who drives a huge 10-ton cargo truck in the city! He can crush monsters like you with his wheels!” Yuna clenched her fists and screamed to avoid losing. However, the goblins laughed and laughed at the child's desperate cry as if it were just a cute joke.

“Cargo truck? Hahaha! Can that piece of metal climb up the rocky cliffs of this deep mountain valley?” “The father of man is far away, child! But our claws are right at your nape!” “Let me touch it. How soft that soft cheek flesh is!” A short, fat three-eyed goblin stretched out his sticky hand toward Yuna's cheek. Yuna was horrified, picked up a piece of broken willow basket that was lying on the dirt floor, and hit the goblin's hand violently. Just-!

“Aya! How dare this little girl hit me?” “Don’t touch my basket! It’s a precious basket that I knitted with my grandmother!” Yuna glared fiercely as she held the basket fragments tightly to her chest. The one-eyed goblin's face instantly became grimly distorted.

“This spoiled girl is struggling because she can’t die gracefully!” It swung its long claws and snatched the piece of basket Yuna was holding, breaking it into small pieces and scattering it in the air with a crunching sound. Then he trampled it with his foot and crushed it in the mud.

“No! My basket… Grandma’s basket…!” Thick teardrops poured down from Yuna’s eyes like rain. But anger deeper than tears welled up from the bottom of my small heart. “Bad guys! Monsters! Go away!” Yuna desperately struggled and felt around. My fingertips caught a thick broken birch twig and an ice rock the size of my fist. Yuna threw the rock with all her might. puck-! The stone hit the one-eyed goblin squarely in the forehead. However, the guy's body was like an intangible shadow tar, so the rock only pierced his forehead and fell on the dirt floor, causing no damage.

“Keeee! The liver came out of the stomach!” The one-eyed goblin's red eyes burned like red-hot flames. “If you resist, the flesh becomes tougher... But that terrified expression is the best! The more your soul trembles, the deeper the taste!” Other goblins nearby also crawled forward, raising their claws.

“Let’s rip off the legs first! Don’t let them escape!” “No, it’s the heart! You have to take out the warm, beating heart first!” “Kihihi, let’s suck out the bone marrow, turn it into powder, and scatter it in the forest!” Yuna held the broken tree branch tightly with both hands and swung it wildly into the air.

“Don’t come! If you come, I’ll beat you all up! Don’t touch me!” Whoosh- whoosh! A tree branch brushed against the goblin's sticky shoulder, sending out black smoke. However, one goblin instantly stretched out its claws and snatched the tree branch, breaking it in two with a crunching sound.

“You’re going to stop us with tree branches or something? That’s ridiculous, you bastard of a human!” Yuna's last weapon was broken and lying on the dirt floor. Now there was nothing to protect Yuna. The smell of rotten leaves and mold emanating from the goblins' breath pierced Yuna's nose. A cold shadow energy began to crawl around Yuna's ankles like a snake.

“Aaaah! It’s cold! Let me go, please let me go!” Yuna struggled, but the shadow vines that entangled her ankles were as cold as ice and seemed to paralyze her bones. The one-eyed goblin raised his black hand. The tips of its five fingernails were filled with a blue venom, and they were about to plow mercilessly into Yuna's chest.

“Mom… Dad… Grandma… Please save me…!” Yuna closed her eyes in fear and screamed at the top of her lungs. It was that moment. Rumble – Boom! Suddenly, a thunderous sound like a thunderbolt splitting the deep night sky shook the entire forest. No, it wasn't thunder from the sky. It was the gigantic and majestic roar of a spirit beast that vibrated the entire earth and resounded from the top of that high rock cliff. Wow! With that single roar, the terrible fog that had filled the valley was instantly torn apart in all directions.

The entire birch forest began to tremble as if an earthquake had occurred, and the white frost on the branches was scattered into the air like silver powder. The shadow goblins screamed and fell to the floor due to the deafening shock wave.

“Keeeh?! This, this sound…! No way…!” The one-eyed goblin, who was about to stab Yuna in the chest, stopped, trembling like an aspen tree. “It’s him…! He’s woken up!” “The guardian deity of moonlight… it’s the white wolf!” Dozens of shadow goblins screamed all at once and took a step back in fear. The eyes of the demons, who had been laughing at Yuna and mocking her cruelly just moments ago, were now filled with the terrible fear of death. At the top of the cliff, in the middle of the cold, pouring light of the full moon. A huge silver silhouette appeared, tearing through the darkness, standing tall.

It had a brilliant silver mane that chased away the darkness, and a pair of huge eyes that burned brightly and blue like the North Star in the night sky. “It’s a young female human… It’s very tender and fragrant flesh…” “Let’s break the bones, chew the heart, and swallow it… It’s a living sacrifice that crawled into the forest after a long time…!” Sticky black saliva dripped from the goblins' mouths onto the floor. The grass and fallen leaves that the needle touched burned black with a hissing sound, as if they had been touched by poison. Yuna tightly grasped the thick oak tree branch that was lying next to her with both hands.

Even though my arms were shaking and my eyes couldn't stop crying, I couldn't let myself be eaten helplessly like this. It was because the face of my sick grandmother, who was waiting for me in the village, came to mind. “Don’t come! If you come close I’ll hit you with this! Go away!” Yuna swung the branch in the air with all her might. There was a cracking sound in the wind, but the tall shadow goblin ahead of him lightly struck a tree branch with his long claws as if laughing. Wajikkeun! The solid tree branch was broken in two without any cause, and the broken fragments flew past Yuna's cheek.

A thin drop of blood flowed from his cheek and ran down the tip of his chin. The eyes of the goblins who smelled the blood began to shine even more with madness. “Kyaaaaaaa! It’s blood! It’s the sweet blood of a child!” Dozens of shadow goblins crouched in unison and prepared to leap. The stench and cold emanating from their black bodies filled the valley, and Yuna closed her eyes tightly, leaning back against the rock wall, which had nowhere to retreat.

'grandma… … sorry… … Yuna, let’s go first… … .' It was the moment when the last sigh of despair escaped from my small heart. The thick clouds covering the sky parted like a lie, and the cold, pure white light of the full moon shone down on the middle of the valley like a huge silver pillar.