I really like goblins, always been fond of the small cannon fodder enemies like goblins and kobolds and dragon quest slimes. In this story (which I kind of went overboard with) a young paladin has to confront what being a monster really means.

Set in my ongoing Island of Spires setting, which you may see more of some day if people are intrigued by it : )

Monsters and Men

"We must not look at goblin men,
We must not buy their fruits:
Who knows upon what soil they fed.
Their hungry thirsty roots?"

The wind atop Paladin Tower was always ferocious. A bitter, cutting cold that passed straight through clothing to chill you somewhere deep inside. The ancient tower's peak was a flat round expanse, the countless surrounding windows huge and without glass, allowing the vicious weather free reign. The Hierarch claimed it encouraged discipline, that paladins should face such hardships unflinching.

The Hierarch said a lot of things.

Today was Aric's final initiation. He had passed all of the tests that were required of him, had trained for years under the strict and punishing tutelage of the master knights. Now he would finally meet the Hierarch face to face, and be brought into the ranks of the elite. He had heard all of the legends about the Hierarch, and they rattled through his mind and inflamed his anxiety.

They said he had fought armies single handedly, that he had incredible powers to smite and heal, that he had personally spoken with the Creator, that he would live forever, that his skin turned aside blades.

Aric's boots crunched slightly at he stepped forward, motes of dust and leaf compressing under his feet. Borne up on the wind. The walls around him were engraved with stern-faced saints and master paladins, only a few of whom he recognised. The ancient stone was discoloured and smoothed by the endless wind. He unsheathed his sword, placing it tip-down in the middle of the room as he knelt, offering a short prayer.

The wind battered him for what felt like hours before the heavy doors he faced creaked and pulled open. He opened his eyes, watching as two identically-dressed paladins pushed the ancient oak outwards. Their faces were concealed by ornate ceremonial helmets, and he could not recognise them.

His heart leapt in his throat as a hooded figure slowly approached. The robes worn by the figure were of shocking opulence, folds upon folds of the finest velvet and silk layered upon one another, and all embroidered with glittering golden thread and intricate artistic designs. The wind barely moved the heavy layers of fabric, only causing a few golden tassels to flutter and shake.

Aric remained kneeling as the Hierarch stopped in front of him. A voice quavered from within the robes, an ancient hoarse croak that took Aric aback.

"Who is this?"

One of the paladins looked to the other for a moment before speaking.

"This is Aric, your eminence. He is to be initiated."

There was a long pause before two arms pulled forward from the folds of cloth, long wide sleeves sliding back to reveal ancient wrinkled hands. The bony claws were whorled and knotted like dry wood, and they pulled back the heavy hood to reveal the twisted face of the Hierarch. Only Adric's strict training allowed him to not react. The ancient man in front of him was as pale as a corpse, parchment-like skin pulled tight against the bone like leather stretched in a tannery. Wrinkles like scars covered the Hierarch's face, and his lips were pulled back in a grimace of dislike. But it was the old man's eyes that had almost drawn a shocked breath from the young knight. The Hierarch's eyes pierced like gimlets, irises drawn tight against pinprick pupils. His face was contorted in an expression of utmost hatred and disgust.

"Aric, knight of the temple. Do you accept the precepts of our holy order?
Do you swear to uphold the laws of the creator, to punish the wicked and the sinful, and to purge the subhuman filth from these beautiful shores until their vile and corruptive spawn are found only in the fires of hell?"

Flecks of spittle spattered from the old man's mouth, his voice becoming more rambling and frantic towards the end of the speech, twisted with rage.

"Yes, my lord. I do."

Without another word, the Hierarch dropped a heavy golden amulet around Aric's neck, the symbol of the order. The rest of the initiation passed in a cold blur. The Hierarch shuffled away to his chambers and Aric signed his name into the list of full paladins. There were rules to observe and numerous vows to swear to. Aric did so without thinking, the familiar speeches washing over him without really taking root. Eventually it was over, and he departed to his chambers.

He sat there for some time, staring into the mirrored sheen of his new shield. His hazel-brown hair was ruffled and messy from the weather in the tower, and his face seemed drawn. He didn't feel particularly holy.

---

A week had passed since Aric's initiation. He had received his first orders, apparently passed down directly from the Hierarch. He was to travel to the woods west of a town on the southern border, where sightings of subhumans had been reported. He was to find and dispose of them.

He paused to rest outside of the forest, dismounting from his steed. The horse was distressed and knickering, clearly not wishing to enter the pathless and tangled undergrowth of the deeper woodlands. Far to the north, the white tower split the sky as a thin line of gleaming white. Adric was not as lifted by the sight as he would once have been. His face set, he trudged into the dark forest.

The interior of the forest was primordial and dark, tangled brambles and growth constantly tangling around Aric's boots. Leaves and branches blotted out the sun, and the smell of moss and rot was rising in the hot humid air. From deeper within the forest he could hear the sound of clicking and rustling animals, birds and small creatures going about their daily business.

Of the 'subhumans' there was no sign. After hours of walking, Aric's clothing was streaked with mud and he was hot and tired from having to disentangle himself from brambles over and over. Growling with frustration, he shoved his sword into a particularly thorny bush, causing it to sink into the earth and stick.

It was then that the goblins attacked. Something heavy suddenly rushed through the trees onto Aric's shoulders, knocking him to the ground. He rolled to his side, springing up and swinging his shield at the assailant, who flipped out of the way as if pushed solely by the motion of air from the shield. The creature was short, around half Aric's height, and its skin was a deep mossy green. A shock of tangled red hair burst from its head as its wide yellow eyes gleamed.

Sensing danger, Aric twisted his shield to the side. The screech of metal-on-metal was followed by a loud flutter as the birds in the forest took off in surprise. Reacting quickly, Aric swung his heavy boot, clipping the second foe's leg as it moved backwards and causing it to roll aside. The green man swung his blade forward in a clumsy lunge, and Aric stepped back expertly to avoid it, not realising that the other goblin had already rolled around behind him.

Aric landed on the dirt heavily, dropping his shield. He moved to grab it, but in an inhuman pounce, one of the creatures was on his chest, forcing him downwards and holding his arms against the ground with strength that belied its stature.

As he tried to struggle and push the creature off, he felt the sharp line of a blade against his throat. He fell still.

“Don't kill him, Rake.”

The goblin on top of Aric was the second that had appeared, its hair a darker brown and its skin a more vibrant green. It looked over at its partner with confusion. The red-haired creature walked forward, and Aric noticed that the tangling undergrowth seemed to open up and allow it to pass. Aric took the opportunity to examine his assailant more closely.

The short creature was humanoid, though with a few differences. Its arms and legs were much thicker and sturdier than those of a human, and its bare green feet were larger and thicker. The green skin was rough, thick and hairless. A stubby lizard-like tail jutted from the creature's rear, and its face was extremely inhuman; a short wide muzzle sat like a rounded lump on its face, the nose flattened against it. Two thick, discoloured tusks jutted out upwards from its mouth, curling inwards slightly towards its nose. Its eyes were wide and oddly-coloured, iris-less red pupils on deep yellow orbs. Two long pointed ears stood out from the sides of its face, dangling with cheap iron earrings.

The creatures smelled odd, a mix of leaf mould and muddy grass that seemed more an ingrained natural scent than the mere side effects of living in a forest. Aric flinched as the red-haired one took hold of the amulet around his neck, tearing it free.

“Paladin, do you really want to kill us all? Wipe us out for no crime greater than existing?”

Aric gritted his teeth. His eyes flickered to the sides, and he could not reply.

“I can sense your character, human. You do not agree with the policies of your sainted Hierarch. You know as well as I do what he is. A mad, evil, twisted old man.”

At that, Aric jerked up, stopping as Rake pressed the knife harder against his throat.

“That's...that's not true.”

His voice had even less conviction than his heart. Aric dropped his gaze. Though these thoughts had entered unbidden into his head many times since his initiation, being confronted so directly with them still stung.

“If we let you go, then you will one day be forced to kill us, or others that mad old bastard decries as impure. But I do not wish to kill someone who could be a potential ally. So, let me show you some of the magic you paladins so despise.”

The amulet dangled from the goblin's hand, swaying gently to and fro. It began to glow, a spiral of colours swirling from the shining gold. Aric's head began to hurt as he watched, but he could not look away. His eyes unfocused slightly, his thoughts becoming slow and confused as the spiralling colours reflected into his eyes.

Rake stepped off from Aric's chest, though he made no attempt to escape. The twisting lights had him entranced. As the leader swayed the amulet, whispering something just below hearing range, Rake began unfastening Aric's armour, sliding it free and tossing it aside. Aric made no attempt to resist.

Finally, Rake pushed the knife down, tearing open Aric's purple undershirt into tattered rags. The goblin grinned and tossed the knife aside, stepping back to observe. Together with the leader, they both began to chant, the words hypnotic and chanting.

“One of us, one of us...”

Aric felt a tingling power rushing through him, making him ache and throb. He winced, unable to look away from the amulet as his bones crunched and shrank. He began to grow smaller, his pants becoming baggy and his boots wobbling on his feet. His right boot dropped off, and he wiggled his toes as they throbbed. His foot began to widen and stretch, becoming larger and heavier. His baggy, oversized pants slid down as his muscles began to soften, his tight disciplined warrior physique morphing to the short rounded stoutness of the goblins.

His ears ached, cartilage stretching and moving to points, pushing out to the sides of his head. He felt his jaw pushing out, his nose widening and pressing down against his face. His teeth began to ache terribly, two new points jutting out from his lower gums, widening and stretching out as they thickened to huge upwards-thrusting tusks.

He felt his skin itch and grow thicker, like a painless rash. Patches of roughened skin deepened in colour, deep grassy green forming and slowly spreading. The spreading green blobs connected, growing and swelling to gradually cover Aric's entire body. His tailbone ached and cracked, pushing outwards as new muscles and nerves formed, creating a stubby goblin tail to match that of his peers.

Aric shivered as his body hardened and grew denser, dark green muscle forming under his skin as organs shifted and altered. He groaned, breaking his gaze from the amulet, and growled loudly, shaking his body. Shivering and twitching, he slowly opened his eyes. His irises shrank and disappeared as his eyes deepened and yellowed, his pupils glimmering before finally becoming a dully-glowing red.

The former knight looked around in anxiety and confusion, before the goblin leader reached out a hand. After a short pause, he took it, allowing his new tribesbrother to pull him to his feet. He could smell grass and sap, and gradually realised it was coming from his own body.

“Welcome, brother. You are one of us now. You will not need to kill and destroy on order's from the paladin's mad leader any longer. You are free.”

Aric stood naked in a transformed body, changed into what he would once have called a subhuman, next to two goblins. A slow smile spread across his face as he realised this was exactly what he wanted.