The goblin jumped from one branch to another carefully, in some moments it was close to falling, but in no time did it fall to the ground. The closer he got to the swamp, the stronger his chest beat, 'he' felt his own heart rumbling in his mouth and could imagine that at any moment he would return what he ate to the forest floor.
The monster reached the place it sought and reconsidered its purpose there. Standing up to the animal and risking death just to make yourself better or to retreat to the safety of cowardice.
Quickly 'he' made his decision and advanced deeper into the place where the trees grew from the water. Soon any light ceased to exist and he was covered in darkness even in broad daylight. The only sounds were those of the insects and the leaves moved by the small beings of the dark lake.
The vine that says 'ssssss' was in a junction of thick branches in the center of that region. Its long body stretched past several different trees, the monster couldn't say how many, but understood that enough for the target's reaction time to be slowed down.
The goblin took a deep breath, its yellow eyes saw as clear as if there was a sun there and thus stared at the target. 'He' placed one of the pointed sticks in the human weapon and pulled the vine from it.
Its fingers trembled when they opened and the creature didn't dare breathe as it watched the projectile fly towards the vine that says 'sssss'. The object hit his body in its center, its tip pierced the flesh and didn't go much deeper than that.
The animal turned in the direction of the attack, its forked tongue flickering in the air as it uttered its characteristic 'ssssss'. The target's body slipped through the branches and gently passed to other trees, getting closer and closer to the goblin.
'He' jumped to another tree and used his free hand to grab a vine (normal of course) whose momentum helped him get further away. As he fled he repeated the process that led to his first nearly successful attack.
His eyes roamed the environment looking for a branch that was thick enough to support the impact of his weight and when he found it, he jumped towards it.
When in the air, she turned and fired at the fast moving animal. The monster fell with its back on the branch and for a moment lost all its breath as it saw its pointed stick reach a point close to what its primitive mind understood as the neck of the vine that says 'ssssss'.
The goblin reared up in awe, felt the item on its back break, and saw many of the sticks roll down the branch to the ground. Desperate managed to hold off five of them, so that he now only had the human weapon and those five shots.
He placed the small items in his mouth and held them there. With the gun in one hand he leapt again and in midair he grabbed another vine to launch himself forward.
It was an opportune moment, he didn't notice the impulse that the animal took earlier, he just understood what was happening when his target launched himself at high speed with his mouth and was close enough to almost bite the goblin in the air.
One bite was all it took for him to lose his mind. The vine that says 'sssss' just missed and now in the air with no support to support it, it fell until it sank into the dark water and disappeared.
'He' watched, but not without taking any action. Looking out over the water he placed one of the pointed sticks in the weapon and waited attentively.
Nothing looked like it was going to happen, the lake was calm, without any ripples on its surface. He could almost imagine that there was nothing down there if he hadn't seen the terrible predator go down before.
Silence was what he received for his wait.
Not even the jumping animals on the edge of the lake were doing their "ribit" "ribit", nor were the small animals in the bushes going "crik" "crik" "crik" "crik".
He thought in his incapable head, perhaps the big vine had died. His injuries, which looked light, could have been more serious than the monster thought. Then wounded below the water, he died without air to breathe or strength to allow his return to the top.
Had he won?
Undoubtedly not, the creature jumped out of the depths. Where he got so much strength was unknown to the goblin, but his target had come out of the water with such force that it was heading towards him at high speed.
'He' had to be quick in making his decision, jump towards another tree or risk it and shoot. It wasn't an easy decision, not for the goblin. Always running from danger was not enough anymore, he wanted to do the opposite even going against his instincts.
And so he did.
He opened the hand that drew the human weapon and the projectile flew in the opposite direction of the target. The sharp-edged stick ripped across the creature's chin, creating a trail within its flesh that ran down the length of its body.
'He' didn't know how to count, so he didn't understand that he was limited to four shots, but he was smart enough to understand that his chances had become even smaller.
While his enemy became even more motivated.
The vine that says 'ssssss' passed by the goblin's side, the fear and impact caused 'it' to fall from the branch. As his body went towards the ground, he saw the animal's tail come hard towards him.
The monster bit harder at the items in its mouth so they wouldn't fly away and took the enemy's blow to its face. His body then made a curve in the air as his fall projected more towards the center of the lake, such was the force of the attack he received.
Falling into the water, he sank thanks to the feeling of weakness caused by the pain. Embraced by a darkness that wasn't as comfortable as the one he liked, he thought he was even doing better than he'd expected.
Which wasn't much, as the situation was still dire.