Evening stitched a ragged red line across the horizon. The trees of the Wire Woods rose, twisted in the air like hands clawing for the heavens denied to them. Below their fronds and branches the world was dark and heavy with wild brush. A home to the strange, the wild, and the hungry.
Lukas Wright knew this, and cursed himself again as he checked the dimming sky. He was lost. The small dirt path that skirted near the edge of the woods was not the one he should be on, that much was clear. And as the world blackened, the young peddler knew he was in trouble. The Lost Lands were not safe at the best of times. At night, and so near the Wire Woods, he was practically begging to be offered up to one of the monstrous denizens of that demonic forest.
His eyes roamed about, and he brightened when he saw a lonely farmhouse backed against the woods. The fenceposts which bound the modest acreage glowed faintly with wards against the dark, designed to keep at bay the beasts who stalked the world.
He quickened his pace, his pack a heavy weight on his back, and night was spreading fast. The shadows of the trees grew long, encompassing the land. The stars which gleamed on high winked down at him.
Something rustled.
Lukas shot back a glance, and saw the long grass part as something moved through it. His heart quickened. He abandoned walking, running with desperate abandon towards the farm house. The susurrating hiss of the grass rose, the hidden predator rushing after him. His footsteps slapped off the hard-packed road. His lungs burned. He hit the fence, throwing open the gate and spinning about, slamming it shut behind him.
Every breath came hot and short. He watched the grass stir as his stalker moved uncertainly within. The signs written on the old fence posts hummed with subtle might, and the thing in the grass slunk back.
Silence fell across the lone road once more. Lukas staggered back, holding his chest to try and calm his pounding heart.
Safe.
He released a heavy breath and looked back to the farm house. Well. He was here now. He made his way up the path, noticing the flowers blooming around. The cottage itself was a picture of pastoral beauty. Shutters were open, letting a warm golden glow stream out and into the night. The walls were painted a pleasant eggshell white and the door was large and sturdy. Lukas smiled and knocked. Then started as he saw who opened it.
The goblin maid was like all her kind. Perhaps half Lukas's height and formed entirely of curves. Her buxom breasts swelled against a modest floral apron, her ass defined magnificently by a short skirt that swelled along with it. Her hair was a neon pink that framed a small face with large eyes and a button nose.
For a moment Lukas tensed. It was said that before the gates had opened and demons poured forth into the world goblins had been countless, their tribes preying on women for breeding sluts. But after, no goblin had birthed a male. The race was devastated in numbers, leaving none but females.
And as a result, the remaining goblins had but one drive left. To breed.
Who didn't matter. Whatever it was that cursed their race had changed the females in other ways. Given them skills and knowledge unheard of before. They would drug with food and entice their prey, pampering them and drawing them in, fucking their helpless studs until their green bodies grew gravid with young. Keeping their studs drugged and horny. Draining their virility, perhaps freeing them once their seed took. Perhaps not.
The goblin opened her mouth in surprise. "Oh!" she cried. "A guest!"
Lukas took a quick step back. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't... I mean..."
The goblin merely giggled. "Oh, don't worry about it, dear. You must have been given an awful fright! Please, come in. Come in."
"Oh, I um, don't know if I should," Lukas said, even as the busty green woman took his hand, drawing him forward. The warm glow of the cottage called to him in homey comfort compared to the whispering darkness awaiting at his back.
"Don't be silly! We can't leave you all alone out there during the night. We're far too close to the Wire Woods, after all. The wards will keep things out, but won't stop you from going back to them."
"I don't think I would..."
The goblin patted his hand kindly. "Of course you don't, sweetie. But the monsters out there are awful tricky. It's their business to entice handsome, silly young men to come to them so they can wash away your thoughts and make you theirs."
Lukas flushed. "Um, well. I guess you're right."
"That's a good boy. Now, come inside where it's warm."
Though still uncertain, Lukas let the goblin tug him pat the threshold. He cast a last glance back out the door and to the grasses, and when he saw them stir in the windless night he shivered and turned ahead.
Better the devil you knew.
And it was easy to come inside. The home was warm and heavy with scents of fresh baking. The dining room and kitchen were both the same, dominating the house. He glanced at a side table and saw a dizzying array of glass tubes and bottles. He'd heard that goblin maids were brilliant chemists, their potions being desired across the lands. Herbs were hung above, drying, their tantalizing scent tickling his nose. Empty bottles gleamed on shelves and a cauldron bubbled over the hearth.
"Please! Take a seat. I was just preparing dinner."
"Oh, ah. No, thank you. I'm not very hungry," Lukas said quickly, even as he pulled out a chair and took a seat at the table. Only a fool would eat food a goblin prepared.
To his surprised the goblin didn't press. She merely smiled again and bounced into the seat opposite him. "If you're sure! But tell me, whatever are you doing so far out in the Wire Woods? And so late! You must have been very silly to get lost all the way out here."
Lukas blushed. Silly. There was that word again. It wasn't bad. Not insulting like being called an idiot. But it was strangely... demeaning. In a different way. It made him tingle in a subtle shame that was hard to identify.
"I'm ah... I got turned around, is all. I'm a travelling merchant, actually."
"You are!" the goblin beamed. She leaned forward on the table, cupping her chin with her palms, her wide eyes shining. "Goodness, that must be simply fascinating!"
Lukas relaxed a little. There was nothing threatening in the soft woman staring at him. In fact, she looked somewhat ditzy. He smiled, feeling a little more confident. "Oh yes," he said. "Lukas Wright. Peddler extraordinaire. Actually, I was on my way to the Red Queen's lands to try and sell some of my goods."
