My planet is infested with Goblins

The two riders from Brackenford reached Eastwatch shortly after midday, exhausted, dust-covered, and barely able to keep their horses moving at a steady pace.

Eastwatch was nothing like the farming village they had left behind. Thick stone walls surrounded the provincial capital, reinforced by square towers overlooking the roads and nearby fields, while soldiers in proper uniforms guarded each entrance.

Merchant wagons waited beneath inspection sheds, farmers brought carts of grain toward the markets, and officers moved between the barracks and administrative quarter with the confidence of men who believed the eastern province was firmly under control.

The riders might have found the sight reassuring under different circumstances, but the covered cart behind them carried proof that something unknown had already crossed into Caldris.

A gate guard stepped forward and raised one hand as they approached.

"State your purpose."

The lead rider reached inside his coat and produced a sealed letter bearing Brackenford’s village mark.

"Urgent report from Mayor Aldren Marr and Captain Edric Vane. It is meant for the provincial governor and the military commander."

The guard examined the seal, then glanced toward the cart.

"What are you transporting?"

"Evidence from the incident."

The guard frowned at the answer and stepped toward the cart. The second rider exchanged a tired look with his companion before reaching down and lifting one corner of the covering. The cloth moved just enough to reveal green skin, a long pointed ear, and several sharp teeth visible through the dead creature’s partly open mouth.

The guard stared for a moment before letting the covering fall back into place.

"You brought that from Brackenford?"

"We brought four of them back. This one was sent so Eastwatch would believe the report."

The guard’s expression changed immediately. He called another soldier over, gave several hurried instructions, and ordered the riders escorted through the gate without further delay.

Within minutes, the Brackenford report was being carried toward the administrative quarter while the cart followed under armed guard. The riders noticed people turning to stare as they passed, but the covering remained tightly secured. Whatever rumors began that afternoon would spread quickly enough without giving the entire city a clear view of the body.

Lord Governor Marcellan Rusk received the report in a chamber normally used for tax disputes, provincial hearings, and meetings with lesser nobles. He was a thin man approaching fifty, dressed in dark blue robes with a silver chain marking his authority over the province.

Standing beside him was General Cedric Halvern, commander of the Eastwatch garrison, a broad gray-haired soldier whose scarred hands and worn armor suggested that he had spent far more time around real campaigns than court ceremonies.

Several clerks and military aides remained nearby while the two riders stood before the long table.

Marcellan held the letter in one hand.

"Your mayor wrote this?"

"Yes, my lord."

"And Captain Edric provided the military account?"

"He dictated most of it himself."

Marcellan looked down again.

"Seven unknown green-skinned humanoids encountered east of Brackenford. Four killed. Three escaped. Three guards dead and two wounded."

The governor raised his eyes toward them.

"You are telling me that seven creatures smaller than grown men killed three trained guards and injured two more?"

The lead rider nodded.

"Yes, my lord."

Marcellan’s expression suggested that he considered the account exaggerated, but General Halvern did not dismiss it so quickly.

"Bring in the body."

Two Eastwatch soldiers carried the wrapped goblin into the chamber and placed it on a wooden table brought in for examination. The recovered armor, compact crossbow, blade, pack, writing materials, and unfinished map followed shortly afterward. When the covering was removed, the room fell noticeably quieter.

The creature was small, but nothing about it resembled an animal. Its body was humanoid, with hands shaped for tools and weapons, and the armor fitted closely to its torso. Its dull green skin, broad nose, pointed ears, and sharp teeth looked strange to the Caldris officials, but Halvern paid little attention to those features. He moved directly toward the armor and lifted one of the damaged leather panels.

"This was made to fit."

Marcellan gave him an impatient look.

"Of course it was."

Halvern shook his head.

"That is not what I mean. Look at the stitching and the shape of the plates. This is not a collection of scraps tied around its body. Someone produced this according to a pattern."

He picked up the goblin blade next and tested its weight.

"The weapon is properly forged as well."

One of the clerks leaned closer.

"You can tell from looking at it?"

"I can tell that whoever made it understood how to make weapons in quantity."

Halvern set the blade down and opened the recovered pack. He removed preserved food wrapped against moisture, spare cord, a whetstone, a small metal tool, rope, and several pieces of writing material.

"This creature was equipped for travel."

Marcellan folded his arms.

"Travel equipment still does not prove an army exists."

Halvern turned toward the riders.

"Tell me what Captain Vane reported about their behavior before the fight."

The lead rider repeated the details as carefully as he could. The seven creatures had watched the road from concealment. Some guarded the group while another recorded information on a flat board.

When Edric’s patrol approached, the creatures moved apart without confusion and immediately took positions using trees and rocks for protection. During the fight they supported one another rather than attacking individually, and the three survivors withdrew while covering each other.

Halvern listened without interruption.

"When they retreated, did they run in different directions?"

"No, General. Captain Vane said they withdrew together."

Halvern nodded slowly.

"Then they were trained."

Marcellan glanced toward the body.

"You are already calling them soldiers?"

"I am calling them what their behavior suggests."

The governor looked dissatisfied with the conclusion, but Halvern had already turned his attention toward the unfinished map recovered from the dead scout.

He carefully unfolded it across the table and asked for a proper map of the province. One of the clerks hurried to a cabinet and returned with a larger sheet showing Brackenford, the eastern roads, streams, hills, and surrounding settlements.

Halvern placed the two beside each other.

"Where exactly did Captain Vane find them?"

The second rider stepped closer and pointed toward a region east of Brackenford.

"Near the old stream crossing, General."

Halvern studied the goblin markings. The symbols meant nothing to him, but several lines were recognizable.

"This line follows the eastern road."

One of the aides leaned over the table.

"And this curve could be the stream."

Halvern pointed to another sequence of marks.

"This ridge matches as well."

The governor finally moved closer.

"You are certain?"

"I am certain enough to say they were recording the terrain."

The conclusion changed the atmosphere in the chamber. Strange creatures appearing in the forest could have been dismissed as an isolated curiosity. Armed strangers deliberately mapping roads inside Caldris were something else entirely.

Marcellan looked toward the unfamiliar writing.

"Could they belong to one of the kingdoms beyond the eastern mountains?"

Halvern considered the possibility.

"I have seen equipment from most of the powers along our frontier. None of this resembles theirs."

"Mercenaries, perhaps?"

"That is possible, but mercenaries still require an employer. They also require food, routes, and somewhere to gather. We have received no report of a foreign force crossing the major passes."

Marcellan tapped the table.

"Then perhaps they crossed in small groups."

"They may have."

Halvern did not sound convinced.

One of the clerks spoke cautiously.

"What if they came from somewhere farther east than our merchants usually travel?"

Halvern looked toward the provincial map.

"Then someone should still have seen signs of them unless they avoided the known roads completely."

The governor let out a slow breath.

"You are discussing this as though an army has already entered my province."

Halvern turned toward him.

"I am discussing it as though we found a reconnaissance team."

"That is not proof of an invasion."

"It is proof that someone wanted information about our roads and settlements in our region."

Marcellan’s irritation became more obvious.

"We have seven creatures, four of them dead. I am not mobilizing Eastwatch because one village patrol encountered something unusual in the woods."

"I am not asking you to mobilize the entire garrison."

"Then what are you asking for?"

Halvern pointed toward Brackenford on the map.

"One company of professional soldiers sent to the village. Mounted scouts pushed farther east. Increased patrols along the nearby roads and mountain approaches. Every fort in the region should be ordered to report unusual movement immediately."

Marcellan frowned.

"That sounds like a military alert."

"It is a limited military alert, which is exactly what the situation requires."

The governor glanced toward the dead goblin again.

"All of this because of seven scouts."

Halvern’s expression remained steady.

"The four dead ones are the least important part of the problem."

Marcellan looked back at him.

"What do you mean?"

"The three survivors escaped."

Halvern tapped the unfinished map.

"They are returning to whoever sent them. If they did not know about Brackenford before, they now know Caldris soldiers operate in that region. They know their scouting party was discovered, and they know four of their own were killed."

The implication settled over the room.

One of the riders spoke quietly.

"Captain Edric believed Brackenford might be in danger."

Halvern looked toward him.

"He is probably right."

Marcellan walked to the window and stood there for several moments before turning back.

"How many soldiers?"

"One hundred and twenty infantry to reinforce Brackenford. Twenty mounted scouts divided into patrols. It is enough to investigate without weakening Eastwatch."

"And if this turns out to be nothing more than a strange band of raiders?"

"Then one hundred and forty soldiers spend several days marching through the province, and we look overly cautious."

Marcellan studied him.

"And if Captain Vane is correct?"

"Then Brackenford will have more than a handful of village guards when the next group appears."

The governor finally nodded.

"Approved."

Halvern immediately turned toward one of his aides.

"Prepare Second Company with full field equipment. They leave before sunset. Send mounted patrols ahead and notify Greywatch Fort, Dunridge Post, and every road station between here and Brackenford. No one is to pursue unknown creatures alone. Observation and reporting come first unless they are attacked."

The aide saluted and hurried from the room.

Halvern then gestured toward the goblin writing.

"Bring Master Oren here."

A clerk hesitated.

"The language scholar?"

"If those marks are writing, I want to know what kind."

Master Oren arrived less than half an hour later. He was an elderly scholar whose initial irritation at being summoned disappeared as soon as he saw the materials spread across the table. He examined the symbols closely, occasionally comparing repeated groups and making notes of his own.

Marcellan waited impatiently.

"Can you read it?"

"No."

The governor sighed.

"Then it tells us nothing."

Oren looked up.

"That is not what I said. The symbols repeat consistently, and several groups appear in predictable positions. Whoever wrote this was using a structured written language."

Halvern looked toward the body.

"So the creatures are literate."

"At least some of them are."

Oren adjusted his spectacles.

"They are certainly not making meaningless scratches."

Marcellan’s skepticism finally began to weaken.

"Prepare a report for the eastern regional command."

One of the clerks immediately reached for his quill.

Halvern added the wording carefully.

"Do not call it an invasion yet. State that an unknown organized armed species has been discovered conducting reconnaissance inside eastern Caldris. Include the casualties, recovered equipment, and the fact that three scouts escaped."

The clerk began writing while Marcellan gave a reluctant nod.

By late afternoon, Eastwatch had already begun to change. Soldiers were pulled from routine duties, horses were prepared for extended patrols, and messengers departed toward nearby forts carrying descriptions of small green-skinned humanoids equipped with unfamiliar weapons.

Second Company began assembling near the eastern gate with packs, shields, spears, crossbows, and several supply wagons intended for the march to Brackenford.

General Halvern remained in the examination chamber after most of the others had left. The dead goblin still rested on the table beside its equipment, and the unfinished map remained spread beneath the afternoon light.

The creature itself was small enough that an ordinary soldier might have underestimated it on sight. Halvern found no comfort in that. The standardized armor, forged weapon, travel supplies, written language, and deliberate reconnaissance told him far more than the body ever could.

He still did not know where these creatures had come from or who commanded them. He did not know how they crossed into Caldris without being detected, and he could not guess what purpose had brought them into the eastern province.

Those unanswered questions were troubling, but the one that remained in his mind as he looked toward the eastern wall of Eastwatch was much simpler.

Seven had been scouts. The real question was how many more were following behind them.

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