I never thought that I would find myself on the back of a massive, fantasy styled, wolf pig, surrounded by goblins and furry- and not furry- fox people. But I never thought a lot of things over the last half year or so. That being said, I guess my current mount wasn't all that surprising at all.

The rohgek were a strange mountain monster that the goblin's used as mounts. Their bodies were vaguely wolf shaped but they were far denser with bristly hair rather than fur and large tusks growing out of their muzzles. They were best suited for mountain travel but their stamina was excellent, even here on these forest paths.

I was currently seated on the back of a rohgek ridden by the goblin prince, Lagdon. And he was far from the only person in this procession either. I was surrounded by no less than six goblin guards, and Just as many foxie and Foxmen- they were not mounted, but even on foot they could keep up with a Rohgek galop. This very showy group was on their way to my new home.

I was excited for the move, but I was opposed to it at first when it was proposed less than a month after Margund- the current goblin king- defeated his father for the crown. My monster devotees had their hearts set on building me some kind of temple, but I assured them that I was perfectly happy with a small place in the fox village. Both Margund and Brax- the elder and leader of the foxes- put a damper on that right away.

"My Lady, that would be most inappropriate." Margund had said, shaking his grey skinned head, large eyes closed, in exasperation no doubt.

"The goblin king is correct, Lady Enna." Elder Brax had agreed quickly. He looked more amused than anything, his bright eyes twinkling over his grey dusted fox muzzle where he held his usual pipe between pointed teeth. "As much as we all would love to have you with us always- and would never think of driving you out if you truly insisted staying here- for your own ideals, it would be a bad idea."

"Why?" I had asked. I just wanted to spare them all the effort. After all, a lot of construction had begun over the last week. Now that the goblins and foxes had come together in an alliance, the goblins had been aiding the foxes with rebuilding their homes after the battle that had taken place. Not only had a goodly portion of the village been destroyed at the time, but also- after their evolution- the foxes had out grown their former homes by a foot or so. In exchange for their labor and construction expertise, the foxes had been helping the goblins with hunting and forest-gathering knowledge.

Margund sighed. "As much as I am sure it is not your intention, if you were to stay in the fox village then the goblin people may see it as favoritism on your part." The goblin king eyed me, his intelligence evident behind his often mischievous smile. "I can't say anyone would tell you you could not play favorites- Aeros certainly made no bones about doing it, and in our favor as well. But-"

"But I defiantly do not want to be like that lazy old dragon." I had grumbled. Just thinking about the old land god often made me irritated. I couldn't say the famously powerful dragon was particularly evil, but he was the most self centered and arrogant creature I had ever met- weather in this life or my last. And that was including the former goblin king.

"Exactly."

So a new home was built. And It had been constructed in a pretty great location. Some time ago, before I had even met the goblins, I had gone on a rather disastrous fishing trip, but we saw a stunning, short waterfall with these beautiful purple blossom, trees. It was suggested that a temple be built there for her, and now they had put that into practice.

"How is it that this trip feels longer despite the road being built..." Whined Ozzie. He was a young foxie with the usual ginger fur, just like his grandfather, Elder Brax.

"Enough Ozzie." Said Brixie, Ozzie's mother, as she walked along side Lagdon and I. She sounded exasperated, which I found funny. Normally Brixie was very put together and studious, but her son often brought out the more agitated side of the future foxie leader. "the trip has been faster and smoother than it has ever been. Be grateful that our goblin friends have made such a comfortable road for us to be able to reach Lady Enna as we please."

Ozzie mumbled something that sound like 'I wasn't complaining' under his breath and I couldn't help but laugh. I was in a good mood, despite feeling a little anxious at what I was going to find when we arrived. I was 'forbidden' from seeing the place before now as they all wanted it to be a surprise. I had no clue how long it normally took the powerful goblins to construct things but this project took them a whole three months. Summer had passed and winter was rolling in, turning the leaves into a fiery array of colors.

"It was no trouble to extend the road to the fox village." Stated Lagdon at my back. "We needed a road from the mountains to the river for supplies and such, the short path to the village was no added trouble. Especially after Lady Enna gifted us all with evolution. The work has been almost laughably easy now."

I smiled happily at the memory. About a month after the battle with the goregek, Margund had his official inauguration, and I, and the foxie leaders had traveled to the goblin capitol to attend. It had been a long enough trip but the capital was fascinating. They lived within the mountain in carved stone houses lit by fire and, for a brief period each day, the sun filtering down through the slit in the great mountain.

I had a place of honor as I watched the procession of elders, priests, officials, and warriors of great honor follow Margund- dressed in a dark red robe with a long black and gold cape, toward the massive throne that had been built to hold his fathers unfortunate girth. An Elder had placed a crown of finely spun gold and large rubies and emeralds on the princes bald dome. After that it was about three days of non-stop partying.

And on the night of that third day I had put my plan into action. When everyone had finally passed out into a drunken stupor, I entered my dream scape- a sort of dream dimension where my consciousness goes when I 'sleep'. That, too, had change greatly since the passing of the goregek.

What had once been a cozy campfire surrounded in dark trees with purple flowers, was now something much more. My fire had become an almost torrent of flame, now set in a golden brazier carved into the white stone floor of an open aired- almost Grecian, temple. Around the edges, between the pillars were benches and golden floor vases filled with the branches of the purple flowered trees. Then, beyond this small stone platform were the trees themselves, spanning off into the distance, lit only by either fire flies, or small motes of golden light. I had never gotten near enough one to see for sure.

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But over the month I had been working on my control over this symbolization of the magical energies I gather from the land and my worshipers. As the new land god it was my duty to use this power to revitalize the lads that Aeros had essentially left to rot, and better its people. Well, according to the cantankerous lizard, I could do what ever I wanted with it so long as the land continued to 'exist', but I rather felt that it was better put to use in my way, rather than his own selfish hoarding. I mean, he was a freaking dragon, and insanely powerful in his own right! Why would he hoard the little that his monster subjects were able to offer up?

That night i figured that I had managed to put enough power aside to do what I had done for the foxkin. For them it had been a small box that Aeros had left me that fueled the change in the small fox like people. Now i would evolve the goblins with power that I had accumulated on my own.

To say it was pandemonium when I next opened my eyes after directing the energy throughout the night... would be a bit of an understatement. I guess I did not think out my surprise too well. But still, once the initial panic of the goblins had died down they were very, very pleased. And then I had to go through another three days of celebrations. Monsters seemed to really like to party.

Most of the goblins, like Lagdon who sat behind me, had become what is known as Hobgoblins. And even though my mind had me thinking they would be tall and skinny with big noses or something, I could not have been much farther from the truth. true, hobgoblins were tall... at least six feet as a matter of fact, but they were in no way skinny. Even the women and children were buff. Lagdon himself looked like a tank. And no longer were they nearly bald. Most hobgoblins had either white or grey hair, while some looked closer to silver or like a blue-ish slate color, and they seemed to prefer keeping it to about shoulder length for the most part.

They were still grey or green shinned but it was more muted now. And their faces looked a lot more human like than they had been, aside from the large pointed ears and the smaller whites of their eyes that is. They all still sported four fingers and four toes on each appendage, however.

"Sorry I didn't give you all more warning..." I said for maybe the tenth time since it occurred.

Lagdon laughed. It was a nice sound and I felt his muscled chest shake at my back. Unlike his older brother, Margund, Lagdon was not a huge laugher. He was actually pretty serious and high strung most of the time so it was nice to hear him relax every now and again. "It is fine Lady Enna. Its not like we could not have figured out what had happened on our own. I blame the drinking the night before."

I laughed lightly. They sure did drink an awful lot. For a couple hours there was pandemonium in the streets as people awoke to being over two feet taller than they had been with muscles ripping out of their night cloths. If I ever do such a thing again I probably should warn people first. The foxes had defiantly been a lot calmer about the whole thing when they had evolved.

"The hardest part was making more cloths." chuckled Nord, another of the goblins in my escorts. He was an older hobgoblin but seemed to have regained a little of his youth in his evolution, and defiantly lost a goodly part of his animosity. He had been very warry of me when we first met, but now was a lot friendlier. "Luckily our homes were already built much larger than they needed to be for our former size. Unlike our fox friends." Yeah, it would have been pretty hard to re-carve out homes as apposed to building new wooden ones as the foxes had done. "And that is but a small price to pay for all you have given us Lady Enna."

"Indeed." Chimed in Galmund, a goblane that Margund had sent to be one of my guards. Goblanes were another race evolved from the goblins. Most of the goblins had evolved into hobgoblins, but about five percent of the race had gone down the goblane route. Goblanes looked similar to hobgoblins but they were less muscular and every one of them had vibrant red hair. Where hobgoblins evolved with intense physical growth in mind, goblane were among the rare goblins that were gifted in the magical arts. "Our people are well on their way to an age of prosperity that we have never known before. And that is all thanks to you and your protection over these lands."

"I'm just doing my job." I said honestly. "It is everyone else who has been looking after me, really." 

And they had been. I mean, Aeros was pretty much not present and neglectful, but at least he had the power to make sure humans or who knew what else wouldn't invade these lands, providing the monsters a relatively safe place to live and grow. At least, until Aeros' neglect began affecting the health of the area as a whole. I, on the other hand, came here as nothing but a weak and uninformed human. Heck, before I mysteriously woke up on the forest floor, I had been a paraplegic in a hospital room for the longest time. Calling me an inexperienced god would not be inaccurate what so ever.

"Are we there yet?" Ozzie complained again, making me laugh out loud. He shot me a wink as his mother rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Please do not encourage him Lady Enna." She sighed again and glared at her son. "How am I supposed to leave you here? You are meant to be helpful, not a nuisance young man."

"You needn't worry Miss Brixie." Chuckled Nord, bring his own rohgek closer to the front line where we were speaking. "I fully intend to whip your son into shape. Along with any other person who wishes to be responsible for our land god's safety."

Ozzie looked horrified, and I didn't blame him. I hadn't been trained in combat by the older hobgoblin, but I have been learning from Lagdon and he was a student of Nord. It was a slow and burning torture if ever there was one.

Actually, when I found out that Margund was intending for Lagdon to be in charge of my guards, I was shocked. Well, I was shocked that i was to be given guards at all really. But both Margund and Brax insisted when we met after the goblin's evolution. He had informed Lagdon then that he was to be the one in charge. But he was a prince! I thought for sure that he would be needed else where, and not have his time wasted being a glorified baby sitter for me.

But Lagdon had agreed readily, to my surprise, accepting gracefully with a bow. And did he ever take his new role seriously. He wasted no time hand picking who amongst the goblins and the foxes would be aloud to be part of this elite group, as well as the ones that would be trained in hopes of joining the ranks. Ozzie was one of these hopefuls and had already gone through a little training with Nord, who had just been sent down from the goblins capital, Gurten. 

In fact, i knew that many people were already there waiting for my arrival. So many, in fact, that I couldn't help but wonder what monstrosity the goblins had built. No way was it the little cottage on the river bed that I had originally thought they were going to build when it first was suggested. There were at least fifteen foxie and foxmen already there, and who knew how many goblin's Margund had sent out.

"You seem very excited about this." I said to Nord, a smile on my face as i saw Ozzie's shoulders drop.

Nord laughed, and it did sound at least a little evil. "It is a great honor to be the one to assure that those entrusted with your safety are well trained. I will not stand for a single lazy student."

"Well, i do not envy your students then."

"I do not see why you are amused Lady Enna." Huffed Lagdon and I felt my soul shrivel a bit. "I will not be letting you flake on your training either."

"Ugh..." I said, earning a small laugh from the others. Lagdon was one of the few people that didn't completely treat me like I was above their station. This more than anything, I appreciated about him. It could be pretty draining being talked to like i could do no wrong most of the time. Lagdon refused to baby me with kind or pandering words as many of the others did. I mean I guess I couldn't blame them though. I'm not sure how I would act if I found myself having a conversation with someone I thought was a god, after all.

"Either way," Stated Nord, tuning in his leather saddle to talk to Ozzie. "We will be able to see the estate once we crest this hill, young fox lad."

"Estate?" I said, exasperated. I had begged them not to go over board. I now had a very strong feeling that they had not listened. I'm not sure how I thought begging would work on monsters in the first place, actually.