With just over a week remaining until they left to confront the goblins, Nolan brought Prit to the inn one evening.

They all talked as they ate and Prit appeared to be cooperative as always, freely giving up whatever information they asked for. Once the meal was complete the small talk was over and it was time to discuss the task at hand. Arden cast his [Dome of Truth] spell over the group at the table and then nodded to Willow, who nodded in return and started speaking.

"Prit. In the time I've spent with you, I feel that I've gotten a good feel for who you are as a person. It's obvious that you have avoided certain topics and that you've hidden some things entirely. With this [Dome of Truth] spell active, I want to say plainly that we do not mean you any harm. We want to find a way to peacefully resolve the issue between your people and the people of Wildemill. Nolan and I both believe that you're pretending to be dumb, and I ask that you just be real with us and help us avoid a slaughter."

Prit stared at the human child. He had enjoyed their talks as she was always nice to him. Never rude like Nolan. He made to open his mouth but could feel the magic of the spell already making it hard for him to lie. Prit stopped and nodded to Willow before he started speaking in goblin, "I am of average intelligence, but struggle with your language. Humans always believe goblins are dumb anyway, so they never think that it might just be because of the language. And I’m okay with that. Most goblins are. It makes people underestimate us. What questions do you have for me?"

Arden jumped into the conversation, "Why? Why did you all start attacking Wildemill?"

"The hobgoblins took over. You know this."

“That’s it? Some new guy comes in and tells you all to throw your lives away attacking a peaceful village and you just agree?”

“No. Some new guy came in, killed our strongest fighters and literally beat our king to death with his bare fists. Then they paraded the bodies around as a warning to the rest of us. What would you do?”

Taken aback by the answer, Arden sat back in his chair. Nolan took this as a sign to take over.

"Why were you sent on this mission?”

"I made the new king angry," Prit replied with a shrug.

"Dude, you know we're just going to ask what you did. How about you stop with the piecemeal answers and just give us the full story. We don't know anything about goblins or hobgoblins. Just educate us about your culture in general and this situation specifically.

Over the next couple hours they learned that there were multiple castes of goblins. The lowest classes were the farmer/gatherers, of which there were easily several hundred at the fort. Then there were the hunters, the skilled laborers, the mages, the warriors, and the nobles. Prit said that there had been around four hundred warrior caste goblins at the fort when the hobgoblins arrived. When he left there was less than a hundred. They also learned that there were only two goblins there that could use magic. But there were close to two dozen hobgoblins. When they asked why goblins pretended to be more feral than they were, Prit said that it was safer that way. They feared that if the various "civilized" kingdoms discovered that the underground tribes of goblins numbered in the millions, they would try to come and conquer them.

Eventually they started to run out of questions and Prit was returned to the jail while the rest tried to process what they had learned.

⚷

The mayor shook her head a she discussed the upcoming battle with Nolan and Arden, "I guess I never really thought about the numbers you'll be facing, the odds of you winning. How can you all be so willing to risk your lives like this. You've only been here for a couple months and you just plan to go fight a hundred goblins and hobgoblins to save us? Perhaps we could find another way."

"Helping you is literally why the gods brought us here. We've not discussed any sort of plan of attack thus far because we, quite frankly, don't know what to expect. Personally, I don't want to just go in gun blazing. I'd like to talk with this new king of theirs," Nolan stated.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

The mayor looked at Nolan with a confused expression, "What's a gun? And do you really think attempting to speak with the hobgoblins is wise? They'll likely kill you before you even make it to the king."

"A gun is simply a weapon from our world. The saying, 'going in guns blazing' simply means to run in killing everything in sight with no plan or attempt at tactics. As to why he wishes to speak with the king… well, I'd like to know that, too," Arden interjected.

Nolan took a breath before continuing, "The reason why I want to speak with the hobgoblin king is twofold. First off, as we’ve learned from Prit, the goblins are sapient beings, not beasts. If we just kill them all, it would be like wiping out a village of people. If it has to be done I suppose I'm willing to do it. But I'd like to make sure there’s no other option. Second, from what we learned about the customs of the goblins and hobgoblins, it seems they do have a sense of honor. It’s different than ours but it is there. If we can’t make peace with new king, then I plan to challenge him to a battle of honor.

The mayor sat with a confused look on her face as she tried to process what was said. It was clear she was full emotions when she started asking questions. "Do any of you even have diplomatic experience? Let's say you make it to the king. What could you offer him to convince him to stop attacking? And if you are successful, what would I tell the villagers? That it's safe just because a hobgoblin gave us his word? You think people will forgive and forget just because you come back and say you've reached a peace agreement with the goblins?"

"Hold up, mayor," Arden cut in. "Like you, this is the first I'm hearing of Nolan's plan, and I have to admit I'm quite intrigued by it. But it sounds like you're implying the only acceptable outcome is extermination."

"Yes! No! I don't know. I just…," the mayor said as she tried to regain her composure. "My husband was a hunter. He was killed by the goblins early on. Part of me doesn't care if they're beasts or people. I just want revenge. But I know that isn't right. Many of my citizens will have similar feelings, though."

Arden nodded in understanding. "I understand that this is a new perspective from which to view the situation. But we need to be on the same page here. Our goal is to stop the goblin attacks and secure peace for Wildemill. If we can do it through diplomacy, then we will. If we have to do it through force, we will. But I need to know, before I risk the lives of my family, will you stand with us? If we come back with a peace agreement and you refuse to honor it, that would be bad."

The mayor took a deep breath before responding. "I understand. Peace is the goal, however you can achieve it. Still, with the numbers you're up against, should we send some guards with you?" asked the mayor.

Nolan cut in before Arden could say anything else, "I don't think you have enough guards to make much of a difference. If you had a few dozen highly trained guards that would be different. But you only have a couple guards left that I would consider highly trained and you need them here."

“Sounds like we have our initial plan then,” Arden said as he rose from his seat. "Nolan, we can brainstorm on back up plans tomorrow. I'm going to go get some shuteye."

⚷

The days went quickly and before anyone was really ready for it, they were having their final dinner before leaving town. Arden let them know that Ben agreed to watch over Ewan while they were gone.

“Sounds good.” Nolan said. “I’ve continued to speak with Prit and I’d like to bring him with us. I think he’ll be useful to have and, honestly, I think the guard will kill him as soon as we leave.”

“You trust him?” Willow asked.

“Not entirely, but I don’t plan to give him enough freedom to do anything.”

“Works for me.” Arden added.

Willow set a box on the table and opened it, “Guess now’s a good time to pass out the potions I’ve made. I’m still not super skilled in this yet, but I think I did well. I have 7 inferior healing potions, 2 inferior antidote potions, and 2 vials of inferior poison for each of us. I also have 3 basic healing potions that I’ll keep until someone needs them.” As she spoke, Willow passed out potions to everyone before continuing, “Then I have a couple more interesting things.” Willow set 4 vials on the table. “These are vials of acid. Yes, it can eat through metal. Then there’s these two.” She said as she sets two more vials on the table, full of an amber-colored liquid. “These potions remove the need to sleep for a day. I used one last night, which allowed me to stay up making more potions. I don’t know if they’ll be needed, but I had the ingredients.”

“Holy shit Willow! I can’t believe you were able to make so much.” Nolan said.

"Why are you calling all of these inferior? You shouldn't be so hard on yourself," Arden said.

"It's not me, dad. That's what the system labeled them. Alchemy potions have ranks. It goes trash, inferior, basic, enhanced, and so forth. Because of my skill level, most of what I create will be inferior."

"Ahh, that makes sense. Apologies. Though you were just being you," Arden said with a smirk. "Looks like we’re good to go, then. I’m going to ‘call’ Liam and Regina and give them an update on our plans as well as let them know where to find Ewan should things go wrong. I’d recommend everyone do a bit of praying to your favorite gods and then get as much sleep as you can. This time tomorrow night we’ll have been gone for a few hours. Anyone have any last minute questions or concerns? Does anyone wish to stay here?”

They looked at him like he had a third head. Finally Hazel spoke up, “I know you want to leave Willow and I here. I can’t imagine how stressed I would be if Ewan was coming with us. But we’re a team. No. We’re a family. And we’ll face this like a family.”