"So, where is the first champion?" I asked Vamp. "Still going with the nonverbal communication, huh?"

Liz and Vamp seemed to ignore me as they led me off on another mission. But, really I did know that we did not speak the same language. For all, I knew the noises that I made might sound like nothing, but grunts to them. In the same way that when they spoke to each other it sounded like nothing but a series of grunts.

"Devin!" I heard a voice call out. "Funny bumping into you on this beautiful fall day!" The voice had come from Marco. I smiled at him as he approached us along the worn prairie trail.

"It's nice to see you again," I said. My gaze looked past him, though. "Those must be the nomes?" Behind him were at least fifty nomes with their gnarled expressions glaring back at me.

"Yeah, these little guys aren't strong like the orcs. But they more than account for it with their intelligence." By Marco's expression, I knew there was more to the story, but it would have to wait.

"I am surprised you got so many, volunteers."

"To tell you the truth, all I said was that we were fighting with the dwarves and they packed their things." The nome nearest to the front gave a toothy grin as Marco spoke.

“You will be happy to hear something else happened when I left the outpost.”

“What could have happened in the time I was gone? Tiger seems to do nothing all day but wait for us to finish our missions.”

“Mouse is gone. He was cast out for being the little vermin he is.”

“Wow! That is pretty good news,” Marco replied. “That guy had an extremely punchable face. I am sad I could not have kicked him out of the outpost myself.”

“I know I thought you would have killed him by now Marco.”

“I would never do something like that!” Marco seemed genuinely offended for a brief moment. Yet his normal playful demeanor came back to him. “You are right though. I did threaten to kill him a few too many times.” Marco and I both laughed at the thought. Marco had always hated Mouse. Something about the man always managed to get underneath his skin of Marco. Marco had hated all inquisitors, but the respect that Tiger had always shown him seemed to diminish that towards her.

"Well, I will see you later, Marco. Liz, Vamp, and I will be out for a few days. We won't come back though without Tiger's army." With that, I leaned in to try at kissing Marco again. He had tried to force another hug, but expecting this I had my golem queued up to restrain him. I placed my lips against his and began slowly kissing him. To my great pleasure, he returned the kiss. We had only locked lips for a few moments, but something about it gave me comfort. As our lips broke apart I latched on to him with a deep hug.

"You okay?" Marco asked.

It was the first genuine sense of concern I had heard from someone in a while. I gave him a shake of my head and continued down the worn forest trail. My modified prisoner robe blew along with the wind right above my ankles. Times like this made me happy that I had gotten to take the time to modify my outfit. Even if I couldn’t wear that beautiful silver and blue dress Cyntia had given me I could at least wear something that made me feel beautiful.

The orcs and I continued through the long grasses. I needed something to kill and fast. Hopefully, Vamp or Liz find our prey so that this trip could come to an end. The sooner we get Tiger her army the sooner we could go to more peaceful days. Days that could be filled with something other than bloodshed and betrayals. Hopefully, Marco still held up his end of his promise and we could run away together. Somewhere far away from all these dwarves, and away from Alfonso. With the dwarves gone, maybe Alfonso and his party would also move on. If I did not have to face him again I would thank the gods above. I could not deal with his disappointed look at me.

In the distance, I could see a figure of a person walking out of a tree line. It seemed to be a younger orc girl that could not have been elder in the best of lights. With the night fast approaching I was hoping that she was friendly and not going to try and lead us into some sort of trap. She had us by the advantage of the terrain. My companions and I were on low ground that was dominated by native grasses and flowers. The grass had also received recent rainfall which was leading to my clothing being drenched from the waist down.

"City dweller, why do you come?" the girl asked me.

"A weapon doesn't come, it's pointed!" I teased the girl.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Then you don't come for a fight?" She asked.

"I don't intend to fight you if that's what you want."

"No, I am not the one." As she said this, more orcs emerged from where they were hiding in the tree line. "Your master says she is to be our next leader. But I have already united the tribes."

"No, you haven't."

"What!" the girl screamed out.

"What about Vamp and Liz?" I said as I pointed at my faithful companions.

They had not so much as flinched when an army of the monster races appeared in front of them. Not only had orcs been among their numbers, but trolls, goblins, and even hobgoblins. It seemed like Tiger’s rumor about someone uniting the orc tribes was well on its way already. But, from the numbers that Tiger had promised even if only half of them were with this girl it was not nearly enough to be the uniting force of the legends.

"You dare defy us!"

"I am not defying anyone. I never swore fealty to the likes of some tribe."

"Fine, if you want a fight then a fight you will get."

She pointed her hand out as a massive troll lumbered towards me. The troll had the same characteristics as most of my early attempts at golem creation. It looked to be incredibly slow with thick hardened skin. The golem had not needed any more encouragement to leap into action against it.

Weapon master was not something I had been expecting out of my golem. Especially, after it had towed off with Alfonso and been so readily humiliated. But, the way it started carving the flesh of the troll came as a surprise to me. With each slash of its blade more and more blood began to spill out of the troll. Blood would not stop pouring out of the troll. But, the troll was no slouch in its own right. It had managed to lash out at the golem, shaking the earth with each blow it smashed into the ground. This forced the golem to waver in its stance, and as it did the troll sent the golem flying with a direct hit from its club.

The battle looked close, with neither the troll nor the golem letting up any ground. The golem would carve deep wounds with its quartz blade, but the troll would heal the wounds. All trolls had affinities that healed their bodies over time. This troll was no exception to that rule. Its body excreted a gelatinous liquid that filled in the holes left by the golem's blade. The golem on the other hand did not seem to be even scratched by the troll’s force.

Unlike the fight with Alfonso, the troll had no special attacks to inflict affinity into its club strikes. The attacks that the troll unleashed were crude and without any semblance of tactics behind them. These kinds of attacks were what the golem’s defense excelled at. Blunt trauma would do nothing but harmlessly slam into the golem’s shell. The golem had also begun to gain more and more of the upper hand in raw technique against the troll.

"Your creation is no match for even this troll!" the orc cried out. "You may as well beg for mercy now. With each cut your golem inflicts on the troll, it heals! It is only a matter of time until your construct yields to the force of the troll. I suggest surrendering now while you have the chance."

I took a seat on the grassy terrain as I replied, "I would rather get comfy because this fight might take a while."

The orc girl looked back towards the fighting. "That can't be!" she exclaimed. "How is that dumb troll not crushing that golem!" Not only was the troll too slow to hit the golem without setting the strike up first. But the blood loss with each wound was used as fuel to keep the golem powered and strengthen it.

It took time, but the troll finally slowed. Each wound the golem delivered lasted longer and longer on the body of the troll. Until they no longer closed altogether. Seeing this occur, I commanded the golem to end this fight.

"Finish it!" I cried out.

The golem wasted no more time and soared into the area with an enormous leap. As the golem came screaming down through the air all the troll could do was look up in horror. The troll was too exhausted from the fight to flee. So, the golem’s sword came down with tremendous speed onto the troll's head-splitting the creature's head open.

"How?" the orc girl started. As she did, her army moved out of the shadows and joined me at my side. "Stop! This isn't done yet!"

"Yes," I said, "The fight is over. You had your chance. The champion you chose died. Now join us or meet the same fate."

The air shifted as power started to swell around the orc girl. It seemed to freeze many of her former army in place.

"I will make you suffer for this disgrace!"

"You and that troll have a lot in common. You are both too slow."

Her head left her body before she could unleash the devastation of her full force. The golem had been the one to do it. Before the fight with the troll, it would not have been able to move this fast. But, with its increased power from the blood of the troll due to the drawn-out fight. The golem’s new speed had even impressed me but I did not want that to show to these new soldiers.

"I will miss your company. In another life maybe we could have been friends instead," I said to the corpse of the orc girl as I approached her.

I intended to check that her soul and the soul of the troll had gone into the golem's body. There was nothing but flesh husks containing no essence of a soul within them. It seemed like the golem had taken them into its container.

"Looks like your soul will live on in the golem. May you both know peace inside that manufactured hell."

I looked around at her army to see if I could see any signs that someone understood me. No one stood up to speak, so either they didn't care or no one understood. As I took the time to assess the numbers in her rank, I realized. This wasn't an army, by any metric. There were two dozen orcs and hobgoblins. Also, there had only been three other trolls. The two left seemed adolescent when compared to the one who had died at the hands of the golem. It truly was a shame that she had not managed to unite more of the monster races before her death.