Steal dashed off into the woods as fast as his nobbly legs would allow him, if not for his desperation to escape the person who kept electrocuting him, he might have been taken in by the scenery.

With every step, the coarse soles of the goblin's feet sank a little into the damp grass, each stride carrying him further and further away from his birthplace.

But more importantly, further away from the mage.

He didn't know how far or how long he ran for, but by the time he stopped running, he was so short on breath he thought he might die. The exhausted creature stumbled his way into a clearing, before collapsing onto the ground, heaving and gasping for breath.

His eyes seemed to close, vision fading and coming back as it felt like his chest was aflame, each raspy inhalation was like a strip of sandpaper sliding down his throat and around his heart.

It took a few minutes, but the pain in his chest began to fade, but his muscles ached just as bad. The aching little monster dragged himself up off his feet and carried on stumbling.

THUD

It seemed like he hit into something, the goblin stared at the shadow on the ground that was ahead of him, then his neck slowly tilted back to look at whatever he'd walked straight into. The beast before him was humanoid, with the over-sized mouth and pointy ears associated with the orkoid and goblinoid races. Steal didn't know the name of the species, but what stood, towering over him was a hobgoblin, the monster stood at around 5 feet in height, and could be differentiated from a goblin such as Steal by the creatures more tan skin, and the thick tufts of hair that grew along their muscular forearms and spines.

Steal didn't have the energy to fight back as the muscular beast latched it's oversized first around the goblin's bald scalp. The hobgoblin spoke in a language just as garbled and primitive as the goblin, but it could understand snippets.

"You, name, what?"

The goblin paused for a moment, unlike every other previous experience the creature had had so far, something that wasn't a goblin didn't try and kill Steal at first sight. It was a strange and new occurrence. More importantly, however, the goblin realised that answering would give him the best chance of survival. "Me is Steal, come from there, ran lots." the goblin stretched a bony finger behind him, towards the cave that was no longer in sight.

The hobgoblin glanced over the scrawny creature that it grasped so easily, before loosening his grip and letting the creature drop to the ground. "Me is Grak, hunter, you are kin, give me weapons and Grak let you come with to home" as the larger creature spoke in longer sentences, Steal began to miss words and hear words and pronunciation he'd never heard before.

Although he didn't want to give over his hard-earned possessions, it seemed like it would grant the creature his best odds of survival, so he slipped both belts from his shoulders and handed them to Grak. Grak seemed to offer him a toothy smile before turning around and pointing somewhere off into the woods. "Come with, follow behind" Steal nodded in agreement.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

The duo trekked through the woodlands for maybe an hour before they came across another clearing, this one was dotted with a number of odd looking huts and other structures, perhaps a few dozen monsters just like Grak were patrolling the clearing or attending to a variety of jobs and duties.

Grak gave each of his kin a friendly nod as they noticed him, but they all looked displeased. The hunter had cut his work short when he found the goblin and had only brought back enough meat for a few of his brethren, they had reserves for a reason, but nevertheless, fresh meat was far better than the smoked strips of meat that they had in their storehouse.

Grak marched Steal after him as they approached a somewhat more ornate hut, a sheet of leather covered the doorway and left the inside in total darkness. The hobgoblin raised the leather curtain a little bit and ushered Steal inside.

Within the dank hut sat a beast much like Grak, but exceptionally more muscular. Grak spoke up before Steal had a chance to say something idiotic.

"Chief, this little one kill much before" the hobgoblin pointed to the streaks and splodges of human blood that decorated Steal's skin.

The chief nodded in response, his voice was deeper and even more coarse than Grak's "Yes, I see... Grak, we not have many hunters, you take charge, he will be your help, yes?"

Grak's mood shifted to a more sour note, he was under the impression he could bring the goblin back to do some menial work. Instead, he was going to have to look after the scrawny creature and take him on hunts. Nevertheless, it was the chief's order and Grak had no intention of defying him, the chief was as strong as he was wise.

The chief ushered them away, offering them another few words as the mismatched duo began to leave "Drekai will give little one tools for a hunt, go ask. You did not bring back much, make little one hunt his own meal, then you must work harder tomorrow."

The hunter nodded in response as they left the chieftain's dank hovel. This time, Grak led the 'little one' to a hobgoblin woman, the quartermaster and one of the craftsmen in their camp. Most hobgoblins did not understand concepts like metallurgy or smithing and Drekai was no exception, it didn't mean she wasn't good at her work though. The hobgoblins of Veera Forest hunted with handcrafted tribal weapons such as spears, bows and axes, and they traded human goods like weaponry and most armour for food and other resources they cared for. It should, however, be noted that they were wise enough to keep ahold of any shields and alchemical tinctures they obtained, since Drekai and her fellow craftsmen were yet to come up with an effective shield on their own, and none of the hobgoblins were capable of producing potions, besides Arsten, an exceptionally young tribesman that did not produce healing potions, but instead produced a number of poisons whilst serving as the tribes impromptu doctor.

Drekai greeted Grak with the same toothy grin that all the hobgoblins seemed to possess "Hey big boy, came to take some stock or stock me full of your-" Drekai was cut off as Grak quickly interrupted her before she could finish her depraved sentence "This little one, new hunter, give him little one weapons... Sling, no bow, he too weak" Drekai furrowed her brow "I'll get your stuff, but you better stuff me later on"

Grak grimaced as she spoke, but nodded, it seemed his answer was a yes. The female craftsmen rummaged through what looked more like a somewhat neat garbage heap than an armoury and produced a long wooden spear, as well as a cut square of leather, with two strands of thick cordage coming from either side. Finally, she handed a small, rawhide satchel to the goblin, full of stones, ammunition for his sling.

The hunter smiled again as he glanced over Steal's newly acquired loadout "Only the best of the best from you, Drekai" she smiled in response "You better bring me back a Gray Wolf tonight" with that, she ushered them away, urging them to begin the hunt.

Steal chuckled as he played with the spear, he understood about stabbing things with pointy things, the sling and the rocks were something he didn't quite understand though, so he decided he'd stick with his newly acquired stabbing stick for now.

His muscular and seasoned new companion prodded the goblin roughly in the shoulder.

"Come, now we hunt"