Elsewhere
A cloaked figure makes his way down the halls of an impressive looking castle. Despite the opulence that surrounds him the figure appears as if he'd be more at home in the wilderness. The figure appears to be in deep concentration as he walks. Upon making it to a large room he kneels in front of a figure seated on a massive throne. "Report" comes the voice from the throne. Hearing this the cloaked figure hesitates for a moment. Staring at the hulking figure of Orc King he knows that the news he brings may cost him his life. He is pulled from his thoughts a moment later by the orc kings thundering voice. 'Well, go on and report, or have you grown tired of living?"
"Begging your majesty's pardon but I'm afraid the goblins have all been defeated." "WHAT" comes the voice from the throne. For a brief moment the cloaked figure believes that he is about to die. Then he hears the words of the king and realizes the anger was not directed at him. "How is that possible? They should have outnumbered the city guard 3 to 1!" For a moment he considers not answering, fearing the slightest movement would redirect the king's anger onto him. He is smart enough to realize that not answering isn't an option though, and so soon recounts everything that his scouts told him.
Hearing how the goblins were defeated seems to calm the orc king somewhat. Soon the king motions for someone to approach from his side. In the next second the cloaked figure watches as another orc, despite being over three meters tall, seems to appear out of thin air. "Kill them all" the king says calmly. Hearing this the other orc bows slightly before returning to the shadows. The cloaked figure at the foot of the throne, now revealed to be the goblin king, begs for mercy from the orc king.
Hearing the impassioned pleas from the goblin king the orc king remains unmoved. After a while the orc king speaks. "We had a deal. A deal which I intended to honor. The deal, in case you forgot your majesty, he says that last part in a mocking tone, is to trade the city of Eldenvale for the women and children of the goblin kingdom. You do not currently own Eldenvale, nor do you currently possess an army with which to capture it. Given all that, why then should I allow you vermin to continue eating my food and drinking my water."
Hearing this the goblin king wants to retort but he knows that it would do no good. "Perhaps my daughter was right." He realizes too late; he should have focused more on the future and less on tradition. Goblins have always been one with nature but that also limited their technological development. Indeed, in the last few lunar cycles he had come to realize just how primitive they were compared to everyone else. Even the orcs who relied mainly on brute strength were far superior to them in terms of their use of metal. Stealth and sneakiness were both topnotch but neither of them alone could win battles. Especially not on such a grand scale as trying to conquer a city.
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He remembers thinking that he could conquer the city by having goblins sneak in and kill the cities leadership only for every attempt to end in failure. To be fair though goblin stealth is more about evasion and escape than infiltration. To make matters worse their failed attempts alerted the city leadership to their presence. To make matters even worse the entire scout team was slaughter in their base despite it being hidden in a place saturated in death energy.
Knowing that the lives of his subjects hinged on conquering this city he decided to just attack with all his troops thinking that such un-goblin like behavior could catch them by surprise. According to the reports it would have worked to. If they hadn't encountered some kind of summoned beast with apparently impenetrable defense. It must have been summoned to deal with them. The magical power it displayed made it unlikely it would have allowed itself to be ridden otherwise. Plus, according to the reports it was actively protecting the people on its back. Likely one of them was the summoner.
Just as he is preparing to be killed the orc king speaks once again. "You may go." For a moment the goblin king is frozen in shock. Only for a moment though as he would rather not test the orc king's patience. The irony that allowing him to live was in fact the cruelest thing the orc king could have done is not lost on him. He is now a goblin king with no kingdom, no subjects, and no territory. In truth at this moment, he is no different than the beasts that roam the land. Unlike the beast though, who think only of survival, he has a goal. One that coalesced as he made his escape from the orc kingdom. He must somehow find a way to take revenge. Somehow, he must see the orc king cowering at his feet one day.
He has no idea how he is going to accomplish this, but it doesn't matter. From this moment on there is nothing else. There is only the goal.
Meanwhile
Unaware of what has just transpired between the goblins and orcs I am quietly waiting outside the gate for Yuna and the others to return from giving their report. Apparently, such behavior is odd for goblins. At least it's never been documented. According to what Twitchy said on the way back to the city anyway. According to him goblins usually just try to ambush travelers on the road and only in small groups. Until recently they've been little more than a nuisance.
After Several hours Yuna emerges to let me know that they will be waiting until morning to head out. Apparently, they've been ordered to head out in the direction the goblins came from and see what they can find. To be honest I couldn't care less about the reasons for the goblin's behavior. I do however want to protect the first true friends I've ever had.