“If orcs are down there they must be the lost group, right?” asked Dirk.

It would be good if they were but I had so many questions and I knew no one knew the answer to any of them.

“Vreek, how strong would these snake people have to be in order to capture and control a group of orcs and goblins?”

Vreeks face looked concerned. I was not sure if he had considered that question till I asked it.

“If it was a full camp, they would have to be really strong. Stronger than the town we destroyed. If the group had an ogre it would be difficult to defeat them, especially in a cave where the ogre would excel at close-quarter combat.”

“We can’t stay here, Dad,” interrupted Turk. “There is nowhere to hide along this path and if someone comes up it we will be spotted. We either need to go back up or decide if we are going to go down.”

Turk was right and I was running out of time and ideas. We had to assume that these snake people were enslaving the group we were looking for. I could not think of another reason why orcs and goblins would stray this deep into a cave and cavern. If they were this strong, I was not sure if we could really defeat them all. Especially since we did not know how many there were.

“Dirk, do you think you could sneak in and scout it out?”

Dirk scratched his head and shrugged.

“I can try but I have no idea how well they see. Down here we see pretty good because of the worms. I would imagine they are used to seeing in this light as well. If I am spotted though it kind of forces our hand, right?”

“Wait a second!,” Turk exclaimed quietly. “In order for them to tell the orcs and goblins what to do they must at least speak some of our language right? That means we could at least try to talk with one or two?”

“You mean you want to walk up to the closest one we find and be like, ‘Hey, are you all enslaving our friends?’” mocked Dirk. “That makes no sense at all.”

Turk held up his hand and waited for Dirk to finish.

“It means if we can capture one we can talk to them. I know it isn’t a perfect plan but no one else seems to have any better ideas.”

“But…” started Dirk.

“Enough! Let me think for a moment instead of you two arguing against each other. I need to think.”

I heard Vreek snort and saw that he was enjoying the family drama. I understood why goblins do not usually keep kids.

Out of all of us, I was the strongest and toughest. Dirk and Vreek were the next two who could handle being in close and Turk needed to be ranged to really excel. That meant if we were going to send someone down there to risk getting caught it had to be me.

“Here is what we will do.”

I felt like a fool walking down the path as I got near the bottom. I knew that if I shouted Turk would pop up to the edge and try to use his magic to help me. I did not want to give away the element of surprise or that we could use magic. I also felt comfortable with the few spells Brar had taught me and still needed to try them out.

The closer I got to the bottom of the cavern the more I realized the air we were feeling and the smell we had been smelling was coming from the caves up ahead. The wind picked up as I turned the last edge of the path and I almost slipped on the wet floor of the path.

Glancing around the rocks I heard orcs talking from a cave across the big opening. It was easily sixty or more yards away and there were four more caves spread out around the base of all this.

I fondled the bracelet Brar had given me and considered if it was worth trying to use now. Would the one minute of stealth I have be worth it? Should I save it for another time? Knowing it would take a week before I could use it again made me leery about throwing away a possible trump card if I needed to get away.

In the end, it did not matter. As I was scouting the opening and caves a massive snake person with a human upper half started to slither out of the opening closest to me.

I froze and stood still not knowing what I should do. He was about twenty yards from me and was carrying a weird-looking bag that was glowing from the worms I guessed were in there. Watching this twelve-foot snake slither along the ground was a bit intimidating. It had a male head and its upper body was muscular and lean. Its eyes looked yellow and I swore I saw a tongue occasionally flick out of its mouth.

As it moved out of the opening of its cave and along the cavern floor his head jerked and he saw me.

“Whatss ares youss doingss heres? Youss losts littles oness?”

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

“Yes. I got lost again. Can you tell me where I need to go?”

He cocked his head at me and flicked his tongue toward me.

“Yous smells different. Whys yous haves weapons? Yous sures yous belongs heres?”

I knew I should have left my sword but I also felt I might have needed it.

I held up my hands and shrugged. No point in lying now.

“I am looking for some orc and goblin friends. I tracked them here and am trying to find them. Can you help?”

His eyes went wide and his head rocked back and forth and I heard some weird hum or thumping sound emanating from his body. I tried to stay relaxed but I knew he was letting others know I was here.

After the noise he was making stopped, he turned and looked at me as he sat down the container on the floor. He made sure that the top of it did not open as he sat it down.

“Yous stays theres! Yous waits heres!”

I just nodded and did my best to appear like I was not concerned about what might happen next. I also did my best to keep from shivering every time he stuck that tongue out at me.

Moments later each of the caves produced loud noises as I heard movement coming from them. It sounded like I had angered an army as the noise echoed off the walls of the cavern.

Snake men, orcs, and goblins burst out of different tunnels some were carrying shovels, and pick axes and others had weapons in their hands.

Part of me was nervous as thirty-plus monsters and others were all gathered in a semi-circle and slowly moving toward me.

“Hes says hes iss loookings forz friends,” cried out the one I had originally talked to.

A massive female orc who I knew was taller than I was strode forward, a pick-axe in her hand. She motioned to the others to stay back with her free hand and stopped a few yards from me.

“Who the hell are you?” she demanded while she looked me over.

I crossed my hands over my chest and smiled.

“Brar sent me to find a missing group of orcs and goblins. He mentioned he had not heard from a group led by a female orc in a few months. Is that you?”

Her black eyes reflected the blue glow of the caverns and I could feel her staring at me.

“How do I know Brar sent you?”

Holding up my hand I pointed to the ring on my finger.

“We talk through this.” I saw her slightly nod her head and kept sharing a little bit more than she asked for. “I destroyed the town nearest to his camp and have been laying waste to the villages we went north. I have a few others with me up the ramp that I can call down if you want also.”

The female orc and the others glanced towards the ramp looking to see if they could see who I was talking about.

Turning my head slightly I yelled for the others.

“Turk, Dirk, Vreek! Come down here!”

A minute passed and the three of them popped out around the last bend in the path. All of them had their weapons put up since I had not used the code word to come in hot.

“You know my name and my companion's names. Can I ask yours?”

She eyed the four of us as they came to stand behind me and nodded.

“I am Bula. Now that you have found us, what are you planning on doing?”

I chuckled and motioned to all those gathered in the cavern.

“Do you need help with anything? We are willing to help if we can.” I glance around at the snake-men who were watching us and leaned forward. “We found a lot of goblin and orc bones in the caves above us.”

A laughter broke out among those standing behind her and I saw Bula smiling.

“Those are from some who felt they did not need to obey me.” She motioned towards the snake-men and shook her head. “They are not an enemy.”

Bula walked closer till she was about a foot from me. Looking up at her I could see her eyes taking me in. She walked around me and poked me in my back and on my shoulder.

Again, with the poking, I thought!

“What are you? You are not a goblin or orc. You look strong enough for a mate.”

I heard a snicker from Turk and Dirk behind me but ignored it.

“I am a hobgoblin.”

Her eyes went wide and she smiled so big I thought extra teeth might appear somehow with the ones she was showing. Those large tusks of hers almost seemed to prop her mouth open as she appeared ready to pounce on me.

“You would be a good mate! Strong children for the tribe! Come, I will take you and your men somewhere we can eat and talk before I accept your offer of help.”

She turned around and walked off, almost seeming to have a swing in her hips that was not there before.

Vreek appeared next to me and smiled as he leaned in close.

“Hopefully she does not break you. I would hate to think that you also believe you have a say in her offer.”

“Do I not have a say in it?” I asked.

“Not if you want things to turn out ok. Brar told me what the other females in camp required to do your bidding. She will require the same thing. Females are different from pink skins females. Here if they tell you they want you, you obey. Otherwise, you may die.”

I scanned Vreek’s face and realized he was being serious.

The groan that escaped my lips was not missed by Turk or Dirk. They knew what I was going to have to do and that I was not happy about being forced into it. Still, they felt the need to laugh.

I resigned to put on my big goblin pants and follow the lady that wanted to use me to bear her some children. All while not paying attention to the crowd of twelve-foot-tall snake men who had been watching this entire exchange. I could feel my neck wanting to pull my shoulders up and shudder.

As we followed Bula through the cave she had come out of, I was amazed at how many paths of blue worms were lining this cave. She never turned back to see if we were following her, and the other goblins and orcs that had rushed into the tunnels had all disappeared down the cave they had come from. The ringing of pick-axes started up again and I wondered what they were doing down here.

“Orcs and goblins don’t mine do they?” I asked Vreek.

He shook his head no.

“Some mined a long time ago. I have no idea what they could be doing down here.”

Up ahead we saw the tunnel we were in was about to open up into another large cavern. The sounds echoing through the tunnel reminded me of Brar’s main camp. Could they really be living down here?