“Farewell, champion,” Yashk shouted as he waved. “Remember to summon me when it is time to join the fight!”

I waved back and followed Dirk, Turk, and Vreek as they headed up the ramp to leave the caverns.

Another week had passed since Yashk had used me as a punching bag for almost a day. I had slept for about three days after our training and could tell I had gotten stronger. The greatest lesson Yashk taught me was that there are no rules when fighting. I was sometimes too concerned with honor still. Survival as a goblin dictated that I did not hold back against my enemies.

“I shall name this child after you!”

I grimaced as I saw Bula rubbing her belly, which was already protruding enough to let everyone know she was pregnant. Turk and Dirk had a few questions about that, but both seemed to let it slide that I was walking away from a goblin or orc who would be my child.

“You sure you don’t want to stay and raise another child?” teased Dirk as he waited for me on the ramp. “I’m sure he will have your amazing complexion.”

I groaned and pushed him ahead. We needed to go outside and contact Brar. Odds were he was probably dying from the lack of communication for almost two weeks. I needed to update him on our new allies and ask who else we might seek out to help fight the battle that would surely come one day.

Where the hell have you been?!

My head hurt from the blatant shouting that Brar was doing. Part of me regretted contacting him when we came out of the cave.

Why did you not leave the cave earlier and tell me where you were and why you could not talk?

I heard some chuckles and saw Vreek and my boys looking at me. They saw the grimace I had on my face and knew I was getting an earful.

“Listen, Brar,” I growled. “If you want to act like an elf whore and complain, I will take this ring off and not put it back on for another week! Or you can act like a leader who knows sometimes things do not work out how we want, but we must still accept them.”

I was pissed, and when I glanced back at Vreek, I saw him smiling and nodding at how I was handling myself.

A moment passed, and then Brar finally responded.

I won’t apologize, but you are right, Zolb. I was concerned that something happened to you and your group. Losing you would mean the end of all of us.

I took a breath and let it out as I rubbed my hand against my face. I could only imagine how Brar did feel. I felt the weight of all that was expected of me by the entire goblin and orc race. I was more concerned about what would happen to Turk and Dirk if I failed.

“I understand, but I will not tolerate that whining again. I am serious about not wearing my ring if it happens another time. Now would you like to hear what I have to say, or do you need a moment to wipe away your tears?”

I swear I heard a grumble in my head, but after a few seconds, Brar moved past the petty things.

I would enjoy hearing what you have been up to for the last few weeks.

While sarcasm did not seem to come across, I imagined his face grimacing as he said that. I smiled and celebrated the small victory I knew I had just experienced over Brar.

“We found the lost group. They are underground in a massive cave complex with a Slendal tribe. Bula is working at growing their numbers in safety while working with the Slendals to outfit both groups with equipment. I met Yashk, the Slendals' leader, and he has pledged to join our battle when the time comes. We should expect at least one thousand Slendals on that day.”

Again there was a pause, and if this were the first time I had talked to Brar like this, I would have believed we had lost connection.

“You still there, Brar?”

I am. I am at a loss for words, Zolb. It is hard to imagine that there are that many Slendals and that you convinced them to join our side. I am unsure who Yashk is, but I know the King will be glad to hear about this. What is your next move?

I chuckled. I was ready for this next question.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“Well, I would love to know more about these labyrinths I hear you know so much about. Vreek told me how you always talked about them to everyone else.”

I actually heard a groan this time from Brar.

You were not ready for us to talk about those things when you left. You were barely prepared to fight the town next to us. Are you sure you are now ready to learn about such things?

“I have been waiting to hear about these things for weeks now. So do not hold back.”

Brar had spent quite some time telling me about the three known labyrinths in this world. He said there might be more, but at the moment, each of the capitals was built over a labyrinth. They were a wealth of growth and riches if heroes could survive them. Long ago, the goblins used to own one before they were cut down. It was a time of growth and prosperity for goblins and orcs.

Each person could only enter a labyrinth once every sixty days. When a group enters the gateway, a crystal appears in one of their hands. If their crystal were destroyed, they would be teleported out. Once they leave the labyrinth,, they have to wait until the reset occurs. Every sixty days, the labyrinth would reset and teleport anyone inside to a random place within ten miles of the entrance.

For a while, they had tried to set up healing and eating stations deep inside as goblin raiding parties cleared out levels. No one knew how many levels there were. The farthest any goblin or orc ever reached was level seventy-one. It had been over a thousand years since a goblin or orc had been in one of the labyrinths.

I had been torn at the knowledge of knowing it had been that long since any orcs or goblins had made it into a labyrinth. I wanted to change that, but I knew just getting inside would be a test in itself.

While Brar was talking, we started our journey down the mountain. It was mid-afternoon, and I could see the elf capital Anhelon off to the east. We would go down there and cause a few problems before we headed north and skirted around it. I wanted to head to the dwarf area and see what we could find. They had fewer casters and archers, which would be a better matchup for us. The number of ranged heroes and magic casters that the elves were rumored to have was not the best matchup for us.

After Brar and I had finished our conversation, I relayed the information he had shared with the others.

“So what are the odds we could get inside the labyrinth at the elf city,” asked Dirk. “I could try and sneak in at night, maybe and see if I could locate it.”

“That is a stupid idea,” argued Turk. “We just need to capture a few heroes from the city and torture them until they tell us where it is in the city. Make sure we always ask them separately so we know if they are lying.”

Dirk and I both looked at Turk. He saw our expressions.

“What?”

I coughed and shrugged.

“You came up with something I had not anticipated you saying we should do. I am proud of you.”

Turk grimaced when I said that. I had forgotten how much he sometimes hated being told I am proud of you.

“We all know we no longer have time to play fair. I’m tired of how the people of this land enslave people, kill races just because, and resist all opportunities to end this fight.” Turk looked at me, and I could see the intent in his eyes. “If it takes us destroying an entire race or two before they realize we will not tolerate their treatment of others, I will not hesitate to kill anymore.”

I nodded and heard Dirk cough. I could tell he was surprised to hear his brother talk like that.

“So let’s look at the map and find the best spot to set up a trap or two to lure some heroes into. If we pick a few different spots, we can try to do what Turk recommended and capture a few different ones.

Vreek grunted, and I saw him shaking his head.

“Disagree?” I asked.

Vreek pointed at the three of us.

“Have either of you ever captured someone and then tried to drag them around whenever you move?” he questioned us as he bent down and started drawing in the dirt with his finger. “If you capture a person here and drag them over to here and capture another, you are now responsible for two people. You have to have someone always watching them. Do you expect me to be on baby goblin duty while you three run off and try to capture more?”

Turk snorted, and I knew he was laughing at Vreek’s use of language.

“I’m serious,” Vreek said as he tapped a third circle he had drawn a foot away from the first. “If you try for three people all in different areas, we will have to carry them and deal with their attempts to escape.” His eyes glared at us. “And they will attempt to escape. No true hero who knows the location of the town's labyrinth will share it easily. Some will probably gladly die before sharing that information. Do not underestimate the difficulty of what you are talking about doing.”

As always, it felt like Vreek was right, and we had no clue what real battle or things like this involved. I had not really given it much thought that May had two guards every hour of every day standing outside his tent, even though he was chained up. Brar was taking no chance. Then there was feeding him, cleaning when he defecated, and other menial tasks.

If we took four or five days to pull this off, we would have to deal with watching one or two captives, and we did not have all of the tools on hand to manage them as we did back in Brar’s camp.

“What would you suggest?” I asked Vreek.

Vreek nodded and started recreating the map in the dirt he had memorized already.

“Dirk is right. We need to set up some traps. We will be too close to the city, and I am afraid that they might not just send out an easy group of heroes. While I know the three of you have gotten much stronger, I could see them possibly trying to trap us within our own trap. We need to be smart and safe.”

Vreek tapped on the spot he drew in the dirt that I knew was the road outside of the town.

“If we sent Dirk and Turk in, and they killed a few people and made it look like they were not as powerful as they are now, those who flee might report it as if some from Bula’s tribe had come down. That would mean the first group of heroes would be strong but not too powerful. From there, we could try to capture them by leaving a trail into the woods. I have some ideas on how to make that seem like a real trail and not a trap. What do you think?”

I saw Turk and Dirk nodding, and I also knew Vreek was right about how this should be done.

“Lead on!” I exclaimed with a smile. “Someone here needs to come up with good plans.”

Vreek scoffed and wiped the map he had drawn away in the dirt.

“Let’s go then. It will be almost two days before we make it to the spot I think we need to be at.”