We have already established that the concept of time in goblin society is complicated, nebulous, not specifically defined. It will be a long while until the widespread advance of clocks and watches, after all. But we can say with enough confidence that it took the Clan around two hours to get ready for their long trip. Provisions had to be harvested and prepared, carts had to be reassembled after a few lifetimes of abandonment, families had to be organized and weapons had to be sharpened. After all, they were going back to the surface, and the Sunkissed lands were extremely hostile to their kind.

Once everything was ready, and the group was gathered, Mama Grimal looked back at the abandoned huts and little farms that they would have to leave behind.

They had managed to make a new life here, away from everyone else, in a place where they didn’t really bother anyone anymore… Why did they have to abandon it again? Had their sacrifices not been enough?

The gods had never favored the goblins, that was common knowledge. Their own gods were silent most of the time, and the rest of the world looked at them like a pest. In the final moments before their departure, Grimaline had to ask herself: why?

With old, creaking wooden wagons full of mushrooms and water, the clan went straight to the one tunnel anyone rarely took, the one leading to the outside world. The ‘Fool’s Exit’, as Grimaline had dubbed it so many times, never hiding her disdain for the people choosing to go out in raids outside.

As she walked in front of the caravan, the old great hammer still on her back, Grimal suddenly realized that this whole ordeal, the entire crisis with the huntress and her group of humans… it all had to come from an idiot or group of idiots raiding for longer than they should have. Some particularly stupid goblin decided to steal more than he could carry. Maybe the idiot was captured? Maybe he was simply followed. Whatever the case, this was certainly a youngling’s fault, and Grimal was already feeling anger boiling down in her stomach.

But a little part of herself was wondering: maybe this wasn’t so bad? She did miss the old days, the times of high adventure, the honorable duels and the less honorable raids and robberies. The times before the Towers of the Gods broke down and released the Human Blight upon Jericho.

Maybe times had changed after all, for the better. Maybe she was just being overly cautious. A little hopeful smile crooked on the old lady’s lips. Yes. She had to think positive, she had to—

“...Oh.”

They had arrived at the exit far sooner than she had expected. Her eyes widened and her legs stopped all of a sudden when noticing how light started to reach her, how the end of the cave was suddenly in sight, and the Sun illuminated brightly outside. The entire clan stopped as well, staring at Grimal as she froze in place, staring, feeling how her whole being simply refused to take a single step towards the light.

Memories assaulted her. High adventure and great deeds soon gave way to the fate of her first litter, brave warriors and raiders, all of them, each and every one captured and skinned alive… not to mention her husband, the first of them to fall.

Mama Grimal’s breathing grew heavy, her hands trembling and sweaty. She didn’t want to venture out there, she really, really didn’t want to. The others were starting to wonder what was the matter, why did their guide suddenly stop.

Pramok came close, looking at the elder with worried eyes and reaching to put his little hands on her shoulders, shaking just a bit. Grimaline yelped, taking a step back and returning to reality, looking at the yougnling in front of her with a mix of horror and annoyance.

“We will be fine.” The upstart said, uncharacteristically kind. “We just need to travel quickly. Everything will be fine.”

“...Can you promise that?” Grimaline suddenly said, taking slow breaths to try and calm herself down.

Pramok fell silent. The grandma simply sighed.

“Then don’t say such irresponsible things, young one.” Old lady Grimal shook her head slowly, taking one step onwards. It was painful to force her body to obey, but right now there was no other choice. “Let’s go.”

With a stiff upper lip, the elder resumed her march, and the clan took its first steps under the Sun.

The forest around them used to be thick, loud with the sound of beasts and animals. Grimal remembered how hard it was to sleep there with a cacophony of life going on day and night… but now, as they started walking through, everything was so eerily silent and calm, so tame, that it made the elder tremble to her core. Where were all the animals? Had humans reached the forest already? Had they all run away!? Or worse, had the humans already devoured everything in this place?

“Insatiable beasts…” The grandma mumbled, spitting to the side as she guided their little caravan through the trees. “Everyone, keep your wits sharp. The shadows no longer protect us.”

“Mama Grimal, Mama Grimal!” Olk suddenly came jogging her way, pointing straight. “What is that!?”

Frowning and letting her eyes adjust to the sudden light, Grimaline looked onwards and saw something poking straight out from within the forest and to the skies: a ruinous stone tower, so high that one could see it getting lost in the clouds above. Damn it all, Grimal had completely forgotten about that one! She immediately corrected the course, trying to steer away from that tower while still keeping their way where the sun raised.

“That is one of the Towers of the Gods, kit.” The elder said, trying to weave a tale while walking. “A long time ago, humans used to live all within those towers, coming out very sparingly. They didn’t bother anyone, and we were forbidden to go near them.”

“So that’s where they came from?” Little Olk blinked, his huge yes looking with such curiosity. “Why did you never break in?”

“I told you, the gods had forbidden it. Any fool who tried never returned to tell the tale.” Grimal sighed. “It was fine anyways. Everyone separated and on their own, that was the way to go… until the towers started breaking.”

“What broke them?” Asked the little kit.

“No one knows. A storm covered all of Jericho one day and, the day after, they started pouring out like boiling mud.” Grimal shook her head, she still remembered the fear and curiosity that invaded her back then. The uncertainty for the future. “At first the bigger races tried to fight them off their lands, while we continued traveling around, maybe hoping that they would never really notice our communities. How foolish we were…”

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“And where did they came from?” Olk continued to ask.

“From the towers, I told you!” Grimal frowned.

“And where did the towers come from?” The kit tilted his head.

Grimal blinked. Now that he mentioned it, she had never really questioned that much, the towers had never come from anywhere, they simply were.

But that wasn’t a very satisfying answer now, was it?

Pramok suddenly jumped in the conversation with a grin, pointing to the skies.

“The Gods put them here, sinking them on the land like huge stakes!” He said with pride and confidence in his words. “That’s what our elder told us at least!”

Grimal tried to remember who was the elder from Pramok’s clan, mostly to fact-check his words, when suddenly Ilma jumped from the other side.

“Nuh-uh! It was the dragons!” The messenger said with a frown. “The dragons made the towers from the bottom up! Everyone knows that!”

“Dragons don’t build, they destroy. You foolish woman!” Pramok mocked Ilma with a grin.

“Why, you–!”

“Be quiet, you two.” Grimal sighed. “We don’t have the freedom to just bicker while we are here. Humans could hear us!”

“What do you think, Elder Grimaline?” Ilma looked at her with hope and reverence. “Gods or dragons? Who made the towers?”

“Yeah, leader.” Pramok said with crossed arms. “Solve this dispute!”

The old lady sighed and shook her head. She couldn’t really give less of a toss about who built the towers and for what purpose, what mattered at this point was that they were all here anyways, right!? She was about to tell off both younguns, when suddenly a sound in the forest made her suddenly stop and raise a hand, forcing all of her clan to do the same. There was a rummaging, a distant stepping… many feet walking closer…

Once again, Grimaline felt panic push its way from the pits of her stomach up her throat. Humans!? And a huge number of them. Could it be more hunters!? What would they do if they suddenly clashed here!? Would they have to go and abandon their wagons? Or worse… would they have to fight!?

What if they weren’t hunters though? Maybe they were simply a group of humans travelling. Could they trust them to not tell everyone else? Would they have to kill the humans to keep them quiet? The Clan at large would certainly prefer that but, she can’t simply order that: what if the rest of the humans notice their absence? More people would start to investigate!

With a whimper, Grimaline reached for her hammer and took a few steps onwards. They had to kill them, no other choice. Even if people started looking for these humans, it would be far slower than them alerting the rest of their presence, and by the time they found the bodies the Clan would hopefully be far, far away.

She turned and made a gesture. forcing everyone to hide in the nearby bushes and up the trees, while she walked a little closer to the sound, feeling how they approached more and more. Grimal hid in a nearby bush, panting, trying to get herself ready.

And when she heard those step upon them, she jumped out white a loud, powerful warcry.

“WARGH!”

The group turned at her with fear in their eyes, hands reaching for knives on their belts. They were a group of old people! Wrinkled faces, grayish hairs and long, spiked ears… Grimaline stopped her attack and blinked, putting down her hammer when she realized who she was seeing.

It had to be at least ten people, all surrounding a beautiful red wagon decorated with flowers and vines. Elves may have lost their eternal youth and immortality, but their love of nature seemed to be right where it had always been. It was a little shocking, to see that the rumors of every elf being reduced to a frail and old state being actually true, but at the same time… Grimal felt they deserved it.

The elves gulped and took a step back, while their apparent leader, a tall and elder woman in green robes, stepped on to look at Grimaline with sharp, disdainful eyes. Grimal hated elves, she hated the way they looked down at her from their ivory towers, and it looked like that hadn’t changed one bit either despite the years.

“What are you doing, you crazy vermin!? Put that down before you hurt yourself.” The woman said with such a posh, heavy accent, a mocking grin curling on her lips. “What, have you really lost your mind? Trying to rob an elven caravan of its valuables?”

“You have nothing I want or need, knife-ear.” The old goblin grumbled and put her hammer back on her back. “What in the Hells do you think you are doing here? This is Orc territory, you fool. Do you really have so much of a death wish?”

There was a mumbling among the group of elves, clearly some of them agreed with Grimal, but none of them would admit it outloud. The leader laughed.

“If you think you’re still protected by the presence of those brutes, you are dead wrong. You are the fool! This land has been ravaged and taken by the furless apes for a long time.” That smile, oh that mocking smile, Grimaline really wanted to break some of those pointy teeth with a hammer hit. “Off you go, pest. We have important business to attend to.”

“Wait!” Pramok suddenly jumped off from one of the bushes, while the other members of the Clan curiously looked at the situation from the safety of their hiding spots. “Have you been called to the sea, by any chance?”

There were gasps among the elves, but their leader barked a ‘SILENCE’ to them before looking back at Pramok.

“That is none of your concern, rat.”

“We have been called as well!” Pramok said with a hopeful smile. Grimal could see the man’s intentions from afar, and tried to stop him with a gesture, but the upstart ignored her. “Maybe this is a chance to travel together? Safety can be found in numbers!”

“We? Travelling with you?” The leader laughed and her caravan joined in. “Don’t be stupid, little creature. Your naivety is adorable, but there is no way in this Hellish World that we would consort with the likes of you.”

They laughed, and Pramok gulped and looked down, suddenly feeling humiliated and angry. Grimal felt bad for the poor idiot, walking over to pat him on the back and whisper to him.

“You tried… but these daft bastards have never been ones to understand the danger they are in.” She reassured. “Don’t worry about it.”

“What are you implying there exactly, goblin!?” The leader frowned, keenly aware of the elder’s whispers. “Are you saying you pests know something we don’t!?”

“I have nothing to say to you.” Grimaline frowned and spat on the elf’s way. “Now if you will excuse us. Continue your way and we will continue with ours.”

“Fine then! Let it never be said that we Elves are not merciful.”

Raising her nose, the leader of the elven caravan continued on, and her group followed suit while raising their noses, ignoring the goblins who just watched them walk by… Grimaline sighed, shaking her head.

“Let’s continue on, the Danube is far from us.” The elder nodded and prepared to continue, when suddenly a loud and fearful shriek came from the forest. Right where the elves went…

Grimal didn’t hesitate, she immediately began walking in the exact opposite direction to those screams. Olk looked at her, then back at the forest.

“They are being attacked.” He said with a pouty lip.

“Good riddance.” Grimaline said.

“But what if they get hurt.” The kit sniffled.

“They deserve it.” The elder shrugged.

“Mama Grimal… That’s what they would say…” The boy pouted, looking up to her.

The grandma could feel how her image in the kit’s eyes shattered a little bit. Suddenly feeling guilty, and quite responsible, the woman sighed heavily and looked at Pramok.

“Keep guiding them opposite to where the Sun moves. I will catch up.” She said.

“What are you doing?” The upstart asked, while Olk smiled a little bit.

“Something really stupid.” Grimaline grumbled, taking her hammer and running in the direction of the screams.

Was she afraid? Deadly so. She felt like she could break down crying at any second now.

But Olk’s eyes… the same eyes as her late first husband… they begged her to do the right thing.

And who knows! Maybe this was just a misunderstanding and maybe no one was being attacked and skinned alive! Maybe, just maybe, everything would be just fine.