Despite the little reprieve, soon after the newly formed alliance resumed its long trip, the rain returned with a vengeance. Fat raindrops repeatedly hit the traveler’s heads, and with the novelty of the situation gone and forgotten, the morale was low and the mood was abysmal. Grimal, Murdagrok and Halueve lead the group through the night, as the little goblin guided them all through the forests… until they finally reached the last little plateau in their way.

They were high enough to see the Red Sea brimming with energy in the distance, and the beautiful Danube river flowing towards it. The Delta expanded right before them, beautiful patches of green land among bogs.

Most of the travelers looked at each other with hope and excitement, but the elders were worried. Mostly because this meant the end of the ‘easy’ part of their trip. Now the hard question came to them: how in the Hells would they sail into the Sea? And did a landlocked expanse of water like the Red Sea really fit the indications that Anansi had given them?

“We can always continue on afterwards. How far can the ocean be?” Murdagrok suggested with a little shrug.

“Impossibly far.” Halueve said with a little shake of her head. “No. We have to put all our bets in here.”

“But how will we even set sail? Did any of you pack boats?” The orc elder grumbled softly. “I expected the Delta to have trees so we could build canoes, but I see no trees around! Maybe we should cut some trees now…?”

“No, that won’t be necessary.” Grimal gently pointed to a side of the Delta, close to the main river itself. The humans had made a little port town! The terrain itself didn’t allow tall stone walls, so they had to rely and trust an old wooden fence. “There are our boats.”

Little Olk, who had just joined the conversation, peeked between the grandmas with a curious expression in his eyes.

“Are we asking the humans for help?” Said the kit with an uncertain grimace.

“No.” Said Murdagrok, looking at Grimal and nodding softly. They were in the same wavelength here.

Halueve sighed and shook her head. She couldn’t really object to the more ‘horde-like’ tactics in such a desperate situation, so instead of complaining she simply turned to pat Olk on the head and rub his hair. That poor, innocent creature, he couldn’t fathom the concept of a raid at such a young age.

“Do your people know how to commandeer a boat?” Grimal asked the orc. “It isn’t that hard.”

“No. What, do you know?” Murdagrok blinked quickly.

“No. But it can’t be that hard.” The old goblin chuckled softly. “Alright then, here’s the plan.”

The caravan would be divided in two groups: those who could fight, and those who couldn’t. The ones who could fight, fifteen heads of goblins and orcs who eagerly brandished their crude weapons, would follow Grimal and Murdagrok into the town to cause terror and grab as many boats as they could. Those who couldn’t, who were the vast majority, would go to the south of the Delta and wait for the others. Halueve would lead them, probably trying to make little canoes as they waited.

Olk pouted, because of course he was sent with the group going south, but he accepted his place when Grimal sternly looked at him and pointed to his parents.

Once the groups were separated, the wagons moving and the people ready, Grimal turned to look at her people. Murdagrok probably understood what had to be done, so she picked up the goblin to set her up on a tall stump.

“Very well, everyone. Thank you for staying with me for this long… this should be our final struggle before arriving at Mu.” The old goblin sighed. “I know most of you have never raided in your lives. Some of you probably never thought you’d be in this situation! Greenskins fighting together, for a change. What’s more bizarre than that?”

There were a few laughs among the group. Grimal cleared her throat.

“But I need you all to know, not all of us will come back out of this. Not as whole as we are now.” She warned, her expression dour and serious all of a sudden. “Not even I am safe from this. We all may die right here, right now. So I need you all to be ready for that.”

The determination from before kind of dissipated into the air. Honestly, Grimal was feeling the same: the fear was starting to creep in, the idea that maybe she could just run away and leave the younglings to deal with this whole ordeal. But instead, she continued talking.

“But when we get in this town, and we start screaming and running around like maniacs, I need you to remember why we are doing this. We ain’t just causing troubles on purpose, we ain’t just coming here to rob people out of malice: remember the people we sent south. All the Clanmates, the family, the tribe we are trying to save. We are doing this for them. And for us, as well! Think of the promises! A world without humans, where we can live together without a problem in the world once again!”

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The people looked at each other, starting to smile once again. It felt too good to be true, really, but it was a comforting fantasy. A world like the ones from the old stories they grew up with…

“So let’s just do this, one last time. We will push as hard as we can! We will take the boats we need, and then we will sail so far no one will ever bother us again!”

Their group cheered, letting out loud rallying cries as they raised their crude axes and swords.

“Very well! Let’s do this, damn it!”

With that, the greenskins broke into a sprint, rushing through the fields with their target in sight: the little human settlement.

“Scream, my children!” Murdagrok roared while raising a huge axe above her head. “Scream and let them know we are here!”

They weren’t that many, maybe twenty people at best… but they all let out such intense battlecries that the earth itself trembled for a moment. Ilma, who had snuck into the group among many others, raised her snail conch and blew as loud as she could. The guards, who had not been expecting raiders, suddenly woke up from their sleepy posts and began ringing their bells, trying to rush everyone into their homes and close the gates.

Grimal soon realized they didn’t have the tools to break through, even if the walls were flimsy… but she had an ace up her sleeve now. She jumped in front of the group as her horde came to a stop, taking a deep breath and trying to follow the elf’s instructions as good as Olk himself had.

Imagine the Rune.

Feel it in your bones.

And pronounce its name, yell it to the skies.

“GOLTHOI!”

Flames burst from the old goblin’s great hammer as she swung with all of her might, slamming the wooden gates and quickly setting them on fire with such a violent slam. It wasn’t enough to break through, but it certainly ignited the determination of her people, as they all cheered and screamed. Murdagrok smirked, pushing Grimal out of the way and then breaking the now burning gates with a brutal slice of her axe. Splinters flew everywhere, people screamed and got ready to shoot their bows from atop the barrier.

“Take cover!” Ilma yelled, blowing on her snail conch once again.

Wooden planks and makeshift shields raised, and everyone covered themselves as much as they could while pouring into the town like a green, burning plague. People screamed, immediately seeking shelter in their own homes while the guard nervously tried to adapt to the movement of the horde. They were ready to protect the provisions, the children and the women… but they could see how the green bandit group ignore everything, pushing through the main street and going straight for the ports!

There were many ships docked, many little canoes and fishing boats as well, but the goblins were going straight for the closest one: a beautiful ship called ‘The Wavecrasher’, whose crew had mostly abandoned as soon as they saw the green horde approach.

“This is it! Everyone get ready to fight!” Ilma screamed.

“You’re really getting into this.” Commented Pramok with a teasing grin.

“I have to use this loud conch for something!” The messenger declared, blowing loudly again.

But then, something struck them. Right as they were getting ready to board, the sound loud and terrifying like a thunder roared in town. One of the goblins, a poor bastard named Jadik, fell like a cut tree with his chest now sporting a bleeding, huge hole right where his heart should be.

Silence consumed it all, as the horde stopped right on its tracks, and looked up to the ceiling of one of the houses surrounding the port…Grimal felt fear once again clawing up her back, as she saw the Huntress standing there, pointing a huge, black iron contraption at her. It looked similar to a crossbow, but smaller, and heavier…

This had to be the first time a goblin had seen a hand cannon face to face.

Murdagrok quickly roared.

“Everyone into the ship, now now now!!” She screamed, and then the thunder-like sound crashed again. Blood splattered everywhere from the old orc’s arm, as she fell to her knees with a howl of pain.

Grimal was paralyzed by fear, as the Huntress jumped from her vantage point and landed in the middle of their horde. Panic broke loose, as everyone scrambled away from the human while she reloaded that thing.

“To think you’re actually making me use this…” The woman lamented with a huge grin, pointing her weapon at an unfortunate goblin trying to make a run for the ship. “It’s a disgrace, but I am tired of chasing you little critters—.”

Murdagrok interrupted the Huntress, dashing straight for the woman and trying to cut the hand holding that weapon with her axe, But the human was faster, quickly dashing away and aiming her gun at the old orc’s face.

“DON’T WAIT. RUN!” That was her last order.

With a single click, the leader of the orc’s fell to her knees and then laid on the floor, motionless.

Grimal panted loudly, as her eyes suddenly locked with the Huntress. The human woman grinned, not having forgotten their encounter in the Undercaves…. when suddenly Ilma reached her from behind, managing to slam her hammer on the back of the Huntress’ neck. She tumbled, but the hit wasn’t strong enough to knock her out cold…

“You miserable little pest…!”

The Huntress turned, and Grimal reacted by sheer instinct, panting loudly and screaming as she jumped to climb up the woman’s back and set both hands on the human’s face.

“Get off!!”

“GOLTHOI!”

Flames burst again, and the human howled while shooting her gun to the skies. Ilma was getting ready to join the fight, but Grimal glared at her.

“What the HELL are you doing!? RUN!”

The order was loud and clear, and Ilma felt pain in her chest hearing it but, she complied. She turned right around and ran to the Wavecrasher. All while the Huntress managed to grab Grimaline and threw her out to the side of the street.

The human glared with hatred burning brighter than her hair, as the rain finally extinguished the flames eating at her flesh. Huge marks now deformed her face, two hands perfectly printed on her skin.

Grimal looked around herself. The boat was going away, everyone had managed to escape… except, of course, for the few bodies on the floor. She was now alone, and the humans knew it. They were grabbing forks and weapons, torches and whips… this was it.

End of the journey.

With a loud gulp and turning right around, the goblin decides to run right away once more, swinging her hammer violently to clear her escape route as people, emboldened by the blood of her fallen comrades, now tried to stop her. Fortunately for Grimaline, none of them expected an old goblin to be able to wield that damn thing, much less with proficiency!

People were battered away as the little creature ran. She could feel them running after her, eager for revenge, probably led by the Huntress herself. The old Goblin needed to think quickly, turn around this situation somehow, no matter how!

Her fear had turned into desperation. This couldn’t really be the end. Right?