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Reborn as a Goblin
A gift and a Mission

A gift and a Mission

I shared some words with Morgana, hoping she had a quicker way to see Scarlet, a scroll, but a few words in and she stopped me. Going to see her would be a grave mistake.

"War? I knew this already" I say looking around her tent, quite decorated with carpets and hanging cloths. Lina, who stands behind me with her spear in hand, sneezes, unaccustomed to the strong odor of lavender.

"Oh no, not the Orcota. The kingdom declared war on the Tsardom a few weeks ago, things are tense, people are hungry, and now the king has his fabricated guards patrolling every street of the border cities...he may be a warmonger, but he is not dumb" She glances at me briefly before looking down on her glass, enjoying wine.

"I need to speak with her"

"To beg for more aid" She grins mockingly, resting her glass on a table next to her "Anyone can see this camp is slowly dying, losing men bit by bit. But do not fret, I have been diligent in my duty to inform everything going on in this place, and she knows" Morgana stands up, stretching and letting out a tiresome sight.

"If your words make her walk out from our partnership..." one of her grunts reaches for his blade. Lina hisses and tenses up " Stop, I-" I turn around and notice I have drawn my blade...but I don't remember even hearing it...how?

"Calm down, so dramatic" Morgana rolls her eyes and walks past some thick cloth that acts as walls. I quickly put the sword back in its scabbard.

"I didn't mean to" I turn to Lina and she relaxes.

"Oh you meant to, Rokan" Morgana says, I hear the sound of things moving around " Or will you tell me the sword flew to your hand on its own?" She giggles "You may want to get used to it...I can guarantee it will happen more often"

"...this is because of what you did"

"Shhhh, stop trying to blame me, everything you do, is because you want to," She says walking out from her secluded space, a scroll in hand "Don't jump in excitement just yet, this is not for travel" She snaps her fingers at the grunts, then points at the table filled with books in tongues I don't recognize and they begin to make space "At least not the type you want, in truth, you came to me just in time, I got a new order of our Mistress"

Once the table is cleared, she spreads the map, I walk closer to it, and can't pinpoint exactly what I'm looking at, she notices my struggle.

"This is one section of the Mother's Embrace, the closest to us. With things getting so complicated back in the kingdom, Scarlett has been forced to divert some of her forces from their usual duties, and she's been having troubles with harpies" She says pointing at a marked structure in the map.

"And she wants me to deal with it...I can't take my men out of here now, the Orcs could-"

"You don't have a say in this" Morgana speaks up, thoroughly enjoying to piss me off "But Scarlett likes to keep her servants happy. An associate of hers has worked on something to aid you, sometime today you should receive it " We stand in silence for some time, until she waves me away "Go on, you will know it's here"

"...Fine" I reply, turning around and exiting her tent, Lina walks up closer to me.

"Chief, your horns," She tells me.

I move away my amber hair and touch them, growing out of my forehead. I let out a sigh and shake my head, there is no way I can calm down right now. I glance at Lina.

"Bring me a handful of goblins, on the training spot, prepare them" She nods and hurries off.

For two full hours, I beat my brethren without mercy, they are far from being able to stand a chance, but at least the hatchets my men have smithed for them seem efficient. Light enough to swing it fast, thick enough to not break with hitting another weapon. Eventually, all the goblins that Lina gathered are beaten, and I feel my anger abandon my body, returning it to normal.

Resting on the wooden fences I clean the sweat off my brow and notice Lina stealing glances at me, she quickly looks away when our eyes meet. I knew she was watching me fight the goblins, looking at my footwork, my stance.

"Lina" I speak up, grabbing my sword tightly "Step in" I order, and while she swallows hard, she doesn't waste a second.

Soon, some of the hobgoblins become interested and look at us. Lina prepares her spear.

"Everything is allowed?" She asks. I keep a few rules during training to prevent any serious wounds from happening. Keeping strikes with sharp weapons only neck below, as well as avoiding using dirt or bitting.

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"For you" I answer, and she scoffs, a cooky grin in her face flashes before she prepares to strike.

Her feline ears pull back, and her body lowers closer to the ground. I can almost hear her take in deep breaths, but with this cold, I can see it clearly. Then, she plunges her spear forward.

It is precise and fast, good. But not enough. I sidestep and try to slam the spear out of her hands, she jumps back. A quick reaction due to her continuous training. However, she does not stay still.

She moves forward and tries to pierce, but fails and jumps back. This goes on for a while, she grunts in frustration after the twentieth attempt. And when she tries again, a sloppy opening ends with her back meeting the ground in one motion.

"Fuck!" She rolls over and slams the ground with her fist, I rest my sword on her neck.

"You try to fight too much like me. I am lighter and smaller. It is easier for me to be in constant motion, while you will just tire yourself out. Apply your training in a way that benefits your capabilities" I lecture her a bit, the fight requiring so little attention of me that I mainly focused on analyzing her.

"Lina" Nojus says, he just recently joined the small group of men watching the training "We tire faster, but we hit harder" Lina nods at him and begins to stand up.

"Or be smarter, an opponent is never easier to defeat than when he is sure of his victory" Jorr adds from the opposite side, he is sitting on a wooden stool, sharpening an axe. He offers her a smile and taps the ground twice with his feet.

With renewed resolve, she takes a deep breath. I notice the change in her stand, it is wider, more open, ah, she wants me to attack, a proper defensive stance, very simple and it feels almost nostalgic. Knowing I'm too fast for her to strike me down, she wants me to close the distance and probably try to get me once I'm about to hit her. All while recuperating her spent energy in the earlier exchange.

Impressive, how a few words can cause such a great improvement. But if she wants me to attack, then I won't hold back.

I charge forward and prepare to slash, she tries to jump away from my swing while trying to hit me with her spear. But I simply duck and it passes harmlessly above my head. Too slow, with a single motion-

My vision is blurred as the dirt hits me straight in the face, Lina grabbed it as she raised to her feet! I swing but hit nothing, my big ears perk up by instinct and I jump away from her incoming swing just in time. My vision returns and Lina stands far away from me, the men around us cheer and laugh.

"Everything is allowed" She whispers, clearly nervous about how will I react.

I glance at Jorr, he grins and looks away, focusing on the task at hand. The taps on the ground were his doing. I dig my sword on the ground and she seems to believe I mean to end the fight.

"We are not done," I say taking a pair of daggers from my belt, she resumes her stance.

Once close enough, she charges and slashes, swings, and tries to pierce me. But I dodge it all with ease. She even attempts to kick me, but this was her last mistake. I stop the swing of her spear, a strong kick sends her to the ground once more but I keep her spear, throwing it away. Before she stands up I get on top of her, one dagger on her neck.

"Your attacks are too wide and too slow " The small group watching us break apart, Nojus leaving with them "You changed your stance the second time, made it more simple than it was needed"

"He fought like this, I wanted to try it for myself," She says squirming beneath me, taking deep breaths, I move my dagger away and help her to get on her feet.

"He?"

"The shapeshifter, Nomkur I think? Although Enon says it was a goblin "

Images of Dubby hit me harder than Lina ever could manage. A hand travels to my chest, a traumatic memory of the pain his devil made me go through after destroying my torso. I know now why her stance was so familiar, is not only extremely simple, it is the one Dubby took, not completely the same but similar enough.

The stance I taught him, and that he has mastered beyond what I ever thought was possible.

"Chief?" Lina's voice snaps me out of it. I look at her and she smiles "Good fight" She hands me a piece of cloth. I wipe the sweat with it and try handing it over to her, but she declines "We don't sweat" She says and walks away, picking up her spear.

Come to think of it, I have never seen her or any other Huani sweat at all. Curious, but I suppose it is part of their animal lineage.

"But you smell, take a bath" I reply, making my way out of the training ring, knowing full well she throws daggers at me with her eyes as I walk away.

My trip back to my tent is cut short by the blast of horns. Quickly everyone rushes to the palisades, a catwalk constructed on them to not rely solely on the watchtowers for vision and defense.

"The shapeshifter!" One of the hobgoblins shouts.

I run faster than everyone else, hearing my heartbeats like war drums in my very ears. Is he here? Once on the catwalk, I look at the clearing we have made by felling trees and the first thing I notice is the wargs.

A dozen of them, or more. They stalk us among the trees, their deformed, half-beast, half-human faces trapped in a perpetual grin that shows off their row of uneven sharp teeth.

"Calm down!" Morgana shouts from behind us "Told you they were coming" She says making her way to the front gates. Turning back to the clearing, I notice then that several figures are walking towards us "Come, Rokan. Meet your new men"

I exchange a confused look with Jorr, who lightly shakes his head, not thrilled with anything that has to do with the witches. Once down I walk out with a group of my men, Morgana already ahead of us, surrounded by the wargs who gather at her feet, like dogs.

"You better prepare yourself, big changes are coming, and I think Scarlett is turning this place from a refuge camp, into something a bit more interesting," Morgana says glancing at me before kneeling and scratching the neck of one warg.

I stand in awe as I see dozens of men appear from deep inside the forests. I see goblins, and hobgoblins, as well as more wargs, and a creature like none I have ever seen, I confused him with a tree at first. Larger than any orc I have ever seen, at least five meters tall. Carrying a big backpack.

"Not bad" His voice is deep and loud. His steps are heavy and slow. He takes his right hand to his chin, most of his face hidden by thick eyebrows and a large beard. Only his long thick nose pokes through, and his face is tattoed by what appears like handmade scars "And you must be the man in charge. I am Thorum, The Runemaster"