I'm focused on writing down the translation to a farming book, bored but occasionally entertained by some of the strange plants that can be grown, when my ears pick up the distinct sound of music. A flute gently fills my surroundings with an energetic beat, soon joined by the slow but rhythmic beating of drums.

Enon and I look at each other momentarily when his sister suddenly rushes inside the tent. My hand reaches for my sword as adrenaline rushes to every corner of my body, my ears picking up the sound of feet on the snow around us.

"Enon! Come!" She exclaims with a wide smile rushing to her brother's side and awkwardly lifting him.

"Woah! What is going on?" He asks switching between looking at me anxiously and going along with his sister's effort.

They begin to exchange words on their tongue and I stand up from the chair, Indri takes her brother out of the tent as soon as he is holding on to her firmly. On their way out they almost clash with Jorr, who quickly steps aside and eyes them curiously before looking at me. His calm demeanor puts me at ease.

"Lively girl that one...a little bit maimed, and feeble. But not bad on the eyes" He says to himself giving me a small grin, his intentions clear "The men are celebrating Hunes, come out and join us, Boss"

"I would rather stay here, there are a lot of books to translate and now that we are stuck in the camp for a few months there is no better time to get this done" I reply sitting down once again "Make sure they don't waste our food, it will make things tough for us otherwise"

"Come on, Boss. They want the unkillable goblin to join the celebration! After that whole returning with an army from sure death thing, some of the men believe you were sent by the spirits. They want you out there" He says, mockingly the bit about my return, but still a little bit pushy.

After a few seconds of considering it, I close the book and leave the chair, he nods approvingly as we exit the tent together. Now I can hear the drums and flutes better, and I see the men gathered around the carved totem with a few campfires lit around it. Besides the crude depictions of warriors and monsters along its base, the head has been carved in the liking of a bird of prey, it is as crude as the rest of it but seems serviceable to them.

Soon I join the stream of men gathering around it, as Huani and Goblins make their way to the totem, curious as I am. Quickly I glance at the far corners of the camp and see the Hobgoblins given to me by the witch, dutifully standing guard or walking around, as the watchtowers are not ready yet. I consider ordering some of the goblins to join them, as their better senses would help catch any intruder...but decided against it.

We are in the middle of the woods, in winter. I need to stop feeling so anxious about this world.

It's likely gotten worse from what I see. A thriving camp, a future hold. I don't want to lose it when it's just started to grow.

"Rokan the White Wolf!" One of the hobgoblins shouts as he sees me approach the crowd, taking me by surprise by the eagerness of his words as quite a few of the hobgoblins cheer, many goblins joining in just to follow what they see.

They chant my name as they beat their chest with one fist at the same time, making a sound louder than that of the drums being beaten by a couple of them. Jorr lightly pats my back as he walks ahead of me and after soaking in the praise for a moment, I keep walking. My eyes fall on Enon who sits on the ground closer to one of the campfires, his sister standing next to him, and the Ahjalii nearby in a spot where no men dears encroach.

I walk up to the border of the crowd but they motion me to walk into it, stepping aside as I do. My thoughts remember the first time I met Makur, and I feel my chest swell with pride, now that I'm the one they are making space for. As if reading my mind, one of the men rushes in front of me and places one of the newly made stools firmly on the ground. And they cheer one last time, with different amounts of energy in their voices, once I sit down. Then they go silent.

"Hunes is upon us, and this year has been tainted with terrible stories for all the men of the valley" The hobgoblin who shouted my name begins to speak, I notice the age on the already growing wrinkles of his face " For some, it has been that way for far longer" He adds, glancing at the Huani in the crowd "Family lost, wifes stolen, children dead...but as Hunes is the midnight before the dawn, as the trees who whiter and wrinkle beneath the blizzard, we too who have lost and suffered, will grow stronger, and thrive once more!"

His words are met with loud cheers from almost everyone in the crowd, even Indri, who excitedly cheers alongside them, a few hobgoblins grinning at her eager efforts to be the loudest among them.

"We have bled, hungered, and suffered, but our will remains like steel! The spirits are still among us, they grant us their support by giving us bountiful spoils, as well as capable leaders!" He says pointing at me as the beating of drums grows in its intensity "Soon, we will be ready, with the White Wolf we will reclaim our lands, rescue our people, and get our revenge!!" The hobgoblins shout and cheer with fiery anger "For the spirits! For our brothers! For Rokan The white wolf!" They chant my name once more for a few seconds before the hobgoblins make them silent "Let us share our stories, for the spirits to hear and inspire them to grant us even more gifts!"

What follows is several men sharing tales from the past and the present, one by one. Some tell stories about great people from their homes, who did impressive feats of bravery or might, while others choose to share the stories of what they have achieved under my leadership. About how many soldiers they killed from the raid we did, or the fierce battle against the three strangers, who earn some lighthearted insults from most, but some stay silent and eye them with hatred.

One of the guards comes to me and tells me they spotted a large wolf surrounding the camp before it fleed. I gather a couple of goblins and tell them to join the guards, they grunt but obey. I look at the dark woods around us, capable of hiding anything within their shadows, not helped by the clouded skies...but I can't let my anxiety spoil my men's fun, they need this.

An hour or more must have passed when eventually we get to the topic of the fight that took place against the shapeshifter, something that while I have been briefed upon, have not heard a more detailed story. One of the men takes a step forth before Indri rushes ahead and takes everyone's attention, I see the Ahjalii take a couple of steps closer to the crowd.

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"I will tell this story!" She exclaims with a wide grin, making some of the men smile in return, while Enon is visibly uncomfortable and blushes in embarrassment. Soon, she starts talking with the most exaggerated body movements, reminding me somewhat of what a child would do "We had come, wounded and beaten, to this secluded woods. Once enemies, then kinda enemies still, but like, we were too tired to tear each other's throats" The men chuckle "I'm looking at you, Tarak! I saw you put that bread loaf in your pants before giving it to me! I swear, I almost snapped"

She points at the hobgoblin who laughs loudly, receiving many pats on the back. Meanwhile, I'm impressed by how quickly she managed to learn the language, it's still very unpolished and I have to put a bit of effort to understand some words, but if I can understand it well, everyone must as well, and reactions seem to confirm this.

"But it's all in the past now...where was I? Oh, yeah, we came here hoping for a place to gather and rest, but then, WHAM! That horde of fucking, insane goblins jumped at us from all directions! Throwing their javelins at us, and taking us by surprise...but we were stronger! I grew, and beat the living shit out of them!" She raises her arm high and the merry men do as well "I was, of course, larger then. Their pelts were dirty and big, and their faces were hidden beneath wolf heads, but the most horrible of them all was their leader, the SHAPESHIFTER!"

The mood shifts as some of the men glance at or feel their scars, some worse than others.

"A top it's demon ride it almost killed me! My neck bled with the single swing of its spear, and I saw how he killed two of our men in a single exchange. None could land a single hit on the bastard" She lets her words sink as the camp becomes deathly silent "But as our friend told us at the beginning of this Hunes, we were broken, and tired, but not beaten! Like steel, you hammer us down but we only take shape and become deadlier than ever! And we fought back!"

Now everyone joins in as they begin hitting their chest, nodding approvingly of her words.

"We battled like bloody mongrels, tired but never defeated! And we killed many of its thralls and many of its pets, and we won!" She screams and the men cheer just as loud, raising their arms in the air "To us! Who survived and beat our foes!" The men cheer "To them, who perished, and cheer us from the otherworld!" The men cheer louder "And to Dandrie!!, Who defeated the shapeshifter and drove them out!"

Then they go silent. Only the wind and cracking of the fire can be heard, not even the drummers move. She looks around for a bit, then motions at Takar urging him to cheer, but he shakes his head. Worth a try she whispers as she awkwardly makes her way back to her brother's side, sitting down and getting comforted by him.

"Well, who wants a tale of Komur while the night is still young?" Jorr speaks up, walking nearby the totem as the men cheer "Then Nojus wants to join in, to share some tales from his people" He says nodding at his friend, the hobgoblins nod approvingly as well, then he coughs and begins "When we were slaves, bound to..."

His voice grows dimmer in my ears as I focus on the discussion between the brothers, hearing whispers about the shapeshifter, and something bothering Enon. I walk up to them as my men are too focused on the tale of their hero. Indri flips me off as soon as she sees me, but there is no anger on her face, rather, mischievous glee as she enjoys testing my patience, a reason why her brother quickly made her leave the both of us when he is in my tent.

"Sis, please," He says pulling her ear "I'm sorry, I didn't know she would stand up and speak like that, I should have expected it though" I raise my hand making him understand I have nothing against it, then sit down in front of them "Oh, well, thank you. What are you doing over here then? Not to offend but this seems like an important thing to the hobgoblins"

"That can wait" I reply in Akani " The shapeshifter, what do you know about it?"

"Well" He answers in Akani as well "I don't believe it was a shapeshifter"

"How come?"

"I have never seen one to be honest, but since they are so common in the Endless Green I heard many times from the guards or passing civilians. They are tall and thin, naked with dark skin and a featureless face, except for their pair of eyes, dressing with nothing but animal pelts that they use to shapeshift into monstrous versions of them" He crosses his arms and takes a deep breath "What we fought, was not like that"

"Yeah, bastard looked funny" Indri adds, drawing something on the snow with a stick "But none could see it well, since it was dark and always moving around with that big devil of theirs, not to mention we were too busy fighting for our lives"

"I only saw glimpses of it, too busy being protected because, well" He caresses his legs "Not much use in a battle...but Dandrie saw it up close. She will never share it with you if you ask her, but she did tell us" Our eyes lock with each other "Its skin was not black, but brown, and it had long ears, and a crooked nose...by the way she described it, I wouldn't even phantom the thought before meeting you, but it sounds an awful lot like a-"

Then, a scream cuts the through the melodies and Jorr's tale, everyone turning around to see it came from one of the hobgoblins, now pinned down as a large wolf tries to bite his head, while he uses his shield to stay alive.

"TO ARMS!" I shout and everyone rushes to their tents. Soon from the dark woods many more wolfs appear, and they have goblin riders who throw javelins at us.

They enter the camp and I curse the palisade for not being done yet, and myself for letting my guard down even for just a moment. I thought they would wait until spring to attack, but why did I think monsters would follow logic? One of them makes a straight line to me and throws his javelin at me with impressive precision, but with a quick step, I dodge it, grab it, and throw it back. However, with the aid of his wolf, he dodges it as well.

Soon my men pour out of their tents with shields and axes, and the goblins poke at the riders with their spears. The Huani begin shooting arrows and wounding the mounts while the Ahjalii summons her spear, staying close to the brothers and keeping them safe, I see Enon urging his sister not to take the vial hanging from her neck.

But there is no time to think, I must act. With speed, I run at the closest enemy but soon he stops harassing the hobgoblin and flees the moment I jump at him. I growl in anger and see the next target, I pick up a nearby javelin and rush forth, throwing it with all my strength at him but he simply falls to the side, hanging on the fur of the wolf as the javelin misses him.

They are too fast, too mobile. I need to be faster, I need to let myself go. The only way to beat the limits of my body is to embrace the beast within, and as my brethren goblin grows wilder and more bloodthirsty with each passing minute, so do I. Soon, I'm fast enough to cut at the backsides of the wolves as they flee, and my arm is strong enough to strike at the riders before they duck.

Then, the second wave arrives, much less in number, only a dozen strong, but riding not wolves, but wargs. They are mostly furless, but visibly more muscular and twice the size, with a face more akin to that of a human than an animal. And the riders are larger than the rest of the goblins as well. They descend and quickly turn the tide of the battle as they begin to force my men into small separated groups.

But I'm far from over. I let out a furious war cry, slashing, throwing, catching up to, and killing riders as the blood wets my armor and the cold winter air punctures my tired lungs. I'm jumping around, attacking with all my might-

One of them stops my swing mid-air, I'm too lost in the adrenaline to even notice it before, but the one in front of me is unlike all other goblins, and is a top neither a wolf nor a warg, but something in between even larger, with horns and two tails. Wielding a spear and looking me in the eye. My thoughts become sober, my world halts, it can't be.

"Dubby" I whisper in disbelief as I fall to the ground, immediately raising to my feet as he faces me.