The hobgoblins raise their fists, smart enough to know they can't turn their backs on me, and rush for the weapons lying on the ground. Immediately Jorr speaks up.

"Lower! You have seen him fight, aim lower"

The rest of the goblins obey and try to adjust their fighting stance to better accommodate my size. Smart, yet futile.

Confident in their numbers they jump at me, the five of them, and I dance through their kicks and punches as if I was the wind itself, and they yet tried to hit me. This is thanks mostly due to how injured they are, but I can't downplay my skill.

They grunt and growl in frustration, Jorr finding it difficult to try and snare me with his companions crowding me like that, and as they get closer to try and grab me or land a hit, I swing my war picks and smash them on their legs, their arms, even their hands.

Hard enough to make them recoil in pain, but not enough to cause any fractures. Eventually, one of them grows tired and rushes to the nearby corpses, reaching for a blade on the ground, I seize this opportunity.

I jump and twist, and get away from the crowd, he manages to pick it up and swing at me, I dodge and smash his forearm with so much force he lets go of the handle and screams. I jump and smash his head and jaw, his entire body jerking backward and falling on his back, unconscious.

The rest of the hobgoblins reach us and they each pick a blade or mace, Jorr throwing the chains away and grabbing a mace himself, glancing at the unconscious men I stand on top of and then eyeing me suspiciously, he must wonder why I have not killed him.

"Hey! Are you alright there?!"

A human, I perk my ears and know instantly it is not alone. We are too close to the road, and the scream must have alerted a nearby caravan, I did not expect them to care enough.

The hobgoblins eye each other unsure, quickly focusing on Jorr who stands in front of me, looking for some sort of guidance. I can see in his eyes the dilemma, but whatever anger he has, whatever rage fuels him, wins.

"If we die tonight, then so be it, what else do we have to lose but our lives?!"

They yell in unison and suddenly an easy fight becomes serious, fueled by their inner fire, they swing and thrust with fury, I'm forced to back away as I'm no longer able to just dodge what they throw at me, instead our steels clash.

Distant torches can be seen, many, and with how crowded the roads are if we engage in a fight with the incoming group it won't be long before we have an entire army pouring into the woods. I see no other way and turn around to flee.

I am much faster so quickly I leave them behind, but after running a bit I realize they have chosen to remain behind, as they group, shoulder to shoulder as they face the torches getting closer. I could leave, this may not be worth at all the risk.

But I have to try. After all, if they chose to fight and die, I can just sneak away while they keep the guards busy.

"So that's it, you get a second chance and you chose death" I speak loudly, Jorr steps back and grabs a sword from the ground, so he has a weapon pointing at each side "You will die here accomplishing nothing"

"Agh! Leave us or come closer so we may crush you, goblin!" he steps closer and swings, I don't need to move, he is too far away "What will it be?!"

"You are a warrior, I can see that. And you have all lost something, I can see that too, I can't see, is the drive that a warrior should have, I only see defeat as you surrender yourself to death like old, and sick dogs" my words make the hobgoblins growl in anger as they all face me.

"You see nothing, you know nothing! To hell with your kind! You were all better when you had the intelligence of a cow!" I can hear the voice of the humans getting closer.

I need to think, to act in a way a warrior would understand, so I use my trance, one I have been keeping there ever since my fight with the champions near the village I torched, and look for the only example I possess, Makur.

I Remember the way he spoke, how he addressed his men, each time they misbehave or practiced with them, so once I return from it, I took from him his words and a few more of his moves in battle.

"So there is no duty you have with these men?" I ask, resting both of my war picks on my back, taking them by surprise "You will guide them to their deads, but not to a rightful revenge? You won't give them another path other than surrender? What kind of leader are you?"

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My words are reaching him, I see the doubt growing with each passing second, as he lowers his blades a little bit. He glances at each side, looking at his men, men he knows, he has probably fought with them, and when he focuses on their tired faces and injured bodies, I can see his expression weaken.

"There is always another path than death," I tell them, and now it's the rest of the hobgoblins that look at Jorr.

The voices are too close, and I can already see the shape of their bodies from afar, I even take a step back, ready to turn around and flee if I hear the humans shout at the sight of the hobgoblins. Jorr frowns, angry, as he tightens the grip he has on his weapons, looking at the ground briefly before finally lowering them.

"Grab Utar! And let's get out of here!" He shouts and his men rush to pick up the unconscious men on the ground "Do you know these forests?" he asks me.

"Follow me" I reply.

The humans must have heard us, the last thing I hear of them is the rasp of their blades as they stop their advance. With the hobgoblins behind me, I take them deeper inside the forest, following the path I know to quickly lose sight of the torches and then I make them keep going for an entire hour, until I know we are too deep inside for any human to risk following us.

"Here, this far is good enough"

Tired, they drop their men on the ground like a sack of potatoes, and everyone falls to the ground, exhausted. I too join them, but with less urgency and trying to not show how tired I am.

And everyone remains quiet. Most of them no longer seem to care if I'm an enemy or not, most of them even fall asleep after a few minutes, only one remains awake, his hands still gripping the handle of his weapons and his eyes, looking for me in the darkness of this night.

"You didn't want to kill us, in fact, you wanted us to live," Jorr says, standing up with difficulty, never looking away from me "What is it you want?"

"I want you" I reply immediately, not bothering to stand up, our eyes locked with each other.

"For a moment, I thought you were him" he finally speaks, frowning at the memory of someone "You look similar, and I can't believe it, but you both want the same"

"Who are you speaking about?"

"A goblin that goes by the name, of Fogosh"

I can almost hear my heartbeat growing in intensity at the mere mention of his name, and all the woodland around me vanishes, only leaving behind the face that I memorized as he pushed my body near the cliff of the furious river, digging the dagger ever deeper into my heart.

"You know him, don't you?" Jorr asks, my face must have said it all "Small world we live in" but then it also seems he saw the hate I hold for him, and he relaxes, sitting cross-legged in front of me, leaving the weapons on the dirt "He came to our village, with an army of goblins and even some of our kind, and asked we join him"

I knew Fogosh had an ambition, killing Makur was more than something done by envy or anger, he wanted power, and he wanted a war band of his own.

"Of course, we refused and he ordered his men to beat us into submission, and we, thinking that if we ignored the midgets we would have no trouble defending ourselves...were butchered. The goblins were well trained, they fought hard and killed quite a few of us before we were forced to face them all, and with their numbers, we were overwhelmed" Jorr looks at his hands, his voice growing heavy.

So not only does he have an army, he continued the training of the goblins, and likely build upon it. His war band must be larger than Makur's.

"This is all that's left of us. Only I was a warrior, Utar was a blacksmith, and Moplo a hunter" he turns around and looks at each sleeping hobgoblin as he names them "Goyar was a cook and Tamur is the youngest, he simply helped carry around wood and food around " he turns to face once again "They are barely able to hold a sword, and they swing it like children"

Not the war band I was hoping for then, but I don't let my thoughts be reflected on my face, I simply remain quiet.

"You ask the same he did"

"No" I speak clearly, as I stand up I see his hands resting on the handle of his weapons "I do not ask, I demand your allegiance. You do not know this land, and your men can barely stand, I can guide you, heal you, and train you" my words pick his interest, but he is still noticeably irritated.

"So that's it? You saved us from slavery so we could willingly submit ourselves to you?" I hear the anger rising, so before he does anything sudden, I speak.

"We have a common enemy, and together we can make a war band of our own and face him, kill him with our own hands. But you will need me to get out of here alive, and I need you to form said war band. I demand your loyalty and respect, but I will also earn it, as you will earn my trust in time as well"

My words give him a lot to think about, but at least I seem to make him reconsider his options, and see the reality he faces. So after a few seconds of silence, he takes his hands away from his weapons and looks up at me.

"I agree, with one condition. Once I have healed, at any time I chose, I will challenge you for ownership of the war band, no matter how big it is, and whoever draws first blood will lose" eyes me carefully, he knows of my strength, but it is I who doesn't know how strong he is and he knows this "So?"

"Acknowledged" I reply and take Jorr by surprise.

"You sound like an Orc, a simple yes would work" he then lies on the dirt, letting tiredness take over as he no longer deems it necessary to be alert near me "I can't believe it, smart goblins and now two of them making an army...the world is gone to shit"

I grab my war picks and use them to climb a nearby tree, resting on its branch and glancing once at the group of sleeping hobgoblins beneath me.

Only one warrior and the rest so injured I will have to spend all day tomorrow looking for herbs to treat their injuries, but at least, my war band has begun. And I have learned about Fogosh.

Closing my eyes, I too allow the exhaustion of today to wash over me, surely it won't be long before the sun raises, so whatever rest I can get is welcomed.