"Strange bow and marked collars? Great, artifacts" Jorr takes a moment to notice I have no clue of what he is speaking about, before grunting "Of course...when a witch and a priest love each other very very much" he bursts into laughter together with the rest of hobgoblins.

We are sitting not too far from the slave camp awaiting the night to come and I had asked about the objects I saw, and I guess whatever information this is, it should be common knowledge.

"Jorr " I growl at him, and while he smirks, he does stop laughing.

"Fine, fine...The two working together can infuse an object with a spell that either stays active or is activated when used. That object becomes an artifact " He yawns and stretches, standing up from the ground "And if that bastard had a bow with glowing letters, we may be fucked, because that is an artifact, and there is no way to know how strong it is or what's the spell until he uses it"

Jorr leaves, and I'm left wondering what will happen tonight.

I spend the day watching over the camp, climbing atop a tree to see the interior of the camp and the entire field. A couple of carts come in the morning to take the minerals away and bring in food. There are twenty guardsmen with bows, most of them in the three watchtowers. The rest have spears and swords on their belts.

The man with the bow seems to always watch over the camp at the top of the stone building, with his own chair where to sit down.

And this time I see the feline young woman join the slaves going down the hole to mine for minerals. If everything goes well tonight the humans will have a slave mob running rampant and the guards from the border that leaves will go kill them, and I will sneak away and return to the forests outside human influence.

But all I can do is hope, this is not a plan, but a gamble.

The night falls and the cold breeze whistles through the branches of the trees. I come down and glance at Jorr who nods, knowing that once I take care of the watchtowers they have to rush to the gates, I will open them and they will tell the escaping slaves to head west after I taught them the words. We want them to draw the guards on the border away, after all, not to go to them.

I rush past the shallow river and get inside the camp once more, sneaking past a couple of guards walking at the edges of the palisade and making my way to the tent. And once I enter it, my first reaction is to pull out my war picks at the sight of a human.

"No! No, I was waiting for you" the young man whispers, no less dirty and disgusting than the other slaves, yet in better shape, stronger "You...really are a goblin. I am Andrei, you were probably hoping to see Lina, the Huaninan girl you spoke with?" he puts both hands on his head "With the ears? Green eyes? Probably a lot of hissing?"

He chuckles, but I haven't for a moment heard anything he has said. My ears are too focused on what's going on outside, are those armed footsteps coming closer? Which is the quickest way out of here?

"L-Look, you know Akani, right? I spoke with many humans and she spoke with her brothers and sisters. We will help, but since you speak Akani it is better-"

"Enough" I speak, cutting him off angrily "If you will help, that's all that matters" I rest the war picks, and calm down a bit, I heard nothing suspicious out of the tent. But I still glance around, every shadow a probable enemy.

"Great...what is the plan?"

"Make a distraction, make it big. I will deal with the watchtowers as fast as possible, but once they realize what's going on fight for your freedom, I will open the gates and you can all escape"

"But, what will happen with the Huani? Their collars don't allow them to fight back so long as the Watcher is alive"

"Can they defend themselves?"

"Well, yes but-"

"Then make them do so until I kill him. Act now and fast"

I look at him silently until he nods. I don't need to fight the Watcher, so long as they can flee to cause trouble and make a distraction I don't need to worry about a minority of monsters.

"But-Sorry, I just need to know, once we fight, the rest of your force will come to help us right?" he looks at me, hopes in his eyes.

"Yes," I tell him without hesitation "One hundred strong. We need the distraction to open the gates and kill the guards while you escape"

"Thank you, tell your lord we will do whatever he tells us"

I simply leave, he must think this is a political move of some kind or an attempt to weaken the kingdom by an enemy. And as I make my way to the nearest tower I glance at the women and children of the camp, they are few, and I find myself conflicted already hoping that the men won't hold them back, and they too will serve to complete my objective.

They have no faces...they are tools. I repeat that in my head continuously.

It's late already and the moon watches us from the middle of the sky, half of the guards are sleeping so only a couple of archers stand on the watchtowers. I hid behind a couple of barrels and tighten the grip on my war picks. I must wait.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

And then, a commotion, a brawl among the slaves. I hear words of a hand that groped something it shouldn't have, a woman shouting, and a group of men yelling at each other, I peek from my spot and see most guards looking at the scene unfold, some walking up to the crowd growing in size as more and more men shout at each other, all while the monsters look around idly, their eyes fixated on the guards.

It's time.

Like a phantom, I rush to the watch tower the moment no guard is capable of looking at me and I climb to the top of the first watchtower, three guards giving me their backs. My speed and accuracy pinpoint as I pierce the necks of the guards before they can gasp. I waste no time and climb down as fast as possible.

My feet are quick and seeing a guard standing still I feel the urge and figured why not? I jump and smash his face as he turns around, his teeth flying as he drops to the ground. I finish the job with another piercing strike of my war pick in his neck. My heart beats faster, the excitement of the kill filling my veins with adrenaline...it had been a while since I had felt it.

I run and move to the next watchtower, I see the commotion has grown too large and the Watcher whistles, the rest of the guards quickly rushing to the crowd as the already present guards attempt to keep control of the situation, time is running.

The moment I reach the top I kill the archer who stood closest to the edge and jump at the other next to him. My movements are far too quick for them to duck or dodge, and with both hands in their bows and arrows, they can barely defend themselves. I give them no time to know that death has arrived or to make a single sound other than the gurgling of their drowning voices once I have penetrated their necks.

I smash the heads of those that have dropped their helmets and leave the moment I see they are no longer a threat. Ah, I can feel the trance returning to me, I must have killed enough.

Once I'm on the ground again I run past the feline girl, her hair and fur erecting when she sees me, bloodied as am I, what does a monster think of another monster? I have to cross the camp to reach the last watchtower and it seems like the guards are getting violent to disband the crowd.

Reaching the last watchtower I climb it as fast as possible, the energy coursing through my veins so large that I tear at the wooden beams forcing entire chunks apart as I reach the top and butcher the other three guards inside. And once I'm done, I'm left in a state of ecstasy as I puff, my chest raising rapidly and my hands almost shaking with excitement.

Is this what I have been denying for so long? Why does it feel so gratifying to take another life? It fills me, the thrill of the kill is almost too much...Is this how every goblin feels?

A horn.

Fuck.

I was trapped in my thoughts for too long, I rush to the stairs of the watchtower and see the camp quickly erupt in a massive brawl, the humans do most of the heavy lifting as occasionally, one of the monsters shakes as if lightning had struck them when they try to swing at the guards or pick up a spear.

They must have noticed the lack of archers, I need to open the gates before-

Whizzing.

I move just in time as an arrow strikes the wooden beam next to me, and with my war picks I deflect another, but a third strikes me in the right thigh, with such force behind it that it pierces right through. I grit my teeth and duck behind cover, my eyes falling on the ghostly white arrow that vanishes before my very eyes after a second.

The Watcher.

Whizzing.

I'm thankful for my keen hearing as I jump to the side, three more arrows piercing through the wooden planks and getting stuck at the other side, two of the three vanishing like I had seen it before, and only one arrow that looks normal remains. Clearly, so long as the Watcher is alive, I risk getting killed by an arrow in the back.

Don't think, you know what to do. Act.

I jump out of the watchtower and use my war picks to halt my fall, moving from beam to beam as the arrows sing and pass near me, and once on the ground I run, jump past any pair of fighting humans and smash a guard or two on the legs. More arrows come and I use the closest thing, a slave, as a shield as the arrows almost pierce through, cutting my cheek and taking the life of the man as I continue my advance to the stone building.

Another barrage falls as I zig-zag on the spot, my cloak getting torn from my body as the arrows force it onto the ground. I keep moving forward, a guard thrusts his spear at me and I duck, then throw my war pick on his face, crushing it as the sound of fighting fills my ears and I grab his spear, spinning twice and throwing it at the Watcher who is forced to duck.

I retrieve my war pick from the ground and finally reach the building, the slaves seem to have overpowered the guards. I climb it so fast that it feels like only a second has passed when I reach the top and jump high, the Watcher aiming at me from beneath me as he pulls and lets go of the arrow, two white magical arrows suddenly appear from mid-air and join the third.

I spin my war picks and none of the arrows strike me, the Watcher screams as he throws the bow away and grabs the handle of his sword. But I'm already on top of him before he can finish pulling it out.

My war picks grizzly ferocity tear, crush and pull flesh, bones, and blood as I strike anywhere I see, at any gap in his armor. Until he is dead. I hear the sound of a beastly war cry as the guards begin screaming.

Looking at the camp I see the monsters have joined in the fight, using their claws as daggers.

I didn't even have to open the gate, the guards themselves are running, and I see the hobgoblins telling the escaping slaves, who carry the fallen weapons of their captors, to go west.

The rest of the fight is more akin to a slaughter, the hobgoblins enter once it is clear that the guards are not a problem and quickly undress them, wearing the chainmail and helmets, I grab the artifact, the bow, and soon we too have left, but in the opposite direction.

"Ha ha! Yeah!" Jorr cheers with the others as we cross the shallow river to return to the woods "You really are something goblin! I mean, boss!"

The torch of the escaped slaves dimming in the distance as they took any horse they found, I considered taking one for myself but so long as we have to stick to the woods, it was better to be on foot.

"Wait!"

We turn around and see a small group of humans and monsters approaching us, at least a dozen. Led by Andrei, who holds the hand of Lina.

"West!" One of the hobgoblins shouts, Jorr growling as he rests his hand on the new sword in his belt.

"I thought we were meant to follow you! I tried to tell the others but they didn't listen, we are closer to the border, it would be better if we left" Andrei notices that Jorr doesn't understand him and looks at me "Please, we just want to leave, you must convince your lord!"

Does he think Jorr is in charge?

"They are exhausted, weak. Do we kill them?" Jorr asks me, not looking away from them.

"No, they will follow us," I say as I turn around and continue to move toward the woods.

"What?! Why?!"

"We will use them"

Tools, that is what they are. I must learn this, accept it, and fully embrace it. Until we reach the border I will squeeze as much knowledge as I can from these humans and the monsters for further use.