Hey guys sorry for the late release. As an apology, I added an extra chapter. Here are 3 chapters for last week. This week's releases will come on Sunday. I decided to release all the chapters at once rather than one every couple days. It helps to lower stress on me too and you guys probably enjoy reading more at once. Anyway enjoy these 3 chapters.
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Somewhere in the Northern part of the Forest
A goblin scout was running through the forest. He was carrying a large cylindrical shaped object on his back. The goblin ran quickly and arrived at a heavily fortified gatel. A goblin on top of the gate looked down and shouted at the goblin scout, “HALT!!!! Who goes there?
The Goblin Scout replied back, “I am a messenger from Lord Firesword’s camp and I have a message for his Lordship.”
The Goblin Guard shouted down, “Alright we are sending out some members from Lord Firesword’s retinue in order to confirm what you are saying.”
The Goblin Scout acknowledged the order by nodding. As the goblin scout waited, a door opened and 3 goblins came outside towards the goblin scout. One goblin was in the lead with the other two following behind him. The lead goblin had scales that were much brighter than the other goblins. The lead goblin came to a halt. Before he could speak, the goblin scout had already bowed and started talking.
The Goblin Scout said, “Greetings lord Green Scales. I am Gad, messenger from the 2nd Platoon under Lord Firesword.”
The leading goblin, Green Scales ordered the Gad, “Alright give me the message and then you may go.”
Gad acknowledged the order and handed over the scroll. However Gad did not leave and spoke instead, “Yes Sir, here is the message. However our Captain asked for a reply sir. “
Green Scales raised an eyebrow said, “Is that so? However, his Lordship is in a meeting with the other Commanders and this will take some time. “
Gad nodded his head, “That is fine sir, I will wait.”
Green Scales turned around and motioned towards Gad, “Fine, follow me.”
Saying this, Green Scales led Gad inside and showed him to a room where he could wait for Lord Firesword. Meanwhile the meeting was going on in a secret room built underground.
Meeting Room
Inside there was a large triangular table with 3 people sitting around it. One was a tall goblin about 5 feet tall with dark skin and red tattoos snaking up his right arm. His hair was a vibrant green with red mixed in with it. A large dark red heavy sword was placed next to him within arm's reach. This was Firesword.
The next goblin was a somewhat shorter than Firesword and was about 4.5 feet tall and dark skinned as well. However his muscles far outclassed those of Firesword and the last goblin. This goblin was built like a wall and was extremely muscular. His hair was a dark green with blue streaks. He had a large dark blue sickle that resembled a scythe that was almost as long as he was tall. The sickle was 4 feet long and extremely heavy. This was also in arm’s distance from him. This goblin was Frostsickle.
The last goblin was unexpectedly female. She was sitting with her eyes closed. She was a little shorter than Firesword but taller than Frostsickle. She had dark skin and pale green hair with dark stripes. Her hair came down to her shoulders. She was thin and lean, not at all muscular like Frostsickle. Unlike the others, her weapon was not big enough to be seen. However the other two knew that it was there. Her weapon was a pale grey blade. It was only about a 1.5 feet in length and was sheathed behind her back, making it easy for her to draw it. This was Ghostblade.
Firesword broke the silence, “Enough Frostsickle. Just say what you want straight and don’t say any bullshit.”
Frostsickle laughed, “HAHAHAHA. I like that straight forward personality of yours Firesword. Anyway, Remember the Caves of Madness?”
Firesword frowned and responded, “What do you want with those caves?”
Frostsickle grinned and said, “Obviously I want to go in.”
Firesword spoke, “ You know of what happened the last time someone ventured into those accursed caves.”
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Ghostblade opened her eyes for the first time this meeting and spoke in a soft voice, “There should be a limit to your stupidity, Frostsickle.”
Frostsickle grinned and put on a hurt expression, “ Hey, hey. I’m hurt that you don’t have confidence in me. Do you think that I really haven’t thought it through?”
Ghostblade and Firesword simultaneously said, “ Yes.”
Frostsickle sighed, “ Hey come on now, I’m not that stupid.”
Ghostblade looked at him and said, “That’s true.”
Frostsickle beamed, but Ghostblade continued, “you are even stupider than we think.”
Frostsickle’s face fell, “ Hey, that was uncalled for.”
Firesword sighed and intervened, “Ghostblade, stop provoking him. And you Frostsickle, you’d better hurry up and tell us what you want before our patience runs thin.”
Frostsickle glanced at firesword gratefully and then his face turned serious, “Alright thanks Firesword. Anyway, about a month ago I sent in scouts into the Caves of Madness.”
Ghostblade turned her head, “You did WHAT???”
Frostsickle hurriedly explained, “I know it was stupid of me to do so, but we had good reason to believe that things had changed. We found tracks leading out of the Caves of Madness.”
Ghostblade and Firesword narrowed their eyes, “Something actually came out of those caves? That’s impossible. Nothing so far has survived in those caves, goblins, plants, magic beasts, nothing. How could something come out?”
Frostsickle shrugged, “Beats me, but whatever came out was a humanoid for sure. It walked on two legs, based on what we could gather from the tracks.”
Firesword was about to open his mouth and speak when a knocking sound was heard. Firesword glanced at the door as it opened. Walking in was Green Scales with a message scroll in his hands. Firesword narrowed his hands at the scroll and spoke to Green Scales, “What is so important that you have interrupted this meeting?”
Green Scales bowed and said, “Lord Firesword, we have received an urgent message from our 2nd platoon. They request your guidance.”
Firesword was puzzled. Could the 2nd platoon have encountered a powerful beast? He had given instructions to not venture towards the West or North. What could have caused them so much trouble? He looked at Green Scales, “Speak the message, quickly.”
Green Scales nodded, opened the scroll and began to read, “To the Great General Firesword, We have finished evacuating the 8 villages in our jurisdiction. However, we have encountered a problem. Several of our dead were recovered for burial after the battle. However, we found that they were looted.”
As Green Scales read out this part, Firesword glared at Frostsickle and Ghostblade. They hurriedly shook their heads to indicate that it was not them. His eyes still burning, Firesword looked back at Green Scales and motioned for him to continue. Green Scales continued, “After investigation, we also found that several magi beasts had also been stripped of their cores or meat or fur. We have deduced that the culprit waited for the battle to move away from his location and then proceeded to loot. Upon investigating the tracks we found them to lead South-West. The tracks also indicate that the looter was not goblin but some other sort of HUMANOID. Please advise on how to continue.”
At this sentence, the leaders all turned to look at each other having come to the same conclusion. Firesword motioned for Green Scales to leave. Green Scales bowed his head and walked out. As soon as the door shut, Firesword spoke, “I’m going to go look at this humanoid and see what to do.”
Ghostblade also stood up, “I’m also coming. I want to see just what this thing might be.”
As they stood to leave, Frostsickle spoke, “There is one more thing that you should know.”
Firesword and Ghostblade turned around, ““What?””
Frostsickle looked them straight in the eyes and said, “Some of our shamans calculated the time when the humanoid exited the cave. It was 6 months ago.”