The elf woman frowned the more she looked at Risha, and Risha saw vines along the elf’s arms move with her emotion, constricting and loosening.

“At least she isn’t an orc. Vile breed those are.” Lalaila finally said, her voice silky smoothe despite the rudeness of her comment.

“It’s been a while Lalaila.” Shyanne said, bowing her head slightly in greeting.

“Not long enough Shy.” Shyanne’s smile froze at the nickname. “Your sinful children still slaughter mine at the edge of Carlborne Forest.”

“I don’t control all humans, Lalaila.” Shyanne responded.

“You could if you wanted to.” Lalaila hadn’t taken her eyes off of Risha as she spoke, her frown still there.

“I’m not a tyrant.” Shyanne responded. Surprisingly, she seemed unriled by the provocations of the elf. Her expression were much calmer compared to her interactions with the angel.

Lalaila finally turned her eyes to the Human emperess. “Tyranny is subjective, as everything is.”

Shyanne shook her head, then motioned towards Risha. “This is Risha, the latest Grand Mother to join us.”

Lalaila stepped forward, examining Risha as if she were a strange insect. Interesting, but small in comparison to everything else.

“The last goblin I met tried to kill me, he was a stupid little creature that had no respect for the forest.” Lalaila said.

Risha didn’t like Lalaila, so she turned to Shyanne and spoke to her. “The first elf I’ve met seems like a stupid little creature that has no respect for other people. Reminds me of an orc.”

Shyanne quickly hid a smile, while Lalaila’s eyes narrowed.

Lalaila turned to Shyanne. “I don’t like her… but I suppose she’ll do.”

“I hope not all elves are as rude and smelly as this one.” Risha lifted her head high. “Risha’s ready to go.”

Shyanne bit her lip in an attempt to stop herself from laughing.

Lalaila stared for a long moment, then a small laugh escaped her. Risha turned to her in surprise, only to find the same frown from earlier.

“Take care of this one Shy. She seems like the type to make enemies.” Lalaila flicked her hand at the both of them, and they reappeared in the void of stars for a moment before reality shifted again to bring them back to Shyanne’s throne room.

“I suppose that went better than I thought it would.” Shyanne said, returning to her throne.

“Is that all the Grand Mothers?” Risha asked.

Shyanne pursed her lips. “There’s a few more, but they either avoid the rest of us, or have disappeared for one reason or another.” She paused. “I would advise against meeting any of them without mine or Maya’s presence.”

“Shyanne gives good advice.” The shadows coalesced in the corner of the room, revealing the dark elf, Maya. “Most of us can be quite dangerous in our old age. I’d avoid us as much as possible if I were you.”

“It’s good to see you Maya.” Shyanne said.

“It’s a pleasure as always Shyanne. You’re looking tense, did Sarah bring up Freera?” Maya motioned her hand and a large black chair covered in furs appeared next to her. She sunk into the furs with a sigh.

Shyanne simply nodded.

“Of course she would, that pigeon bi-” Maya glanced at Risha, “That nasty woman. I hope Lalaila was better.”

“Marginally. She still thinks of me as a child.” Shyanne smiled at Risha. “But I think she liked little Risha.”

Maya squinted at Risha, “I don’t know if that’s a compliment.” She shook her head, “That does remind me, Risha, do you know what a forge is?”

Risha tilted her head, “I don’t.”

Maya and Shyanne shared a long look.

“What’s your knife made of?” Shyanne asked.

Risha pulled it out, and showed it to the both of them. “Mine is sharp rock. Some goblins use bone.”

“Obsidian? It does look nice.” Maya said. She turned to Shyanne, “Do you want to take this one, or should I?”

Shyanne waved towards Maya. “Your people live and breathe the dark depths.”

Maya waved her hand, and the scenery changed, replacing Shyanne’s throne room with a large forge, complete with bellows, hammers, molds and an anvil.

Risha then spent the next several hours learning the basics of how a forge works, not enough to make anything quality herself, but enough to bring the teachings to her people.

After she was done and the grandmothers had left, Risha laid in her bedroll for a while. Her muscles complained as she stood up and left her pit, but she was used to ignoring them.

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It was snowing again, and the snow underfoot broke with every step as she made her way to the home of Elder Milo.

The Elder was sitting comfortably in his cabin, his hands moving with precision as he carved an arrow. He looked up as Risha gently knocked on the wall and stepped in

“Risha!” The Elder set down his arrow and stepped over to her, embracing her in a large hug.

He lifted her off the ground with his hug, and Risha couldn’t help the small giggle that escaped her.

“What brings you here Grand Mother?” Elder Milo asked as he set her down.

“Would you like to be able to make swords?” Risha asked, her excitement getting the better of her.

Elder Milo paused then smiled wide. “Risha has more knowledge to share?”

Risha nodded. It took her a while to relay all of the information she’d been taught, but Elder Milo was an eager student. He asked several questions she didn’t know the answer to, but even her basic knowledge was more than any goblin in their city.

As soon as she was done, Elder Milo ran out of the house. He called out to the other goblin craftsmen, eagerly dragging them away from their work. One of them knew a hunter that had found clay, and the group quickly expanded as all of the craftsmen moved. Risha wanted to help dig the clay, but her muscles told her no, so she helped them shape the clay and stone mixture instead.

While she did this, many goblins helped in the creation of a charcoal fire, while hunters searched for metals to start melting immediately.

By the time a couple hours had passed, a craftsmen had created his first knife. It was an ugly thing, that could barely be called a knife, but every craftsman was excited at the sight of it, and what it meant.

The invention ignited a fire in the craftsmen of the goblin city, and they all competed to advance the weaponry as fast as they could. Until the clay forges were finished, they had to make do with charcoal fires, but none of them minded.

Risha was just as excited to help, and was doing so until she fell asleep over a pile of clay.

She woke up the next day in a bedroll next to a fire, one of the craftsmen having carried her out of the freezing snow.

She stretched her limbs, and went to her pit to check on her spiders. They slept well as always, so she took out her sword and started practicing in the snow.

Her skill kicked in, and her movements became more fluid, but she still saw small flaws in the strikes. She worked on those imperfections, adjusting her stance from her lessons in spear fighting and working on each strike till it was as good as she could make it.

Things continued in a routine over the next couple of weeks as the craftsmen all worked to improve their craft. One craftsman discovered that the spider chitin could be melted and mixed with one of the metals to become even stronger. This started a frenzy to create new armor and mix different substances to see what would happen.

The city continued to expand as builders worked to create new homes, and Elder Oltak started the winter crops with a leafy vegetable that was quite common in the forest. At the end of the second week, one of the hunters returned with a small village of a hundred goblins. They were starved and weak looking creatures that had barely been surviving the winter before the hunter found them. Apparently the spiders they’d been taking care of were slaughtered by some unknown predator that came from under the ground.

Risha evolved them, and they were added to the city, creating even more work for the builders.

Around the same time, Elder Lia, the shaman, excitedly found Risha. The Elder led Risha to the home of the Goblin War Crafter Ego.

He greeted her with a large smile, and Risha was surprised to see several shamans and craftsmen taking up his small home.

They stepped aside to reveal the most beautiful armor she’d ever seen. It was an elegant purple that was darker than her skin. Etched into it were runes, many of which Risha didn’t recognize. It was made to allow her to move, while still covering ever important bit. Clothes made of spider silk were carefully folded next to it, while a white cloak similar to the one she’d had when she was taking care of her spiderling wrapped around the armor’s neck.

Ego smiled wide. “Ego knew Risha would love this. Let Ego show you.”

A blue screen popped up in front of her.

Children Of Risha’s Armor

Made from the chitin of the Children of Risha, this armor was handcrafted by a war crafter and enchanted by shamans for the Grand Mother.

Resistant To Mana

Enchantments:

Harden

Risha’s mouth opened in shock. She reached out to touch the armor, her hand running down its smooth edges.

Unable to resist, she had the goblins assist her in putting on the spider silk clothes and then the armor. Ego happily clipped the cloak to her neck, and Risha felt like the most beautiful goblin in the world. Her movements were still extremely free, the armor not blocking any of her joints, but where the armor didn’t cover, spider silk provided its own protection.

She cooed in excitement as she looked at herself every which way.

Moko, the High Goblin Ranger entered Ego’s room, out of breath. He focused in on Risha, his mouth opening slightly at the sight of her. He shook his head, then breathlessly informed her, “The wolves are here. They’ll reach the village by nightfall.”

Risha nodded, her expression growing serious. She considered taking off her armor, but decided to leave it on. “Go find Glo and have him meet me on the road.”

Moko nodded, then took off running.

Risha stepped forward, her armor standing out against the snow covered ground.

Glo arrived a moment later, a hundred goblin warriors forming up ranks behind him. Moko was tired, but hid it well from where he stood next to Glo.

They walked down the road towards the wolves. The hundred goblins were a sight to see, holding lines in a way they would never have been able to a mere month ago.

They waited at the same chokepoint they’d ambushed the overseer at and they waited.

Two hours later, a small group of twenty wolf-creatures crested the hill. They slowed down as they saw the contingent of Goblins, and Risha recognized Truth-Seeker among them. At their lead was the largest wolf Risha had ever seen, his black fur doing nothing to hide the muscular body that out performed any of the orcs she’d seen. He confidently strode forward, ignoring all of the goblins except for her.

The wolves stopped a few meters away and both groups examined each other.

“You must be Risha.” The wolf’s deep voice sent chills through Risha, but she kept her face expressionless as she tilted her head upward. Internally, she did her best to channel Shyanne’s commanding presence.

“I am Grand Mother Risha. Who are you?”