Her arrow punctured the throat of the orc with the staff, and most of the barrage landed. With a yell, the eight other high goblins crested the hill with spears and chitinous armor, charging the orcs.

Risha pulled back another arrow, and shot at the orc with the staff again, but the overseer jumped out of his palanquin, chopping the arrow down midair with a nasty looking sword.

The goblins sent one more volley but a strange wind came by blowing most of the arrows and making them miss.

Risha grabbed her spear and jumped down as the other goblins met the orcs in battle.

The war spider landed on top of one of the spiders, killing its rider instantly before she was forced to engage the other spider and orc.

The orcs were only slightly outnumbered, but the initial two barrages had forced a full four orcs out of the action, and injured another six. Still, the orcs were not to be underestimated.

The battle quickly became a bloody one as the overseer stabbed through one of the attacking goblins. Risha couldn’t see much more as she engaged another orc.

The orc was strong, and more experienced than her, his spear moving with practiced movements. But she was faster.

She danced around the first stab, her spear drawing blood along the orc’s arm. The orc bellowed in anger, and tried to hit her with the butt of his staff.

She took the hit with the chitin on her arm, and felt it crack from the force of the blow. The orc’s eyes widened in surprise, and with a stab of her spear, she skewered the surprised orc.

Risha felt danger to her left. She let go of her spear and rolled away as a ball of fire hit the ground she was fighting on. Her gaze moved to the orc she’d first shot. He was barely standing with the arrow through his throat, but his hands moved in strange gestures to bring fire to his hands. The overseer stood in front of the shaman, two goblins dead at his feet.

Risha met Glo’s eyes and growled, showing all of her sharp teeth as she grabbed the spear of a dead orc and leapt at the overseer. She knew that she’d have to distract him for Glo to get to the shaman.

The tip of her spear met his blade as he deflected her strike. He smiled at her, his teeth just as feral as hers.

They growled, the rest of the fighting zoning out from Risha’s view as it became just him. She stabbed and sliced at him, but every attack was deflected and responded to in kind as the overseer advanced towards Risha. She gave ground to keep her range advantage, but quickly found herself outmatched by the orc.

It all turned to the worse when his blade cut through her spear, snapping it in two. His blade follow up, stabbing into a break in her chitinous armor and into her stomach.

Her smile grew wider as she forced her stomach and chitin to grab the blade. The stuck blade surprised the overseer for only a moment, but it was enough. She grabbed a dagger from her belt and sliced through the throat of the overseer.

He was a dead orc standing, but he didn’t give up as his arms reached up to wrap around her throat. She started choking, but she didn’t care as she continued to slice and stab the orc, eventually falling on top of him in her hatred fueled haze.

The overseer’s hands finally released her throat as she fully sliced the orcs head off. She looked up to see the last of the orcs dying, the shaman having been stabbed through by Glo.

The War Spider stood tall over one dead spider and another mildly injured one who huddled in on itself.

Risha stood up, still bleeding from the sword in her gut, then held up the head of the overseer. “Goblins strong! The orcs will die!”

The surviving goblins all showed their sharp teeth as they howled and cheered in response to her proclamation.

With that said, Risha stumbled and fell to the ground, passing out.

***

Level Up!

Level Up!

Level Up!

For reaching level 10, you gain the skill [Shaman’s Magic]

[Shaman’s Magic] You have a basic connection to the arcane

The notifications were the first things that Risha saw as she woke up. Goblins ran around her, tending to the many wounded goblins of the attacking group. The sight of the battle and the dead were only a small distance away. Tya leaned on her staff, looking exhausted as she stood next to Glo who had a heavily bandaged arm.

Tya met Risha’s eyes and walked over to the bedroll Risha had been lying on. “Welcome back Grand Mother. You had us all worried.”

Risha looked over the wounded, then looked at the dead, recognizing a few goblin corpses. “How many goblins died?”

“Five.” Glo was the one to respond, “Almost everyone was injured in some way. Thankfully Tya got here quickly.”

Risha was used to death. She’d seen far too many goblins murdered or sacrificed to the pits. Still, those goblins had never died because of her choices. She felt a lump build in her throat, and had to quickly clear it away.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Risha lowered her head to try and hide her expression, then attempted to stand up. She stumbled slightly, only now noticing the bandages that wrapped around her waist.

Glo was quick to help her, and put her arm around his shoulder.

“Careful. I healed most, but I had to save my power for the others.” Tya motioned towards the other goblins.

Risha nodded. “Where’s the sword?”

Glo motioned towards a younger goblin without an evolution nearby. The goblin hurried over and presented the still bloody sword that the overseer had used. Seeing it up close, it was bigger than she thought. Notches ran down its length, and it was sharp only on one side, but it was beautifully made, not being the stone or bone that the goblins and orcs used for their own weapons.

Risha took the weapon, feeling a strange connection with the sword that had pierced her through.

She then turned her attention back to the dead. “Take their weapons and anything of use. We’ll bury the dead in the morning. Tonight we celebrate our first victory.”

Tya nodded. Glo called out ot several goblins, giving them orders.

The soft sounds of eight legs moving brought Risha’s attention to the war spider that had accompanied them. She bled from several small cuts, but otherwise seemed unharmed.

“One of their spiders lived.” The war spider motioned towards the surviving spider, still chained and bleeding. It hunched down at Risha’s gaze.

“Glo, see if you can have a Spider-Tamer remove the chains.” Risha said. “And welcome them to our home.”

Risha leaned on the leg of the War Spider as Glo ran off to find someone.

“Thank you.” Risha said to the large spider. “Without you, we would have lost that battle.”

“We have pledged ourselves to your cause, Grand Mother.” The war spider gently lifted Risha off the ground and placed her on her back. “You should rest. The Elders can handle the rest, and you have a party to attend tonight.”

Risha nodded, and leaned in to the small hairs of the large spider. She didn’t sleep, instead watching as her people worked.

The large group of orcs was unexpected, and it was only due to their over preparation that they hadn’t lost more of their people.

And this was only the beginning. Killing the overseer had put them on a clock, and they didn’t know how long that clock would last.

The many goblins started their way home. The trip back was slower than the one out, as some of the injured still needed to be carried.

But as the village became visible, a loud cheer could be heard. Every goblin in the village, and the spiders who were still awake greeted them at the edge of the village, their hooting and hollering audible for miles as they greeted back their first successful war party. Risha smiled at the sight, her sharp teeth clearly visible to every goblin. The war spider that she rode on top of slowed its pace as the other spiders came up to greet it

One thing that could be said about the goblins is that they know how to party. Drums were brought out, and a large bonfire was lit. The hunters had killed numerous new beasts, all of which were cooked and brought out for the whole village to enjoy. The goblins danced, sang and played late into the night.

Risha sat on the edge of her pit, watching the sunrise while the last of the goblins still partied. She held the sword that she’d looted in front of her, her hands getting used to its weight. One of the craftsmen was working to create a leather sheath for it, and she’d cleaned it of the blood on it. Her blood.

The ground shifted as another goblin joined her, sitting close. She glanced over to look at Glo. He had a large bandage on his chin that she hadn’t noticed, and she could see burnt skin on the shoulder of his injured arm.

They sat there quietly as the first rays of the sun rose over the horizon.

“You’re not responsible.” Glo said.

Risha’s breath caught.

“Every one of us knew what we were getting into. If anything, it was my poor planning.” Glo growled under his breath.

Risha shook her head. “Without your plan, even more would’ve died.” Risha paused. “The orcs are strong.”

Glo nodded.

The orcs had been ambushed and outnumbered two to one, but the lack of experience of the goblins showed and they’d lost so many.

“I’m going to travel to the other villages.” Risha said. “You need to make us stronger while I’m gone. Levels. Levels give us skills.”

Glo tilted his head, surprised at the information. “So that’s what those are.” Glo’s hand moved to Risha’s head, and ruffled her hair. “When you get back, every goblin will be two times- no, three times as strong as an orc! Glo can be trusted.”

Risha leaned into Glo. “Risha knows. Risha trusts Glo.”

They stayed like that until the sun had fully risen, then they both left to prepare for the grieving of the fallen.

Every goblin stood in attendance as all five goblins were buried. No goblin said anything as the last of them were placed under the dirt, and then they dispersed. They didn’t know any complicated rituals, and instead simply marked their graves with rocks. Afterwards, each goblin would grieve in their own way.

A party was quickly formed of three hunters, Risha, Tya and Elder Lia the shamen to travel to the nearest village. Many of Lia’s children had gone to other villages after they reached adulthood. The Snow Spider was sent to accompany them as a representative of the Spider Queen, as her evolution stopped her from needing to hibernate.

They set off almost immediately, the hunter named Moko leading them as he was the most well traveled between villages. He had mapped out a route to hit all five of the villages that they knew the locations of. They’d heard of more, but didn’t know where they were.

Risha decided to use their traveling time to ask Lia the shaman about her new skill [Shaman’s Magic].

“There’s an energy inside of me.” Lia said as they walked. “But it’s hard to access.”

Lia concentrated real hard, holding her hand in front of her and a small flame appeared on top of her hand. Lia let out a breath and the flame disappeared.

“That’s all Lia can do.”

Risha frowned, her mind going back to the orc who had sent balls of fire flying at her. She closed her eyes, trying to remember the movement of his hands. Using the same energy she’d used to evolve goblins, she started copying his hand movements.

A gasp from beside her made her open her eyes to see a ball of fire growing in her hands as they moved. Risha laughed and pushed the small ball of fire away from her, it flew into a snow covered tree, leaving a slight burn mark.

The hunters opened their eyes in awe at the display. Lia, not to be outdone, copied Risha’s hand movements, but changed them slightly and started to form her own ball of fire. With a push of her hands, the fireball flew forward and hit the same tree, leaving a much larger burn mark.

Lia smiled proudly at Risha and Risha laughed, pulling Lia into a hug. “Amazing! Risha impressed!”

Lia, the old goblin blushed slightly.

The rest of their journey passed quickly as they practiced their new magic, seeing what else they could do. So far it was only fire, but Risha knew that wind must be possible considering how that old Orc Shaman must’ve been the one to blow most of their arrows aside during that attack.

Lia focused on finding those other elements after Risha’s encouraging.

Early the next day, they arrived at the next village on their list, only to hear goblin screams of fear.