At dusk, Grag walked confidently up to the longhouse. Behind him were his twenty strong skeleton guard.

He didn’t think that the others would fight to protect Throk, but he didn’t want to go in with too little, just in case.

When Grag reached the longhouse he sent four of the skeletons in before him. Once inside a few of the goblins gasped in surprise. One even screeched.

“What are you doing?” Throk growled.

“That one.” Grag pointed to Throk.

Without hesitation the four skeletons walked forward and grabbed Throk. Now wide awake he struggled against their hold.

“What are you doing?” Throk tried to whip his body free of the skeletons. “Let go of me.”

“The master is hungry.” Grag said with a sinister grin on his face. “I told him you would join him for breakfast.”

“You can’t feed me to that thing.” Throk’s eyes were wide and there was a bit of spit coming out of his mouth.

“Let’s go.” Grag told the skeletons.

Again, without hesitation they obeyed his commands. Grag walked out behind the skeletons with a small skip in his step.

Throk cursed at the skeletons the entire way to the master’s hut. Grag liked watching him struggle. Served him right for the way he treated Grag.

The sun went down and no one came out. Grag had expected the master to appear immediately and kill Throk. It wasn’t what he expected, but the wait make Throk struggle more, so it was worth it.

After about an hour, the master came out of the hut. He looked down at Throk. Throk froze in place and stopped cursing at the skeletons.

The masters glowing red eyes seemed to have nailed Throk in place. Grag smiled.

“Bring him inside.” The master said.

“No, wait.” Throk started to thrash back and forth. “I won’t hurt you any more Grag. Don’t let him eat me.”

Grag gave Throk a small wave. “The master needs to feed.”

Grag could hear Throk screaming. He had a skip to his step as he walked back towards the longhouse. Everyone looked at him with fear once he got back.

Puffing up his chest, Grag looked down his nose at everyone there. “The master will need to feed at least once a day.” He looked around at the huddling bodies around him. “I have been given the responsibility of who the master will feed on each day.”

The others huddled away from Grag. Their response made him smile. He had never felt more powerful in his life.

“I’m getting hungry and thirsty.” Grag said to no one in particular.

Several of the women quickly got up and went to get him food and drink. Grag relaxed as his foods was being cooked and drank his water.

An older goblin with greyish fur and dull yellow eyes walked up to Grag as he lounged on one of the beds in the back. The goblin was the shaman Krelgr. He had never been particularly mean to Grag, but he wasn’t nice either. It was more like Grag didn’t exist to Krelgr.

“What?” Grag asked the old shaman.

“We are low on water and need to some of the women to the river to get more.” Krelgr said.

Grag scrunched his brow. The master had said no one was to leave the village. He womndered if this was one of the reasons.

“So?” Grag said.

“Can you ask… the master if we can get more?”

The master was currently eating. Or so Grag thought. How long does it take for a demon to eat a goblin? Grag looked away from Krelgr.

He didn’t want to ask the master. Mostly he didn’t want to attract his attention. Experience had taught Grag that the attention of the powerful wasn’t something you wanted.

They did need water though. Not just for them, but for the goats also.

Was this to be expected from him from now on? Was it his job to go talk to the master when things were needed?

Swallowing, Grag got up. “I’ll go see if the master will send some of the women to get water.”

Grag made his way back to the master’s hut. He could no longer hear Throk screaming. For a moment he wondered if Throk was alive and whether or not Grag cared.

The undead standing outside hadn’t moved. Grag wondered if he was allowed to just enter the hut. Eventually, he decided to just call out.

“Master?” Grag didn’t yell as loud as he could. He didn’t want to seem like he was demanding to be seen.

After a few moments the skeleton guards moved out of the way of the door.

Upon entering the hut Grag’s attention was immediately drawn to the new shrine next to the master’s throne. The shrine sat dimly next to the throne, shrouded in shadows. At the center of the small stone alter was a black bowl with intricate symbols carved into it.

Inside the bowl, crimson liquid swirled hypnotically, the rich metallic scent permeated the air.

Floating elegantly above the bowl were two magical orbs of flickering fire, each emitting an eerie, pale blue glow. The danced and shimmered, casting dancing shadows on the shrine’s surroundings, adding to an otherworldly atmosphere.

Around the base of the alter, dark purple and black candles burned silently, their flickering flames adding to the shrine’s mystical ambiance. Occasionally, shadows seemed to twist and move response to the flames.

A beautiful tapestry adorned the wall behind the shrine. On it was a human looking woman with pale while skin and black raven almost purple hair. Her graceful figure seemed to be emerging from darkness, her pale skin reflecting the moonlight.

Her eyes were an enchanting deep purple. They seemed to gaze into Grag’s soul. He shivered.

Grag had no idea where his master had gotten all of the things to make this shrine, but he had, and quickly too. The shrines to their own god Zugnorak, was simply a pile of rocks in the woods.

“Shiiraviia, goddess of the undead and the night.” The master said, noting where Grag was looking.

Grag looked at the master, his piercing eyes locked on the small goblin. “Zugnorak is the god of the goblins.” He said. “He teaches us to make war and makes slaves of our enemies. He is married to Aruai, goddess of the forest, they gave birth to all the spirits.”

“Is that so?” The master asked.

Grag swallowed, “Zugnorak teaches us to battle in groups, to form hordes, to take out enemies in numbers…”

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“Grag?” The master asked smoothly.

“Yes master?” Grag almost yipped.

“Did you really come here to have theological debates?”

“Uh, what?”

“To fight about whose god is better?”

“No.” Grag looked around. He could see Throk laying on the ground in the corner, slowly breathing. “We are running low on water. Krelgr wants to know if we can send some women to the river to get water.”

The master tilted his head slightly as he kept his eyes locked onto Grag. The predatory stare made Grag uncomfortable. He felt like he was like Throk, just another meal, just waiting to be eaten.

After a long, painful pause, the master spoke. “Show me this river.”

The river was a was a ten-minute walk to the west of the village. The master followed Grag quietly. Not even his footsteps made noise. The unnatural quietness was eerie.

The tree line was about twenty feet back from the edge of the river. The back was made up of slimy rocks that would be covered up when the snows melted. The river itself was twice as wide as the bank and was shallow enough in some areas to see the rocks below and deep enough to dive into without fear of hitting the bottom.

The master looked at the water with curiosity. Grag couldn’t make out the look on his face exactly, but it was as if he were asking himself a thousand questions and didn’t know which to try and answer first.

Finally, he walked close to the water, now with a look of trepidation. Careful to not actually touch the water the master waved a hand over the river.

Nothing happened.

Then he waved his hand several more times, leaning a little further over each time, but careful not to actually not touch the water each time. After several times he stopped.

Shaking his hands loose, the master kicked a foot out over the water. It was the strangest display Grag had ever seen.

The mastered paused. Doing nothing for several long moments. Grag was tempted to ask him if anything was wrong, but at the same time didn’t want to draw unwanted attention to himself.

The master eventually dipped his boot in the water and withdrew it so quickly Grag thought it might have hurt. Grag took a step closer to see if anything was is the water. Then the master dipped his boot in the water again and withdrew it again.

Grag was starting to think there must be something mentally wrong with his master.

Water spayed everywhere as the master stomped a foot into the river. He closed his eyes tight and looked away from the water as is expecting something horrible to happen.

When nothing happened after a few moments Grag crept a little close and the master opened his eyes and looked at his foot as if it was the most fascinating thing in the world.

The master took another step into the river and chuckled a bit. Then walked further into the river. When he got half way across, he looked back at Grag with the biggest grin on his face.

“Tell the women they can come gather water, but if they try and escape, I will hunt and kill them, painfully.” The master walked back the shore.

When Grag got back to the village he let Krelgr know that it was okay for some of the women to go to the river to get water.

After leaving Krelgr to let the women know they could go get water Grag was headed to the longhouse to sleep. It had been a long night and he wanted to sleep.

“Hello, Grag.” A soft voice called out.

Grag turned to see Pasxi. She was the most beautiful goblin in the entire village. Instead of the dull yellow eyes everyone else had she had bright golden eyes. Her eyes were so large you could barely see the whites of her eyes. Her fur also had a bright red stripe from her nose over her head and down between her shoulder blades.

Pasxi was also just a bit shorter than Grag. It made him feel better that there were some goblins shorter than him. However, she was also Throk’s woman. She would never talk to a weakling like Grag, unless she had to give him orders to get or gather something, which she never did. She mostly kept to herself, a small group of other women, Throk, and Krelgr.

“Hello P-p-pasxi.” Grag stuttered.

She flashed him a wide smile. “What are you doing?”

“I was going to get… Uh… Nothing. What are you doing?” Grag swallowed hard and got a little dizzy.

If Pasxi weren’t watching, he would have slammed his head into something.

“Just getting ready to get water. Did you want to help me?” She asked sweetly.

“Yes!” Grag said louder than he had meant to. “Yes, yes I will help you.” He said in a more normal voice.

As Grag helped Pasxi get water, they chatted a bit. She asked a lot of questions about Paul and his plans. When Grag admitted he didn’t know much, but what he did know seemed to scare her. When Grag told her Paul had put him in charge of the other goblins and let him choose who would be eaten in which order, her ears perked up.

When they were putting the last of the water into the barrels she asked, “Do you want to bunk together?”

A wide smile made its way across his face and his eyes brightened a bit, “Yeah.”

When Grag woke up the next morning Pasxi wasn’t in the bed with him. He looked around and saw her near the entrance with Krelgr. They were both standing there looking at something.

Getting up to go take a look, Grag made his way to the two of them. Outside, no more than twenty feet away, was a zombie Throk. Marching along with the other undead, he paid them no mind.

Krelgr looked at Grag. “Maybe you can take another message to the master, Grag?”

“Are we out of something else?” He asked absently, watching zombie Throk.

“No.” Krelgr said. “There is another village a little west of here. If you follow the river, it will be on this side.”

Grag knew of the village. Back in their heyday, Grag’s village used to have a lot of goblins in it. Now it didn’t. After loosing several battles most of their members were slaves of other villages by now.

It was only a matter of time before they were all taken or killed. The other village though. They still had a lot of goblins. They had raided Grag’s village a lot. It was thought that they would be the ones to eventually take them all.

“Yes?” Grag said.

“Tell the master about it.” Parxi said. “If he takes that village, he won’t need to eat us. He could eat them.”

“There are more of them. More of them means more food.” Krelgr said. “Tell him, we will help him control them.” The old shaman looked over to the master’s hut. “We can help him like you do.”

Grag was unsure. He didn’t want to disturb the master over things he might consider trivial. Plus, there was no guarantee that the master would go for it. What if he got mad at Grag for being stupid?

The reluctance must have been clear on his face, because Pasxi said, “Please Grag. I don’t want to be eaten.”

Once again, Grag swallowed, shivering slightly he made his way back to the master’s hut. Like before, skeleton guards protected the entrance.

“Master.” He called out softly. Half hoping the master wouldn’t hear him and he’d have an excuse to just leave.

He didn’t like presenting this idea.

“Hello Grag.” An eerie female voice came from behind.

Grag yelped loudly as he turned. Behind him floated the spirit Liora. Her gown and hair floated as if in water. Looking up at her Grag thought he might piddle his pants. For some reason she was even more frightening than the master.

“You’ve been a little needy. Do you want us to revoke your special status?” Liora asked smoothly.

“N-n-no. I, uh, well we, uh.” Grag could barely make sense of his thoughts. He caught a glimpse of Pasxi. “There is a much larger village that way.” He pointed west.

Liora’s eyes followed where he pointed. “And?”

Grag’s mind went blank for a minute. Then he remembered what Krelgr said. “More goblins means more food.”

“More food? Or different food?” The master’s voice came from behind.

Grag spun around and there was the master. He was looking over Grag. Looking over his should, Grag could see he was looking at Pasxi and Krelgr.

“Krelgr said the other goblins would help you control the new village.” Grag said.

“And why would we bother going their now instead of later. Your villages don’t seem to be very large?” Liora said.

“No.” Grag said quickly. “There are many more goblins. Many, many more. More than we have. Like as many zombies as you have many. Krelgr says that the goblins of our village will serve loyally and help keep the new village in line.”

“More goblins would make us more foods secure.” Liora said.

“If there are enough, the rest of the village could take care of the weak ones while they recover for a second feeding.” The master said. “Okay, Grag. Where is this village?”

“That way.” Grag pointed west.

“Do you know specifically?” The master asked.

“Yes.” Grag answered.

“Shouldn’t we leave him here?” Liora said. “He seems loyal enough and will help keep the others in line while we are gone.”

“Your right.” The master said. “Grag go find another who knows where the village is.”

Grag ran back to Krelgr and relayed what he needed. Krelgr gave him the name of one of the old warriors. Krelgr and Grag left to go get him from the edge of village and brought him back to the master.

“This is Shrem.” Grag said. “He knows the way.”

Shrem gave a goblin salute. “The village isn’t more than a few hours that way. If we go fast, it should be too long. We used to raid them all the time.”

The master, Liora, and Shrem left the village almost immediately. They told Grag to keep order while they were gone.

“Maybe we should try to run away while they are gone.” Pasxi said.

“No.” Grag said. “If we try to leave the skeletons will kill us.”

“Even then, it is better for us to align with the master.” Krelgr said. “He may not know it now, but I have seen his look in the eyes of many of young goblins. He wants power. He will try and conquer the forest soon enough. If we leave now, we will forever be his enemies. His next meal. No, it is better to help him now and be his trusted group.”

Pasxi didn’t seem to like it, but she didn’t bring up leaving again. After several hours the trio returned.

“There are one-hundred-fifty-one goblins in the other village.” The master smiled. “Even if more than half die in combat, we will still have enough to feed for some time. I’ll leave thirty skeletons here to help keep everything in order while we are gone. The rest will come with us. Noone leaves the village while we are gone. Is that understood?”

“Yes.” Grag and Krelgr responded together.