Rose looked at Bob and asked, “Have you been to a human village before?”

The chief gave a hearty laugh as Bob gave him a glare.

“I have,” Bob said with a huff.

“That’s where he got his tusk broken,” Richard said, slapping Bob on his back.

Rose raised an eyebrow toward Bob. Bob sighed, realizing he wouldn’t get out of the story.

“I picked a fight with a human female,” Bob said, kicking a rock.

“Oh? And she broke your tusk?” Rose asked, amazed.

“No, her mate did.” Bob was hoping to avoid more questions.

Richard had other ideas, “Oh, the female didn’t break his tooth, but she was a mage. She set him and his party on fire.”

“That was stupid of you, Bob. But fire doesn’t break orc tusks.” Rose said.

“No, I didn’t know that her mate was from the plains tribes,” Bob said, hoping that mentioning the plains tribe would end the conversation.

“Again, that was stupid. Why would you pick a fight with a plains tribesman? I’ve seen them take on orc warriors. They are tough.” Rose said, starting to feel bad for Bob. The plains people were as tall and strong as orcs. They were among the few humans that the orcs actively avoided and respected to some degree.

Richard laughed harder, “No! It was a plainswoman. He got beat up by two girls!” His laugh echoed across the plains.

“So,” Rose said with some irritation, “Plainswomen are known to be as strong and fierce as the men.”

Richard stopped laughing as he realized that the shaman was getting angry. “True,” he said with some seriousness, “But I would like to add that Bob had four other orcs with him. There were only two women that defeated them.”

“I’ve seen the humans of the plains before,” Rick said, looking over at Bob. “Great orc Bob is still great orc Bob. The plains humans are scary.”

Rose laughed, “Yes, they are. To be honest, humans are scary. They wield magic as weapons. Some can create machines that can be more fierce than any orc warrior. I’m glad we have stopped trying to rob and raid them and can maybe be friends.”

Richard thought the past few years had been as lucrative for robbing and raiding. In fact, they made little profit in the last year. The last few days have made them more gold than in the last five years.

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“I agree. This is good for our people.” Richard said.

Soon the group could see the town. It was bigger than the orcs had imagined. The town was surrounded by a great timber wall. The gate, open during the day, was tall as three orcs and as wide as four carts. They could see humans on the wall and at the gate.

The closer they got to the gate, the more people they saw. Soon they were surrounded by humans, some with carts, some on foot, and some riding horses. Bob had always wanted to ride a horse, but orcs were too large for the animals.

Their pace slowed as they came to the gates. Even the large gates caused some delays as travelers passed through them. Once they reached the guards, they became nervous. One guard held up his hand.

“Hold. One moment please.” He said to the orcs. “Captain, there are orcs at the gate,” He shouted over his shoulder.

There was a loud crash that came from a small room that was built into the wall. A man rushed out. The orcs were startled but held back from attacking. The man straightened his tunic and hat. He smiled at them, took his cap off, and bowed. The orcs looked down to see what he was looking for.

“Welcome!” Cheered the man as he straightened up, “I am Jerry, captain of the guards. The mayor told us you may be coming to visit us.” Rick and Mick waved at Jerry, who smiled at the imps and gave a small wave back.

“This is Chief Richard, Rose, and great orc Bob,” Announced Rick.

Jerry’s eyes lit up, “Wonderful, Rick has been telling us about you. Welcome to our town. Please be our guest. Do you need anything?”

Richard looked at Rose and Bob, then said, “No, we are here for supplies and to see the inn.”

Jerry clapped his hands, “Wonderful, I’ll send word to the mayor. Happy shopping!” The man waved as he went back into his office.

The orcs became nervous as they entered the town, but the imps were at ease. The imps waved at various humans as if they were the best of friends. The humans smiled and waved back. A few humans stopped and stared openly at the orcs, but most didn’t pay attention to them.

“I’m going to the market,” Rose said as she headed toward what appeared to be a central market area.

“We should go with you,” Richard ordered.

“I will go with Rose,” announced Rick looking at Rose.

Rose smiled down, “Thank you, little cousin. Richard, why don’t you go to the inn, and Bob go with Mick to get more bacon and other supplies.”

Richard glared at Rose and then down at the little imp. He started to argue with the shaman but then decided it wasn’t worth it. “Fine,” Richard said as he walked off toward what appeared to be the inn.

“Well, Mick, where are we going?” Bob said.

“This way, great orc Bob!” The imp took the reigns of the pony and led them away from Rose and Richard. Bob felt splitting up was a bad idea.

“Do you come to the town often, Mick?” Bob asked.

“No, great orc Bob. Rick is the smartest of our tribe. He is the one that goes to the human village,” Rick said, “I heard your story. I hope we don’t have to fight.”

Bob laughed, “No, we won’t have to fight. That was when I was younger. Don’t worry, Rick, I’m the smart one now.” Bob gave the little imp a wink. This made the little creature laugh.