Now going back to a small hut in the home of the Goblins that Rick just left on his journey with, sat two Goblins, one of which being Jala.

“You made it back Jala; did it all work out okay?”

“Yes Ms. Gala, it worked out just fine, the group of Goblins we decided to send showed proper manners right up until I left. I’m sure Tribe Leader Rick will be pleased with them.”

“Yes, I believe he will as well, though he’s probably more than just a normal tribe Leader now.”

“More than a tribe Leader? Isn't the Leader of every tribe called a tribe Leader?”

“You mentioned he had weird black markings right? Those markings will only show their worth when a lot of Goblins are gathered…Or at least that is what has been passed down...you know...we weren’t always just these small, weak tribes of Goblins scattered around the plains? We were much more at one point in time. There were a lot more of us back then too. We weren’t separated into small tribes, instead, it was one big village and we had strong and wise chiefs that guided us along.

Forgot the second evolution, the chiefs back in those times were at least on their third evolution.

Though these times I’m speaking about were long before I was even born. This is all just passed down from Leader to Leader through stories over the years. Who knows how much of it is true, and how much of our history is lost. At this point, I don’t even know how we have fallen to the state we are in now.

But I can say this, that Goblin known as Rick is our best chance to get back to those days Jala. I’m not sure how much longer I got in these old bones of mine, so it’s up to you to make sure we support Rick properly.

Even if that means keeping him out of the plains until he is strong enough to fight the Orcs on equal footing. That is our beacon of hope, and we must protect him. Do you understand me Jala?”

“Yes...I believe I do Ms. Gala; I will make sure to do everything in my power to support and guide our lone beacon of hope Rick.”

“Good. Now I just hope the other tribes he visits in the future will have the same thought process. Let our people know if they ever come across Goblins from other tribes to pass our meeting of Rick back to them. Now go get the tribe prepared for the possibility of the Orcs coming.”

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“Understood Ms. Gala. By the way, there was a message left for you by Tribe Leader Rick.”

“Really? Well, speak it quickly! I’m not getting any younger here Jala!”

“I believe he said not to die because he’ll be back to free you soon enough.”

“Hahahaha! Then I can't die off so soon now can I?! If that’s his order for me then I’ll do my best to follow it!”

“I agree Ms. Gala, I’ll go get the tribe taken care of, we’ll be ready if the Orcs do end up coming.”

And so Jala left the hut, and it was at this time that Teeja and her squad of Goblins returned from their hunt with a small bag filled with meat. Some of which will be stashed away for the tribe while the rest will go towards the tribute for the Orcs.

Once Jala saw Teeja and the rest, he quickly gave them the word about passing on the information about Rick to other hunting parties. He would leave them to pass it along to everyone else.

After that, he immediately gave the entire tribe the order to prepare for the Orcs, and almost instantly the entire village got in motion doing everything both carefully and quickly.

The process involved moving the children, the female Goblins of all three types, and all the other non-combatants such as male TinkGoblins into the huts and barring everything up as tight as possible.

The Goblins had no way of fighting back, but they knew the patrolling Orcs could decide to attack them at any point in time for no reason at all. At least for any reason apparent to the Goblins. And since the Goblins can’t fight back in worry of having the entire tribe destroyed, the stronger male Goblins would take the brunt of the damage.

Even though there are strong female Goblins, the Orcs are no strangers to committing vile acts. Almost anything one could think of was done by them. So it’d be better to keep the female Goblins out of sight and hopefully out of mind.

It only took one hour for everything to be in place. Jala and all the other male Goblins in the tribe except for the male TinkGoblins were all tense as they waited for any sign of the Orcs. The Orcs didn’t come patrol every day, but they came most days, and since they weren’t there the day prior it was fully expected for them to show up today.

And just as expected, Jala and the rest only had to wait ten more minutes before two Orcs could be seen approaching on foot, and even though they were on foot, they weren’t moving slowly by any means, it wouldn’t take very long before they reached the tribe.

The Goblins in the plains didn’t know anything about orc evolutions, but they’d all be shocked to know that these two Orcs hadn’t even evolved once yet, but they’re already the same size as Rick.

Jala immediately made his way into the hut that Gala was in and updated her on the situation.

“This time it’s only two Orcs, so it shouldn’t be too bad. Hopefully, they just leave a few of us with a few bruises and then leave like always.”

“Yes that is all we can hope for, let’s at least just be glad it was only two instead of a whole squad of them.”

“Alright, they’re probably about to enter the tribe by now so I’m going back outside. I’ll come back once they’re gone.”

“Stay strong Jala.”

It was then that from inside the hut, Jala and Gala could both hear the loud voice of one of the Orcs roaring throughout the tribe.

“THAT TRIBUTE BETTER BE FUCKING READY!!”