Inside a small wooden hoot towards the center of the Goblin Tribe that Rick just left the vicinity of was Jala who just walked in and another Goblin.

  “You finally made it back Jala. Did it all work out okay?”

  “Yes Ms. Gala, it worked out just fine. The group of Goblins we sent showed proper manners right 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 are special. I don’t know the full story, and this is only word of mouth that has been passed down for generations now, but they apparently hold a deeper meaning of some sort.

  “Some say they only show their full potential once a lot of Goblins are gathered, others say it requires many evolutions to happen, by now the full story has long since been lost. After who knows how many generations, all we know for certain is that Goblins with black markings are special.

  “Far more special than the rest of us. And hopefully it is true, and he is able to free all of us like he said. Sigh.

  “We were much more than this once. There were a lot more of us back then, too. And we weren’t separated into small Tribes. Instead, it was one big village, and we had strong and wise chiefs that guided us along.

  “Forget the dreaded second evolution, it is said the chiefs back in those times were at least on their third evolution if not more!

  “Though these times I’m speaking about were long before I was even born. This is all just passed down knowledge 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.

  “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 an equal footing. That is our beacon of hope, and we must protect him. Do you understand me, Jala?”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

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

  “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.”

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

  “Really? Well, speak 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 end up coming.”

  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. They stashed a small almost negligible amount of it away for the Tribe while the rest would 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 they saw. 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 with no reason apparent to the Goblins.

  And since the Goblins couldn’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 other vile and unspeakable acts.

  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 patrol every day, but they came most days, and since they weren’t there yesterday, 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. They weren’t moving slowly. It wouldn’t take very long before they reached the Tribe.

  The Goblins in the plains knew nothing about Orc evolutions, but they’d all be shocked to know that these two Orcs hadn’t even evolved once yet but were 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 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 Orc roaring in the tongue of Orcs throughout the Tribe.

  “THAT TRIBUTE BETTER BE FUCKING READY!”