Hog Ring headed for one of the special rooms built into the cavern’s walls.

  “What’s this about?” I asked as we stomped sleeping goblins beneath our feet.

  They alternated between cursing at us or squealing in pain before returning to sleep.

  The light from the nearby torches cast shadows over Hog Ring’s face. He glanced at me from over his shoulder and bared his teeth. “We’re running out of time if we wish to get ahead of the other clans. Rumor has it that the war of succession will soon be resolved. And, you know what comes next after that nonsense is over.”

  I actually didn’t.

  Hog Ring went off on a tangent about the goblin clans and their alliances but didn’t mention anything about the Dragon Lord or the rumored Goblin Prince. I humored him with noncommittal responses as he spoke, taking the chance to observe my surroundings.

  We faced less than a five percent chance of making it out of the cave alive if the goblins uncovered our presence. The existence of a single exit, defended by hundreds of enemies only served to worsen our chances. Narrow tunnels waited beyond that, filled with sentries and—if I knew anything about goblin tactics—booby-trapped in case of an assault.

  Kajal was probably brilliant enough to free the prisoners without raising a ruckus. But, she couldn’t pull off miracles. Which was where I came in. As the true [Impostor] within our party, it fell on me to buy us the window we needed to make our escape. Could I leverage Hagar’s standing within the horde?

  “Where are the other Captains?” I asked the still-yapping Hog Ring.

  He replied without taking a breath. “Out on the surface. They decided to establish a temporary camp in the west. This elf village is harder to seize than any of the others. We’ve lost many maggots.”

  That was refreshing to hear.

  We passed a room that smelled like an outhouse and another that reeked of oil. The next room had livestock in it—Dread Goats, I realized—typified by the gamey smells of hide and droppings. Another room effused uncomfortable heat, backed by a couple of dying furnaces that glowed visibly within its confines. A smithy, then? Or a cookhouse? What else did the goblins eat other than meat?

  Three more chambers stood further away from our position, veiled by torn curtains to maintain a sense of privacy. Hog Ring approached the largest of the three and cleared his throat to announce his presence.

  The vast room beyond the curtain consisted of a crude desk and a cloth bed, stuffed with thatch. Piles of items and weapons, in various stages of disrepair, lined the walls. A wizened, old goblin with greying eyebrows sat at the desk, reading a scroll in candlelight. And, dangling on the wall behind him . . .

  “No!”

  The old goblin looked up sharply. “No?”

  I couldn’t find the words because up there on the wall hung the corpse of old Nana Irithiel.

  Nothing mattered again at that point. Not the plan. Or the prisoners. Or even my fucking life. My feet moved before I could stop myself in a beeline for the aged goblin—

  “Hagar!” Hog Ring roared.

  His tone knocked me to my senses. I stood now in front of the old goblin’s desk, breathing harshly.

  The old goblin shot me a curious look from across a pair of crude spectacles. “Explain.”

  I reached for my inventory—

  Nana took a shuddering breath.

  No way . . .

  “Explain,” the old goblin repeated.

  The words reached me as though from a distance, struggling to pierce through the haze of rage. I bit my tongue to stifle the burning within me and looked the old goblin straight in the face.

  Galagor. It had to be him. There was no one else he could be. He cut a rather frail image for a creature that had supposedly defeated Nana Irithiel. And yet, impossible as it was to believe, there she hung behind him like a life-sized trophy.

  The elf matron swayed on the wall, strung up by a series of rusty rune-crafted chains. Her matted grey hair, stained with dried blood, fell over her face. A large wooden pillory immobilized her arms and neck, inscribed with even more runes. Her once colorful robes lay shredded and torn, revealing bruised, bleeding skin. Some of those wounds seemed reminiscent of lashes . . .

  And, goddammit. My vision reddened again.

  Galagor watched me with narrowed eyes, reaching for something beneath his desk.

  Come on, Damien. This could wait. Nana still breathed, and that was all that mattered. If I didn’t act now to remedy the situation, I would jeopardize the mission and what remained of her life.

  With no option left, I fell to my knees. “I’m sorry I failed.”

  Hog Ring sputtered at the display. But, I had made my choice.

  Hagar was a prideful Soldier who had risen to the Captain rank on the back of his effort. Taking a knee didn’t seem like a good choice among goblins, but a strange intuition pushed me in that direction. It was probably [Impostor] at work. The technique allowed me to copy mannerisms, bringing my behavior in line with that of Hagar’s.

  Despite that, I held my breath.

  Galagor raised a bushy eyebrow. “That’s fine—” And then, he fired a crossbow from behind his desk, aimed at my chest.

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  The quarrel hit Hagar’s gauntlets, which I raised in an X-shape to intercept the shot. The solid leather nearly buckled under the momentum of the missile and threw me onto my back.

  A [System] screen buzzed in the periphery.

  Warning!

  You have taken 8% damage to HP in one hit!

  Do note that [Impostor] unravels following a single damage instance of 10%.

  My blood turned frigid.

  Thankfully, Galagor didn’t continue the attack. He smirked instead and nodded in satisfaction. “Apologies will not suffice, Hagar. In any other circumstance, I will have your head.”

  Hog Ring looked conflicted, glancing between his leader and me. I saved him the trouble and picked myself off the ground.

  “Problem?” Galagor asked. He raised his crossbow for appraisal as if he hadn’t just tried to murder his subordinate.

  I glanced at Nana whose chest trembled with shallow breaths. “None, sir.”

  “Good.” Galagor lowered his weapon and lifted his spectacles off his face. He produced a dirty rag to clean the crude lenses which seemed to be held by glue. “We are short on strong fighters at the moment, Hagar, so consider this mercy. However, you cannot be forgiven for going missing and losing an entire squad. Without your Sorcerers, the conquest has ground to a halt.”

  “I apologize.”

  “Do not test my ire. What good does an apology do? Even now, I struggle with the desire to rend you limb from limb.”

  Try it and see, imp.

  I could picture a fossil like Galagor leading the goblin army with his wealth of experience, but he didn’t strike me as someone to fear. Not only did he not seem like a combatant, but Galagor’s aura painted the area around him in a silvery glow.

  Only a Gold could hope to defeat another Gold. And yet, my eyes did not deceive me. He had somehow captured Nana and pilloried her like a common slave.

  “Galagor, sir!” Hog Ring said. “Hagar might have made a grave mistake. But, he didn’t return empty-handed. He captured some humans from the surface to make up for his blunder!”

  Galagor stopped his cleaning. “Oh? The humans have finally joined the war?”

  “No,” I said and swallowed hastily. Gosh, my arms stung. “I don’t think so. But, those three were members of a scouting party, either operating on their lonesome or some other’s behalf.”

  “And, you managed to capture them using what resources?”

  I thought up an excuse in record time. “A good number of my soldiers survived the initial assault. We eventually regrouped and enacted revenge. At great cost.”

  Galagor furrowed his brows. “So, rather than return, you chose to spend an entire week and change locked in battle with the humans?”

  “And, the elves. It was a fight beyond my control. At some point, we were hounded all the way to Nyneveh.”

  I sucked at lying. The longer this went on, Galagor was bound to find a loophole in my story. [Impostor], however, lent me a straight face. Damien might have been a jittery liar, but Hagar the Goblin Captain enjoyed the respect of those around him and the confidence it granted.

  Galagor paused for a second time at the mention of Nyneveh. “You entered that foul domain?”

  “As close to it as I dared,” I said. “I made it back here after surmounting its challenges.”

  “I see. Nyneveh cannot be touched. Not yet, at least. Not until the horde comes pouring out of the mountains. The window until that happens grows ever shorter.”

  Hog Ring went pale in the face. “The rumors are true, then? About an end to the struggle for succession? When that happens, the survivors will come for your head!”

  Really? Was Galagor an enemy of the other Goblin Chiefs? What the hell were they talking about?

  Galagor tapped the scroll which he had been reading. “All the more reason why we must hasten our plans. We have two World Shrines now. One more to go. You have performed admirably, but we are behind schedule.” He scowled at me. “That is why I am sending you, Hagar, to bolster our western forces. You will make up for this setback with your life if need be.”

  Hog Ring perked up. “It seems the other captains are botching the war effort. Let me go, sir! Let me lead the troops.”

  “No. I have a different task for you. One that requires finesse. In a few days, I will return to the Fanged Mountains. Someone needs to keep the horde oblivious to my movements. A huge distraction will help.”

  I listened with rapt attention, connecting the onslaught of information with the little I knew. A goblin horde typically began with an increase in inter-goblin conflict, leading to the evolution of more powerful classes. At the peak of that evolutionary chain was the Goblin Calamity. But, that class hadn’t been seen in ages.

  It was more common for a Goblin Prince to emerge as leader of the horde. And, according to Kreeta, one Prince had supposedly assumed the mantle. Why then was there still fighting among the goblins?

  Nana groaned in the background, delirious with pain. Her presence scrambled my nerves, hampering my ability to think clearly. An overwhelming feeling of relief swelled in my chest at the fact that she had survived the odds. But, that joyous feeling clashed with hatred for Galagor at her plight.

  Sadly, this wasn’t the time. Galagor had more information than anyone else on the situation in Dreadwood. So, I strangled my wrath and raised the question:

  “Have you learned anything new about the situation in the mountains, sir?”

  Galagor smirked. “A few things. More heads are going to roll over the next few days once the Prince’s hibernation is complete. They will not enjoy my surprise.” He glanced at Nana. “You’ve been staring at the hag an awful lot, Hagar. Unfortunately, I need her alive. If you need some other soul to whet your thirst for vengeance on, torture one of the other slaves.”

  I bowed at him for fear of revealing the emotion on my face.

  Galagor grabbed his crossbow and rose to his feet. “Nevertheless, you two may leave the situation in the Fanged Mountains to me. Prepare to depart for the western front, Hagar.”

  “Right now?” I asked.

  “Why not?”

  I struggled to think of a reason.

  Hog Ring, with his inability to stay quiet, provided one. “The first batch of munitions will be ready by tonight, sir. If time is of the essence, I propose that we grant Hagar and his reinforcements permission to deploy them.”

  Galagor took a moment to consider. “Permission granted. I am also curious about these humans whom Hagar captured. They might yet reveal some secrets when put to the test.” He clucked his tongue at Nana. “This one held out brilliantly, as expected of a Gold. Hopefully, I’ll find a softer target.”

  That could not be allowed to happen. Unassuming though he was, Galagor seemed to possess a rather mean streak. And, he would probably notice that something was amiss should he encounter the others.

  “I will grill the humans and reveal their secrets,” I offered. “I have a bone to pick with them anyway. You shall not be displeased with my work.”

  Galagor shrugged and placed his spectacles on his nose. He walked around the desk, toward us and the exit of the room. “I’d still like some time with them either way. But, that can wait till my return. We’ll chop the strongest into pieces and send their parts to Skeelie.”

  Hog Ring frowned. “You want to force the humans into battle before we finish with the elves?”

  “You make such inane claims”—and this time, Galagor’s yellow eyes glinted—“The elves are already finished. I’m just ensuring that the horde finds enough enemies to occupy themselves with by the time they emerge from hiding. Now then, follow me to the surface. I have some final instructions to impart.” He turned to me. “You have earned a second chance in my army, Hagar. Do not disappoint.”

  “Yes.” I lowered my head.

  Hog Ring and Galagor vacated the office, leaving me alone with Nana.

  This was our chance. With two of the strongest goblin officers away, we had little blocking our chances. Kajal would be working to free the other prisoners at the moment, which meant that I could focus on the only one that mattered.

  I approached Nana and reached for her face.