Thariel looked at the Kobolds fighting the groups of goblins in the distance.

  The two sides had officially kickstarted the war with a skirmish between their respective scouts and the lands that surrounded the now deceased scouts was then turned into a battlefield where guerilla warfare reigned supreme.

  goblins and Kobolds alike popped in and out of bushes to deliver quick and deadly blows to their enemies or patiently waited under a thick bundle of fallen leaves in a fatal ambush.

  Thariel could smell everything happening inside this forest, not a single inch of bloodsoaked earth was safe from her nose. It made her feel hungry.

  Next to her, she caught Sylka looking uneasy. Like the Kobold was worried about the goblins suddenly breaching the front lines and murdering everyone. Sylka wasn't wrong to think like that, Thariel felt that way herself even

  No one around her could see what was going on back there, but from Thariel's own observations, the groups they sent out are doing great work in killing the goblins.

  The Kobolds from the crusher tribe were doing their jobs as the frontlines well while everyone else managed to utilize this to silently stab the goblins while they were occupied by the hulking mass of muscle.

  Despite pushing forward without much issue, there are still no signs of the goblin generals, which meant that whatever they were doing now wasn't good enough to cause one of them to pop out.

  "That or they could be preparing a trap, one of them specializes in poison," Velkris, the smart Kobold from the Leaftop Tribe, suggested amongst his peers. Thariel listened in as they discussed the situation more.

  "That's a... A grim possibility..." A chief murmured.

  Thariel looked away from the group commanding the army and went back to looking at the forest through infrared vision. She saw nothing but bright red coloration amidst shades of yellow but occasionally, the red would sputter out or spill out as a fountain. This commonly meant someone was either injured or dead.

  There were also other ways she used to tell apart the living creatures from the plant life but contrast coloration and how the red spilled around the yellow canvas is her main way of doing it.

  Thariel picked up her bow and primed it with an arrow. On rare occasions, she'd also find herself realizing that she was looking at a hob goblin and on times like that, she'd help out the war efforts by shooting them down.

  In this case, she killed three of the larger hybrids consecutively and saved at least half a dozen groups of Kobold from certain death by doing so.

  She had been told that the lack of casualty was one of the main reasons why they're advancing so quickly, they also told her that her covering for wounded Kobolds with her archery is one of the main reasons why they are able to come back safe.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  The moans and groans coming from the nursing tents was a bit unnerving but it was better than hearing the constant crying of a widowed wife or seeing the tears of an orphaned kid when they go back home.

  Thariel kept firing supporting fire as the skirmishes neared the cave where the goblins lived, hoping it'll save more foot soldiers. No matter how much she did this though, some of the Kobolds still died.

  Casualties were normal in war, she told herself this but seeing it happen right before her eyes made her realize that no matter how much she mentally prepared herself, a life getting taken right before her eyes was just not easy to ignore.

  She wondered if the goblins felt the same way but quickly saw one of them step over the corpses of their fallen brethren while her mask was off and realized that no, they most likely didn't.

  Goblins barely felt anything towards their fellow greenskins so their brothers and sisters getting killed didn't phase them. It made them glad even, since they now have less competition when it comes to food and other resources.

  "They just don't stop coming don't they?" Sylka asked as she neared. Thariel looked at her, Sylka smiled, "the meeting's finished, they said we don't need to worry about tactics anymore now that we're being swarmed."

  "What about the goblin generals?" Thariel was curious about those guys, she has been ever since she learned about them but so far, none of them have popped up.

  There is still a precaution about poison being spread around their troops so the generals are clearly problematic to deal with but since they still haven't shown themselves, the others said they didn't have to worry about it.

  "They're most likely evacuating." Said Sylka, "it's the only reasonable conclusion that I can come up with when seeing their absence."

  "So what we're fighting now are just fodder?" Thariel asked in horror. If they escape, doesn't that mean there's a good chance they'll come back even stronger and with more numbers?

  "Yes." Sylka confirmed, "but if you're worried about the goblins coming back, then I don't think they will."

  "How's that?" Thariel looked away from her and focused back on the battlefield.

  "Just a hunch." Sylka replied vaguely.

  ...

  A Vampire stood over the fallen corpse of the Satyr.

  The Satyr took hold of its spilt entrails with one arm and supported itself upright with the other by holding onto a branch.

  It tried to stand back up but a kick to the chin caused it to fall back down in a painful squelch.

  The undead stepped forward, his blade beginning to spin.

  The Satyr's head was lopped off and all that remained of itself and its children after its death was wrapped into a large ball of silk and dragged into the darkness.

  ...

  Just a hunch huh?..

  Thariel smiled bitterly, she hoped that Sylka's words are true and that the Satyr doesn't come back with more hybrids in the future.

  For now, she should probably focus back to the ongoing war.

  Unlike what she expected, the war didn't last that long- just a single night, - and by the end of it, the casualties in their side were so small that it barely mattered.

  The loot of the goblins weren't all that great either, anything they had she could just buy from Liora. And at a higher quality at that.

  She came back to the Crawlfish Tribe with the rest of the tribesmen while feeling that the entire thing was a little anticlimactic. But maybe that was for the best.

  After the coming back victorious, a small celebration erupted in the Crawlfish Tribe and that lasted for a bit. The entire time Thariel stood at the sidelines, not considering herself important enough to celebrate alongside everyone else.

  As everything winded down, Thariel found herself talking to Sylka on the outskirts of the tribe.

  "I want to talk with you about something," Sylka started, "it mainly concerns my future,"

  "Your future?" Thariel turned to the Kobold to see her nod, "what does that mean?"

  "It means that I want to take my first steps out into the world with you," Sylka further elaborated.

  "What are you trying to say?" Thariel chuckled nervously.

  "I'm saying that I want to leave the tribe and go with you," Sylka looked Thariel in the eyes, "if you'll allow it."

  "Uh..." Thariel rubbed the back of her head and looked at the moon. Well then, this was unexpected. "Everyone is okay with this?"

  "Yes." Sylka nodded.

  "Okay, but you know that I'm gonna be with humans for the foreseeable future right? You're okay with that?" She was going to join the villainness' party at some point and if Sylka wanted to tag along, then she first needed to know if the Kobold was fine with being around humans.

  "Of course, I don't mind. You can even give me titles to explain why I am with you." Sylka nodded. And even though the implications of her words were left in the air, Thariel knew what she meant.

  Hopefully, things don't have to come down to her calling Sylka her slave in the future.

  "Great. Uhm... Welcome to my party, I guess?" Thariel pushed away the awkwardness she was feeling with a forced giggle.