“What do you want fox.”

  “Why are you bullying the Goblins?”

  “All I did was wake up.”

  “Restrain your aura.”

  “Is that command fox?”

  The fox didn’t respond and just stared at the giant Serpent impassively.

  “Fine. Where is the little pup? Did it leave the forest?”

  The natural aura that emanating from the Serpent was retracted and from the Goblins to many different beasts in the area finally sighed a breath of relief as it no longer felt like there were a moment away from death.

  “The pup forgot its place.”

  That was all the fox needed to say for the Serpent to understand what happened.

  “I see. Why do you care for the Goblins?”

  “They are interesting.”

  “Hmm…it seems so. A community of Goblins. There have been many changes while I slept. I can even smell a lot more Goblins heading this way. Along with the smell of Orcs.

  “Tell me fox. Why are Orcs entering this forest? Did I not forbid them from doing so? Is it you’re doing?”

  “No.”

  “I see. I’ll leave the Goblins alone. For now.”

  The Serpent then fully made its way out of the lake, displacing a amount of water as it slithered out of the lake and onto land. It lowered itself a bit more to the ground and began moving in the direction of the Plains.

  Of course, this was also the direction that Rick and his large group were walking towards the village from, while the Orcs only recently entered the forest were moving in the direction.

  The fox watched it leave for a few moments before disappearing as well.

  ….

  Around the time the Serpent exited the lake.

  “I’m telling you Velora, I…-what is that…Velora…do you feel this as well?”

  [No, I don’t feel anything. Describe the feeling.]

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  ‘it’s hard to describe…it’s just a feeling, perhaps one that’s even slightly ominous. Part of me thinks this is my imagination playing tricks on me due to stress, but I’m confident I feel something. Just don’t know what exactly.’

  [Rick, look at Rogu.]

  ‘Got it…why does he look so distraught? Like he seen some sort of ghost.’

  [Perhaps he felt the feeling as well.]

  ‘Ah yeah he really might’ve.’

  “Rogu. What’s wrong?”

  “Ah My Lord. I apologize for my appearance, but a powerful beast has just made its presence known. I am not sure what it is or exactly how strong it is, but it is without a doubt a powerful creature My Lord, at least on the level of the fox. The presence is coming from the direction we are headed in My Lord.”

  “The same level as the fox…huh. That is something…”

  ‘Velora. Do you think it’s the monster that lives in the lake?’

  [There is a high probability of that happening. We knew there would always be a chance of whatever slept in lake to wake up at any moment. This could’ve been that moment.]

  ‘Dammit. I want to run all the way back to the village right this second.’

  [It is likely not wise to do that.]

  ‘I know…I know. We can’t abandon the Goblins here and we have no idea if and when Orcs will show up. All I can do is hope my home is safe and Jaba managed to bring everyone into the caves in time. It is something we practiced for in case this very situation happened…sigh.’

  [I believe Jaba will handle it accordingly.]

  ‘I hope so. Though while I know we can’t and won’t abandon the Goblins here, that doesn’t mean we can’t increase the speed of our travels even by just a bit more. Geedi and the Royal Guards shouldn’t be that much farther than us, we need to try and catch up. If Jaba followed our evacuation plans, then the village would be empty right now, and depending on the situation it would be empty for weeks as everyone bunkers down in the cave. So, there is chance Geedi, and the rest might encounter whatever beast that showed up on their own, without any support.

  ‘We need to do our best to avoid that.’

  “Rogu, we will be traveling a bit faster. The village could be in trouble, and we are still around a month away. We have to make up as much ground as possible.”

  “Understood My Lord, it will happen.”

  And true to his word, Rogu had the entire group speed up. They weren’t exactly running, but they were no longer walking leisurely. Rick didn’t want to strain them too much, but they definitely had to move faster.

  Of course, what Rick or any of Goblins didn’t know what as that they were now in somewhat of a precarious situation.

  From one side, a powerful Serpent that was big and strong enough to wipe them all out was now heading their way with intentions still unknown.

  While on the other side, a massive contingent of Orcs was speedily heading their way. Although the group was bigger than Rick’s group of Goblins, overall, it was far stronger and thus it moved faster.

  100 Tier 3 Orcs, 100 Tier 4 Orcs, and 1 Tier 5 Orc. All warriors by trade and not completely unfamiliar with long treks such as this. While Rick’s group had contained a majority of Tier 0 and Tier 1 Goblins, their speed couldn’t be quite compared.

  And due to the number of footprints, trails and temporary camps set up by the Goblins, the Orcs barely spent any time tracking and literally spent almost every waking moment blazing a path along the trail.

  Orkush, the only Tier 5 Orc present did not accept anything less that that. He was pushing them as hard as they could go. He was desperate to wipe the Goblins off the face of the world and return with their heads to lay at the feet of his War Chief. He was chasing the glory that something of that magnitude would bring.

  Though, he had no idea that what awaited him at the end the path he was on wasn’t glory…

  Of course, it would be quite a while before he truly realizes the error of his ways.