Rick and the others looked at the scene before them quite somberly. It was something of an eye opener for them. With the goblins back home at the village, and the combined total of all the Goblins that were evacuated from the Plains, the total wouldn’t reach close to 500.

  It wouldn’t even reach half of that.

  And 500 is an important number because that’s the number of Orcs that were gathered in the area which was once Jala’s tribe. Although they had evacuated with some of their goods, and a few tents, the tribe was still largely intact when Rick departed from the area.

  Now it has been replaced by much larger tents, battlements that were being set up at this very moment, and there were various other things being built as Rich watched it all with clenched fists.

  The Orcs weren’t playing around any longer, and they were now flexing their muscles and proving why they had ruled these plains with an iron fist for generations, and why they would likely continue to rule it for generations to come. Unless of course someone had a say about it…

  POV Rick

  “My Lord, your orders?”

  ‘My orders huh…what do you think Velora. What should my orders be in this situation. Behind me stands a few Tiers 4 Goblins, and one Tier 5. A few tens of Tier 0 Goblins, and a handful of Tier 1s. Ahead of me stands what looks to be a few hundred Orcs of various shapes and sizes. From here alone I can tell there are more than just a few Tier 4 Orcs among the group and based on what I can see and feel, there are more than likely a few Tier 5s as well.

  ‘That’s the current situation, so what orders am I expected to give Velora? There’s not a single Orc in that field that’s weaker than Tier 3, and it even looks like they’re even beginning to build a smithy. They are preparing for a proper war effort. Yet here we are, not even finished with building our village yet and it’s two months away from here.

  ‘Is it worth it to even continue building the Outpost? If this entire force stormed into the forest, would it even have a chance at survival? We really are out of our scope here, but I refuse to try and even order the Goblins to fight against this. How can I even ask Rogu to fight against this?

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  ‘He’s been calling me his Future King, and even the My Lord stuff, but this is different. This is the reality of war. We killed a few of them and now they have deemed time to retaliate and unlike in the movies, they’re not going to just keep sending small squads to get wiped out one at a time until they are none left.

  ‘No…the second they realized something was wrong they came out in force. A force we have no hope of fighting against. Not without sacrificing every single Goblins standing behind me. And even then, there’s no hope in even getting on top. So, what are my orders, Velora? What else can they be other than retreating with our tail between our legs?’

  [There is no harm in retreating. You knew this war would be a hard fought one the second you decided to start it.]

  ‘I know…I know. It’s a bit much to see what were up against in force like this. And the scary part isn’t even what we see here. What’s scary is what we don’t see. There are other races in the Plains, and the Orcs definitely number far more than this. We have our work cut out for us don’t we Velora.’

  [We do, but we knew that and will be ready for it. Rogu has been silently waiting for your orders, you should probably respond.]

  ‘Your right.’

  “My orders Rogu, are to retreat. This is not a battle we can fight at the moment. We are better off retreating and come up with a different strategy.”

  “Understood My Lord, now if I may speak out of turn for moment. I believe this is the correct decision My Lord. Retreating is a part of war and knowing when to retreat is sometimes the most important ability of any strategist or commander. This war is not over My Lord. We will regroup and plan accordingly. My only suggestion is to potentially create a group of scouts that will monitor the activity of the Orcs.

  “It would be too late to come up with a plan and counter strategy if they suddenly show up at our doorstep without warning.”

  “Thank you for the kind words Rogu, it helps. We’ll work on scouts as soon as we can. For now, let’s retreat, while watching our backs.”

  Rick and the others then began walking away with Rick at the font of the group with Kris and Krel alongside him to lead him to the were the Outpost group’s direction, and Rogu was picking up the rear, keeping a careful eye on the Orc camp they were slowly moving away from.

  ….

  “So those green bastards are running away after all huh…are you sure we can’t just go after them right now? Only a few of them have any real strength, we could kill them before daybreak and get home in time for breakfast.”

  “You know what the War Chief said. We can’t enter the forest until he sends words. Apparently, he made a deal a long time ago with something that lives in the forest to never enter it. If you want to go against the War Chief then go right ahead, but I won’t stick up for you.”

  “Tch always the loyal dog.”

  “Say that again and see if you don’t lose a limb.”

  “You think I’m scared of you?”

  “Both of you shut the fuck up. The War Chief will be here in a few weeks, and if someone’s head is going to roll, it won’t be mine.”