Chapter 3

Morning dawned clear and warm, but storm clouds could be seen forming to the south. Dizzy stood in front of his hut, twisting his head to stretch the muscles in his neck. He watched as the goblins began to wake up and prepare themselves for the upcoming raid. A moment later, he smiled as Kitty came out from behind her hovel with Mouse and Kat. The three female goblins had been up for a while, getting something to eat and tossing food into the whelps’ pen. The goblin whelps fought over the scraps, grabbing the most significant bits and swallowing them whole.

“Where’s Slugger?” he asked when Kitty came near.

“He is in the temple with the Chief, putting final touches on the plan,” she replied with a vast yawn. She had a large mouth for the size of her head, filled with sharp, white teeth. Dizzy stifled a yawn of his own and went to wake up YDB. It would be best for the three to be together when Slugger and the Chief came to address the goblins.

The other goblins began to gather, forming into the teams Slugger had designated the previous day. Only two had to be moved to their correct squads.

“Good morning, my warriors!” boomed the Chief as he exited the temple alongside Slugger.

“Today, we strike a blow for goblins everywhere! We will loot and burn the town of Driftwood Landing, taking anything we desire and return to our homes here in the swamp!”

Slugger stepped forward and added, “We will be swift, sure, and violent! Take everything, burn anything we can’t take, and let the humans there know that the goblins of Dross Swamp are not to be trifled with!”

“What does ‘trifled’ mean?” asked Dizzy.

“Be mean to,” answered Kitty.

“Ah, got it.”

Slugger stared fiercely at the mob that was his army, looking for anyone not paying attention.

“Who was talking? Be silent when I’m speaking!” roared the goblin warrior.

Dizzy and Kitty ducked down, avoiding Slugger’s searching eye.

Slugger glared at the assembled goblins for a long moment.

“Better. Gather up your armor, your weapons, and be ready to march by the time I count to ten, ten times!”

The warrior began to count slowly to ten, forming his hands into fists, and releasing a single finger every time he reached ten. Goblins scurried about, struggling into their makeshift armor, grabbing weapons and burlap bags for the loot they would capture from the townspeople.

Dizzy, Kitty, and YDB were already prepared. Dizzy had passed on the pots and pans armor, preferring to just wear his tunic and pants. He wasn’t likely to get in a fight directly and needed speed more than the ability to survive getting hit.

His sword was at his hip. He had abandoned the pot helmet from the night before when he realized that he couldn’t cut out eye holes. Neither Kitty nor YDB wore armor. Kitty had a green bag with a red cross symbol she salvaged from a fallen soldier. It had held bandages, something she could have used the day before. There were some glass bottles with tiny white stones of some sort, but she didn’t know what they were.

Kitty also had a short knife on her belt, and her bow was slung across her back and chest. YDB had his bamboo bombs strapped across his chest, Kitty’s crowbar from the previous day, and a small dagger at his hip. In a belt pouch, he had several special fireworks he had made, and some fire starters he would use to light the fuses on his bombs.

“Rescue Team ready, Battle Boss!” called out Dizzy. Slugger nodded, then paused as he tried to remember his place while counting. He started at one again, giving Dizzy a dirty look

Dizzy struggled to keep his face neutral. YDB bent down to pick up a bit of fuse he had dropped. Kitty had the best poker face and looked blandly at Slugger until the warrior turned to yell at the assembling goblins.

“Quickly, quickly! We need to get a move on so we can be back before nightfall!”

Soon the goblins were formed into three squads, each behind their leaders. Storm wore black leather armor, cut tighter and neater than the dirty brown leather that many of the goblins wore. The huge blade he had strapped to his back looked unwieldy in the hands of the three-foot, six-foot-tall goblin, but Dizzy knew he was skilled in using the weapon.

Lazybutt wore a green cloak and hood, with a normal goblin-sized sword on his back along with a red and blue painted shield. Smash didn’t use a sword, favoring a large wooden maul ringed with iron hoops. Each leader looked at the goblin troops who were to follow them into the town to make sure they were clear on who was their squad leader.

The Chief whispered a few words to Slugger, and the Battle Boss nodded.

“Time to move out! Stick to the trails, but don’t let yourselves be seen. Once we get near the town, stay down until we have a chance to scout out our best attack routes,” ordered Slugger. The goblin pointed at the nearest trail leading through the swamp to an area close to the village.

“Move out!”

The goblins began marching, heading to their intended raid. As always, they chattered about the loot they were soon to steal, and the joy of causing chaos for chaos’ sake.

“I’m going to stab every dog I see! Stupid dogs! Hate all of them!” said one.

“Treasure! That’s what I want! Gold and jewels and shiny cloth!” laughed another.

“I bet I kill at least five humans,” boasted a third.

Dizzy said nothing but was excited to be going on a raid. He and Kitty watched the younger goblins to make sure none strayed from the path. YDB simply walked along, glancing at the occasional bird.

The swamp was alive with noise. Goblins, even a large raiding party like the one Dizzy and friends were a part of, were naturally quiet. Small and lightweight, and most swamp goblins didn’t own shoes or boots. Bare feet made for nearly no noise on the soft ground.

Life in the swamp flourished around the goblin war party. Birds chirped and flitted past. A snake hissed at the lead scouts, but it quickly turned and fled into the bush. A splash indicating an alligator nearby froze all the goblins in place, but after a long moment of no further noise, they continued their march.

Eventually, the marsh rose to dryer land. Slugger called a halt and ordered them into defensive positions. Summoning his three squad leaders and Dizzy, he took them aside.

“We’re going to need to check out the town before we attack. The five of us will scout the town’s walls and gates, and if possible, what it looks like inside.

“We need to keep the rest of our force back behind the tree line, so the humans don’t spot us. Storm, you’re the quickest, you check the far side of the town. I will check the main gates with Lazybutt. Dizzy, you go with Smash and check the near side wall for ways over, under, or through. Don’t trip over your own feet this time.”

Dizzy scowled at the insult. With a sigh, he stood and gestured for Smash to lead the way. The scouts split up and headed to their designated locations to see if there was any way for the goblins to enter the town without too much risk.

The town had a stockade all the way around. Part of the wall extended into the small harbor. Outside the town were a few tents scattered over the open ground. Dizzy knew these would be poor travelers, probably looking for work. They wouldn’t have anything worth stealing, but setting their tents on fire might be fun. Now was too soon, they didn’t want to give away their presence to the guards. But when they fled the town, a tossed torch might be good for a laugh.

Dizzy and Smash quickly made it to the wall without being seen. Near the structure, were several large trees, their branches reaching over into the town. Smash pointed to one, then wiggled his fingers, indicating that Dizzy needed to climb it and make sure it was strong enough to let a swarm of goblins over the wall.

Smash climbed a second tree, staying low on the branch as he crawled out and looked into the town. Dizzy slipped out onto his branch, scanning the town’s streets and buildings.

There was a narrow catwalk inside the wall, leading to the watchtowers at each of the four corners. To Dizzy’s right, a bored guard stood in one, looking down at farmers and merchants coming in through the main gate. The guard post to the left was unmanned and looked over the swamp where little traffic could be expected.

Dizzy waved at Smash, pointed two fingers at his own eyes, then at the back wall. Smash nodded in agreement. No guards meant an easy way into or out of town. Once the goblins made it into the swamp, no human would be able to catch them.

Dizzy scanned the townspeople below. Mostly humans, but three elves were standing near a fountain in the town square. A tavern stood nearby, with a muscular and heavily bearded dwarf drinking his morning ale on the veranda. Several children ran past the tavern, heeding the call of a school bell.

As Dizzy watched, he spotted a specific child in the group. It was the girl who owned that damned evil cat. His eye still throbbed from the encounter with her cat, and he searched to see if the little demon was anywhere nearby.

“Gwen! Gwen, you silly kitty! Get down from there!” called the girl. Dizzy shifted his view and spotted the cat on the roof of the tavern.

“Gwen, I have to get to class! I only get to come once a week, so you have to stay with me! Come down here, right now!”

The cat, like every other cat in the world, studiously ignored her owner and proceeded to lick between her toes.

The teacher stopped ringing the bell and began calling the names of the students.

“Oh, you darned cat! I got to go! Don’t you be getting lost!”

The girl ran off to the school, pausing to apologize to the teacher before ducking into the building. Gwen scratched her ears, then sat on the rooftop and scanned the surrounding area. Dizzy and the cat locked eyes, and Gwen hissed at the goblin. Dizzy backed down the branch, then dropped to the ground.

“That’s the cat that clawed me. I’d like to…” he began, but Smash held a finger over his lips. Dizzy nodded, and the two goblins faded back into the woods.

Dizzy and Smash followed along the wall to the far end. Searching along the base showed several places where the wood was rotted from exposure to the swamp. Kicking the logs resulted in breaking several at the bottom. Smash used his wood maul to knock a few more sections loose, leaving three goblin-sized holes at the base of the wall. Dizzy and Smash peeked in to see if anyone had heard the noise. No one came to investigate.

“Let’s get back to Slugger, and let him know what we saw and did,” said Dizzy. Smash nodded and led the way back.

Slugger and Lazybutt were waiting when Dizzy and Smash arrived. A moment later, Storm showed. Slugger formed a quick huddle with his squad leaders.

“Anything look good?” asked the Battle Boss. Storm shook his head.

“We found two trees we can climb and get over the wall, and we also broke a few boards at the back wall. We have an escape route the townies won’t expect,” answered Dizzy.

“Good, good. You’re not completely useless then,” said Slugger.

Slugger added his observations. “There is only one guard at the gate and the one up in the tower. If we can get to those bushes near the gate without being seen, we can get most of our troops inside fast. Then it’s a matter of grabbing as much as we want and breaking everything else. Storm, Lazybutt, and their two squads will stay with me and my squad, Smash will lead his team up and over the wall. Dizzy, you and your friends will go over the wall as well, but I want all of you to stay back and up high to keep an eye on the action. If someone gets into trouble, they’ll need you to be ready. Might be a good idea to stay in the trees, or on top of the wall so you can see more.”

Dizzy nodded at the suggestion.

“All right, let’s get the troops ready. This is going to be epic!” crowed Slugger. All the goblin leaders grinned, including Dizzy.