Morning came damp and drizzly, steady rain falling on the hapless goblins.

“YDB, time to get going,” said Dizzy as he shook his friend.

“Cake?” asked YDB.

“No more. You ate it all last night.”

YDB patted his belly and smiled. “Yummy.”

Dizzy stood and pulled on his sword belt. Both curving blades swung neatly behind him, and he drew both in a blur, crossing them in front of his chest.

“You’ll cut yourself if you keep that up,” said Kitty sarcastically.

“No, I won’t. I’m always OUCH!” Dizzy looked at his thumb where the first blade crossed the second. He saw blood and dropped the sword to suck on his thumb.

“Careful? Here, let me,” said Kitty as she reached for her kit. Unrolling a length of gauze, she quickly wrapped his wounded thumb.

Shaking his head ruefully, Dizzy cautiously returned the blades to their scabbards.

“The elf looked fierce in the picture,” he grumbled.

“I bet he did. But you need to practice with wooden swords before trying the real thing. Then I only have to worry about removing splinters.”

Kitty winked at Dizzy with a smile, and the goblin couldn’t help but smile back.

“All right, listen up! We’re moving out in fifty breaths,” yelled Slugger. The big goblin looked up at the gray sky. “The rain will cover any tracks we’ve left. If the humans were tracking us last night, they’re going to have to give up today.”

Glaring at them he continued, “Gather up your stuff and get moving. There is food aplenty back in the village. You will all move faster on an empty stomach.”

While the goblins scrambled to move out, Slugger looked hard in the direction they had come from the night before. The mists and rain of the swamp obscured his view. He shook his head. The humans hadn’t stumbled upon them in the night, and he couldn’t hear anything.

As he surveyed his raiding party, his eyes fell upon Dizzy. Dizzy looked back nervously. The battle boss flicked his eyes to Dizzy’s freshly bandaged thumb and shook his head.

The goblins quickly grabbed their bedrolls, quickly stuffed them into sacks, took up their weapons and armor, and nodded to Slugger once they were ready.

“Move out!”

Everyone made their way across the driest bits of ground they could find, heading for the village. Heads were held high as they thought about the treasures they had stolen from the humans. The Chief couldn’t help but be happy with their success.

Slugger moved up and down through the ranks, directing his leaders to keep an eye on their squad for stragglers. Glancing at Dizzy’s small troop, he scowled.

“Keep up, Rescue Squad. We don’t have anyone to rescue you,”

Kitty rolled her eyes, and whispered to Dizzy, “Why does he have it in for you so bad?”

“I dunno. He just always has. Let’s keep moving.”

The goblins made their final march to their village. No sounds of pursuit followed, but Slugger kept falling back to make sure. After an hour, the big goblin stopped checking. He urged the squad leaders to verify no tracks were being left.

Soon, the village came into view. Slugger moved to the front, Dizzy beside him. The two goblins scanned the village before entering. Dizzy noted something wasn’t right and put his hand on Slugger’s elbow to slow the warrior down.

The few older goblins, the females with whelps, and the Chief with his bodyguards and concubines could not be seen. Slugger growled as he continued scanning the area.

“Hold up. Somethin’ ain’t right…” he began. Slugger waved his hand up and down, palm to the ground. The goblins nearby dropped to avoid being seen.

“What’s going on?” asked Dizzy.

“Could be trouble,” replied Slugger. “Keep everyone back, then you and I are going to go check things out.” Before moving into the village, Slugger handed his loot bag to YDB.

“Don’t lose this, and don’t try to claim it as your own,” he warned YDB. The other goblin nodded his understanding.

Dizzy looked around, spotting Kitty, Cheese, and YDB first, then the three squad leaders. He put his finger to his lips and repeated Slugger’s “get down” signal. The goblins further back began dropping and spreading out to avoid being seen.

“All right, let’s go. And keep quiet,” said Slugger.

The two goblins cautiously entered the goblin village, scanning for any sign of life. The fire pits were smoldering, but the cook pots appeared to be filled with the burnt remains of goblin stew. Dizzy peeked in one and saw the charred remains of frogs, possums, snakes, and wild onions. Goblin stew was made from whatever goblins could find, then toss into a pot. They usually stopped before the food was ruined, but this mess had been allowed to boil until everything was destroyed by the heat.

Dizzy scanned the village again and thought he noticed some movement near the temple.

“The palace. Maybe the Chief?” he whispered to Slugger.

“Let’s go check it. Go left, I’ll go right.”

The two moved carefully, their eyes on the temple palace.

The building appeared empty and abandoned—no guards at the top of the steps, no concubines sunning themselves. Cautiously climbing the steps, Dizzy and Slugger worked their way to the palace entrance, blades drawn. Peeking between the columns, Dizzy spotted three large forms leaning against the Big Cow. Behind the trio, two more hulking brutes were standing on either side of the Chief, weapons drawn.

“Where is the rest of your tribe,” growled the larger of the two. “We need more soldiers, and goblins are as good as any.”

“You better tell us, before we lose our temper,” said the other.

Slugger stared not believing his eyes. The five beings were orcs, hugely muscular, some wearing mismatched bits of armor and all wielding massive curved swords.

“They’re on a raiding mission, and when they get back, they will overwhelm you,” snarled the Chief. His two concubines cowered against the back wall, while the elderly, females, and whelps cringed from the gray-green skinned brutes. There was no sign of the Chief’s two bodyguards.

“Raiding, huh?” snarled the bigger orc. “Good. They will know the layout of the town. When are you expecting them to return?”

The Chief sneered. “Why should I tell you?”

“Because if you don’t, we’ll kill the whelps, then the women and old ones. We already killed your two warriors, do you think we won’t kill the rest?”

Slugger gripped his sword and glanced over at Dizzy. “Fall back,” he mouthed.

Dizzy nodded and began creeping down the steps, keeping low. Slugger did the same, watching for movement from above.

As the two goblins began to turn towards the swamp, two more orcs appeared from behind one of the huts.

“Hey! Hold it right there!” shouted one.

Dizzy and Slugger ran for it, but the two orcs had been too close when they spotted the goblins. As Dizzy and Slugger beat feet for the swamp, they charged. Leaping onto the much smaller goblins, the weight of the muscular orcs came down hard on the two fleeing goblins, driving them face-first into the ground.

“Get off of me!” snarled Slugger as he struggled in the grip of the orc. Dizzy felt himself rising in the air as the second orc lifted him and pinned his arms to his sides to keep him from grabbing his weapons.

“Isaar! We got two of them!”

The orc leader turned from where he had been threatening the Chief and jogged to the top of the steps. Looking down, he saw Slugger and Dizzy struggling in the arms of his soldiers.

“Bring them up here. Let’s see if the Chief here values them enough to keep them alive.”

The two orcs kept their grips on Slugger and Dizzy as they marched up the steps to the temple. They stopped in front of Isaar and nodded. Their grips never loosened.

“Well? Is this the best you have? Maybe we should just kill them and move on to the next goblin village,” threatened Isaar.

“No, wait!” cried the Chief. “Don’t kill them. Let them go, and the tribe will work with you.”

The big orc grinned. “You heard the Chief. Let them go.”

Dizzy and Slugger hit the stone floor of the temple with a thump as the two orcs dropped them. Staggering to his feet, Slugger began to reach for his sword.

“No Slugger! Not now,” whispered Dizzy fiercely. The two orcs scowled. The bigger lashed out with his foot and knocked Slugger’s hand away from the weapon.

“Don’t even think about it, small fry. There are plenty more where you came from. We won’t need to make more than one example, I’m sure,” growled the orc. The orc thumbed its weapon, making sure the goblin warrior understood.

Slugger glared at the orcs, then slumped his shoulders. He glanced at Dizzy for a moment, then looked away.

“Fine. You win. What do you want from us?” he asked the leader.

“Good choice, little goblin,” replied Isaar. “Very good choice. As for what we want, for now, I need information about that town you just raided, and of course extra troops. Your tribe seems a bit underfed but strong enough for our needs. Have your second here call up the rest of your raiders, and we’ll figure out what our best plan is to make a second visit to Driftwood Landing.”

With a sigh, Slugger sat down next to the Chief and began describing the town. He used his finger to draw a diagram of the walls, gates, and important buildings in the dust.

Dizzy looked around and saw the orcs staring at him. One orc nodded his head towards the swamp, indicating the goblins still hiding. Dizzy ran down the steps to summon the rest of the tribe into the village.

Reaching the edge of the swamp, Dizzy raised his hands over his head and waved back and forth. In ones and twos, the hidden goblins rose from their spots behind bushes and trees. The confusion on their faces could not be mistaken. Dizzy gave Kitty a wan smile as she and YDB came out of the mists.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

“Orcs. They have the Chief and the others. They want to know about the town we just raided. Slugger and Chief are talking with them now.”

“Orcs?” asked YDB.

“Yeah, orcs. They look like pirates. We might be able to take them, but a lot of goblins would be killed, I think. Maybe we should wait for a better opportunity,” answered Dizzy.

Storm, Lazybutt, and Smash looked grimly past Dizzy. Dizzy put up his hands to calm the trio.

“Slugger worked out a plan to get us in and out of Driftwood safely, I’m sure he’s working on a plan for us to get rid of those orcs as well,” reasoned Dizzy.

Kitty stood with Dizzy, giving him support with her presence. Before the other squad leaders could raise objections, five of the orcs marched up from the village.

“What’s the holdup? Get your people into town, and have them go stand in front of the temple. Isaar is going to want to talk to them, let them know how things are going to be,” rumbled the biggest of the five.

“And bring that pig up to the temple. We’re going to have pork for dinner tonight! You goblins will have to find something for yourselves!”

The orcs roared with laughter and took the side of pork from the hapless goblins who had been carrying it through the swamp for a day.

“And Isaar knows you just completed a raid. He’s going to want to see what you got, so you better not try hiding anything. Now move it!” The orcs began kicking at the goblins, driving them into the village.

Dizzy glanced over at Kitty, thinking about the wand she had found. He gestured with one hand as if casting a spell. She looked back, then held a finger to her lips. She had a secret, but it would have to wait for a bit.