Dizzy ran along the rooftops, keeping an eye on the advancement of the orcs below. He had to save at least a few of the people, but which ones? He scanned the bell tower, hoping to spot the elves from the previous raid.

“Kitty, any sign of those pointy-eared wizards?” he panted.

“Nope. I had expected to see some magic blasted orcs on the streets, but nothing so far.”

Skidding to a stop, Dizzy looked down at the town. The church was over there, no wedding today. The tavern was there, the school was there… The school!

“Let’s get those kids out of there,” said Dizzy. “Get them out the back, down into the sewer rooms. The orcs won’t check down there if we say we didn’t see anyone.”

Kitty nodded.

Running along the rooftops, Dizzy led Kitty and YDB to the back of the school house. The orcs were still up the street, fighting with the townsmen. There were two windows and a small door at the back of the school. Leaping down onto the flower planters someone had mounted below the window, Dizzy peered through the glass. Children were hiding under their desks, peering through the slats of their seats at where their teacher stood by the door. The teacher, a tall, thin man in a robe held a fire poker in his hands, ready to brain the first orc or goblin to enter through the school’s main door.

Dizzy rapped on the window with his sword hilt. Two kids nearest the windows turned and screamed when they saw Dizzy’s toothy grin.

“No, wait!” said Dizzy as he raised his hands in defense. It was too late, the teacher had charged across the room and smashed the glass with the poker, sending Dizzy flying. The screaming from inside was amplified as the glass and goblin fell to the ground.

“Stop, listen!” called Dizzy as the teacher threatened with the poker. “We’re not here to kill you!”

“Could have fooled me,” replied the teacher as Kitty dropped down to the ground to help Dizzy. YDB looked down from the rooftop.

“No, we are not,” explained Dizzy, stressing the word 'we.' “Us three. The orcs are making us do this. They took over our village, and made us march on the town.” While Dizzy tried to talk, Kitty stood beside him, hands away from her bow.

The teacher paused for a moment. Looking up, he spotted YDB above him. “I know you. You ruined the wedding two days ago.”

“Uh,” began Dizzy, but the teacher interrupted him.

“I hate the bride. She's no good for Jacob.” The teacher grinned, then scowled. He looked over his shoulder.

“Keep that bar in place!” he yelled at one of the students. Looking back down at Dizzy he said, “If you’re not here to kill us, then what?”

“We know a hiding place. But you gotta move fast. Once the orcs get here, they will kill everyone.”

“How do we know you’re not leading us into a trap?”

Before Dizzy could answer, one of the kids screamed, “They’re coming up the street!”

“You don’t. But we’re not going to hurt any of you. Let’s move!” replied Dizzy.

The teacher pushed open the door and stepped outside. “Which way?”

The children streamed out into the backyard. Dizzy looked left and right, but the surrounding buildings blocked the view between the front and back of the building. The orcs wouldn’t see the escape.

“Follow me.”

Dizzy ran towards the smoking remains of the outhouses. The teacher paused for a moment, not sure if Dizzy was on the level. Seeing where the goblin was heading, he understood Dizzy’s plan.

“Come on children! We need to get underground. Stay low, don’t make any noise.” He pointed at where the goblin was running. The kids began streaming after Dizzy.

“You need to go too,” said Kitty. She looked up at the man.

“I will. Just need to make sure no one is hiding in the classroom first. YDB finally jumped down from the roof but smashed through the flower box. “Oops.”

Pointing at the far end of the schoolhouse building, YDB added, “Orcs.”

“Looks like they’re almost here. Better make it quick,” said Kitty. She glanced across the open yard where Dizzy was leading the children towards the smoking hole. He stopped and pointed the way to the largest child, a boy with short-cropped hair.

“Gwen! I can’t find Gwen!” cried a voice from inside the classroom. Kitty turned and saw the little girl from the farm, looking under desks for her missing cat.

“We have to leave now! Gwen can take care of herself. She’s a smart kitty,” said the teacher as he herded the girl out of the room.

“Gwen’s a boy,” corrected the girl.

“Doesn’t matter if you don’t get a move on,” growled Kitty. “I’ll keep an eye out for your cat, but you two need to get out of sight!”

The two humans ran after the rest of the class while Kitty and YDB ran inside, pulling the door closed behind them. Kitty glanced out the window and saw the teacher and his last student jumping down into the latrine pit and disappearing. Dizzy was running back towards the school just as the orcs reached the front door and began bashing away.

“This one’s empty!” yelled Kitty as she ran towards the window. The door began to splinter. A moment later, the door crashed open and one of the orcs stood with his axe in hand.

“Where are they?” he roared at Kitty.

“No one was here! We came in through the back door, hoping to flush them out towards you!” Kitty yelled back.

The orc scowled down at the goblin girl. “That’s fine, we got enough prisoners for now. Burn the building. Captain Stormhoof will be here soon, ready to take the slaves on board.”

Kitty, Dizzy, and YDB looked at each other. Slaves?

Exiting the building through the front door, the three goblins saw that the battle was over. The townspeople were either dead or on their knees with their hands on their heads in a small group near the fountain. Kitty gestured towards two kneeling figures with a third lying face down in the dirt. It was the three elves they had been hoping to rally against the orcs.

“I guess they didn’t have a chance to use their magic,” said Dizzy.

The orcs taunted the kneeling humans, but none struck at their prisoners. As Dizzy looked around at the destruction YDB tugged his sleeve.

“Ship.” YDB pointed at the seaward wall. The masts of Stormhoof's ship were almost to the dock. Dizzy knew nothing about sailing ships, having only used the small hide boats of the swamp tribes. He craned his neck to see how high the masts went. He could see crewmen pulling the sails to slow the ship to a stop.

“I guess we’re about to meet this Captain Stormhoof,” said Kitty.

Isaar quickly ordered the goblins and orcs into ranks. The orcs fell in quickly, forming squads in the four corners of the prisoners while the goblins formed a roughly square-shaped blob. Isaar stood in front of the group to greet his commanding officer. The humans, elves, and halflings knelt in the dirt, fearfully looking towards the town’s front gate.

After several long moments, the pirates from the ship entered through the gate. Leading a group of orcs was a huge minotaur wielding a massive sword, its pointed tip missing. The beast stood at least eight feet tall, muscles rippling under scarred fur. One of his horns was broken halfway down, the jagged remains appearing dark against the shine of the surviving horn. The monster wore scarred armor over his chest and shoulders. Dizzy noted that instead of boots, the minotaur had iron horseshoes nailed to his hooves.

The minotaur strode up to where Isaar stood at attention. His eyes swept the captured humans, the orcs standing guard over their prisoners, then finally to the gaggle of goblins off to one side. Dizzy saw him sneer at the gathered goblins before turning his attention back to Isaar.

“Well done, Lieutenant. Any casualties?”

“No orcs, three goblins, sir,” answered the orc.

“No losses then,” said Stormhoof. Dizzy saw Slugger bristle, but the goblin warrior kept his mouth shut. Drawing the ire of the minotaur wouldn’t do them any good.

The minotaur glared at the captured townspeople. “Listen up, you feckless maggots! Stormhoof has come, and the Abyss follows me! This whole region is mine! If any resist, and I’ll kill you where you stand!”

Stomping through the captives with Isaar at his side, Stormhoof continued.

“This town is done. It will be burned to the ground as a warning to the rest. I shall leave one survivor to tell the tale. The rest will be taken on board my ship to serve or be sold as slaves. Do I have any volunteers?”

Several of the humans looked at each other, fearful of the huge minotaur. Finally, one man raised his hand. “I… I will tell the others for you.”

“Excellent! Isaar, help the man to his feet!” boomed the minotaur jovially. Dizzy cringed, thinking about what could come next. As Isaar lifted the man off the ground, Stormhoof swung the flat of his sword and shattered the man’s kneecap. A high, keening shriek filled the air.

“Can’t have you running away now,” said Stormhoof as he swung his sword a second time. This time, the man passed out from the pain of his injuries. Isaar dropped the unfortunate man where he crumpled to the ground, mercifully unconscious

“Now! The rest of you! On your feet, while you still have them! Form a straight line, hands on the shoulders of the person before you! If you take your hands off of the person in front of you, you won’t have to worry about your hands ever again!” he roared at the crowd. The humans and elves quickly moved into line while the halflings cowered in place. None were tall enough to reach the human in front’s shoulders.

“Move to the front! Hold onto the man in front of you as a group! Any other little people around here?” roared the minotaur. The six halflings raced to create their line. “None? Good!”

“Isaar! Burn the town. If anyone is left inside any of these buildings, it’s their fault! Goblins! Can any of you heal this man?”

The sudden shift in attention startled the assembled goblins.

“Uh, I can,” said Kitty hesitantly. She raised her hand so that Stormhoof could see her.

“Splint that man’s legs. Can’t have him trying to crawl away before someone sees the smoke and comes to investigate.”

Kitty rushed to the injured human’s side and began wrapping a length of cloth around his legs. She tied two stout axe handles alongside his knees. Kitty checked his heart and breathing, sighing in relief. She looked up to see what else Captain Stormhoof would order.

“Isaar, assign one of your men to guard the goblins. Korok and Grimg, take the slaves on board and show them their new home in the forward hold. Have the goblins wait outside the walls until the fires are going,” ordered the minotaur.

Swiftly, the orcs led their prisoners out of the town. Humans, elves, and halflings marched down the pier and onto Captain Stormhoof’s ship, goblins to a clear area near the town. Dizzy stood near Slugger as the goblins looked through the open gates. Isaar’s raiding party of orcs systematically set fire to the buildings in the town after setting the hapless human next to the fountain. Soon the entire town was burning, thick smoke billowing up into the air.

Dizzy saw Isaar and Stormhoof talking as the orcs ran from building to building. Twice the minotaur turned and looked at the goblins milling about.

“Can you hear what they are saying?” asked Dizzy.

“Nope, but they keep looking our way. That can’t be good,” replied Slugger. The warrior goblin looked around and saw the guard orc was paying more attention to the burning town than to his prisoners.

“Dizzy, I need you to listen to me. These orcs and that minotaur. They’re bad news. Bad for the humans, probably worse for us goblins.” Slugger spoke without looking at Dizzy. “There may come a time when I need you to run.”

“Run? I can't leave friends. Why would I run?”

“I need you to run because you’re loyal to the tribe. You and your friends, you’re smart. Clever. Sneaky. The tribe may need you to be somewhere else when the orcs turn on us.” Finally, Slugger faced Dizzy. “I put you on the rescue squad to see what you three would do in a tough spot. You saved those human children and their teacher.”

“How…” began Dizzy.

“I was near the church. I saw you lead them to the hole where the outhouses used to be. So, now I need you to be in a position to rescue the tribe when the orcs turn on us. Can you do it?”

“I… uh, I…” stammered Dizzy. Before he could answer Slugger elbowed him in the ribs. Dizzy looked up and saw Isaar and Captain Stormhoof striding across the ground, with the fires from the town behind them. They looked like demons coming from the Abyss, and they were coming straight toward Dizzy and Slugger.

“What were you talking about? Be quiet when you’re in ranks!” growled the minotaur. The monster glared between Slugger and Dizzy, then faced Slugger directly.

“Your goblins did well. Your tribe will be awarded a share of the loot taken from the town.” Slugger nodded in agreement, not knowing quite what to say.

“I will be sending my ship back out to sea while I make a little visit to your village. Isaar here tells me there may be something there that may be important.”

Dizzy wondered what the powerful minotaur would want from their small village deep in the swamp. Whatever it was, he wished the minotaur would just take it and be on his way, leaving the goblins in relative peace.

Turning to Isaar, Stormhoof barked out orders. “Send all of your men to the ship. You and I will go see this temple in the goblin village. If the gem is there, we will seize it, then return. These goblins have proven to have some value. Perhaps we should recruit a few more. But for now, let’s move out.”

Behind them, the town burned. Stormhoof ordered the goblins into the swamp. Unseen in a tree, sat Gwen. His eyes never left Dizzy’s retreating form until the swamp swallowed the goblin up. The cat bounded down to the ground, trotting towards the underside of the pier. He looked at the town for a moment when the church tower collapsed from the burning and the weight of the bell. Hopping down under the pier, Gwen vanished from sight.