Following the tracks the monsterous pirates and enslaved goblins had left behind, the trio tried to close the gap. The trees began to thin as the day wore on. Kitty suddenly grabbed Dizzy’s arm and pointed to something she had spotted on the forest floor.

In a tuft of grass lay a goblin’s homemade dagger. Gwen padded over and sniffed at it. Dizzy ran forward and knelt to retrieve the blade.

“Who could have dropped that?” asked Dizzy, puzzled. The orcs would have searched the goblins thoroughly before beginning the march to their destination. YDB picked up the dagger, sniffed it, and then slipped it into his belt.

“Not sure, but I smell the ocean,” said Kitty.

The three goblins and the cat continued through until the trees opened up onto a beach. Over the dunes, they could see the masts of a ship. Creeping to the top of the hill, the four looked down to where three boats were loading goblins and orcs. The minotaur’s ship was anchored out in the water, about a hundred yards off the coast. Stormhoof himself paced back and forth on the beach, shouting orders at his orcs. Dizzy did a quick count of the goblins and saw none missing.

“They’re taking them out to their ship!” said Kitty. “How will we catch up with them?”

“Swim?” asked YDB, but Dizzy knew he was just tossing out the first thing to pop into his mind.

“We’d never make it, and even if we did, we couldn’t get onboard,” said Dizzy. His eyes continued to sweep back and forth over the scene below. Goblins were being split between the three boats and herded aboard. Orcs were shoving them into the bottom, to keep them out of the way as they pushed and heaved the small craft into the surf. First one boat, then a second were pushed into the surf. The orc sailors strained with effort and began rowing out to the big sailing vessel.

As the trio watched, two orcs stood talking with Stormhoof. Dizzy wished he could hear what they were saying. The orcs were waving their arms around, while Stormhoof had his crossed over his chest. Finally, the two orcs finished speaking.

With no warning, Stormhoof suddenly kicked one of the orcs in the knee and charged at the other. Dizzy could hear the orc’s keening scream over the noise of the surf. Kitty’s jaw dropped. As the goblins watched, Stormhoof pummeled the second orc, until it went down to the ground and stayed there. Stomping through the sand back to the first orc, the minotaur kicked the sailor one final time. Neither orc moved. Stormhoof marched over to the last remaining boat and shouted orders. The minotaur stepped into the ship's boat and sat at the forward end. The orcs pushed and shoved it into the ocean and bent their backs into taking their captain out to his ship.

“What the…” Dizzy began, then shut his mouth. The minotaur was even more dangerous than he had thought. If they didn’t do something, the tribe would eventually be killed down to the last.

While the orcs were being hoisted up to the deck, Dizzy saw one of the orcs on the beach roll over onto his hands and knees, then collapse again.

“That one is still alive. Let’s wait until the ship is moving, and see if we can get any information,” suggested Dizzy. Kitty and YDB nodded.

Onboard the black ship, orcs, and human sailors were suddenly busy bringing up the anchor and lowering the sails. With a ponderous grace, the ship and Dizzy’s tribe began moving out to sea. Once it was unlikely to return, Dizzy scrambled over the dune, heading towards the wounded orc. Kitty and YDB quickly followed.

Skidding to a stop caused sand to fly into the pirate’s eyes. The three goblins spread out, staying back far enough to avoid his reach if he should try and grab one of them.

“Ow! What the hell?” growled the pirate.

Dizzy looked at the orc. It wasn’t one of Isaar’s men. He had to have been from Stormhoof’s ship, come ashore to help bring aboard the goblins.

Dizzy glanced over at the other orc. The other pirate was completely still, and blood was soaked into the sand all around him.

“Where are they taking our tribe?” asked Dizzy as he looked down at the wounded orc.

“What? Who are you?” asked the orc. The pain was etched on his face.

“I’m the goblin that’s gonna keep doing this if you don’t answer me!” said Dizzy. With a sudden move, Dizzy kicked the orc in the knee Stormhoof had injured earlier. The orc screamed in pain. Kitty covered her mouth in shock. She had never seen Dizzy do anything so ruthless.

“Where are they going?” repeated Dizzy. He brought his foot back for another attack.

“Wait! Wait, I’ll tell you!” cried the orc as he grabbed his knee with both hands. Dizzy could see the bone bulging under the orc's skin. He had to swallow hard to keep from being sick at what he had just done.

“I… I, uh, don’t know,” stammered the orc. He raised his hands defensively in case Dizzy kicked him again. “I’m not lying, I really don’t know for sure. Captain Stormhoof, he, he has three hideouts, and I only really know where one is.”

“Three?” asked Kitty.

“Yeah, three. One is on an island, which is where he’s heading now. Look, I’m just a deck sailor, I don’t know navigation stuff. Stormhoof’s island is to the southwest of here, but it’s a big ocean. If you don’t know how to navigate, you’ll never find it, even if you have a boat.”

“What about the other two? The one you do know about. Is he likely to go there?”

“Maybe. Probably, in fact. The second one I’ve been to. It’s a fortress up north along the coast. About forty leagues. If you walk fast and don’t get stopped, maybe five days from here. But there are several towns along the coast you’d have to go past, and they mostly don’t like goblins, orcs, or the rest of us.”

“Rest of us?” asked Kitty, looking confused.

“The wild peoples. Orcs, minotaurs, goblins, bugbears, you know. Not human, elves, dwarves, or others like that. Gnomes, halflings, and the half races. Half-orcs can sometimes live with the tamed folk, but most of us are forced to survive in the wilds. That made Captain Stormhoof angry, and why he wants to conquer the world,” explained the orc.

Dizzy paused to think about what the orc had said. He liked living in the swamp, raiding for supplies and stuff. It was fun. Violent, but fun. He knew no other way.

“So if Captain Stormhoof conquers the world, goblins and the other wild people will live in cities?” asked Dizzy.

“If they want,” said the orc. “Captain Stormhoof said it was ours by right of conquest.”

“Alright, look. We’re getting off track. Do you think Stormhoof will end up going to the fortress up north after going to the island? Why?” asked Dizzy.

“The Captain has a ritual he needs to perform. He said it would bring him more power so that he could conquer the world faster. That’s why he has been searching for a gem of some sort.”

“What does the gem do?” asked Kitty. She was beginning to understand why Stormhoof had sent them down to get it for him.

“It’s supposed to summon a demon, who must serve the gem’s owner.” The orc slowly moved his leg, trying to ease some of the pain.

“Let me do something about that,” said Kitty. She pulled out a knife and began to slice away at the orc’s trouser leg, exposing the skin. The bone was broken, but at least it wasn’t sticking out.

Dizzy thought about that much power in the hands of the murderous minotaur. It was frightening.

“YDB, help me hold him down. It’s going to take all of us to get that leg set.” Dizzy picked up the cloth from the trouser leg and rolled it up into a cylinder.

“Open up,” he said to the orc. “This is going to hurt, but you need us to do this.” Dizzy pushed the cloth into the orc’s mouth to bite down on, then knelt on his arm and shoulder on one side. He gestured for YDB to take the other.

“On three,” said Dizzy, then held two fingers up towards Kitty where the orc could not see.

“One… Two,” said Dizzy. Kitty yanked hard, pulling the bones back into place. The orc screamed into the gag, then bit down hard. Dizzy sniffed the air and smelled that the orc had fouled himself.

“Had to be done.” Dizzy slowly lifted himself off of the orc and helped him rise to a sitting position. The orc glared at the three goblins. A moment later he spat out the gag.

“Now what?” asked the orc.

“What’s your name?” asked Kitty.

“Huss,” replied the orc. “Able Seaman Huss. Formerly of the Devil’s Wench.”

“Last question, Huss,” said Dizzy. “Why did Stormhoof kill your friend and almost kill you?”

“I don’t know. The captain has a mighty fearsome temper. Chern and me asked what treasure he brought to the ship. When he said goblins, we asked why and he just exploded.”

YDB had run back up the beach and brought down a branch for Huss to use as a crutch. A stream was not too far away, with an overhang formed from tree roots. The goblins helped Huss onto his feet and in getting up the slope to a shelter of sorts.

“We can’t wait for you to heal. If we’re going to get our people back, we have to hope to catch up with Stormhoof before he summons the demon,” said Dizzy. Huss nodded.

“I am just a pirate. Sailing and looting are all I know. But mucking about with demons? Even I know you don’t do that sort of thing,” answered Huss.

The three goblins led Huss up the beach to where a stream had formed a small pool before washing down through the sand. There was an overhang of stone on one side of the pool, providing a bit of shelter from the sun and weather. Gwen was looking into the water, paw ready to scoop a fish up onto the shore should one get close enough.

As Huss settled back onto the ground, a fish jumped to snatch at a low-flying bug. The orc plucked at a loose thread from his pants and began unraveling a fishing line.

Dizzy watched the orc wince as he moved his leg into a more comfortable position.

“Um, hey, I’m sorry I hit you,” Dizzy began.

“Don’t be. I’d have done the same to get information to rescue me, mates,” Huss said with a wry grin. “I’ll be fine for a bit. Water, food, out of the rain for the most part. It’ll take me a few weeks to heal up, then I’ll have to find me a new ship.” He gestured up the coast. “You could leave me that cat to eat.” Kitty looked shocked but grinned when she realized the orc wasn’t serious.

“I take it you lot rarely leave the swamp?” When Dizzy nodded, Huss continued. “Not all the towns hate the wild folk. Don’t love us none, but if you have a strong back or some skill they need, they may tolerate you for a bit. Having coin helps as well, or trade goods.”

“We might have a few coins. Took ‘em during the last raid.” Dizzy fished out his pouch and dumped the coins onto his palms. There were five copper and three silver coins.

“Hmm. You might get a meal with those coppers, but you’d be better off buying information.”

“What kind of information?” asked Kitty.

“Stormhoof is going to need more troops, and weapons for them. He’ll be hiring mercenaries as well as recruiting orcs and the rest. Some humans will work for anyone with a coin. If you keep your eyes and ears open and maybe spread those few coins around carefully, you might find out something.”

Dizzy dumped the coins back into his pouch, then pulled one of the silvers out and handed it to Huss.

“What’s this for?”

“Information. Where, exactly, is this fortress of Stormhoof’s?”

“And here I was thinking you were paying me for hitting my broken leg. Go up the coast for like I said. When you've gone far enough, you’ll see a river with a big white rock on the far side. I mean big rock, at least eighty feet tall. There's a bridge there, so follow the road for another day. You’ll see the fortress on top of a high cliff.”

“Is there a way up the cliff?” asked Kitty.

“There’s a trail, but it’s usually guarded. There’s also a lift, but that’s also guarded. You’ll have to find your way in. Maybe if the Captain shows up with goblin slaves?”

“Maybe. Too many ifs though,” Dizzy said, deep in thought. After a bit, he added, “We’ll have to figure something out once we get there.”

The three goblins stood and dusted themselves off. Gwen looked up, waiting to see if they were leaving before he had his fill of fish.

“Anything else we can do for you before we take off?” Dizzy asked.

“If you can, drag Chern’s body into the surf. He was a sailor, he should be buried at sea. Not picked apart by crabs,” replied Huss.

“We can do that,” said Kitty. “Good luck, and maybe we’ll meet again.”

Huss settled back against a rock, stretching his leg out as best he could. Kitty had applied a splint on the beach and adjusted it while they had been finding out about Stormhoof’s fortress.

Down on the beach, the three goblins surrounded the body of the unfortunate Chern. A few crabs had already been tearing at his flesh, Dizzy kicked them away with a scowl. “Shoo, go eat a fish or something.” Gwen pounced, breaking the claw before the crab had a chance to use it.

Lifting a leg apiece, Dizzy and YDB dragged the dead orc down into the rising surf. Soon, the body was floating and sliding on its own into the deeper water.

“Good,” said Kitty. “When the tide turns, he’ll be pulled out to sea. I think we need to get moving though.” She pointed to the mast of the Devil’s Wench where it had almost slipped over the horizon. The ship was heading southwest towards some point only its captain knew. Dizzy could only hope that they would travel to the fortress soon after whatever mission the minotaur had at his other base. He wondered briefly about the third base, but with Huss knowing nothing of it, there wasn’t any point in worrying.

The three goblins waved at Huss as they began their long walk up the coast. The orc returned the gesture, then tossed his line out onto the pool, and settled in to catch his dinner.