“Damn! Those little bastards are quick.”

“If you got time to talk, hurry the fuck up and move!”

Five tall, muscular orcs, could be seen hounding after a trio of fleeing goblins. The orcs all stood at about 7’2” (2.184m), had rippling muscles and a pair of razor sharp tusks, jutting from their mouths. Their skin varied in shade from green to gray, but their physique was uniform. The orcs were bare chested, wearing only breechcloths and leggings. Surprisingly, in comparison to their primitive attire, they had weapons made of steel. However, what would likely capture the eye of a passer-by would not be their weapons, but the orc at the forefront of the group, hyperventilating and shouting unintelligible curses. Those behind him could only follow his crazed lead.

This group of five were part of a band of rogue orcs. Of course, it wasn’t the entire band going after the three goblins, just this detachment of five. At first, they thought that they could easily deal with these little goblins, but the bastards were crafty and swift. Failing at such a seemingly simple task, brought endless shame to these orcs. They, like the others of their band, were exiled warriors. Exiled warriors were allowed to form roving bands to gain merit and thus, earn their way back into their clans.

If the others knew that they failed to stop three goblins from reporting the location of their band, then they might as well chop their own heads off now. None of their fellows would want to have anything to do with an orc who couldn’t even defeat goblins. Who would possibly believe the merits claimed by a band of orcs with members who lost to goblins? For this reason, they had no choice but to pursue.

Leading this pack, was the crazed orc; he was called Lorkh. Lorkh had been resting after a long night watch. His companion, who was supposed to be keeping vigil in his place, had also fallen fast asleep. Fortunately, or perhaps, unfortunately, the orcs slept silently and were hidden from plain sight. Lorkh, who was in the bushes sleeping, suddenly felt drips of warm liquid drop on his face. But soon, those warm drips turned into a powerful, hot stream. Lorkh was startled awake and his mouth opened because of his shock.

That warm liquid went into Lorkh’s mouth and inevitably, he swallowed some of it. The taste made him feel like vomiting, or rather, the taste did make him vomit. Lorkh raised himself from his laying position and bent over to puke. After puking, Lorkh looked up to see a stunned goblin, covered in sick, with his penis held in his hands. Lorkh…had just been pissed on and drank….goblin piss. From that moment forth, he had no proper mental facilities to gauge the situation and lost himself in a frenzy. Lorkh’s sudden roar woke up his companion and this was the first thing that he saw when he awoke; Lorkh was chasing after a goblin with his pants wrapped around his legs and penis dangling freely in the wind, as he ran away from Lorkh. Needless to say, such a sight was surreal.

It took a few moments before he realized that he wasn’t in some sort of nightmare or strange fantasy, but when he came to, he quickly gathered a few more orcs to help Lorkh. This wasn’t to help him kill the goblin, but rather to help calm him down. After all, there was never any doubt that Lorkh would slaughter the goblin quickly and be done with it. What they were worried about was Lorkh’s temper, now that it had been set off.

But contrary to their expectations of a quick disposal, the little goblin managed to weave through tightly clustered bramble and reunite with two other goblins. By the time that the group of five managed to catch up with the trio, the fleeing goblin had at least managed to put his pants back on properly. The two goblins beside him, seemed unnaturally calm, inquisitive even. There were a few little orbs of light around them, green and silver colored to be specific. Although the presence of spirits around these goblins made the orcs wary, Lorkh’s fury could not be abated so easily.

“Fuckers! I’ll tear you limb from limb! Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck! I fucking HATE you!”

“Ehh, don’t you think that he kinda sounds like a chicken?”

“You’re right Silver, he kinda does.”

“Fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck-fuckak!”

“Fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck-fuckak!”

“Heheh, it’s fun.”

By now, Lorkh’s anger had reached a whole new peak and he was finding it hard not to simply pass out because of the sheer fury he was experiencing. Even when he had been exiled, he had never been humiliated like this! Rather than wasting anymore words with these bastards, Lorkh brandished his axe and moved to cleave all three of them in twain. Bronze and Silver seemed to have been expecting it and quickly pulled their compatriot away. Narrowly, they managed to avoid the axe and in the process, infuriate Lorkh even further. Bronze and Silver ran with the third goblin in tow, completely ignoring the orcs behind them. Lorkh was already enraged, but now, even the four orcs following him had dark expressions. Hadn’t they all just been treated like air by lowly goblins? Unforgivable!

The group gave chase and made an earnest effort to kill. At first it had been a matter of killing the goblins to preserve the secret of their location. Now it was just for the sake of pride.

“If Rust were here, he could make them regret ever chasing us!”

“Yeah, but he had that meeting, so it’s just us…”

“Don’t forget me!”

The third goblin chimed in. Considering the fact that this was his fault in the first place, he seemed to be acting relatively unconcerned.

“Yeah, yeah. If you weren’t big bro Log’s son we would have left you behind.”

“Mhm. Silver is right.”

Rust was away at a meeting that only hobgoblins could attend. Since it was mandatory, he could only watch as Bronze and Silver went on the morning hunt and gathering. The person to join them was Stick, Log’s oldest son. He was the same age as the twins, but he felt that he was superior to them. The three went to the northeast, a bit further than they normally would have went. Stick wanted to show off his knowledge of the area and brought the twins to a place that was no longer within goblin territory. At first, everything was fine as they enjoyed the sights while gathering berries and herbs. But then Stick said he had to use the bathroom. Bronze and Silver waited patiently for him to get back, but when he did return, he returned with a group of irate orcs hot on his trail.

“Uuu, I’m sorry.”

“Rust said if you have time to be sorry, you haven’t been working hard enough to fix your mistake.”

“Yeah, Rust gives good advice.”

The three were still talking as they ran, only adding further fuel to the raging fire of orc fury.

“Kill!”

The orcs began to just barrel through the obstacles in their way, rather than avoiding them. It might have exhausted a bit more stamina, but this was nothing to the orcs whose vision had long gone red.

“You little shits will die painfully, I promise you.”

“Uh-oh, I think we made em mad, Bronze.”

“Whatever, it’s not like we can stop and ask them to be friends.”

“Well, I wouldn’t want to be friends with them anyway. They smell funny.”

“You’re right, Silver. They do smell funny.”

“Can’t you guys just run silently?!”

Stick, the only one of the three that seemed to actually be worried, cried out in exasperation. From this point on, a whole new level of respect was born in his heart for the twins’ brother, Rust. If he had to deal with these two constantly, his patience could only be described as that of a saints. Truly. If Stick ever evolved to become a hobgoblin, he made a note in his mind to recommend Rust for the role of shaman. Someone with such strong spirit and mental fortitude was surely fit to become shaman.

“Haah, I guess so.”

The twins replied in unison. By now, the entire group of orcs had already become enraged beyond the point of reason. This had actually been the goal of the twins. The both of them felt that the orcs would be able to easily kill and capture them if they were able to think clearly. While one of the warriors had lost his temper, the others were still calm enough to make clear judgments. By taunting them as they fled, the other orcs became just as angered as Lorkh. Now, the goblin trio could easier manipulate the path that the orcs took. They wouldn’t act the way that they would normally.

Silver used the signal flute to play a tune to alert other goblins of enemies.

If the orcs had been in a clear state of mind, they would have quickly turned back to warn the others that their location had been compromised and it would be best for them to move. But now, with their pride so severely wounded, turning back was not an option for them.They had to kill these goblins before they returned. Lorkh, having closed enough distance, swung his axe with vicious power. Blades of compressed air sliced through plants and trees, moving to mince the goblins into meat. Bronze and Silver simultaneously cast a low level earth spell, Pitfall. With their perfectly timed, silent coordination, two pitfall spells were activated. One smaller pitfall to lower their position and allow the wind blades to pass over their heads, then another larger pitfall to trap the orcs. Without stopping to admire the fruits of their labor, the twins used another earth magic, Level, to even the terrain they deformed, so that they could quickly escape.

Stick was flabbergasted at the twins’ sudden performance. Were these really the two useless goblins that everyone complained about? Their coordination was frightening! They didn’t need to say anything and yet they could act in accordance to the other’s thoughts. It was like they already knew what the other was thinking! Bronze and Silver were already sprinting ahead, but Stick remained dazed. Thankfully though, he didn’t forget the gravity of the situation and turned tail to follow the twins. Behind them, he could hear the roars of the orcs.

“Fucking shit! I swear I’ll torture those damned goblins till they go as insane as they’ve made me!”

Lorkh’s left leg had been broken and a sharp piece of bone was piercing through his flesh, exposed to the open air. Lorkh had been sprinting and attacking with full force and the sudden pitfall was enough to not only kill his momentum, but also break his leg. The other orcs had been slightly injured as well, but their mobility was not nearly affected as Lorkh’s had been. Lorkh stood up with the help of his axe and forcibly set his broken leg, shoving the bone back under his skin. Lorkh used his mana to mend his flesh and bone, then leaped out of the pitfall. The other orcs followed after him.

“You! Give me that axe.”

Normally, an orc would never hand his weapon over to another orc so easily, but seeing the crazed look in Lorkh’s eyes, coupled with his own anger at the goblins, the orc agreed. Lorkh now had an axe in each hand and he rapidly channeled his mana into them. Lorkh then hurled the two axes with all his might, slicing down anything in its path. Without saying anything more, he chased in the aftermath of his attack, refusing to stop chasing until he confirmed that those goblins were killed.

Bronze, Silver and Stick, who had fled without looking back, suddenly felt imminent danger approaching. Bronze acted first, ramming Silver and Stick away from him with all of his strength. Although Bronze and Silver could cast magic, they needed a bit of time to prepare. They weren’t at the level where they could instantly cast like Rust. Therefore, when Bronze felt a sense of imminent danger, he reacted the only way that he could think. Silver and Stick went tumbling since they were in the middle of sprinting, rolling a good distance away before they crashed into a tree. Stick hit the tree first and Silver’s impact was softened as a result. Stick didn’t even feel like complaining because he truly felt that his life had been in danger. Looking in Bronze’s direction, they were horrified by what they saw.

Bronze’s left arm was cleaved from his body and his back was covered in wounds from compressed air blades. The back of his legs had also been badly mangled from those air blades as well. While Bronze had managed to avoid the brunt of the attack, his arm had been sliced off and the residual force of the attack still caught up with him. Luckily, he had managed to push Silver and Stick out of the way. Unluckily, the wind had been knocked out of him and he was unable to move.

“Bronze!”

Silver bolted over to Bronze with Stick following close behind.

“Help me carry him!”

“Silver, just leave me! You guys will never get away if you have to carry me!”

“No! Shut up! I’m not going anywhere without Bronze!”

“C’mon Bronze, me and Silver will carry you, we just have to hurry!”

Stick didn’t want to leave Bronze behind either. This was the first time that they interacted and yet his actions had brought them into a life or death situation. They could have abandoned him for the orcs to kill first, but they didn’t. It might have been because of his father, but that didn’t matter. What mattered was that they risked their lives to save his! Could he even call himself a goblin if he dared to turn his back on Bronze?

“Idiots…”

“Bronze is the bigger idiot for thinking I would ever leave you behind.”

Silver said as she moved to pick up Bronze. She supported the left, while Stick supported the right. Silver was careful not to exacerbate Bronze’s injuries. It didn’t take long for her to be covered in the blood gushing from Bronze’s open wound, but it didn’t faze her at all. While it did make it a bit more difficult for her to support Bronze, she was calm and most certainly, she was clear that she would never abandon her twin.

Silver and Stick moved as fast as they could, with the little spirits trailing behind them. The little spirits could only do minor things like slightly shift the trajectory of the wind blades, or create patches of bramble to stall the orcs. However, while those actions were small, it had greatly aided the fleeing goblins. These little ones took a liking to Bronze and Silver while they played with Grahl. Now that the twins were in a dangerous situation, they truly did their best to help. Silver grimaced as she looked at the little spirits.

Lorkh and his cronies were close behind them. Lorkh had retrieved the axes and seemed to be taking his time in catching them. It was as if he was savoring their despair. Silver was able to tell that it would be pointless in trying to continue their escape. The reinforcements that she had called for earlier probably wouldn’t arrive for a while. Their group had separated and went some ways away from their typical hunting grounds. It was certain that that they could escape if they left Bronze behind, but Silver definitely wouldn’t do that. Still, she didn’t want others to suffer because of her decision.

“You guys should leave...you too, Stick.”

The spirits seemed to glow brighter in defiance. They didn’t want to leave their friends behind. Stick also seemed to be offended and he shot a glare at Silver.

“No way! It was my fault to begin with! If I left you guys, my father would be ashamed to call me his son. I would rather die with you guys so that he can have a son to be proud of! A goblin never leaves his comrades behind!”

Although he said that, his entire body was shaking in fear. He didn’t want to die, he most certainly didn’t want to die painfully, but he felt that if he left now, he would never be able to face his father with his head held high. So, he summoned all his courage and stayed.

“Thanks, Stick.”

“Yeah, Stick. Even though it’s really stupid.”

Bronze didn’t pull any punches with his honest assessment, but contrary to his words, he found himself getting teary-eyed.

“Silver…”

“Yeah, Bronze?”

“I’m sorry…”

Silver seemed confused for a moment, but then her eyes went wide in shock. She could feel a vine wrap around her waist and then it forcibly dragged her away from Bronze. The same thing was happening to Stick as well. Bronze had gathered all of his mana and used it to cast the low level nature magic, Ensnare. Although it was a low level spell, since it was cast with the entirety of his mana, the vines were strong and the speed that it dragged the two goblins away with was quite fast. Bronze could hear Silver’s shouts,

“BRONZE YOU IDIOT! I’LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU, NEVER! LET ME GO! I WON’T LEAVE HIM, I WON’T!”

She tried to cut herself free from the vines, but they were unreasonably tough. Her voice was becoming more hoarse as she tried call out for Bronze. Silver couldn’t stop her tears from flowing and she kept screaming for the vines to let her go. But no matter how much she pleaded, they kept taking her further and further away from Bronze.

Stick was struggling to free himself as well, but to no avail. He could only look on helplessly as he was dragged away.

Bronze watched their figures disappear into the distance and he wore a satisfied smile.

“Sorry, Silver. I couldn’t let you guys die with me. Besides, Rust would be really sad if both of us died. That’s why, Silver, at least you have to live…”

Just as he uttered those words, he heard the sound of heavy footfalls behind him.

“So those little shits left you behind huh? Smart. Don’t you worry though, my companions will find them and show you the same courtesy I’m about to show you.

“Do all orcs have such smelly breath? Are they all stink like you? If so, I’m sure any courtesy you show won’t be able to make up for your stench.”

Lorkh stomped down on Bronze’s kneecap, instantly shattering it to pieces. Bronze bit his lip and managed to suppress his cry of pain.

“Fucking little bastard, let’s see how long you can be so smug. You guys go and find his sister. I don’t care about the other one anymore. Find her and bring her here. I’m gonna rape the bitch in front of him, then torture the both of them to death. If I don’t do this much, I’ll never be able to wash away this shame.”

Lorkh had already gone insane with rage. To begin with, he had a sadistic and vindictive personality. It was one of the reasons that he was exiled from his clan. He was excessively cruel and vicious, even by orc standards. By nature, orcs are a warfaring race. However, they still believed in honor and respecting the enemy. Apparently, these exiles cared little for such things in the face of the humiliation that they suffered.

“Lorkh, don’t you think that you’re going too--”

Instantly beheaded! Before he could finish what he wanted to say, the dissenter was beheaded!

“Find! Her! Now!”

The remaining orcs didn’t dare to quibble and hurriedly left to find Silver. Bronze tried to crawl after them, desperate to try and help Silver. But of course, how could Lorkh let Bronze leave? Lorkh crouched down beside Bronze and squeezed the wound on his shoulder where his arm had been severed. Bronze didn’t cry out, but instead, glared at Lorkh with defiance. Lorkh hated that look. He quickly used his finger and gouged out one of Bronze’s eyes. Amazingly, Bronze still didn’t let out a single sound..

“I’m only letting you have that one eye so you can see me rape and torture your twin. I wonder how long you can keep that defiant look then.”

“If you touch even a hair on Silver’s body, you will regret it.”

“Hmph, I’ve never regret anything in my life, you little shit. Now then, let me give you a little taste of what I plan to do to that sister of yours.”

Lorkh spent his time slowly torturing Bronze, trying to make the little bastard break. He cut off his other arm, cut off an ear, ripped off Bronze’s toenails and then cut off his toes then did the same to his fingers. He yanked out his teeth, dislocated his jaw, flayed parts of his skin and broke nearly all the bones in the lower part of his body. Yet still the little bastard refused to beg for mercy, refused to break. Lorkh was livid! If he couldn’t even make a goblin submit, then he was less than worthless!

Just then, he could hear the sound of footsteps, along with the voice of that girl. At that moment, he wore a malicious smile that would freeze even a devil’s blood.

“Heheheh. Looks like the win is mine, you little shit. Use that good eye of yours and take a long, hard look at what your defiance gets you.”

“BRONZE!”

Silver let out a pained wail when she saw the state that her brother was in. It felt as if her soul was being rent from her body. But for every ounce of sorrow she felt, there was twice that of rage. How dare they do that to Bronze! How dare they hurt her twin! She tried to struggle free from the grasp of her orc captors, but she was too weak compared to them.

“No! No! Puhleeze...dun, dun, hursh Shilfer!”

His words were barely intelligible after his teeth were yanked from his mouth. After all the torture he endured he didn’t beg for mercy or cry out in pain even once. Yet now that his sister might endure the same suffering, if not worse, he begged and pleaded. This brought a beaming smile to Lorkh’s face.

“Haha, that’s exactly what I wanted to see. But unfortunately, it’s a little too late. Remember kid, take a long, hard look.”

The orcs tossed Silver on the ground beside Bronze. Lorkh grabbed her by the head and lifted her off of the ground.

“I’ve never fucked a goblin before. I wonder how it feels?”

Lorkh said as his hand reached out to pull off her clothes. His hands were trembling in excitement. How would that little bastard’s face look while he watched his sister being tortured? Just the thought alone was enough to make him incomparably excited.

“Nooooo! NOOOO!”

Bronze’s protests fell on deaf ears as Lorkh was about to shame his sister.

However, just as Lorkh ripped off her clothes, he felt the ground quaking beneath them. The sensation was getting stronger and Lorkh couldn’t ignore it. He casually tossed Silver to the side, while he scanned his surroundings cautiously. The quaking grew stronger and the sound of the earth buckling beneath tremendous force, echoed throughout the forest. Lorkh gestured for the others to prepare for an attack.

“What the fuck is it now? Keep your guard up, bastards!”

He shouted at his fellow orcs, who responded disgruntledly. Lorkh swore to himself to kill whatever it was interrupting his revenge. As his eyes scanned his surroundings, in the distance, he saw the cause of this disturbance. At that same time, the cause of the disturbance, saw him.

“Grahl…!”

“Run away Grahl! Leave me and Bronze and go! Just tell Rust….we’re sorry!”

Grahlgar’s face at that moment was very frightening. His eyes seemed as if it would pierce through anything his gaze landed upon. Those eyes first fell upon Bronze and Silver, then, to the orcs. They couldn’t explain why, but the orcs all felt a cold sweat begin to soak their backs. This was an instinctive fear; the fear of death. At that moment, the gentleness that defined little Grahl was gone...in its place, there was only...anger.

In a voice that could chill winter itself, he uttered,

“Kill…!”

And thus, Grahlgar’s rampage began.