Lord Of Goblins

Two hours had passed before Gelmar and most of his men reached the cramped living quarters were their battle would commence.

Gelmar and his men were waiting for their scouts some distance outside of Rak's territory. After waiting for an hour, the scouts finally arrived and informed Gelmar of Gherm's forces and their numbers. They numbered about twenty men and it seems there were no obvious traps in sight. They even searched what nearby homes they could without alerting their target and they didn't find anything hinting to an ambush. Inside the shacks were nothing but unarmed women, youths, and elderly hiding in their homes to avoid getting caught in the conflict. What caught their attention was that Gherm and his men have set two wooden barricades consisting of whatever wooden objects they could find, mostly made of wooden boards and tables.

"Looks like they found out that we were coming." Gelmar mused at the time after receiving the report.

"Looks like it, boss." Replied the scout.

"I wasn't talking to you.".

"Sorry, boss. But something isn't right…" said the thug.

"They should've been about thirty-three if not more.".

"Yeah! Where do you think the others are?".

Gelmar shrugged "They either ran away once they knew that we're coming for payback or they're hiding in the nearby vicinity. But we already searched the vicinity, so it has to be the first option. F.u.c.k.i.n.g cowards."

"Boss!" Someone yelled and when Gelmar turned his head he found a few of the men that he assigned to guard, their back running towards him.

"B-boss, it's-".

"Don't tell me, Vyrga is on our trail?".

"H-how did you?".

"It's obvious. If we disobeyed Vyrga or if we failed in killing Gherm, we'll be the ones who'll die.".

"You don't mean…".

"Our coup is an open secret, dumbass! The only thing that Vyrga lacks is proof! He might play scoundrel, but even scoundrels can't kill their men for no reason. If we win, some of us will die, but he can't do a thing. If we lose or run away, he'll take care of us himself.".

"In that case… why not join this Gherm?".

Gelmar gave the man a sardonic smile "Great idea. If we combine forces, we'll be about eighty men and we just need to fight more than three hundred other men with better equipment and more skilled leaders! Why not die together, right!? We'll just be remembered as traitors after we die!" He yelled, his spittle flying onto the cowering man's face.

His men lowered their heads as fear succ.u.mbed into their hearts.

"Why the long faces? Don't tell me you believe that we'll lose to some unknown runt and a measly twenty men!" Gelmar yelled catching their attention.

"Have you forgotten who you are!? Who we are!? We're the bane of all greyborns! We're the thing that causes men to cry! Whenever our enemy hears of my name, all hope is lost! For I am Gelmar and you're my warriors! All we have to do is crush some worms and Vyrga won't be able to do shit! Do you think we'll lose to some newcomer and his band of miners!?".

"No!" They yelled with fury! He was right; how could they lose to some measly labourers?

"Do you want to take what's theirs and remind everyone why we are feared!?"

"Yes!".

"So come on! Better not keep them waiting, Right!?".

"Right!" His men replied with glee, they couldn't wait for a good pillaging after they spill some blood. What's the worst that twenty-one bogeys could do?

…

Gelmar and his army have just arrived and their enemies were already in sight with a distance of six hundred meters between them. Gherm's forces were twenty men, five of them stood in the front armed with their large weirdly coloured rectangular shields in hand ready to stop all attackers from passing through and short spears to stab those who do, another five were behind them wielding their longer hardened spears ready to pierce any foolish souls who dare to approach, while the remaining ten stood in the back with their slings in hand, ready to load their projectiles and fire them at all invaders who come into their sight, and in the middle of the armed force stood a tiny bogey wearing a wooden helmet and proudly holding his spear, it was Gherm. They all were positioned behind a poorly made barrier, a shoddy barricade made from wood, but a sturdier barricade was a short distance of a hundred meters behind the slingers. On the other hand, Gelmar's forces consisted of sixty-five men if you include Gelmar, and unlike Gherm, Gelmar's forces were an unorganized rabble and they wielded a variety of weapons ranging from stone knives to wooden clubs, Gelmar himself wielded a copper headed axe which was bestowed upon him by Vyrga as a gift for his contribution in a former battle.

Gelmar surveyed the area for any oddities that could affect the battle, which he found in the form of a few uncut stalactites covered in cloth every few hundred meters which confused him. Why would anyone do this? He examined the area for any further anomalies, but couldn't find anything. The high reaching ceiling was full of stalagmites and on them were a gathering of corpse eaters looking down on the battlefield with their yellow eyes awaiting the feast that'll come in the end.

He then directed his gaze at his foes, and he instantly focused on the shield bearers and the barricade, he noticed that there were a lot of torches which was weird as bogeys had decent night vision. The shields were covered in some yellowish-white substance and in the middle, the shields had a red-eye; the symbol of the goddess of war 'A shield wall… why attempt such a thing with so little men? And why two layers of fortifications? Once we break through the first one and the shield wall, there won't be enough time for them to retreat to the second one. Does Gherm want to secure a way for himself to retreat? I understand the use of the goddess' symbol but why are those shields coloured like this? Looks like they're covered in something, but what?' Gelmar pondered for a moment before walking forward to meet Gherm before the start of the battle.

It was a custom of bogey-kind; before two forces of bogeys were to head to battle their leaders should either negotiate for peace or have a battle of words before the real one. It was practised by the highest of nobles to the lowliest of thugs and breaking it is a grievous taboo punishable by the gods, and those who ignore it are seen as dim-witted, close-minded, and barbaric, while those who harm their rivals during it are hunted down along with their armies by the priesthood and believers. Usually, there should be a priest to act as a mediator to help them avoid conflict, but where would they find a priest at this time and why would Gelmar want to avoid it? He believes that he would never lose to some no-name runt.

After both of them met to the centre of the battlefield, Gelmar glared at Gherm, while the latter showed a slightly amused look, irking Gelmar.

"You're Gherm? Hah! I thought it'd be someone impressive, not an actual runt!" He yelled loudly so that all could hear.

"I prefer to be called Lev. And you are?" asked Gherm, no- Lev, nonchalantly.

"Lev? What kind of name is that? And you honestly don't know who I am? The name is Gelmar! And I'll be your death!".

Lev smirked "What kind of cheesy line is that? And Gelmar? Thank goodness, I thought Vyrga would make it hard on us and send one of the good ones.".!

"You!!!".

"It's true, you're second-rate, wait no, make that third-rate material. Your men are undisciplined trash who only obey orders due to fear, and you're known as an attention seeker. Meh, you'll do. My men do need some practice after all.".

Gelmar was livid. He wanted to tear this arrogant bastard limb from limb, but he had to hold himself back. Killing him now isn't worth committing sacrilege.

"What's wrong? Do you have a frog in your throat?" Lev told him with a smile.

This time Gelmar didn't yell, he just glared daggers at Lev and told him in a maleficent tone "You know what? Once we slaughter your men, I won't kill you. I'll just make your life a living hell. I'm going to take everything and everyone you value and break them slowly. Your neighbours? They'll hate you. Your sister? She'll despise you. Whatever spawn she'll have from my men? They'll curse you! All those who believed in you, all those who put their trust in you, all those who ever cared about you?

They'll wither away wishing you'd burn forever and ever in damnation for turning their life into hell, for pissing me off.".