Lord Of Goblins

Another three days have passed safely with no further attacks from neither hivelings or other local beasts, and the expedition force has finally reached the fifth layer or fifth floor as some like to call it. All the layers after the average-looking first one were enigmas, but the weirdest were the fifth, sixth, and the seventh. The fifth layer was mostly a field of bluish-green glowing grass with spots of white glowing moss covering the ceiling resembling what the older bogeys called stars. If not for the absurd forest of the sixth layer or the bizarre land that is the seventh layer, this would have been the most fascinating layer currently known to both bogeys and the rest of goblin-kind.

Once they arrived at these underground grasslands, Bulgu formed seven groups consisting of Bogeys, Burgas, and Dekas and ordered them to scout ahead for valuable resources such as useful metals, unearthed artefacts, magical herbs, water sources, edible plants, and large herds of prey, and to help the expeditionary force to locate and avoid nasty surprises such as traps, ambushes, and local predators like snapdragons.

Among these groups, there was one that was made of four of Lev's men, two Dekas, and a single Burga. They were just heading back to meet with the rest of the scouting groups in the rendezvous point.

"So when are you gonna tell us what the boss was mad about, captain?" Gul, a known chatterbox among Lev's men and the fourth-youngest after Volker asked for the thirtieth time causing Volker to sigh.

"As always I'll give you the same answer. He wasn't mad about anything, and even if he was, how should I know? Jem was the one accompanying him at the time since it was my turn to harvest the haze crystals.".

"Come on, Volker. You're his favourite so you have to know something. Me and the guys are just worried about him so can't you tell us what happened? Maybe we could help.".

"You? Worried about Lev? Do you expect me to believe that?".

Gul stayed silent under Volker's gaze before sighing "Alright, I'm just curious and a little worried that he'd piss off the goblins and get killed for it. Yeah, unlike before when we were complete outcasts, considering that we took down Gelmar and his men, some groups would now wish for us to join them, but not even Rak's men get as much benefits as we currently do so no chance of that happening unless the boss goes down, and trust me nobody wants that to happen. We just don't want him to start a fight and pay for it.".

"Gherm starting a fight? That's funny since from what we've seen, he ends fights." Interrupted Molg, one of the taller and more silent followers of Lev.

"I was talking to Volker, and he goes by Lev now. Which is another thing I wanna know, why did he change his name?".

Volker shrugged "I honestly don't know.".

"So you don't know why he was mad and you don't know he changed his name. Did he tell you anything?".

"He did, but it's mostly classified information.".

Gul smiled mischievously "So he's hiding his secrets from you, huh? I'm sure Jem knows. Looks like boss prefers gruff old man Jem over young boys like you. Never thought he swung that wa-OUCH!!!" He yelped as Volker hit his helmet with the blunt end of his spear.

"Shut up, Gul. The last thing we need is you spreading another rumour.".

"Well, it's not a rumour if it's true. That purple girl Varra has a thing for you. Can't blame her since you saved her from getting squished by that giant hiveling." Gul said with a grin.

"I know, but it's not the time for love and I doubt that the goblins would allow a relationship between us.".

"They won't, but it's more about you being too shy to return her feelings. You keep blushing whenever she talks to you.".

"I-I'm not that good with girls.".

"You aren't that good with men either. It hasn't been long since we joined Lev but little Volk's already growing up. Good thing I convinced you to join." Gul said while snickering.

Volker smiled "Thanks for that by the way.".

Volker still can't believe that he did not only join a gang, which is something that his overprotective parents still can't accept but that he's also close to its leader and part of his council. He always believed that there was nothing special about him other than being a little smarter than other bogeys and that he will end up making pottery for a living like his father. That was his family's craft and though he won't inherit his father's tools unless something happened to his elder brothers, he could still live off of it; so he thought that even though he didn't find joy in it, it was okay. Now with Gul's help, he found something more to his liking. He doesn't like spilling the blood of others, but he enjoys the excitement, the sense of unity, and the dream for a better future.

"What are friends for? We grew up together, Volk.".

"Yup. But really though, we need to pay attention to our surroundings. Wouldn't want to be ambushed, now do we?" Volker asked as he took a look at his surroundings to see if there's any sign of movement in the endless field of grass.

"You shouldn't worry about that. Rogga, who is our Burga friend here has quite the sharp senses. Heck, he can catch the scent of those insects before any of us can see the other." Replied the older one of the two Dekas in Gul's stead and the Burga Rogga nodded in confirmation before turning his attention back to their surroundings. The Deka looked as if he was in his forties and his horn was missing its tip.

"Oh, that's good to hear, but we still need to pay attention in case they can hide their scent, muffle the sounds of their steps, or are lying in wait underground. And sorry if we were bothering you, mister Umm...".

"The name's Gozzag, kid. And there's nothing wrong with being able to have a good long conversation. Something that bugbears and goblins don't seem to get... Isn't that right, Ban?" He asked his companion who's sporting a nasty scar under his left eye.

"He's right. Try talking to one of them and the first thing most of them will do is either growl or start a fight. I was just asking one of those green bastards for a drink, only to find him picking his knife and trying to start a fight with me..." Ban sighed.

"Is that how you got that scar?" asked Gul.

"What? No. Got it from a battle with a tribe of a short-ears down south. It was fun while it lasted but the druids had to interfere and ruin our fun.".

"Short-ears? Druids?".

Ban was confused for a second as to how a native of these lands didn't know what druids and short-ears were, but he remembered the reason. "Oh, yeah… Your tribe isn't allowed to leave this place... sorry...".

"It's not a problem.".

Ban frowned "Not a problem you say? It's definitely a problem! How can you even stand to live under dirt for so long? I can never accept a life that lacks the warmth of the sun and the beauty of the star-filled night...".

Volker shrugged "I've been born into this life so I've only seen carvings and paintings of those things. And it's not like we bogeys never tried to reclaim our place outside. There were many uprisings but they were all brutally crushed by the goblins. If you want to know how horrifying the last 'war of freedom' was, there's an old green bogey taskmaster called Kul. You can ask him once we get back.".

Ban raised his left eyebrow and asked "Once we get back? Don't you mean if?".

"I have no intention of dying." Volker replied solemnly.

Ban smiled "So you do have guts. Don't you have any intention of ever being free?".

"Of course I have, but I'm biding my time. Nothing lasts forever and everything changes in an instant. One day we will be free, but until then we need to become strong enough to be able to retain our freedom.".

"Nothing lasts forever and everything changes in an instant... Wise words.".

"Thanks. So can you explain what you meant by short-ears and druids?".

"Right, right. In simple terms, short-ears are dirty pink-skinned dimwits whose culture can differ a lot depending on the location of their tribe. They're almost the size of bugbears and the ones we fought, called the Pallax, prefer to live near swamps and have no problem fighting n.a.k.e.d as long as they have their bodies covered in their war paint." Ban shook his head.

"Did they attack you?" Asked Gul, causing Ban to sport a vicious smile.

"Nope. We went to their village to pay them back for stealing some pigs and roughing up a few of our men in the middle of the night.".

Gul scratched his head "Pigs?".

Ban, Gozzag, and the Rogga who was now paying attention to their discussion stopped walking and stood there shocked before Ban facepalmed and the other two hollered in laughter.

"Sigh... Never mind, kid... Never mind... Let's go back to the story. We went there to pay them back, and pay them back we did! They might be taller than us but they're not as tough. We met them in open battle and managed to make them bleed. In the end, we lost two men and they seven.".

"That doesn't seem so bad.".

"It's not, and they can thank the druids for that. That weird order of short-eared philosophers and mystics boggles my mind. They act like bards yet they have the same status as nobles and they take it upon themselves to stop wars. Why go through all that trouble and why we should listen to them, I'd never understand..." Ban said with a sigh only to get knocked on the forehead by Gozzag "Hey, what was that for!?" He growled.

Gozzag glared at him "For being an idiot. We gained four additional pigs and four sheep without many losses thanks to their intervention. Besides, they're just like priests only more hard-working and less entitled so they're more fun to talk to." He then turned to Volker and Gul "Here's a lesson for the future. In case, your tribe ever regain their freedom and happen upon a tribe of those southern short-ears, respect their religions and traditions and they'll respect yours.".

"Unless if they're the new guys further south. The ones who're wearing almost matching outfits and carrying banners everywhere they go.".

Gozzag sighed "The Brizilum Republic... Yeah, those are an exception. Dirty skirt wearers killed the druids of the Gallas who were trying to negotiate for a peaceful resolution for the conflict with cold blood; not to mention burning down their shrines and tearing down the statues of the gods and replacing them with their own... I'll never work for them ever again even if they offer us a mountain of gold."

"You worked for them?" Volker asked, his curiosity overtook his previous caution as he was hoping to gain more information about the outside world.

Gozzag nodded "Yeah. We're from a clan of mercenaries, which I bet you don't know... They are warriors who fight for gold, silver, and other valuables. We fought many battles and won most of them against all odds.".

Ban grinned "We're one of the best!".

"So you're here not as slaves, but as mercenaries?" Volker asked causing Ban's grin to fade and Gozzag to groan.

Gozzag cleared his throat "...Not quite. We made a blunder during our last assignment, so now we're forced to join Bulgu's expedition. We were supposed to defend the second youngest brother during the Kur attack, but they had more men than we thought and they caught us off-guard. It was bad, but not the worst mistake we've done.".

Ban sighed "The worst thing was stupid participating in the Brizilum's invasion on the Gallas. We only joined a few battles and trained their men a little, only to get our reputation ruined down south... And most of the good fights that pay a lot are down south… I wish we knew they were that kind of sacrilegious assholes before accepting their offer… Why would they destroy the history of their foes?".

Volker thought about it for a second before coming to a conclusion "Wouldn't it be easy to replace the conquered people's lost culture with theirs?".

"The bastards…" Gozzag muttered.

"I don't get it." Ban said, not being able to understand what the purpose was of such a move.

"Me neither." Gul added.

"They're changing the people's identity to theirs. Give it a few generations and there will be a whole new loyal Brizilum colony ready to serve the republic." Gozzag explained.

"But that's not our problem, right? It's not like they'll spread all the way to the north. What resources could they find here? They could find much more of it in the warmer and more fertile south.".

"I think this isn't about mere resources, Ban. Once we return, we should tell the others.".

"Do you think they'll listen to some speculations? And even if they did, we're stuck here until we finish our goal since I'm sure Bulgu wouldn't care and we can't fight our way back.".

Gozzag sighed "Dammit… You're right. We'll still tell them so someone can spread the message if we die.".

"Sure, but let's talk about something else. Like the time we ambushed the Jakkar-".

Rogga interrupted Ban as he growled towards the left.

"What is it?".

"Found two Hivelings, and they found us. They're heading towards us.".

Ban sighed "F.u.c.k.".