The sun was now high in the orange morning sky, and grayish-blue clouds settled in. The forest was quiet, and aside from a few chirping crickets, the only sounds being made were by the feet of our Nairu. We traveled like this for several hours, no one saying a word. After the chaos of the past night, we were happy to get some peace and quiet. But perhaps the real reason why no one spoke was because all our minds were reeling with the possibilities we now had. We were beast slayers now… on the road to fame and glory! We could be heroes… living legends…

And of course, there was the gold. We were all quite content about that! It was more gold than I had ever gotten at once… and to think, we would have even more soon! It was nice… having money for once. Now if I found something I’d like to buy, I’d actually have the gold to get it! What a lovely concept!

“You know what I’m going to buy first?” I asked, taking a deep breath of the fresh air.

“What?” Scott asked.

“A map!” I said with a grin, looking around at the wilderness around us.

“Not a bad idea…” Yol sighed. “These woods are nice, but I really would like to know where we are…”

“Aye,” Scott agreed. “I want to know where the next monster-ridden shack of a village is at! I’m ready to get me hands dirty again! And no gettin’ kicked around this time, either!”

“Haha, I’m sure we’ll find another town soon. We’ve covered a lot of distance this morning.” I said confidently.

“Hey- what’s that I hear?” Yol asked, halting Hercules. “Sounds like talking.”

We all stopped and listened, and hear what Yol had picked up. There was a low murmur to our left, out in the woods somewhere. It sounded like a group of people conversing hastily. The voices didn’t sound happy.

“Should we go investigate?” Scott asked, scratching his head. Yol patted Hercules on the head and whispered something to him, and Hercules bent down and sniffed the ground. Hercules flinched, as though he had caught a wiff of something foul, and then pointed his head in the direction of the woods.

“Most definitely.” Yol replied. “He wouldn’t do that if it were just people.”

“Then let’s get goin, lads!” Scott said, pulling Grunt’s reigns and riding into the woods.

We followed swiftly, staying close together. I held onto the reigns tight as Talon sped through the forest, crushing branches and kicking up leaves. At one point he leapt over a log, and I nearly flew off the saddle. I came down with an “Ooof!” and lowered my head, dodging the branches zooming by over my head.

As we got closer, I could hear the conversation more clearly. And as I did, I could tell something else- I didn’t understand a word of it. There were several angry high pitched voices saying threatening things… it sounded like the voices of goblins. But I heard another voice, more threatened than threatening, which I also could not understand. It was much deeper than the others though, and I wondered who or what it was.

We burst through the foliage into a shady clearing, and saw the ruins of some carriage like vehicle. Our Nairu halted, but snarled as they did. It was, indeed, goblins. They were the average green skinned sort, with the same big doofy ears of the ones Yol and I had fought before. They held various different daggers in their hands. The red gleam on their edges hinted to recent use. The goblins were surrounding the ruined vehicle, and seemed to be after something inside. I heard the deep voice hiss something, and one of the goblins turned his back on us to point his knife at the carriage.

“Hey!” Scott shouted, pulling out both his scimitars. “What do you think your doing?!”

The goblin cleared his throat, glaring, and responded in English.

“None your business, human. Leave now!”

“Big order for such a little gobbie.” Yol retorted, raising an eyebrow.

“Me warn you! Go now!” The goblin shouted, waving his knife. An arrow whizzed through the air and knocked the knife from his hand.

“What are you doing here?” Yol said firmly. The goblin, furious, now raised his fists. The other goblins pointed their daggers.

“Me tell you, none your business human! Now go! We more than you!” The goblin growled.

“But we better than you.” I sneered, leaning forward and grinning.

“Oooooooooh, no mock me human! Me tear you apart! Bare hands!” The goblin howled, jumping up and down. Agitated, Talon roared. The Goblin jumped back and shouted something in goblin language, then made a hand motion to his cronies.

“Looks like we got a fight on our hands!” Scott said, cracking his knuckles.

“Hmmm… it seems to be seven on three. That’s not very fair.” Yol said.

“Yeah…” I said, pulling Talon’s reigns. “And we have Nairu. So it’s even…. Enough.”

The goblins charged and swung in the air with their knives like maniacs, shouting furiously in goblin language. One swiped at Scott, but Grunt gored the goblin on his horn, lifted him off the ground, and hurled him into the bushes behind the fallen carriage. Hercules was the next to kill, charging into the goblins head on. His jaws closed around a goblin’s head and shut with explosive force, crushing the goblins skull like a grape. As he did, Yol reached down with his arm blades and sliced a goblin across the chest. I jerked the reigns, and Talon jumped back in time to avoid a goblin’s blade. I eased up, and Talon let the goblin have it- He kicked the goblin in the gut, throwing him back into another goblin behind him. Scott let loose an arrow, pinning the goblin to the ground in a puddle of his allies blood.

The last two goblins, one of which being the angry one without a knife, began to back away. The one with a knife pointed at us, whispered what sounded like a curse, and threw his dagger. It spun threw the air and hit it’s target- Yol’s chest. I would like to take this opportunity to put emphasis on how incredibly stupid goblins are.

The knife hit Yol’s steel armor, chipped, and bounced off onto the ground with a clang. The goblin looked up in shock and took off, the loud mouthed one right behind him. We laughed as the goblins scurried away into the woods and dismounted from our Nairu.

“Heh… I wonder what kinda carriage that was?” Scott asked, walking over to the wreck.

“Doesn’t look like something you see in town…” Yol said, scratching his head. “Maybe it’s foreign?”

Then there was a distinct “Hmmmph!”. Yol and Scott jumped back. I had nearly forgotten the deep voice coming from the wreck- whoever it was, they must be alright in there. I stepped forward and peered into the scrambled remains.

“Hello?” I asked. “Are you alright in there?”

Suddenly I could see the contents of the carriage, and I quickly backed away from the carriage. The others soon saw why- The carriage’s occupant stuck his head out the remnants of the door, lifted himself out, and slithered away from the wreckage. His head was long and reptilian, and gleaming white fangs protruded from his mouth. His eyes were blazing yellow, animal like, and his pupils were vertical black slits like our Nairu’s.

His arms were long and well muscled, and from the torso down his body was but a serpentine tail. The length of his entire body was scaly and bluish, and black claws tipped each of his eight fingers. He was a naga. And by the looks of it, a high ranking naga. His face, arms, and chest were covered in painted designs in purple, black, and white. Placed on his head was a horned skull of some kind, with feathers attached at the end like some sort of bizarre ceremonial headdress.

He turned his saurian head towards us, and spoke. He spoke slowly and enunciated his words well, but what his words were, I did not know. It was obvious that he was not speaking English to us. He paused to give us a perplexed look, then grinned as though he had just thought of something. He slithered back to the remnants of his carriage and reached inside, and retrieved a wooden staff. At it’s end was a hollowed-out gourd, and beaded strings dangled from just bellow the gourd. He stood up proudly, spoke in naga tongue again, then rattled his staff and banged it on the ground.

We stood silently, not sure what to do. The naga let out a sigh and cleared his throat. He spoke again, still not on English. But this time it sounded as though he were speaking another language.

“Goblin tongue.” Yol whispered.

The naga looked up, and Yol shook his head. The naga tried again.

“Can you… understand… me?” The naga said in a deep voice riddled with uncertainty.

“Aye, you bet we can!” Scott said, wide eyed. The naga smiled.

“That… is good.” The naga responded. “It is also good that you have come… and rescued me!”

“What happened to ya?” Scott asked. “Got mugged by those goblins?”

“Hmmm? Mugged?” The naga asked, shaking his head.

“Robbed.” Yol said. “Did they rob you?”

“Ah… No. They did not… rob… me.” The naga said slowly. I was beginning to see that English was not one of his strong points. Still, he seemed to have a much better grasp of the language than the goblins did. “They wanted… to kill. They wanted to kill me.”

“What for?” Scott blurted out.

“Mmmm. I am… chief. Of the Melyoki.” The naga said, raising his head regally. “The goblins… hate the Melyoki… want us all gone. They want our land.”

“Chief, eh? Well then, it’s a good thing we saved you, isn’t it!” Scott said, patting the naga on the shoulder. The naga flinched, clearly unaware of this human custom, and gave Scott a resentful eye.

“Any enemy of the goblins is a friend of ours.” I said, smiling to the chief.

“And I am most… grateful…” The naga said, making a slight bow. “And I would be… even more… grateful… if you would take me… take me back to my village.”

“Of course.” I said. “It would be an honor, chief.”

“Chief Conchor.” He replied with a nod. He paused, then asked us: “And who are you?”

“Christopher Drakesbane, Scott the Strong, and Yol Wurmsbane, at your service.” I said. Chief Conchor cringed as I said Wurmsbane, nodded in appreciation, and then showed us the way.

After tying up our Nairu, we followed him through the woods… perhaps a little too trustingly. We had just met this creature, and already we were following him back to his home. What if the Melyoki were hostile? What if this was a trap? I wanted to ask Yol or Scott, but in fear that Conchor would hear us, kept queit. I certainly wouldn’t want to offend him, or anyone else which such a frightening physique.

We arrived at his village shortly, and gazed at it in awe. Their village was huge, at least the size that Glendyle had been. Sturdy shacks made of stone and clay with thatched roofs were along the forest floor, with paths flattened around them. A dangling ladder caught my attention, and I looked up. Nestled in the limbs of the sturdy trees around us were more structures, homes connected to each other by sturdy looking rope bridges. Ladders lead down from all of them, connecting the upper and lower village.

“Amazing…” Yol whispered.

“I’ve never seen anything like it!” Scott boomed. “Not even close!”

“Thank you.” Conchor said back to Scott as he led us into the village. “We… take great pride in our work.”

It was then that I began to notice the sets of yellow eyes watching us as we trailed Chief Conchor. The entire village of nagas seemed to be hiding in the shadows, afraid of their visitors. One individuals reaction was not so fearful. A powerful looking naga wearing blue body armor slithered over to us with his chest puffed out, narrowed his eyes on Scott, and snorted. Scott puffed his chest out just as far and huffed.

“You have a problem with me?!” Scott growled, squinting one eye. The naga snarled and lowered his head to Scott’s eye level threateningly. Conchor hissed, and the naga backed off.

Yol turned back to Scott and mouthed ‘Thank you’ hastily. Scott saw his motion and nodded.

“I coulda taken him myself, chiefy. But thank ya anyways!” Scott said with a sly grin.

“I doubt that.” Conchor answered. “But I… appreciate… the sentiment…”

Yol sighed and put his hand to his forehead, and we continued to follow the chief. He stopped us, then went on a few paces to a wooden stand of some kind. He “stepped” up to it, shook his head, and (though we weren’t quite prepared for it) roared at the top of his lungs. He flinched and covered out ears, and watched as the hidden naga all over the village sprung from their homes and paid heed to their chief.

He addressed them in naga tongue, and proceeded to give them a short speech… or something like that. Whatever it was he was saying, the naga didn’t look happy about it. The one that had approached Scott seemed especially offended, clenching his fists and baring his fangs.

“This doesn’t look good!” Yol hissed. “We better run while we still can!”

“Run?” Scott whispered loudly. “I aint runnin’! If those scaly…”

“Shhh!” I said with my finger to my lips. “Look…”

As Chief Conchor continued his speech, the tone began to change. The naga seemed less angered and more energized, then thankful. They turned their attention to us, watching through wide eyes. They began to murmur amongst themselves. Conchor looked at us over his shoulder and smiled, then gave an order in naga tongue. The nagas responded with what sounded like the same comment, then dispersed into the village and went back to their business.

“I have told them… what has happened… today… and what you three have… done. Yes…” Conchor said. “They… appreciate your actions.”

“That’s good to hear.” Yol said, settling down, and easing an arrow back into his quiver.

“I will… leave you here. You will be… in the hands of… my apprentice. He is called Dragnar. He… speaks your language… better than… I.” Conchor said, bowing. “Goodbye. And… thank you again. I am… forever in your debt.”

“No problem.” I said.

“We enjoyed it.” Scott said with a wink.

Chief Conchor slithered away, and Dragnar arrived almost as soon as his master had left. Dragnar also wore paint on his body, though he lacked the skull helmet, and wore bone braces studded with spikes on his arms. Dragnar bowed.

“Greetings.” He said calmly.

“Hello.” We all said.

“I cannot thank you enough for rescuing our beloved Chief Conchor from those bandits. I wish to reward you for your heroic actions.” Dragnar said, making a gesture for some of the nearby naga to come forward. Some held wooden trays, on which were stacked food and valuables.

“What form of reward would please you most, my friends? Gold? Fine dining? Land? Females?” Dragnar asked enthusiastically as a rather butch female naga coiled her tail around Yol’s ankle.

“Erm… I think gold will do just fine.” Yol said, slowly taking a step away from the naga.

“Very well. We have plenty to offer!” Dragnar said, pointing one of his claws to a nearby naga holding a tray. The tray was weighed down by several sacks tied shut with rope. They were bulging with gold.

“Take all you want. We have little need for it… the only reason we have any is because we take it from the goblins!”

“We are very gracious.” I said, lifting two sacks of gold.

“Your damn right we are!” Scott laughed, lifting several sacks of gold in his burly arms and grinning ear from ear. “You naga guys are all right! If you ever need our help again, we’d be happy to help!”

“Agreed.” Yol said. “Perhaps we will meet again in the future?”

“I certainly hope so.” Dragnar replied. “I wish you good luck on your journeys, wherever they may lead you.”

****

We marched out of the woods quite contently and got back onto our Nairu. They snorted, noticing the extra weight. We were on the move again, following the road wherever it may lead us. We were traveling for long until we were again disturbed by an odd noise. But this noise wasn’t being spoken… it was slow, deep, and rhythmic. An instrument… A drum.

“Uh oh.” Yol said with a gulp. “That’s not good…”

“Am I hearin’ what I think I’m hearin’, Wurmsbane?” Scott growled, reaching for his scimitars.

“I’m afraid so…” Yol replied as the noise got louder and clearer.

Goblin war drums.

“The goblins!” I snarled, smacking my forehead. “The two we let get away! They must’ve told the other goblins that we were here!”

“Should’ve gutted em when we had the chance!” Scott growled, dismounting from Grunt. “Now they’ve gone and raised a whole army! We’ve got to keep from being seen!”

“Over there, in the bushes!” Yol ordered, running Hercules off the road and jumping down. We all crouched down in the vegetation, with our Nairu’s laying down and hidden under branches. We waited in silence as the beat of the drums grew louder and louder. Soon we could hear the sound of the goblin’s feet as they marched along.

“There they are!” I whispered.

The goblins came into view, and I gasped. There were hundreds of them, covered in spiny armor as black as night. Their faces were smeared with face paint and blood, and they held cruel looking weapons in their filthy, scarred hands. Their blades were jagged, plagued with rust and dried blood. They were Orcs… not the ordinary, run-of-the-mill goblins. They were not short, they were not foolhardy, and they were not thin-skinned. These were serious warriors… although they were still as dumb as a sack of bricks, just like their floppy eared pals.

“You arm wrestled with one of them?!” I asked, seeing the thick arms on the Orcs.

“Well… yes. But the one I arm wrestled with didn’t have brass knuckles and a long sword…” Yol whispered, pulling a branch over his face.

“Look where they’re headin’.” Scott whispered, pointing.

“They’re heading for the naga village. They’re going to attack the Melyoki!” I said, wrapping my fingers around my war hammer. “We’ve got to help them!”

“Okay… quietly… get on your mounts. As soon as the last line passes us, we’ll bolt and make for the village.” Yol said, inching towards the mounts. He slowly untied them and slipped onto Hercules’ back. The Nairu let out a low hiss, glaring at the departing Orcs. Scott and I hopped onto Grunt and Talon, and we waited for the last of the Orcs to leave.

“Go!” I shouted, kicking Talon’s sides and jerking on the reigns.

Talon charged forward in a burst of speed, crossing the road in the blink of an eye and tearing into the forest with blinding speed. Hercules and Grunt were close behind, shoving low hanging tree branches out of their way with their large bulks. Talon weaved around these obstacles, though I could hardly match his agility. I spat a bunch of leaves from my mouth and lowered my head as we rode through the forest.

We came to the naga village, and made a lot of noise doing it. Our Nairu’s halted, kicking up dirt and dead leaves, and hissed loudly. The Nagas looked up, first in fear, then recognized us and stood their ground. Chief Conchor looked in our direction and whispered something to Dragnar. He could tell that something was wrong… I could see it in his eyes. Dragnar slithered to us in a hurry, going down on his belly and speeding towards us like a snake. When he got to us he lifted up to his upright stance. Even on our Nairu, we were only about a foot away from being at eye level with him.

“What’s wrong?” Dragnar demanded without greeting us.

“The goblins that attacked your chief… two of them escaped, and they’ve brought back friends.” I said.

“There’s a small army of Orcs heading our way right now.” Yol said. Dragnar was silent for a brief moment, then turned to face his peers.

Dragnar bellowed a series of loud commands in naga tongue, and the nagas were aroused. Chief Conchor banged his staff, silencing the commotion. He shouted something, and the naga scattered.

“We are preparing for war.” Dragnar informed us. “We have been harassed by the goblins for too long. We will crush this threat now, and then hunt down the rest of their clan and defeat them.”

“We’ll help ya!” Scott said, rubbing his hands together. “We’d be happy to!”

“Very well, heroes. You will join our warriors in battle!” Dragnar said with a toothy grin. “I wish you luck!”

“And you as well!” I said, pulling the reigns and leading Talon away into the village.

****

We had stayed on our Nairu steeds and were waiting at an open clearing in the forest, before the naga village. All around us stood Melyoki warriors, armor clad and grasping long spears. They were all very large, and had we not been on Nairu, they would have towered over us. And if they weren’t on our side, we probably would’ve been pretty uncomfortable being this close to them. In the distance, the sound of goblin war drums and bugles sounded off louder and louder. With each beat of the drum they grew more aggravated, baring their teeth and clenching their fists. The goblins were approaching fast, and would be upon us in a few minutes at the most.

Dragnar slithered up beside us, grasping a fiendish looking sword in his claws. He looked down at us, nodded, and stared straight into the clearing that would soon be a bloody battlefield. The horizon was alive with the movement of the approaching army. It wasn’t a big army, nowhere near the size of the ones that fought against the human kingdoms in other lands. But it was still an army, and we were about to meet it head on.

“Forward!” Howled the goblin commander, an Orc wearing a steel helmet and waving an axe. He was riding something. I couldn’t tell what, they were too far away.

The goblin commander lifted a bugle to his mouth and blew, the call echoing through the clearing over and over again. He pointed his axe straight forward, lowered his head, and jerked the reigns of his mount. And as they surged forward, I could finally tell what he was riding on.

A giant, slobbering, flea bitten… rat. Yol, noticing my surprise, spoke up.

“They call them Ratopards,” He said bitterly. “Their teeth are as sharp as daggers, and they have switchblade claws on their feet.”

I watched as the repulsive thing raced towards us, moving almost like a big cat. Quills of some sort jutted out from it’s sides, and long rodent-like teeth jutted out from it’s mouth and dripped saliva. It made loud panting noises as it scurried across the battlefield, loud enough that I could hear them from where I stood.

As the goblin commander charged forward, his troops followed, shouting and swearing wildly. They brandished swords and axes, and a few more lightly armored warriors held crossbows in their grimy hands. They drew closer and closer, there footfalls now like thunder. I lifted my hammer hesitantly, but waited obediently for the signal to attack.

There was a loud shout from behind, but I stood my ground, noticing that none of the Naga were charging. It wasn’t the attack signal. I looked to Dragnar and asked him.

“What was that about?” I asked.

“Conchor was signaling the bombardiers. They’re preparing to fire the Spear Cannons.” He replied.

“Spear Cannons?” I asked, having never heard of such a thing.

“You’ll see.” Dragnar said with a wild grin. I shrugged and accepted his answer.

As the goblins rushed ever closer, I heard the shout again. Behind the line of warriors were giant wooden barrels, tilted upward by stone blocks. Ropes stretched out from behind them, pulled taught and tied down at one end. Sprawled out on top of the barrels were naga warriors. They reached out, grabbing the lids of the gigantic barrels and listening intently for the final signal. The signal to lift the barrel lids. The signal to cut the ropes. The signal to kill.