Chapter 13: Chapter 13: Truth-Seeker

The wolf-creature got back down on the ground, and rolled over to show its belly.

Risha got herself under control and moved her mouth into a thin line. “You need our help?”

The creature gulped as it looked up at her, but it got off its back. “And we’re offering you ours. The orcs are coming for you.”

Risha nodded. “And they will die.”

The wolf looked around before returning its gaze to the floor. “You are strong, but my people were strong once too. We still fall to the orcs. The orcs are slaughterers.”

“Just as your people are.” Risha’s tone held all of her hatred.

The wolf looked up sharply.

“Risha saw what your people did to our village by the mountain. No mother or child was spared in your slaughter.” Risha’s grip tightened around her sword. “You hunted us through the snow, and if my party hadn’t been there, no one would’ve survived.”

The wolf was quiet for a long moment. “We were at war. I make no excuses, except to say that I am deeply sorry for what we’ve done. Please, do not let our mistakes blind you to what I am here to offer. We need your help, or my people will die to one of the clans.”

Risha looked at the wolf, until Glo showed up behind her with some of the goblin warriors. “Glo. Make sure that he is fed and kept safe, I need to meet with the council.”

Glo bowed, his sharp gaze turning to the wolf. The wolf whimpered slightly, lowering its head.

Risha turned and walked away. Elder Lia met her on her way to the pit, running slightly to keep up with Risha’s long strides.

“I heard that the wolf-people are here.”

Risha nodded.

“How many attacked? Is every goblin okay?” Lia sounded conflicted herself.

“They didn’t attack.” Risha said.

“They didn’t?”

Risha shook her head. “They wanted our help. They want to fight the orcs.”

Lia stopped for a moment, letting Risha reach the Spider Queen’s pit first. A few of the Elders were already there, and the rest were gathering.

LIa caught up with Risha, then in a hushed whisper continued. “We say no! It must be a trick.”

Risha paused for a long moment. “I don’t know.”

“Why Risha not know? Risha saw what they did. Risha saw the-” Lia choked, tears coming to her eyes. She swallowed, then continued. “Risha saw the bodies.”

Risha looked into her eyes, and saw the pain there. A goblin mother has many children in her lifetime, but that doesn’t make their lives mean any less to her. Lia had been a mother for a long time and cared deeply for her children, it’s one of the reasons the goblins respected her as an Elder. Several of her sons and daughters were killed in the massacre of the village.

“Are all wolf-creatures the same?” Risha asked. She genuinely didn’t know, and was starting to wonder the same thing about the orcs now that she’d met the orc family.

Lia opened her mouth angrily, then paused before shutting it with a hiss. Lia deflated, her age catching up to her despite her evolution, making Risha wonder exactly how old she was.

The other Elders had arrived by then, and several had heard Risha’s conversation, and were sharing looks. The three spiders that the Spider Queen had chosen watched from above. The Snow Spider, and two Trap Weavers all stayed eerily still.

Risha turned to the gathered Elders and spiders, everyone quieting to hear her speak. She explained the request for an alliance from the wolf-creature. “What should we do?”

“It’s obvious!” The same elder that had greeted her when she first arrived back in town spoke, Elder Kulos. “They killed a village, goblins can only trust goblins.”

Surprisingly, it was Elder Mook, one of the hunters that spoke against him. “The Orcs are strong! We can’t turn away help if it’ll save our warrior’s lives.”

“They hunted us like animals!” Another Elder spoke.

The conversation quickly broke down as every goblin argued amongst themselves, lines were quickly drawn and a few of the elders brawled, rolling through the dirt as they grappled each other. The spiders above also communicated, their clicking and stomping showing an argument amongst themselves.

Risha watched them all, and her gaze turned to the Spider Queen who’d remained silent, the spider’s gaze deep in thought.

She noticed Risha looking at her and matched her gaze. “What do you think?” Risha asked.

The Spider Queen took a long time to respond. “I was young when the orcs last fought the wolf creatures.” She spoke wistfully and one of her legs reached out, idly shaping her web. “The orcs thought they’d killed them all by the end.” She paused, her body going still. “They held funerals for their fallen, their despairing howls audible from miles away. Their warriors fought to the last to protect their young, desperately hoping to protect them. I always thought them an honorable and strong race.”

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Risha’s gaze turned to Elder Roa, who had been translating the Spider Queen’s words. All of the goblins had fallen silent, none of them daring to disrespect Elder Roa when she spoke for the Spider Queen.

Roa looked back at Risha, and Risha realized that every gaze was on her, waiting for her decision.

She turned to Elder Oltak, who had been one of the Elders in favor of the alliance. “Have Glo bring the wolf-creature here. Risha will listen to what he has to say.”

Elder Oltak nodded, almost bowing before he made his way out of the pit. Many of the Elders didn’t like her decision, but none of them argued with her.

Tya went around healing those who had been scuffling while they waited for Oltak to return.

The Wolf-Creature was there a moment later, Glo and a few other soldiers surrounding him. He whimpered lightly as he caught sight of the spiders, his ears drawing back till they were flat against his head. He hesitated again as Glo pointed for him to jump into the pit, his eyes widening at the sight of the Spider Queen. Eventually he made his way down. Every Elder and Spider stared at him, and Risha could almost hear his heartbeat

Risha stood as straight as she could, trying to copy Shyanne’s way of holding herself. The wolf-creature turned to her, then got on the floor in a bow.

“Do you have a name?” Risha asked.

The creature visibly swallowed, “I’m called Truth-Seeker.” The name came out as a rumble, different from how the wolf usually talked.

“Truth-Seeker.” Risha tried to copy the way he spoke, but wasn’t able to match the depth of his voice. “What do you want from the goblins?”

The wolf looked around at every eye on him, many filled with the hatred that Risha felt. He stood up and visibly gathered himself together before starting. “The Third Orc Chief of the Lok clan knows about your city and will be here as soon as the snows melt. He has well over four thousand orcs and two thousand warbeasts at his command.”

Many of the goblins paled at hearing the numbers. The Goblin City had 1200 spiders, most of whom were younglings that would be reaching full size after the snow melt. Matching that, there were roughly 2000 goblins. The orcs doubled their size.

“Even if you survive the war party, you won’t survive the next. And neither will we. Our people are losing the war, and our villages have been destroyed. For every orc we kill, we lose two or three of our pups.” Truth-Seeker looked up at the spiders that watched him, his hair standing on end. “And your warbeasts are even more terrifying.” He shook himself, turning his gaze back to Risha. “We need you just as much as you need us. So please, forgive my people for what they’ve done to you.” The wolf returned to the ground, bowing low. “Let us save each other.”

There was a long silence following his speech, as no one dared to speak.

Risha took a deep breath. She hadn’t realized exactly how outnumbered they were, many of the goblins hadn’t. Those numbers were for just one war party, and the orcs had several for just the Lok clan.

“Elder Mook.” Risha started. The Elder’s mouth, opened in shock, closed as he turned to Risha. “Take a few hunters, and see if you can find any of the Goblin villages we didn’t reach.”

Elder Mook nodded. It was a long shot, since the five villages were the closest to each other, and no unevolved goblin was brave enough to travel farther to find the villages they’d only heard about. Still, they needed numbers more than ever.

Risha turned to the rest of the council. “Risha hates the wolf-creatures as much as any goblin. I was one of the few that saw our massacred brothers and sister, who found spiders murdered while they slept.” Risha paused, looking for the right words. Truth-Seeker watched her from where he bowed, his gaze anxious.

“We need help. And I won’t say no to those offering it.”

The goblins looked at each other.

Glo was the first to get on his knees, bowing to Risha.“As the Grand Mother commands.”

The Spider Queen followed suit, bowing on her four front legs. “As the Grand Mother commands.”

One by one, they got on their knees, bowing to the Empress. To the Grand Mother. To Risha.

Risha turned to Glo. “Make sure he gets to the road safely.” Finally, her gaze turned to the wolf who looked at her wide eyed. “Tell your people we are allies.”

Glo got off his knees to escort the wolf, and the rest of the goblins stood up as well. Truth-Seeker’s eyes stayed on her until he couldn’t see her anymore.

Elder Mook immediately set off to gather Hunters for a long trip while the goblins who were left broke out in worried whispers. Risha heard multiple goblins say the numbers of the orc war party as she left to head back to her own pit.

It was a good thing she did, because right as she arrived, she found her spiderling awake and moving around the pit.

They greeted her happily, moving up to her and nudging her with their legs. She pet them and scratched their itches where the chitin was cracking.

By the time night time had arrived, most of them were shedding their exoskeleton, emerging larger than ever. They still had one more to go before being fully grown, but their growth rate was fast, and Risha believed they would have their final shed before the snows melted.

Before they went back to sleep, Risha evolved every single one of them into Sons or Daughters of Risha. She liked the evolution, and it felt right to give it to them. They were happy with it as well, and said as much.

Risha might never be an actual goblin mother, but these were her children all the same. She watched fondly as they returned to their sleep, and stood guard the whole night as their new exoskeletons slowly hardened.

She slept after the sky had started to fill with light, her body enjoying the rest after a long day and night.

When she woke up, she practiced with the sword she’d taken from the overseer.

She swung her sword, replaying the memories of all her fights with it. She stood there for hours, just moving the sword, and slowly she came to realize something.

She was scared. Risha was scared of the challenges ahead, that she would fail her people, that the chieftain would separate her head from her body. She saw her fear in the way that she swung her sword, in its movement through the air. And little by little, she worked the fear out of it. She put her everything into the swings, everything that made Risha, Risha. She remembered her early days as a goblin, barely surviving hunger and mistreatment from the orcs. She remembered her spiderlings, how her every moment revolved around keeping them safe. Her dead spiderling in the bird nest. The first orc she killed, her arrows stabbing into his eyes. Her battle with the overseer, how she sacrificed her own body to kill him. How she raised the dead orc’s head high after her people’s first victory.

She remembered every part of Risha, and she put it into every swing until she collapsed to the floor.

Skill Created! (Unique: High Goblin)

[Risha’s Swordsmanship] (beginner) Your sword follows the path of the Goblin Grand Mother. Your blade is never erring, and remains unwavering. You see the path of the sword: The sword of the goblin.

Risha breathed heavily, her breath misting in the air as she read the notifications. A feral grin spread across her face, exposing her sharp teeth.