The Goblin Nation

The Chief showed an unsettling curiosity to his sketchbook. What if the Chief shows it the tribe and mock him in public? What if they burn his book? Root would instead prefer to be whipped a thousand times than have his precious treasure taken from him.

But another thing bothered him. Why did Mist sacrifice herself for him? Mist always bullied him, so Root could not believe that Mist would even give her body in order to protect him. Or maybe she took this opportunity to get close to the Chief? Either way, Root could not help but feel guilty for running away.

Someone outside began knocking on the door. Root walked closer to the door while clutching his sketchbook close to his chest. "Who there?" Root whispered nervously.

"Me Lake. Olr tell Lake get Root."

Root shifted gears and run to the door and opened it. "Olr need Root. Me come now." He told Lake.

The two goblins walked across town to meet with Olr and his followers. They carried with them large sticks with a circle top and on its surfaces were b.u.mps mimicking large footprints. Olr greeted Root and gave him a stone knife. Root looked at the knife, wondering what it was for, but before he could ask, Olr took his book off his hand. "What this?" Olr asked, "Root carry this last time."

Root tried to get his book back, but Olr kept it away out of his reach. "That me book. Please give back Root book."

"Book? What useless thing." Olr opened the book and flipped through the contents. After glossing over the pages, he tossed it back to Root. "Bah! It useless." Root caught the book before it landed on the snow. "Listen Root. When Sun no Chief and Olr be Chief, Root no need book anymore. Book replaced by any girls Root want! Free girls, slave girls! Just follow Olr and Root be rich and fed."

Root didn"t care much for wealth or power. The only reason he came to Olr for help was to free her sister from the whims of the Chief and to protect his book. "What Olr want Root do with knife?"

"Cut! Destroy! Whatever Stick make, destroy it! Then we come from hunt and tell Sun we find troll feet on snow." Olr took one of the sticks and plunged on the ground. When he lifted it, the circle bottom left a large footprint. "Sun panic and order guards ready. But when Stick and guard look at trap they make not working, they tell Sun. Sun panic and cry and Olr show to tribe Sun is not brave Chief." Olr laughed with excitement. "All tribe follow me and all kick Sun out. Then me, Olr, be new great Chief of Lev!"

"Who helps Root?"

"No one! We all go out on hunt make fake tracks on snow. Root only one know of Stick"s plan anyway. Now, what waiting for? Go already."

"Yes, Olr!" Root hurried out while holding his knife and book. He walked for hours around town, trying to calm himself after taking on a burden he did not expect to receive. After walking around for nearly two hours, a goblin called out for him. Root looked around and saw his sister waving at him.

"Root!" She ran and hugged him, "You out of home! Finally, sun good for skin."

"Hi Mist. Where Mist going?"

On Mist"s shoulders were bags carrying various tools and supplies. "Mist going to square. Build se q

e t measure. In case troll attack."

"Um, can Root come too?" Root"s legs were shaking and his voice was raspy.

Mist couldn"t help but be concerned for her brother. "Root ok? Legs shaking."

"Root fine. Me just want help Mist because of before."

"Well, ok then! Let go!" She returned to her usual happy mood and pulled Root with her to the job site. The square was filled with numerous goblins. Nearly all of them are followers of the four brothers. Some were moving supplies from an old building an bringing them to the wall while others were attaching large contraptions on top of the rooftops that looked similar to slingshots.

Mist ran off, leaving him behind. She went to the goblins building the giant slingshots on the ground before installing them on the roof. Root watched as dozens of goblins walk back and forth, working without taking any breaks. Another group of goblins brought large crates containing gla.s.s bottles filled with spirits.

Then suddenly, the large bell sitting in the middle of the square rang. The goblins who rang it yelled out to everyone, "Break time!" Root"s heart skipped a beat when he heard the bell. He thought Olr came back with his followers and had reported the fake footprints. He needs to do something fast before Olr shows up. Luckily the goblins left one by one. All he had to do was hide inside a barrel and wait for them to leave. His sister was going to look for him, but she got swept by the crowd leaving the square.

Once the coast was clear, Root climbed out the barrel. He went to the slingshot like machines and tried to cut the strings. Sadly, he wasn"t strong enough to cut through them. Frustrated, he walked around, looking for a sharper knife to make up for his lack of power.

Suddenly, he caught a whiff of something foul. He searched for the origin of the stench, following the smell to the crate with the gla.s.s bottles. They were not filled with spirits but instead filled with the same substance Stick and Cloud"s stink bombs have inside of them.

The Chief was going to use the slingshots to launch the gla.s.s bottles at the troll. Most likely to overwhelm it with the smell while the Chief and his followers attack it. Root pushed the crates. When it hit the ground, Root heard gla.s.s bottles breaking. Then Root took a hammer and began smashing the remaining gla.s.ses. After he was done sabotaging, he left the scene as quickly as possible. He walked to the wall to wait for the others.

While turning the corner, Root b.u.mped into someone. Root fell on the ground b.u.t.t first and dropped his book. The goblin he hit into extended their hand to help him up. Root saw the hand and noticed the striking red skin. He b.u.mped into the Chief for the second time.

"Are you ok? Oh, aren"t you Mist"s brother?" Sun grabbed Root"s hand and pulled him up. "And that"s the book you were carrying last time." Sun grabbed the book from the ground. He opened the book and glossed over the pages. "Oh. Did you draw these because they look incredible? You sure have a wonderful talent and a strange fascination for ducks." Sun tried to give him back his book, but Root was frozen in place, overwhelmed by the sequence events unfolding in front of him. "Did you just fart?"

"What?" The question woke his mind back to life.

"I just smell something horrible. Maybe I need a shower. Or maybe we need a shower." Sun laughed.

A goblin approached Sun while he was laughing. The goblin was Spat, one of Smoke"s followers. "Chief, hunters come, say saw troll. Two them injured. One dead."

"What!" Sun frowned. He ran to the wall to check what was going on. Root followed, believing it was Olr and the other goblins with him. What they saw shocked them.

When they reached the gate, a large crowd of goblins funneling through the gate before they close it shut. The shed next to the entrance was the goblins that saw the troll. They were four of them. Two of them had injuries on their arms while the dead one had his entire lower half gone. Blood and stomach entrails poured out from his waist. Root recognized the goblin; it was none other than Olr. "What happened?" Sun asked.

Smoke walked up to him, "They saw a troll walking around. They tried to get away, but most of them got caught. Apparently there were ten of them, but only three returned alive."

"Please save tribe. Me, sorry bad." The one that carried the injured ones back to the wall got on his knees and cried.

"But that should be impossible. It"s still daytime. They should be statues. We would know, their corpse turned into stone right before our eyes." Sun yelled in frustration.

The bell on the top of the wall rang. The goblins stationed saw two large lumbering figures on the edge of the forest. Their bodies were covered in a thick leather coat, and their face was hidden behind a bag. They were far bigger than the previous troll, and they carried with them a gigantic ax and an oversized greatsword, a sword twice as long as Sun"s longsword.

Sun and Smoke climbed up the wall and began instructing the goblins what to do. Their followers evacuated everyone off the wall and prepared themselves for an attack. The goblins carried a barrel filled with a tar-like substance on the wall and placed stacks of dry hay along the paths towards the town.

One of the trolls roared then charged towards the wall. Sun gripped his sword, and Smoke readied his bow. They all aimed their arrows towards the charging beast. Sun raised his sword, and with one fell swoop of his sword, he yelled. "Fire!"