***Hobgoblin Commander Golo's POV***
I slowly opened my eyes.
The first thing to notice is blinding pain in my head and a sore jaw. The next thing was the view.
'Why are trees growing on the ceiling?'
Someone steps into sight. For a second, I do not recognize the face, but memories come flooding back to me.
"No matter how much you struggle, you wont get out of these ropes. Even if you managed to get out, you're surrounded."
After looking around and seeing that the human is right, I stops straining, resigned to my fate.
"Good. Why would the Goblin King send six generals, with the strength of Chiefs, to recover these?"
I can't help but laugh at the humans ignorance. A knife pressing against my throat brings me to a stop. It was a cold blade, and the man held no mercy in his eyes.
"The old system is no more. Only generals and commanders now. Golo's not even close to being as strong as a general though."
The knife is removed as the human cocks his head sideways.
"So you're a commander? Then what were the ranks of Ghal and the hob-goblin in this cave?"
"Ghal was a rising commander, the other a weakling barely holding onto his rank."
The man took out the map the King had sent me and the other commanders after. The man hold's it in front of my nose.
"I heard you guys call this a map. We already know how to view the one given to Ghal, and this one is probably the same. What does this trinket do?"
I spit at the man's feet. The next moment, one his companions is next to me, striking my head repeatedly. The sting reminds me of sparring. The man from before and another of his female companions pulls the aggressor off of me.
I can't help but laugh as I spit out a tooth.
"Your friend is very hot headed."
***Kairo's POV***
I look back to the hobgoblin, who called himself Golo earlier. His face is starting to change colors from being hung upside down.
"Hmm...you're lips are fairly tight. Do you not fear death?"
Again, Golo laughs at me.
"I fear my King more than death."
At this I can't help but chuckle.
"You think your King is scary? Interesting...guys give us a minute? Please take care of the bodies, don't want to leave them to rot. Check for any valuables or interesting items while you're at it."
Only Alcon muttered a bit as everyone walked back to the battle field. Leaving me alone with the commander.
"Torture will not work."
"I know. What I want from you is different. I want you to give a message to your king."
Golo's eyes widen as I start untying him.
"I want you to tell him that I am coming to take his head. The human Kairo, you got that? And since this is useless to me, I'll let you take the trinket as well."
I finish with the ropes, sending him crashing to the ground. He glances between me and the woods, eventually grabbing the trinket from my hand. He dashes off.
I give him a few seconds, then silently slip into the woods behind him. It doesn't take long for him to stop and huddle behind a tree. He cuts his finger, lets the blood fall onto the gem, and starts whispering into the trinket I had given him. Smiling at my suspicions being correct, I don't wait for him to finish talking to pin him to the tree with a multitude of knives.
He's screeching as I slowly walk up to him and grab the trinket off the ground.
"Thanks for your cooperation. And I hope you already sent the message."
Bernadette runs out of the woods, her axe raised into the air. Seeing there's no present danger, she slowly lowers it and walks up to me.
"What happened?"
"I let him go with the trinket, and he ended up showing me how to use it."
"Nice. What should we do with him now?"
I tap my chin in thought.
"Hmm…hey gobs. Have you eaten any humans?"
Confused, the hobgoblin answers slowly.
"No, I have not. No humans live where I grew up, so I havent had the pleasure."
My lips go thin. Without hesitation, I whip out my sword out and take the the hobgoblins head off.
"Now, you'll never have the 'pleasure'."
***Third Person POV***
The two surviving hobgoblins run through the forest. When they get to their direwolf mounts, they start the ride tirelessly to the king they serve.
As soon as they arrived at the castle they were taken to the throne room. Before the doors had shut behind them, they were kneeling.
"We return, King Gheel. Unfortunately-"
"I am already aware of your failure, Golo was in the middle of sending a message before the feed was cut off. I am glad at least you two returned...unscathed."
The two kneeling hobgoblins look at each other in surprise and fear, silently arguing over who should now speak.
"Apologies for the failure, my King. A group of adventurers got there first and found them. When we tried to take them back, half of us were killed and Golo captured. Maybe he got away before they could get any information from him?"
The King slowly shook his head.
"No, we got a response from the trinket I had sent with the insufferable weakling. Unless he was able to take it from them by force, which would be near impossible, he was somehow tricked."
Both the commanders looked at each other, nervously swallowing.
"There was one among them that surprised us. He was able to detect us when we tried to kill their healer. After that, his strength and their team work won them the battle. Golo wouldn't be able to escape him unless he reached his mount first."
King Gheel pinched the bridge of his nose.
"This must be the 'Kairo' that Golo had started mentioning..."
"When we saw how strong he was, three of us attacked him at once, but he was able to-"
"SILENCE YOU WEAKLINGS!!! GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!"
The hobgoblins scampered away in fright, leaving the Goblin King by himself. After calming down, the king called for a servant.
"Make an order to destroy all the trinkets tied to the channel of the one that was stolen. We must make sure they are not able to glean any information from it."
"Yes my King."
The servant bowed and turned to leave, but froze in his tracks when Gheel started speaking again.
"Also, bring me the trinket to contact 'Him'. I need another shipment. If this Kairo is as skilled as they say he is, my strength must grow as well."
The servant silently bowed a second time and shuffled away to complete his tasks.
With a tired sigh, the Goblin King rose from his throne and went to the window behind him. In front of him lay the kingdom he had built with his own two hands.
Hundreds upon hundreds of grass and stick huts spread out in front of him.
He could see fires being lit as families began cooking dinner. Children ran through the makeshift city, playing tag and kicking around balls.
A team of Ogres was walking away from a new development of houses. Seeing all of this brought the King to think back on what he had done to create this kingdom.