Tect sat under the peach trees. The air was nice and cool here and the fragrance from the fruit was wonderful. The slimes ate any fallen fruit so the smell of rotten fruit was non-existent. Tect reached down and scooped up some of the soil, it was rich and black, the tree's the slimes shredded were broken down by the many bugs living in the soil and made it highly nutritious. The nature here was in perfect balance, it was a paradise, and now it was theirs.
As Tect watched his people enter into this magical garden a tear rolled down his face. His people had suffered for too long, he had long feared they would all die in chains, but now they basked in the rays of heaven. Tect couldn't hold back the flood any longer, tears began to flow unabated. Tears for all the children who starved to death, who lost parents. Tears for the men and women who watched their loved ones beaten, sometimes to death. Tears for the Elders who never got to see freedom before joining the ancestors. More tears than any one person should ever shed.
Tect walked deeper into the orchard, hiding his tears from his people. His tears needed to be shed in private, he needed to come back to them so that they could grieve while he stood steadily before them. He needed to be strong so that they could be weak. But right now he couldn't, so he left. They still had work to do before they could finally break, if they saw him now it would be too much.
It took a few hours for everyone to break down the camp and begin to move everything in, once Tect calmed himself and his puffy eyes went back to normal he stood beside Moidra to oversee the move.
"How's everything progressing?" Moidra looked over at Tect, "Everything's going just fine, the last of the tents was brought in and now a few are carrying in the wood collected from outside. We didn't want to try to chop wood and anger the slimes." Tect nodded, "Perhaps somewhere in here is a stand of timber we can use. It would be a shame to burn fruit trees." Moidra glared at Shota who was introducing his new peaches to a group of goblins, "Maybe, but if we need to I know which ones to start with." The two shared a good laugh.
The last goblin to enter was moving rather slowly and occasionally would drop a piece of meat. 20 paces behind him was a scruffy looking wolf. Erdrin looked over at Tect and winked at him. Truly this man had a gift, whether it was with animals or it was just the power of his cooking was hard to tell but whichever it was, it was effective.
"That's the last one in boss." Shota jogged over to the pair. "We can get moving to the bridge now if you like." Tect nodded, "Yeah lets get going." The goblins moved towards the bridge at a leisurely pace. The constant oo's and ah's quickly began to get annoying. At one point while passing a herd of sheep Erdrin's wolf pup decided that it would very much like to try mutton. This hilarious escapade ended with Erdrin staring down the largest ram anyone had ever seen.
"Holy shit, Erdrin's going to die. We made it through everything we did and Erdrin's gonna get butted to death." Shota and the scouts were laughing their asses off. Clearly Tect wouldn't allow Erdrin to die, but Tect also didn't want to fight the ram either. "Erdrin? Is it really worth getting your ass kicked to protect the pup? Can't this be like a lesson for him on how to properly pick prey?"
Erdrin shrugged, "Maybe I should let him deal with it, but I want a brave hunting dog. If this sheep beats him too badly he may lose his nerve. Better to set a good example for him I think." Tect sighed, why was he surrounded by all the craziest goblins. "Ok, well you have fun. Let's leave him to it everyone." Tect took the rest of the goblins and continued onward.
It was probably 10 minutes later that a badly battered Erdrin caught up again. The pup no longer trailing behind, it walked right beside Erdrin. It's eyes full of admiration for it's new pack leader. Tect smiled at the sight, "How'd it go?" Erdrin grumbled something under his breath. "Couldn't understand you say it again." Erdrin blushed heavily, "I said mutton taste like shit!" The whole tribe began laughing at Erdrin's exclamation.
The sky had begun to grow darker by the time the goblins reached the bridge. "It's hard to judge the time when you can't actually see the sun." Moidra said as she gazed at the sky. "I agree, it's a wonder that the light even last all day, I figured with the walls of the mountain being so high there would be very little light here." Tect looks at the sky as it turned to dusk and stars began to appear.
The camp was set up not too far from the road, just downstream of the bridge. The goblins used the carrots, and potatoes to make a hearty venison stew using the deer meat. Tect stood in front of the 30 goblins who remained. "Attention everyone, It has been a long journey. We are all tired, tired from many years of abuse and mistreatment, tired of being seen as less than what we are, and tired of seeing our loved ones die." More than a few goblin's had tears in their eyes at the moment. "I was granted the title of chieftain by an elder council that no longer exists, to lead a tribe of goblin's that no longer exists. Many of you came from other clans, or never knew a clan at all. Still you put your trust in me, and called me your chieftain. For years I failed all of you, even now I have only led you to this place using a scroll from one of the Elders. I am happy to see you all safe and free. But starting tomorrow I am stepping down as chieftain. You have all been through Hell following the orders of men who have held themselves to be above you, and I will not continue that legacy. I gained my position through no merit of my own except that I was born the son of a chieftain. Now I would grant you true freedom, from this day forward no chieftain shall be chieftain except through the will of the tribe. No longer will we have an elder council, the voice of the tribe shall come from the tribe. Any goblin who reaches adulthood will have a say in who is chieftain, and how the tribe is managed. Before I step down this is my decree. Finally, I would make one request. It is only a request and the entire Tribe will have the final say but still I'd like to be heard. The human's have beaten us, killed us, enslaved us, and worse, but we are free now. I ask all of you to mourn those you lost, mourn the time you had stolen, and to mourn for those who still suffer in chains. But please forgive. We can not become the monsters they think we are, in 30 years maybe even less we could birth a generation of goblin warriors and sack every town and city in the county. I'm asking you to set this aside. Enjoy your freedom, we are safe here. If humans knew this paradise existed they would never give it up. They can never reach us here, so please live free and happy here, and remember the past, but leave it there where it belongs." The other goblin's were in tears, even Shota couldn't hold back. Some came forward to hug Tect and thank him for being such a good leader, Tect couldn't help himself from crying again.
A few asked him to keep being chieftain but he declined. He didn't have the heart to tell them that he wasn't going to stay. There were other goblins out there, still in chains, still suffering. Tect was going to make up for all the years he failed to properly lead his people. Besides, this place was too empty right now, and Tect always wanted a big clan.
The tears flowed for a time but eventually everyone calmed down and went to sleep. Tomorrow was a new day, and the first day of the goblins' new lives.