Rise of the Horde

Giving commands to Rakh'ash'tha and Aro'shanna to sneak up on the lone goblin while Xiao Chen himself circle around to cut off its escape route. The lone goblin was in a clearing where a swampland was to its north and a steep cliff to its east which only allows it to escape in two directions, south and west.

Xiao Chen crouched down, sneaking as silently as possible and gathering the vines that he can find along his path. Aro'shanna and Rakh'ash'tha aren't skilled in sneak attacks nor do they know any knowledge about how to execute it since orcs are warriors and warriors don't hide their presence in battles.

Rakh'ash'tha and Aro'shanna revealed themselves quickly not bothering to try and sneak up on the lone goblin, they just stood up and marched forward towards the goblin.

Xiao Chen can't help but facepalm upon the actions of the two.

"Ugh... forgot to give them specific commands..."

He muttered and just smiled wryly but still kept himself hidden among the thickets scattered around the Lag'ranna Mountains.

"Kiek...ki...ki..ki..kiek!"

The lone goblin finally saw Rakh'ash'tha and Aro'shanna quickly since they didn't bother trying to mask their presence and just approach the wary goblin. With the two steadily approaching with steady steps, the lone goblin started eyeing their movements.

Sneakily the goblin started reaching his hands towards the scattered pots that it placed near the fire. Xiao Chen spotted a metal cauldron and some human cooking tools from where he was hiding.

"Surrender and you shall not feel pain"

Aro'shanna threatened the goblin, with her huge battle axe at the ready to cleave the scared goblin. Rakh'ash'tha just stared at the scattered human cooking tools in the possession of the goblin lying around.

"Kiek....ki.... Grogus...not wrong you.... Grogus... cooking...own food...Grogus give meal...just...don't hurt Grogus"

The lone goblin pleaded, speaking broken and poor Orcish tongue while ushering the two towards the food that it was cooking. The goblin had its head lowered like it was surrendering to the two.

Aro'shanna lowered her raised battle axe and confidently walked forward towards the goblin while Rakh'ash'tha was still busy looking at the possessions of the goblin.

With a quick sneaky move, the goblin tossed one of the bigger pots towards Aro'shanna, the still hot soup soaked the unwary orc.

"Damn you, you sneaky bastard"

Aro'shanna screamed while trying to get rid of the hot soup that soaked her body, her clothes soaked and the pot's content seared her skin a bit. Wiping her face clear of the mess done by the soup, Aro'shanna charged forward angrily wielding her battle axe.

Upon noticing that the orc didn't get hurt much as he had expected Grogus picked up the pots of spices that he had and hastily threw them towards the angry Aro'shanna. The fragile pots easily broke after Aro'shanna swatted them away with her battle axe but a few pots managed to hit her some even hit her right in the face, breaking upon impact and showering her with its contents.

Unluckily one of the pots of spice that shattered on her face contained spicy powder, a few of them sprinkled at her eyes.

"Ahhh!!!"

Aro'shanna screamed in pain, dropping her battle axe and rubbed her eyes with both hands. Tears started to uncontrollably flow from her eyes, and her vision was blinded by the spicy powder.

"Ki...ki...kiek... foolish orc...Grogus...kills..

those that take his food...ki...ki...ki"

The goblin laughed at the suffering Aro'shanna, with large strides Rakh'ash'tha charged forward towards the goblin with his wooden staff poised to bash the little goblin for hurting his daughter.

"I'll smash you! You puny rascal"

Rakh'ash'tha angrily yelled as he charged forward. The goblin quickly picked up a metal cauldron nearby and used it to defend against the angry orc's attack.

With a loud clang, the goblin successfully defended itself against Rakh'ash'tha's strike filled with anger but was sent flying a few paces away. Scampering to its feet quickly, it stared at Rakh'ash'tha who tried to comfort and heal Aro'shanna's pain with his concoctions.

"Kiek...kiek....ki... Grogus...be back...Grogus will revenge...kiek...kiek..."

The goblin shouted with his poor broken Orcish along with its native shrieking tongue and quickly fled leaving behind its treasured possessions.

Xiao Chen was surprised by the goblin's well thought strategy, faking surrender and striking when the enemy's guard is lowered. He can't help but shake his head after looking at his two undependable companions.

He prepared himself to catch the escaping goblin who was unlucky enough to be running exactly towards his hiding spot. With the vines that he had gathered, he prepared a simple trap with them. Tying the vines together and making a knot at one end of the vines which he placed at the path that the goblin was headed to.

Waiting patiently for the right moment, Xiao Chen kept himself well hidden among the thickets, his hands gripping tightly the other end of the vines.

The goblin was in a hurry, running as fast as possible and wasn't looking carefully at where its feet were stepping on. The goblin wasn't aware of the danger that he was headed to.

The goblin's right foot stepped inside the knot made by Xiao Chen with the vines. With a quick powerful tugged, the knot tightened against the goblin's foot, the momentum of its sprint sent the goblin tumbling forward as one of its feet got snagged by Xiao Chen's trap.

The poor goblin got tripped and crashed to the ground hard after its foot got snagged by the vines.

"Kiek...kiek....ki..."

The goblin confusedly stared at the vine that snagged its foot and tripped him, shrieking in confusion and pain, it tried to get its leg free.

Xiao Chen grinned with his success and stood up, tugging the other end of the vines and dragging the hapless goblin towards him. The goblin struggled to get its foot free while nervously looking at the grinning Xiao Chen.

The goblin was noisily shrieking and thrashing around to get free of the vines tied on its foot but to no avail. Securing the goblin with his right leg by stepping on its chest, Xiao Chen used the length of the vine to bound and secure the noisy goblin who was still trying wiggle itself free.

Fully bounding the goblin with the vines, Xiao Chen finally could be at ease. He bounded the goblin like a mummy, covering almost its entire body tightly with the vines but with enough room to let it breathe and live.

"Kiek...ki...mercy orc...show...mercy upon...weak Grogus..."

The bounded goblin pleaded as snot and tears came out of its slanted sneaky eyes and long hooked nose.

"Where is that sneaky bastard?!"

Aro'shanna came out of the thickets angrily, her eyes turned red and still wet with tears as she cleaved the thickets that were impeding her on her path with her battle axe. Rakh'ash'tha was just behind the angry Aro'shanna with his wooden staff that had its top end missing after trying to bash the goblin.

After noticing the bounded goblin, Aro'shanna charged forward with her battle axe raised and ready to cleave the sneaky goblin in half. Xiao Chen quickly got on Aro'shanna's way, shielding the goblin from the angry female orc.

"Kiek...ki...ki...mercy...mercy...Grogus still want to live...Grogus still want to cook..."

The goblin pleaded for its life, nervously looking at the angry Aro'shanna.

"Calm down...I want him alive...If he is useless...you can do anything you want with him"

Xiao Chen tried to appease Aro'shanna's anger while giving a look of pity towards the goblin. Aro'shanna lowered her battle axe and angrily stared at the goblin who was pleading for its life.

"As you will, chief...but you must give him to me if he is useless"

Aro'shanna replied with reluctance and just stared coldly at the goblin.

"Kiek....Kik...ki...Grogus...useful...Grogus...cook...Grogus...show you way..."

The goblin nervously declared as Aro'shanna's stares were like the maws of death waiting to devour him.

"Well, I hope your useful...or I'll give you to her"

Xiao Chen muttered towards the goblin who was looking at him with hopeful eyes. Rakh'ash'tha just kept silent and patted his daughter's shoulder and comforted her that she will have her chance to do what she wants with the goblin.

"Pray to your gods that you are useful you sneaky bastard...or I'll tear you apart...limb by limb and boil you in a pot"

Aro'shanna continued to threaten the little goblin who was thankful to Xiao Chen for letting him keep its life.

"Where do we go now? chief"

Rakh'ash'tha asked Xiao Chen after giving the tiny goblin a cold glance.

"We will continue to explore the surroundings and if we are lucky, we can find something useful like the Bufas Trees"

Xiao Chen said as he stared at his roughly drawn map and trying to locate where they are now.

"What are we looking for exactly? chief"

Rakh'ash'tha curiously asked as he is confused on what the chieftain was trying to find.

"Hmm... edible food like vegetables and fruits...raw metal resources like iron ores or if we are lucky gold ores which we can trade with the pinkskins with the help of Adhalia or creatures like this one who had expertise in some fields"

Xiao Chen explained while pointing at the goblin who finally quieted down and accepted its fate of being a captive who had his life depending on Xiao Chen's judgement whether he is useful or not.