136 Dreams From The Adventures

Stick slapped him across his snout before he could finish. "Snap out of it! You're no monster, Olhos. You can speak for Tinia's sake you are not an animal because you can reason. And you're a hero. Just look at what you did. You saved Gever and defeated the troll." Stick pointed at the statue, "I can only think of a handful of goblins that could have done that."

Stick removed the rope around his neck and torso put away his sickles. Then he grabbed Olhos' hands and pulled him back on his feet. Noticing Olhos' finally calm down, the Zackons revealed themselves from the shadows and rushed to Gever's aid. Gever pushed them aside and ran to Olhos and embraced him. Her tears flooded out and flowed like a river on Olhos' shoulder.

Olhos' body began to shrink as his mind and body calmed down. He returned Gever's affection by holding her tightly to him. His fur fell off his skin, and his body returned to its original size. "I'm fine, Gever," He gently whispered, but she did not hear him. The blood on her ears began to dry up.

Stick noticed her unresponsiveness towards Olhos and the other Zackons consoling her with words. "I think we need to get moving, and quickly too. She needs Smoke to heal her ears."

"Ears?"

"Come on, get up!" Stick helped the two get back up. "You guys, carry that Astor asshole back to the riverbank for me, will ya?" He said while giving them a sinister smile.

The Zackons did as Stick ordered and carried the unconscious Astor back to their village. The others were already at the river waiting for them, along with the city goblin that bears a striking similarity with the brothers. His tall blue feathers reached to the sky like a tower, but Stick did not see a tower. The fluffy ball shaped plumage at the base made his crown look more like a man's manhood. This made Stick laugh hysterically.

"Why are you laughing?" Knight yelled, "Why does everyone keep laughing at me?"

"Who knows?" Sun said while staring at his impressive crown. "But anyway, we are still missing the two other red conquerors. Rock, Smoke, What happened to them?"

"They got away," They said in a grumpy tone.

"Hararara!" Knight laughed, "It's over for you, outsiders. I may not know how you reached the pinnacle form of a goblin, but once my king hears of you from my pawns, it's going to be all over for you!"

"He's right," Smoke added, "We might need to speed things up."

"No, this might be good for us," Sun said. "Stick, give me your red conqueror. We'll release him, and in return, he'll carry a message for us."

Smoke examined Gever, "Looks like your eardrums exploded."

"What?!" Gever yelled.

Meanwhile, Sun and Stick moved Aster closer to the river. Large chunks of ice floated down the river. Knight told them that the ice was created by another city goblin much stronger than he is, and they used them to travel to Zackons. They splashed cold water on him, waking him up. Aster woke up delirious, but they didn't need him to have a clear mind. They just needed him to deliver a message. Sun took a pen and paper and wrote a ransom for Knight. He placed the note gently between the pawn's gambeson and placed it him on top of floating ice.

Sun gave him a paddle from the Zackons and told him to go back to Everflow City and safely deliver the message. And to make he gets there fast, Sun threw the ice with Aster on it, making it skip on the surface of the water. Aster looked back and heard Sun yell, "Don't make me throw you all the way there!"

Aster started paddling for his life. The river's current was against him, but he did not give up and continued to paddle. He will eventually reach the city at midnight, right before his peers that escaped Smoke and Rock's wrath arrived.

Smoke finished treating Gever's ears. Despite being highly skilled with healing magic, Gever's left eardrum was beyond repair. He plugged her ears with a wool ball and disinfected the area with a mix of medicinal herbs and his mana. Then he left Olhos and Gever a time to themselves. Before leaving, Smoke noticed Horder sitting far away from them, concerned about his sister's well being but too afraid to come closer because of Olhos. Smoke would help, but there's no treatment for fear one must overcome it on their own.

After treating the wounded and clearing the air, the Zackons brought the brothers back with them. The tribe believed Horder was no longer fit to lead the Zackons and offered the brothers the position of Chief. Horder tried to protest, but he eventually yielded and asked for a compromise that he may control the tribe's treasury and be the new chief's advisor.

None of the brothers want the tribe. After all, why rule this small river clan when they can rule a city. Instead, one of them will act as temporary Chiefs until Horder or any of the Zackons become a fitting ruler. Stick volunteered for the role. The Zackons are an important part of their siege, which was primarily planned out by Stick. He will take the helms and make sure these raiders can do their job properly.

The brothers entered the dining hall and laid out their plan on the long table. The Zackons were stunned to know the brothers' real motive but were eager to help after witnessing their amazing powers. Everything was set. The Zackons will provide the army the longships needed to carry their forces to Everflow City and siege the city through the river, which originated at the city's central plaza. Once they arrive in the city center, they will get off the ships and take over the castle tower. While they travel on the river, Cossack and Shuja's armies will sneak into the city and attack the goblins attempting to stop their ships. There was more to the plan, but the less the Zackons know, the better because the city could have ears.

Their only problem was the lack of an updated map. The city layout they have was provided to them by Pagasa and is a hundred years old. Fortunately, they already sent out their best map-maker to the city.

A week before the brothers' journey to the Zackons, Spat led an expedition with Root and Mist. Spat disguised himself as an adventurer with two goblin slaves. They met a large company heading sneaking into the forest to raid Everflow City of its riches.

Root and Mist were often bullied by the adventures, so Spat made a small box that they could hide in as he carried them on the journey. Spat, on the other hand, became popular among the company. They believed that he a halfling of some sort, a product between an orc and an angel. The only ones that were not entertained by this were the clerics and paladins from the Church of Mahalia. Their reason for coming with the adventurers was because they were hired as healers. But Spat found this reason flawed. Regardless, they traveled with the illegal trespassers to Everflow City.

Once they arrived near the city, the company set up camp. They numbered by the hundreds, too many for Spat to count. But only a handful of the company were actually adventurers, the rest were workers that came to give a helping hand around the camp.

On the night before the raiding of the city, the first party gathered around a campfire to talk about their plans. Surprisingly, a group of paladins and a cleric will be joining them in the city. The plan was fairly simple. Under the city is a complex labyrinth of passageways leading to large chambers. And some of these chambers are the treasure troves of the goblins. The first raiding party must explore the passageways and list the chambers that potentially keeps the goblins hoarded treasures.

After talking about their plans, the adventurers ended the night with tales from their past adventures, and some shared their dreams and aspirations. Some of them had high hopes, with the desire to become legends, to walk among those in the higher leagues. In contrast, others had simple dreams of climbing up the social ladder and escaping poverty. When it was Spat's turn, everyone gave him their full attention. Even the Church officials could not help but be curious about his ambitions.

"Well, my dreams are pretty small compared to everyone here. I just want to get home and have enough to share with my family." Spat smiled.