Corwin Benedict
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Risha Chapter 19
🕑 Added 2025-04-26 08:00:32 +0000 UTCThe next day, they set out. The goblins who would be staying behind cheered for the army as they marched. Unevolved goblin children watched from behind their mothers, while craftsmen and laborers worked hard to prepare the city for a possible retreat.
It was an army to behold.
Smaller spiders skittered through the High Goblin warriors, Spider Tamers sitting comfortably on top of them. War Spiders stepped over everyone, entire bands of goblins riding on them as they made their way.
The spider Queen herself walked at the head of the army. Risha walked next to her, among her spiderlings, the purple spiders chittering with excitement as they explored truly moving their evolved bodies. Even the Spider Queen stepped carefully around the purple spiders, knowing that their loyalty didn’t land with her, but instead with the Grand Mother who calmly walked among them.
Glo stood not too far off with his lieutenants, while the Kobolds ran ahead and behind the army in their packs.
They would march for a week to the battlefield they had chosen. Natural cliffs, a river and webbed traps forced the enemy into a battlefield that favored the goblins, forcing the orcs to fight uphill.
Risha calmed her heart by running her hand through the fur of one of her spiderlings. She had been preparing for this moment all her life, and now that it was here, she wasn’t sure exactly what she should feel. She wasn’t scared exactly, instead feeling a mix of excitement and nervousness.
A stout creature wearing a cloak to cover his features calmly walked through her children towards her.
She looked at him in confusion as he walked beside her.
“Why are you here?” She asked.
Klu looked back at her, his red eyes meeting hers. He looked forward, the sounds of the cheering goblins reaching them.
Risha was fine with waiting for him to organize his thoughts, and her patience was warranted when he slowly began to speak.
“I thought long and hard about what I should do.” Klu said, “And it came to me, that I am one of your people. I will not leave you to fight on your own.”
“What about Shasha?”
“She supports me in my decision, as she always has.” Klu took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. “I have to tell you, I have another reason to accompany you.”
Risha’s hand tightened around the hair of her spiderling before loosening. “What is that?”
“This is a selfish request, but if given the chance, I would like you to grant mercy to some of my brothers and sisters.” Klu looked at her.
Risha couldn’t hide her emotions to that request. “You don’t ask something easy.”
“I know.” Klu bowed his head to her. “But I hope that I have shown you that not all orcs are born evil.”
Risha looked at him. She truly looked at him, taking in all of his scars, the hardness in his eyes and the calloused hands that had been ready to kill for her. The look in his eyes when he drew that sword against the kobold was a strong one, one that was ready to turn away from his life as a father in order to fight for something that he believed in. He believed in her now, as he did then.
“The chance for mercy might never come, but if it does, I will consider your words.”
Klu bowed his head, then started to turn away.
“No, Klu. Walk with me here.”
Klu paused, then nodded.
Risha noticed many looks from the Goblin Elders as the orc walked beside her, but she ignored them and no one dared to approach her inside her swarm of spiderlings.
The week’s march passed with only minor issues. Grand Mother Maya had been very clear that the main issues armies faced were supplies, so Risha had planned with the Elders ahead of time to have proper supply caravans prepared. They’d been stockpiling food for the march, with all of the hunters working overtime.
In the evenings, the Elders, Glo, Klu and Earth-Shaker would join her in her tent to discuss strategy. More scouts were returning and reporting on the armies numbers and formation. Truth-Seeker’s approximation of their numbers was accurate, if perhaps a slight underestimate.
The addition of more goblin villages and the kobolds had bolstered their numbers, but they were still outnumbered by the orc warparty. Risha hoped that their strategy and location would make up for that difference.
As soon as they arrived at their battlefield, Goblin units were sent ahead with ambush spiders to secure the cliffs, while Kobold packs ranged ahead to act as harassing parties. Scouts were sent to watch the river, to make sure that the orcs didn’t attempt a crossing to flank.
Risha leaned against one of her spiderlings, Klu standing tall next to her with his hand on his sword. He still wore his cloak, but that did little to stop the stares from the Elders and Kobolds inside her tent.
They all sat around a table on which a crude map had been set up. Little stones were being used to represent Kobold packs and Goblin Units. On one side the cliffs were expertly mapped and drawn, while on the other the river was shown winding around their battlefield.
Everyone looked at the table closely as Glo spoke.
“The cliffs are incredibly important. They allow us to constantly harass the orcs and stop any kind of advance. If they push us out of the cliffs, we’ll be forced to retreat here.” Glo motioned to a spot closer to the tents than Risha liked.
“What about the river?” Earth-Shaker closely examined the map, his large form towering over anyone else in the tent.
Glo shook his head. “The rains and the melting snow have made the rapids uncrossable, and we have scouts watching to make sure they don’t try to go around us to the city.”
“Orcs won’t attack the city without attacking you first.” Klu said, “We are a bloodthirsty people when it comes to war. Better to crush you with our strength.”
“You would know, wouldn’t you-” Elder Kulos started
Risha snapped a twig she’d been playing with.
Elder Kulos snapped his mouth shut, but that didn’t stop him from glaring at the orc.
Glo cleared his throat, “I’d like some of your alphas and their packs to watch the paths into the cliffs.”
“Don’t you have webs protecting you?” Earth-Shaker growled.
Glo shook his head, “They have spiders of their own, and the webs will burn away with some well placed torches.”
“I’ll place these two packs there.” Earth-Shaker moved a couple of stones at random.
Glo frowned, but didn’t say anything as he adjusted a Goblin unit to fill the hole the packs had left.
Risha watched quietly as they continued to discuss the specifics of their plans. The Grand Mothers had some advice, but Risha had already shared that with Glo. She wanted him to lead everything here, since she felt that he was better suited to moving armies than she was.
Eventually things quieted down and most everyone left the tent to get some sleep, leaving her, Klu and Glo alone in the tent.
Glo continued to look at the map, speaking quietly to himself, occasionally he’d ask a question of Klu who would respond after some thought.
“I’m going to sleep.” Risha announced.
Both of the boys bowed their heads to her as she snuggled up next to one of her spiderlings.
***
The next morning, they received the first reports of kobold scouts encountering Orc parties.
Small skirmishes resulted in deaths on both sides, but now the orcs likely knew that they were here.
Risha took the time to walk among all of the units she could, speaking with the goblin warriors and hunters. Klu walked with her as she did.
Many of the goblins were nervous, but they were all strong in their desire to fight against the orcs and kill those who had harmed and enslaved them for so long. Many of them looked at Klu strangely, but most of them had accepted that Klu was different than most orcs.
The spiders almost had a frenzied excitement about the prospect of war, their legs tapping in excitement as Risha checked in on them.
Risha made her way back to her brood of spiderlings, all of them taller than her now. She spent the next hour enjoying their company, just playing with the large creatures.
As evening approached, the forward unit of the orc army became visible through the trees. Numbering five hundred strong, they set up camp in sight of the cliffs.
More skirmishes occurred as the orcs sent scouting parties to test the terrain.
The spiders ate well as their traps and tunnels caught many of the orcs off guard.
Risha watched from the cliffs as the orcs seemed to just sit there, their movements impossible to fully see across the distance.
Risha fell asleep late that night.
The next morning, Risha looked out from the cliffs, and for the first time, her heart froze in fear.
Thousands of orcs walked through the forest, reminding Risha of an ant hill she had disturbed as a young goblin.
Across the distance, she could swear that one of the orcs, a large one carrying an ax met her eyes. He pointed at her, and only instincts saved her as she fell to the ground.
The tree behind her exploded, slowly falling to the ground. She looked back to see an arrow punctured deep into the ground. Lightning coiled around the shaft of the arrow, despite the fact that it lay embedded in the ground.
That seemed to be the cue to start, as a loud roar echoed across the cliffs and over the water.
Risha looked up to see orcs pouring through the trees below her, their chained warbeasts carrying them across the distance.
She looked around, only to discover all of her people frozen in fear at the sight of the approaching orcs.
So Risha stood up tall, again meeting the eyes of that same orc. She drew back an arrow, then poured mana into the runes that covered its length.
No one strikes fear into her people! NO ONE challenges her! NO ONE will make her feel fear again.
The arrow vibrated with the energy flowing through it. First she aimed at the ax wielding orc, but then she smiled and lowered her aim.
With a roar that rolled over her people, she let the arrow go into the front of the orc charge.
The arrow hit a war spider, punctured through its head and into the ground beneath it, exploding into blades of wind that cut through the orcs like butter.
That seemed to wake up the goblins around her as they all let loose their own arrows.
In the valley below, the approaching orcs and spiders ran into the waiting spears and claws of goblin units and wolf packs.
All around her, goblins drew and released arrow after arrow.
Risha didn’t pay attention to the battle below her. Instead, she showed her sharp teeth to the ax wielding orc. She couldn’t be sure over the distance, but she was pretty sure he responded in kind.
She turned around and headed back towards a safer position to watch the battle. The orcs wouldn’t break through on this charge. No, this was just a test.
They wanted to see the mettle of her people.
She would show them.
The time of the orc was over.
