Risha: Chapter 32

“Prepare to die, monster!” The words were screamed with hatred, and Risha was surprised to discover that the human was female. Most of the humans she’d been fighting over the last four days had been male, and it was hard to tell through the gold and silver armor the flying warbeast riders wore.

The spear of fire flew forward. Risha drew back her arrow and loosed it in one smooth movement. 

The arrow hit the spear of flame, and the runes on it activated, exploding into a ball of fire and wind. The heat washed over Risha, and the flames blocked her sight. 

The scaled flying Warbeast jumped through the flames, but Kliks was there, jumping onto the monster and causing the rider to roll off of it onto the ground as the two Warbeasts wrestled.

Risha glanced over to the Kobold who was with her, a Grey Lupus, fast on his feet. It looked uncertain as it watched them.

“Run for the pack!” Risha commanded.

The kobold didn’t hesitate as it turned and followed her orders. The noise so close to the army meant that more humans would soon be here on their few horses. Risha would need the power of the pack to escape.

Risha felt the heat, and jumped to escape another spear of fire, rolling to her feet as her arrows were spread across the dirt. The spear exploded into flames, sending her flying forward into the human who waited with drawn sword.

Risha moved her hands as she flew, drawing on the wind to push her out of the path of the human’s sword by a hair’s length.

Risha rolled across the ground and landed in a crouch. She drew her own sword just in time to meet the weapon of the woman attacking her. 

The clash of swords echoed through the forest, as Risha was forced to dodge spouts of flame with every swing, [Mother’s Care] barely keeping up with the injuries. 

In the background of their fight, spider and drake fought in a series of pained screeches.

Whatever swordstyle the human used, it matched well against [Risha’s Swordsmanship] and Risha was surprised to find herself pushed back against the human. 

Her armor saved her more than once, barely blocking cuts from the human woman.

A high pitched squeal echoed out, and the swordswoman staggered back her gaze moving to the monsters fighting. 

Risha glanced over, to see the scaled bird pinned under Kliks, Kliks fangs in its neck pumping poison.

“Saya!” The woman’s voice was filled with heartbreaking despair and a strange amount of pain, making Risha pause. “No. No please, Saya.” The woman dropped her sword, falling to her knees as she clutched at her throat, despite the lack of injuries.

Risha stepped forward and raised her sword above the woman’s neck. The sword rose to the air, then fell.

Only to stop, inches away from the vulnerable woman’s neck.

Something in Risha’s heart twisted as she stared down at the human, helpless before her. She knew that now, she could kill the woman, and be done with her. Done with one of the human slavers’ most powerful weapons.

She should kill her. But she didn’t want to. Risha didn’t want to hear the begging of the woman, she didn’t want to hear the pain that filled her at the damage to her companion. Still, images filled her mind, of corpses left to rot, of monsters chained and slaughtered.

Risha hated what the humans did on the banks of that river, what they did to the running orcs and goblins. AND SHE WOULD KILL THIS WOMAN.

“Please.” 

The word came from the dying drake, a plea that made it to her through the power of [Brood Mother].

Risha growled, and she stepped away, her sword lowered.

She tapped her sword against the ground twice, and Kliks paused. 

Her spiderling looked to Risha, removing its fangs from the still drake. It turned from Risha to the human.

The human froze as Kliks’ gaze fell on her. 

Risha tapped her sword against the ground again, and Kliks skittered away from the drake, turning small to climb into her cloak of webs.

The woman turned to Risha, her expression unreadable behind her helmet.

Risha’s hand tightened on her sword as she looked into the woman’s pain-filled eyes. The flying warbeast’s breathing was slowing, as Kliks’ poison spread through its body, liquifying its insides. 

Risha’s grip loosened and she bared her teeth to the woman. Then she turned towards the scaled warbeast.

Risha stepped forward, and the woman reached for her sword, fighting her own internal pain. Risha stepped past her, her gaze set.

She stopped in front of the large monster, who glared at her with the same intensity as its rider with the last of its breath. She forced [Brood Mother] to activate. Immediately the words of the beast fell upon her.

“-spare her. Please, goblin of the mountains hear me. Do not kill my rider.” 

Risha looked at the beast. “Do you know what your humans have done to my people?”

The drake paused, its eyes slowly falling upon Risha, as its life bled away. “Yes.” 

Risha lowered herself to be at eye level with the warbeast, “And you ask Risha to forget those bloodied children?” 

“No.” The words were forced, but they came, the two monsters holding each other’s eyes. “Just as my rider does not forget the orcs who slaughtered her village.” 

Risha growled. She did not have time before more humans arrived, but her thoughts were a mess. Every decision had consequences she could not predict, and her mercy was spread thin after days of watching her people die. 

Risha reached out and placed her hand on the snoot of the flying beast. 

The woman screamed, reaching for her sword as she charged at Risha. 

“Kliks.”

The spider jumped from her web, pinning the woman to the ground and knocking the sword from her hand.

The woman froze as she stared up into the fangs of the giant spider.

“Please goblin.” The drake’s voice faded with the last word.

Risha looked upon the monster. 

Who was Risha?

Risha was the Grand Mother of monsters.

Not just for goblins, but for all who looked upon her for help, and for safety. It was foolish, the idea that she would save a creature who would’ve happily killed her moments before, that she would spare a bird who had harmed her own spiderlings.

But Risha was a fool.

[Mother’s Care] washed over the creature, and the beasts breathing steadied. 

A soft sob made Risha look at the woman pinned under her spiderling. She had no eyes for the predator on top of her, instead focused entirely on her drake. 

Risha’s healing was especially effective against the poison of her own spiderlings, removing the poison in moments. 

Yelling and the sound of horses came from the forest, making Risha look up. She paused, her gaze moving to the drake. She didn’t know if her healing had done enough, but time was cutting short.

“Kliks. Leave her.” Kliks skittered off of the woman, over to Risha. She hopped onto the warbeast in a smooth movement, then they were off through the forest. 

Feat Recorded

Risha noticed the system message, but ignored it to focus on the path ahead of her.

Moments later, the kobolds of Leaf-Watcher’s pack fell into stride beside her. Leaf-Watcher herself leading them.

They rode hard through the forest, losing the humans that chased them before regrouping with Risha’s other warriors. 

***

Skirmishes continued for the next day, as the humans pushed on with a renewed vigor. On the evening of the fifth day, Risha rode Kliks as she skittered through the forest, Leaf-Watcher’s pack running with her. Fire rained from the sky, as four drake riders attacked them, leading a contingent of humans to follow them through the forest. The fifth drake rider remained conspicuously absent.

A shadow covered Risha as Klaz’zks shot her webs into the sky. 

Unfortunately, as soon as the webs met fire, the webs dissolved to nothing. 

Risha watched a spear of fire engulf a kobold, only to look away as Kliks dodged the ensuing explosion of flames.

They ran, and the humans chased, knowing that their enemies were on their last legs. 

They entered a clearing, and Risha turned to face the chasing humans, drawing one of her remaining arrows. 

The world quieted as Risha faced the oncoming threat. Humans yelled as they came from the forest. A Drake screeched a warning.

But it was too late.

A bolt fired into the sky, hitting one of the drakes. Howls echoed through the surrounding forest, more wolves than the human’s had ever heard in their constant game of cat and mouse.

Risha smiled, her teeth sharp and bloody.

The humans faltered as the monstrous howls continued from the surroundings. A wave of arrows shot from the forest, aiming for the drakes.

Orcs, goblins, and wolves, fresh from crossing the mountain, hooted and hollered as they rose from the underbrush and ran out of the forest. They collapsed on the humans, who had been so sure of their victory mere moments ago. 

A human, desperate, turned to Risha and ran towards her.

Risha loosed her final arrow, striking him through the neck, and none were foolish enough to take his place.

Risha turned her eyes to the skies, where the drakes fled from the arrows of her people. [Hunter] activated, telling her that they’d injured two of the drakes in their ambush, but not enough to bring them down.

Her eyes turned back to the ground as her people cut through the humans. 

A familiar spearman stood on a nearby cliff overlooking the battle from under his own brown chitinous armor. 

Their eyes met, and he bowed his head to her.

Relief filled Risha at the sight of Glo. Until his people had appeared, she’d worried that some part of her plan would fall apart. Glo’s scouts had arrived just hours before their last chase through the woods, telling of his approach.

She turned back to the humans, the last of whom were surrendering or running to the forest. 

Risha dismounted Kliks, and the spider shrunk to crawl into her silk cloak. Risha made her way through celebrating monsters to her trusted general.

“Glo should’ve known you’d get in trouble as soon as you left.” Glo shook his head, his gaze moving over the fallen. “Humans. Where are the orc armies we expected?”

Risha grabbed him and hugged him tight, not caring about the armor between them. He squeezed her back. 

“You took too long,” Risha said. 

“The mountains were cold,” Glo gave a mock shiver, before a smile made its way to his face. “Come, the others want to speak with you.” 

Glo’s warriors led her exhausted troop through the forest, and Risha spotted several scouts relaying their movements as they approached a wooded hill. 

Soon, the trees gave way to a camp being erected. Several large cabins had already been constructed, with the beginnings of a wall being built. Risha spotted High Goblin Builders working together to build a larger building in the center. 

Hundreds of Goblins, Orcs, Warbeasts, and Kobolds of all different kinds of evolutions hurried back and forth across the large camp. Past them, were the injured orcs and goblins that Risha had rescued at the start of her campaign. As soon as her spiderlings spotted her, they hurried over en masse, growing smaller to crawl up her cloak and hang there. 

A High Goblin ran up to Glo, telling him something before running off. 

“You’re building a village,” Risha said. 

Glo nodded, “They told me what happened to the village that use to be on this side of the mountains. We decided it would be good to set up another base of operations.”

“Smart.” Risha pet one of her spiderlings, watching as her exhausted troops were led away by the well-rested warriors under Glo.  

She, however, followed Glo to the main building. Already, an exhausted Klaz’zks and Leaf-Watcher had joined the Elders of the council present. They all stood around a table, every one of the races represented by their leaders. They talked in quiet whispers as Glo and her entered. Risha paused when she saw a familiar cloaked figure.

Klu bowed low to her, and she nodded to him. He wasn’t supposed to be here, but she’d talk to him later.

Glo led her to a tall chair at the head of the table and she sat down while trying to hide her own exhaustion. 

The whispers instantly stopped at her presence. Glo stepped back to stand slightly behind and to her right.

“Is everyone here?” Risha asked. 

Elder Kulos stepped forward, bowing his head. “Elder Tya is with the injured, and Elder Mo leads the builders in construction. Their voices are held by their trusted seconds.”

Risha had no idea what a trusted second was, but a High Goblin and the singular Orc in the room other than Klu nodded. 

“Good,” Risha said, her gaze sharpening as she sat tall in her throne, “The orc clans are scattered, but not defeated, the humans have slaughtered many of their villages, and we fought them to protect those who pledged themselves to me. On the horizon, the elves have yet to make their move, and there are more dangers coming. We’re surrounded. But our people still suffer under chains.” Despite the protests of her body, she left her chair to stand before the gathered leaders. She placed her hand on her sword. “I want to free every goblin, orc, kobold, and warbeast from their slavery before we are forced to retreat through the mountains. Are you with me?”

The kobolds howled, and the rest of the monsters joined in a cacophony of sound that spread through the camp quickly. 

Risha smiled, her teeth sharp.