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  [Marrok]

  Marrok was busy gnawing into a squirrel. It was a few days since their visit to the dungeon and they were preparing for a return trip soon. He was now faced with a choice of who to bring.

  The dungeon was a great opportunity for the tribe but also a risky one. It had already claimed two of their number and if he was not careful it could take a great many more. From what he knew this one was not like others, though he had never been inside another dungeon, but he had thought they were supposed to be small tight tunnels with rooms that had fights, not large open caverns that held all manner of danger.

  Just the issue with the tree on their first trip was worrying. Two static plants had nearly killed a goblin.

  As he sat round the fire with the rest of the tribe he pondered the issue, ignoring the various goings on of the tribe.

  Obviously, he would be going, he was also planning to bring Forroll. She had impressed him last time and was clever and observant, that would always be a benefit. He also didn’t want to let her out of his sight. She was his now and though she didn’t know it, he would not brook any others going after her.

  Looking across the fire he spotted some of the others.

  Glady had been too arrogant last time and would be sitting out for this visit. He wanted slightly calmer heads with him this time. Brey had been a valuable member and would be coming once again. The others that had survived had performed admirably enough, and so he thought that he would bring them as well.

  He just needed to decide on a couple more to replace those that had died.

  Looking across at the other warriors, he realised that although the better fighters would be the older goblins, a lot of them had already reached the top of their potential already. Strengthening them in the dungeon would not be as valuable as forging some of the younger goblins there.

  But who to bring?

  He sighed, finishing off the squirrel and chucking the skin into the fire, hearing the popping squeak as it caught alight. It was a hard choice, but in the end, he would probably be rotating through most of the tribe, keeping a core group that he trusted. So far that was looking to include Forroll and Brey.

  The following morning, he had made his choice, and as he walked around the camp, he gathered up the group he wanted.

  It would consist of himself, Forroll, Brey, Lorg, Janus, Shull, Blathr, and Krik.

  Blathr and Kirk being the two young goblins that he felt best about bringing.

  The tribe had an early breakfast, having risen earlier due to his movements and before the sun had fully risen, the campfire had been lit for the day.

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  By the time the early morning dawn rays that crept over the horizon illuminated the forest the goblins were off together hunting for food.

  Although they were hunting, the main goal was to practice together and train. As they walked, they chatted to the new members about what the dungeon was like, trying to prepare them.

  Reaching a clearing, Marrok saw a good space for them to train. The goblins all sparred a few times, battling it out with axes, knives and fists, careful not to injure each other overly. Marrok fought twice, winning both with ease.

  At the end of their fighting, he had a better understanding of their styles. Janus and Blathr were more aggressive, whilst Brey and Shull were more defensive fighters, and as he thought about, it an idea occurred to him.

  The dungeon was not like others, and with giant caverns it meant that attacks could come from any direction. Most likely from in front of them as they advanced into new areas, but certainly from behind was possible.

  Setting up the group into two rows of three, the back two consisting of Brey and Shull facing backwards, the front two facing forwards consisting of Janus and Blathr, and the middle two, Lorg and Krik, facing outwards such that all sides were watched, and everyone covered each other’s backs.

  Forroll and himself, as the chief and smartest goblins, were going to be the attackers to test them out. Setting them up, he told them to advance and move around the forest and mountains, before Forroll and he worked on disappearing into the treeline.

  Over the next few hours, they would attack, trying brazen charges, sneaky approaches and all manner of attempts to disorganise and take the group apart. As the group advanced, Forroll hid behind one of the larger trees along the trail, whilst Marrok slipped between the trees catching the group’s attention. Forroll and Marrok working together to take them apart was most successful and as the group followed Marrok, Forroll slashed into the side of the lead member, dancing away and round the tree as the group tried to cope.

  Their attention focused on her, Marrok disappeared, circling round and catching Forroll’s eye. With a dip of the head they began, attacking from both sides with arrows, switching sides whilst rotating around the group.

  When it was clear the group had grasped their tactics and retreated, they stopped for a break to chat about the formation.

  “Thoughts?” Marrok asked as they settled down on the floor.

  “It works – once we got used to our positions and how to move so that we didn’t trip over each other then it felt good, right?” Brey answered looking to the others.

  “Yep”

  “Uh huh”

  “I think we need a lot more practice, but Brey is right Chieftain, this should certainly see us well in the dungeon.” Blathr replied.

  “Good” Marrok said.

  “Chieftain?” asked Forroll.

  “Yes”

  “How will we fit into the group?”

  “Right, the plan I have is for you to be in the centre, Forroll with the other six around you.”

  “Ok”

  “We’ll practice that another time, for now I want the others to get used to this arrangement of six. Though if you guys could try leaving a bit more space in the centre that would be good.

  “Can do chief.”

  “Yep”

  “Got it”

  “Won’t I not get any action then?” she asked looking dour.

  “No, you will: the plan is that you will be shooting arrows from the centre at all times and then if anyone gets injured you are to drag them inside the formation and take their place in the outside group whilst they take over the arrow slinging.

  “Right, ok, sounds good.” She said, seemingly brighter now that he had clarified.

  “How about you Marrok?” Lorg asked.

  “I will stay on the outside for now. I’m more used to the dungeon and frankly a better all-round fighter at the moment.”

  “Sound”

  “Then, if I’m overwhelmed, I thought we would stretch the group out into two rows of four instead, but that will require a lot of work to get right so we’re going to have to practice this a lot.”

  They nodded back.

  “Good” Marrok said, “Let’s get back to it.”

  After only a few feigned attacks by Marrok and Forroll, the group had improved massively. At the start ,they had tripped over each other or drifted apart constantly. But as they kept practising they managed to consistently stay close enough to remain in touch, but far enough apart that they weren’t tripping over each other.

  When attacked, they would bunch up so that their backs were protected and they could focus on what was directly in front of them. Trying their best to leave a gap for Forroll to use.

  That day, they came back without any meat for the tribe but with a much greater understanding of how to fight together.

  Over the next weeks they kept up the practice and soon they were working on adding Forroll and Marrok to the mix. When Marrok felt that they wouldn’t collapse under fire whilst doing the movement he deemed them ready for another trip to the dungeon.

  A hearty breakfast and a goodbye wave from the tribe saw them set off, marching out of camp, and tracking through the woods, down the mountain side, towards the dungeon entrance.

  Marrok kept an eye out for any more of those big cats but he wasn’t too worried about it, they would deal with it quite handily with such a large group. Especially now that they knew their positions.