The mine came into view just as dawn broke. Thulga pulled her horse to a stop at the ridge, raising one hand to signal her sisters. Below them, the settlement sprawled across the valley—crude wooden structures clustered around the main shaft, smoke rising from forge fires.

"There," Roktha said. "Kragg’s territory."

Mazga shifted in her saddle, her missing arm making balance difficult. The wound had been cauterized and wrapped, but pain still radiated through her shoulder. "Let’s get this over with."

They’d never seen Kragg before. Why would they? The western orcs were a joke—weak, disorganized, barely worth acknowledging. Kraghul’s strength alone exceeded all of them combined. The sisters had never bothered to learn their faces.

As they descended, Thulga felt something wrong settle in her gut. The settlement was too quiet. No pickaxes striking stone. No shouted orders. Just silence.

"Something’s off," she muttered.

They reached the gate as dusk crept up on them. Two orcs stood guard—broad-shouldered, well-armed, eyes sharp.

One stepped forward, spear leveled. "State your business."

"We’re passing through," Thulga said. "Heading north."

"Wait." The second guard moved closer, squinting at Kraghul. "That’s... that’s Kraghul."

Relief flooded through Thulga. They knew him. This would be easy.

The first guard slammed his spear against the ground. "You’re not welcome here."

Thulga blinked. "What?"

"Kraghul is an enemy now. New leadership. New rules. Turn around."

"Enemy?" Roktha’s hand moved to her weapon.

"Look at the one with the missing arm," the second guard said. "Did you run into the Chieftess?"

"What Chieftess?" Thulga demanded.

"Because if you did and you’re still breathing..." The guard trailed off. "She doesn’t leave survivors."

Mazga went pale. "We fought an el-!" they weren’t allowed to finish their sentence.

"Doesn’t matter. You’re not getting through. Kraghul’s name means nothing here."

Roktha drew her blade. "You want to test that?"

"Try it." The second guard whistled. More orcs appeared along the wall. "See how far you get."

Before Thulga could speak, footsteps approached.

"Stand down." 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

A figure emerged—an orc woman, tall and muscular, with scarred knuckles. She moved with earned authority.

Maui stopped at the gate, studying them.

Thulga urged her horse forward slightly. "Please. We’re not here to cause trouble. We just need passage. Maybe some help."

Maui’s jaw tightened. Thulga watched anger flicker across her face—real, barely controlled rage. The orc woman stared at Kraghul for a long moment, her hands curling into fists.

"I should let them gut all of you right here," Maui said quietly.

Roktha’s blade cleared its sheath completely. "You can try—"

"Roktha, shut up," Thulga snapped. She kept her eyes on Maui. "What did he do? Our brother—what did Kraghul do to make you this angry?"

Maui didn’t answer immediately. Her expression shifted, something complicated passing behind her eyes. When she spoke again, her voice carried a different quality—reluctant, almost bitter.

"There was someone," she said slowly. "Someone who would have killed your brother for what he did. Would have been the easier choice. The cleaner choice."

"But?" Thulga prompted.

"But he didn’t." Maui’s hands unclenched slightly. "He chose influence over execution. Chose to turn an enemy into something useful."

The sisters exchanged confused glances but Maui was referring to Byung and his relationship with Drekk.

This scenario fit that exact situation.

Maui looked at the guards. "Open the gate."

"Ma’am?" The first guard’s eyes widened. "But Kraghul—"

"I know who he is. Open it anyway."

"The Chieftess won’t—"

"The Chieftess isn’t here right now. I am." Maui’s voice hardened. "Open the damn gate."

The guards hesitated, then slowly pulled the barrier aside.

Maui stepped closer to Thulga’s horse, her eyes never leaving Kraghul. "You want to know what happened? Fine. But your brother crossed someone powerful. Someone who should have ended him. And the only reason I’m letting you through is because we have use for strength."

"I don’t understand," Thulga said.

"You will." Maui stepped back, gesturing toward the open gate. "Stable your horses. Get your wounded sister and brother to the healer. Then we’ll talk about exactly what your brother did and why you’re lucky I’m the one who found you first."

Mazga spoke up, her voice weak. "Who would we have found otherwise?"

Maui’s smile was sharp and cold. "Grishka. And trust me, if she’d been at this gate instead of me, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. You wopu already be dead."

Thulga guided her horse through the gate, her sisters following close behind. The settlement looked different from the inside—better organized, better defended. This wasn’t Kragg’s operation anymore. That much was clear.

"What happened to Kragg?" she asked.

Maui’s smile widened. "That’s part of the conversation we’re about to have. But first—tell me where you thought you were going. What were you doing riding north?"

Thulga dismounted. "We were looking for someone. A goblin."

"A goblin?" Maui’s expression shifted. "And who exactly is this goblin?"

"A goblin named Byung," Thulga said.

Maui’s face changed immediately. The anger vanished, replaced by sharp interest.

"Well," Maui said quietly. "That changes things considerably." She turned to the guards. "Get word to Grishka. Tell her we found something interesting."

Thulga felt her stomach drop. "What does that mean?"

Maui looked back at her, and for the first time, her expression held something other than hostility.

"It means maybe you’re not enemies after all. We have a lot to discuss about this goblin."

-

Grishka should have been back at the mine by now. The journey wasn’t long—a day on horseback at most. She left early enough that the sun would still be high when she returned. But something must have stopped her.

She froze mid-stride on the path, her massive frame going still. Her nostrils flared.

There was something evil hung in the air, not fresh blood or decomposing flesh—she knew those smells. This was different. Deeper. It crawled across her skin like invisible insects. The scent had weight to it, thick and oily, coating her throat.

Grishka had no ties to mana. She never needed it as her raw strength had always been enough. But she had never been a normal orc ot begin with. Something in her could sense the corruption, sickness, wrongness in the air.

She turned slowly. The smell was oozing from a fixed point to the east. Not spreading naturally, but pouring out like water from a cracked vessel.

She should keep walking. Should get back to the mine, report what she had learned, let them handle whatever this was. That would be the smart choice. The safe choice but that would also put them in danger.

Instead, Grishka charged toward the source.

the horse’s feet pounded against the earth as it ran, war axe gripped tight in one hand. She couldn’t explain the compulsion driving her forward. It felt like something was calling her—not with words or sound, but with a pull she felt in her chest, her bones, somewhere primal that she didn’t have words for. She’d never experienced anything like it before.

The landscape changed as she got closer. Trees grew sparser, their leaves yellowing and brittle. Grass died in patches, brown and withered. The ground itself looked wrong—cracked and gray, like all the life had been sucked out of the soil and left only dust.

Grishka’s horse slowed to a walk, then stopped completely.

The desolation stretched out before her in a perfect circle. Nothing grew here. Nothing moved. Even the insects that should have been buzzing in the afternoon heat were absent. The silence felt heavy, oppressive, like the air itself was holding its breath.

At the center of the dead zone was a crater.

Massive—easily thirty paces across—and perfectly circular. The edges were smooth, as if something dense had fallen from the sky. Grishka approached slowly.

At the bottom, she saw footprints pressed into the dirt.

She knelt, studying them. They were humanoid but very strange. The stride was too long, the depth too deep for normal weight. Whatever made these was heavy, heavier than it should be.

The pattern suggested it had stood from the center, taken unsteady steps, then walked away.

These footprints shouldn’t be here. Whatever created them had fallen from the sky and walked away from an impact that should have killed anything mortal.

Unknown to Grishka, what had come through the barrier was something else, something no one knew was here, not even the dwarf.

Whatever stood behind her bore resemblance to something evil with two horns portruding from its head.

The very thing that had woken within the barrier, it had the same eyes but perhaps, this was the very creature.

Grishka’s hand tightened on her axe, knuckles white, she felt overwhelmed but her legs began to shake.

This was true fear, like death had its hand around her neck.