66 The Hole (2/2)

”I honestly don't know.”

”And are these feathers growing in the back of your ears?” Shuja took a closer look at Sun's ears, lightly touching the feathers. Sun noticed her cleavage through her unbuttoned coat.

”Are you done yet?” Sun cheeks turned red.

Shuja looked at Sun directly in the eyes. ”Oh, sorry.” Shuja pulled back as fast as she could, ”My bad.”

Sun was surprised. Before, he found it impossible to have any attraction to the goblin women. That is because goblins had the appearance of grotesque children between the ages of six and twelve. Now their appearance was closer to a teenage human body without the disproportionate features.

Sun only wished their face looked more human-like than their current looks. They still had pointy noses, large ears, and goat eyes. However, Sun found Shuja's body to be beautiful despite it hidden under her coat, and he could not wait to see what her body may look like if she transformed another time. Shuja's shoulders and chest were slightly wider than her waist, forming an inverted triangle. And her legs were long and slender.

Dawn's body was much more feminine. She had an hourglass figure thanks to her wide hips and smaller waist. But she did not look weak. Her thick legs could support her weight, and Sun could tell she had a well-built upper body just from looking at her broad shoulders.

Smoke and Stick and looked at their brothers flirt with Dawn and Shuja. ”When will I get to flirt with a girl?” Stick said.

”Haven't you flirted with Pin enough?” Smoke sarcastically said.

”I don't like her like that. She's like a mom to me.” Stick tried to deflect the accusation, but it only made Smoke laugh.

”Excuse me?” Suddenly, an old goblin came forward.

”Oh, Lars, what's wrong?”

”Sir Stick, followers gather all bodies. And hole dig up.”

”And is it six feet under?” Stick jokingly said.

”Yes.”

”And how many died?” Sun asked. Lars held his hands up and counted with his fingers. He stopped after he flashed both of his hands five times. ”So we lost about fifty.”

”Our tribe only has about one hundred and twenty members now.” Smoke added.

After sulking for a few minutes, the brothers left the arm inside the shed, wrapt in wool, and walked to the large hole. Dawn returned to her tent, bringing most of the women with her, while Shuja followed the brothers as one of the tribe's important leaders. Goblins surrounded the hole; some were there to see their dead loved ones, while most were there to watch, expecting a spectacle to occur.

The brothers' followers gathered the bodies in a pile and were ready to move them. But before they could, Sun gathered his brothers and Shuja, ”Before I start. I want to let you guys know about our future plans. I'm planning to relocate the tribe.”

Everyone responded with confusion. They did not know why Sun would leave the tribe while its still winter. They surmise it would be better to rebuild than start a new, but Sun was confident this was the right choice, and the group just had to trust him.

Sun over the hill made from the dug up dirt and gave his speech. ”My dear tribe, I am sad to join you here today,” Sun's voice cracked. He was still not used to his role as a leader, but he has no other choice but to carry this burden, especially now.

Sun cleared his throat and continued, ”We should be celebrating. We won a hard-fought battle, but here we are outside of our town that is now in ashes.” The fire behind him was slowly fading away, leaving behind charred remains of the buildings. ”But let's not forget, that the odds were against us from the moment Cala angered the trolls and left us to die while he locked himself inside his cave. We won to live another day, while he died hiding without leaving any trace of himself.” Sun looked at the pile of corpses. ”These brave goblins died with honor. Let's not squander the victory they gave their lives for. We must live! Our homes may be burning, but we will live!”

”Yeah, live!” One of the goblins shouted. The rest followed, chanting live at the top of their lungs.

Sun waited until the crowd settled down. The goblins stopped when they noticed Sun standing over them without saying a word. Sun stayed quiet for a few more seconds, building suspense, before starting his speech again in a softer tone. ”I have made plans with my commanders. I will be moving our tribe elsewhere. Once we bury and honor the dead, we will prepare to march south to Bona. And I will take Razin for you. I will create a stronger tribe, so when another troll comes knocking at our doors, we will not panic. We will not be scared. And most importantly, we will not lose! We will never lose another battle nor another war!” Sun paused and stared at the goblins. Then he ended his speech with a question, ”Do you want to lose?”

The goblins looked at each with confused looks. Then a goblin in the crowd spoke up, ”No not want lose!” The rest joined in, yelling to their Chief their desire to win. Sun ignored most of them because he transfixed at the goblin that raised his voice first. It was none other than Root. Sun smiled, knowing the goblin that used to run away just from bumping the Chief would be brave enough to lead the crowd.

After the goblins finished their applause, Sun walked down the hill and met up with his retainers. He wanted to talk to them privately to start planning their next move. But before leaving, Sun noticed Lars hiding behind Shuja with his legs shaking. He arrived in the middle of the speech and was mortified to hear Sun's plan. ”What's wrong, Lars?” Sun asked.

”What mean move?”

”We are heading south.” Sun was about to leave the site to let the followers do their job when Lars grabbed his arm.

”But Lars weak. Me can no move.” Lars cried out with some tears in his eyes.

Sun got on his knees and told the old goblins, ”Then I will carry you.”