Hask cleared his throat. His voice cut through the low rumble of the gathered tribe. "That settles the Builders and Medics," he said. "But not where we put all of this strength."

  Dravak grunted. He dropped back onto the log that served as his seat and planted his axe beside him. For a moment he let the fire crackle and pop in the silence, then nodded once.

  "The runt said we choke if we stay in one hole," Dravak said. "He is right." His gaze swept over the lieutenants. "Speak your minds."

  Kesh stepped forward first.

  She crouched and drew a quick map in the dirt with a charred stick. One side became a rough river curve. The opposite edge turned into a ridge line. Near the ridge she scratched in the cavern as a jagged mouth.

  "This is our land now," she said. She pointed at the cavern mark. "If all of us stay packed inside the cavern, every hunt, every patrol, every message has to start and end there. Everything we do will bottleneck through that one place."

  Rika moved closer, studying the map. She tapped the spot where the Bend sat near the river.

  "This place is good," she said. "We have water, plenty of game, trees for building, and most importantly, space. The wolves like it here." Ashpaw huffed as if to confirm, his yellow eyes reflecting the firelight.

  "It would be foolish to leave it empty," Rika went on. "But it is too open for our children and pregnant females to stay forever. They should be where stone walls surround them, not trees."

  Hask jabbed a finger at the cavern symbol. "Then they belong there," he said. "The old home is safer. Stone, tunnels, only one way in and out. That is where the ones who cannot fight should sleep."

  Throk nodded once in agreement. "But drills, training grounds, building, that fits better here," he said. He waved toward the open riverbank around them. "More sky. More dirt to shape. More room to run without cracking your head on rock."

  Kesh straightened and brushed the dirt from her fingers. Her tone shifted, slower and more deliberate.

  "Then the problem becomes if we pull too many warriors away from the cavern, it grows weak," she said. "And if we pull too many away from the Bend, this place becomes just another camp waiting to be burned. We have seen that happen often enough."

  Her eyes lingered on the map. "We need to find a middle ground that doesn't leave either home undefended."

  Grub listened as they spoke, each piece of the problem being identified and discussed. They were all thinking past tomorrow now. That helped. It made what he needed to say next feel a little less like he was abandoning them.

  Kesh tapped the cavern mark again. "It still needs work," she said. "More chambers for those who return. Better choke points. Stronger supports. If all thirty Builders stay here, the cavern will fall behind."

  Grub nodded. "Then we split their work," he said. "Just like we split the tribe."

  Tor shifted his weight at the edge of the inner circle, thick hands flexing against his sides.

  "We can do that," he said quietly. "Some can stay with the river, while the rest go back to the cave." Dravak jerked his chin. "Good," he said. "I want the experienced Builders in the cavern. They already know what to do there. You will train the new recruits here, Tor." Tor straightened. "Yes, Chief."

  Grub stepped closer to the fire, feeling its heat against his shins. The flames painted the gathered goblins in restless light, Ironfang and Bonegnasher mixed together now.

  "The tribe needs to split," Grub said. His voice was not loud, but it carried. He pointed toward the dark line of trees beyond the riverbank.

  "The Bend is not just a temporary camp," he said. "If we stay here and build, it can become a real home. We have room to spread out and work. From here we can reach more of the land we just took instead of being stretched thin from the cavern."

  Kesh nodded once. "It is a good location," she said. "For patrol lines and supply runs both."

  Grub went on. "The cavern is still our first home. It's hard to reach, and easy to defend. That will not change. But it cannot hold all of us if we want the tribe to keep growing." "The mothers and the children should be there," Rika said. "The wolves can guard the tunnels well. No enemy will enjoy forcing its way through stone and teeth."

  Hask folded his arms. "So we agree we need two homes," he said. "One here. One there. The real question we need to answer then is who stays and who returns."

  Grub let his gaze move around the fire. Dravak. Kesh. Throk. Hask. Rika. Vexa. Tor. Sarela. Dozens more behind them.

  "We make two groups," he said. He lifted one finger. "Group One stays here at the Bend," Grub said. The plan came easier now that he had started, his thiughts tumbling out quickly. "Kesh, Throk, Hask, and Vexa stay behind and lead the camp. We leave seventy-five Warriors to stay with them."

  He nodded toward Tor. "Tor stays with the fifteen new Builder recruits. That makes sixteen Builders total at the Bend." Tor blinked once, then nodded with his jaw set.

  Grub looked to Sarela. "Sarela stays. All of the new Medic recruits stay as well. Out of the experienced Medics, only five need to go back to the cavern. The rest stay here with you." Sarela’s mouth quirked faintly. "I already have a few in mind," she said.

  "This place will become a real base," Grub said, looking back to Dravak, who simply nodded for him to continue, "if we stack it with goblins who know how to build and who know how to keep others alive."

  Kesh flicked her gaze over her slate, marking down the numbers and counting quickly. "Seventy-five Warriors. Sixteen Builders. Seventeen Medics," she said. "It is a solid spread for a working camp. Enough to build and defend while we grow."

  Grub turned to her and Sarela. "Group One's job is simple to say and hard to do," he said. "Make the Bend strong. Train. Patrol. Build. Turn this camp into something nobody can just burn down in a night and walk away from."

  He let his gaze pass over the Warriors who would likely stay. "You will be more exposed here than you were in the cavern," he said. "The river will cover one side, but that will not save you if you get lazy. You keep your eyes on the trees and the water. You watch the dark."

  Hask nodded. "Do not worry," he said. "We will make sure there are always enough Warriors on patrol. Nobody will be sleeping through a watch."

  Throk bared his teeth in a quick grin. "And anyone who is not patrolling or building will be sweating in the formations," he said. "If the forest wants to kill us, it will have to work hard."

  Vexa stayed quiet, watching the Bonegnashers in the crowd, noting how many now stood near Ironfang warriors without flinching. Her eyes narrowed, not in anger, but in thought.

  Grub lifted a second finger.

  "Group Two goes back to the cavern," he said. "Dravak will lead them. Rika and the Fangs of Winter go with him." He looked out over the Warriors again. "Fifteen Warriors head back, but not just any fifteen. I want the fifteen healthiest fighters we have. The worst wounded cannot march yet, and there will be time for them to recover while the Bend grows into shape."

  Several warriors straightened at that, shoulders squaring.

  "The cavern does not need a full war band," Grub said. "With everyone returning, there will be near 100 goblins at the cavern, plenty to defend it."

  He turned toward Sarela. "Five of your Medics go back with them," he said.

  Sarela dipped her head. "I will pick the five," she said. "We will leave enough hands there to keep everyone standing."

  Grub looked back at the map Kesh had drawn and added, "All eight of the pregnant females who fought for the Bonegnashers, and all nine children will go back with Dravak as well. No pregnant goblins or children stay here. They will be well defended in the cavern."

  A quiet sigh of relief moved through some of the females in the crowd, and the older goblins watching over the children loosened a little.

  Grub turned again to the Builders. "The experienced Builders return to the cavern, as Dravak said," he went on. "You know its tunnels already. We need you to keep pushing them deeper and stronger. If the cavern is going to hold all the mothers and the young, it needs to be even better than it is now."

  Tor nodded and showed his teeth in a quick grin. "And I will make sure the new recruits are earning their keep here," he said. "Both places will get the respect they deserve."

  Grub finally turned his gaze to Rika. "You and the Fangs will have an important job," he said. "In the cavern you will do more than guard the pregnant and the children. When we need messages sent between the Bend and the cavern, the Fangs will be the ones to carry them."

  He tilted his head toward the forest between the two homes.

  "What takes goblins five days on foot," he said, "you and the wolves can cover in just a few hours. The Fangs become our runners. When you are not carrying word between homes, you hunt around the cavern and keep it safe."

  Rika frowned slightly, working through the picture, then her expression shifted. "We can do that," she said. "The wolves like to run. They will enjoy the work. They have not been let loose properly in a long while." She paused, then added, "I would like more Fangs to do it with ease, but we will manage until we fix that." Grub nodded, and then stepped back. He looked toward the Chieftain.

  Dravak had stayed silent, watching Grub and the reactions around the fire. Now he gave a short nod and pushed himself to his feet. The shifting and murmuring died down almost immediately.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  "The cavern will not be forgotten while we build at the river," he said. His voice carried smoothly over the ring of goblins. "We will have two homes and remain one tribe. Other tribes do not even think that far. That is what makes us different. That is what makes us stronger. That is what makes us Ironfang."

  Silence settled over the tribe.

  Dravak stepped up beside Grub, towering over him like a cliff. He looked over the gathered tribe, taking in Ironfang and Bonegnasher faces together.

  "We are not a band hiding in one hole anymore," Dravak said. "We have taken tribes. We have taken land. Now we will hold it. And soon, all within this forest will know our name."

  He thumped his chest once, the sound solid over the crackle of the fire.

  He looked down at Grub, who stood beside him, staff planted, shoulders set.

  A slow smile split Dravak's face, his iron teeth glinting. "This runt is strange," he said. "But his ways have changed the tribe more than I ever thought possible. Turns out sometimes strength comes in a small package."

  A ripple of laughter passed through the tribe, rough and genuine. There was teasing in it, but no edge.

  "This plan stands," Dravak said. "We know what we must do."

  Kesh slammed the butt of her spear into the dirt with a sharp crack. Throk nodded with grim approval, lips pulling into a tight grin. Hask rolled his shoulders and smiled. Rika gave a small nod, the wolves behind her shifting calmly.

  Vexa stared into the fire for a heartbeat, then lifted her gaze to the goblins around her. Bonegnashers and Ironfang stood shoulder to shoulder now. No clean line. No simple divide.

  She had never seen a tribe like this. A chief who listened to his lieutenants. A council where others could speak and not be cut down. A tribe that was planning not just for the next raid, but for the next season, the next year.

  She did not know what to call this yet. But she knew strength when she saw it.

  Her eyes drifted back toward Grub. He still stood near Dravak, small and still, with the firelight catching on the edges of his face.

  , she thought to herself.

  For the first time since dawn, the tightness in the camp had eased. The future of the Ironfang had been chosen. The tribe began to move and murmur again, sorting themselves into the two groups that would soon part ways. Near the central fire, the lieutenants leaned together, their voices low as they made final adjustments to the plan. Dravak sat back down on his log, but his gaze stayed sharp.

  Grub remained standing.

  The firelight painted long shadows behind him. The noise of the camp grew as goblins shuffled and argued quietly over who would be going and who would be staying, but Dravak noticed the way Grub’s shoulders had not relaxed at all.

  The chief’s eyes narrowed.

  "You have more in that skull of yours," Dravak said. "Out with it."

  The words pinned Grub in place.

  Every goblin, Ironfang and Bonegnasher alike, turned back toward the small green figure at the fire’s edge. Even the wolves lifted their heads, ears pricked.

  Grub took a slow breath. This was the part he had circled around in his thoughts again and again. He had already decided. Saying it out loud was the last step.

  "I have two more things to talk about," he said. His voice was steady enough, even if his pulse was not.

  Dravak nodded once. Around the fire, goblins resettled themselves. No one left. Grub decided to start with the easier topic.

  "First," Grub said, "we need to talk about the Fangs of Winter."

  Rika’s attention sharpened at once. Ashpaw flicked an ear, and Sable rose from where she lay at Grub’s side.

  Grub swept a hand toward the wolves. "Ten wolves were enough when we had forty goblins," he said. "But we have two hundred and thirty now, and that number is only going to go up. The Fangs cannot stay this small."

  Soft murmurs ran through the tribe.

  Rika nodded. "I have been thinking the same," she said. "We are already stretched thin. Too many fights, not enough teeth. More wolves would make a difference."

  Grub nodded. "The wolves give us more than just teeth," he said. "They give us speed. They give us fear. They let us decide where the enemy is allowed to stand. They break lines. Sometimes they win fights before a spear even hits."

  He glanced toward some of the gathered goblins. "The Red Tusk remember that."

  A few ex–Red Tusk goblins shifted, half grimacing, half laughing under their breath. They remembered the howling and the sleepless night well enough. They remembered how the endless noise had ground their nerves to dust before they had ever seen the Ironfang approach.

  The Bonegnashers stillwatched the wolves with a mixture of wariness and fascination. For them, wolves had always been predators to avoid. Seeing them sit calmly behind Rika felt wrong in a way they could not put into words.

  Kesh spoke up. "If we are going to keep two homes," she said, "then eventually we will need wolves at both. I agree. We should start making that possible now."

  Grub nodded toward her. "Your Scouts will be key here, Kesh," he said. "We need you to lead a search for dens. Forest wolves. Dire wolves. Close to us and far from us, as long as they are inside our territory."

  Hask snorted. "The Scouts will like that better than counting tree trunks," he said. "Hunting wolf dens sounds like real work."

  "We do what we did before," Rika said, picking up the line smoothly. "Kill the adults quickly. Capture the pups. Bring them home to the cavern, and raise them with our children. It worked once. It will work again."

  Grub nodded. "If we raise the pups from small, alongside our goblin children, then the Fangs will not be limited to whatever wild packs are nearby," he said. "Once we have a second generation that knows us and fights beside us, we can start breeding our own wolves." Rika whistled.

  He let that hang for a heartbeat, then added, "It will take some time. But the sooner we start, the sooner it pays off."

  He took another breath and went on. "And if we are clearing out wolf and dire wolf dens at the same time, hunting gets safer. Hunters will not have to worry as much about surprise attacks from roaming packs. And if there are fewer wild wolves taking down game, that leaves more meat for us." He shrugged. "More wolves for the Fangs. Safer, richer hunting for everyone. There is no reason not to do it."

  That idea struck the tribe almost as hard as the word breeding had. The thought of walking the forest without constantly flinching at every crack in the brush, or looking over their shoulder constantly, was almost impossible to imagine. Yet Grub spoke as if it were simply a matter of course.

  Rika inhaled sharply, eyes bright. "We could have a true wolf company," she murmured. "Not just a handful, but dozens. A full line."

  Her smile turned sharp. "We would smash anything that stood in front of us."

  Dravak looked thoroughly pleased. "Do it," he said simply, nodding to Kesh. "Find the dens. Take the pups. Break any packs that think this land is theirs."

  Kesh tapped her slate. "I will start marking den locations as Scouts find them," she said. "We can begin the real search within a day or two."

  Grub fell quiet again, but shifted nervously on his feet. Rika leaned toward Kesh, already whispering quickly, hands sketching imagined movements of wolves and goblins through enemy lines.

  Dravak watched Grub and saw that the tension had not left his shoulders at all.

  "There is still more," Dravak said quietly. "You said there were two things." His gaze did not leave Grubs face.

  Grub looked down at his hands, then back up at the tribe. The firelight turned their eyes into small, bright sparks.

  "I did," he said. "One last thing."

  The quiet that followed felt heavier than any before it.

  Grub swallowed.

  "The tribe keeps getting stronger," he said softly. "We have better fighters. Better leaders. Tor. Sarela. The Fangs. We are building a second home. We are planning for more wolves."

  His fingers tightened on his staff.

  "But I am falling behind," he said. "And it is my own fault."

  Confusion washed through the circle, though this time the murmurs stayed low and brief.

  Grub pushed on. "I have been busy teaching. Building. Helping the Medics. Planning. All of that matters, and I do not regret doing it."

  He took a slow breath. This was the part he had not put into words even inside his own head.

  "But I have ignored the System more than I should have," he said. "I have been neglecting my own growth."

  He lifted his chin slightly. "After all these months, I am still only level eight."

  A few goblins shifted, surprised he said it out loud. Levels were real and understood, but not always discussed in front of the whole tribe. Only those who had full access to the System could Identify others and see their levels.

  "At level eight," Grub said, "I can already shape stone, throw spears of earth, and deal significant damage to our enemies. You have seen it."

  He glanced toward Vexa. Toward some of the Bonegnashers who had been caught in his Stone Fragmentations.

  "If this is what I can do at eight," he said, "then what happens when I hit level twenty? Or twenty five? How much more will I be able to do? How strong can my magic get?"

  He let the questions hang there.

  "Why should I deny myself that growth?" he asked. "Why should I deny the tribe that strength? I cannot hide behind our lines forever and just hope the others are always strong enough to protect me."

  He shook his head once. "Building the tribe is important. It always will be. But somewhere along the way, I got so focused on making Ironfang stronger that I forgot to make myself stronger too."

  He looked into the fire, and for a moment he saw Skarn’s bulk surging through chaos. Saw himself watching as he cut down his tribemates, unable to do anything about it becuase his Mana was empty.

  "We defeated Skarn because of our planning, our unity, our traps, and our formations," Grub said. "We beat him because the tribe worked together, not because I could stand in front of him alone."

  He looked back up.

  "But there will be worse enemies than Skarn," he said. "Whatever the System put in this forest, he is definitely not the worst."

  His voice dropped.

  "If something stronger than Skarn comes for us and I am still only where I am now, I will not be enough. Not by myself. And I want to be someone this tribe can rely on when everything else breaks."

  Kesh’s grip tightened around her slate until her knuckles paled. Rika’s expression had gone sharp and measuring. Vexa’s eyes were narrow, weighing him like she would any other threat or asset.

  Throk spoke first. "So, what do you plan to do about it?"

  Grub lifted his chin.

  "My plan is to leave the tribe," he said.

  The tribe broke into murmurs at once. Surprise. Worry. A few angry noises from goblins who did not understand yet.

  Grub lifted his hand, and gradually the noise thinned out again.

  "I am not leaving forever," he said. "Not for good. But for a while. I need to travel, to hunt. I need to fight things that will either kill me or push me up. I need to listen to what the System is trying to offer me, instead of pretending I can ignore it as long as I work hard enough at home."

  He did not look away from them as he said it.

  "I want to come back as more than the goblin who stands at the back and points at dirt," he said. "I want to come back as someone who can stand in the front line and hold it if he has to."

  His eyes found Dravak’s again. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves.

  "I want your approval to leave the tribe for a time," he said. "I do not want to just walk away without saying it."

  Dravak rose slowly, every motion deliberate. He stepped up until he was right in front of Grub and then reached out, tapping two thick fingers against Grub’s chest.

  A slow grin spread across the chief’s face, then he let out a short, sharp laugh.

  "I have been waiting for you to say something like this," Dravak said.

  Grub blinked. "You have?"

  "I have," Dravak said. "From the day you were carried into my cavern tied to a spear like fresh meat, you kept growing teeth without growing much taller."

  A few goblins snorted.

  "You helped build the Ironfang into something no tribe has ever been," Dravak said. "You helped make us think beyond the next meal. Now it is time you do the same with yourself."

  He leaned back slightly. "Go out there and find out what level twenty looks like," he said. "Or twenty five. When you return, runt, you had better be twice as strong as you are now. Maybe three times."

  That drew a ripple of breathless laughter from the crowd.

  Kesh smiled broadly. "We will hold things together here," she said. "You do not have to worry about that. The Ironfang will endure."

  Rika nodded once. "The wolves and I will watch the cavern," she said. "We will keep our people alive."

  Hask snorted. "Try not to die," he said gruffly. "It would make all this planning very annoying."

  Grub let out a short laugh at that, the tension in his chest easing just a little. "You just want me to do all the thinking for you," he responded. Hask just shrugged innocently.

  Throk grinned. "Come back stronger," he said. "I want to see what you can really do in a fight. Not just in your head."

  Grub’s throat tightened. He bowed his head for a moment, then straightened.

  "Then I will leave tomorrow at first light," he said. "With Sable."

  Sable rumbled softly at his side, tail shifting.

  "I will travel north," Grub said. "Deeper into the forest. I will see what else is out there. I will see how far the System is willing to let me climb."

  Dravak nodded once, firm and final. "Go," he said. "Grow. Return when you are ready to stand beside me, not behind me."

  Grub lowered his staff a fraction as the fire popped and sparked, sending a few glowing flecks into the air.

  Tomorrow, he would be on his own again.

  He remembered the first days after waking in this world. Alone. Weak. Afraid. Nearly dying to a fox because he had nothing but panic and a small blade.

  This time would not be like that.

  This time he had a staff. Real magic that he could rely on. Sable. Knowledge of the forest. A tribe to come back to if all else failed.

  This time, he intended to make the forest learn to be afraid of him.

  His heart hammered hard enough that his chest ached, and his knees wanted to shake, but he planted his staff and kept them from doing it. He let himself feel the fear and the excitement and refused to run from either.

  He could not turn back now.

  He would leave, and when he returned, he would bring more than ideas and plans.

  He would bring enough strength that the Ironfang never had to face something like Skarn without him at their side.