A silent grumbling sound makes its way through the forest as one green skinned creature supports himself on a tree overlooking a small settlement. The moon on the skies couldn’t show its light properly as clouds pass slowly covering the starry night. Resting a giant club over its shoulders, he stared into the settlement from a far.

He then went his way deeper into the forest where several other creatures looking similar to him were huddled in a corner. Despite their appearance being the same, their stature is clearly prominent. With a grumbling sound and a wave of his club the horde began to move.

With him at the front they traverse the forest until they came upon a cliff. But it was no hurdle for them. A grip of their hand is enough to suspend two of them. 4 fingers on each hand with sharp nails then descended from the cliff.

Their bodies lay bare with only a piece of loincloth around the lower part of their bodies. Each of them carries either a club or a spear, using a sharpened rock as its tip. Other pieces of clothing include an armlet and an anklet made from worn out leather.

Their brown stripes and green skin make it easier for them to move through the forest without being detected. Aside from the large one leading the horde, everyone seems fragile. Its large stature makes them move slower but everyone is staying behind him.

Occasionally surveying the area before proceeding, the leader continues to makes it way to the west. All day through the night. Letting the horde make a few stops so he could scout ahead while they stay behind and rest.

The sweat on his body doesn’t seem to dry and his breathing becomes heavier and heavier for every tree that they pass. The smaller one’s notices this and calls out to him with a whimpering cry. The large one grumbles and continues to walk. Again, they called out to him but he didn’t budge.

Soon his steps become heavier and slips on the ledge they were walking on, falling right by a river heading to the ocean. He fainted. The smaller ones rushed to him trying to wake him up. Eventually they all gathered together under a tree and let him rests there.

Using leaves, they patched together a small bowl to contain water. Some foraged trees while they wait for the large one to wake up.

A few of them ventured too far and comes in contact with an adventurer. Their presence alerted the adventurer and chased them back. But a fatal error in their part is leading him back to the group resting by the river side.

Without hesitation the adventurer brandishes his sword and attacks the nearby creatures.

[Vertical Cleave]

The sword emits a blue light followed by a wave that cuts a few of them down. But using their numbers they circled the adventurer and stabs and bludgeon him from every side. He tried to escape while drinking the req liquid to revitalize him but it was too late, there was too many of them. The body wasn’t marred despite being pierced and crushed to death. Soon, a blue light covers the body before shattering to countless crystals that disappears in mid-air. No one died but dozens of them were heavily wounded.

The fighting woke the leader up but it was over by the time he was there. Still drenched in sweat and covered with salve patched up with leaves, he growls at the smaller ones. He tightens his grip on his club and slams it against the ground, making a small tremor.

He turns his back to where the rest are, trembling in fear of him. He then made softer growl and beckons the group to march.

To avoid the earlier incident for repeating he made sure to rest along with the horde, and make some rounds for other to scout the area to avoid any adventurer. The travel was uneventful except for the few instances where they had to venture deeper in the forest to avoid roadside.

Passing one village after another they arrived at an impasse. In order to reach the village by the sea, they must cross a valley. The only problem is that it is crawling with adventurers. Going around the valley would lengthen their travel for an entire day, but going through it would endanger them.

It would be easy for the smaller ones but because of the stature of the leader it is impossible to pass it without attracting any attention that would eventually lead to a fight.

There was an argument whether they should proceed and fight off the adventurers since they posses a larger number. At least with that route they would be able to reach their destination and most of them would survive. Another argues that if they take the longer route most of them would be too tired to proceed.

The leader contemplates their choices while they rest. But seeing their exhausted state he decides that they go through the village as fast as they could.

They waited after sunset. The village street is filled with torches to light the path. Using the darkness as cover the leader commands the smaller ones to go ahead. The plan is for the smaller ones to reach beyond the village and when everyone has passed the leader would dash through the village to the other side as fast as he could and eventually when they reach a great distance from the village they would be left alone.

As soon as they got closer the leader waited outside the village atop a giant tree, enough for him to see the mid-point of the place. Gazing intently as to make sure that each of the smaller ones would be able to pass.

The scurrying made the adventurers suspicious, lifting up their guard. Each equips a different weapon, from sword to staves as well as bows and arrows to vials. With wave of their hand at looking at something in front of them then immediately in to the darkness one shouted.

“Monsters!”