The raiding party slogged through the swamp, and headed back to their village. In the distance, the sound of the pursuing humans could be heard. As Dizzy clambered over a fallen log, he heard someone yelling.

“Git! Get back, you!” came a human’s voice.

“Sounds like they tripped over a gator,” said Kitty as she puffed alongside Dizzy.

“Maybe. Or a snake. The tall folks don’t know how to avoid trouble in the swamp,” replied Dizzy.

“Keep moving!” called out Slugger. “If you have the breath to talk, you’re going too slow!”

Moving as fast as they could, the goblins put down false trails leading the humans to trouble or wading through shallow water so as to not leave tracks. Slugger kept the pace high, to keep the long-legged humans as far back for as long as possible. Luckily for them, the dwarf warrior hadn’t appeared to have followed the rest of the townspeople into the swamp.

“What about those elves?” whispered Kitty, avoiding Slugger’s wrath.

“I don’t think so,” replied Dizzy. “Most elves hate getting dirty. They’re not going to come into the swamp unless they want to get something important back. I think we just took regular stuff.” Dizzy glanced at the bag he was carrying. He had no idea what was in it. The rush into the swamp hadn’t given him time to look.

The sound of the townspeople faded as the goblins drove deeper. Finally, Slugger called a halt and brought all the goblins together on a dry hillock.

“First thing, is anyone injured?” asked Slugger.

Dregs held up his arm. “I think I broke it,” he said. No bone stuck out from under his skin, but the swelling was noticeable.

“What happened?” asked Slugger as Kitty removed her pack and dug out her supplies.

“Don’t know. I fell, and hit the ground hard. Got up, it was like this.”

Kitty clucked and felt the bone under the skin and muscle.

“Yep, broken. Not too bad though. I don’t have to set it. Sit down, and I’ll wrap it up.”

While Kitty did what she could for the unfortunate Dregs, Slugger checked over the rest of the goblins. None were as badly injured as Dregs, mostly bumps and scrapes.

“Good job, my warriors! The Chief will be proud of all of us!”

They cheered and hooted.

“It is getting late, and we’re losing the light. We will camp here tonight, then continue in the morning. When we get to the village, we will celebrate our victory goblin style!”

The goblins found soft patches of ground to stretch out on and began digging through their treasure. Dizzy sat with Kitty and YDB once Dregs had been taken care of.

“So, what did you get?” asked Kitty. Dizzy sat the bag down and opened it.

Inside was a coffee pot, and a bag of coffee grounds. Dizzy sniffed it, then put it back.

“Garbage. I got garbage.”

“Ah, don’t be disappointed. You got those swords.”

“What about you, YDB. Did you grab anything?”

“Cake!”

“Cake?”

“Cake!”

Kitty shook her head.

“What about you?” asked Dizzy.

“I found this,” said Kitty. She showed them a short wand, a dragon carved in a spiral around the length of the wood. “One of the elves dropped it.”

“What does it do?” asked Dizzy. He looked in awe at the wand. Real magic was something very few goblins ever got their hands on.

“Not sure. It must hold magic of some sort, maybe dragon magic. I think I can figure out how to make it work.”

“Magic?” asked YDB.

“Yes, YDB. Magic. No touch, okay?”

“Okay.”

Dizzy stroked his chin as he looked at the wand.

“If you got this from one of the elves, they may come into the swamp after it. Better hide it where no one will look.”

Kitty slid the wand into the deepest part of her sack, then looked up. Slugger was making his way through the camp, stopping to ask goblins about the raid, and looking at the stolen goods. Every now and then, he would take an especially valuable item.

Slugger strolled through the camp, clapping goblins on the shoulders, and inspecting the prizes taken. Kitty checked again to make sure the wand was hidden. She looked into her bag to show off something. As Slugger approached, she pulled out a thin book.

“What did you get?” he asked.

“Um, this?” she said. Slugger took the book and flipped through it. There were no words, just simple drawings of humans, elves, goblins, and monsters. Some pictures had been colored in, but most were plain line drawings.

“Garbage. What good is this? Maybe as kindling,” grumbled Slugger, handing it back. “What about you? And you?”

“Silver coffee pot, gotta be worth something,” said Dizzy, showing off the coffee pot.

“Silver? Ha! This isn’t silver, just cheap tin. Junk is too thin to even make armor. Maybe you could make a dagger.” Slugger looked at Dizzy’s new swords and frowned. “Those look good. Why didn’t you mention them?”

“Uh, I thought the pot was more valuable. The swords are okay, nothing special,” stammered Dizzy, afraid Slugger was going to take the weapons.

“Hmph.” Slugger finally looked at YDB. “And you?”

“Cake!”

“Cake? Did you save any for the tribe?”

“Belly!” said YDB as he slapped his round stomach.

“I think he means he ate everything, Slugger,” answered Kitty.

Slugger shook his head. “A book of pictures, a cheap metal coffee pot, and a cake that will be a turd in the morning. Pathetic. Permanent rescue squad for you three.”

Dizzy opened his mouth to tell about their fight with the dwarf, but Slugger had already moved on. They had no witnesses besides themselves and likely wouldn't have been believed.

The big goblin stomped off to check the guards. Kitty patted the place where she had hidden the wand.

“We’ll have to find a place to experiment with this,” she whispered to Dizzy. “That big jerk would take it if he knew.”

“Yep. And we would still be 'permanent rescue squad,'” replied Dizzy.

YDB patted his belly. “Cake.” He yawned hugely, frosting still clearly visible on his lips. He took his loot sack and shook it into his mouth, catching the few remaining crumbs on his tongue.

After patting his bag into a rough pillow, YDB stretched out and fell asleep almost instantly.

“Hey, can I see that book?” asked Dizzy.

“Sure, here you go.”

Dizzy began paging through the book, examining the pictures. The humans, elves, and halflings were dressed in armor or robes, while the goblins were all in rags. The big folks were always killing or attacking the goblins or other monsters, looking at treasure, or marching in parades. Dizzy turned the pages, looking left, then right at the images. None made much of an impression on him, until he flipped the page one last time.

The new page showed a picture of an elf with two long, curving swords, one in each hand. Near the elf, a black panther was crouched, ready to attack. Some child had colored the elf with black crayons, with purple for the eyes. Dizzy stood and stared at the warrior for a long moment.

“Kitty, come look at this,” called out Dizzy. Kitty had stretched out on the ground, arms behind her head, staring up at the stars above. She rolled onto her knees and waddled towards where Dizzy was sitting.

“Yeah, what is it?” Kitty sat down next to Dizzy. “It’s an elf. So what? Elves aren’t black like that. They’re usually pale pink or pale green.”

“He’s a hero! Look at the way he is using his swords.”

“It’s just a picture, Dizzy. Probably no one in particular. Get some sleep.”

Kitty flopped down next to YDB and pressed against him for warmth. Dizzy stared at the picture for a long, long minute, then carefully tore the page out of the book, folded it up, and put it in his pouch.

“He’s a hero. And one day, I’ll be one too,” he quietly vowed. He looked around himself, to see if anyone had overheard. The goblins nearby were already asleep, their treasures on their chests or in bags wrapped around their hands. None had noticed Dizzy’s promise to himself.

The goblin yawned as well, smacked his lips, and checked the ground. No anthills, or other bugs that might bother him in his sleep. Time to call it a night.

Dizzy folded up his bag as well, tucked the pouch with the picture under it, stretched out, and promptly fell asleep.