Banditry as it turned out was something Raka took to rather nicely. It turned out most of the time, merchants in fine silks didn’t want any trouble. They wanted to just pay a toll and move on. They had guards but there was always in the back of their mind a risk versus reward. If they won, great, if they didn’t they’d probably be dead. Raka could respect that kinda thinking, it was very goblin of them. Robbery was just a business transaction really. Course you did have some that fought and well, didn’t end well for them. Goblins didn’t fight fair after all, Raka definitely didn’t. 

The redhead goblin had gone from rags to… well not quite riches but for a Goblin it sure as hell was. She was seated upon the annoyingly large stone throne her former boss had owned, lazing back and idly inspecting a coin between her fingers. The gold gleamed in the torchlight. Never enough of it really, greed was good. It finally felt like all the things she had deserved all her life were being given to her. Hell she’d earned this by heroically outsmarting a group of veteran adventurers! 

“Uhhh… boss?” 

She was torn from her musing as her yellow eyes flicked over to a lesser goblin cowering in front of her throne, flinching as her eyes fell upon her Her lips curled in a sneer and the lesser goblin lowered her eyes submissively, quivering and cowering. Raka flicked the coin into a little bowl of coins near her throne and glared at her. 

“What, whelp? Did you finish polishing my boots? You better have or I’ll use your hide for new ones.” She growled. 

“Oh yes, yes of course boss! All shiny and gleaming just like ya wanted! But, ahhh… um. The raiders got back and they said there were a bunch of humie soldiers guardin’ the last wagon train.” The lesser goblin said, her voice as preening and simpering as possible. Imagine being *that* pathetic. Couldn’t be Raka. 

A few months after Raka had heard the Voice of the World she had gathered a rather decent sized goblin raiding group to her. Goblins gravitated to the strong naturally and Raka was the strongest Goblin in the region evidently. The Voice had called it a perk of her Goblin Lord trait. Raka called it only natural. Still, she rolled her eyes and glared at the lesser goblin before her. Her minions were useful for some things, but they were pretty dim witted. 

“Well duh, the caravans have guards. What else is new? Did you really just waste my time to tell me that?” She growled. 

“N-no boss! Not guards, l-like knights! The big shiny armor humies with the fancy stuff on their armors! They have some fancy banners with them like that one!”” The goblin girl said in a panic, pointing to a trophy banner behind Raka on the cave wall. 

Raka’s annoyance abated as she considered that and looked over her shoulder. A red and gold banner they’d taken from a patrol of humans in the forest beyond the cave. Soldiers and knights huh? Some of the merchants must have complained to someone. The local lord probably. Raka scratched her chin, black claws glinting in the light. She remembered hearing her old boss complain about his soldiers and knights after he raided a village. Must be trying to keep them from doing business. 

“Hmm… well we don’t wanna have them swarm over us…” They didn’t know where their lair was since those adventurers never made it back. Best to keep it that way. Then again… That wouldn’t be an issue that would just work itself out. And Raka wanted *more* gold. 

“Have one of the Scouts trail some of the knights and let me know where they go. Once we find their nest… I might have some ideas.” Raka said with a nod. 

“Ohhhh what kinda ideas, boss?” The goblin girl asked. 

Another glare made her flinch away. “Nothing you’d understand, dumb dumb! Get gone and tell the raiders!” 

The little dark haired goblin squeaked in fright and scampered away from Raka, running to tell the raiders further in the cave. The Goblin Trickster snorted as she watched her go and leaned back in her throne again. She was a far cry from the goblin in rags she had been a few months ago. She was dressed in fine clothes with gold and finery decking her out, gold hoop earrings, and actual makeup on her face. Like a proper Goblin Boss. She was *never* going back to being that goblin in rags again. 

Her thoughts turned to the problem at hand. The local lord was probably the one that had hired those adventurers. Might mean he might send others. Might mean he might send *tougher* adventurers. Raka frowned at that. Not a problem for *her* genius and power of course… but well she did have minions that wouldn’t have a chance. And there was the *off* chance the humans might get the better of her. So really the best way forward was to nip the problem in the bud. 

___________________________________

Lady Meera idly sipped at her wine as she seated herself back in her throne, listening to her captain of her knights. There had been some issue lately with goblins robbing merchants on the roads. Enough of them complaining about it had reached the point she had to do something about it. She’d thus put her knights patrolling with the caravans. Enough to scare the green roaches back under their rocks. 

“I’d say we scared them off, my lady as we haven’t seen hide nor hair of them since we started having knights mixed in with the caravans.” The man reported with a nod. 

The dark haired noblewoman let out a hum. “Or they might pick right back up as soon as we drop the patrols. Perhaps we should reach out to the Adventurer’s Guild again. The last group we sent to root out the Ogre and Goblin problem vanished a few months back after all.” 

“Hard to believe as well, they were the best ones the guild had, I’d heard tales of their successes from here to the capital.” The captain mused. 

“I guess not everyone lives up to their legends… or the threat is greater than we anticipated.” A grim thought that was. Whatever the case it would have to be dealt with. Having monsters roaming around wasn’t good for the region. 

Meera wasn’t exactly short on money, much as she’d rather keep her purses tight. If she had to pay for more adventurers to make this problem go away, she’d pay for more. They didn’t do anything out of the goodness of their heart after all. There was a moment of consideration before the doors to her audience chamber were opened hurriedly by one of the knights on duty, looking pale in the face. 

“Sir! My lady! At the gates! It's… it's enormous!” The man said in a panic. 

The captain frowned and gripped him by the shoulders. “Calm down, lad, what's wrong? What’s enormous?” 

“A-A goblin! Its a giant goblin!” 

“AHAHAHAHAHAHA!” 

At the loud noise everyone in the room covered their ears. Meera’s glass was sent shattering to the floor into a thousand pieces. That… had definitely been a laugh. A very very loud and booming laugh. One that chilled the blood in the noblewoman’s veins. She swallowed thickly as she stood up on shaky legs and pinned the guard with a stare. She managed to bring a tone of authority to her lips. 

“Take me to the walls. Now.” She ordered. 

She brushed past the protesting captain and bid the knight to lead the way as the captain brought up the rear. They passed through the halls and indeed there was panic among the servants as they had no idea what was going on. Well, for once she was with them there. They passed out into the courtyard under the light of the sun and as soon as she made it up onto the walls of her castle she nearly fell over from shock. 

Standing there, looming so tall that the castle walls would have come up to her knees, was absolutely a goblin woman. A redheaded goblin woman with rather gaudy jewelry and makeup decking her out. Her clothes seemed to be straining to hold in a rather generous form. Yellow eyes were alight with glee as well. Enormous certainly fit the bill here, the goblin woman was colossal. 

Her eyes fixed on Meera as she was brought up, as well as the captain. “Are you two the leaders of this castle?” She boomed out. 

Meera swallowed thickly and schooled her nerves, trying to keep from screaming. It now made a *lot* of sense why the adventurers had vanished. The Ogre had been the least of their concerns if there was a damned Giant Goblin running around out here. She took a deep breath and stared upward at the sneering face of the goblin woman. 

“I am Lady Meera Tylsila, the Master of this castle and the region of Riverbrook. I would ask you to name yourself, Miss…?” She wasn’t about to start shouting insults at someone taller than her castle. 

Another laugh boomed through the air and drew a wince from Meera. “Who am I, you ask? I am Raka, the Lord of Goblins! All Goblins in this region owe loyalty to me. I heard tale that you were denying my warriors from taking *my* rightful cut from caravans and travelers. I’ve come to see how such a woman measures up. I have to say I’m… disappointed.” She remarked. 

Meera looked around upon the walls. Her Knights were brave but… even she could see the fear in their eyes. No human could fight that. Certainly not them. Even her captain looked unsure and he was the bravest warrior under her command. The noblewoman swallowed thickly and raised her voice once more as she looked out across the field at the towering goblin. 

“I certainly meant no insult to you, Great Raka! Rest assured, I merely sought to protect my people and my lawfully granted holdings by the King! Perhaps we might work out some kind of… arrangement? I’ve no wish to incur your wrath, no more than I would the wrath of a dragon!” Meera called out. 

The dragon comment seemed to make the goblin woman look *very* pleased with herself as she drew herself up a little more. Prideful as a dragon as well it seemed. “My arrangement is this! Open your gates, allow my warriors in, drop your weapons and allow them to subdue you and yours. None of you will be harmed. If not, I'll take a walk over your castle and reduce it to rubble and memories!” She declared

The noblewoman frowned at the order and her captain walked up to her as she seemed to be thoughtful about the declaration. “You can’t be serious, my lady. The moment we open those gates they’ll spill in and slit all of our throats if we do that.” He said seriously. 

“Look at her, Galvan, if she wanted to kill us. We would already be dead. She wouldn’t be talking.” Meera said as she gestured toward the gigantic goblin. He… didn’t exactly have a rebuttal for that. She was right after all, something that big could just rampage over them and squash them all like bugs. It would be effortless. No, surrender was the smart move. Even if it was to goblins. She shuddered to think what that would mean… but there was a chance at least with that. 

“Open the gates.” She ordered. 

There was hesitation at the order and one of the knights looked at the captain. The older man was in thought for a moment, almost looking stricken before giving the knight a single nod of confirmation. Moments later the chains of the gate were moving as the doors opened. She felt a pit open in the bottom of her stomach as in the distance the gigantic form of Raka shifted her lips into a grin and crossed her arms. 

“Smart move, human, really your only move to be honest.” She said with a thundering chuckle. 

They swept in like a green horde from the nearby forest. It would have been easy for archers to pick them off from a distance but no order was given. The goblins were allowed to move into the castle and the knights dropped their weapons. Meera half expected to have her throat cut like the Captain had said but… curiously they were just tying wrists behind backs and making sure they were bound. One goblin girl with a crude spear poked at her and she winced as she held her wrists into position for the little creature to tie her up. This was degrading. Goblins of all things. 

Once they were all tied up the knights were sectioned off to one side of the courtyard and she was kept with two guards near her. The servants were also rounded up in short order. It was… efficient. Organized. Very bloodless so far as well. Not words she’d have used to describe goblins. It was a curious thing. When the last of the humans in the castle was bound one of the goblins walked up onto the walls and called out to Raka. 

“All wrapped up here, boss! Nice and easy just like ya said!” The goblin girl called out. 

“Wew, finally, that was getting hard to hold. About time! What took you slugs so long? You better not have nicked anything yet! Everything in there is mine!” She groused as she started walking forward. 

As the enormous woman started walking forward her form started to just… fizzle out. Meera blinked as she watched as the vast enormous form of the goblin woman flickered out like a mirage and her booming voice vanished entirely from the air. Soon there was nothing left where she had stood towering over the castle. Instead walking from the same forest the rest of the goblins had come from was a… normal sized goblin that looked exactly like her.

An illusion. It had all been a trick. Meera’s eyes widened so much they almost popped from their skull and she felt the fires of indignation rise in her veins. Her knights seemed to think similarly… but the spears and other crude objects pointed at their bound forms kept them in check. They had been bamboozled. Outfoxed. Tricked. 

Raka’s laugh echoed through the castle as she stepped through the gates, less booming but no less nasally and unpleasant. “Wow, I can’t believe you guys bought that. Well, I mean it was *me* doing it so it was flawless but I always thought you humans were smarter than that. Shows how much that’s true if you couldn’t see through that.” She mocked and jeered at the knights before her attention turned to Meera. She scratched her chin thoughtfully. 

“Right, get the knights to the dungeons, we’ll hold em there for now. Any of em try anything stick em with the pointy end. Same with the servants. The rest of you start stripping the place and be sure to bring me *any* treasure you find. If I find out you lined your pockets with *my* gold I’ll gut you myself!” She ordered. 

The goblins carried out her orders like it was instinctual. Natural to them. She gestured for the guards with Meera to bring her along as she headed inside the castle keep. The noblewoman winced as a spear poked her back and she was forced along to walk, glaring at the redheaded goblin that had tricked her. 

“Do you really think you’ll get away with this!? The king won’t stand for it! Nor will any adventurers! Your days are numbered! Do you hear me, goblin? These lands are mine! So is this castle!” She shouted in indignation. 

“Uh huh, sure. Pretty sure its *mine* now actually. You’re just pissy because you got outplayed, talk about a sore loser. Besides you're gonna tell me everything you know about the King, the Adventurers, this whole region.” She said as they walked. 

“I’ll do no such thing!” Meera could feel her blood boiling at the casual dismissal. They entered the throne room after a few moments of walking and Raka snorted. 

“Yeah, okay, sure. You girls, strip her down and…” She flicked her fingers to the stone floor and there was a strange blue symbol that etched itself onto the floor before vanishing. “Push her onto that and bring her to me after.” She said as she walked up to the same throne that Meera had been sitting upon. She dragged a nearby chest over in front of it for some reason. 

Meera had other concerns, struggling and trying to push away as her fine lovely clothes were being torn away by a pair of goblin women. “Wait! Stop!” Oh gods she had heard horror stories of the fates of prisoners at the hands of savage goblins. Were they…?

They stripped her down and completely with some cackling and sneers before tossing her onto the spot where the symbol had been etched into the floor. The naked woman blinked before a blue flash of light almost blinded her. She felt like she was falling a great distance, disoriented and completely dazed for a few moments as the light rendered her blind for a bit. Eventually she managed to blink it away. 

The noblewoman found herself upon a vast plain of cold stone. She looked around and in the distance there were towering shapes that looked familiar. She only had moments to try and gather her wits before a massive boom sounded out right next to her and she felt a shockwave knock her over onto her side. Her scattered wits weren’t doing much better when she looked there and saw a sandal clad green foot before her. 

Towering over her was one of the goblin thrall women that had brought her here, her lips pulled back into a wicked grin as a vast hand reached for her. Meera screamed and tried to scramble to her feet to get away, but thick pudgy fingers pinched around her leg. Her fingers scratched at the floor and she tried to grip onto some purchase, tried to keep herself from being plucked up. All useless as the ground fell away from her and she was lifted up into the air. 

Her captor let out a cackle and walked over to where Raka’s towering form was seated upon Meera’s throne, dropping Meera upon the top of the chest before the throne. “Anything else ya need boss?” 

“No. Good work you two, might not be *totally* useless after all. Pick one human each, I’ll shrink em down for you later.” She said in a tone that was probably meant to sound magnanimous, it just sounded smug. 

The two goblin women let out whoops of delight and scampered out of the throne room at that. “Now then…” 

THOOM

Meera let out a scream and flinched away as a vast bare green heel slammed down atop the chest like it was a makeshift foot stool. Her other  foot slammed down on the other side as the green skinned woman leaned upon the armrest of the throne, jewelry glinting in the torchlight. The noblewoman was so… insignificant. A bug compared to this towering woman. This wasn’t an illusion this time, this was *real*. 

Thick green toes curled above idly, yellow eyes gazing down at Meera expectantly. “I own everything in this castle now because I tricked you out of it. That includes you, human. You’re already on your knees so go ahead and shuffle forward and lick.” She boomed from on high. 

Indignation filled Meera’s veins. “I-I will not!” 

No sooner had she said that than one of Raka’s feet lowered down and the dark haired noblewoman found herself smothered under a bare doughy sole. She let out a muffled scream as she tried to push it away but there was no use there. She wasn’t gonna push a mountain off of her that easily. The pressure mounted more and more. Meera felt the breath being pushed from her lungs. Felt her lungs start to scream in protest. 

Then all at once, just as she felt something about to break the foot lifted up. She adhered to the surface for a moment before falling and landing hard upon the wooden ground of the chest, coughing and sputtering as yellow eyes leered down on high. She had… never felt that before. It would have been so easy. Effortless. Then she’d have been squashed like a bug. Like nothing at all. Her eyes turned fearfully upon Raka as green digits wriggled above her. 

“Well? I didn’t quite catch that. What did you say? Hard to hear you when you’re *that* small gotta be honest.” She said with a smirk. Oh she had heard her alright. 

Tears sprang to Meera’s eyes, the noblewoman sniffling as she shuffled across the top of the chest on her knees and approached one of the heels of the goblin woman. She was watching her every move. Leering down at her. She felt wretched. Like she was at the lowest point in her whole life. She probably was at the lowest point in her life. There was nothing lower than this surely. 

She swallowed thickly and leaned forward, forcing her lips to part and her tongue to loll out. She just… she didn’t want to die. Was that so wrong? Though what was this if not death of a different kind? She leaned forward more and then her tongue connected with the skin of Raka’s heel, the ever so faint taste of salty sweat upon her tongue now. She started crying as she licked and lapped at Raka’s heel, absolutely defeated. Though it was the booming words of the redheaded goblin that hurt most. 

“Get used to the taste, human. All you are really good for now.”