Maui kept an eye on Kragg. There was something unsettling about him that she couldn't wrap her fingers around. He wasn't the same, he was consistently on edge and she knew he was keeping something away from her.

The fact that he wished to kill Vrognut—a goblin he had no business with—showed he must have an ulterior motive.

There was no reason to upset the goblins any further because if they wanted him dead, Vrognut would have been killed long ago.

Kragg must have known the thing keeping that goblin alive wasn't his strength, so why was he sending her to stop him?

It made no sense when any average orc could hold their own if they were prepared enough.

This was an exaggeration of his strength, but Maui couldn't turn him down.

She knew she had to get back to her primary assignment because, at the end of the day, it was Byung who kept her on her toes.

The way his mind worked was something that drew her in, and she found herself questioning if she was on the wrong side.

Byung didn't wish to eliminate or fight the orcs—he wished to bring them together, which made sense because the other races benefitted from this.

If they could come together, there was no telling what they could achieve because the orcs would not only have access to the mines but would also have a say.

The pride of the orcs stood in the way, but also because the goblins had no intention of forming any alliance.

They hated each other, but with Byung at the helm, things could change—even though Maui knew this was a pipe dream.

This was the least important region, and the goblins weren't the only ones with metal ores. But they were the only race who didn't require money to trade.

Anyone that dealt with them was simply cutting corners and getting this resource for free at the end of the day.

It was the most logical thing to do, but should the goblins decide to impose some sort of monetary value—yet at a lower rate than others—they would still be in contention.

Maui knew this, but once again, this wouldn't benefit the orcs, so there was no need to give them any ideas.

Maui noticed Borg from the corner of her peripheral vision. He looked alright for someone who was nearly killed.

She didn't ask Byung what happened when Borg was present because she already knew better than to trust anything that came out of his mouth.

If he could betray his sister, there was no one he couldn't—which was why she kept an eye on him.

Maui knew this orc had ambitions his body couldn't keep up with, but this was what made him dangerous.

Shava was from a powerful tribe, so there was a chance Borg was using her to reestablish himself in one.

And once married, the tribe's leadership would transfer to him should anything happen to Shava.

And with Shava being next in line to lead the Iron Tusk tribe, Maui knew Shava was stronger than him.

Borg saw her and instantly rushed toward her. Maui already knew why he was approaching her.

It had to do with her mission, but he must know she wouldn't divulge any information to him as they didn't get along.

Maui had already left her tribe, so she wasn't obligated to do anything regarding the task, as she had also forfeited the benefits that came with it.

Borg sat across from her, and Maui stared right at him, not averting her gaze. Borg, however, couldn't hide his disgust.

He truly found her disgusting—more so now that she had basically accepted her fate as a sex toy for those creatures.

But he had to put that aside, as he had things to ask her.

"Look at who decides to grace me with his royal presence," Maui mockingly said.

Borg's first instinct in this situation would have been to belittle her and remind her why she was lower than even the goblins—but he kept his mouth shut.

Maui looked at his injuries before looking right back at him with a smirk.

"It looks like you got good," Maui added.

"It was from Grashnak. He tried to kill me," Borg said bluntly, but this was news that left Maui speechless.

The whole point of her mission was because the goblins killed Grashnak, so why was she hearing this from Borg and not Kragg?

"What are you talking about? That is not possible. Grashnak would never draw his sword on one of his own without reason," Maui dismissed this.

She was friends with Grashnak, so she had an accurate measure of what he was capable of—and this wasn't in her books.

"He did. He tried to kill me after I confronted him about the attacks on the goblins," Borg confessed—and this instantly vindicated the goblins, because there was no way Borg would say something that proved their innocence with the amount of hate he had for them.

"Even if this is true, there was no reason for you to lie in the first place!" Maui found it hard to believe.

"I tried to preserve his image. I didn't want the others to know what he had done," Borg told her, and the performance he gave was worthy of an Oscar because Maui bought it.

He had no reason to say this if it wasn't true—but she didn't entertain the possibility that for him to say this, what he must be hiding was much worse.

Borg might have gotten away with this, but this was only because Maui was still trying to process how he managed to kill Grashnak.

"Tell me, how did you manage to kill Grashnak?" Maui asked him.

"I caught him off-guard. He knows I hated the goblins, so he thought I would side with him," Borg confessed, lying through his teeth.

It was effortless—not a single stutter between each sentence—which made it hard to doubt a single word out of his mouth.

"I know you were friends, so I thought I owed it to you to tell you the truth," Borg sounded remorseful—but of course, all of this was a facade.

"Did Kragg know about this?" Maui questioned.

"He did," Borg responded after waiting a couple of seconds to decide if he should tell her or not.

"That bastard!" Maui thought to herself—but this was part of Borg's plan.

He needed to find a way to sever her loyalty to Kragg so he could make use of her miserable existence.

"Got you, you filthy whore…" Borg's thought was proof of his true feelings.

--

Murkfang had been captured by the humans, but Maui noticed they hadn't killed him, which was strange.

They had no reason to capture him, and she could have offered some gold coins to buy him—as the humans already showed their own greed for money.

But she didn't, because they had made eye contact, and Murkfang gestured for her to leave him.

He must have had a plan, but she noticed that the humans didn't submit him to the orcs.

On the contrary, they hid him from them and took him away, especially after Oswin reported the existence of forges.

They needed to know more, and they knew Murkfang wasn't just any goblin.

He would tell them everything they needed to know, and a rare opportunity presented itself because the humans were about to take him outside the orcs' confinement.

Unlike the previous time, the humans didn't take Kragg up on his offer to spend the night there—which showed the urgency.

Oswin was surprised they had managed to capture a Baron with no one being the wiser.

Gribnox had told him that Murkfang was missing for days, so this meant they couldn't tie his disappearance to them.

It was a clean slate, but the goblins couldn't be allowed to advance beyond the state they were in.

It was going to be a long journey back home, so they had to take consistent breaks in between.

However, they now had an extra mouth to feed, and the festering wound was another cause for concern because they needed to take him back alive.

The humans, thankfully, had basic first aid—and hated that they had to waste it on a goblin.

Murkfang's plan might have failed, but thanks to multiple factors he didn't know about, it seemed to work out in the end.

However, he was leaving as a captive—but this would also confirm his betrayal to Drekk, as these humans had orders to kill anyone who tried to oppose them.

The goblins believed for so long that it was the orcs who kept the information from spreading outside of their formation, but this wasn't the case.

Drekk had a hand to play in this, and this made a lot more sense—that the humans were in league with him.

Murkfang had no idea what awaited him, but one thing he was certain of was… he might never make it back.

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