To my great surprise, Varda actually left without much of a fight at all. I stood a top a stone outcropping with Lagdon, Yevette and Astrid as we watched the entire Drallda tribe leave Sky Keeper, the mood somber and strained.

  There was a stream of yellow skinned ogres making their way back into the mountains as the a congregation of gawking monsters watched them leave, everyone standing in relative silence. It felt about how a banishing should feal, I supposed. That or a funeral.

  "She is leaving too quietly." Growled Astrid where she stood head and shoulders over me. She wore a stone expression, her thick red arm folded across her chest, red hair fluttering in the wind.

  "I agree." Added Lagdon. It was at this moment that I noticed that, skin color and race aside, these two monsters had an awful lot in common. At least in the way they presented themselves. "From how she acted earlier, I would have expected her to try and kill as many monsters as she could on her way out."

  "Varda is brash and unmovable in her beliefs..." Said Yevette, she too looking somber. It was so odd to not see a smile on her elderly face. "But she is as sly as she is violent, I believe. She may appear to be leaving meekly, but I am sure that this is not the last you hear of her, Lady Enna. She will be plotting her revenge."

  "Let her plot." I ground out, more annoyed than uneasy. "So long as she does as she is told, then she is free to be as bitter as she likes. She has no room to complain, as far as I am concerned. She gets to live on a land that is only getting better with each passing week due to the efforts of those she views as less than herself, and does nothing to earn that privilege. I don't know if I have seen such entitlement before... and I got to speak to that old goblin king once..." I winced, looking back at Lagdon a little sheepishly. "Er, no offense."

  Lagdon did not comment on the snide remark directed toward his deceased father, merely raising an eyebrow, looking mildly amused.

  I sighed and turned my gaze back toward the departing ogres. they were nearly out of sight now, vanishing into the thick jungle between us and the mountains they called home.

  "Be sure to have them followed and watched till they get back where they belong." I told my hobgoblin, still feeling unsettled.

  Lagdon nodded. "I already have Brillum and two others on it."

  "Good."

  "I think it would be best to get the last of the meetings done and over with as soon as possible." Offered Yevette. "The sooner we all get back to our regular lives, the soon we will not have to think about Varda and her machinations." The older harpy turned a wiry smirk toward the much young red ogress. "Then she will just be your problem, I suppose."

  Astrid shrugged, not looking overly bothered. "This is how all ogre tribes interact with one another. Though, Varda is a little more hardheaded than most..."

  Not wanting to give the yellow ogress any more time then necessary to come up with some kind of scheme, I urged the monster representatives to hurry along their talks. Happily, now that the loudest dissenting voice was gone, things started to proceed smoother.

  Two days later and I was more than ready to get back home. Much to my great delight, we were going to do just that the next day. the talks had finished by noon, and now all groups were readying to leave. There would be a party tonight, and come morning we would all be gone. And it could not come faster as far as I was concerned.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Speaking of concerned: Varda was still hanging about.

  She wasn't at Sky-Keeper any longer, but she had not gone home either. An excuse could be made that they had just left far enough away to be in compliance while waiting for the other ogres to leave as well. That way all the ogres could travel back to their homes as one group, for 'safety'.

  According to Brillum, the Drallda ogres had set up a small temporary camp, and didn't appear to be doing anything of concern. But that somehow made me all the more nervous. What was she up to? Surly she wasn't going to roll over and disappear into the either. Besides, according to Astrid, it was odd that she was waiting for the Morell tribe to leave. She claimed that insinuating that Varda had to wait for Astrid would imply that the Drallda were beholden to the Morell, and that Varda herself was fearful of traveling alone. It made her look weak, and Varda did not strike me as a woman who puts up with looking weak.

  As such, I was a little on edge during the over all festive nature of the celebration that night. As usual, Lagdon was my constant shadow, while Kishi took to wandering around the perimeter of the cobbled square that had been designated the place for the party. Everyone else seemed oblivious to the tension that the few of us carried, and the noise was rumbling and cheerful.

  It was a little sad that I wasn't able to enjoy myself. I mean, I was watching exactly the world I hoped to make play out before my eyes here. Harpies and hobgoblins chatting amicably, Equestrians comparing pelts with foxies... Really, everyone was getting along amazingly well. Better than even I thought they would.

  Then again, maybe they were just happy to finally see the end of one another after tonight, who knows.

  "Cheer up." Smiled Margund as he sidled up to me, smirking at his younger brother as he did. "The nasty ogre lady is gone, we will all be heading home, and you may never have to set eyes on her again."

  "If she has any brains at all she will be sure that Lady Enna doesn't set eyes upon her again." Lagdon huffed, not particularly liking the festive atmosphere himself.

  Margund laughed. "I agree."

  We all stood next to one another for a short moment, just watching the masses interact. It did make me feel a little better to see, even if the Varda situation did live rent free in my mind at the moment.

  Eventually Margund spoke up again. "If it is stressing you out, why not head to bed early. I assure you that no one would dare to complain about your absence."

  He wasn't wrong, but he also wasn't aware that I did not actually sleep. Not unless I just finished fighting evil monsters in dark forests, at least. So heading to bed early would just mean that I would be sitting around in silence. it would probably make the night last longer.

  "I'm alright. It would be rude to leave while everyone is having so much fun."

  Margund laughed, his white hair reflecting the moon's light as the night grew towards true darkness, the sun now below the horizon. "I don't think any monster would dare hold 'rudeness' against you Lady Enna." The goblin kings name rang out over the noise of the party and he looked back to see who had called him. I looked as well, and saw that Brixie and several other hobgoblin's were seated at a table with tankards of alcohol before them, smiling. "Excuse me Lady Enna. I must attend to business."

  I chuckled. "Have fun..."

  The summit was a rare opportunity for the races to get together, not just for the purpose of the meetings themselves, but also to network amongst themselves. Before I came around, it would have been the only time the separate races would have had to interact peacefully, as they were usually at one another's throats over territory or resources.

  Even now, though the goblins and foxes were allies, their leaders were very busy. So they did not get too many chances to see one another directly, without some proxy being sent to represent them. This party would be their final chance to speak freely before life went back to normal.

  I sighed and smiled. I didn't know why, but somehow Margund always had a knack for putting me in a better mood. Maybe it was due to his bright personality, rarely seen amongst the goblin race? He was defiantly very different than his younger brother.

  Speaking of which... I turned to Lagdon and asked a question that had been on the back of my mind for a few hours now: "Has Brillum sent any word?" He had been pretty diligent about sending updates on Varda's movements every three or four hours... But it had nearly been six now since we had heard word from him.

  Lagdon shook his head. "No... but the fox I sent to check up on him should be back with new very soon." I could tell that the lack of information was bugging him as well. Brillum might have been more emotive than Draxly (despite the two foxes being childhood friends), but he was just as dedicated. He would not be this late unless their was a very good reason. I just hoped that it wasn't a bad reason.