Greg didn't know this, but the battalion of wolves reached the abandoned settlement and encircled it.

  The villagers that had decided to stay back, a measly nine or so, had thrown out the runner corpses Greg had left behind. Their hope was that the wolves would satiate their hunger with those lizards and leave.

  But that was an idiotic hope. The leader wolf among them directly slashed the lizard corpses away and attacked the front door blocking the entrance to the settlement.

  The wooden door that was just a heavy slab didn't burn because the rain was heavy enough to douse everything. But the impact from its slash was enough to send the doorway flying backwards.

  Before anyone could breathe, the wolves, with already blood in their mouths from the previous slaughter, entered inside. The nine goblins that were hiding in the chief's residence because it was the most stable house felt inexplicable fear.

  It didn't take the black wolves long to locate them, and after another door was sent flying away, their leader entered the house. If Greg saw this wolf, he would immediately recognize this as the one who attacked the goblin couple and managed to run away when its two companions died because of a surprise attack.

  It turns out after the incident, the wolf had evolved and unlocked his direwolf form, which was not only bigger in size but gave him enough power to topple buildings.

  The direwolf walked ahead and saw the male and female goblins cowering in the distance. There was one pregnant goblin too, but alas, her stupidity and the decision of her partner to stay behind in the "safe" settlement had turned out to be the end of not only her but her entire family.

  When the direwolf was done with the puny goblins and his maw was filled with emerald blood, it ordered its brethren to spread out and search for more such villages and settlements. Today it wanted to end all the goblin races in their area and rule it alone.

  The direwolf had already dealt with the previous leader of his group, who was another passive direwolf, who didn't take swift action and always made minimal efforts to claim its territory. But he was different. He wanted to swallow every beast, every monster, and every other species he could find and claim their lives.

  The black wolves adhered to his orders and spread in a circular perimeter to find more of such villages. The rain was heavy, so they were using their sensitive ears and howls to alert the location of anything they encountered in their journey.

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  ---

  An hour had passed since Greg left the goblin settlement. They had almost traveled half the way, but the rain was raising the level of the river and making it really hard to follow along, especially with a large group like this.

  So they had branched away from the raging river and were moving swiftly towards their goal.

  "It's time," Old Lady May suddenly said and attracted the attention of everyone.

  "Everyone keep moving," Greg said and made his way towards the center where the pregnant goblin was being carried.

  "We just need a little more time to reach the cave," Bog said from the front, still carrying the stretcher.

  "I’ll tell the baby to wait," Old Lady May retorted before she looked at Greg. "The first one will come out any moment."

  Greg had an ugly expression.

  Not only had they moved this pregnant lady, which was considered ill-advised by all local females, but she was about to give birth right here, right now. The situation couldn't be any worse.

  Awooo-oo-oo-ooo!

  Just then, a wolf sound came from the distance. It was still far, and soon other wolves started to cry and howl from different directions.

  "They have separated into smaller groups," Fass said, feeling tired from the back of the stretcher.

  Greg replaced him and even replaced Bog with someone else to carry the stretcher. They sighed in relief and took their positions on the outer circle.

  "Do what you must," Greg told Old May and moved to the front. The old lady grimaced and started to rub the mother's belly and told her affirmations to keep pushing. She even lied that they were close to the cave and she could now birth her child.

  Greg ignored her and moved close to Bog. "If a fight starts, I'll engage and you'll lead them to the cave," Greg instructed. Bog nodded, but he didn't seem confident.

  "Is there some issue?" Greg asked, hearing more and more sounds of black wolves from all over the jungle.

  "No," Bog sighed. "I just don't know how you manage to navigate in this thick rain, but I am not sure of my ability to do so similarly."

  That was a valid concern and Greg immediately cleared his doubts. "Huma— Goblin legs are not of the same size," Greg said. "One can be bigger and the other can be smaller. This can lead to going in circles in a dense forest like this."

  Bog knew this, and that's why the explorer goblins always left markings to know of their position. Even then they sometimes got lost. But he had never seen Greg do the same. It was like Greg could always walk forward in a straight direction and not circle around without notice.

  "The trick is very simple," Greg brushed the rainwater from his forehead. "You look straight and remember a tree or any other object in the distance, and when you reach that place, you look straight again and remember another object."

  Bog's eyes opened in surprise. It was that simple?

  "That's how you navigate in a jungle like this," Greg knew this because his dad loved fishing and they lived away from metro cities, so he always took him into the woods.

  "If you just let your eyes guide you and not your feet, it becomes really hard to lose your way." Before Greg could say anymore, a wolf howl came from just behind them and he was already moving.

  "Don’t wait for me," He yelled and separated from the large group. It was time to fight.