Chapter 24: A Vision of Dominion
[Leav POV]
The battlefield lay still, the only sounds remaining were the ragged breaths of the victors and the crackling of distant fires. The metallic scent of blood filled the air, mixing with the damp earth and the lingering echoes of dying screams.
Leav stood amidst the fallen, his weapon still clenched in his hand. His body ached from the battle, wounds burning, muscles sore, but none of it mattered. What mattered was the sight before him—a battlefield won, a step forward in the path he was only beginning to see clearly.
Tear walked up beside him, his axe resting against his shoulder. "We crushed them," he said, voice gruff but filled with satisfaction.
Leav didn't respond immediately. He looked around, watching his forces—no, his people. Goblins who had been nothing more than scattered groups of raiders, outcasts, and nameless warriors were now moving together with unity. They weren't just a ragtag band of survivors anymore. They were something more.
They were an army.
A thought struck him then, something that sent a shiver through his very core.
What if this wasn't the end? What if this was only the beginning?
His mind churned with the weight of it.
Since the moment he had been born as a weak goblin, he had fought for survival. He had clawed his way out of obscurity, forced the world to acknowledge his existence. Now, for the first time, he saw the future not as a constant struggle for survival, but as something he could shape with his own hands.
The goblins had no real leaders, no stronghold to call their own. They existed as scattered tribes, warring amongst themselves or being crushed under the heels of stronger races. But what if that changed?
What if he changed it?
What if he built something greater?
A kingdom. A nation. No—an empire.
The thought set a fire in his chest.
"Leav?" Tear's voice brought him back to reality.
Leav turned to his second-in-command, eyes burning with newfound clarity. "We did more than just win today, Tear," he said, his voice steady, filled with an authority that hadn't been there before. "We proved something."
Tear frowned. "Proved what?"
"That we can be more," Leav said. "That we don't have to live like scavengers or slaves. That we can fight, we can conquer, we can rule."
Tear's eyes narrowed. "You're thinking big, boss."
Leav chuckled, but there was no amusement in it. "Not big enough."
[Frot POV]
Frot had been listening from the shadows, as he always did. He knew Leav was ambitious, but something about the way he spoke now… it was different.
It wasn't just about winning battles anymore. It was about something much larger.
An empire.
Frot wasn't sure whether to laugh at the absurdity of it or be terrified of the fact that it actually seemed possible.
Leav had done the impossible time and time again. He had taken a disorganized, desperate band of goblins and turned them into a force that had just crushed one of the strongest rival warbands in the region.
What would happen if he kept going?
Frot smirked to himself.
If nothing else, it would be interesting to see.
[Leav POV]
As the night deepened, Leav sat alone on a fallen log, staring into the distance. The battlefield was behind him, but his mind was far from the present.
An empire…
Could it truly be done?
His race had always been seen as weak, disposable. But what if he gathered them, united them under one banner? He had the means—he had the strength, the intelligence, the will.
And most importantly, he had the fire.
He would start small. He would gather more warriors, more resources. He would turn his forces into something the world had never seen before.
And then, he would rise.
Leav tightened his grip on his weapon, his eyes reflecting the burning embers of the dying battlefield.
This was just the beginning.