Translated from the High Goblin by C. Comstock.
Based on the original text by Dame Dyra Kayleth and Professor Lash Grdkr
Translator's Notes:
This book is based on a text popular in the Kingdom of Pelsa, where I unexpectedly found myself after a physics mishap some time ago1. All the sagas of Princess Wyndyn were being reprinted in honor of her assumption of the throne and, I suspect, to drum up interest in preparation for SFAC's initial public offering. The historians swore to me that the text portrays the events in a manner that is at least reasonably close to how they actually happened.
The text is the first of four sagas written by Kayleth and Grdkr. The authors were directly involved in many of the events, and carried out interviews with other participants, including Vatharians and (they claim) Deymater Herself, in an attempt to ascertain and then accurately depict the events that would become so famous and determinate in the history of the northern lands.
I learned High Goblin during my stay in Pelsa, in a manner similar to the one described in the text. Since my return, however, I have had few translation resources available to me for the technical and military vocabulary, so I have tried to do my best to reflect the terms in Modern English. The names of the elven Dances of Order and Chaos did not translate directly into English, so I have used the names of the human dances most closely resembling them. The term “conga line,” for example, conveys what I believe is an accurate sense of the traditional elven court dance.
As a final note, a warning to the readers: I believe the Kat'sheth are the same beings called the Cat-Sith of the Scottish Highlands in our own realm. It seems that the evil of these cat-demons spans many realms of existence. Part of the reason I undertook the great labor involved in this translation was to help the humans better understand the potential dangers of the creatures. I suspect they may be behind certain recent political developments.
1 I would encourage university administrators to place physics labs far away from other campus buildings. Certainly, putting a new physics laboratory next to University Parks could have been better thought through. I thank the university administration though for the 15% discount they offered on tuition for my first term back after the mishap.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CHAPTER 1: DELIVERING PARTY INVITATIONS
“Okay, yes, it is possible you were right. I may be slightly overdoing it,” admitted King Jend to his queen, who was standing on the battlements as they looked down on the guard force assembling in the courtyard.
“Possible? Of course I’m right! You always overdo it. For the love of the Goddess, you can’t step outside without overdoing it!” agreed Queen Aida.
The great orc king raised his considerable voice in reply. “I most certainly do not always overdo it! I marshal my forces as strategically necessary and apply them at critical points. Which is exactly how we conquered and tamed this kingdom!”
The queen closed and reopened her elven eyes slowly. A number of the birds and some of the ivy turned and looked at King Jend with exasperation.
“The kingdom was tamed a decade ago, and the girls are just going for a ride!” said the queen. “They will be gone half a day if they take their time and won’t be outside of the areas of the patrols. You really don’t need to constantly hover over them.”
“Why are you bringing my powers of levitation into this?" Jend asked as he landed back on the battlements. "You know that I can supervise their training better when I am positioned above; it increases my viewing range. You just can’t get over that anything not directly connected to some shrub is in any way valuable, and you disregard ...”
Aida raised her hand and her seasonally brown eyes glowed green, causing her husband to reconsider and stop talking.
“Oh just stop already. Wyndy and Myla will be fine.”
As the royal couple and half the castle staff watched, a military company of some power was forming in the courtyard.
Beside her mount, in her army uniform, Crown Princess Wyndyn stood naturally at attention, as she had been doing since she could stand. Her sister Princess Myla and Myla’s own mount stood behind her and to the right. Wyndy called her royal guard to order.
“Cavalry, join formation!” Six goblins mounted on large wolves rode forward. Three took positions in front of the princesses and three behind.
“Close guard, join formation!” Four furry creatures, buggebears, looking like a cross between a man and a brown bear, appeared as if out of nowhere. They were at the side of the princesses before the command was fully spoken.
“Aerial Reconnaissance Team, take flight!” Two small shapes launched from behind a castle tower. They made a pass over the assembling guard, and the creatures, who looked like bats the size of a human child, hovered in the air for a moment to salute.
King Jend said to his queen “The bat-folk are a good addition to the guard. I’m glad I added them. We should expand that squad.”
“You added them? You? The girls trained the bat-folk and had to work on you for months before you gave up and let them join the army.”
A low growl formed in Jend's throat. “Yes, they did mention the idea, but I had long before spotted the potential of the creatures and had been making plans for those two. I have plans for the whole tribe!”
“Right. Your plans so far have consisted of finally giving up being stubborn, then listening to your daughters. They’d been training them for five months before they even brought you the idea, and you wouldn’t listen until the demonstration! Finally, you allowed it.”
“I did not ‘allow’ it,” said the large orc king. “I commanded it. They strengthen our forces and give us capabilities the humans do not have. I am the king and commander of the great armies of Pelsa, lest you forget.”
“Yes dear, you are our kingdom’s great commander. Worth five of any of the humans’ commanders. Your daughters listen to your every word, and obey without question, due to your obvious great wisdom.”
She tapped his arm and he reflexively leaned down so that she could give him a kiss on the cheek.
Kiss given, the elven queen continued. “I did look into expanding the Aerial Reconnaissance Squad, but their tribe is small and there are not many more of the bat-folk in the kingdom. We may be able to talk with Duchess Rhoswen about it, if we want to pay her a visit.”
- - - -
Well at least my father landed. It's hard to be taken seriously as a military commander when your father is levitating above you, thought Wyndy, as she attempted to order her friends around in public without looking ridiculous.
“Subcommander of the guard, come forward!” she commanded. A black wolf with a backpack and a red fabric collar quickly trotted out and took position behind the princesses and the goblins.
Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.
My gods, but we are just delivering party invitations! We could be halfway to Nicodo's grove by now. Even as Wyndy’s thoughts grew more frustrated, she remained standing at attention, using the best military discipline that their father had worked to instill in his daughters.
“Personal bodyguard to the heirs, come forward,” said Myla, Wyndy's younger sister. Wyndy had wanted to spread the embarrassment around, so had insisted that Myla do some of the commanding.
A massive, yet sleek, hyena sprung from the pedestal she’d been perched on, and with a couple more strides took up position next to the wolf. She was wearing a stylish scarf with the letters SFAC written out in a repeating pattern. The wolf growled slightly.
Oh, Myla, thought Wyndy. You have Helnae wearing your scarves now too? This is supposed to be an official state mission, not a fashion show. Can’t any member of my family be reasonable?
Wyndy instinctively turned to hiss at her sister, but caught herself in time, remembering to finish the calling of the guard.
“General Garaxas, assume your command!” A large orc on a massive black horse came out of the gate and rode to the front of the guards. He was dressed in plate armor so black it seemed to absorb all light. His long black sword was sheathed over his back. His helmet was shaped like a human skull. Raising his visor, he smiled at the princesses, and saluted.
Garaxas looks happy, at least. He is probably thinking we'll get fed at each stop as we deliver the invitations. He must be bored in the castle. Not many enemies for real fights anymore.
Wyndy returned the salute to Garaxas and checked to make sure her guards were ready and in formation. Everybody was, so she started riding, calling out as she did, “Company ride forward on my pace. We have invitations to deliver! As the Sky Father said, 'Do not mess it up!'”
Wyndy knew it was excessive, but it was hard to argue with her parents. Her and her sister’s mounts alone would really have been sufficient, given that they were giant wolves, faster than most horses and with the added and sometimes important advantage of being able to rip apart a troll in three to five seconds.
Their names were Shadow and Fluffy. Myla’s giant wolf, the younger and more adventurous of the pair, was Fluffy. Wyndy’s wolf was Shadow, an older gray wolf with a wife and grown pups. He was larger and everybody said he was very fierce, but the girls knew him mostly as a seeker of good meals and a demander of scritches.
There was as much difference in the princesses. Wyndy was, at age eighteen, already well taller than her elven mother. She had her father’s long sunset-shaded hair, and her mother’s delicate features and pointed ears. Her orcish heritage could be seen in her bluish skin tone, her strength, and that her canine teeth were longer than a human's would be. You would not want to call them "fangs" anywhere in her impressive range of hearing, though, as her native sorcerous talent was suspected of being stronger than even that of her father, and she could already manage a pretty good lightning bolt. She often performed wonderful pyrotechnic tricks at birthday parties.
Myla, a year younger and four inches shorter, had their elven mother’s seasonally brown hair and eyes. Her teeth and ears were slightly more pointy, and her command of magic tended toward the abilities their mother possessed. And while she wasn’t planning on ruling the kingdom, she was already working on building an empire.
Three hours and two stops later, they’d arrived at Nicodo’s grove. No roads ran there, just the barest trace of a deer path guided the way. It was late morning, a clear day, but they were deep enough in the forest that it seemed like twilight. The wolves loved the trip.
As they arrived at the grove, the princesses and their guards dismounted. The bat-folk of the Aerial Reconnaissance Team stayed in the air, scanning the area and their planned path ahead, as the girls had taught them.
"Greetings, Sir Nicodo!” Wyndy said in her best diplomatic voice as she and Myla walked toward the ancient tree.
Most people, walking near Nicodo, would see just a large Northern Red Oak, taller than a house, with a thick trunk and branches. But Wyndy and Myla could, of course, recognize their Uncle Niky.
As the princesses approached, Nicodo's bark rearranged itself, forming a face. He was sporting a particularly magnificent mustache, twirled at the ends. Myla smiled.
He raised his roots and took a few steps toward the girls. Four of the other trees in the grove did likewise, arranging themselves in a semi-circle behind the mighty knight of the realm. Three saplings, coming up to about Wyndy’s waist, toddled around behind them, while an older tree tried to usher the saplings away from the clearing and to the nearby stream.
Nicodo bent his branches to salute the princesses, as the rest of the grove bowed.
Wyndy had known Nicodo since she was a baby. All the young creatures particularly loved Sir Nicodo. He and his grove were skilled in great and complex arrangements of their branches, intertwining them in ways to be just challenging enough for the little creatures, but still keeping it safe, and able to catch anyone who lost her grip. He sheltered them with his leaves when the weather turned bad.
He usually called the crown princess "Wyndy," and called Myla “Little Nut,” but today was speaking in a rather formal tone.
"Greetings, fair Princess Wyndyn. Long may your family reign. Long may they continue to bring our land the safety we've come to enjoy. We thank them, and you."
"Thank you, honorable Sir Nicodo, knight of the realm," Wyndy said with a curtsy. "My father and mother send you their heartfelt greetings. They have sent me and my sister on the mission to invite you and your grove to the celebration of the spring equinox, to be held in the commons of Lagar's Haven, and in the castle, three days from now." She handed him a scroll from the satchel she kept at her side.
Wyndy knew the formal speech must have been odd for Nicodo, as it wasn't something that came up very often. Their father himself didn't go for much formality, at least among his knights and commanders, whom he already knew would die for the kingdom. But the princesses had been rehearsed by their mother, in her ongoing quest to fancy-up the place.
"Yes, Your Highness. It is the greatest honor. I will certainly attend, along with others of the trees. Long may your father and your mother reign."
Princess Wyndy was quite happy with the response, and for a moment her face lost its serious look and broke out into a grin, which she quickly got under control and returned to her formal tone.
"On behalf of ourselves and the king and the queen, we thank you greatly, Sir Nicodo, and our father extends his full appreciation to your grove for your long years of service to the country, land and kingdom."
Nicodo smiled as one of the saplings wandered up and hugged Myla’s leg. She patted the little one’s unruly top leaves.
The moment didn’t last long though, as the bat-folk flew in as fast as their wings could take them, which was pretty fast, and landed just behind the princesses.
“Princess Wyndyn, Princess Myla, we have a report,” Addie said as her legs touched the ground. “Kirkko and I saw humans, a bit ahead, riding toward the village of Grendom. They seemed to have captured a goblin. He was on the back of one of their horses. I think he is a hostage.”
Princess Wyndy turned quickly to the scout. “Humans! Here? Are you sure?”
“Completely sure, Your Highnesses. I know their sounds. These were humans, three of them. Riding horses, going very fast, straight at Grendom. They all had weapons.”
“Any carts or wagons?” asked Myla.
“No, Your Highness, just the humans on horses. Three men, riding fast. And their hostage."
Myla's eyes flashed as she said: “There is no way they can be traders, and the pirates wouldn’t be either on horse or near Grendom. An attacking band doesn’t make any sense – they’d have to be crazy to attack with only three people. Grendom is mostly goblins. They’d be dead before they made it past the gates.”
Considering their escort, Wyndy knew they’d have no trouble with three humans. It might even be interesting. She felt that, as princesses, it could well be considered their job to look into these sorts of things.
“We need to go see.” said Wyndy. “Anikga lives in Grendom. So let’s make sure they are all okay. There could be a reason the humans came, and we should hear that before, you know, before any misunderstanding.” Anikga was the daughter of the village chief, and a dear friend of the girls since they were all toddlers.
She turned to their goblin escort. “Private Zegs and Private Wolds, come here,” Wyndy commanded. The two goblins rode over quickly.
“I need you to go back to the castle, directly and swiftly. No side trips. Tell my parents that humans have been spotted approaching Grendom, and we are going there to investigate.”
The girls ran to their own wolves, mounted and began to ride in the direction of Grendom, as their escorts joined in. Nicodo waved as they left, looking both proud and a bit worried for the girls.
As they rode off, at a speed their parents would have been surprised the girls could manage and would certainly never have allowed, Myla rode close and said to her sister "Wyndy, you sounded ridiculous. 'Honorable Sir Nicodo.' Oh please. We've known Uncle Niky since we were babies. He usually sees us covered in mud. You sound like some idiot Vatharian talking like that."
"Maybe he sees you covered in mud, since you usually are." Wyndy poked Myla with her rod, adding an additional small spark for emphasis, almost knocking Myla off her wolf. Then she made it ahead, setting off a further race between Shadow and Fluffy. Fluffy liked to show up the other wolves, whom he could almost always beat in a race through the forest. Shadow just liked to race, and hoped there was something tasty to eat at the end of the race. A human would do.
The giant wolves were smarter than other wolves and could understand the princesses and the goblins when they were paying attention. Shadow was sure he had heard something about humans in the village. He raced ahead, Wyndy urging him on, with Fluffy behind, and the rest of the goblins and buggebears following; a streak of fur though the narrow paths of the forest. Garaxas, on his horse, trailed behind.