There was a moment of silence as everyone digested Rick’s words. They were heavy. How could Rogu not understand where he was coming from? This was supposed to be the Future Leader of all Goblins. Of course he would not want to abandon his people, that’s the type of quality that would be needed as a King, especially the King of a race that is seen as just mere monsters to be culled whenever possible.
A King who would abandon them at the drop of a hat, would not last long upon his throne. So, on one hand Rogu was happy…but on the other he was severely conflicted. While he didn’t expect Rick to abandon his people…Rick was the Future King of ALL Goblins. And that included the 14 Clans. Just as the tribes here needed him, the Goblins in the Dark Lands of Mir needed him too.
While Rogu was deep in his thoughts, Rick finally started speaking again.
“I mentioned it at the end there Rogu, but the key is not now. I want to visit the Clans, in fact I want to create a place where all Goblins can safely call it home without worry, but the Goblins here are not ready. Based on everything you have explained to me Rogu, you all are a lot more advanced than what we have here and can afford to defend yourselves. We can’t do that yet.
“Which is why I’m asking you to wait. Wait until the tribes here are strong enough to stand on their own. Only then can I leave them for as long as you need me to. Is that alright with you Rogu?”
“I have received your order My Lord.”
‘Yep, still cringey.’
[Get used to it.]
‘I know I know.’
“Good…now let’s see what we can do in the meantime. Are you able to contact the Clans at all?”
“Ah yes, we can contact them, but not in an easy manner, and it takes a lot of energy to accomplish so we only do it in emergency situations. Which we haven’t had so far.”
“Please explain.”
“Teral come forward.”
“Yes Captain.”
“Explain the process to the Lord.”
“With pleasure Captain.” After nodding to Rogu, Teral then turned to face Rick.
“My Lord, through this device, I am able to send a short message back to the Clans. We cannot receive anything in return, and once the energy inside has been used, it would take weeks to recharge. Weeks of a constant input of mana.”
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
What Teral brought out was a small grey disk. It didn’t have any particularly amazing visual features. Just a small grey desk that was mostly flat. It had a few dings and imperfections, showing just how old it might be.
“Wow…how do you use it?”
“My Lord, I have to activate it by infusing a large amount of mana at once, and then once it’s on, I have a short window to say my message and it will be delivered on the other side to a device that looks similar to this one, but it is only for receiving messages.”
“That is amazing…did you all make this?”
“Many years ago yes, Goblins did know how to make them…but only a few remain today, and no one knows how to make them anymore. We do spend a lot of time researching them, but due to the few we have remaining, we are hesitant to take one apart to further the research. I apologize for this My Lord.”
“No no please don’t apologize. I was just curious about the disk. It’s really cool, and I’m sure since Goblins knew how to make it once, we’ll figure it out again eventually. Though the message. We need to let the Clans know you all are safe, and I have been found. Through this next part I’ll leave it up to you Rogu. Would you like to return the Clans, maybe perhaps leaving someone here to guide me when it’s time? Or would you all be okay with staying here for an extended period of time. Until I deem the tribes strong enough to handle my absence for over a year.”
“My Lord, I will stay as long as you’d have me.”
“Good good…now for the message. Please tell them that you have found me, we are safe, and that you all will be delayed for some time. What do you think Rogu? Should we say anything else?”
“My Lord, I believe that should be enough.”
“Good, please go ahead Teral.”
“Yes, My Lord.”
Teral then closed her eyes as she held the small grey disk in her hands. She took a few deep breaths before a large amount of mana began pooling together within the tall Maglin’s body. Of course this was not something the others could see; they could only sense the gathering of mana. Some more than others.
Not worrying about what others see or not see, Teral continued with the accumulation of mana within her, for a bit longer. Slowly pooling it all together before opening her eyes and immediately unleashed the accumulated mana into the disk. Normally this action would’ve likely resulted in a dangerous situation with all of that energy being released all at once, but instead of any sort of explosion, the small disk seemed to almost greedily drink up every last bit of mana that Teral poured in.
It flashed blue for a moment and then went dark before the blue light came back ever so faintly in the center of the grey disk. Teral immediately began speaking.
“We have found the Future King, we are safe. We will be delayed in returning. Drukha”
‘Dru what? What the hell was that?’
[I am not sure; I believe it to be another language though.]
‘Another language? I thought I could understand everything.’
[Perhaps there are things that could change that.]
‘Hmm, might as well just ask her.’
After Teral finished her message, a few moments passed before the blue light in the middle of the disk flickered abruptly for a second or two until it completely died out and the disk went dormant once more.
“It is done My Lord.”
“Good job Teral..but quick question, what was it you said at the end there?”
“Drukha My Lord?”
“Yeah that.”
“It is of the Old Goblin Tongue, and it means safe. It is a way of confirming the message being sent back wasn’t forced.”
“Ohh that’s cool too, oh what would you have said if there was some danger involved?”
“In that situation, I would’ve said Thraguk, which means danger.”
‘This is kinda cool Velora, I wanna learn this Old Goblin Tongue thing!’
[I’m sure they’d be willing to teach, but I don’t know if you’d truly be willing to learn.]