The Goblin Issue

Everyone stared at Verida for a long moment, who merely smiled back.

“Are you sure it's wise to be upfront with that?” Harker carefully asked. “If the Order has an ill opinion of goblinkind, this whole affair could blow up in our faces if we do this.”

“We don’t need to have this whole settling thing done right away,” Teri said quickly, bringing her hands up in a placating manner. “Get everything squared away with the Order then move my people in. And keep them from knowing about each other.”

“Do we want to establish a relationship with such people?” Verida pressed, a heated intensity creeping into her voice. “I do not want to establish this Kingdom on lies and subterfuge. And not hand in hand with people that would paint a whole group of people the same without knowing their particularities between groups.”

“Not to mention what could happen if the Order does find out later,” Vivian chimed in. “They could decide that voids whatever agreements we made and give them the casus belli to attack us.”

“That’s a good point,” Martius hummed, rubbing his chin. “This might have to be something we’re upfront with.”

“I mean, we can wait for everything to blow over,” Teri softly said, her eyes cast at the table. “Maybe just come round and harvest some things.”

“No,” John remarked with a shake of his head. “Before all this, we said you guys can plant your roots here. The Order and Phantom Reach aren’t going to change that.”

“As feel good as that sentiment is,” Harker interjected, “we have to be realistic. We don’t want the Order against us. That would be too much to deal with and could give Reach the opportunity to slip further away or give them an opening to achieve their goals.”

“That’s why we will be up front with it,” Verida insisted. “I did not get the impression that the Warden was one to broadly discriminate, but if the organization does, then we will deal with it at the meeting. If nothing else, we can use it as an example of our willingness to maintain a contract, even an informal one.”

“Still a risk,” Lynn said before looking at Teri. “Don’t know your whole story, but I get the gist. However, this is a bigger problem…”

“Then why didn’t you guys do anything before?” Beth suddenly asked, her eyes shifting between her sister and Harker. “You had to know they were on Earth, right? And could guess it was North America from how they were talking?”

“We learned they were on Earth, yes,” Martius answered. “But hadn’t narrowed it down.”

“You heard things through me,” Kiera quietly said. “Between my voice and Bill’s, you could have guessed we were in North America.”

“And then what? Called every major power we could find and give them a warning?” Harker asked. “Doing that on such a wide scale would likely have driven them underground. My hope on Sunday was to gain concrete evidence of their location, and in a way it has.”

“I think their point is you could have begun to spread word about them before things reached this point,” Verida said. “And that it’s a bit hypocritical for you to dictate how we go about things when you kept things to your little group until circumstances made your paths converge.”

“Look, you guys just don’t get…” Lynn began before Martius silenced her by raising his hand.

“They have a point,” the gnome reluctantly said. “We could have looked into the strongest powers in the English speaking world and dropped them hints. We decided to take this on ourselves and failed to find them before things grew worse. And if it wasn’t for our friends here, Harker would still be down for the count. Or worse. Perhaps we let them do things as they wish. They’re the ones that actually faced them.”

“Fine,” Harker relented. “Fine, we’ll handle things the way you want. It is your place, after all. Let’s just hope the info and technical knowledge we can provide can smooth over any concerns the Order has.”

Verida smiled. “Alright then. We should probably decide who will be at the table, since we’re already on that topic. We have five spots left, since I will need to take one. Obviously, John and Harker are needed given their experiences. And I think Kiera should be there too.”

Her sudden inclusion caused the bluenette to jump slightly in her seat.

“W-wait! Me?” she stuttered out, her voice pitched high in panic.

“Sadly, given your history, we need you there,” Verida said gently.

“And what if they, like, try to arrest her?” Beth asked heatedly. “Like hell we’re going to let that happen!”

“I have no intention to let anything happen,” Verida firmly said. “But, as I said before, Kiera has a perspective most of us don’t. To ignore it is as bad as not reaching out to stronger powers for aid.”

“You can make sure Kiera’ll be safe, right?” John asked.

“By my Word, I will not allow harm to befall her while she is under my leaves,” Verida said, the air around them shifting with power.

Kiera took in a deep breath and closed her eyes. “O-okay. I can be there.”

“Excellent,” Verida smiled. “So that’s five spots taken. Two to go.”

“I should be there,” Aeolia spoke up. “Since I survived an attack.”

Verida nodded solemnly. “That was what I was thinking. I’m sorry we have to keep bringing up bad memories, but…”

“But we need to use them to beat them,” Aeolia interjected. “I can face having to remember that day.”

Verida smiled at Aeolia. “Thank you.”

“I want them dealt with,” Aeolia remarked. “Some pain is worth that.”

“So, who’s getting the last seat?” John asked, drawing the conversation away from that topic.

“I think I should be there,” Martius said. “As we talked about before, we can use my tracker designs as leverage. Be best if I’m there to effectively answer any questions.”

“You make a good point,” Verida remarked. “Anyone have an issue with that, or an alternative suggestion?”

Silence passed over the table for a long moment before John said, “Doesn’t look like there’s any other choice.”

“Then I shall get to work on constructing a sales pitch,” Martius sighed. “I’m glad I brought some of my notes along.”

“Were you planning on something like this happening?” Lynn asked.

“Not at all,” Martius dismissively answered. “But I knew I would more than likely just be an observer to today’s events, so I prepared something to occupy my time. Turns out it was a serendipitous choice. Though, I could probably recall the details easily enough.”

“Very humble.” Lynn grinned into her drink.

“I try,” Martius shot back. “Now that we have all that out of the way, is there anything else we need to discuss?”

“For the meeting, I believe we have covered everything. Unless anyone wants to establish a moment to moment itinerary,” Verida replied.

“I think going into that minutia is unnecessary,” Harker said. “We could get bogged down too easily, especially since we know little of what the Order will want. Having a rough framework we can easily adjust sounds like the better option.”

“Then I believe we can call this meeting,” Verida announced peppily. “And start the one where we try to figure out how to get Teri’s people on board. And I think I have the perfect idea for that.”

The goddess’ eyes flitted between Teri and Kiera, a keen smile on her lips.

---

Kiera nervously fidgeted as Vivian drove towards Teri’s place. Given that it had been Aeolia’s former residence, guilt warred with anxiety and left her feeling ill. A soothing breeze washed over her, a sensation only she could feel, one that swirled around her like a hug.

‘Take a deep breath,’ Verida’s voice whispered in her head. It was an odd experience, to have another voice in her head. The closest was when Harker had tagged along, but this was more intense, more intimate. Which did not help the emotional storm churning her insides. ‘I know it's hard, but you’re working on making things right. Just keep that in mind.’

‘What if this fails?’ the bluenette couldn’t help but ask. ‘If these elders think we’re trying to fool them and decide to attack? Or just take off? I don’t really know Teri but she seems nice and she helped when I was out. I don’t want to put her in a bad situation.’

‘She agreed to this plan,’ Verida remarked. ‘And if it does fail, it will come down to my ability to sell their leaders on the plan. But, given the good will John and the others have built with their people, and the display I’m planning, I think the odds are good.’

‘Still not sure I can do the thing you think I can do,’ Kiera thought. ‘I never thought about using my powers like this.’

‘I have faith you can do it,’ Verida encouraged. ‘Think of it not as something new, but just a new application of what you can already do.’

Kiera wasn’t as confident, but nodded slightly.

“Verida talking to you okay?” John suddenly asked, drawing Kiera’s attention to the front seat. “I think you look like I do when Senka’s talking to me.”

“I’m sure we can find a way to link Senka to everyone,” Vivian remarked.

“That does sound useful,” Teri said, her invisible form wavering as she moved slightly in her seat beside Kiera.

“Be our own personal player chat,” John chuckled. “Be sure as hell useful, which to me sounds like it’ll be a pain to actually get. But, Kiera, everything’s alright with your link to Verida, right?”

“Y-yes, everything’s fine,” Kiera said. “She’s here. I’m just a little nervous about this. I don’t want to screw this up for you.”

“I can think of no other way to definitely get the elders to agree to moving us,” Teri glumly remarked. “They would find some reason to deny looking at the Kingdom for some reason or another without a very good reason to compel them.”

“Would they really do that?” Kiera couldn’t help but ask. She knew how much someone could cling to some relative sense of safe harbor, but to ignore a place one of their own was claiming to be a new home baffled her.

“The elders don’t like that we were saved by you guys,” Teri explained. “They don’t want to cede even the smallest amount of power. I’m fairly sure the reason they allowed us to help on Sunday was to repay our debt so we could break away without an obligation hanging over us.”

‘Sounds like we’re going to need this display of power to really hit hard,’ Verida murmured, more to herself than to Kiera. Then, the goddess’ determination flooded through Kiera, an emotion very foreign to the bluenette. She fidgeted in her seat again, now not from nervousness but from an abundance of energy.

Thankfully, they reached their destination before Kiera became too overwhelmed by the desire to move. Guilt welled up once more as she stepped out of the car, seeing the mundane facade of the Dawnseekers’ base. She knew, even with her fragmented memories, that she didn’t witness their deaths, but knowing it had happened and that afterwards Flora had led a raid here to collect anything useful still felt like a knife to her gut.

The phantom sensation of arms wrapping around her and soft mounds of squishy flesh pressing against the back of her head drew her thoughts away from her guilt and she felt her face heat up.

‘You ready?’ Verida asked.

‘As much as I’ll ever be,’ Kiera managed to reply, hoping that her embarrassment wasn’t bleeding back to the goddess.

“I’m ready,” Kiera said in a quiet voice, failing to keep her nerves from making the words come out in far higher pitch than she wanted.

“Okay, here goes,” Teri’s unseen form said before her presence disappeared into the barrier. John and Vivian followed a second later and Kiera right after. As she passed through the barrier’s edge, she pulled on Verida’s essence. Normally, when she transformed into someone, it was like putting on clothing, slipping into attire crafted from someone’s aura. From there, she could let the ‘clothing’ act like the person they were made from, a sort of autopilot she could intervene in when needed.

This was different and she wasn’t sure if it was something she could always do, something only Verida’s godly nature allowed, or if it was something new born from her experience over the last few days.

‘We can worry about that later,’ Verida’s calm voice echoed in her head. ‘Come now. We have a people to settle.’

Kiera felt her body change, growing to match Verida’s longer limbs and full chest. Her clothing seemed to melt and reform into the goddess’ bodysuit, stockings and gloves. When she, no, they, emerged on the inside of the barrier, Verida was the one in control.

“Certainly an interesting experience,” the goddess muttered as she moved her fingers. ‘I do hope to not need to rely on you to leave the Kingdom forever. Hardly seems fair that we can’t enjoy the greater world together.’

Kiera could still feel her face heat up and once more hoped Verida couldn’t feel her racing emotions or heartbeat.

“Everything’s good?” Vivian asked, the redhead’s eyes going over Verida’s form.

“Worked better than I could have hoped,” Verida replied. “A bit strange to think I’m in two places at once.”

“You think you can do the thing?” John asked, summoning a jar of dirt from his Inventory.

Verida nodded. “I feel my magic well enough. Though, I believe the full weight of my power is left with my body. Not that I need it, but I feel that this work around is only good for letting me out into the wider world.”

“Let’s not waste any time,” Teri interjected. “We don’t want the elders to get any more time to prepare some counter argument or rally the warriors to attack us.”

“Yes,” Verida said, her voice retaining its even measure as Kiera felt a sense of aggression well up from the dragon goddess. “Let’s get this chat done.”

Teri led the way in, Verida right behind her with John and Vivian taking up the rear. Their entrance did not go unnoticed as several armed goblins surged towards them while one dashed away.

‘That one must be going to get those elders,’ Kiera thought as one of the warriors began to shout at Teri. She wasn’t giving an inch, firing back in a measured tone. Loud enough to be heard by everyone around, but not to the point of screaming. ‘Just wish we could tell what they were saying.’

‘Kiera,’ Verida suddenly spoke up through their mental link, ‘when you take on someone’s appearance, are you able to speak and understand every language they do, or is it limited to what you know?’

‘Um, I can understand stuff other than English when I’m someone else, if they knew it,’ Kiera answered. ‘I never tried to speak, though, since I usually just used my power to hide in plain sight. But I don’t think I couldn’t speak if I had to. Not that it could help us here. I’m already you.’

‘I’m not too sure about that,’ Verida said. ‘You never tried to have someone project themselves into your transformed state before now. Who’s to say you couldn’t just copy someone’s language comprehension without needing everything else. Would make this whole thing easier if we didn’t have to rely on Teri translating everything.’

Kiera felt Verida move her arm towards Teri, and she knew that the goddess wanted her to try the idea. And the steady beat of confidence that it would work made the bluenette want to try, want to prove that she could do as the goddess believed.

Verida’s hand landed on Teri’s shoulder and Kiera reached for the goblin’s aura. She felt it as effortlessly as usual, a sort of pool that flowed around Teri, just like everyone else. It thrummed with several beats, like an orchestra playing in perfect time, differing aspects of Teri’s personality and being working in concert to make up the full person she was.

Kiera focused on the various pieces, trying to find the one that reflected Teri’s knowledge of her language. It should be a prominent aspect, both as it was her primary language and her active use of it.

‘There,’ Kiera thought, finding that particular part of Teri. It vibrated in time with her speech, an irritated buzz among the more measured tones of her aura. Kiera touched that tense cord and tried to draw from it. Usually, she skimmed the aura like taking a ladle of punch from a bowl, a small sample of the whole. But, now that she thought about it, this wasn’t that different from what she did while on autopilot and learned the layout of the Newman house. Just draw out a specific piece of information.

“... you’ll be lucky if the elders only banish you!” the gruff voice of the goblin berating Teri became understable in an instant.

‘Good job,’ Verida thought to Kiera. ‘Things are coming in clear. Now to see if we can speak it.’

“I see you have decided to return,” an old voice spoke as the elders made their presence known. The speaker that led the trio of wizened goblins continued, “I do not know what possessed you to leave as you did, Tsxhel, you do not think that bringing those humans with you will avert our judgment. I made it clear we paid our oath to them by answering their call for aid.”

“And what of their pledge to provide you a more suitable place to live?” Verida spoke. To Kiera it was English, but from the way the goblins reacted, she clearly spoke in their language.

“You speak our tongue?” the lead elder asked, his tone a mix of disbelief and irritation.

“Such a feat is no issue for me,” Verida smoothly said, her tail flicking out. “After all, I am no mere mortal. And I am the one who called out to Tsxhel.”

“And just who are you?” one of the warriors demanded, his hand tightly grasped around the hilt of his sword.

Kiera felt Verida grin and a surge of her mana flowed out into the room, filling the air with power.

“I am Verida, goddess of the bloom of spring,” the dragon goddess announced, her words causing the whole room to shake. “And I’ve come to repay my debt to your clan’s shaman. She, along with those humans you so deride, among others, did me a great service. And I intend to repay it.”

Verida’s announcement stunned the assembled goblins for a long moment and the goddess turned slightly to catch John’s eyes, and nodded slightly.

“You honor us with your presence, mighty goddess,” the elder spoke, his voice now more measured and respectful, his head bowed. “But, I must ask, what has Tsxhel done to earn your favor?”

“She helped to guide me to a new domain,” Verida said, gesturing with one hand to draw John closer, a jar full of dirt held in his hand. “A domain currently empty of inhabitants, something I find abhorrent. I believe your people would prefer a less urban environment. One that you can grow things in.”

Verida cast her hand out, a faint purple glow dancing around her splayed fingers. The same light glowed around the jar of dirt and a small tree snaked its way up, growing into a small sapling in seconds, its leaves a vibrant green.

“That soil is from the Kingdom I hold dominion over,” Verida said. “The seed as well. And while there are some things that need to be settled with other parties, there is a space for you and your people. What do you say to that?”

Thanks again for reading this little story. If you liked the chapter, please hit that thumbs up, and if you want to support my writing, check out my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/ScrapCrow. Get access to my chapters before they’re published here and join my private Discord.