Chapter 23: Looming Danger

"I, lied too," The large ogre said as he looked to Scitus in desperation. He had a hand to his face and looked for the wounds that had recently healed. Although his wounds had healed, his lungs had yet to recover. His lungs were oxygen deprived after running without rest or sleep to reach Scitus. Scitus wanted to allow the ogre to rest, but the ogre's fidgets and looks from side to side told him that it would not be wise to allow him to sleep quite yet.

"I search family, I found family" The familiar gestures and vocals of the goblin tongue came spewing forth, the ogre had yet to learn English. The ogre had decided to search for his family shortly after the goblin king's death. "Family not family no more." The ogre tried his best to describe what had happened. He spoke of skin shaded an obsidian black and eyes that lost all sense of light; it was if to their will was no longer their own. Then the ogre stopped, for three or so minutes he did not speak, he silently stared at the ground. The goblin king had told him that his family would be spared if he joined his army, he was lied to. Warm tears stained his bony face, he was made a fool.

As soon as he finished his tale he collapsed from exhaustion. On scitus's orders, a few goblins nearby brought the ogre within the city walls and found a comfortable area for the ogre to rest.

"One problem dealt with and now another." The events were suspicious they smelled rotten to Scitus, it was as if it was connected. He had to prepare, he knew the ogres would come after him. Whether they would find his kingdom easily was another question altogether.

Scitus searched for his ordinary spot within the encampment walls, it was a large tree that had been left standing by his orders. It provided him a cool shade and a place to think. The goblins had grown accustomed to seeing him there and they knew if he was there it meant that he was thinking about a problem, no one ever bothered him there except for Seresa who would only very rarely report the cities construction progress if she felt it important enough.

"I need to somehow increase the colonies defenses in case of future attacks" he turned to see the piles of wooden longs that lay neatly stacked and tied near him. It was to be used to upgrade the city walls and construct buildings of importance.

"Master" Seresa's voice stole him away from his thoughts. Seresa stood before him and alongside her was William, her brother, and Valentine, Juliet's lover. "Somin is wreng" it was Valentine who spoke first, he had something on his mind something that had been pestering him ever since the death of the goblin king. "I feal no wroth" his accent was thick, thicker than most of the goblins, Scitus would on occasion have to perk his ears up and move closer to fully understand him. "what's wrong?" the words of his god began to move the gears of his mind, his mind formed words and these words became thoughts and these thoughts became complex ideas, it was the effect of learning English. He felt that if he hadn't learned English he would be incapable of telling Scitus the problem and probably would never have noticed the change within himself. He now understood concepts that almost felt alien to him, emotions that would briefly appear and then disappear. He was grateful to those words for he could finally grasp how deep his love for Juliet truly was. This desire to protect Juliet, the desire to see her smile made him realize that something inside him disappeared; before the emotion was only dulled and weakened by his love for Juliet, but then it disappeared as if it had been a lie, it happened right after the goblins king's death.

"Not just me, others too" the boiling wrath that always ran rampant within the hearts of the corrupted had finally calmed. A burden had lifted from their chests and was replaced by a sense of regret that quietly dwelled in their minds.

Like a morning sun, Scitus's mind lit with ideas and possibilities. He had been told by the ogre that there was a strong force behind the goblin king, the book was proof of this outsider. Then there was the Ogres who acted like mad dogs and attacked a fellow member of their tribe. It was very possible that the ogre was allowed to escape so that whoever was behind the Ogre tribe's insanity could easily track Scitus and his kingdom. It was at that moment that Scitus realized that he didn't have much time before an attack.

Scitus dismissed the three but not before ordering Seresa to take over the days operations, this would interfere with her classes but Scitus knew that she wasn't at all behind. In the meanwhile, Scitus would think of what to do, a countermeasure for the ogres and how to deal with them without killing them.

Not long ago, he did not have the luxury of spending long hours thinking and planning, but the goblins had become more self-sufficient. Robin trained his unit in the forest coming up with new attack methods all his own. William, with the help of Thoth, furthered his unit's training. Juliet was busy learning about herbs from Hera, it wouldn't be long before she would begin learning about more effective medicines. Seresa too had her job, she was in charge of making sure everyone was doing their job properly, she was also in charge of helping Hera in her classes and she even informed workers when they could take a break.

"Master" the day had ended, the moon was at its peak, but Scitus had not moved from under the tree. She got closer, deciding it would be best to nudge his shoulder, only to have Scitus jump right into a seating position. In a single moment, the distance between their faces shrank. She let out a wail that startled nearby goblins who were heading to bed. Her cheeks burned and she was glad that the darkness hid her reddened face. She stared at his chest; if she wanted to meet his eye she would have to look up. She sighed and looked up to her god.

"Ah Seresa, did you take care of things for me today?" Scitus saw Seresa as His secretary, though she was doing more than just that, he wanted her to be the one responsible for keeping track of their resources. Seresa began to explain the day's events, there was no way to keep records so she had to explain everything by memory alone.

Scitus patiently listen to her description of the day and lightly smiled whenever she put in an idea of her own. He wanted all the leaders to become his advisors, this included Seresa. He wanted a council so that when the country became too large to lead alone, he would have confidants to have beside him to help him make decisions. He didn't want to be an absolute ruler and he didn't want to micromanage the lives of everyone. It was his belief that one would impede progress and the other would make the kingdom collapse if he were to ever die.

“Thank you, you may sleep, now” He allowed her to rest and she obliged, giving a nod of the head and a warm smile before heading off to her tent, it was near her brothers, who slept near Robin and Teal.

"Hera," Scitus called out to Hera, who had been teaching Juliet on herbalism the entire day. Juliet left with a nod of her head and headed to her tent, she was exhausted and was daunted by the sheer amount of knowledge she needed before she could even begin to be useful as a field medic.

"Yes, master?"

“I’d like to read some books.”

………………………………………………..

Unbeknownst to Scitus, his fame had begun to grow, Whispers of a god leading a colony of goblins had begun to spread throughout the Oasis. Most of the races tossed the thought aside presuming it to be only Rumor. The lamias near the Trinity Mountains laughed at the thought of a god Leading goblins. The harpies atop of the mountains began to search for this mysterious God, despite the ridicule they received from the lamias. Within the mountain were the Dwarf like race known as the Duergars, they cared little for the rumors and continued their mining of the huge mountain.

Most Races didn't believe in his existence and of those that did, few thought to search for him, some such exceptions were the goblin tribes that were spread all across the oasis. They searched for him, they saw him as a beacon of hope for their people.

“were Learn this young un?” the village chief of a certain goblin tribe asked the little goblin girl. She had been lost for several days in the forest. Her mother cried out for her dear daughter but there was little hope for her safe return and yet on the eighth day of her disappearance she emerged from behind the trees with a call for her mother. The girl claimed that she had only been gone a short while, she simply took a nap outside of the outskirts of the tribe when she got sleepy.

But the Village chief didn't care to know of how she managed to survive so long on her own, what she wanted to know was where the young girl heard of the Goblin god. She claimed that while she slept she saw a Kind God that Helped Goblins, she couldn't see his face but knew he was a god right away. The village chief wondered if it was an omen, as other goblin tribes near the vicinity had claimed to have a similar dream. Hearing the young girl and her story, made the chief do something he thought he would never do, unlike the rest of the dreamers, the young girl knew where this God was. The god seemed to be hidden behind the Tainted forest somewhere deep in the oasis. That was where he was. It would be a dangerous journey for that was where the Godless resided and all matter of dangerous beasts, but the Elder hoped that if they managed to get passed the Godless unharmed, they would soon meet the Goblin god. He and several other tribes marched out of their homes and into the tainted forest.

Inside the Tainted forest were The Godless, a small unit had finally arrived from their long journey. They were met with cheers and there were smiles all around all except Kaya who had learned of the goblins human side. She didn't know if she could kill them after discovering the hidden truth. Monsters were good and evil, why hadn't she seen that before. She remembered back to times she had killed goblins, during those times she chose to ignore the grim reality, the goblins she had killed were not always the first to attack, there were times where she and her forces slaughtered them, she shut her eyes in disgust as she remembered the goblins screams, had she killed innocent people?

Selene, on the other hand, was planning to destroy Scitus, she deemed him to be a danger, not only for leading goblins but also because he was a god. She had only ever respected one God but he was forced to run from the kingdom and was more than likely already dead, ever since then she vowed to live with the Godless a group of Ex soldiers who defected from their kingdoms and their gods. They ran to the Oasis a place where no normal god could freely take over. But for that reason, it was the haven for the most ferocious of monsters, as well as the weakest of them and of course it was also the place where The Daughter of Alma resided; who was more commonly known as the red witch.

Well past the Tainted forest, closer than even Scitus knew to his kingdom, there was a conversation going on about him.

“Should we try to make contact?” The woman with the pointed ears spoke. Her hair shined a bright gold and her skin was incredibly fair but not the point paleness. Parts of her hair was braided with twigs and leaves, leaving an elegant feel to them. Her voice was soft and sweet and yet, in a strange way, stern and resolute. The person she spoke too responded to her query.

“Gods do not treat us kindly daughter of mine.”

"But if he has accepted the goblins, surely he would accept us." She truly wanted to believe that Scitus would accept her and her tribe. Her father didn't believe there was a god in the entire world that truly cared for monsters but his daughter's resolute desire to meet him softened him the idea.

"very well, let us wait and see, if he does not change his ways in the coming days then we will make contact. But you will be our representative." the Elven girl smiled brightly and nodded, kissing her father on the cheek before heading off to hunt for fresh meat.