It took a few moments, but Rick eventually stopped crying as he helped the Goblins over to where Loruk was resting. All three of them had various levels of injuries and not a single one of them were from a direct fight.

  It was simply from running and being affected by the effects of the battle that was taken place around them, and also the fact that all of them purposely held back from Loruk. They did that in an effort to make sure that if they had to sacrifice themselves, Loruk and Rick wouldn’t have been affected.

  Thankfully their sacrifices weren’t needed, and they slowly followed the trail that Loruk left behind as he ran, and it was only now that they were able to reach them.

  Rick had many questions for them, but they were tired, and Rick thought it’d best to leave them alone for the moment.

  But of course, the Goblins didn’t feel that way.

  It was Teral who spoke up after taking a moment to catch her breath.

  “My Lord. We can’t stay here. You need to keep moving at all costs. This is still too close to the battle and the situation can change for the worst at any moment. At the minimum you have to keep My Lord. We will catch up eventually.”

  Her words caused a mix of anger, regret and immense sadness to form inside of Rick.

  “No Teral. No. I can’t afford to leave you again. I can’t afford to leave any of you again. Never. I won’t allow it.”

  Teral seemed as if she wanted to respond to that, but Ra placed a hand on her shoulder. He then closed his eyes for a moment as if to steel himself for what he was about ask and say.

  “…My Lord. Permission to speak freely?”

  “Please go ahead. You guys don’t need to ask that.”

  “No, My Lord. We do need to ask that. You are the Future King of Goblins My Lord. And since you have allowed me to speak freely I shall. I don’t know what General Rogu has said to you in the past My Lord, but hierarchy matters a lot when it’s time to manage a large group of people.

  “There are literally tens of thousands of Goblins in the Clan lands alone, and there are probably hundreds of thousands if not millions of Goblins on the Continent as a whole. To every single one of these Goblins, your word is Law My Lord. Law. Absolute Law. For example, General Rogu’s father is my Chief back home. His orders are absolute and although some of us give him advice, at the end of the day, once he makes a decision we run with it.

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  “If the hierarchy wasn’t strictly maintained then there would chaos down the line My Lord. It has to be maintained.

  “Now you for example. You are special. The progression of our ENTIRE race rests only on your shoulders My Lord. Just you.

  “General Rogu My Lord. He was a strong and powerful Goblin. He was the sword that killed our enemies, he was the shield that protected us, he was the voice that spoke for us in the eyes of the Chief, and the voice that explained to us the message from the Chief.

  “He was everything My Lord. That is why he was chosen for this role. That is why he was responsible for bringing back our Future King. This was a mission we couldn’t fail. No cost too high, no sacrifice too great. That is how important you are My Lord.

  “That is why the rest of us were chosen to accompany General Rogu on this mission. And I’m certain if Teral were to send a message of danger back to the Clans right now, then they would forget anything about safety and risk it all to bring the entire power of the Clans here for you. Just for you.

  “That is why every single one of us were prepared to sacrifice our lives, and that is why General Rogu and my fellow members of the Royal Retrieval team did what they did.

  “Again, that is how important you and your position is My Lord. I need you to understand your importance. I need you to understand the hierarchy underneath you, but most of all My Lord. In this current moment I need you to be selfish.

  “I need you to prioritize your life before ours. You have to get to safety at all costs. We cannot afford to lose you at all. You have to live and grow strong enough to be the King we need.

  “Otherwise, all of our sacrifice is meaningless. The other members of the Royal Retrieval team, the other Goblins that made up the Village you were building, and General Rogu…General Rogu’s sacrifice would be in vain if you were to die My Lord. I do not wish to see that happen, so I beg of you My Lord, please promise me you will do your best to make it back to the tribes at all costs.

  “The sacrifices of my brethren and the Goblins you were responsible for, cannot be in vain. That is everything I had to say. Thank you for allowing me to speak freely My Lord.”

  After Ra delivered his heartfelt speech, Rick was practically stunned to silence. He had heard similar things before, and he had taken it to heart. But this was different. This was after the death of over a 100 Goblins, and Ra said he had lost someone that practically raised him.

  They were from the same Clan.

  Yet despite all the anger that Rick would’ve expected and truthfully understood that Ra was feeling, he still told him to be selfish. He still till granted him the respect he felt his position deserved. He still wanted Rick to make it to the Clans safely and was even prepared to sacrifice himself as well.

  All of this hit Rick like a bag of bricks falling from the sky.

  The void that was in his heart began to twist into something else.

  Disgust.

  No longer at Velora for the words she said to him.

  It was directed at himself.

  And this time, it wasn’t aimed at his weakness.

  No… it was at his mentality. It was at the state he allowed the Goblins to find himself in.

  Wallowing in self-pity when there were Goblins who literally sacrificed himself just for him to live.

  Yet there he was.

  Wasting it.

  Rick felt truly and utterly disgusted with himself.

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