The Goblin Chronicles

We sat silently in the balloon, floating gently this way and that - slaves to the mercies of the wind. Mother sat silently with tears rolling down her cheeks. I sat silently – desperate to comfort my…

“When the elves came, Father Leiter, Brother Dezent, and Sister Gutig came to protect us. We left the house at night and-” but that was as far as I got in telling the story to my father as he started…

“Send for!” The voice was disbelieving. It came from behind me. It was my mother’s voice. “You did not send for our child!” She emerged from behind the curtain. “You’ve been away all these years!” He…

In the tunnel, an eerie chill seeped into my bones with every step and though it could not have been possible, it seemed as though the pitch black darkness grew darker still. I shivered.

“This isn’t r…

I woke early the next morning, long before the sun had risen. I was cold. I was cold, confused and lonely. And Hinweisgeber’s words from the night before still chased themselves around my head, “He’s…

We ate a feast that night. Entering the room, we were greeted by a plate full of warm strangely-shaped pastries filled with crushed mushrooms - richer than anything I’d ever eaten before. Next, the e…

Several thing happened at once. In a flash, Handeln had drawn his club from his belt and launched it violently at the elf. Simultaneous to this, Manquer had drawn her knife and sent it gliding throug…

Finally after what felt like a lifetime, we landed. Or to put it more accurately, I found myself crashing through increasingly thick and firm branches until finally I reached branches that were so th…

Manquer pulled at a rope fiercely, watched the sails fall, and nodded awkwardly as the ship lifted ever so slightly out of the water. Turning, I saw a ship, a huge ship, a colossal ship – the size of…

As I sat with my line in the water, my mind drifted. My mind drifted back into the fogs of my memory to a time long long ago. I remembered fishing – fishing with my father. I remembered his arms arou…

I barely slept that night. I couldn’t. My mind wouldn’t let me. Every time I closed my eyes, I was transported back to the gangway in Hafen. Every time I closed my eyes, I heard the elf’s soft chanti…

I woke to find Handeln and my mother shaking me frantically. Terrified that the Elves had found us, I jumped up at once. It was not elves though that terrified my mother; looking across the water I s…

I slept not a wink that night. The smell of burning timber seemed to engulf the entire lake. Its bitterness filled my nostrils as I wriggled and writhed on the floor of the ship. The edges of the pla…

I was still lying, staring at the ceiling, when Flussmann burst through the door of our room – wide-eyed and panicked.

“Elves,” he gasped, “here in Hafen, looking for Goblins.”

Mother was already uprig…

Unremarkable - that was how I would describe Manquer, now that she stood hoodless before me. She was a goblin. A plain and simple goblin and I could not fathom for the life of me, why she was spoken …

Mother stormed away ahead of me. Practically jogging to keep up, I pulled at her sleeve, but alas she would not be slowed. Over the uneven boards, she stormed. Past the huddled groups of dwarves, she…

Mother was standing by the window, looking out at the floating village of Hafen, when I awoke. Yawning, I stretched, jumped to my feet and shook myself free of the sawdust.

“What will we do today moth…

Mother wouldn’t answer me, when I asked who this mysterious Manquer was. She didn’t even acknowledge that I’d spoken, she just dragged me behind her, moving nimbly across the planks of boardwalks tha…

I woke with a start the next morning. Confused at seeing the sun blazing down at me. Unnerved by the sound of water lapping at the sand. It took me a while to realise where we were.

We had done it - I…

That night, my mother made a fire and we sat there on the edge of the water. We ate fish and we were warm. For the first time since we left the house, I wasn’t hungry and I wasn’t cold. We talked, wh…