TGC 18 In which we travel further up the Schwer

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 around me, helping me to hold the line. I remembered feeling the rumble of his chest as he spoke: guiding me as I baited the line, guiding me as I cast it out, guiding me as I reeled it in. I remembered all of the fish we caught that day. I remembered how my father had placed his hand on mine as I went to bait another line and I remembered the words he spoke to me as he lifted me up: “If you take more than your share from this world, you can be sure the world will take its share back from you.”

I thought on his words as I placed the last of the dozen or so fish I had caught into the bucket and handed it to Handeln to cook over his fire-in-a-barrel. I sat with my feet hanging over the edge of the deck - enjoying the cool spray of the water as the ship flew up the river and I wondered whether I hadn’t taken more than my share from the world that day.

As we moved further and further up the river, the trees seemed to grow taller and taller. Their branches stretched out towards the sky. These huge trees seemed to me as though they were silent sentries surveying the river, warning those that travelled it that while they may be brave enough to venture up the water, they would be foolish to step off their boats and onto the dry land. Ominous calls of beasts that I could not imagine floated out of the forest and across the water to my nervous ears. Gulping, I lifted myself up and wandered back to where Handeln stood turning the fish over and over.

“You alright little goblin.” He asked me, with his usual gruff voice.

I nodded and together we sat in silence, staring at the river as we watched the tall trees glide past us. Together we sat in silence as beautiful multi-coloured birds soared around us. Together we sat in silence as the ship cut silently through through the water - continuing its course up the river. We sat in silence until I looked up and saw tears streaming down from behind Handeln’s glasses and into his big bushy beard.

“Handeln,” I said, “Handeln, what’s wrong?”

“Nuffin,” his voice sounded tight and constricted as though he were fighting back a sob.

I didn’t know what to say to that, so I hugged him as best as I could manage. At this point, his chest began to heave and he let out a strangled sob. He shook with such ferocity that I struggled to hold him and so I hugged him all the tighter until his shaking faded to a gentle rising and falling of his shoulders.

“It’s the bloody orcs,” he sniffed finally able to speak, “I been fightin’ ‘em all my life. For what? No reason. No bloody reason. Only cos I didn’t know what they was. I’m like a bloody elf. Fight ‘em. Fight anyone who ain’t you. They look different to you. Fight ‘em. They sound different to you. Fight ‘em. They live different to you. Fight ‘em. Fight ‘em. Bloody fight ‘em.” He sobbed hysterically and again his shoulders began to heave. “’Nd they’re bloody peaceful. Who’s the beast? Who’s the savage? Not the bloody orcs.”

“You didn’t know,” I said awkwardly, “You didn’t know.”

“Don’t matter,” Handeln sniffed, “I was in the wrong”

“It does –“ I began to speak but stopped unsure of what to say. Fortunately, the little I’d said seemed to have been enough, for Handeln sniffed heartily, gulped and wiped his eyes.

“Bless you little goblin,” Handeln gulped, clapping me on the back. “Maybe Manquer’s right after all.”

“What did Manquer say?” I asked, suddenly tense – eager to learn more about the mysterious Manquer. What these words were though, I never found out for at that moment we saw a ship of bones come racing up the Schwer towards us – we saw a ship of bones come racing up the Schwer from Hafen towards us.

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