Dawn of a New Mage

[Canid]

I don't usually date files on my computer, and unfortunately the old Archmage UBB is long dead, so I cannot tell you exactly when this was written. It was probably written around 2000 give or take a couple years.

 

I seem to recall this was inspired by something Gyrfalcon had written.

 

 

 

 

Dawn of a New Mage

 

The sun loomed dimly over the horizon, morning’s mist dulling it out slightly, but the two shadows were still cast vaguely out on the forest soil.

“If you are taking me there, why am I leading?” protested the frustrated goblin.

“Because I am taking you there.” Replied the other one, with a forced smile that still fooled his companion.

The second one pushed the other onwards and went back to his former nervous expression and heavy breathing. They were about two miles off from the camp now, well into territory belonging to elves. The second one pulled his thick cloak up further and looked around, wary. The other one trotted on without concern, merely with an expression of annoyance on his face. They had a battle tomorrow and he had been keen on sleeping in quite late this morning (not that he ever did differently) but his odd little cousin had literally dragged him out into the woods, claiming to have a surprise.

He stumbled over a root and swore loudly, sitting down to nurse a hurt toe.

The goblin in the rear flattened himself to the ground as the other yelled. “I wish you’d be a bit more quiet Acel…”

Acel stood up and scowled down on his cousin. “Quiet? Hansel, you drag me into the bloody forest before the sun is up and now you are asking favors?!” Acel stared a moment longer, then sat down and started singing. He was by no means a good singer and it was in no way a quiet song.

“Please Acel…?” The other protested. Acel sang still louder…

“And all the pigs will die!

And all the ducks will die!

And let’s not forget the elves,

The elves will all die!

And my…”

Hansel was feeling extremely panicky. If the elves had not noticed them before, they would notice now. He had no chance of making it to the fairies at this point. His plan was ruined, he couldn’t talk to Acel like he had planned, he’d have to skip to the end and find another way…

He whipped out his knife and with as swift-a motion that he could muster he sent it through his cousin’s back.

He released the blade from his hand and watched the other goblin keel over. He stepped back and took a huge breath. How would he tell the information now, his excuse was dead…

“I…” he stammered, “the, ah..” he stuck his somewhat pudgy finger into his shirt neck and pulled, gulping furiously, “the, er, we, um…. goblins, us, they, we, …. we are attacking the south border tomorrow!” He finally yelled.

Hansel pivoted on his feet, turning towards the camp and ran. In just over an hour he was back at the camp.

Hansel climbed into bed; the tent fluttering roughly over his head. Acel would not be missed for long; too many goblins were killed too often for anyone to be truly mourned.

 

~------------------------------------------------~

 

“Please Sir?” Pleaded Hansel, hopping from side to side desperately, “It is an ancient suit of armor belonging to centuries of goblins by my families’ name! I don’t want to soil it!”

The guard looked at the moth eaten piece of pitiful leather through squinted eyes. The crest imprinted on it was barely visible and it stunk to high heaven. The picky little creature had been begging to use the dung-hole for fifteen minutes and was getting on the guard’s nerves.

“I hope an elf kills you!” He said and stepped noisily out of Hansel’s path.

Hansel ran, hopping towards the ‘dung-hole’, the more polite of the many names given by the goblins to the large hole in the ground that served as a sanitation facility. He stopped hopping once he was around a corner, out of the guard’s sight and hurried instead to his tent.

What am I doing? He thought hopelessly to himself.

Hansel had always been considerably smarter than anyone he knew, but he had never been all that different. He had watched his companions stick pieces of hot metal into an elf’s eyes and laughed at its screaming like the rest of them. Why had this sudden pang of compassion struck him now? Didn’t he enjoy the carnage?

He was leaving because he didn’t want to be there anymore, he knew that, but he could have left without helping the elves.

Hansel cursed inwardly at his brain, why did he feel shame at the memory of torturing an elf? He had never felt shame before….

Hansel slipped on the thick cloak and went towards the north exit of the camp. He moved as quietly as he could, which wasn’t very, keeping his eyes wide open as he neared the north guards.

There was a convenient clutter of objects in this particular alley approaching the exit and Hansel slipped easily behind each. The clutter had actually been created by him two nights ago. He smiled at his cleverness. The smile faded as he approached the guard line.

The large apple barrel he had placed there was missing. He didn’t think and plunged between the goblin guards in the line, in plain view of all of them. It wasn’t a big gap, but it was very unlikely that no one would see him.

The closest goblin looked straight at him as he dived, and his stomach began to feel very light. He slipped in behind the box on the other end and started tying his cloak tighter, it wouldn’t be much of an excuse but it was better that coming out and saying he was trying to escape.

No one came. The guard had stared straight at him, he had seen, but no one came. Was this some sort of sick joke? What was going on?

Hansel cleared the camp completely and now walked free of goblin lands. Behind him, a young elf followed. She had been there the previous night when he had killed his cousin. She had thought it was a set up, a sacrifice of two goblins in return for giving the elves a false lead; a very clever plan considering that these were goblins; it hadn’t been.

They had prepared for an attack on the south border just incase, but hadn’t moved until they saw it was real. She had been sent to follow the messenger and had done so, watching as he returned home and as he escaped. She had seen one thing in particular that made her jump, as he had passed through the guards he had disappeared. It was only for a moment, just long enough to get him through, but he had turned invisible; she was sure of it.

 

~------------------------------------------------~

 

Hansel was on international Terran land now. He had spent two nights travel to get out of goblin territory. He looked around at the plain and undistinguished trees, the soil growing small shrubs perfectly naturally. He had set foot on these grounds many times during hunts for elves or and food, but it was always really weird. The difference between the lands of the different species came as rather fascinating to Hansel, now that he was by himself. The earthy but not lush feel of this ground was strange in comparison to the wilted and dry appearance of goblin campsites, and dull in comparison to the rich colors of elven plants.

Hansel had stopped walking in his newfound interest in plant life and soil and the elf, still following in behind, became very curious as to why. She decided to play a game with this oddity, who seemed to want nothing to do with his own species, she selected an apple, climbed a tree, let it drop and hid.

Hansel was examining a mushroom and wondering if he could eat it when he met the apple. The apple made its presence known with a small thump and a resulting bruise on Hansel’s head and Hansel made it clear that he had met the apple via a noise far louder and more insulting that the quiet thump of the apple.

The elf had not intended that her presence be known at all, but she was a young elf, in her twenties in-fact and had not made very many expeditions beyond her own land and also was subject to an easily provoked laugh.

It was a short laugh, but Hansel’s head flew up at the sound of it and pointed itself at the tree.

Hansel had not ever heard an elf laugh, he was far more used to silence, crying or screaming, but he could tell that it was not that of a goblin, especially since goblins didn’t climb trees.

“Come down!” He decided to try, sensibly.

Silence.

Hansel picked up the apple with a scowl. He looked at the ground, held it up and made an unsuccessful attempt at keeping the resentment out of his voice as he said, “You dropped your apple.”

The fact that he had not thrown the thing into the tree to try and get back at its owner had impressed the elf but his attempt at polite inquiry was too much for the elf girl to ignore completely, she decided that she would either burst out laughing or oblige the pitiful creature.

Pulling her face into one of pleasant greeting (with much effort), she climbed slowly down from the tree, making her way down the opposite side so he could only see that someone was coming down.

Hansel waited for the person to emerge into view, when she did, he let out a yelp of terror, dropped the apple and dived into some thick bushes.

The elf, however only saw half of this, she saw him yelp and drop the apple, but only heard his dive; he had disappeared again.

An elf? It could have killed me, why didn’t it? Hansel’s mind worked in a panic.

The elf picked up her apple, rather surprised and sat down in front of the bush. She had been watching him; he had not eaten for at least two days. She sniffed at the fruit. She took a loud bite and chewed, letting the sound of its juice infiltrate the air.

“Want some?” She asked casually.

The bush stirred.

The elf worked hard to keep the smile off her face. “There are tons of them up there, I really don’t mind if you have this one.”

If it had wanted to kill me it would have done so already, Hansel reasoned and emerged, a terrified expression on his face, from the bush.

The elf smiled pleasantly. “I am Entria, a scout for the Ignessil elves.” She held out the apple.

Hansel stared at her, frozen in place.

“How did you disappear just now?” She asks, ending her game.

Hansel looks confused. “Disappear…. Entria was it?”

The elf laughs. “Yes, Entria! You disappeared when you jumped into the bush just now. You didn’t know?”

Hansel shakes his head slowly…

The elf tosses him the apple. He catches it jumpily and sits there looking at it.

“What is wrong?” Entria questions.

“Just frightened.” He answers without thinking and takes a bite.

 

~------------------------------------------------~

 

“Had you decided where you were going to reside?” Entria inquires as they walk through the forest at a comfortable pace, full of apple, root and some rather tasty provisions the elf had brought with her. Hansel looks up at his tall companion.

“Not really, it was something I thought I could find. I can’t really go to a town after all, no one trusts goblins. I don’t blame them, but they don’t.”

“Why don’t you come see the elves? If you are with me they won’t attack you!”

Hansel nods and looks again at the elegant figure of the elf. “How old do elves get?”

“Six-hundred years if we are lucky. I’m only twenty-two.” She grins. “How long do goblins live while we’re on the topic?”

“They don’t.” Hansel grins evilly. “They just breed fast. I’ve never seen an old one.”

They walk along in silence for a minute. Entria starts up again. “How can you not realize that you were invisible?”

Hansel frowns. How I got invisible in the first place is a mystery to me and.… grr. “You can manage it when you have no idea that you even could.” He says, somewhat irritably.

Entria looks at the small, living contradiction, sighs, shakes her head and keeps walking.

The sun starts to set.

“We should set camp.” Says Hansel roughly and flops onto the ground beside a leafy bush. Within moments he is snoring. Entria stares, that must be incredibly uncomfortable…

She settles on a comfortable patch at the base of a large tree, touches the ground, watching as a fair covering of moss grows as bedding.

Hansel opened his eyes as she did this. New life from the power of a creature that he would have killed without a second thought before. He closed his eyes again, the newfound guilt not something he wanted to ponder on.

 

~------------------------------------------------~

 

Hansel opened his eyes. Two gorgeous eyes stared at him from a figure crouched a few feet away. As he sat up, a smile crossed the elf’s bright face.

“It is mostly backtracking today if we want to get to my people.” She leapt out of the crouch and began springing southward. Hansel curiously got up and followed the cheerful figure.

He began asking about the elves and their way of life. In the camps of war, nothing was taught to a goblin except how to fight and that was not taught well.

“Why do you keep staring at me?” He demands after about two hours.

She had been looking down at him occasionally and looking away when he saw for quite a while now and it was starting to get on his nerves.

Entria looked surprised and turned a little red. “No reason.”

Hansel felt very uncomfortable around one elf. He used to slaughter then with relish when he had the chance and now the guilt was becoming sickening. She was a very beautiful creature, very smart, more so than himself. His pride in his intelligence had worn off quite substantially while talking to the elf. That trick with the moss had fascinated him too… How would he stand against a whole village?

She was staring again. Hansel looked up, she turned away.

Hansel sighed.

 

~------------------------------------------------~

 

A loud rustle disturbed the night’s peace and brought both elf and goblin to consciousness.

Entria looked toward a tree, but instead turned and stood in front of Hansel.

Several trolls barged into the clearing. One looked right at Hansel. It then charged toward Entria. Entria ducked and whipped out a knife.

She began a dance-like fight with the trolls. She looked over at where Hansel had been and seemed momentarily confused, but she grinned after a moment and continued to fight.

They can’t see me, Hansel realized. He whipped out his knife and rushed toward the trolls, slashing furiously at them.

A troll kicks Hansel off his leg and turns his attention back to the elf as the invisible goblin rolls backwards.

Another troll broke into the clearing and managed to seize Entria.

A moment later Hansel hears a snapping sound echo through the forest and Entria is thrown down only a couple feet away from him.

He instinctively moves toward her.

The trolls gasp and start running towards them. They are looking at me…. I’m not invisible…. Hansel panics and turns to flee but an elven hand is clasping his arm, it feels weird….

A moment later it drops and Hansel runs. The trolls are left behind.

Hansel stops running after only a couple of minutes and drops to the ground, for some reason crying.

Hansel had never cried before, not since he was a baby. Goblins died all the time and nothing seemed bad. Now he felt he had committed a crime. Entria was dead, he couldn’t have helped that but he still left her before she died.

The goblin found something strange in the way he was thinking. Something odd.

What was it? He thought of the camp for a moment, they would have killed some elves, not many; elves never die to them in huge numbers; goblins were too poor at fighting.

He was still thinking oddly. It seemed different. Different… it was a different language. He had heard it before, not many times, but he had heard it yelled once when his army was in battle against a mage, the mage had yelled it….

Mage… he was speaking like a mage.

Half the army was burned that day, he remembered…. There was “fire”.

Hansel didn’t realize he had said it but the next moment, the ground in front of him was burning.

Hansel jumped forward and put out the fire….

Entria had grabbed him. Hansel remembered how she had made moss grow on the ground by touching it.

“She made me a mage...” Hansel gasped.

 

~------------------------------------------------~

 

The trolls ate their stew. Elf boiled with some tree bark. They were greatly enjoying it.

One started yelling. The others all stared over and watched as he tried desperately to put out a fire on his foot.

Within an hour they were cinders. An odd goblin walked away from the piles of ashes and walked out of the clearing.

Edited March 5, 2007 by Canid