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Fragments

Prologue to "Goblin Against The World"

By Jeff KrakenbergPublished 2 years ago 3 min read
3
Fragments
Photo by Irina Iriser on Unsplash

There weren't always dragons in the Valley.

There weren't always titans to the North.

There wasn't always a mage on the Moon.

There wasn't always an elf under the Sea.

There never used to be vampires in the Castle Dram.

There never used to be trolls in the Green Forest.

That all came after the Earth was killed.

Once its heart was torn from the magma core, shattered, and split into six fragments... chaos came. With chaos came wild uncontrollable magic on the scale of natural disasters. Just as tsunamis eventually slow, so did the magic.

The wild magic storm left in its wake more than just destruction.

Now there were dragons in the Valley and titans to the North. Now there was a mage on the Moon and an elf under the Sea. Now there were vampires in the Castle and trolls in the Green Forest. Now there was adventure and while the Earth may have died civilization continued on its shattered husk.

Now... there was a tribe of goblins living in the Eastern most reaches of the Green Forest. They lived beyond the reach of the trolls and just before the forest dipped off a hill and into the Valley where the dragons roam.

Gob-children ran hands over feet like rodents scurrying through the moss playing a violent game called tackle and capture. The purpose of the game was to prove who was the strongest, who was the quickest, and who was the slipperiest. Since all the players were goblins who had not seen a full season turn, they were mostly competing for the slipperiest. They ran like awkward cats, collided like frantic birds, and squawked liked an amalgamation of the two.

Gob-parents watched from the edge of the village. Some weaved baskets from dried bracken leaves to sell to merchants that passed on the main road just south of their village. Other picked through junk half-used items left behind by those same merchants.

The days usually passed quickly with gob-children playing games and their gob-parents picking through merchant leavings. However on one humid afternoon, a wizard wandered too close to the goblin village.

In a sweat soaked robes, practically dragging himself at the end of his staff, the wizard fainted before he realized who inhabited the village he thought offered shelter. It is important to note that only some goblins are nefarious, but all goblins are mischievous.

They were not monsters, they pulled the wizard from the sun and let him rest in one of the larger huts. They even draped a chilled rag over his forehead to help him cool down while the sun set. Despite their care, that does not mean they did not pilfer his possessions while he was faint-napping.

Of course, they only took minor things. Mushrooms, potions, gems. Nothing that a wizard would get infuriated over. Even goblins knew better than to enrage a mage. Most goblins understood that.

Unfortunately, one was enthralled by a thin tome that had been hidden between two larger tomes in the wizard's satchel. The shapes and swirling patterns held within contained the exact language that goblins feared would still their soul. The young goblin was just old enough to be curious but too young to realize the error.

The chieftain caught the young goblin flipping wide-eyed through the pages and started to issue an ultimatum. Either the book would be returned to the wizard or the goblin would be turned from the village. Just before the goblin could answer, the wizard woke with a start.

Realizing he was in the presence of what civilization considered a monster, he panicked. He grabbed his staff and his satchel, not even realizing it was half full, and ran. The chieftain was startled and tried to stop the wizard. There was a scuffle, a scrap, and then a portal opened up in the middle of hut.

The young goblin struck the wizard in the chin right as the portal was forming. The blow caused the last word of the spell to fumble. Rather than whisking the wizard away, it turned the entire hut upside down. That is how it seemed from the inside.

To the goblins rushing toward the hut, trying to figure out what the sudden commotion was, the hut disappeared.

Short Story
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Outstanding

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  1. Compelling and original writing

    Creative use of language & vocab

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    Well-structured & engaging content

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    Original narrative & well developed characters

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