It was nostalgic walking through the village. Seeing the small huts that everyone had settled in. They’d spread out as far as they could before they’d exceed their land allowance. Places that kept resources were close to the middle of the village along with Kauri. It had been a while since Ratface had seen a shared food place. None of the towns they had passed through had shared everything like goblins did. The only stockpiles had belonged to merchants for holding wares.

A small spot by the Kauri had several little goblins sitting around it. A spot was waiting for Ratface, and the memory only began when she sat down. Unlike the one the elf glamour had shown her, this one pulled her in.

Ratface stared at the little unnamed goblins in front of her. It was her turn to take care of them and it was an easy job. She was halfway through telling them the story of Halmir the Sly, a crowd favourite.

“In the dead of night, Halmir approached Rathands. He moved with cunning, grace, and hunger,” she said. The five goblins in front of her watched her as she stepped between them. Her teeth clicking together as she talked about Halmir’s hunger. She’d have to tell them another story after this to get them to sleep.

“Rathands did not fear, for Halmir was a guest in his lands. The earth and wind tried to warn him, but he could not, would not, hear of Halmir’s betrayal. How could an honoured guest, a blood brother, betray their host. It was as unthinkable as a goblin striking another goblin.”

She clapped her hands together at the word striking and the children flinched. Definitely telling another story after this then.

“Yet Halmir was not a goblin, and he was sly. He struck as Rathands embraced him, whispering in his ear, ‘You who have called me brother of blood, give me all that you have so that I might rule in your stead.’ These were the last words that Rathands would ever hear. The next day, goblins woke up empty. Halmir had done Rathands one kindness in his betrayal, he killed him before he could hear the wailing of his people.”

She stopped the story and let the silence fall. The world always felt quiet after she told this story, like it hadn’t just been goblins who listened. The children in front of her looked haunted and Ratface paused.

“Okay, now who wants to hear about Fishgut and the Whale?” she asked. The children brightened and Ratface began a lighter tale until they fell asleep.

The memory shifted forward.

“You don’t have to tell them Halmir’s story every night,” her mother said. The two of them were walking around the village for her mother’s nightly inspection. She was a broad woman, not the biggest goblin Ratface had ever seen but one that was packed with muscles. She’d watched her mother out arm wrestle another tribe’s finest warrior for command once. The man had been twice her size, and she had slammed his hand down in less time than he’d had to blink. That was just dealing with goblins, Ratface had heard the terror she was to adventurers when they went raiding.

You wouldn’t think so by the way she moved around the village. She walked slowly, taking a moment to inspect everything. When a goblin came to talk to her, she would pause to listen like she had all the time in the world. Her mother wasn’t a rat like her, her name was Bearclaw, but people said her village had been stupid to not name her some form of rat.

“You said it was an important story, and the ask for it,” said Ratface. Bearclaw chuckled and stroked her head. In terms of hands at least, the name was appropriate. When she pat Ratface’s head she practically smothered it.

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“So lucky I am, to have such a dutiful daughter. Yet I notice not all your other chores are followed so diligently.” She smiled as Ratface looked away. Could she really be blamed that she didn’t want to help with the cooking? No one else wanted her to help either.

Any further discussion of her chores was cut off as one of the village scouts approached. It was Hawkhare and he looked worried.

“Adventurers?” Bearclaw asked. The man shook his head.

“Goblins,” he said. Ratface relaxed, other goblins could be annoying, but that was about it. Bearclaw didn’t as she stared into his panicked eyes.

“Where are the other scouts?” she asked.

“Dead,” said Hawkhare, “the other goblins killed them.”

Ratface felt something lurch inside her, and then she heard the screaming.

The memory shifted once again.

The screaming was all around them as the other tribe got closer and closer. The older goblins had grabbed the unnamed young goblins and Ratface and the group of them were crowded around Bearclaw.

The screaming had overpowered all the goblins until Ratface’s mother had got them in line. They’d tried running until it was revealed that they were surrounded. Bearclaw had got a desperate look in her eyes and told the old goblins to form a circle and think of sending the children away.

A hum had filled the air when they did so. It centred around Ratface’s mother, and she seemed filled with joy and sorrow. She looked at the group of them and smiled.

“Do you know of the last goblin magic?” she asked them all. Her voice seemed to echo around them. “After Halmir’s betrayal, goblin magic slipped from us to the elves, and so they started capturing us.” The enemy goblins were waiting in a circle around them. One of them stepped forward and began to cut goblins down as he moved towards Bearclaw and the group of children.

“The last few goblin mages saw that the end was coming and so they asked themselves a question. How could they protect their people? How could the secret of their power live in them when the stories would be destroyed? An answer was found, and they gathered the last goblins for one great spell.”

The goblin got closer, yet he was being slowed down. The goblins he cut down didn’t retaliate but they did hold onto him. He dragged their bodies with him still, but it was slowing him.

“They knew the world would be cruel to goblins; already other races cut them down. So, they forged a spell that would mean a goblin would always have a friend so long as they might find another goblin. So that their people could never be turned against each other.”

The murderous goblin moved ever closer, Ratface thought she could hear him behind her and yet she couldn’t look away from her mother.

“The spell etched itself into our souls and with it, took the last dregs of goblin magic, do you know what it is?”

Ratface shook her head, yet she did know it, some small part of her whispered it to her and she sounded the words.

“No harming other goblins,” she said. She heard the other kids whisper it at the same time. Ratface looked back at the goblin walking towards them. He looked irritated, and sad. Her tribe hung onto him to give them another moment. His features were delicate, like the elves, yet here was a goblin breaking their last spell. She looked back at her mother as Bearclaw kept talking.

“Knowing this, a goblin like him seems impossible, but he’s an opportunity. A small part of the spell has been broken. A small ember of power returned to us all.”

He was nearly here but he stopped, they all did as Bearclaw changed. Her skin shone with an inner light and goblin runes twisted across her arms. Something stirring inside her, waking up for the first time.

“It’s just an ember, yet we’re goblins. We need only a small light to push away the dark.”

The light inside her burst out around them, Ratface and the children all being wrapped in its embrace.

“Rember this, the last spell never meant to be the last. It was cast so we could find our magic again. Carry this memory with you to the far corners, that our magic might live once more.”

One by one they were whisked away across the night sky. Only Ratface was left, and she fought against the spell, trying to reach for her mother. She could reach her. The memory frayed as both the younger and current Ratface reached for her, but even with their combined effort, they couldn’t do so.

Her mother moved closer, until only Ratface could hear her.

“Find them, my little rat. It’s selfish, but I place in you my hopes and dreams. Live a life that makes us both proud.” She pet Ratface’s head once more, her big hands like paws as she brushed her hair away. Ratface held her hand even as she was lifted into the sky. She held on as long as she could, until her fingers slipped from her mother’s hands.

Her mother didn’t stop her. Instead, she kept smiling. Her last gift to Ratface, a smiling face to remember.