The inner part of the grove had been untouched by the battle. The trees still towered tall, and it seemed peaceful. A bubble of safety after the battle.

Everyone had come. One of the nice things about magic is that most wounds, even serious, could be taken care of quickly. There were a lot of people sitting rather than standing but in general they seemed to be having a good time. Not everyone had wanted to come, but the free food and drink had swayed them. There was also the fear of being alone where stray monsters may find them.

The less cynical part of Ratface said that after a disaster, people wanted to be together. They did seem to be drinking and engaging a lot. The mood wasn’t cheerful, there was still gaps in the town that couldn’t be replaced, but people seemed to be taking strength from being around others. It reminded Ratface of a recently raided goblin tribe. They’d stay close to remind each other they were still here, that they weren’t alone.

She was sitting a little apart from the group. She’d been hanging out with Tiffany and Albert until she’d got too nervous and had to pace around. The two seemed to be getting on with the town. They were talking to Dirthand and a tired looking Rabbittail. It was nice to see him standing, even if he had to lean on Dirthand. They all seemed more comfortable than when they’d first got here. Turns out fighting together was all it took to make people closer. Halmir was currently sitting in a pile of food in his rat form and looked to be having a grand time. Nice for someone to be carefree she supposed.

Suncat had come and joined Ratface and was watching her pace back and forth.

“You’re going to be too tired to do anything, let alone cast,” she said. She seemed amused. Ratface gave her agonised look.

“I don’t even know if this will work, I’ve never done magic before, what if I gathered you all for nothing?”

“Nothing to lose. You think it’ll work right?”

Ratface nodded. It should work. Her last memory of her mother had showed her how to do magic but it’s not like she suddenly knew how. She just had to try anyway.

Claudette and Abigail were the last to join them. Claudette was sitting on Abigail’s lap as she rolled them forward with her chair. Abigail was pretending to be suffering, but the pleased look on her face gave her away.

The old woman produced a dull blue core from her pocket.

“This should be what you’re looking for,” Abigail said. Ratface grabbed the thing and was surprised to see it was the core they’d got from the golem all that time ago.

“I thought you’d sold this?” Ratface asked. Abigail shrugged.

“I usually keep them for my own armour. Lucky it was still around.”

Ratface inspected it. It was covered in runes she didn’t understand but Abigail had told her earlier it should serve for what she was trying to do. In theory. No one had ever done it before.

She eyed the thing for a second, then looked at the group. She didn’t know if this would work, but it felt right. Fighting an elf didn’t really feel like an accomplishment to Ratface because there’d always be another elf, another person who wanted a goblin dead. This? This could change things.

She walked up to the stand Dirthand had used last time. The town went quiet, and she felt all their eyes on her.

“Hello,” she said. They kept watching her. She was nervous. She was just a kid. This was stupid. She looked down at the group, reminded herself that they watched her because she’d gone out to fight the elf when it mattered. They’d give her this moment because she’d asked for it. She took a deep breath. Time to act like a proper rat.

“The reason you all got attacked was because of me. I saw something that mattered, and the elves don’t want anyone to know.”

That’s right, she’d seen magic from a goblin, this wasn’t impossible. The fact the elves had wanted her alive surely meant they thought she could do it too. That was what she was banking on anyway.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“I saw a goblin cast magic, a goblin that looked like me.”

The room seemed to get even quieter as she said that. The non goblins looked shocked, but the goblins looked at her with awe.

“She didn’t do it alone. It took her whole village; they worked together just like we did today.”

The memory hurt; it had been filled with the death of all her village. Yet there was a wonder there, a last gift her village had given her.

“I want to save someone who fought with us the entire time, even if you couldn’t see it. She protected me even when she knew it’d cost her. I’ve been told it’s impossible by normal means, so I’m trying this.”

One by one she met all their eyes. It took her a while to get through the group, it felt ridiculous, but it mattered. She’d need them all.

“What I need from all of you is a bit of magic, to place your hands on this orb and put a bit of your will in it, but that’s only half of it. What I really need is for you to believe. To believe in me, believe in yourselves. Above all I need you to believe that she should live, even if the world doesn’t think she should.”

She had them now. She didn’t bother with any more words, all that was left was action.

She went to Claudette and Abigail first. The leaders of the town, the reason so many of the people who were here lived. They placed their hands on the core. Their magic swept into it in a channel of red and blue that twined together until they mixed into a brilliant purple. Hannah was next, it felt like light and made the core glow slightly. Halmir wasn’t a colour but a feeling of change, of loyalty. Tiffany was the power of a druid; it swelled in this moment of them all working together. Albert was hard work mixed with a clarity to do what was right. Suncat was compassion mixed with sacrifice. Her face was filled with wonder as she watched.

Ratface went to the non-goblins next. They added their power, but Ratface couldn’t feel it as clearly as her friends, she didn’t know them well enough to feel the nuance. She could see the belief in them though.

The last people she went to were the goblins, both demon and otherwise. The demons cut their hands and wiped their blood on the core which sucked it up. The normal goblins looked at her in confusion, they didn’t know what to offer. They looked at her and Ratface shrugged. She didn’t know either.

It was Goathead that had the answer. He grabbed the orb and whispered his name.

“It means I rush in, but I’ll always find a path to walk,” he said. He and Ratface looked at the core. She felt… something settle inside it. She smiled at the little goblin, and he smiled back. After that the goblins rushed in to tell their names to the core, the demons coming back to add their own names. She let them and she felt something building, even the demons contributed. The last two she came to were Dirthand and Rabbittail. They placed their hands on the core together.

“To nurture, even if it’s difficult.”

“To watch for danger and keep us safe.”

The core felt heavy in Ratface’s hand now. There was only one person left. She smiled, like most goblin names, hers was multifaceted. She chose what felt most appropriate.

“To meddle, when no one else will.”

The core burned in her hands and the forest fell away as they were all suddenly in an image of the elf city. In the middle of the city sat Krysa, paused in a moment of watching the performer surrounded by the jellyfish. She looked filled with wonder as she reached out for the performer. The glamour broke out of the memory and turned to look at Ratface.

“You came back,” she said.

“I promised,” was all Ratface said. The glamour tried to walk towards her, but something stopped her. She was chained to this memory, to this moment.

“You have to stop hiding it, it’s what keeping you stuck here,” said Ratface.

“But… I’ll die,” said Krysa. Ratface could feel the fear in the other girl. This part required the glamour to sacrifice for it to work. She knew there was nothing she could say to explain why it would work, so she tried something else.

“Trust me,” said Ratface.

Krysa looked at her, the two had been at odds for all their time together, even if they’d worked together there’d always been this moment between them. How could Krysa trust her? Ratface wouldn’t in her place.

Krysa smiled, it was a thing filled with fear, but she did it anyway.

“I will trust in your nature,” she said, just like before. This time it felt different, it felt hopeful. She dropped her hands and let the memory unravel.

It was a simple thing, almost all the details didn’t change. Ratface watched the performer surrounded by jellyfish. They were so beautiful; she wished she could just take one.

There was a pop and one of the faint jellyfish disappeared. Ratface expected it to land in Krysa’s hand.

Yet there was no elf girl here. There never had been.

A younger Ratface stood there holding the jellyfish, her face was filled with wonder as she held it close.

The memory unravelled and the core in front of her glowed. Memories flowed into Ratface’s mind. She grasped the core in front of her and moulded the power around it into Krysa. Just like she’d done the first time when she’d changed the jellyfish. When she’d made the glamour in the first place.

The memory fell away, and they were back in the forest.

The core was gone, nestled inside of Krysa.

Krysa felt at her body, more solid than a glamour’s usually was, the core inside it providing mana to keep her firmly in reality. She stared at Ratface. Ratface reached out for her and pulled her in for a hug.

No wonder the glamour had been so hurt. Ratface hadn’t trusted her first friend. The one she’d wanted so much from the world that she’d called her into existence.

The first goblin mage in an age, and she’d cast a spell to make a friend.