Ratface sat in a circle made of ash. Isabelle had explained that this was a ‘slapdash rural substitution’ for what she was doing but she seemed confident in her abilities despite this.

“A glamour is just an illusion,” she explained to Ratface as she finished the circle.

“Didn’t you say that you couldn’t tell if they were walking around because of their glamours?” Ratface countered.

“Only because I don’t go around inspecting every person I meet,” Isabelle said as she inspected her work. Ratface thought Isabelle could stand to be more paranoid, but she supposed that was up to her.

Isabelle nodded as she confirmed her work then turned back to Ratface and grabbed her head.

“Uhh,” Ratface said but Isabelle hushed her.

“Hush. I need you to concentrate on the same thing as me.” She smiled at Ratface which would have been more reassuring if she wasn’t both way too close and doing a magical ritual on Ratface.

“So, I’m going to tell you the version of Halmir that most of us here. About Halmir the cunning.”

“You mean the sly.”

“Semantics. Hush.”

She pressed further on Ratface’s head until she could feel a pressure building on her mind.

“Once upon a time. There was an elf named Halmir. He was clever and strong and always willing to help the innocent.”

Ratface went to protest then stopped as Isabelle disappeared from view, and she was granted a vision.

It was hazy, but Ratface recognised her village. It didn’t have a wall because goblin villages weren’t allowed them so the only way to know where the village ended and the forest began was a small fence. She was standing in the middle of the village. Frozen as a sea of green bodies stood in front of her.

“One day Halmir met a group of small green people. We’d come to know them as goblins. They were a savage people but had heart. They were suffering when he found them.”

In the vision, Ratface was aware of a presence. She couldn’t make it out, but she remembered the fear of it.

“The goblins were ruled by a goblin sorcerer who had stolen all their magic. He was cruel but too powerful for Halmir to defeat, so he hatched a plan.”

The shadow came closer, and it spread out across the village, eating into the green.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

“He befriended the sorcerer and the two celebrated with merry food and drink. Eventually, the sorcerer, who was not used to such fine food, lost himself to drink and fell asleep.”

One of the green creatures grabbed onto Ratface. They seemed so important, but she couldn’t remember their face.

“Halmir slayed him while he slept but there was a cost. When the sorcerer died, he took the goblin magic with him. Seeing this, Halmir took the rest of the goblins in, giving them leave to his lands until they were protected.”

The vision paused and the shadow seemed to look outside. It reached and grabbed onto Isabelle, who fell into the vision world. She screamed as the shadow reached all around the memory and the vision cut out.

Ratface and Isabelle pulled back from each other in pain, both clutching their heads at the snap of the vision stopping. Ratface held onto hers like it would break if she didn’t. It throbbed as she felt the glamour resettle itself over her mind. Holding the mind together.

She recovered faster than Isabelle who still rocked around on the ground. She seemed like she was still stuck in the vision as she sat on the ground muttering to herself about a shadow. Ratface didn’t know what to do so she grabbed the water jug and dumped it over Isabelle until the other woman started to gurgle. She’d stopped clutching her head though, so Ratface counted it as a win.

Isabelle sat up on the ground, coughing up water as she caught her breath. She managed to calm down and the two looked at each other.

“I don’t suppose that worked, did it?” Isabelle asked

Ratface thought back to the vision. The woman who had grabbed her at the end. There was so much she could remember about her mother, little things she’d told her through the years. The glamour had taken away her last words. The glamour had taken away her face.

Ratface shook her head. The loss stung but even now she could feel the glamour easing it away.

Isabelle coughed one more time and stood up. She rinsed her hair out. She wanted to lecture Ratface not to drown people, but she watched in fascination as the expression of loss left the young goblins face.

“I can’t break that glamour. Even if I had better equipment, I wouldn’t be able to break it. This needs someone with more magical authority.” Isabelle looked at the goblin who continued to look lost.

“We do know someone like that,” said Isabelle gently, “Abigail’s partner was my master, and she can break that thing much better than me.”

Ratface looked at Isabelle for a long time. Eventually, she spoke. Her first words after the vision.

“But you’re really old.”

Isabelle laughed. She grabbed a broach that hadn’t been there until she reached for it and pulled it off her outfit.

Isabelle’s hair went from faded grey into a deep black and the sags in her face disappeared. The Isabelle she’d come to know broke apart and, in her place, a younger woman stood in front of her. She was about twenty years old.

“It’s much easier to get around when people think you’re an old lady.”

“I took orders from you, I thought you were old and experienced,” said Ratface. She was accusatory but Isabelle could see that the hurt had been pushed out of her mind by the sudden shock of the illusion being broken. She decided to lean into it rather than let the little goblin dwell.

“To be fair I am older than you. So, you’re not inherently wrong.”

Ratface frowned and reached for the water jug which had the other woman darting back.

“At least this way you know I’m going to do a good job on your human illusion,” she argued.

Ratface stopped. It wasn’t a bad point. She felt tired. Her body was exhausted, and her heart hurt though she struggled to remember why. She put the jug down and left it. She tried to be her usual snarky self, but it didn’t feel right.

Abigail watched this from her spot at their camp. She didn’t say anything. What could she say that would help? Yet, if you looked closely, you would have noticed the sword on her back was faintly burning blue.