This is the Story I Submitted as my Creative Writing Final

 The Tiniest Goblin

By Connor (wizoko) Williams

A cool breeze cut through the trees, causing Dengi to stir and open his eyes. Through the underbrush, he watched the canopy of the forest lazily sway against the warm morning light. The trees were younger, only a few decades old, allowing smaller bushes and shrubs to grow.

He took a deep breath and stretched out. He could smell the freshly blooming flowers nearby accompanied by the mellow scent of morning dew. Reddish, almost black petals surrounded his face. He didn’t know what they were but he enjoyed the look of them. 

The ground was surprisingly comfortable and the dense undergrowth did well to hide him from anything that might do him harm. “Maybe I could make this forest home.” He contemplated, trying not to dwell on the thoughts that caused him to cry himself to sleep the night before. 

He considered going back to sleep when his calm was halted by the heavy crunch of footsteps nearby. 

He shot up, swiveling his head around to find what was making that noise; eventually seeing a tall figure meandering slowly through the thicket. 

“A human!” Dengi thought, ducking back down to conseal himself. “What’s one of them doing this far out from their settlement?”

Curiosity overcame the small being as he crawled towards the figure to get a closer look. He felt the pine needles and twigs pricking his dry hands and knees, but he tried to ignore the pricks to keep concealed. Low hanging leaves and branches, lush with leaves, brushed against his ears as he crawled along. He felt confident the human would have a hard time seeing him from above.

 The human seemed different than most humans he’d seen, standing more upright and not covered in dirt. They walked as though gliding over the ground. Dengi would have thought him to be a ghost were it not for the crunching under the humans’ feet. The human would stop occasionally to look at something in the thicket. They carried a staff of gnarled wood, carved from a tree choked out by bittersweet. 

What caught Dengi’s eye were the clothes. The human was wrapped in a long cloak; dark blue, trimmed with gold and embroidered with some symbol that he wasn’t familiar with. The cloak gleamed in the early sun. Dengi did not know what it was made from, but he couldn’t take his eyes away. 

Without thinking, he reached out to touch the tail of the cloak. It was soft like fur but smooth like ice. He was not able to feel much for upon grabbing the tail of the coat, the human spun around and pointed his staff at Dengi. He was startled and, while trying to stand up, fell onto his back. He could see the human’s face. They had the strong brow and jaw of human men, but lacked the gruff scarred and bearded face that the men he’d seen usually have. 

The human glanced around quickly, then waved his staff mumbling something quickly to himself. A burst of intense heat emanated from the staff. Dengi shut his eyes as it passed, feeling a slight singe. He felt his hairs curl. When he opened his eyes, the plants within a few feet of the human were reduced to twigs; the lush, budding green now seared and bare. Dengi’s only hope of hiding, now in ash. The human glanced around a bit more and seemed to lessen their aggressive stance. They spoke with a strong masculine voice of authority and focused their gaze on the small figure before him.

“Why is a goblin child so far from other goblins?” The human questioned.

“Wha….what magic was that? Only the plants are-” 

“I asked you a question first. Why is a goblin child so far from others?” The human repeated in a more stern voice that startled Dengi.

Dengi took a second to collect himself before speaking, hoping to match the level of confidence the human had. “I- I’ll h- have you know, I am a full g- grown proud Goblin.” Dengi deflated a bit, knowing he did not match the human’s confidence. 

“You’re quite small for an adult.” The spellcaster responded. “I’ll reiterate: why is a goblin so far from other goblins? The nearest goblin village is a two days walk.” 

Dengi looked away, trying to think of a response, only getting out a few “umms” before he felt tears begin to well in his eyes. 

“Cast out” The human interrupted. “For being a runt, no doubt.”

Dengi didn’t answer. 

“Right” the human said as though bored, and turned around to walk away.

“W-wait!” The goblin blurted out. Goblin pride and his desire to learn more about the shiny fabric refused to let him leave the interaction in such a way that made him look pathetic. He let out a sniff and asked “What are your clothes made from?”

“Silk.” The human didn’t even turn around to answer, still walking, scanning the forest floor. 

“Silk.” Dengi repeated to himself to solidify the name in his mind. 

He stood there, observing the human for a time. Dengi watched as he would lean down to a flower bud, examine it for a few seconds, let out a dissatisfied grunt and move onto the next bud. 

“W-what are you doing?” The goblin asked quizzically. 

“Looking for ingredients.” The human still didn’t look at him.

“Ingredients….” The goblin repeated, while trying to think of a follow up question. “Anything in particular?” He didn’t know why he asked that, he didn't know how to identify plants. 

“Hellsbore.” The human answered quickly in a slightly irritated voice. “The ones in this area have red, almost black petals. They start blooming about now.”

Dengi perked up and ran off without a word; returning a moment later with the flowers from his napping spot. “Are these them?”

The human looked surprised. “Yes, that’s exactly what I’m looking for.” He took the flowers from the goblin and placed them in a pouch under the cloak. “What’s your name, Goblin?” The humans’ demeanor changed slightly. He seemed less annoyed by Dengi’s presence.

“Dengi.” he responded excitedly. Feeling a tad more confident. “Yours?”

“Swale.” The human turned back the way he came and began walking out of the forest. The goblin followed close behind. The human seemed as though he didn’t mind.

“Where are you going?”

“Home.”

“Where’s home?”

“You ask a lot of questions.”

“W...well can I come with you?”

“Why would you want to come along with a human?”

Dengi thought for a second. “Well…. You don’t seem to hate me like other humans.”

“Or Goblins?” Swale responded unapologetically.

Dengi went quiet.

The human sighed. “Sure.” He said reluctantly, perhaps feeling some pity for the tiny creature. “Goblin teeth are useful in some spells.” He joked.

“Yes! What do I have to bite?”