Several thing happened at once. In a flash, Handeln had drawn his club from his belt and launched it violently at the elf. Simultaneous to this, Manquer had drawn her knife and sent it gliding through the air. As these two objects flew across the clearing, time seemed to slow down. Stepping away from me the elf plucked first the club then the knife from the air as easily as one might pluck a plum from a tree.

Laying both at my feet, the elf spoke to my mother again, “I mean you no harm. I am,” the elf paused before repeating the words she had spoken to me, “separate from the rest of my kind.” There was something in the eerie calmness of the elf’s voice that seemed familiar but I couldn’t place what it was.

At that moment however, everyone’s attention was demanded by Handeln. With his fists clenched, he roared and charged at the elf. With every step, his pace increased and his roar grew louder. He was going so fast that there could be no doubt. The elf was going to be split in two. Handeln ducked as he ran and dived into the elf… except… The elf was no longer there. Handeln went flying head first into a tree trunk and fell back – dazed onto the forest floor.

The elf, who had simply taken half a step back, turned to Manquer and raised its eyebrows, “And you Manquer, do I need to put you into a tree along with your dwarf friend.”

Manquer almost smiled before she replied, “I don’t think that will be necessary.”

“Who are you? Why are you here? And how do you know so much about us?” It was my mother speaking now.

“I am an elf, separate from my kind. I have been waiting for you. As for how I know so much about you – I think you may be rather surprised by how much the world knows of the mother and child who entered the mines. The mother and child, who fought a mermaid. The mother and child, who burnt down Hafen. The mother and child, who feasted with orcs.”

“But that’s not true,” I cried, “you are a liar!”

The elf spoke without looking at me, “Little in this world is true little one, and less by the day. I, however, am not a liar. I did not say this of you; this is what the world has said of you. It talks of little else these days, from the moment the sun rises to the moment the moon floats into the sky the world whispers of the mother-goblin and her child,” the elf paused, before calmly adding, “The mother-goblin and her child and the light in the darkness that they represent.”

The elf stopped speaking then and an uneasy silence fell upon the clearing. A silence that none seemed willing to break. I had not realised our journey was so well known; I had thought we had made no impact. I had thought we had passed through the world like an ant; The world on the other hand thought we had passed through it like a dragon burning all in its path. I felt tears start to well behind my eyes and was grateful when the elf spoke again, “Come, you must all be exhausted. I would like to think I have proved I can be trusted.” The elf paused, “You are all still breathing after all.”

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