The Magician's Trick

The goblins gasped as a terrible howl reverberated through the night. They clung towards one another, shaking, whimpering and hoping that the great White Wolf would leave their village. The young goblins cried; the wolf had landed right on top the door to the underground hiding place, where all the villagers were cowering. They heard it sniffed. It growled menacingly as it scraped on the wooden door.

‘Be quiet’ the village elder, Dgon hissed frantically as one or two of the children gave small screams. He listened intently to the sniffing and the scraping. The wolf growled from time to time, but it didn’t seem to be putting into much effort in its attempt to break the door. Judging from its size and the damages it could caused, Dgon wondered silently on why it was merely scratching the wood.

A few more agonizing moment of waiting passed by, after the wolf gave a last loud growl, they heard it left followed by a brief strong wind. They waited for a few more minutes, making sure the White Wolf really left.

Finally, Dgon let out a heavy, relieved sigh. He beckoned to his two servant goblins, Kaz and Kur, to open the door. They later found themselves watching hopelessly at their village. The White Wolf had caused more destruction than before. The houses were on fire, some dead bodies were sprawled on the ground. The women were soon sobbing uncontrollably while the children cried.

Dgon gazed at them; his heart was torn for there was nothing he could do to keep the White Wolf away.

The White Wolf appeared without warning three weeks ago, and without any reason attacked them, causing them misery and bitter lost. It was a strong creature, demonic, and merciless. It shot out lightning through its mouth, and wiped out anything that it saw. So many goblins had died trying to defend their families and their belongings. They could think of nothing to keep the wolf away. It was too powerful.

‘What should we do, Master?’

Kur broke his thought. Dgon stared into the wide, confused eyes of the blue-coloured goblin. Kaz was slumped on the ground beside his feet, trying to ignore the cries of the others by putting his hands on his ears. The village elder looked again at the village and shook his head.

‘Master, we have nothing left...’ said Kur sadly. ‘This time the White Wolf took everything’.

Dgon shook his head again; his face wrinkled more than it should.

‘There is nothing to be done’ said Dgon remorsefully. ‘There is nothing we can do’.

At these words, Kaz jumped to his feet. He glared at the elderly goblin as his jaw tightened. The other goblins were too engulfed in sadness to notice their conversation.

‘What do you mean?’ Kaz hissed. His face contorted in anger. ‘None of this could have happened if you’d listened to me’.

‘I thought we were over with this, Kaz’ said Dgon solemnly. Kur bit his nails; Dgon and Kaz had been fighting over the few days concerning the White Wolf. It was frustrating enough with the wolf without them exchanging angry words.

There was a sorcerer living outside the Wood where their village was hidden. They did not know his name (and they tended to not know anything about him at all) so they called him the Magician. Goblins and sorcerers never got along with one another, so they treated him with hostility. He cared less of their hatred towards him though.

The thing was, after the attack of the White Wolf, Kaz suggested to Dgon that they should seek help from the Magician. It would have been easy for the Magician; with a few spell the wolf would be gone within seconds. But Dgon opposed strongly against it. It was not because of their mistrust towards the Magician. No. They were at the end of their tether; a help from an enemy would be appreciated. Kur knew that the Magician demanded a reward for helping them.

Dgon had a beautiful green gem stone inherited from the previous village elder, Bdun. It was very pretty that Dgon had become possessive towards it. He wouldn’t even let Kaz and Kur to look at the gem. He kept it well hidden in his safe-keeping; only Kaz and Kur knew about the existence of the gem. It seemed that the previous village elders told no one of it too except their successors and those closest to them. By the way, the Magician found out about it. Probably it was one of his magic things. And he wanted the gem as his reward. Dgon didn’t want to give his gem to the Magician, and insisted they could handle the situation. Tonight had proven how wrong Dgon was.

‘If only you had just given that stupid gem he would have help us kill that wolf!’ Kaz hollered furiously. ‘We wouldn’t lose more than we have now if the Magician had assisted us!’

Dgon’s face reddened.

‘Then, what now? You want me to give the gem to that sorcerer?’ he retorted.

‘Yes! Thatis the idea!’ said Kaz curtly.

‘I can’t do that!’

‘Is that gem more important than our lives? Many had died! The Magician is our only hope and you know that!’

Dgon raised his hand to struck Kaz right on the head, but Kur stopped him on reflexes. By now all the goblins were watching at them. Kaz stood firmly in front of Dgon, who was struggling with Kur so he could get his hands on Kaz.

‘That’s enough!’ Kur shouted, using all his might to push Dgon away, but careful enough so the old goblin did not fall. ‘Are you two mad? Look around us! We almost have nothing left! We should be thinking on how to prevent the White Wolf from coming to our village again not wasting our time fighting!’

Kur outburst quieted them for they had never seen him raising his voice crossly before. The blue-skinned goblin glowered from Dgon to Kaz and to Dgon back. Then his eyes fell on the other goblins, who were goggling at him. Kur lowered his eyes to the ground and murmured, ‘I agree with Kaz. We should go get help from the Magician’.

Silence ensued with each of the three goblins exchanged awkward glances to one another, while the rest just waited for any of them to speak. After all, Dgon was the village elder, and Kaz and Kur were his servants-his most trusted persons.

Finally Dgon let out a heavy, defeated sigh. He considered the villagers sadly, and took something out from his robe. The green gem glinted brightly with the light from the fire. His grip tightened around it.

‘This gem means a lot for an old goblin like me’ he said sadly. ‘The beauty, the mystery of it, reminded me of the old days when we goblins spent our day digging out gold, and treasures from certain places. Those old days were long gone. We are no longer known as the masters of treasures digging’.

Dgon sighed again, shaking his head. Kaz approached him slowly and beckoned to Dgon to give the gem to him. Dgon tentatively placed the gem into Kaz’s hand. Kaz then backed away andthrew a glance to Kur, who nodded.

‘Master,’ Kur said soothingly, laying his hand onto Dgon’s shoulder, ‘you did the right thing’.

With that, Kaz and Kur made their way through the wood cautiously until they reached the Magician’s hut. They had forgotten all courtesy or the fact that they loathed the Magician; they knocked his door and begged him to open. The door creaked open and out came the Magician.

He was certainly a very tall man, with bushy greying hairs and beard. Kaz and Kur could not tell how old he was, because even though he had a lot of white hairs on him, he stood straight and showed no sign of being old. He looked down upon the two goblins with a pair of cold, black eyes. Kaz and Kur exchanged nervous glances. Kaz plucked on his courage and took one step towards the Magician.

‘M-Magician sir,’ he stammered, ‘we- we’ve come here to- the White Wolf- here is the gem’.

Kur wondered for a splitting second whether the Magician could make sense of what Kaz was saying. To his mild surprise, the Magician bent down and took the gem out from Kaz’s hand, examined it, and then went into his hut without any questions.

‘Come in’ the Magician said. Kaz and Kur obeyed and, holding their breaths, they stepped in.

The Magician’s house was, surprisingly, very normal. There was a small wooden table at the centre, a shabby-looking bed by the dusty window, a fireplace, and some wooden boxes. They watched quietly as the Magician tucked the gem safely into his robe, walked towards the boxes, bent and dragged one of the wooden boxes to them. He placed his hands on the box and chanted some strange words they did not understand. Then, he ran his finger on one side of the box, and unknown bright writings appeared on, lasting only for a few seconds. After he had finished he straightened his back. Kaz and Kur looked up at him, bemused.

‘The White Wolf is a creature attracted to magic. The reason it has been coming to your village is because you goblins are magical creatures' he said.

‘But it never attack us before’ said Kur.

‘Perhaps the White Wolf had come from another place. Strayed. And it scented your kinds. I am a magical person too, but as you can see I am a sorcerer. I can protect my scent from unwanted attentions. You are magical as well, except you don’t have my talents. So take this box, with my magic on it, and figure out yourself on how to imprison it inside’ said the Magician.

‘But-’ Kaz gasped, ‘the White Wolf is very strong. How can a box stop it?’

‘I’ve put my magic too. When you trap the wolf inside, it cannot go out’ the Magician replied.

Kaz and Kur stared down at the box; they were full of doubts. They felt the Magician was lying to them.

‘Do you want your family and loved ones to be safe?’ asked the Magician abruptly. ‘I’ve heard that goblins are very good in making traps. And this White Wolf, though it is undeniably very powerful, is still a wolf. An animal. Its instinct is just like any other wolves. Only it is attracted to magic. You can lure it to the box as if luring other wolves using meat’.

‘Why don’t you come with us?’ Kur blurted out. ‘Please, if you come with us, you can defeat the White Wolf easily. We don’t have to make any traps-’

‘No’ said the Magician instantly.

‘But-’ Kur wanted to say more.

‘No. I am not going to kill anything. The wolf had not injured me. I have given you what you need. Trap the White Wolf inside the box, and later you can decide how you want to kill it. Burn the box, or buried it, or throw it into the sea, anything. I am not going to help you kill anything’.

Kaz and Kur stared at one another, unsure. There was something wrong about this.

‘Very well...’ said Kaz, bowing to the Magician. Kur hesitantly bowed too. ‘We are grateful Magician sir’.

They left and returned to the village, carrying the box with difficulty. When they had arrived at the village, the fire had been put out, and the male goblins were burying the dead bodies. The women helped by cleaning the burned wood, and the children tried to ease the adults’ burden too by lending their little hands.

Kaz and Kur found Dgon sitting on a large stone, his face buried in his hands. They felt a sudden pang of guilt, but ignored it. Tonight, should the White Wolf come, they were ready. They had devised a plan and everyone agreed to help. So night came, and they waited. The White Wolf did not appear. They waited for another night, and a night, and another night. The White Wolf never came.Fourteen weekspassed without the wolf coming, and the goblins were starting torebuild their houses, and were tryingto move on with their lives. Kaz and Kur nevertheless waited with the box constantly under their watching eyes. But the wolf never came.

Peacefulness and happiness seeped back to the village. Months had passed and Kaz and Kur’s spirit were ebbing away. They had been spending countless of sleepless nights for the White Wolf, but it never showed up. It had simply vanished after the night they went to meet the Magician. Strangely enough, the Magician had disappeared too, along with the green gem Dgon had valued dearly.