“When the elves came, Father Leiter, Brother Dezent, and Sister Gutig came to protect us. We left the house at night and-” but that was as far as I got in telling the story to my father as he started to shake. I was scared to look at him. His face was contorted and he was shaking uncontrollably. His shoulders were heaving up and down. “What is it?” I asked, concerned for him in spite of his behaviour since our arrival. Tears were rolling down his red face as he sobbed – but no he wasn’t sobbing. He was laughing!

“Lei- ter!” He managed to get the name out through the tears and the laughs. “Leiter came to protect you – that coward.” He roared again with laughter. “Leiter thought he could protect you from the elves!” He thumped the table with his fist. “I notice he’s not here now. How long did he last before he fled to save himself? Did he make it through the night?”

“No.” My mother answered him quietly from the curtain.

“Scheren,” My father said her name – cruelty dripping from his voice. “Nice of you to rejoin the conversation. You were always quite the Leiter follower weren’t you. You always wished I was a little more like him didn’t you. That must have hurt you mustn’t it. He left you before the night was out – that’s impressive even by Leiter’s cowardly standards.”

“He sacrificed himself for us.” My mother spoke quietly, “The last thing he said was that we should find you. He’s the bravest goblin I’ve ever known.”

The room went silent then for a moment that seemed to stretch out into an eternity. Eventually, my father lifted himself from his chair, drained his glass and flung it with all his might at the opposite wall. “Leiter,” he roared at my mother, “is nothing but a coward who was never prepared to make the sacrifices that needed to be made to protect our kind.”

“He’s the bravest goblin I’ve ever known.” My mother repeated – quietly but determinedly.

“He. Is. A. Coward” My father roared back at her.

It was at that moment that I felt the light building up within me. A tingling sensation burst from deep within me and ran all across my skin. There was nothing I could do to stop the light from coming. It didn’t matter that I wanted my mother to see me conjure light in a joyful moment. The light was coming and there was nothing that could be done to stop it. It started with my body glowing and I felt the room fall silent and all their eyes lock onto me. But the light didn’t stop there, it lit up the whole room. I saw my father’s face painted white by my light. My mother shone ethereal in the light I provided. The light forced itself upon Handeln and Manquer and the light continued to grow. It threw the door and the curtains open. The curtain fluttered in the light. The light grew brighter and brighter and brighter until suddenly I had no more light left within me to conjure and collapsed back in my chair.

The room fell back into silence but only for an instant. My father now looked panicked.

“There’s no way they won’t have noticed that. The elves will be coming. We need to be ready.”

“What are you talki-” My mother was asking him.

“Scheren,” My father spoke again, calmly but firmly – there was no cruelty in his voice this time. “I am sorry. I am sorry for – for everything I have done.” He paused, “I am sorry for everything I will do but right now I need you to listen to me. The elves will be coming and when they see that our child can summon the light, they will – they will - I can’t say it. You all need to listen to me. Dwarf, Manquer get behind me. Protect Scheren. Protect our child. There is a balloon in the middle of the yard. It is our only chance of getting out of here alive.”

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