The Goblin King

by Linda Chapman

  Sophie swallowed. Grandpa’s face was so earnest that she almost found herself believing him. “What would happen then?”

  “There would be chaos,” Grandpa replied. “Creatures from the Shadow Realm love tricking humans and making them miserable. They steal things and bring dirt, mess and illness. That’s why the gate was locked in the first place.” He rubbed his beard. “I should start at the beginning. A long time ago, hundreds of years in the past, shadow creatures could pass between our two worlds, but they caused so much mischief that people found a way to lock the gateway. And so they banished all the shadow creatures they could find into the Shadow Realm, and secured the gate from this side.”

  “So how would the gate ever get opened?” asked Sophie.

  “Unfortunately, a few of the creatures escaped and remained in this world, where they lurk in the Shadow Woods. They long to open the gateway again and it’s the Guardian’s job to stop them – it’s your job, Sophie.”

  “But why me?” asked Sophie, still feeling utterly confused.

  “The Guardian has always been a member of our family,” Grandpa answered. “The role passes down from grandfather to grandchild, with each new Guardian taking over on their tenth birthday. It has been my job for the last sixty years.”

  “You, Grandpa!” gasped Sophie.

  “Yes.” Grandpa rubbed his beard. “So trust me, I know how hard it is to believe all this. When my grandfather told me all about it on my tenth birthday, I thought he must be lying. I don’t think I really believed him until I saw my first goblin.”

  Sophie thought back over the morning. “You didn’t think I was going to be the Guardian, did you?” she realised.

  “No. I always assumed I would pass the Guardianship on to Anthony.” Grandpa looked her up and down as if he still couldn’t quite believe it. “A girl… as Guardian! It’s never happened before. But you’re the one showing all the signs. The dizziness, faintness and seeing stars – those things happened to me and to all the others. You can read about it here.” Grandpa pulled a large black notebook out of one of the pockets of his fishing jacket.

  Sophie read out the faint gold words on the battered leather cover: “The Shadow Files.” She frowned. “What is it?”

  Grandpa handed the book to her. “It’s a record of the shadow creatures in this world, started by one of the Guardians a long time ago. The Shadow Files are yours now. You must record any shadow creature activity, noting the types that you come across.”

  “What do you mean?” Sophie asked.

  Grandpa sighed. “You have so much to learn, child.” Sophie found herself wishing that he looked more confident she was going to learn it! “There are not just goblins, but different types of goblins, like the Marsh Goblins, Tree Goblins, Frost Goblins, Snake Goblins. It is the same with boggles, trolls, sprites, imps and gnomes. So many different types of them and all different to fight.” He shuddered. “I can still remember the first time I faced a Wolf Troll.”

  Sophie felt a flicker of fear. The names of the creatures alone sounded really scary. She remembered the way her skin had crept the day before, when she’d been in the woods and seen something move in the trees. Could that have been a shadow creature?

  She cautiously opened The Shadow Files. The musty pages whispered lightly through her fingers. The first half of the book was filled with drawings and notes. She stopped at a hand drawn picture of a squat, warty creature with long ears and a hooked nose. His skin was wrinkled and was coloured-in grey. There was a title saying “Boulder Gnome”, and notes in Grandpa’s handwriting.

  “That was one of the first shadow creatures I ever met,” said Grandpa with a slight smile. “You see, these notes will help you if you ever have to fight a Boulder Gnome. Shadow creatures always have some weakness, and once you know what it is, you can use it to defeat them. So you must keep The Shadow Files up to date.” He flicked through to where there were just blank pages. “Write down everything that happens to you, everything you find out, details of every fight you have.”

  Sophie bit her lip, still struggling to come to terms with it all. “So… how do I fight them?” she asked cautiously.

  “Any way you can.” Grandpa looked grim. “It helps that when you’re near any type of shadow creature you’ll find that your strength and speed increase. You’ll be able to kick harder and run faster than you can in normal life.”

  Sophie felt a sudden thrill of excitement. Increased speed and strength? That sounded good! “Oh, wow!” she breathed as it all began to seem more real. Her thoughts whirled. Downstairs, she could hear the muffled sounds of Anthony playing with his birthday presents and Mrs B talking to him. What would they say if they knew about all this? What would her parents say?

  A thought jumped into her head. “I can’t wait to tell Sam!”

  “You can’t tell him.” Grandpa spoke quickly. “No one must know.”

  “But Sam’s my best friend!”

  Grandpa shook his head. “I’m afraid ordinary people can’t cope with seeing shadow creatures. Children have awful nightmares, and grown-ups try to reason away the evidence of their own eyes. Sometimes it even sends them mad.”

  “Sam would be cool with it though,” Sophie protested. If she was fighting creatures like goblins and imps, she wanted Sam by her side!

  “No, Sophie.” Grandpa’s voice was absolutely firm. “He must never know.”

  Sophie’s excitement faded slightly. She couldn’t imagine having such a big secret and not telling Sam.

  “Now, wait here,” Grandpa instructed her. “I have something else to show you. Something very important that you must now guard with your very life. It’s in my room.”

  Sophie suddenly felt very cold. As Grandpa swung round and hurried to his room, she was filled with a dreadful sinking feeling. Oh, no, surely it couldn’t be…

  She heard Grandpa yell. There was the sound of running feet and her bedroom door flew open. Grandpa stood there, his face pale, his eyes shocked. “The key to the gateway!” he exclaimed hoarsely. “It’s gone!”

  Chapter 4

  The Key to the Gateway

  Grandpa held up an empty box. “The key was in here.”

  Icy fingers ran down Sophie’s spine. The box had contained the iron key she and Sam had been playing with. “Oh…” she said slowly.

  “Do you know something about this?” Grandpa strode over to her bed. “Sophie! What happened to it?”

  She shrank down under her duvet. “You could say I-I lost it.”

  Grandpa spoke every word distinctly. “You… lost… it?”

  Sophie gulped. “Um… yes.” She quickly explained to Grandpa what had happened the day before. “One minute it was there by the tree, the next it was gone!” she finished.

  “You’re telling me you decided to take the key and use it in a game?” Grandpa was looking at her as if she had suddenly sprouted three heads. “You put it in Shadow Woods? Where all the shadow creatures live?”

  “But I didn’t know about that then!” Sophie protested. “And I didn’t know it was precious. I—”

  “SOPHIE!” Grandpa bellowed. “You’ve lost the key!”

  There was a silence broken only by the sound of Mrs Benton calling up the stairs. “Is everything all right up there?”

  Glaring at Sophie, Grandpa strode swiftly to the door. “Yes, everything’s fine, Mrs Benton. Sophie and I are just playing a game. She’s feeling a lot better now and will be down soon.” He turned, shutting the door with a snap.

  “We don’t know for sure that a shadow creature’s taken it, Grandpa,” Sophie said.

  “What else might it be? A mischievous rabbit?” Grandpa ran his hands through his grey hair. “Of course it was one of the shadow creatures!”

  Sophie felt awful. “Does this mean they’ll open the gateway?” Alarm spiralled inside her and she jumped out of bed. “What if they’ve done it already? What if…?”

  “It’s all right,” Grandpa put a hand on her arm, looking
slightly calmer. “Don’t worry, the gateway won’t be open. The key is made from iron found in our world and a shadow gem from the Shadow Realm. It will only unlock the gate if there is a shadow gem in the hole in its handle. The key on its own can never unlock the gateway.”

  “Well, in that case it’s not so bad they have it then, is it?” said Sophie, looking on the bright side.

  Grandpa scowled as if he’d like to shake her. “Not so bad? There are six shadow gems hidden in this world and any one of those gems will make the key work if they are found. Worst of all, the key can be used to find them if the shadow creatures work out how. We must get it back before they manage to get their hands on one of the hidden gems.” He glanced out of her window. “I never thought we’d be in this position only hours after I passed the Guardianship on! Come on, we have to get to the gateway.”

  “What? Now?” said Sophie.

  Grandpa nodded. “Now. Whichever shadow creatures stole the key are sure to be there, trying to use it.”

  Mrs Benton was very pleased to see Sophie come downstairs. “Are you feeling better?”

  “Yes, loads better, thanks,” Sophie said. It was true. She still felt a bit tingly, but the dizziness had faded. She started to put on her trainers.

  “Don’t you want to open your presents now?” Mrs Benton asked her.

  Sophie realised that she had forgotten all about them! She glanced at the pink ballerina box. “Um, not at the moment. Grandpa and I are just going out.”

  “Where are you going?” Anthony asked, coming to the kitchen doorway.

  “Just for a walk,” Grandpa told him. “Come on, Sophie.”

  Leaving Mrs B and Anthony looking very surprised, they hurried out of the house. Sam was just coming up the driveway on his skateboard, a football-shaped present wrapped in bright blue paper under one arm.

  “Happy birthday!” he shouted, sweeping up to Sophie and jumping off his board. “Here you go!” He held out the present. “Bet you can’t guess what it is.”

  She grinned. “Is it a book?”

  Sam grinned back. “Nah, it’s a DS game!”

  “Come on, Sophie,” Grandpa said gruffly, striding off down the garden. “There’s no time for presents now.”

  “Where are you going?” Sam asked Sophie.

  Sophie didn’t know what to say. She spread her hands. “We’re… um… going on a nature walk.”

  “You? Since when have you liked nature walks? Still, it sounds like fun.” Sam joined her. “Let’s go.”

  “You can’t come!” Sophie blurted out.

  He looked astonished. “Why not?” “You just can’t. I’m really sorry, Sam.” She glanced to where Grandpa was climbing over the fence and shoved the present back into Sam’s arms. “It’s got to be just me and Grandpa.” She saw the flash of hurt in his eyes and felt terrible. “Look, I’ll… I’ll come round and explain later.”

  Though I don’t know how, she thought as she ran after Grandpa. She left Sam staring after her, the present in his arms.

  Grandpa strode through the woods. The paths were overgrown with brambles, and the thick leaves of the trees cut out the light overhead. Grandpa produced two torches from his pockets and handed one to Sophie. “We’ll have to get you kitted out,” he said. “I bought everything for Anthony yesterday.”

  Sophie heard the sigh in his voice. She was sure he was still wishing that Anthony had been the Guardian, not her. Determination filled her. She’d prove to him how good she’d be!

  Jumping over the ruts of dried mud, she tried to keep up with him. “So, Grandpa, tell me again about all these special powers I’m going to have now I’m the Guardian. What are they like?”

  “You’ll be able to run faster and you will have far more strength whenever you’re near any type of shadow creature,” said Grandpa. “Unfortunately, I won’t. The powers can only be with one person at a time and they have now passed on to you. I can give advice and help as much as I can, but you’re the one who will have to defeat them.” He looked grim at the thought.

  Sophie had never been this far into the woods, and it wasn’t hard to imagine that horrible creatures might be lurking in the shadows. As she thought that, her skin started to creep. Maybe they were watching her right now...

  Crack! She jumped. It sounded as if someone was following them. “Grandpa! Did you hear that? There was a noise behind us!” “Do you feel strange?” Grandpa demanded. “Tingly? Full of energy? Like your skin is almost too tight for your body?”

  Sophie shook her head.

  Grandpa relaxed. “Then it’s not a shadow creature. Trust me. You’ll know when they are near.”

  They walked on for another ten minutes until suddenly Sophie felt like she had pins and needles all over her body. She had an intense urge to run and jump and kick and leap. “Grandpa!” she hissed. “I feel strange!”

  He nodded. “I thought as much – the gateway is just through those trees in a clearing. And those shadow creatures won’t be far away.”

  He clicked his torch off. Sophie copied him and they crept closer. Grandpa reached the end of the trees and peered through the branches. Putting his finger to his lips, he beckoned Sophie to come up next to him. “I think we’ve found our thieves.”

  She parted the tree branches.

  “Ink Cap Goblins,” Grandpa whispered.

  Sophie caught her breath. Four goblins were standing in a small clearing! They were taller than her – but not quite as tall as Grandpa. They had pointy heads and their flaky skin was so white that it seemed to glow in the dim light, apart from at the edges of their body where it looked black and rotting. They had large, fat noses and dark eyes. One of them seemed to be the leader. He wore a mouldy black cloak, and the other three were all looking at him as if expecting answers.

  “Well, I don’t know why it’s not working!” he exclaimed. Sophie’s heart flipped. He was holding the key! “It’s not like it comes with instructions.” He strode up and down angrily.

  “We are sure our great king, Ug, will find a way to make the key work,” fawned one of the others, with a nose so knobbly it looked like a potato.

  “Yes, Great King Ug is the most clever of all goblins!” grovelled another with a particularly flaky face.

  “His genius is beyond compare,” said the third, who had large bulbous feet.

  Ug stopped and preened. “Ug is indeed the most clever of the goblins. You are right. I will think of a way.” He turned to a space between two trees and started waving the key about madly.

  Sophie stared. She could see the air between the trees shimmering with a golden haze. “Is that the gateway?” she whispered to Grandpa.

  “Yes,” he hissed. “It’s good there are only four of them, and that they’re Ink Cap Goblins. Ink Caps are easily injured and quite cowardly.”

  “Great!” said Sophie. She could hardly wait to try out her new powers. Already she felt so tingly with strength that she could hardly sit still.

  Grandpa glowered at her. “Not so fast. You see those inky black bits on their arms? They can squeeze poisonous liquid from them that will blister your skin if it touches you. Don’t let them get their hands on you – just get that key back!” Grandpa’s gaze met hers. “Do you think you can do it?”

  “Yes!” Sophie declared hotly. “I’ll use my tae kwon do moves!”

  For a moment, a smile flickered across Grandpa’s face. “Good girl. Now get going!”

  Chapter 5

  Captured

  As Grandpa and Sophie strode out into the clearing, the goblins all shouted in alarm.

  “We want the key back,” Grandpa declared.

  “It’s the Guardian!” exclaimed King Ug, his white skin turning even paler. “With a… with a…” He frowned and blinked, the panic leaving him. “With a girl!”

  Sophie swallowed. Now that she was actually in the clearing, the four goblins seemed very large. But there was no way she was going to seem frightened. “I’m the Guardian now,” she said, trying t
o sound braver than she felt.

  The goblins gaped at her. One by one, they turned and stared at Grandpa, who nodded. “It’s true,” he said heavily. Sophie winced, wishing that he sounded more pleased about it!

  Flaky Face’s mouth dropped open. “The new Guardian’s a girl?”

  “She can’t be the new Guardian,” said Potato Nose.

  Big Feet didn’t say anything at all. He just stared at Sophie, looking stunned.

  “A girl Guardian!” A grin spread across Ug’s face. “This is wonderful, excellent. Oh, yes, yes, yes!” He rubbed his hands together gleefully. “Ug’s day gets better and better!”

  Sophie felt a flash of anger. She pulled her shoulders back and gave Ug a challenging look. “OK, I’m a girl. So what?”

  Ug smirked round at the other goblins. “Aww, the little girl’s talking to us. We’d better not upset her. She might hit us with her dolly!”

  The others roared with laughter.

  “Or tie us up with her hair ribbons,” sniggered Ug. “Or make us have a tea party!”

  The goblins whooped.

  Sophie felt as if power was filling every cell in her body. She longed to run and spin and kick.

  Grandpa seemed to read her mind. “Steady, Sophie,” he warned in a low voice. “You don’t know the full extent of your powers yet. It’ll take you a little while to get used to them.”

  Ug turned back to Sophie, his black eyes glittering. “Skip home now and make us some cakes, little girl, and maybe we’ll be very nice and not hurt you.”

  “I’m not going home without the key,” said Sophie.

  The goblin leader waved it tauntingly at her. “If you want it, come and get it!”

  “Thanks.” Sophie smiled. “I will.”

  She moved so that one foot was in front of the other, and brought her arms up into the ready position, just as she did every week in her tae kwon do class.