Fog covered the narrow streets of Xedelia, the capital of the goblin kingdom of Hawa. Dark blood streamed down the cobblestones; like a small river, it ran from high above from the King's castle down to the quarters of his impoverished subjects. Matheus shuddered and wrapped his cloak tighter around his shoulders.
"Forward, soldier," ordered the commander, who along with him was the only survivor from their company. The goblins may be small, but they were fearsome, fast fighters who could take a man by surprise with their superior numbers and tear him to pieces. "We're almost there. We'll gather with the others in front of the castle and finally put this pointless war behind us!"
Matheus nodded. He hadn't seen his homeland for three years. He had almost been a child when the soldiers had dragged him out of his house and thrown him on the cart. His mother's screams still kept him awake every night - when it wasn't the horrors of war he had encountered. Just a little peace and beauty in this cruel world, that was all he wished for, but all it presented him with were blood and death. The commander pushed him onwards, past burnt out houses and things Matheus preferred not to even look at.
A few larger shadows darted past in the distance. "Get back!" the commander ordered, pushing him into a doorway.
"Goblins?" Matheus asked quietly.
"With their horses." The commander spat on the ground. Matheus knew all too well how he felt about the ponygirls. It was one of the worst things about this war: not only did they have to slaughter their enemies, but often these innocent girls and women died, forced into cruel slave labour as mounts by these little green monsters. What a terrible fate, Matheus thought: tied up all day, controlled by a petty demon and treated like an animal. What had these girls done to be tortured like this? Perhaps their swords were a salvation for the girls, but they couldn't show any mercy anyway. When a ponygirl and her rider approached them, they had to act, one way or another. Their blood also flowed down the street that day.
After the goblins had ridden on, Matheus sneaked on with his commander. The town was already almost conquered, but the goblins fought to their last breath. There was no defeat for them, only death. That was also what made them such formidable opponents, there was no negotiation, no dialogue - only screams, weapons and war.
Who had started this madness was long forgotten. The war had been going on for many years, and in the end nobody cared. The only question many soldiers asked was whether it was possible to win at all.
A loud horn sounded and Matheus looked up at the palace with wide eyes. The goblins' flag was lowered and a new flag was waving in the wind: it was that of his own king. So they had won after all!
"Don't rejoice too soon," warned the commander. "You can still die in this shithole. One goblin is all it takes." They walked on and came across a group of soldiers running down from the hill. "The king is dead?"
The first soldier shook his head. "That would be nice. We've taken the castle and most of the goblins are dead; all his guards are spread out in many small pieces in the throne room. We have the old king's head, but his son - the prince - has escaped. He is now the new king, and will continue the fight if we don't catch him. We send seekers in all directions, but he had a ponygirl with him. She looked fast - if we're unlucky, he'll be over the border into Potsch in a few days. Their goblin ruler will surely harbour him."
"But I want to go home," Matheus pleaded, and the other soldiers nodded. "When will this be over?"
"When they're all dead, or we get a peace after all. But with goblins? Unlikely. Go back to the camp, you'll get new instructions there."
The camp was outside the city, which was now ablaze. Nothing was to be left of Xedelia, that was the order - and so it was done. But that was not the end of it, the king was still on the run, as Matheus learnt.
"Tomorrow, you'll search the forest in groups of two, maybe we'll be lucky and he hasn't got as far as we fear. And if that's not the case, then you've had a nice walk." Matheus raised his hand. "What do you want to know?"
Matheus cleared his throat. "Did any of those... ponygirls survive?"
Some of the soldiers laughed.
"Try to concentrate on your task and you'll have more blood in your head."
"No, I mean... they were victims of the goblins too, weren't they? Did we at least save a few?"
No one laughed anymore. "No, none. Most of them fell in battle, we gave them an honourable burial. We managed to capture a few alive, but they wanted nothing to do with us. They attacked us, some chose to protect their goblin rather than help us. We had no choice."
"Not a single one?"
The soldier shook his head. "Not a single one. I guess the goblins know how to deal with the ponygirls. Maybe they're not used to a different life. Or maybe they fear us even more than those little monsters."
Another soldier raised a glass. "Then these ponygirls are smarter than I thought. I bet we'd ride them even better than those goblins - if you know what I mean." Most of the soldiers understood very well, and apart from Matheus, they all laughed.
A cold wind swept through the dense forest. It was not strange for Matheus, this forest was the first familiar sight he had seen in months - it actually looked exactly like the forest back home; it was the same trees, bushes and plants. Even the birds could have originated from his forest. Their journey to Xedelia had taken him out of his forest and through deserts, over mountains, along the sea and through deep valleys. He had never realised how big the island really was and how much there was to see. But a war was not the right time to marvel at nature.
Even now, Matheus barely had an eye for the beauty of the world - what was a goblin king like, Matheus mused. Like a normal goblin with a crown, or was it a separate species? Perhaps such a goblin looked completely different. But he couldn't shake off another thought: what would happen if they found him? They said they wanted him dead or alive, but the commander had only winked at "alive". So dead it was. But what about the ponygirl? The soldiers' words still sent a shiver down his spine. They crept on and came to two large rocks that formed the entrance to a small valley, like a portal in the middle of nature. They scurried up and, to their surprise, saw a human tied to a tree. A ponygirl! Matheus gulped. She was beautiful, at least to his taste. Most people would have described her as crude, but Matheus had never cared for porcelain dolls. Her strong legs stood securely on the ground while her mane fluttered in the wind. Her hands were hidden under her saddle, while her feet were in high pony boots. She turned to the two men and, as expected, a broad horse bit was stuck in her mouth.
"Be careful, there will be a goblin around here somewhere."
