Fiction |Fantasy |Mash-Up Response

James and the Sorceress

This is why nobody likes Azaleas

James ran between the multitude of trees, stopping briefly only to check the grains of sand remaining in his tiny hourglass pendant.

It was a gift for his coming-of-age ceremony earlier in the morning, but once the tiny sand grains began to run, a mysterious voice had boomed, speaking in a gruff, Dwarven voice.

"You have been cursed by the Dwarven sorceress Azalea!"

James had laughed. "Like the flower?"

"Silence!" Azalea had snapped. "You are cursed to die in the next fortnight unless — "

" — Unless what?" James had interrupted.

"Insolent brat!" Azalea had yelled, the pendant vibrating with anger. "Unless you change your ways and perform a heroic deed, you will be devoured by the next troll you meet!"

The curse had sounded more and more unlikely, and James had almost forgotten about it until, while walking the forest trail, he stumbled upon a hideous troll under a bridge.

The beast was two meters tall with a pig-like face and thick, green skin. He was wrapped in cobwebs thick enough to form a blanket, and James fought back his rising breakfast.

He was having second thoughts about his intended brave deed, but the loud snoring noises indicated the troll was asleep.

Perhaps he could defeat it after all!

He removed a single shoe and listened intently behind the safety of the closest tree.

Nothing but snoring.

He removed his second shoe and held his breath.

More snoring.

As he approached — as close as he’d ever come to a troll — he could smell the stink rising from its foul armpits, its rotten mouth, and fungus-ridden feet.

Then he saw the magical cipher floating in the air just above the troll’s oversized head, written in blue magical ink.

James knew that bridge trolls were imbued with magic, even if they are somewhat dim-witted. As he squinted at the magical writing, trying to decipher it, he noticed it change. Then it dawned on him with a fright that was punctuated with a loud bell ringing.

It was a magical alarm clock!

He broke into a dead run for home, narrowly missing the tree trunks as they whizzed by.

His heroic deed will have to wait until tomorrow!

I hope you enjoyed this prequel to Rox the Troll (Link above) for the Kraken Lore’s Monday Mash-Up #27. Feel free to subscribe to my mailing list for more crazy Mashups, D-minus poetry, and questionable fiction stories! I also have a Ko-fi set up here, in case you’d like to fund my tea addiction, or donate to my cats’ ongoing Temptation habit.

My score: 20/20
An ancient magical cipher! 2 points
A tiny hourglass pendant: +1 point
A single shoe (at first): +1 point
Magic ink creates the alarm clock: +1 point
Cobwebs: +1 point
James has second thoughts about being heroic: +2 points
Introduction story to Rox the Troll: +10 points
Link: +1 point
Sexy tally box: +1 point

With a week to go, I’d like to challenge Bradan Writes Stories (of course) and Jillian Spiridon to try this Mashup.