FICTION |FANTASY |SEEDLING CHALLENGE
Tessa and the Dracolich
Seedling Challenge (3)
This story is #3 in my Seedling Challenge. I began with a drabble (100 words), and moved onto microfiction (101–300 words). This is my postcard expansion (301–500 words).
“Ye be daft, girl, shifter powers or no!” the captain screamed, tossing a tankard of ale at the young woman before him. “There be nothing there but open ocean!”
The captain of the clipper Boggart Blighter, an aged ruffian half-orc with a classic wooden leg and eye patch, clopped around the desk to her and grasped her arm tightly.
“Nonetheless, good Captain Koryn Seahammer,” Tessa reasoned, placing several tiny gemstones from her pocket onto the desk, “I must reach my agreed meeting place. Tales of your exploits have reached me even in the deep Emerald Wood.”
The captain’s tirade trailed off. “Eh? That so?”
“Yes,” Tessa continued quickly, “and I knew that only the experienced crew of the Blighter could get me to my destination. Please…”
The storm came on suddenly, from right in front of the ship. In seconds, Tessa watched in horror as the bright blue horizon shifted through a dark, malevolent magic into the swirling maelstrom that now loomed before her.
Only a powerful spellcaster could manipulate the seas thus! She knew who was impeding her quest…
“Lower the mainsail!”
“She’ll roll over in this storm!”
Though technically a passenger — not part of the crew — Tessa couldn’t just sit idly by as the crew of the Boggart Blighter raced frantically to save their ship.
Tessa raised her arms and fired her magical bolts at the mainsail — an orison to drop the fabric to the deck. It obeyed with a loud thud. Nearby sailors cheered.
The captain of the Blighter jumped down from the poop deck, safety rope in hand, and grabbed Tessa before a wave nearly washed her off the deck. She felt him slip something into her pocket.
“Sailors be superstitious fools, ye blasted sorcerer!” he yelled over the sea’s wailing. “Get ye down below ‘fore I throw ye o’erboard!”
“Captain, we gotta turn back!” a sailor yelled, frightened.
“Goblin swill! The Blighter nay turns tail fer naught but a blushing mermaid’s bosom!” The captain winked with his good eye, turning away from Tessa. “Into the wind! I’ll not tell ye again, scurvy kobold fodder!”
Tessa stumbled, struggling to get below decks before a massive wave flooded the deck. She smacked her head on the railing and was thrown into the churning sea.
“Man overboard!” the Captain yelled as Tessa’s rope snapped. His voice was lost to the wind. “Godspeed, Shifter…”
Tessa awoke on a warm sandy beach. Her body had transformed into a cat’s!
The orange sunset touched the ocean in the distance, and Tessa sighed.
Since she’d been abandoned here on this island with nothing, she’d been too scared to enter the water.
Would a ship ever come to rescue her?
Trapped as a cat, she passed the time childishly chasing seagulls and exploring her island, and even befriended a crab.
But she needed to go home, needed to get back to normal. She missed being human.
She spotted three black sails approaching on the horizon…
“Who’s that, I wonder…?”
Thanks to the brilliant team at The Kraken Lore for always challenging me to write! Thanks to Bradan Writes Stories, Rayne Sanning, and Jay C Wells for all their efforts with the Seedling Challenge. For this iteration, I’d love to challenge Lauren Salas to start growing a story. And good luck to all who enter the Seedling Challenge! I’m excited to see how things develop!