Barclay was angry today. The other witches had made fun of him, again.
Fun of his stories. They were stupid, they'd said. Childish.
They didn't make sense.
Bah.
He'd show them.
His stories weren't the only magic he had, after all. He was a witch, and today he'd make them sorry.
Barclay closed his eyes, envisioning a monster to terrorize them. Huge, it would have to be. Gigantic. A leviathan, arisen from stone and wood, and the forest would quiver in its wake. A step of its foot would level the other witches' huts, and a lash of its tail would unroot the trees they'd seek shelter behind. Its eyes would smoke, haunting them in their nightmares and its maw would spit flame and rot over their precious vines and mushrooms.
Barclay's fingers twitched, arcane magic awakening within him, rushing to do as he willed.
A long body formed between his hands, dust and dirt and pebbles rising from the ground and coalescing into the monster he envisioned. It twisted and turned, longing to be set free, to destroy.
The witch opened his eyes and smiled benevolently at his creation, now reaching to his knee. The monster snapped at him as he tried to stroke the spines on his back and he pulled his hand back quickly.
Go, he whispered. Show them what a story can do.
The creature didn't need to be told twice, and set out in search for the first living beings in its vicinity. It wasn't long until it stumbled unto an anthill, hidden between a few branches and rotting leaves. It opened its maw, acid smoke beginning to pour out, when behind it and the facinatedly watching Barclay a twig snapped.
He turned sharply, ready to hex whoever it was, when he realized it was the Worldhopper.
"Oh, it's you. I'm, um, busy. Can you come back another time?", he said, nervously trying to shuffle in front of his creation which hissed furiously, biting his scarf in protest.
The Worldhopper regarded him with soft eyes, making him feel a bit stupid.
"I heard what Glume and Mycel said to you. I'm very sorry, I love your stories a lot", they said.
"You do?", Barclay asked incredulously. "You aren't saying that to make me feel better?"
The Worldhopper smiled, putting a hand on his arm. "I do. Would you mind telling me one? I'll give you conecakes if you make me the main character."
"Oh!", Barclay said, and laughed. "You do! Sure! Let's go to my hut, I'll tell you the best story you've ever heard!"
He started towards the path that would lead them back home when behind him his monster chirped in confusion behind him.
He turned back briefly. "I'm sorry, but I don't need you anymore", he said, regret in his voice. "I have a story to tell."
Turning back towards the Worldhopper, he snipped his fingers and his creation disintegrated back into dust and earth as the two of them walked away.
Writing Competition - "Ignorance Is Bliss"
The Wall had always been there, for as long as she could remember.
Tall, intimidating, overshadowing the village in which she lived.
When she was young, she had asked the Elders what was behind it.
“It is for our protection”, they said.
From what?
“The Others.”
What were they like?
“Different. Evil. They will kill you if they see you, and therefore we must protect ourselves.”
Why?
“That’s the way the Others are. Do not ask any more questions, child.”
But now she wasn’t a child anymore, and she was still curious. Who were the Others? What did they look like? Did they live like she and the other villagers did?
She had tried asking the Elders again, but they weren’t answering her, and so she spent her days staring at the Wall, ever wondering.
Her friend had told her to stop, to help with the harvest.
But she couldn’t stand the screams.
So she spend her time in solitude, just her and the indomitable Wall.
One day, she decided she would see where it led. Would it ever end? Would it ever change?
She packed herself a bag and set out, following the Wall wherever it would take her.
She walked for hours, and then days, and then weeks.
After a month or two, she found a village.
Her village.
What had happened?
Had she gotten turned around?
Impossible, she had been following the Wall – hadn’t she?
Where does the Wall lead?, she asked the Elders.
“Everywhere and nowhere”, they said.
I don’t understand, she said.
“All we need is here. Do not ask any more questions, child.”
But she wasn’t a child, anymore.
And so she decided she would find out what was on the other side.
She would climb the Wall and see the truth the others sought to hide.
That night, after the Elders and the rest of the village had gone to sleep, she left and travelled to a part of the Wall that had slightly crumbled with age she had sound during her journey.
There, she started her climb.
The Wall was high, and climbing would take a long time, but she was determined and curious, and nothing could stop her.
After a night and a day, she reached the top and rested.
Finally, she looked at the ground below.
And found a village. Just like hers.
It looked very small from where she was, and she started the climb back down, this time on the other side.
After a night and a day, she reached the bottom and entered the village.
It, too, had people living in it.
Though they were curious and confusing to her, for they looked peculiar.
Their skin was an unfamiliar shade of pink, and they had hair on top of their heads. They didn’t have the fangs her people had.
They didn’t look like evil monsters.
They looked small and helpless.
They were also screaming.
Some of them were gathering sticks and stones and started to throw them at her.
“Where did that come from?”, they yelled, and “How did it get over the Wall?”.
She didn’t want to hurt them, she said, and she had just been curious, but they didn’t listen to her.
“Kill it before it destroys us all!”, she heard someone scream.
She retreated, her back against the Wall, but there were no footholds on this side.
She would go back if they wanted her to, she said, but they didn’t listen.
Some villagers arrived with hunting knives, the ones she and her people used for the harvest, and she knew she had made a mistake.
They advanced on her and she started pleading, promising to go back, and to forget about them, but it was as if they couldn’t hear her.
She should have listened to her Elders, she knew.
These were monsters, though they looked weak, with their tiny teeth and short nails.
She should have stayed on her side. She should never have come.
As the Others raised their weapons, she couldn’t help but think how blissful her life in ignorance had been.
Commission - "Nova and Mara"
Nova shivered despite all the furs she had piled on top of herself. Living in a cave was great in summer, but in winter she was often freezing. She pulled her hyena plushie - a gift from Mara - closer to herself as she trembled.
If only Mara were here! She could always count on her girlfriend to keep her warm and cozy even in the coldest days.
Nova loved watching the snow fall outside through the windows in the ceiling, nestled into Maras arms.
Briefly she pondered getting up to make some tea but quickly trashed the idea. It was just too cold!
The floor in their bedroom was covered in blankets and furs, but the walls often felt like ice to the touch, absorbing all the warmth. No, better wait until Mara came back.
Her love was late, but Nova never worried about her. Why, she was the ruler and goddess of all who lived here! No one could harm her even if they tried, and no one would dare anyway. Mara was easy to anger and sometimes lost control of herself, obliviating those around her and levelling parts of the forest.
She wasn't ever dangerous to Nova, though. Nova trusted her girlfriend with her life.
Thinking of Mara made her feel all warm inside and her eyes were just beginning to drift shut when she heard faint steps outside. Steps she'd have known anywhere, steps that she would feel in her heart if she went deaf.
Forgetting about the freezing temperatures, she shrugged off the furs she had buried herself in and hurried towards the cave entrance.
"You're back!" she yelled, holding open her arms as she sped towards her girlfriend. "Do you know how cold home is without you?"
Mara laughed as she gathered Nova in her arms and held her close to her chest.
"You mean, cold in your heart because you love and missed me so much?"
"Well, yes, obviously, my love," Nova replied and gave Mara a quick kiss before snuggling back into her chest fur and sighing. "But mainly because you're a literal furnace!"
"What would you do without me, hm?," the hyena asked, setting Nova back on the ground. She took off her jacket and carefully draped it around her tiny girlfriend's shoulders before continuing. "If you give me a second, I'll start a fire. I brought some meat, too, all that shivering must have made you hungry."
The cat struggled with the jacket for a second and finally managed to wrap the sleeves around her like two oversized scarves. It was taller than she was, but blissfully warm and smelling deliciously like hyena goddess.
"Do I want to know who that was? Did we know them?," she asked, her eyes barely peeking over the collar.
"No worries, darling, I know you don't like that. I got a bear after I was done with some troublemakers. It was so wonderfully bloody, you should have seen it," Mara said, genuine delight in her voice.
Nova rolled her eyes, but smiled. "I've seen you in action often enough. You should rather tell me if you've brought me anything cool!"
The hyena had built a tent of wood in a pit in the middle of the clearing in front of the cave while talking and blew on it to ignite it. Once she was satisfied with the inetnsity of the flames she got up to get the spits from inside the cave.
Nova scooted closer to the crackling fire and narrowed her eyes at Mara. "Hey! Stop ignoring me! Have you brought anything? Don't tell me you forgot!"
When her girlfriend came back, she was grinning mischievously. "Come on, love. I'm just teasing you."
With her free hand she flicked Nova's nose. "When have I ever forgotten to bring you loot? Just be patient, I found something really pretty this time."
Nova wrinkled her nose as she impatiently watched Mara set up the spits and start roasting the meat, fat sizzling, sparks flying.
"Now come here, you grumpy tiny kitty," Mara smiled as she picked Nova in her jacket up again and cradled her close to her with one hand, looking for the jacket's pocket with the other and getting out a small leather pouch.
"Open it, love!"
Whiskers twitching, Nova obliged and held her breath as she undid the knots.
In the pouch she found a ring. A thin, silvery metal was made to look like intertwining branches, with tiny leaves studded with even tinier emeralds.
"It's beautiful," she breathed, holding it close to her. "Thank you so much!"
"Small, but oh, so beautiful. Just like you."
Nova sighed as Mara kissed her, butterflies soaring through through her stomach as if it was her very first kiss. She raised her hands to her girlfriend's face and once again couldn't think of anything she had done in her past life to make her deserve the love of this literal goddess. Mara was the best thing that had ever happened to her.
"I can't wait to spend eternity with you," she whispered in her lover's ear.
"And I with you", Mara replied. "You're mine forever."