Your character is a henchman for an evil queen. Tonight she plans to sacrifice a child in a ritual that will give her immortality. One problem: your character has just lost the baby. What happens next?
Mistress's Child
Arguk tried not to gibber as he scrambled along the path toward the river bridge with the screaming baby in his arms. Mistress did not like it when he gibbered, and tonight, Mistress would be very, very pleased with him. Mistress had given him a spell of transformation, so that he could look like one of the humans, but he had not had to use it. He had snatched the infant while its older sister earned a bit of coin from a lusty guardsman. Mistress would be delighted when Arguk not only gave her the child she needed for her immortality spell, but returned her precious scroll as well.
Or perhaps he would not give it back. What mistress did not know would do her no harm, and Arguk might someday find a use of his own for a transformation spell. His broad feet thudded on the bridge planking as his head filled with dreams. He could be the image of the king and pay back the uppity serving women who would have no part of Arguk. He could even kiss the quee….
At this point, Arguk’s right foot landed in a pile of horse manure and slid. Arguk landed on his backside, picking up not a few splinters, as the infant flew up out of his arms and… and over the parapet.
Arguk howled, and scrambled to the parapet just in time to see the bridge ogre come out from underneath and catch the child.
“Oh, thank you, kind sir!” Arguk shouted. “Now please just toss him back up here!”
The ogre’s mouth spread into a grin. Then it spread even larger, and the ogre tossed the child in and swallowed it whole. With another grin and a wave at Arguk, the ogre vanished beneath the bridge.
“Well,” came a voice from behind Arguk, “that was absolutely brilliant!”
It was that young human wizard that had been panting after Mistress, the skinny one with the deep green eyes. Mistress didn’t trust him, of course. She was just being polite. Mistress only trusted Arguk. She had trusted him to get her the baby, hadn’t she?
Which was something of a problem, actually.
“Arguk go back,” he said. “Arguk get another baby. Get better baby.”
“Go ahead, you silly goblin!” said the wizard. “Don’t you see what’s coming back there?”
And now, of course, Arguk did see the mob of villagers rushing in his direction with their torches and their scythes and forks and their huge slavering dogs on chains.
“So just what are you going to do now?” said the wizard with a laugh.
“Use what mistress give me,” said Arguk.
Much later, Arguk relaxed in his den, the new bag of gold from his grateful mistress safely buried under his wood box. She had been very pleased with the scrawny human infant with the deep green eyes. He had been perfect for her spell. He had had an enormous affinity for magic, or so Mistress had said.
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