The fable of Majik
Cast:
Iron King – Wounded from the death of his Queen.
Iron Damsel – Silently mourning her mother and distant father.
The Old Crow – Looking for a laugh.
Long ago in the time when monsters and men lived in harmony, there was a great albino tree known as the Spiritwood. (This was well before the invention of motorcars or electricity or steampower, mind you.)
The Spiritwood stood proudly in the center of all the lands, and from it flowed power. This force brought life and peace and Majik to the land, and things were good for a time. All basked in it’s glory, and every man and beast shared in the tree’s power and were able to weave impressive Majiks.
In a nearby domain, the Iron King sat upon his throne, and brooded. His wife had died years before in a tragic accident, and the hole in his heart was as big as the night’s sky. He had taken the corpse of his bride to the tree and demanded it’s help, but it would not bring her back from death. (For it could not do such a thing.) Returning to his citadel, his Court was open for little beyond grief.
His anguish was so great that he forgot about his only daughter, the Iron Damsel. She missed both her mother and her father so much that she stopped speaking altogether. Her iron dress was stained with rust, and she cared little for the world.
At the cusp of Winter, the Old Crow (the Trickster) noticed the sullen Damsel and the dour King, and decided to play a jest on them.
He knew of their recent difficulties, but foolishly thought that such a prank might replace their tears with laughter. The Crow reminded the King of his daughter, and told him that she was cold, and needed a mighty fire to warm her chilly iron tower. The King ordered his folk to bring back lumber, which they did, and they started a fire at the base of the Damsel’s tower.
The Trickster told the Damsel that the King was warming up the wedding hall, as he was on the eve of taking another bride. The wedding would begin as soon as the Damsel came down from her tower, and that he was using to fire to force her to come to the wedding.
The Damsel was furious with the news, and yelled down to her father “Your fire is large, but not great enough!”
The Crow suggested to the King that perhaps he didn’t have the resources to keep his only daughter warm. The King, his grief turning to anger, ordered his folk to bring more lumber, and they stripped the Kingdom of every last common tree. The fire doubled in size.
The Damsel, choking on the smoke, yelled down at her father “You’ll have to build a bigger fire than that!”
The Crow smiled over at the King and said “I guess you cannot make your own daughter warm and happy. A real pity.”
The King again demanded more lumber, but was informed that there were simply no more trees to cut down. “There is one tree, my Lord…” said the Crow, “but you wouldn’t dare cut that one down.”
Enraged, the King grabbed his finest battleaxe and cut down the Spiritwood tree in three fell swoops. The sky turned black, and the flood of Majik in the world was instantly reduced to a trickle as it ebbed through the bleeding stump.
The beasts and men cried out “What have you done?!” but the King ignored them all, as he hauled the white lumber back to the Damsel’s tower.
When he arrived there with armfuls of Spiritwood, the tower had cracked open in the colossal fire, revealing the corpse of his daughter sealed in her red-hot iron dress. Nothing was left but her bones, ash, and eternal ghostly rage.
The King realized his mistake too late, and was driven out of his own Kingdom by his own peoples.
The Majik in the land diminished, and the Old Crow was silent.
The End.
Related posts:
Have had regrets about cutting down a huge tree as it would shade the swimming pool.
Now, that pool has long since been bulldozed and I wish the tree was back.
Fistus ownage
deja vous
Sorry old bean, couldn’t hear what you said with that Fistus in your mouth…
Interesting tale, Mr. Davis… has a very significant “Grimm’s Fairy Tale” vibe to it.
There’s nothing quite like a plus 2 Fistus, is there?
This chapter is almost done… glad you like it, Sir.
tl;dr
Just kidding, I like the fable. I thought it was pretty cool. Good job Daniel!
Wesley suddenly loses 2 luck points.
What’s 0 minus 2?
Just look at how many times I’ve won the lottery, I’m already luck-less.