Reading the Dice: Fantasy Edition

Story 6: The Monk & the Fairy

Dice roll: monk, troll, fairy, imp, Olympus, cage, cart, trident, dizzy face

Once upon a time, a monk was meditating while he ambled through the woods near his monastery.

"Help! Help! Heeeelp!" a voice faintly shouted.

The monk paused, slowly bringing his mind back to his surroundings and cocked his head to listen.

"Heeeeelp! Help!" the voice continued to cry.

The monk pocketed his prayer beads and stepped off the dirt trail, heading into the trees in the direction of the voice.

As the monk was getting closer, a large troll wielding a trident stepped into his path.

"Stop," growled the troll. "Come no closer. This doesn't concern you."

"Please," the monk said amiably. "There's someone calling for help. Surely I can be of some assistance?"

The troll narrowed his eyes as he growled and prodded the monk with the trident. "I said this doesn't concern you."

The monk sighed and bowed his head, muttering, "Very well." His hand shot out and grabbed the trident just below the head and yanked it hard, removing it from the stunned troll's grasp. Then, jamming the three points into the ground, he used the trident like a vaulting pole and leapt, kicking the troll solidly in the chest with both feet.

The troll roared as he stumbled backward, catching himself from falling over completely and stepping forward to rush the monk.

The monk smirked and shook his head with a sigh. He grabbed the trident and swung it, hitting the troll's head with the side of the tines.

The troll fell, crumpling like a sack of potatoes, and stayed motionless on the ground.

The monk sighed and cast the trident away, then carefully stepped around the unconscious troll and continued to follow the cries for help.

Up ahead was a clearing where a cart rested. Balanced atop a load of crates and trunks sat a golden cage. The monk saw no one in the clearing, though the cries for help continued. He stepped into the long grass and approached the cart slowly, eyes watching the surrounding trees for any hidden attackers.

As he drew near, he spied something shining in the cage; the cries seemed to come from there.

"Hello?" the monk asked. "Who's calling for help?"

"I am! Please, help me!" the voice from the cage cried.

The shining moved closer to the bars and the monk finally could make out the small, lithe figure of a fairy.

"Hold it right there, buster!" a voice shouted from the crates on the cart. "I don't know how you got past my troll guard, but you don't wanna mess with me! Just go away! This fairy is awful, spreading her pixie dust and glowing all over the place! She deserves to be locked away for awhile!"

The monk frowned and came closer to the cart, eyes sweeping over the crates and trunks for the owner of the voice.

"I told ya to stop!" the voice shouted. A black flame erupted from on top a trunk and a small imp formed out of the flame, red glowing eyes glaring at the monk.

"Ah. An imp," the monk said, stopping beside the cart. "I might have known. You hate fairies for no reason other than that they're fairies."

"It's not for no reason!" the imp sputtered. "They're all glowy and they leave glitter all over the place! It's all light and rainbows! I'm sick of it!"

The monk sighed. "You hate her for merely being a fairy. She was made to glow and spread light. You imps are all darkness and trickery."

"Just stay outta this, fella!" the imp shouted. "It's got nothing to to with you!"

"I cannot," the monk replied. "I can't let you hurt her anymore than I'd let her hurt you. I know howto deal with you, devil-spawn. I'll send you home." The monk reached into his pocket and drew out his prayer beads. He paused to murmur a prayer, "Oh, Lord, lend us your light and power. Send this creature of darkness back where he belongs." He tossed the beads at the imp.

The imp ducked, but the string of blessed beads followed him, falling over his head and hanging from him like a necklace. The imp screamed once and then disappeared, the beads dropped to the lid of the trunk.

"Amen," the monk muttered as he retrieved his prayer beads.

"Wow," said the fairy. "You vaporized him! That's a neat trick! Can you teach me how to do that?"

"I didn't vaporize him," the monk corrected as he opened the cage. "I simply asked God to send him back home. He was banished so fast, he's probably still dizzy from the trip."

"Wow!" the fairy flew out of the cage and hovered near the monk's face. "Still a neat trick! Is he dead now?"

"No," the monk replied. "Can I help you get home?"

"Nope! Thanks!" the fairy waved at the cart, which began to glow. "I gotta return all this stuff back to the temple of Zeus! Wanna come? Hop on!"

"No, thank you. I don't frequent that temple. I'll just wish you well and safe journeys."

"Thanks again, Mister! You're real swell!" The fairy patted his nose, then flew to hover over the cart. The glowing increased until both cart and fairy disappeared in a shower of glitter.

"You're welcome," the monk said slowly as he brushed the glitter from his brown robe. He wandered back through the woods to the trail and pulled out his prayer beads once more, resuming his meditation.