It had always stayed in the forest---seven feet tall and thirteen feet long---nine legs and hard carapace---oozing acid and smelling something awful...
~~~
But notice had been received from its courier, Nuess, through the clicks and scraping sounds it used, that the monster, Blattella, was about to visit the Keep.
Something was horribly amiss if Blattella needed to raid the stores at the Keep---certainly, the weather had turned sour but that alone couldn't account for its leaving the forest.
The Keep had its own ogre guarding it---Musfra, the giant---strangely handsome, in a crude way---powerful but not immune to Blatella's acerbic oozings---puncture it in close quarters with a spear and be drenched in flesh-eating fluid...
Musfra had his own courier, Zedz---dwarf warrior---rabid when necessary---capable of using the chittering language of Blattella.
Zedz and Nuess met on the plain before the forest.
The rapid, screeching parley unnerved all but Musfra.
He maintained a rigid stance and was quite full of fury.
Zedz returned to the Keep with word that Blattella would take no offered portion of the stores---it would take every bit of it...
Musfra's fury could not be contained---he killed Zedz and stormed across the plain.
~~~
Blatella was waiting at the edge of the forest.
Musfra hurled his spear.
Blatella skittered forward---the spear landing behind it.
Musfra bellowed and charged.
Blatella rose on its hind-most legs and leaped over Musfra, heading for the Keep.
Musfra retrieved his spear and rushed back.
Blatella was nowhere to be seen; but, it could be smelled---near the Keep but behind it.
The ogre went upwind, hoping to attract the monster with his own smell.
Silence...
Then, behind him a sound...
How did the creature outflank me?
As Musfra turned, Nuess sprang from the ground and bit him on the belly, being immediately smashed by Musfra's hand.
The poison was swift in its action---Musfra staggered and fell...
~~~
The moral of this tale?
Even if your allies seem small and useless, never underestimate your need for them...
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Strange Fantasies
Fantasy"...mysterious and fantastical story telling with an amazing and often thought provoking twist." ~~ Author, Jane D. Watson ~~ "I have to applaud an author that can make me consider the human condition while presenting me with dragons and spirits and...
