The Silvered Throne
A #powerhousecreatives Contest Entry
“Pork?! Again? I refuse to eat any more pork.” The young halfling huffed loudly and crossed her arms over her chest.
“You can’t make me,” she continued.
Her father pushed his heavy chair back from the long table stretching the length of the dungeon. While the table used to be crowded with the happy sounds of the village workers, nowadays it was just the two of them. The wizard had systematically destroyed every other member of the PowerHouseCreatives after he discovered they had access to the magic stones. Empo and Empina were the only two left – and this was simply because the wizard had yet to realize they were also members of the elite group.
Empo decided that dinner time was not worth the fight this evening. He forced a smile onto his crooked face and said,
“Fine. But it’s your turn to clean the throne room tonight.”
Sensing this was all the victory she was likely to get this night, Empina got up from the table and whisked herself out of the damp room.
The wizard had commissioned a grand throne upon his violent takeover. It stretched twice as tall as he was, with a mirrored back, to better reflect his grandeur, he had repeatedly said. Now there was no one left to admire his visage, and he was a tyrant about that silvered surface being kept relentlessly clean.
As Empina spritzed the surface she kept half an eye scanning the grand hall behind her. Sometimes, the wizard liked to sneak up on her while she worked, berating her and demanding that she start over if he detected the smallest streak in the glass.
“Oh, how I wish things were back how they used to be and I never had to eat pork again,” she whispered to herself as she worked. A small glimmer in the background startled her and she whirled around, her cleaning cloth pushed tight against her modest bosom.
“Who’s there?” she demanded of the empty castle.
Nothing but silence greeted her question, but she was left with an uneasy feeling as she quickly finished polishing the mirror.
That night as she slept, she dreamed she was in the dungeon, but it was once again filled with the sound of laughter, happy chatter, and the clinking of glasses as people toasted their good fortune. A serving woman she had never seen before approached carrying a tray laden with the head of pig, its skin stretched taut and an apple forced into its mouth.
“You have the power to end this,” the woman proclaimed, drawing the eye of every villager at the table. The happy noises ceased as the woman continued, “You are the only one now with the power to stop the wizard. His greatest treasure gives him strength. Take it, and we will all be returned to you.” The villagers all stared at Empina, not a single one moving or speaking or even blinking.
She woke with a start. The dream had seemed so real! What if it were true? What if she could save all her friends somehow? She resolved to try.
That night at dinner with her father, she sad innocently enough, “Father, may I ask you something?”
Her tone alerted the wise old halfling to her mischief, yet he replied blandly, “Of course, my daughter. What would you like to know.”
“Well, father,” she started, “I was thinking we could do something nice for the wizard, you know, in honor of his…ummmm…. Birthday!”
“Oh you do?” Empo replied, “I didn’t know he had a birthday coming up.”
“Well, ummm, he had to have been born someday, and we don’t know when it was, so we should do something nice for him anyway!” Empina thought she had a brilliant idea, not realizing her father was onto her already. “What do you think his greatest treasure is Father?”
“His greatest treasure,” Empo thought quickly, “he loves nothing more than sight of his own self! Perhaps you could paint him a picture for a birthday gift.”
“Thanks Father!” Empina called as she bounced out of the dining hall. As soon as her father had uttered those words she knew what she must do. Hurrying and scurrying through the castle’s scullery she collected all the required bits and placed them carefully in a bucket.
That evening, as she entered the throne room, she carefully checked all the corners. The room was empty save for her and her bucket. Nervously, she approached the silvered chair, admiring the way her figure looked in the still perfect polish from the night before. Hastily, she got to work with her cleaning cloth.
Empina scrubbed and rubbed, she spritzed and sprayed, then she scrubbed and rubbed some more. At first, she kept half an eye on the hall behind her in the silvered glance, but as she toiled longer and longer she took to glancing over her shoulder, almost a nervous tic – scrub scrub, look – scrub scrub, look – scrub scrub, LOOK!
She heard the door rustle almost silently on its well-oiled hinges. She had taken too long and now the wizard was approaching. She bent her head to the task as the wizard’s footsteps shuffled closer and closer. She hummed a small song under her breath as he approached, as if she were unaware of his presence. Her breath caught in her throat as she heard him stop at the bottom of the dais on which the throne rested. She forced the song to continue, only this time it carried with it notes of panic and fear.
“HALFLING! Let me see your work, you impetuous child,” he demanded, his nasally voice echoing off the stone walls. “MOVE ASIDE!”
His command hung heavy in the air as Empina fought her fear. She told her feet to move, to get under her and push her up, but they were slow to obey. She stumbled, and the wizard barked again.
“Move NOW before I turn you into a pig like I did the rest!”
With that, Empina found the strength to stand and threw herself down the stone steps and away from the throne.
The wizard gasped. He moved closer to the throne.
“My face!” He screamed, “What have you done to my face?!” The air in the room got just a bit colder, the light got just a bit dimmer, and the wizard moved closer to the scratched and blackened surface of his throne. Wailing, his hands reached out for its once smooth surface. He screamed as his fingers joined the pocked glass, his hands seeming to slip inside it and merge with it in a fluid motion.
His cries of anguish filled the room as Empina cowered at the foot of the platform. She didn’t know what she had expected, but she hadn’t expected this. Empina watched from shielded eyes as the wizard seemed to beg the throne for mercy. She heard the whispers from the corners as none was granted and she buried her face in her arms. The wizard’s body slowly stretched and morphed, pulled and twisted as it sank deep into the depth of the blackened surface. Strange red and orange lights filled the room, flashed brightly, then faded away.
When Empina worked up the courage to look around, the wizard was gone. The surface of the throne was as shiny as ever, and the room was once more empty. Timidly, she climbed the steps. Exploring the silver surface with her fingers, she noticed a small humming sound coming from the glass. It was the same song she had been humming only moments (or was it hours) before!
As she ran back downstairs to the dungeon to tell her father the happy news, she heard the sound of chatter from the great dining room. Glass tinkled, villagers laughed, and they all lived happily ever after.
The End
I hope you enjoyed my story. Here were the rules of the contest:
Criterias :
-You must use ALL 10 KEYWORDS.
-Wordcount must not be less than 350 words.
-Photos/illustrations are allowed to better tell a story.
-Your story/post title is up to you but with '(PowerHouseCreatives Contest)' included.
-Go crazy creative on it, it has to be as 'fairytale-ish' as possible.
-Write a fairytale story!~
Keywords :
powerhousecreatives, magic stones, treasure, halfling(s), pork, throne, castle, dungeon, village, wizard
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