A/N: Merry Christmas, dudes and dudettes! Yes, and I'm celebrating by writing some weird magical medieval AU… Also getting Wind Waker HD and LEGO: Marvel Superheroes on Wii U, so as you can probably tell, mine's a gaming Christmas! Complete with getting stuck on every level, probably.
So, this idea gestated in my head during a shopping trip, and now I'm letting it out into the world to either be hated or loved. Parents have to go through the same thing, I'm sure.
Prologue – Troll Removal
Felix the Mage had been hired on very specific terms.
Felix the Mage was called a 'Mage' because 'Sorcerer' wasn't a legal term in these parts.
The Mayor, Mayor Gene, of the village of Niceland had hired him because he was the only Mage who they hadn't scared away. I'm paraphrasing; 'they' meant 'him'. And 'him' meant 'the unholy beast of burden that lives in the forest'.
Felix had only been there for a day, staying in the care of the delightful yet insecure Miss Mary, the widower of a man whom he assumed had died many moons before the Nicelanders had settled here.
The other Nicelanders, like Nel and Roy, had welcomed him with opened arms, though Gene was the most friendly. He'd invited him to meet the problem first hand, and naïve Felix, barely out of magic school and kicked out by his carpenter father, had agreed, thinking it could be the best thing that could happen to him.
He heard his staff go plonking on the ground as they walked through the sparse woods one morning, "So, what's the problem?"
"It's kinda what and a who, Felix." Gene said, though the short man was uneasy, "…Y'see, we were planning to expand our settlement into this part of the forest. The most we got built was a bridge over the muddy lake that runs through here, until he arrived…"
Felix, up until now, had only heard rumours of the horrors of the troll living in the Niceland forest. Other sorcerers dared not enter into this gig, and the ones who did often went mad and quit their jobs. Felix felt assured he was made of tougher stuff, though the sight that greeted him was not one he would wish to repeat.
The 'muddy lake' in question was more mud than lake, with the brick bridge towering overhead. The bridge did not look damaged, though Felix couldn't imagine why even a troll would live in such a setting, despite having the inbuilt inclination. The great rank sludge, which was probably due to a blockage somewhere down the line, repulsed him, but the smell made him want to throw up.
"He lives there?" Felix didn't want to offend the troll, but there were much nicer spots around the forest to lay your head. Trolls have a preference for bridges, and that preference obviously pervades personal hygiene.
"It's the only place he dares to. We've managed to keep him to this area and away from the village, though he can easily break our defences."
Felix turned to him, "So you need me to sure up your defences?" He readied his staff eagerly; fixing was a job he could certainly do.
"Nah; we won't need those defences after you've got rid of the problem!"
For a moment, Felix was puzzled, "What do you mean?"
"You've gotta get rid of the guy! Teleport him, transform him into a fluffy bunny, anything to keep it off our backs." Gene said, gesticulating wildly.
Felix thought it through. He didn't want to hurt a guy he'd never met, no matter how much the Nicelanders wanted him to, but he had come here to do a job, and he needed the money, conscience be damned, "Does he still break your barriers at night?"
"It's the only time he does it."
"Then I'll wait out for him in the morning."
A/N: Been a long time since I've written a prologue (Or anything, really), but the actual chapters should be longer. So good to be writing again! And once again, Merry Christmas to my fellow Wrecklings, and I hope you all have a nice Christmas! Just got the Ralph and Vanellope Disney Infinity figs today, so I'm already having a WIR Christmas.
'Yay' or 'nay' to continuation? Heck, even one 'yay' will continue this thing.