"Now presenting to his Majesty: Celion the mage!"
Celion approached the throne, straightening to his full height of two feet three inches. A rather unusual height for a human, but perfectly acceptable if you were a gnome. His ornate robe swished, and some unknown trinkets clinked gently in his pockets. He bowed, his blue beard brushing the ground.
"Welcome, mage," the king said, nodding for Celion to rise, "news of your exploits on the frontier have reached me, even across the realm. I have called you here to let you choose a reward for your aid to the kingdom."
How bout some hot night elf chicks? Celion thought, but wisely decided to keep his mouth shut. For once.
But the king was not done talking. "However," he continued, "I have one request before you claim your reward."
Celion breathed a sigh of disgust. Great. No one could ever just give something, there had to be a catch. You could never just borrow anything, either:
"Hey, do you have any salt? I'm all out."
"Salt… you can take as much as you want, but first you must go to the abandoned farm down the road and collect two bushels of blackberries for the pie I want to make tonight."
"Um, okay…"
Even the king felt compelled to obey this bizarre barter system.
"Oh, all right," said Celion, trying not to roll his eyes, "I'll help." If it isn't too difficult, he added to himself.
The king cleared his throat. "Yes. As you know, the Kingdom has been a stable place for a long time, but recently, indescribable monsters have been attacking our border in the east. It is only with your help that they have been held back."
Celion nodded. The soldiers in the east were highly out-classed. Not that Celion actually cared; he helped out for the reward.
"The cause of these attacks is not known," the king continued, "and none of my army is capable of surviving the forces beyond our borders. You, Celion, are the strongest known individual in the realm, and have proved your ability in combat. You must travel past our borders, find the cause of this attack, and stop it."
Celion gulped. What madness was this? Venturing into the east was certain death! Sure, he had been able to deal with the attacks so far, but from what he knew of military strategy, they seemed to be advance scouts for an invasion force, and surely worse was to come. But what could he do? It was extremely dangerous to defy the king.
Celion chewed on his lip. "And… just supposing, hypothetically, if I said no?"
The king looked anxious for a moment, but then his eyes turned cold. "That is not an option."
Celion heard the whisper of forged steel. Glancing quickly around, he saw that all the soldiers had started to draw their swords. The atmosphere was quickly going sour.
Celion's gaze shifted anxiously from the soldiers to the king.
"Why, I would be honored to accept such an important mission," he said nervously, shrugging disarmingly, "Anything for your majesty."
The king looked at Celion for a moment. Then he nodded, and the soldiers sheathed their swords. Celion released a breath he hadn't known he was holding.
The king smiled, relief flashing in his eyes. "Thank you. The survival of the kingdom depends on your success. Is there anything you need for your journey?"
Celion shook his head, almost too nervous to speak. "No, your majesty, just some time to gather supplies. And maybe a little gold," he added, deciding to push his luck.
"Very well then. One of my guards will show you to the door and provide you with funds."
A soldier took Celion by the arm and marched him out of the room, down the hall, and out the door of the palace. He turned sharply and stepped back inside, shoving a bag of money into Celion's hands. Celion quickly put it in his pockets, not bothering to count it, and went down the palace steps.
He forced himself to walk slowly until he was out of sight of the palace. Then he broke into a run. Most of the people he passed barely looked down. One good thing about being short, he reflected, is that you can be invisible when you want to be. The other is that gnomes are dang sexy! he added with a smirk.
Celion only slowed to a walk when he was well out of the city center, and into a poorer district of town. There was not much activity in the streets, and he was unlikely to be noticed. All he wanted to do right now was blend in and come up with a plan. Celion slouched along slowly, his hands in his pockets and his eyes on the ground. What a mess! he thought glumly, How do I get myself into these things? "But more importantly," he muttered to himself, "how do I get out?" He desperately tried to think of a solution, but nothing seemed to change his fate. Even if he went into hiding, he would be found eventually, and would either be forced to complete the king's request or executed as a traitor. Or the monsters would take over, and that would be just as bad. He shuddered at the thought. He had seen them with his own eyes: hideous beasts, wolves with red eyes and yellow fangs, fearsome griffons with razor-sharp talons, and enormous scorpions with enough poison to kill a man in one blow. He could take a few at a time with his magic, but a large group? Out of the question.
Celion came to a halt as the realization struck him. There was nothing he could do. Not if he were alive. But being dead didn't really solve anything either.
He glanced up to see that he was in front of an inn. It was nothing special, actually quite decrepit if one thought about it, but the rates were cheap, and the owners would agree to look the other way. For a price.
A new option presented itself to Celion as he walked up the steps. If he was dead, he would be forgotten, so the only thing to do was to disappear. And the only place to go was south, as there were oceans to the north and west, and monsters to the east. So south he would go, over the mountains beyond which no one had ever explored. Maybe he would even fake his own death, with some animal blood and a spare robe, to satisfy inquiring minds.
The sun was starting to set, so Celion decided to stay the night at the inn. The next morning he would head west, and in two days he would reach the port town of Barcenoa, where he could buy supplies for his journey. Barcenoa was a large town, so one more gnome would not be noticed much. He hoped. His plan left much to be desired, with life as an outcast as the best outcome, and death the worst. But it was the best he could do, considering the circumstances.
After a brief conversation with the innkeeper, Celion climbed the stairs. He knew the days ahead would be a trial, but much more would happen than Celion could ever expect…
Author's note: Inspired by a friend and his character from WoW. Hope you like it, Cel x3