Shorty & the Beast: Part One (special preview)

Sometimes, it is easy to say life doesn’t exactly go as planned. You have dreams you wish to follow, ideas for where life is supposed to go. Sometimes you plan to be a powerful sorcerer or a loving gardener, and you think you have a handle on such things. But instead, it’s as if you’re tossed upon rocks, held under rapids, and pushed and pushed and pushed until you topple down a waterfall where god knows what is waiting below. People say life gets out of hand, but you can’t really hold life’s hand, now can you? The powers that be may see you a different way. Life may have other plans for you, and you just have to hope you can hold on through the rapids.

Our story begins in a dark and ugly place. There’s blood on the ground, there’s a young man crying. A queen is dead. But we won’t get into that yet. That’s where the story begins, but it’s not where it is going to start. Instead, where this begins is in a peaceful, rather idealistic countryside village of Earthwick. It is a place of Halflings and their gardens, their farms, their taverns, and the lovely simplicity with which they live. There’s no blood here, no dead queens, sometimes there are crying young men, but it’s often not for the same reason as the one from the beginning.

Outside of Earthwick though is another story. War has been brewing and boiling over, spilling into innocent territories. The Halflings, who had been lucky before, were not concerned with it until recently. For ages Earthwick had been protected by another village nearby, Bellmore, which was filled with affluent and often well connected people. Relatives of royals, lovers of generals, people with pockets too deep to just buy fancy clothes. Most of the Halflings in Earthwick worked for the people in Bellmore, as such, Bellmore offered protection. Until one day, when Bellmore started to become empty. At first it was one family that left their home without warning. A couple of days go by, another family up and leaves. Then another and another. Rumors began to spread that the kingdom of Charbagne, where Bellmore and Earthwick were, was the next target to be conquered since Gravelmeuse had been fallen. Without their usual means of protection, the Halflings began to plan about what they should do.

There had been talk of going towards the Goblins and Stone Ifrits, who were taking in refugees from Gravelmeuse. But Charbagne was separated from them by Sothen, which was already loyal to Sanguis Rex even before the war started. Halflings weren’t known to be fighters, but there was one amongst the many who thought they could be.

Roslile Portigardens was a gardener by trade, but even in her youth she had been fascinated by the stories of warriors and knights. She used to make herself swords from stickers, wrapping the handle with pretty fabric to make it look real. She day dreamed of riding a mighty steed and going off into battles to be a hero. But Halflings aren’t heroes, and that soon became beat into her head. Even as she gardened, she still like to daydream as her hands were in the earth. Nowadays, she was trying to convince everyone they didn’t have to be protected, they didn’t have to give up, they could fight just like anybody.

“Queen Mythri said that even the smallest threat against Sanguis Rex is a lost battle to him! Who is a smaller threat than us?” She spoke of Mythri like her idol. Having heard stories of the queen all her life, and how she was a living goddess, Roslile had always wanted to meet her and had studied all texts on her.

“We cannot fight like Rakshasa!” The mayor argued with her. “Queen Mythri does not speak of Halflings when she says this. We have to think of the best way to protect ourselves. Take this seriously, young Portigardens.”

Roslile scowled at this comment. She wasn’t even the youngest in the room, she was just one of a few women. She scoffed, leaving the meeting with her plans still in her head. She stormed off, kicking stones that dared to cross her path. She didn’t want to just lay down for whatever came. She didn’t want to see her home become infested with the likes of Sanguis Rex and his men. She knew that there was more to be done, more they could do! She knew that Halflings could be heroes.

At home she was greeted at the gate by her faithful steed, Noodle, a giant mastiff who had been abandoned by his family in Bellmore. He jumped up when he first caught the whiff of Roslile and bound up to her excitedly. Lapping at her hair and forehead, he wagged his tail and hunkered down before her so she could hug him.

“Hello, boy,” she sighed, hugging around his neck. “I bet you’re hungry now. Sorry that took so long.” She led him up the path to her house. She had a house for him built in the back as well a feeding trough. She went into the kitchen where Noodle watched her excited through the window. She made herself and Noodle dinner, making a gravy for Noodle, and a big breakfast styled meal for herself.