"Heart of the Crown" Chapter 74

[seymoure]

Chapter 74

A Small Problem

This magician Robez had ever been the most potent force in any area he thrust himself.

He had killed or disempowered anyone who might be a threat or even one to disagree.

No one stood up to Robez; no one could stand up to him. The only one who had ever been any kind of long-lived threat to him was that harlot, Cela of Tar, and he would finish her at their next meeting.

Then he found himself in this new world. All his previous dilemmas were dwarfed.

In truth, the only thing that was dwarfed was Robez himself.

He stood in the interior of a building in a corner far from anything.

Looking up, he could not make out anything distinct about the ceiling, not because of lack of light but because it was so distressingly far away that his eyes were not capable of adjusting to the distance.

Looking to his right, he saw what must have been a building within this structure. After a moment he realized the mammoth construct was a simple chair, but one that he could have spent a year trying to climb into the seat of, if he could have done so at all.

To his left, what appeared miles away, there was what could only be a table.

He was inside someone’s home, but someone of such enormous size as to be unlikely to notice him unless they were diligently looking for something small that had been lost on the floor.

Robez cast a powerful spell to make the room shrink, but the magnitude of the physical task made his most vast sorcery insignificant by its mere diminutive effect.

Then the silence was broken by a grating sound, something like a tree being dragged over a riverbank.

The wizard turned toward the sound, and his heart fell to his feet.

Halfway across the room he saw a giant furry creature looking for something to eat.

It had not picked up his scent or seen him yet, but it would.

The dragging sound had been made by its rough tail scrapping against the floor.

Then the beast’s red eyes turned to him.

The magician started working up the most powerful protective spell he had ever tried to create in the midst of battle.

It would have to be strong enough to stop the ravenous behemoth.

If not, the mouse would eat him.

© 2008 C. Wayne Owens
Chapter 75 is here.