After being a wandering bow-for-hire, Stench had finally settled down in the Autumn Woods. Mostly for Cassie, but he was surprised how much he really wanted to settle down for himself.
The life of a Ranger typically involved a lot of moving around, staying on your feet, working with dirty bands of thugs and adventurers crawling through ancient cities and dungeons in far off places.
Not a baaad life. No. It could be a great one! It was a great one. Just not a stable one. Not one that you fight to protect–as he did now.
Now he had a beautiful home with Cassie (fellow adventurer–they’d fought side-by-side in his last three quests!) and they were attempting a family, even. Not one of his bucket list items–but love makes you really excited about doing all sorts of new things. Now he had a home to protect, a life to protect that involved a future, and his neighbors were their new band of adventurers that needed saving and protecting. He’d fought orcs before–and he trusted that they had enough magic users and clever minds to get the orcs out of the woods.
They didn’t have a lot of tanks, a lot of muscle, though (though Cassie would bring down her hammer hard on them, he was sure), so taking on 30 orcs would not be prudent, or effective. But he kept his skills up anyway. In case there was battle.
“I want to be in the battle,” said Thimble from his pocket.
Thimble was a small mouse neighbor who worked for a local tailor, keeping Stench company at the shooting range.
“My tiny friend,” Stench said, adding, “with the very big heart. You have plenty of people who will protect you from the orcs, and you are well looked-after. You don’t need to do the fighting.”
But the mouse was insistent, claiming that he had practiced with one of Aunt Pokey’s needles–and that he was ready to stab an orc in the eye.
Stench didn’t doubt that. But he also didn’t underestimate the sheer crushing power of an orc, let alone 30 of them.
“You need to stay out of sight. Remember we talked about that. Head up, but hunkered down.”
The mouse sighed, “When will it be time for me to hunker up?”
The raccoon shot an arrow through three apples balanced on three stumps. “When the villains are more your size, I’m sure you’ll come through with a needle, and do mega damage!”
The mouse yelled, “MEGADAMAGE!”
But it was still such a small squeak.
How do you convince folks to understand their worth is not tied to their ability to help? That maybe just existing was what they contributed to life and happiness.
Protectors needed something to protect. And the protected did more to hold together a community than they could wielding a sword to slice an enemy.
“Cassie said I could fight,” Thimble said.
“No, she didn’t. Cassie agrees with me.”
The mouse sighed.
Stench hoped, for Thimble’s sake, that he could learn to use the skills he had, the body he had, the size he had, and be happy with what he could offer his neighbors.
“Not everyone has to wield a bow to be a hero,” Stench said, rubbing the top of Thimble’s head with a finger.
Thimble reached out and climbed on his finger. “That’s what heroes say,” he said. “And then they go out and save people.”
The mouse wanted to have a snooze in a tree hollow now, and so Stench placed him down inside the nearest tree opening.
“I’m going to practice a little longer. Then I’ll take you back to the village.” He looked at the little shallow hollow in the tree. “Be careful,” Stench told him. “The tree looks ominous.”
The mouse didn’t even turn around to laugh at his joke.
Stench thought, you do more to encourage me, little friend, to stay alive, to be strong, to be the hero I need to be, than a hundred quests. That is your power. He hoped one day Thimble would understand.
Go to Chapter 17
“Protect the Autumn Woods!” is an illustrated story by Jerome Stueart in 33 short flash fiction chapters. The story features D&D-inspired magic-using forest animals who fight to protect their homes. This story was at first a response to a prompt list created by Jenn Reese and Deva Fagan for an October Art Challenge in 2021. You can now read all 33 parts of the story, “Protect the Autumn Woods” with the search term, #AutumnWoods. “Protect the Autumn Woods!” Art Show at the Dayton Society of Artists (48 High Street, Dayton, OH) from November 1 — December 15 2024.
“Protect the Autumn Woods!” is adjacent to a larger show of amazing Dayton Artists, “Small, but Mighty.” Come see all of the art, any weekend, Friday 12-5, Saturday 12-5 to experience the art yourself.
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