Malevolent the Maelstrom
A lone howl echoed up the side of
Mount Kali-ni-cos, quickly joined by another, and
another, until an unearthly chorus of 37 howling wolves filled the air, making
the thick fog even more sinister for the stooped figure slowly reaching the
foot of the mountain.
The howling abruptly stopped as a
large metal bin, accompanied by angry shouting, was hurled down into the middle
of the wolves scattering them down the slope. The bin came from a cave halfway
up the mountainside; hidden from view but not difficult to find if you followed
any of the well-trodden paths that led straight up to it.
A timber door covered the cave’s
entrance and inside it was dark and silent until a slow, quiet, tinkling sound grew
louder and louder, until it sounded like a raging storm.
*There’s a man approaching Mr
Vent.*I know, I’ve got two ears as well and they’re bigger than yours. Who is
it?
*A man with a goat.
*excellent-you can make goat curry like when I got those 30 goats as tribute.
*Shouldn’t you be getting into
your costume then?
*It’s not a costume, they’re my
wizard’s robes, you midget.
They were indeed wizard’s robes,
for the man speaking was none other than Malevolent the Maelstrom (not the name
his parents had given him of course), a notorious and much feared sorcerer
whose name was used to scare children into their beds and small furry animals
into their burrows.
